Hannah 老师!

Firstly, apologies for the lack of activity on here. Forgive me? Good. OK, anyway, as I am shockingly nearing the end of my contract, I decided to do a post on my teaching experiences here.

I have to be honest, after actually arriving in China and facing this new job in reality and not just safely from my laptop screen, I suddenly remembered that I’m not actually all that good with children. They’re kind of scared of me for some reason. Oops. But! I grabbed the bull by the horns and jumped right in and I think – or I hope – I’ve done an above average job! Since moving here, I have taught children from 4 to 18 years old, in classes ranging from one to 30 students. What can I say? Well, my very first class went awfully – (11 students, all around 10 years old) with the students working through my plan too quickly, talking over me and my assistant totally taking the reins without me asking/wanting her to. After that one I was about ready to throw in the towel, but my second class was fantastic! Same age as before but fewer students which meant it was MUCH easier to control them. One boy in particular – Steven - was my absolute fave (though I tried to hide this during class), comprising the winning combo of intelligence and politeness. What a doll.

To date I’ve had my fair share of awful classes – classes that are too loud, naughty, boring (for everyone involved). But then there are those classes that make the whole job totally worth it and that’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to continue teaching English next year – but DEFINITELY not at my current school (I’ll explain this later). Corny I know, but to see students enjoying educational activities you’ve planned and actually enjoying using English is hugely rewarding. One particular highlight of any lesson is the children’s use of ‘Chinglish’. So adorable. I can honestly now say how much I respect all the teachers from my school days; they had it ROUGH. Children here, by at least English standards, are tame. Talking and fidgeting aside, they come across as much more polite and boy are they eager to please and receive praise – think it’s definitely a cultural thing! Though they could be insulting me all lesson for all I know, not being particularly well-schooled in Chinese insults.

So, about my current employer… In Fúzhōu there are – surprisingly - dozens of language schools, and I work at Belief Education. To say this school is the most disorganised organisation I’ve ever encountered would be a grave understatement; and as an especially organised person (it's a blessing and a curse), this factor alone would definitely discourage me from signing for another year. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a massive bitch-fest, there are many things I really enjoy about my school. Things like my students, my colleagues, the cute little library we have, the books we use, but alas, they don’t outweigh the bad. From MANY visa issues and delays to miscommunication between the different branches and inadequate advertising campaigns, I find it astonishing that Belief are still going. Having said that, I’ve heard from many other foreign teachers that I’ve met that their schools are also slightly lacking in the area of organisation so I think this is possibly a Chinese thing. But here’s hoping for my next placement!

To finish up, here are a few things I’ve noticed in Chinese schools that are strange/funny/interesting to me:

~ The students clean their own school. Unlucky!

~  For some reason (I think concentration?) at various intervals during the day, the students sit down, close their eyes and rub their temples and eye sockets with their fingers counting to 10 about 4 times while very irritating music plays over the P.A. system

~  Saluting the P.A./the Chinese flag at the front of the classroom at various points of the lesson

~ In addition to P.E. class, apparently students from middle to senior school must take part in a military camp-esque training week each year – which is mandatory. HA.
~ The school day here is very different to any in England I know of: students arrive at school around 7.30am and then have lessons until 11.30am; they then go home for lunch/a nap; then they're back at school from 2.30pm to 4 or 4.30pm
~ Back bibs! So what with temperatures frequently reaching over 30°C here in the summer - similar to bibs babies wear to catch falling food/snot etc. - children here have started to wear what I’ve called ‘back bibs’ to soak up their sweat! Strange to me at first, but I’m fast realising the total genius of it and wish it were socially acceptable for me to wear one as in this heat I’m sweating like ‘a fat lass at a disco’ (to quote one of my favourite Geordies). Every lesson I had with one class, a student named Craig (AKA the cutest child in the world – see below) would always be running manically around the classroom while his father chased him, trying to put his back bib back on. Cutest spectacle to watch.

All in all, I’ve loved my time here as a teacher. Partly because the novelty of wiping a blackboard still hasn’t worn off, but mainly because I actually love working with children, especially when their keen and eager to participate. 

Oh and here are a few pics of me in action and some of the adorable students I’ve had:

Winnie - I think he's 6 - loved playing hide and seek/
spy on the teacher pre-class.

Ian - age 6 too - this lesson was on clothing,
so naturally I got them to dress up in mine. Too cute.

Winnie and Pepper (age 6)
Puttin' on ma socks.

More t-shirt fun - Elaine and Vincent - ages 5 and 6
Elaine was the funniest little girl ever, she just
kept making the strangest noises/faces each lesson.

Elaine again and Nancy (age 6, right)
More dress-up - this time jeans!

Pepper again, Nancy again
and I. 2 of my fave kindergarten kids, they
are SO sweet. Pepper especially, bless her cottons.

Left: Sunny - age 5. ADORABLE, but very fidgety and moody. Had the cutest bowl cut though
Right: Elaine again, this time drinking milk from a bag

Sunny behind the camera

Class portrait! Definitely not camera shy!

On the left is Lucy, and the right is Leo - cousins, both 6, who both wanted to try on my sunnies.
Also, Lucy is SO cute. One of the few people on this earth I let hug me.

Listening exercise
Some not-so-subtle cheating going on at the back.

Bella - age 5 - loves singing and dancing, and
performing said singing and dancing for the class (see below).

Bella, Craig (in the middle) and Jerry
(age 6; I have a surprising amount of students named Jerry).
OK, so Craig (I think 5 years old) is literally the cutest
child I have EVER SEEN - I can't even.
Anyway, here's a still of them mid-performance of 'Eddie the Earthworm'
Below are a couple of short vids! Hope they work!

Poor attempt at a panoramic of the whole class
performing the 'Eddie the Earthworm' song.

One of my 5 classes at 温泉小学 (Wenquan Primary School)
Kids all from 8 to 9 years old.
They don't usually wear this very Chinese uniform, but it was Children's Day or something.
The red sash things the majority of the kids are wearing are supposed to identify
the outstanding students - though I'm pretty sure every student I've seen has had one.

Just helping a student (Cici) to write!

On account of the summer holiday, I only have a few classes left now, so to be honest, all I’m really doing is twiddling my thumbs and counting down the days (54 to be exact) until I depart Fúzhōu and have bare bantz in Thailand and Cambodia, and then FINALLY head home. Excited and impatient are just not strong enough words for how I’m feeling now, and how I will feel until 21^st August rolls around!

Whew, long post. I’ll be seeing ya!

xoxo