Hangzhou High School

 (Allison)

Thursday, March 5th

I cannot believe that it is Thursday already..our time here in the city of Hangzhou is flying by..

It is still raining…ho hum.. it has rained every day, except one, since we have been here…

Last week, I spoke to the twelve different classes (about two or three per day -- in the morning). They were all grade one (age equivalent of a U.S. sophomore in high school)  English classes here at Hangzhou High School.  The students were great -- they were so warm and welcoming!

I spoke to them about schools in the United States.  I shared some pictures of my family and friends, and then, if there was time…we discussed holidays that we celebrate in the U.S. The students seemed particularly interested in Easter and Thanksgiving… All of the grade one English classes are learning about festivals celebrated around the world.  The students were so enthusiastic.

Each class consists of about 54 students, yes 54.. The students stay in the same classroom, with the same students, all day long – and they will stay with the same students for all three years that they attend the school . In China, it is the teachers that come and go from the classrooms, not the students.  All of the teachers have a designated cubicle in their department's office.

The schedule here is much different than back at DSMS. The class periods are 45 minutes (about the same), but there is 10 to 15 minutes between classes. Everyone gets an hour and ten minutes for lunch. It is so nice..the students can eat at the school, or leave the campus and get food somewhere in the city. Some of the teachers even sneak in naps…so nice..  Although all the extra time makes the school day is a little bit longer (academic classes end at 3:50…and then students use 4:00-5:00 to attend clubs, extra-help, or self-study), it is such a nicer pace than my days at DSMS sprinting up and down the stairs. 

Another thing that I observed -- it is amazing… when the bell rings – the students do not grab their stuff and run for the door.. (It is ok Team Moon – we will just have to work on this when I get back..) The students actually stay in their seats and listen to the teacher finish the lesson before they pack up.

 This past Tuesday, I was able to observe Sue's history class! Bruce, our translator, came with me. He is the best! The topic of the class was European Exploration. It was such a wonderful experience to be able to observe someone doing your job..but in a different country! The teacher was fantastic, she was enthusiastic, and held her students attention by using a fantastic PowerPoint with lots of notes, photographs, maps and video clips!

Rose is going to try to schedule a time, next week, for me to go to the middle school where her sister teaches English! I am looking forward to this experience...

Tuesday night – Derek and his wife Susan took me to out for dinner to a Japanese noodle house! Then we went to the movies to see Red Cliff Part Two (with English subtitles) .. Derek had loaned me Red Cliff Part One – and I had watched it on Monday night..

Red Cliff Part One was the number one blockbuster last year (and actually of all time in China – it beat out Titanic – which he held the previous record..)  It is a fantastic movie! It takes place during the end of the Han Dynasty – it is about the wars between the emperor and some competing warlords..very similar to Troy or Gladiator – but a little more humor thrown in…  A shorter version will be released in the U.S – at some point this year..

Yesterday (Wednesday), was Helen's birthday. In the morning, Li and I enthusiastically headed out of the school gates in search of a cake! There are bakeries in Hangzhou everywhere…it is actually insane – Ganso, Dan Be, Sep, Free Muri, Rita's, Romantic Event, Christina's, Donghua – to name a few. Hangzhouians are cake crazy!  There are actually four bakeries within three minutes from the school gate.. We entered the closest – Ganso…the cakes were beautiful – but -- it hit us that we had no way of knowing what kind or flavor the cakes were¦.so we pressed on.  Romantic event…no luck, yet again…Dan Be was closed…so we turned the corner and went to Sep.  Slightly defeated by our lack of knowledge of the Chinese language, we opted to point to a bunch of different cake slices (we could see whether they were chocolate, green tea, or something else…) within a glass case, the baker put them into a lovely box, we even managed to communicate with her that we needed forks  = mission accomplished!

Off to P.E. for some kung fu, ping pong, badminton, then lunch, then English corner…after E.C.  we went back to the English office to look for Helen in order to celebrate, but she was not in the office…so we went off to cooking claass!

Our teacher is the manager of the school cafeteria, but – Brruce told us that he was previously a renowned Chinese chef - - and has been featured on a Chinese cooking show. He is very talented ¦he loves to make art out of food..he can cut a carrot into a rose, or a cactus out of a cucumber. Last week, he taught us how to create a butterfly – out of sliced mangos, banana, and tomatoes.  This week he showed us how to cut up a fish (it had already been gutted). He cut off the head, and then slit the fish in half…he then sliced the meaty part of the fish (but left the skin intact) into a grid. Then, he fried it. When you fry fish that has been sliced like this it comes out looking like flowers!  Beautiful and yummy!

Then, back to the English office to find Helen! We sang Happy Birthday to her in both English and Chinese and then enjoyed the cake!  Rose popped in and asked me if I wanted to go shopping -- and we were off!