Our Arrival in Hangzhou

Ms Waterman
(teacher)

We have arrived in Hangzhou! Our last sleeper train of the trip brought us to the Hangzhou train station on Wednesday morning at 9:00 where we were met on the platform by teachers from the school. What a treat it was to find them so easily! We were driven directly to Hangzhou High School and our visit officially began.

When we stepped out of the car, we were handed huge bouquets of lillies and greeted by administrators and also our exchange students- Peter, Caroline, and Henry. The kids were all so excited to see each other and I was so glad to meet the Hangzhou team which has helped organize our trip. After a brief welcome meeting with the head of school, administrators, and Dana (the exchange teacher from the fall), we took a tour of the school grounds. Like DS, the school has a few different buildings: administration, classrooms, teacher offices, senior student study space, and a canteen. The students watched us excitedly and waved from their classrooms as we walked down hallways of open doors and windows (it was quite warm and humid - 70 F!), and we were told that there are about 50 students in each classroom and 600 per grade. Since this school is grades 10-12, there are about 1,800 students- many more than at DS! The students wear uniforms that look like track suits with specific color strips on the legs: red for grade 10, blue for grade 11, and orange for grade 12.

After our tour, we had lunch and met the school chef who told us that his name is Mr. Bacon because the pronunciation of his name in Chinese is close to “bacon” in English. He asked us what kinds of foods we like to eat most (Kelby and I said “Eggplant!” first, unsurprisingly!) because he will make lunch just for us every day. We’ll also eat lunch with the two students who have been assigned as our translators. They are both senior 3 students (grade 12) who will attend Oxford University in the fall.

Following lunch, the girls met their host families at the school entrance. As we separated for the first time in 4 weeks, I couldn’t help but feel that it was the end of an era! I’ll see the girls at school every day and we’ll spend a good amount of time together (special classes just for us, daily lunch, weekend day trips with the English teaching faculty), but it will be different than our practically uninterrupted bonding time while traveling. They were sad to leave each other, but they were so excited to start the new part of the trip with their host families. After they left, Dana brought me to the apartment where I will live for the next month. It is owned by the school and it is so close that from the balcony, I can see into the classroom windows. It felt great to unpack my suitcase and organize some of the chaos from traveling for a month!

Dana and Charlotte, another English teacher who participated in the exchange in 2013, invited me to go to dinner with them at Grandma’s, a restaurant that several people had recommended to me before this trip. The food was delicious and it was great to talk with Dana and Charlotte about their classes, the school routines, and plans for the upcoming weekend trips.

We all slept well on Wednesday night before our first full day of school. While the girls went to classes (math, English, chemistry, government, physics) with their host siblings, Yvonne, the trip coordinator (Ms. Viz’s counterpart!) showed me my desk in the English office and we planned our group’s schedule. In the afternoon, we went to renew our visas at an official office in Hangzhou. The process was smooth for Liz and Kelby, but I had to return to campus to ask the administration to complete another form. The teacher who brought us was gracious enough to return with me that same afternoon, so we are all set with our visas now! We will get our official forms next Thursday.

All is well in Hangzhou!