First Week of School

I would love to tell you that the first day of school was the best day I could of hoped for, but that would be a lie.  Two kids peed in the corner, one got three different nose bleeds, one turned on the water dispenser, left it on and flooded the floor, cockroaches in the paper supply, kids ran all over the hallways, kids napped on hardwood floors, my TA was new so she had no idea where the bathroom or cafeteria was, I didn't get to eat lunch and I was short staffed.  Sixteen kids between two people is quite the task when the bathroom is down a long corridor and a language barrier exists between the students and teacher.  

I'd like to tell you that the second day went smoother, but it didn't.  Not only did everything from the first day happen, but new issues arose. I was still short staffed and there was one incident where my TA left to take a group of students to the bathroom and shortly after she left another student had to use the restroom.  I couldn't leave the rest of my students, so I told her to wait.  She starts to cry and grab her pants to express that she really needed to go to the restroom.  She was crying so hard that she started to dry heave and there was nothing I could do.  I gave a stern talking to the director and I quickly received help from a girl in the finance department for the rest of the afternoon.

Day three started off rough because I found out my classroom was going to be a trial run for a child known for his aggressive behavior.  This student was from the preschool classroom down the hall and was not getting along with other students because of hitting and biting.  The principal wanted to see if he would do better in my classroom and without informing me, placed him in my classroom.  Along with finding that out, the girl from the finance department came to help again, and she arrived with a peanut butter sandwich and started feeding bits of it to my students.  I have quite a few students with severe nut allergies and I quickly had to tell her not to do that.  Later in the day when we came back to the classroom after playroom, she turned on the television and told my students to sit down.  I quickly let her know that we do not watch movies in my class and turned off the television.  Some students got upset and started crying that we weren't going to watch a movie and I felt bad that they were mislead, but we are at school to interact with each other and learn that way, not from a movie screen.  
By the end of the day my trial student had bitten, hit, kicked, thrown blocks at, or pinched almost every student in my classroom.  I didn't want to right him off as a bad student; I wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself, so after school I called his parents and asked them to talk to him about being kind to others and using gentle hands and feet with our friends.  

Day four started with a family coming in to the school early to take their child's things from her cubby and to tell me that they were pulling their child from e school because their daughter was bitten the day before.  At lunch I was told that a parent was in the office waiting to talk with me.  She was concerned that her child was not eating enough and not sleeping enough at nap time.  I reassured her and hurried off to finish my own lunch.  After school I had a meeting with the mother of my student who bites, kicks, and hits other students.  I informed her of the behavior her son exhibited in the classroom and she decided to take her son out of the school.  

TGIF!!!  Just knowing that my week was almost at an end made getting up in the morning that much easier.  The cooks actually had breakfast set out on time, I treated myself to a cup of coffee, and I was told that some more toys would be delivered to my classroom by that afternoon.  Things were looking up.  Once school started, my student who had been bitten re-enrolled, my TA was late and a student peed their pants.  I made it through the rest of the day with a lot of disruptions and havoc, but I survived.

Looking back on this week of complete torture and stress I realize now how much I do not want to teach preschool when I get back to the states.  I enjoy students who are old enough to go to the bathroom on their own, walking in straight lines, having specialists pull out my class for an hour, and most of all, students who speak ENGLISH!  For the next year though, I will be teaching preschool and I can accept that it will take us a long time to reach a point when my students understand simple instructions in English and don't cry when they get dropped off at school.  What a first week, it can only get better, and I cannot wait until it does.

Classroom

Over the past week I have been working in my classroom, organizing cupboards, washing windows, and decorating bulletin boards.  I never knew how hard a decision it was to decide what vibe you want represented in your classroom.  I know that I want my students to feel that this is their space and everything in it is for their use.  Can you picture a classroom from your childhood that felt like everything in the room belonged to the teacher and you weren't allowed to touch it?  I can, and I hope my students do not experience any of those feelings while being a member of our classroom.
Decorating a classroom that has been gutted and stripped down has been a challenge for me.  So far, I have made a big paper tree with colorful leaves on one and a tissue paper flower border for the birthday bulletin board.  I have two more to decorate, and I think that I want one to be dedicated for student work, and the other for pictures of my students' families.  I'm still deciding what cute yet cheesy one liner I want outside my classroom to welcome students on the first day of school.  My coworkers have each picked a theme for the walls outside their classroom, and I am having a hard time coming up with what I want to do.  Eventually it will come to me, and you can count on it being cliche yet cute.

New Apartment!!

On Tuesday I was finally able to move into my new apartment with my room mate Elise.  It was so nice to finally unpack and have all my stuff where it belonged.  Walking around our new home we were both super excited and we both thought we had gotten one of the better apartments compared to some of our coworkers.  The place is fully furnished besides sheets and dishes, with a huge flat screen television, mondo speakers and leather couches.  We were given a form to fill out that documented all the faults in the apartment so we wouldn't get charged for being responsible for the damages.  Walking around and inspecting every inch of the apartment we discovered that three of our windows do not have latches, so turning on the air conditioning is pointless.  The gas stove does not work, we have no hot water, and there is no handle to my bedroom door. That night I was so ready to climb into my bed and get some rest, and as I lay there I felt a sharp pang in my back.  I move a little and there is another in a different part of my back.  I get up and feel with my hands only to find that the springs in the mattress are poking through the mattress and stabbing me in the back.  Due to exhaustion, I decide to stick it out and try to sleep atop my comforter and use my towel as a blanket.  I ended up tossing and turning all night.  In the morning I awoke to my fingers and eyes swollen and painful to the touch.  In the past that has been my body's response to black mold being in my vicinity.  I decided to scour over every room more carefully and found black mold all over the bathroom, in the kitchen, and on the walls.  I talked to the ladies in admissions office at the school and they sent over the handyman from the school.  Most of what we put on our damages list he said we are just going to have to deal with, and getting rid of the mold would be up to me, because everybody has black mold in China.  I went to Wal-Mart looking for some clorox spray cleaner, but the thing does not exist here.  I found a cleaner of some sort under the kitchen sink and scrubbed and scrubbed at the black mold with no luck.  For some reason it likes where it is and is not coming off.  Tomorrow I plan on asking one of the translators to come with me to find some kind of bleach solution so I can get rid of the mold and feel better about living in my apartment.  

Funny side note.  The other day I came home and I couldn't unlock my apartment because someone had locked the special inside lock.  I was about to leave when the door opened and a Chinese lady is standing in my apartment with her shoes off.  I didn't know what to do, so I went in and put my bags in my room and come out to see the woman sitting on my couch with her hands behind her head and her feet up on my coffee table.  Just then I remembered that the school provides a maid service and this must be her.  Once she sees that I am not leaving, she gets her shoes on and leaves.  A little later I go to my coworkers apartment to hang out and the maid is there sitting on their couch with her hands behind her head and her feet up on their coffee table.  At least she wasn't smoking a cigarette, right? 

So far, we have gotten our hot water turned on, and a door handle for my bedroom.  Hopefully we will get our kitchen stove to work soon, because I'm a little tired of cereal and yogurt.  Plus, as much as I like our leather couch, it's not the most comfortable thing in the world to sleep on, but it is far better than having springs stab your back all night long!

Universiade

This year Shenzhen was chosen to host the 26th annual Universiade games.  I had never heard of them before, and have learned that they are basically the university's version of the Olympic games.  Universities from around the world compete in every sporting event to find out what team is ranked the best.  Last night I went to the U.S.A verse Turkey men's volleyball match and it was a blast.  We were surrounded by Chinese spectators whom were all cheering for Turkey.  Every day when my coworkers and I walk down the street many Chinese people take our pictures or ask to have their picture taken with us.  At the volleyball match was no exception, other than the sheer magnitude of pictures that were taken of our entourage.  Every time the U.S. made a kill or succeeded with a block, our group would stand up and cheer, which was followed by Chinese people taking our photographs or turning around and laughing at us.  Even though we were surrounded by non U.S.A. fans, our team was victorious and we walked out of the gym with our heads held high. 

Open House

Today was the open house for the school and I was very nervous about talking with parents and being able to answer all their questions. One reason why I was so nervous was because I myself have so many questions about what a day in the classroom is supposed to look like that how am I expected to reassure parents that I know what I am doing.  Secondly, this is the first time that I will have parents asking me and not anyone else what is to be expected during the school year.  This is it, the time has arrived where I have no other teacher to look to when I don't know what to do.  Im all grown up and taking on a grown up job and grown up responsibilities.  This was the cause of some stress, but once families starting showing up, that stress eased off and I was able to calm down and cherish the moment of this being a learning experience and one that I would never forget. 

I had a table with a a sign that indicated my name and grade level I would be teaching with a class list of what students would be in my classroom (14 total so far, but more are being enrolled).  I sat in a preschool sized chair for four hours and had one parent come and talk to me.  The dad knew English, but the mother did not, I chatted with the dad and was able to answer almost all of his questions with confidence.  The dad asked me if there was a city bus and I assured him that one ran right in front of the school, and he asked the question again and again I made it clear there was a bus stop directly in front of the school.  Upon the third time he asked the question I realized that he wasn't saying, "city bus" but "syllabis." I felt like a complete moron that this parent had to repeat himself three times before in could understand what he was saying.  Oh well, it makes for a funny story and an initiation for more misunderstandings to come.  

I was so excited to see my class list and find out all the names of my students.  I have one whose name is Woody and I think that may be attributed to the Toy Story movies being so popular.  Most of my students are Chinese, but have American names such as Henry, Danny, Angie, Alison, Nicole and James with a few who have traditional Chinese names.  I also found out today that the school has no prescribed curriculum, and I am expected come up with all of it.  I have no problem with that, the hard part will be collaborating with five other preschool teachers to make sure that our classrooms are in sync with each other.  I am really hoping that we all bring wonderful ideas to the table and agree upon topics and subjects to cover throughout the school year.    On Monday we are having a meeting to plan out the daily schedule for the school day, I have never experienced this piece, and I am looking forward to seeing how the process works.  

Apartment news!  I found out today that my new apartment will be in the same building I am in now, just four floors down and right next door to some of my coworkers.  I will be able to move in on Monday which is also the day that my room mate gets into town.  So looking forward to unpacking and not feeling like I am intruding upon anyone.  I really hope that the apartment is left in a semi clean condition, because I do not want to spend the next few days trying to disinfect and de-mold every surface of the apartment. 

Extensive Physical

I remember my first physical when I was ten years old and the shock when the nurse looked up my shirt, well that is nothing compared to the way the Chinese like to examine their visitors.  When we arrived at the hospital we were like pickles in a pickle jar all jammed in and bumping into each other.  I first had to get two passport like photos that were attached to my chart, get a number ticket so I knew when my turn was, then I had to fill out a very extensive medical history form, finally I had to show the receptionist my passport, photos, forms, and then pay.  I then received a form with a list of hospital rooms that I needed to visit which each required me to go through a different exam.  I decided to go to the rooms with the shortest lines first, and in room one I had a chest ultra sound, so I was sticky with gel for the rest of the visit.  Room number two I had to give two vials of blood and the needle was huge.  Room three I had my blood pressure taken along with my lungs checked.  Room four I had my weight done.  Room five I had my eyes checked. Room six I had a chest x-ray.  Room seven I had a probe placed on one of my ankles, a probe on each wrist and five probes connected to my chest, I have no idea what this test accomplished but none the less, I went through it.  Finally, in room eight I had to pee in a cup over a squatty ( hole in the floor to pee in), which is quite the challenge to pee in a cup half standing up.  After my eight tests I was able to leave and I was told that my results would be available on the 15th which would determine if I was healthy enough to stay in China.    

One thing that I noticed while in the hospital was that all the doctors and nurses wore high heels and open toed shoes.  I could not believe that these people who work with sick people and perform all these tests on people did not cover their feet up.  Whole other culture with lots of acceptable behaviors that are not in the U.S.

Other than being poked and prodded, my experience in China has been hot and wonderful!  Lots of funky smells and sights, but I am drinking in every moment and truly enjoying myself.  I laughed out loud yesterday when a parent stripped her child and held her while she pooped on the sidewalk.  I laughed more out of shock, but it is completely normal for children to pee and poo on the sidewalk. In fact young children do not have a crotch in their pants for easy access to pop a squat at any moment.  Also, in many public bathrooms there is no toilet, but a hole in the ground that is about the side of an orange called a squatty and we ladies have been practicing our aim if you know what I mean.  Oh, and did I mention that some of these restrooms do not have stalls? Oh yeah, I have to squat, aim and try to cover up all in one, quite challenging but where's the fun in sitting on a toilet with privacy to pee or poo, right?  Trying to poo and aim seems like quite the challenge, though I have not had that experience myself yet.  

My coworkers and I have been going out and eating lots of fun and interesting foods all family style and let me tell you, that is how dining should be.  We all share and experience the food together and best of all: portion control!  You get a little of everything and the dishes just keep coming and when you are sharing with 16 people you get to try a lot of dishes and splitting the bill that many ways is a great way to save some Yuan. The place settings consist of chopsticks, small tea cup, small bowl and spit plate.  The bowl is solely what you eat out of, and the spitplate is where you are literally supposed to spit bones, cartilage, skin or anything else that you don't want to eat onto.   

Yesterday I got to see my classroom and I am so excited to place my supply list with the school to start planning activities and crafts.  There are six preschool classrooms and we all will have about 20 students or so that we get to teach and play with.  On Saturday is the schools open house and I am nervous about talking with parents about what to expect throughout the school year because I myself have no idea what we are going to be doing.  The other preschool teachers and I want to get together and plan stations and activities to do with our students.  So far I am the only one with preschool experience and they are all asking me lots of questions and I have my own philosophy when it comes to what a preschool classroom should look like, but I am not sure if mine matches the schools.  The principal is going to meet with each grade level and divulge exactly what is expected of us and what curriculum we are to use.  That meeting should take place sometime next week, but I am so ready to get logistics and start setting up my classroom.  

Still no news on when my room mate will get here, or where my apartment will be located.  I will keep you updated!

Flight plan and arrival in China!

Salutations from China! I have arrived safe and sound and am taking in the grandeur of everything.  My flights went smoothly with a couple of delays, my first flight out of Medford was delayed because of the fog in San Fran, so I was wait listed for an earlier flight because I was flying internationally and they were worried that I would miss my China connection.  I was able to get on the earlier flight to San Fran and made it with 10 minutes to spare before I boarded the plane for Hong Kong.  I have never been on a plane that big before and I couldnt believe the amount of people that could fit onto it.  Also to top things off, there was a school group on the plane with us that were going back home to China, so we were surrounded by middle school aged kids who were quite the chatter boxes the entire flight.  The students behind me were constantly kicking the back of my seat and the one to my left was playing a game on his phone and he was trying to get whatever it was to move faster and smacked me in the face a time or two.  It was a very long flight, but for the most part it went quickly with the distractions of movies, books and sleep. 
Once we landed in Hong Kong it seemed to be a mad dash off the plane and now I know why.  Once you arrive you don't just proceed to the baggage claim, you make a run for the document station where you wait to show the government officials your passport and receive various stamps and documents to fill out.  The airport was huge and I had no idea where to go, so I followed the crowd and ended up on a train that took us to a whole other part of the airport where the document station is located.  Thank goodness I followed the right crowd or I would have ended up who knows where! Unlike the Medford airport where there is one baggage claim, in this one there are thirteen.  The doors that lead you into the baggage claim bring you right up to the first baggage claim and I was looking for number 13.  After a long walk, I retrieved my bags and headed to the arrival hall where I found the men holding signs with the school name and my name.  I met 15 other staff members who had just arrived, and we all chatted and waited for the cars to come so we could be on our way. 
Once we got in the car we had to fill out some paperwork and keep our passports with us because we had to give them to the police to register our being in Hong Kong.  A 45 minute drive and we were now at the border patrol to get into Shenzhen, and we had to fill out more paperwork in order to be allowed into this part of the country.  The police officers came up to each of us and held our passports to our face and scrutinized over whether we were the person in the photograph or not. Passing through the gates we were then stopped by more police who had us get out, empty our van, put our bags through security again and then allowed us to proceed into the city.
Another 45 minute drive and we got to the Meilin campus where we were escorted in and were introduced to all the staff members.  We then all ate pizza and had a staff meeting as to what to expect at our apartments and the following day.  I found out that I will be teaching at the Nanshan campus which is about half an hour away from the Meilin campus.  After the staff meeting, we loaded all our stuff onto a big van and went to the Nanshan school and got to walk around and see the classrooms.  The preschool classrooms all are covered from wall to wall with colorful decorations and fun toys.  Once I saw the classrooms I was able to take a deep breath and say to myself, "You can do this Jones."
My roommate, Elise, is not arriving for another few days, so I am staying with Ling a gal who works for the school in the admissions office.  Her apartment is so cute and bigger than I expected, I hope mine is similar when I get it.  The water in China is undrinkable even for the Chinese, so we all have jugs of water in our apartments to drink. Also, there are cockroaches everywhere! Walking down the street they were just hanging out scuttling around. 
Now that I have arrived and met my coworkers, I feel a whole lot better and confident that I can do this.  Later, we are going shopping to get what we need for our apartments, I will definitely be getting a foam pad for my bed, because my mattress is as hard as a piece of plywood, along with cockroach spray!

I am here safe and sound and appreciate all thoughts and prayers for continued safety and encouragement while I am here.

Ni hao and wanan from China!