Teaching in a resort

Life around Maple Leaf International School is quite exciting and intriguing.
Our school, with a student population of over 2400 with over 200 teachers, Chinese and Canadian, is located near the bay with sandy beaches stretching for a number of km. About 1 km from the school is the Discovery Theme Park which is gigantic. Loaded with rides and shows, it was drawing in huge numbers of families over the summer and only closed in October. We enjoyed the rides and a lovley Thanksgiving dinner back in October.

Our school is beside a six lane highway that goes from Majitan( what used to be a relatively small community) to the beach. And I live in the teacher apartments, just across from the school which is quite large and surrounded by fences.

When I was here three years ago, I taught 3 grade 12 classes of about 75 students. This time I have much less marking to do as I am teaching mainly drama to 2 grade 12 classes, 1 grade 11 class and 1 grade 10 class plus English to grade 11 for a total of about 130 students. We have 50 minute classes that start at 7:35 am and continue through until 4:40 on Monday and 3:40 from Tuesday through Friday.
I teach 24 out of 36 classes weekly. So it is a relatively easy load. The students are terrific. The hardest part of the day is trying to get up and down the stairs and through the doors during our 10 minute break time between classes.


I fill my time here very easily. I try to do a lot of reading- stacks of books and Magazines in my bedroom, living and study. I don't do much cooking as I can eat out at numerous Chinese restaurants quite cheaply. Also a number of Japanese and Korean restaurants around our area. I enjoy cycling or strolling to the market where I can buy all my vegetables and fruits for the equivalent of a few dollars. ( I usually get potatoes, broccoli, onions, carrots, beans, celery/lettuce, apples ( terrific) oranges, wonderful tangerines, bananas, strawberries at times. Bags of stuff for very little and oh so fresh, mostly from this area with their 'hot-houses'.

I also doing a lot of hiking , cycling, walking around this area, the hills, beaches, villages , bigger cities. Kaifaqui Free Development zone, close to us, has buildings and factories and apartments going up continuously.

Again I am fortunate in that I usually walk quickly and get to school in 30 to 40 seconds. I do spend a lot of time racing up and down the stairs as my staff room where I continue to have the messiest desk area is on the 4th floor in what we call the old building and I teach on the ground floor and on the 2nd, 3rd and 5 floors of the new building.

The area, only a small part of China, is a physical oxymoron- with ultra- modern building, high tech facilities and factories, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and other multinational corporations stretched out along beautiful smooth, well marked roads. In contrast, villages and communities where the donkey and cart and bicycles and old wells can be seen just a short distance off these main roads.

Every day brings new sights, new adventures and new friends.

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