Shanghai: Week 2 - Entry 1

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Today marks the beginning of our third week in Shanghai, and this means that the jetlag, culture shock and general overall confusion such a move entails are all somewhat lessening. The weather has been a mixture of hot, boiling and inferno ranges, and today lies somewhere between the first two. But I am writing this in the air-conditioned living room of our English tudour bungalow in Sun Island, which is a five star resort about one hour from downtown. (And that's a bona fide five star -- the place is incredible -- from its "Western Restaurant', tropical foliage, and natural hot springs -- to its wonderfully friendly staff who are willing to clean your room, do your laundry and run over room service at any hour -- and always, always, always with a smile. If you find this as hard to believe as we still do, check it out on the resort's web site, which I've included above.) Nevertheless, most of the new young teachers have started to move out to their own digs, and one of the major reasons being that Sun Island is too remote from the action of downtown Shanghai. The actual distance I'm not too sure about, because as I've said it's one hour outside the city -- but that's one hour in Shanghai taxi speed, which varies between 100 and 140 kmh!!!

Let me repeat, the shock of the move is starting to leave us, and we're starting to settle in. For example, tomorrow we're looking ourselves at three apartments in the French Concession area, which is a quaint location in the centre of the city we've discovered, with wonderful history, architecture, trees, parks -- and bakeries with the only whole wheat bread we've been able to find since we arrived!!!

On the work front, Monday is our orientation day, which means I'll meet the kids and parents, and then Wednesday we start!! The IB curriculum is promising, but daunting, so I'm expecting a steep learning curve. However, there is much consolation in the shared panic of all the other new teachers, which includes 9 other Canadians, 2 Americans and 16 Singaporean teachers. Roel and I have been enjoying getting to know them all -- which will take some time, since there are over 200 teachers for 1300 students on 2 campuses. Roel began his new career this week as the Communications Executive at Xuhui, the smaller location, leaving me to fend for myself at Minhang which is a very large, state of the art facility not far from Sun Island.

The returning teachers have also been very supportive, and I'm quite excited about the prospect of teaching a curriculum that's based in Switzerland, to a student body comprised of mostly many different Asian cultures, with a staff that hails from around the world. Last week during the staff orientation we watched the French film "Les Choristes" with English and Chinese subtitles, and then discussed it in small groups that had to include at least one Chinese teacher, one Singaporean, and then one other expat and/or new teacher, which means their nationality could have been Australian, British, American, Indian, or Philipino, to name most. Talk about a Global Village!! While I've seen this movie before, I've forgotten about what an inspiring teaching film it is with many messages, but as Roel put it, the overriding one being that you can't teach effectively through fear.

So, it's 4:00 p.m. and while I listen to a live CBC radio feed of "Nightstream" from Newfoundland (in other words, what people there are listening to at 4:00 a.m.) we'll end this first excerpt of our travelblog on our latest China adventure. I'll finish by saying that I've included pics of our first staff dinner outside the Sun Island compound, and will leave off by suggesting that if our first blog entry has interested you, then check out the following: www.sunislandclub.com, (our accomodation is the Silver Room) www.theshanghaishow.com, and if you'd like to brush up on your chinese, then www.chinesepod.com is the site for you. Thanks, Carly, for the last two -- they're amazing!!

So, 'til next time.............

Zai Jian!
Amy and Roel (next time, be on the lookout for our Chinese names)!!!!

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Photos

Sun Island Gang
Thanks to help from our new Singaporean friends we were able to enjoy a meal off the compound.

Sun Island Duo
That's us.....very jetlagged still (but still smiling!)

Dutch Colonist
Surveying his new domain....Roel on our back balcony.

Tai Chi in Fuxing (fooshing) Park
This man makes it look easy! (but it's not -- trust us)

French Concession Area
Our new neighbourhood? Wish us luck!!

Comments

[Lauren]

Hey you guys! This blog that you have going is absolutely great! It is so great getting to hear about all your experiences and adventures as they are taking place. The resort seems and looks amazing. Its exciting that you have found your apartment and i hope all is going well for you guys over there. We all miss you guys sooo much! Keep us posted on your exotic new lives! Love you both, Lauren