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Published: January 12th 2017
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Chengdu
Our first Panda sighting!! I can not believe it has been 2 years since my last blog! I did so well in that first year of moving to China, writing a blog every month! Then every day life kind of took over.......school and nursery for the boys and then I started to do some voluntary work at a Chinese nursery and that is how life has been! But I finally get a little free time this week to sit down and reflect.
So we moved to China in Feb 2014. We were only going to be here for 2 years but we got the chance to stop for a further 16/17 months so grabbed it with both hands! This coming February will celebrate 3 years living in Teda! Just where has that time gone?
Matthew is now in Grade 4 at TIS (Teda International School) and William has been at the same school for a year now, he is half way through Kindergarten. The children have learnt so much by being at this school. Attending an international school gives children the opportunity to experience so many things that they would not be able to do back in England. For example, next week at
school is Chinese culture week (Activities celebrating the Spring Festival / Chinese New Year). The children have 4 Chinese lessons a week where they learn simple words and writing in Chinese but next week they get to experience Chinese crafts, Tea art, Calligraphy and Tanghulu making. I remember from last years culture week the boys were so excited when they got to make Moon cakes and bring their yummy creations home with them!
Each year we celebrate UN day at school (October time). The children get to dress in their own clothes that represent their home countries. They do activities to learn about different cultures and countries and then a big parade and photos at the end. It is so nice to be part of this. The school has a special International day lunch for UN Day where parents from different countries cook a small local dish.....I have taken part 3 years in a row!
Matthew has been on 3 camping trips with his class over the 3 years. They only camped on the school grounds but camping is camping!! They all get to play games, have a camp fire, roasting marsh mellows and tell scary stories around
Chengdu
This little one was only about 2 days old the camp fire.....so many memories that will stay with Matthew.
Now, if you ask Matthew and William what their favourite activity or event is at TIS they would both say the same......WATER DAY!!!!!!! Water day is THE best day of school! The effort the staff put into this day is amazing. There are around 10 different areas on the school field from things like water games, swimming pool, a MASSIVE water slide to sliding along a slippery sheet to throwing wet sponges at our friends and teachers!!!! Parents can join in too, I went the first year on my own and for the last 2 years Andy came along too! It is a day where the teachers, children and parents can let their hair down and have fun.......the rest of the year is busy for everyone!
Being part of an international school, the children get to learn more about different cultures and languages and how to adapt hands on and all work together. A great learning curve for later on in life.
Before coming to live in China, quite a few people said why would we want to leave our home in England and move all the
Chengdu
Panda play time! way to China (or anywhere for that matter!) Why would you want to live an expat life? The above is one of the main reasons! To give our children a great start in life, by seeing different cultures, meeting different people from around the world and learning about different ways in life and to experience those ways. Sometimes we can take things for granted in life, the things we have that other people do not. Clean air for example! It makes you realise just what you do have in life and to be thankful for it. Also a lot of people said we were crazy to move to China!!!! Mainly because of the pollution. And then the other half were saying they wish they could get up and go live in a different country and see the world......you just have to think, what is stopping you? anything is possible!
For me, I have leant so much about different ways to teach and how to adapt. How to adapt when you don't have many resources! Back in England I have spent the best part of 20 years working with children under 5 years in different nurseries. In a typical nursery
Chengdu
William spies fish! in England you have the basics like pens, paper, scissors, games, books, a nice garden to playing in and toys. Things we all take for granted when we think each morning "what shall we get out today?" I have been doing some voluntary work in a Chinese nursery for almost 2 years now. They have very little in their nursery. I go in a couple of mornings a week and teach them basic English like colours, ABC, shapes and numbers. But how do you teach without materials? I take all of my own materials with me and over time I have taught the teachers different ways to teach. The main thing I observed is how the teachers talk to the children. I have learnt that It is part of the culture but the teachers spend all day shouting at a very loud volume and they stand over the children! They find it amazing how I come along, I get down to the children's level and talk in my quiet voice. The children still listen to me, understand what the activity is etc but no shouting was needed!! Before I came along, the children have never seen paint let alone paint
their hands to make hand prints! or been given paint, brushes and paper and let them be free to paint their own pictures. So I have been on a mission of my own and I have tried to give all the children (All 180 of them!) a different experience each month. The favourite activity by most is simple play dough. I have made my own play dough mats for them to make pictures on and given them the tools to make models. At Christmas time we made decorations and cards and cut out snowflakes. I have also taught the children during circle time lots of English nursery rhymes. Some children know the words now but all of the children know the actions to all of my songs we sing! The favourite that is sung every week without fail in Tiny Tim! I have made props for singing time too for the younger children to use. Because the children speak zero English I have had to learn how to adapt my activities for them to understand and I have also learnt some words in Chinese to help me communicate better with the children and teachers!
Now, another reason we love
Chengdu
Culture street...... living as an expat is that we get the chance to travel near and far and for us to experience new countries, foods and see some amazing sites that you can only dream about! Here are some of the places we have visited in China and that we recommend visiting!
We went to Chendu to visit the many Buda's, Pandas and the Face Changing show!
Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army and amazing city!
Beijing City and outside to visit Hutong area, Water cube and Olympic park and Wangfujing Street. We also went to see a Kungfu show and The Golden Mask Dynasty show. And not forgetting the Beijing section of The Great Wall at Mutianyu. Longqing Gorge and The Dragons Head.
Here are some photos of some of the things we have seen and explored!
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