First day at school in China - by Taneesha

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The first day of school is always strange but this would have to be the strangest first day I've ever had and I've had a few. I'm quickly finding that I have tons and tons of Chinese to learn and school should be a great place to do this, but just finding someone who can tell me what time school starts and what is in our food is almost impossible - almost.

Well so far I've managed to get to school relatively easily but now no one seems to have any idea what I'm doing here or what they're supposed to do with me. That's how I ended up sitting in a random staff member's office with no idea of what's going on when one of the guys who came over here with me and can already speak English and Chinese turned up. My thoughts turned from what the heck am I going to do to thank God at least someone else can help me work this out. That relief only lasted a minute or so because before I knew it another random and seemingly un-English speaking Chinese teacher turned up. After a few quick words my only English speaking companion to turn up so far was gone with a wave and a smart-assed "good luck". Obviously though I was on a roll and one of my other English speaking companions turned up but may have been unknowingly out to get me because he was just like the other, gone before I had even time to ask what the Chinese phrase for "Please help me" was. Luckily though, Yashoda turned up as my next visitor. Although she did solve some of the unknown factors of my day so far, my confusion for the day had only just begun. I was told by Yashoda that the school was not prepared for my arrival or, well any of our group of seven's arrival but I could come and hang around with her. This was a relief, at least I could now know part of what was happening. This relief though, like everything in my day, didn't last long as another teacher (by this stage they were all blurring together) came and told Yashoda that though they aren't ready for me I could sit in on her class. So there I was sitting in the very middle of a class of grade nine Chinese students all yelling for reasons which to this day remain unknown to me - not understanding a thing. The whole class did not proceed like this, thank God, once a teacher came in they quietened down dramatically and as the teacher explained to me (in English thank heavens) the class was having a test. I then proceeded to read for almost an hour and a half, finally finishing a book I had been reading for almost a month but at the same time exhausting all my entertainment for the rest of the day.

Our next class was English where to this day one of the strangest things ever to be said to me was said by the English teacher, a really nice young American guy. After asking my name he said, "I've never met a white girl called Taneesha".

Lunch was a strange and foreign affair which I came to realise in my first week would be framed each day by the class nine students seemingly having over an hour and a half for lunch. This confused me to no end as the Chinese students seemed to be continuously playing a game called "King" for the whole time (which luckily I was taught by a very nice girl call Lavender who I didn't know at the time would end up being my host family for five weeks). My day proceeded in a series of confusing, Chinese and to be honest dull classes.

I had been told that school ended at 1620 (4:20) but when 1620 finally rolled around and even when the bell went no one even moved to leave. I didn't end up leaving until 1700 once the teacher had given them their main lesson books back and released them to the bustling world that is twenty-first century China.



by Taneesha

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Photos

Music room
Our homeroom

Learning in Chinese and English
but mostly Chinese

Comments

[Yashoda]

love this
Keep sharing your experiences and learning Chinese words and ways (:

[Lyndall]

What a start!
The joys of traveling to foreign countries T - at least it has only got better from here xx