Well tomorrow marks our return to teaching. Mr Pan came over earlier and delivered our new teaching schedules. We found out recently that the other campus where we taught junior students has since been separated from Tian Yi so we will not be teaching them again - only Senior 1 and Gifted like we did last semester.
What this means is for the next four weeks we have a whopping 10 classes each per week. I have 8 x Senior 1, 2 x Gifted and Courtney 9 x Senior 1, 1 x Gifted. We have classes every day of the week with some days as being only the one class.
We will be kicking off with an introduction class and then just some basic games and activities for the remaining weeks(maybe even an easy video class!) seeing we're finishing up teaching on the 26th.
I don't know how I feel about returning to teach. I mean we haven't done it for 2 months or so, so it's like jumping back in the deep end again. I can't really say whether I enjoyed it or not for the first semester. It had it's perks I suppose, some of the relationships you form with the students is really enjoyable, but we have never really felt like part of the teaching environment here at the school.
As we have been saying since day 1, the other teachers have never made any effort to get to know us, and within the school we feel completely isolated and alone. I expected it to be different - completely different, when we came to China. I expected to be involved in considerable numbers of things, making friends left right and centre, but there has been none of that. We have been completely devoid of workmates and the like and well I am just glad we are only doing this for another four weeks then it is OUTTA HERE.
As an example of this - our classes tomorrow will be delayed by approximately two classes as being the first day of semester, the students have a 'meeting' with the parents and so on located at the sports stadium next door to our apartment. Now I assume this is the culmination of all their military cadet training over the past week or two - a final show to start the year off. These will be our students involved in this and as per usual, we're neither told what it is, what it's for, nor are we invited to attend. This is just one of many such scenarios.
They may have treated us well and have kept everything above board - ie wages, apartment issues and the like, but from a personal point of view, they have really failed in every way possible in my opinion. I will not miss working at this school other than the interactions with some of the students. The 'life' at this school, if you can call it that, just isn't there, at least, not that we have ever been allowed to be involved in.
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