First of all, I would like to apologize for not writing for the last, oh, week and a half. Basically, ever since our classes actually started, things have been hectic. In fact, tonight is the first night I've actually had time to just...sit. And think for myself. Even then, I basically had to set aside time (that's right. I could've been at the arcade, or at dinner at a friend's house). But this is important. I mean, I've averaged about 4-6 hours of sleep a night lately, so hopefully I can get 8 tonight, yay! That would be amazing. Sorry, family/friends - I know I've been getting a few concerned emails, since I haven't exactly checked in with anyone for awhile. But my internet's been spotty, and it's not like I've had much time, anyway.
After the jump: Stories, a ridiculous amount of pictures (like 15 of them?), and lots and lots of fun! Yay!
Teaser:
Ocean Park, Hong Kong, the How to Train Your Dragon exhibit (look, Ma, no hands!)
Anyway, I haven't had time to think because I have such a busy schedule. No time to practice (well, last weekend, but my flatmate's guests had hangovers, so that would've been really mean) or even try to do yoga. :( Here's a pretty comprehensive idea of what I'm doing every day:
6:00 wake up, grab breakfast, buy snacks for my secret pal and my students
6:45 get to the bus stop - write vocabulary worksheets and bounce lesson ideas off Evelyn (we take the same bus)
7:30 switch buses in Central - big finance center of HK. Talk to fellow staff members and finalize lesson plans (for the following week)
8:00 run up 6 flights of stairs, have a quick staff meeting
8:15 run down all those stairs so that we can greet the students, yay! Cheer time!
8:30 run back up the stairs (and more), so that we can have morning ASM! (All School Meeting!) The students/staff put on long, elaborate skits (mini-plays, essentially), so that they can give us a Mindbender (brainteaser), a Word of the Day, a Cheer, a Game, and various other announcements. Yay Spirit Sticks!
9:00 Period 1: I usually have this off, so I have time to prepare lesson plans and print out things that I need photocopied
9:45 Period 2: (3 flights of stairs and long hallways) Yay! My turn! I have 1B in the morning - they're usually a little sleepy, so I have to be super energetic in order to get them revved up. They still put in quite a lot of effort though!
10:40 Elective 1: French class! French conversation, French movies (Asterix et Cleopatra, anyone?), a little French music (Alouette!)
11:30 Period 3: I have this off too, so I have time, generally, to do more worksheets and things for class. Lots and lots of vocab lists. Also, we just eat food in the staffroom.
12:20 Period 4: Yay 1A! This class is always a blast - they're all wonderful, their English is fantastic, and, okay, they like me. That definitely helps. I always leave with a smile.
1:10 Lunch! Yay! Mediocre food and fantastic conversation! Lunch is long, so that we can eat and then have a bunch of activities.
2:10 Family time! It's the time when a small group of new and returning students get to help each other (they have separate classes, so they usually don't interact that much). They solve the Mindbender, come up with a sentence for the vocab word, and start planning their own ASM (each family does one).
2:40 Elective 2: Salsa! (Okay, I don't know the first thing about salsa, but I just help out and do what Nick tells me.)
3:30 Afternoon ASM: The skit is completed, the problem is solved, and families present things. It's a nice way to wrap up the day.
4:00 Get on the bus! Make sure all the students get onto the bus, and cheer for them happily. Then we all chase the bus, running as far as we can. It's down a hill, so it's okay, but walking back up, sweaty and gross, is a pain. Down the hill, we're happy, we're enthusiastic, and we're sorry to see the students go. Coming back, though, we're tired, we're grumpy, and we allow ourselves to whine a little bit. Oops. But the students don't see that bit, so it's okay.
4:30 Staff meeting: organize ourselves about meetings, general student stuff, figuring out if certain teachers need supplies (shoeboxes, cups, water bottles, chopsticks... the usual).
5:00 Meetings, organizing, making posters for various things and other arts/crafts-y stuff (yesterday, I made Quidditch hoops. No joke).
6:00 We get on the bus! Yay! Before, we had to pay for a taxi down to Central, but now we can just get a bus!
7:00 From Central, a few friends, Evelyn, and I usually grab dinner and/or have meetings.
9ish hang out, or do work - buy necessary items for class. At any rate, lesson plans are worked on.
11:30ish head back home and do a little more work.
12ish-1:30ish collapse - pass out. Seriously. My notebooks have been my pillows before.
Well, that's a pretty comprehensive list. As you can see, I hardly ever get any sleep, and my days are pretty exhausting - being happy and pumped up all the time is tiring!
But it's worth it. Oh, it's so worth it. I mean, these students. I've never met such students before! I mean, I want to say that I kind of see myself in them, but I never worked that hard in my life. it's not just that they're pushing themselves to do English immersion, even when they struggle to express themselves in a foreign language. It's also that they've just overcome so. much. hardship. I mean, single-parent homes, and welfare, and part-time jobs, and babysitting their many siblings...How do they even do it? On top of all of that, nearly all of them are prefects and get good grades. I mean, these are just amazing students. They're so enthusiastic, and hardworking, and motivated, and just trying so damn hard to be good leaders. Furthermore (or Moreover, as they like to say), they are returning students (Summerbridge is a 2 year program), and they try to be leaders for the new students, who are younger, a little clueless, and hardly even speak English. So, yeah. I'm so proud of them. (Well, on the whole. I struggle with one or two sometimes, but the rest of them...) It's like, I can just give them homework, and they'll read twice as much, or sit and bang their head against their worksheets until they get it. But at the same time, they're always up for learning homophone songs, or playing games (homophone Old Maid, anyone?) and making up skits (adventures with Lady Gaga!). I mean, not all of them are brilliant, but they make up for that with perseverance. Actually.
And the thing is, teaching here is kind of an uphill battle. We were told that we would be teaching 6-8 students in each class, and while the teachers of the new students have 9 per period, my entire CDC (entire group of students) is 11 people, and we have yet to have a day with perfect attendance. It's not that the students skip - on the contrary, they want nothing more than to be here at Summerbridge. However, HK has recently switched education systems, so there's a new big exam coming up for them, which means that they've got extra lessons and tutoring sessions at the public schools, who want to make sure that their students do well (think about all that useless testing and preparation when No Child Left Behind got passed). Yeah. Also, they couldn't come last year to SB because of swine flu, so they're actually a year older than normal. Anyway, so we're doing all these lesson plans, and at the same time, we have to make sure that we don't go to far, so that the other students can catch up (some people are missing 2 weeks out of a 4 week program). It's almost like we're running a summer camp where the lesson bit of it is optional. But that's what I spend the most time on. So, really, what are we doing here? Also, the students here are 3 or 4 years older than what I was expecting - instead of middle-schoolers, we've got high-schoolers, which means they're a little more unruly, since we're basically as young as them. I mean, think about any young teacher you've had - they had a harder time with classroom management, right? Yeah, it's the same for us, but at least I've only got 4 or 5 students to worry about at any given time.
Also, apparently there's a typhoon coming tomorrow, so we're on alert for that. Lol. School might be canceled, which screws up my lesson plans.
Anyway, on to the pictures! And stories! Yay! (I said this was going to be a blog-dump, right?)
The view from the ferry between Central (finance district on HK Island proper) and Hung Hom (where Evelyn and I live.) Yay HK Skyline!
Nick, Eve, and I caught the ferry to Hung Hom after work, where we met up with Myles. Here's us in GH Whampoa, at some restaurant where we ordered a late dim sum. Yay Summerbridge! The other picture is from John's birthday dinner / SB bonding - here's a significant portion of SB, enjoying a Korean BBQ Buffet. Food was delicious, company was great, yay!
Ooh look! Here's us at the beginning of the Dragon's Back trail - our first hiking adventure. BEST URBAN HIKING TRAIL IN ALL OF ASIA WHAT WHAT (as voted by TIME Magazine in 2004) Left to Right: Sam, Myles, Roy, me, and Frances! Yay Summerbridge! (Also, way to represent all three sites! FTW!) The other picture is from the actual trail - a stream we found. Isn't it pretty? I would post pictures of the HK harbours, but it's pretty standard, and I took far too many. They're all on my Facebook, at any rate.
Aaaaanddddd... here's a giant spider we found on the trail. Roy screamed.
Yay Ocean Park! We took a picture with some shark guy...(that's what you do at amusement parks, right?) and then got soaked in the water section! Thing is, I really like Ocean Park. In fact, I may even skip HK Disneyland! (I just kinda wanted a shirt, to be honest.) Ocean Park has lots of awesome rides, and then there's also aquariums (we're pretty sure we saw two sharks doing it) and pandas! I saw red pandas (live ones, anyway) for the very first time! Also, I just want to say that I love the fact that Ocean Park is actually right on the ocean, so you get these beautiful views. Like, when you're on a rollercoaster, it's like oooh! I'm about to go down a giant drop, but also, wait, look at that awesome view of the islands! Lol.
What was actually going down in the above teaser picture. The shaved ice that Evelyn and I bought was lime green, so it sorta disappeared on the screen. :)
Oh look! VIKINGS! AAAAAAAAND A DRAGON!
The Charlie Brown Cafe, where we had an Avocado Egg Salad, which was surprisingly good. We didn't have any cake (next time!), but isn't it amazing looking? Yummm!
Us at the Peak (I have no idea where Tim went, honestly.)
Er...the craziness of the staffroom?
More to follow, I promise!
Paulina... my dear friend... you are absolutely insane and amazing. Looking forward to talking to you soon/whenever you get back :) :)
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