A New Semester

After I went to Hong Kong and went back to Dalian, it was a new semester. Most of my students were new to me, except for my S.S. 10 class. About ½ of my S.S. 10 students' were from one of my 4 Planning 10 classes from the previous semester. It was nice to teach some of my previous students, because they knew the routines already. During this semester, I was observed by the principal because I was a first year teacher. It was quite interesting to observe my students when I was being observed and evaluated. They were nervous with me but most of them really wanted me to do well. One class went a little too far though. Two boys fought outside in the hallway because supposedly one student was not speaking in English and only in Chinese and the other student told him to stop because he wanted me to do well in my evaluation. My teacher instincts went up when one student asked to use the washroom and the other just walked out a few seconds after. They are both really good students of mine too. They both apologized after they relaxed and we discussed about it. It was very sweet that they cared about me but their actions were not called for.

April fool's was a lot of fun =) heehee I'm not going to reveal what I did but let's said I fooled two of my classes. However, I tried to fool a grade 12 English enhanced class and I was fooled instead. Let's just say they had more fun than I did and they ate the prop. before they even used it because they were hungry.

Another funny thing one of my student's did during the final exam was circled another teacher's name on the final exam front cover. Get this though, I know it's semestered at our school but I've been his teacher since September 2010 and the final exam was in June 2011. My last name only has two letters!!! I found him after his last exam and I told him and he was embarrassed. He did pass the final exam!

Sometime in the second semester, I brought my small toaster oven and some baking ingredients to school. It is not common to have an oven in a Chinese household because it is not normally used. Some of my students wanted to learn how to bake. I reserved three after school sessions for the students. I was amazed that some have never seen an oven before. I taught them how to make chocolate chip cookies! They learned about wet and dry ingredients and the different kinds of ingredients. They experimented a bit, such as, they did not mix chocolate chips in the mix but on top of the cookies, they made a huge rectangular cookie, a hand imprint, and engraved my name in a large cookie with chocolate chips. After they had about 2 warm and melting chocolate chip cookies each, I asked them if they prefer freshly baked cookies or the packaged ones; they all said the freshly baked cookies. I'm glad they had an opportunity to try something new. Maybe one day they would bake for their girlfriend/ boyfriend. I hope next time, they will teach me how to make jiaozi (dumplings) and/ zhongzi.

As I mentioned before, people in China go to a hospital instead of medical clinic or family doctors because I don't think it exists. I caught a cold and then I was start to lose my voice. As a teacher, a voice is very important. I try not to use it as often but doing different actions. However, I had to go to the hospital. I went to the VIP section again and a few doctors helped me out. One doctor believed that I had some sort of throat disease. I was a little freaked out because I didn't know what was happening and they were using many different instruments and sticking it down my throat. In the end, I just went home and took some pills and I was find in a few days. I do not have a throat disease. One of the most shocking part of my trip was, a woman went to the hospital for medical help I think for her eye. She had a patch on her eye so I assumed. She started to have a nose bleed and she asked a nurse to help her. The nurse gave her a few pieces of gauze but the patient needed more. The patient tried to ask for more and the nurse told her to go find her own gauze or tissue. I was in shock because I was in a hospital and the nurse and doctors did not even help this patient when she clearly needed help. Another observation that I made was there was no soap, warm water, and paper towel in a hospital washroom. I don't want other diseases or infections from other people. I always make sure I have tissue and hand sanitizer with me at all times.

I had a couple of relatives come to visit me in Dalian. Aunty Grace and her friend stayed at my place in Jinshitan for a few days. I climbed the rocks behind my building. I didn't even know they were there. Supposedly Jinshitan is known for the rocks. Therefore, my apartment is a prime location because I can see it from my balcony. Check out the pictures on my Facebook. My place is okay with 3 people. Not a lot of personal space though. They even had street food with me =) Bonnie and Raphael also came to visit me. Raphael kept me posted about the Canucks game because he was listening to it. GO CANUCKS GO!!! I stayed with them at the Kempinski for a night. It was so nice and comfortable. I even had a bubble bath. I cannot fit in the bathtub at my apartment ... We explored Dalian City. Autumn drove us to a few touristy places and we walked around a lot. It was nice to spend quality time with my relatives. Thank you for visiting =) Others, please feel free to come visit me or I can meet you somewhere else in China. Keep me posted!

Aunty Grace and I

Bonnie and I

There are many other events that happened at the school and in China. I will fill you in as I remember them. I have them written down in another journal that I left back in Dalian.