Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

So can anyone tell me what happened?
Somehow I ended up in the wrong school, thankfully!

This semester I was supposed to be teaching in the Huai’An International Primary School and that was where I thought I actually was until a few teachers and I were talking about the food during lunch. I then asked where the kitchen was and they told me that it hasn’t been set up yet. They then told me that the food was prepared at the Huai’An International Primary School so I kind of looked around and then asked where I was.

And that’s how I found out I was in the wrong school.

But after several days I found that it was definetly the right school for me, in fact it is wonderful and the staff are so amazing. When I was first handed my timetable I thought they had given me the wrong timetable as it had the words Handcraft, Art, PE and Music beside each class I was to teach. I was like, um something is wrong here, I’m an Oral English Teacher how can I teach these things when I can’t do any of them nor do I know anything about them.

And that’s how I found out there are only several hundred students at the moment.
My smallest class has two students and my largest ten.
Absolutely and amazingly brilliant!

In 2005 when I first came to China to teach in Tianyang town several my classes had over one hundred students. For the next few years and schools it was around sixty to seventy and my last two there were about thirty to forty. So what they have to do is combine classes to make it worthwhile having me here. So Music is Grade 1 to 6, Art and Handcraft combines Grade 1 and 2 and then Grades 3 and 4 and PE is Grades 1 to 6. So far it is working like a dream as in each class such as Art the actual Art teacher is in the classroom with me etc, the last week or so I’ve let them go back to the office and the students and I all:

Cut, paste, draw, skip, be pilots and firemen and simply have a fantastic time!
So, what about the school and why is it like a work site?

Obviously it is still half built, the outside shell on all three six story buildings are complete, the teaching building (the first one) is almost complete but still in shambles, the students and teachers dormitories building (the third one) is almost complete but still a little in shambles. The second building which will include more classrooms but mostly more dormitories for when the school grows over the years is far from complete.

In fact the inside looks like a bomb hit it or an evil run down building.

I live on the sixth floor of the third building along with teachers and the students dormitories are on the first to third floors. The rooms are basically a hotel room setup, a simple largish room for the bed, fridge, closet and desk and the other room is the bathroom and toilet.

Oh and no kitchen thank gawd as they are such a waste of space.
Like I need a kitchen, I cooked once in ten years and don’t want to start now.

The proof of my cooking was when JiangNi was tired from a long train journey and begged me to cook her dinner. She took a few mouthfuls and then begged me to take her out to dinner…and I thought it was one of my good dishes! At the moment I have one plastic plate and a knife to cut my daily oranges and to also spread my vegemite on my bread along with one tea spoon for my coffee, oh and of course I have one coffee cup, plastic of course as clumsy people should never own 'China’. I doubt I’ll bother with a bowl or anything else as like I said above, all my classes begin after lunch and the school provides free breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Like ‘someone’ once said, Keep Life Simple Dude!
Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by Danny Tenaglia
The album was ‘Global Underground’
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