It has been interesting for us to compare last year's experience in Beijing with our current roles in Dongguan. Working at a university is extremely different than an international school. The biggest change has been in our schedules. We stay so busy now with work that it consumes much of our time, and we say this in a good way of course. However, this added time devoted to school has cut down on the number of blog entries because we don't get out as much. On the plus side, we get better vacation time to do international travel versus just local sightseeing. Next week will be a great example of this as we travel to both Vietnam and Cambodia for the Chinese New Year. It should be a great experience that we'll definitely share with you in great detail next blog entry.
If you're wondering how we get so busy here let us explain. After coming back from winter vacation, our school calendar gets crammed as we get approximately two and a half weeks to get our students through unit materials. This can be tricky when many of our kids go to their home countries or spend their entire break with others that speak their native language so you can imagine the regression that occurs if they do not spend quality time reading, writing, and or speaking English during vacation. Some do and others do not. No matter the situation, it is our job to get them all up to speed with coursework.On top of this many activities have been occurring on our campus. Pazi has started back up with her Spanish class. She has added two new students this term so the class continues to grow. At the same time, Adan was asked to be the head coach for the boy's secondary basketball team. They practice two nights a week so this takes up a bit of time, but he enjoys it. His team plays their first game next week against the other QSI school in Shekou. This squad is supposedly very good so it will be a great test for QSI Dongguan.
Another point of interest to share is how much our school is growing as of lately. We have added twelve new students and that figure is expected to easily pass twenty when we return from new year's holiday! This growth has meant more planning for activities in our classrooms, especially P.E. when we have limited access to equipment. Nevertheless, the new faces in our school creates excitement and keeps us from getting bored. We are learning that working at an international school really keeps you on your toes for kids will come and go from one day to the next.
Hopefully you don't get us wrong, we really are doing a pretty good job of balancing our "schoolwork" and play. We are continually finding great shopping spots, restaurants, and meeting new, interesting people. Ultimately, we are doing well and enjoying our time here in south China. Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Yunnan province. Enjoy!
