On Break. Again.
Today was a half day at school and another family day. I like the idea of family days, of having the student have the chance to participate in fun activities with their parents along for the ride, although likely it would be a lot better if cell phones could be banned while going through the day's events but I understand that, hey, parents still have work and have made the effort as best they can to support their child's education and be a part of the school community. Today was a celebration of sorts for the impending Chinese New Year and that, as you can imagine, was the theme of the day. This morning was a fun-filled activity rotation, much like Christmas only with the English and Chinese teachers having switched roles. I escorted my group of parents and childrens through various activity stations (including writing Chinese characters, painting Chinese masks, playing traditioinal Chinese games, etc.) and barring one little hiccup it went fairly well. (I was told the wrong way to read the rotation map and messed up the order of stations, okay? Ended up having to commandeer an empty classroom when it came time to do our misplaced activity. *sigh* Figures.) After the activities were all completed (or rather experienced - I don't think any of them were actually finished within their time windows except for maybe the riddles and the games), the kids put on a concert, each class having their own performance. Kinders of course went first so we killed the time between their performance and returning to the library (it plays the part of auditorium for these things) watching the first chunk of The Little Mermaid. After their concert (which ended with a song from the Chinese teachers), we went to lunch and, once they'd had their fill of dumplings, off they went for three weeks of...whatever they're going to be doing.
I, meanwhile, after having some dumplings myself (when in Rome), helped the other teachers put the library back in order, accepted a box of Ferrero Rocher balls from the principal, put my classroom in a somewhat organized order, and bailed like my tail was on fire at 2PM with a rice cooker Sarah's boyfriend had won but they didn't want taped (literally) to the back of my bike. We were supposed to hang at the school until 2PM (even though we were done with the library by 1PM), and clearly I did, but only two other teachers did likewise, everyone leaving as soon as they could. Wasn't thrilled about that - I was in my classroom doing random laminating waiting for the clock to tick down for pity's sake!
At 5PM all the Canadian teachers met up at Home Plate. It's a restaurant in Sanlitun that serves BBQ. I had a cheese burger with, of course, fries and a coke. Between later tonight and Monday morning, everyone else will be heading off to various parts of Asia for travel, most not returning until the last moment before school starts, so this was a last gathering before we all dispersed. Except me. I'm staying in Beijing.
Don't get me wrong - I don't mind staying here and I'm hoping to finally have the chance to go to the Forbidden City while binge watching various movies, reading an actual book, and catching up on my blogging. I also have oodles of marking to get through and assessment paperwork to catch up on so, you know, I'll be a busy bee. It's just that everyone will be posting pictures of tropical beaches and what have you while I'll have contributions like this:
*sigh* Just... *sigh*
I, meanwhile, after having some dumplings myself (when in Rome), helped the other teachers put the library back in order, accepted a box of Ferrero Rocher balls from the principal, put my classroom in a somewhat organized order, and bailed like my tail was on fire at 2PM with a rice cooker Sarah's boyfriend had won but they didn't want taped (literally) to the back of my bike. We were supposed to hang at the school until 2PM (even though we were done with the library by 1PM), and clearly I did, but only two other teachers did likewise, everyone leaving as soon as they could. Wasn't thrilled about that - I was in my classroom doing random laminating waiting for the clock to tick down for pity's sake!
At 5PM all the Canadian teachers met up at Home Plate. It's a restaurant in Sanlitun that serves BBQ. I had a cheese burger with, of course, fries and a coke. Between later tonight and Monday morning, everyone else will be heading off to various parts of Asia for travel, most not returning until the last moment before school starts, so this was a last gathering before we all dispersed. Except me. I'm staying in Beijing.
Don't get me wrong - I don't mind staying here and I'm hoping to finally have the chance to go to the Forbidden City while binge watching various movies, reading an actual book, and catching up on my blogging. I also have oodles of marking to get through and assessment paperwork to catch up on so, you know, I'll be a busy bee. It's just that everyone will be posting pictures of tropical beaches and what have you while I'll have contributions like this:
*sigh* Just... *sigh*