Post #2 Sino-Canada High School

Hi again.
I thought I would write a little about the school I am at: Sino-Canada High School.  As I mentioned in post #1  it is housed on a big, gated complex that was once a theme park (plus a series of hotel towers) called Zplashes.  The high school and admin offices are in the main, round building, with ancillary buildings connecting off it.  Within the main complex there are hallways that used to be open-air passages - these have been glassed over.  The effect is an incredibly sunny series of main arteries.

When one enters any room and the air conditioner isn't on - that is your first priority.  Soon it becomes lovely and cool in there.  Then, when you open your classroom door the heat from these sunny greenhouse hallways hits you like a heavy, hot, wet towel. The walls are painted with cheesy murals (Anime - ugh) and rapidly aging photos of past graduates. 

There are about 1000 students, and they attend BC high school from 7:45 in the morning to 2:50 in the afternoon.  Then they attend Chinese high school courses until 9 pm!  One feels sympathy with them when they occasionally fall asleep in class.  Fridays are a half day, as a flotilla of buses away them to whisk them home for the weekend.  There is 100% attendance in class.  The goal of these kids, and their parents, is to gain admission to a Canadian university.  They take the Chinese high school program as an insurance against failure to get into a Canadian institution.  The range of English proficiency is vast.  I teach Communications 11 (this semester) which is like a "B" stream, with emphasis on the mechanics of English (though we are now going into a short story unit). The school has invented several pre-and post Communications courses to get them up to being able to cope with English 11, which I will teach next semester.  My classes are small - about 18 per the 3 sections, and there are 4 teachers for 11 sections of Com 11.  The kids are nice, earnest, easy. 

There is a big gym and track on site, and they have instituted a middle school (which is what I was hired for).  I was moved to the high school because the whole school is focussed on BC dogwood diplomas.  I was thrilled to make my move into the high school English department, as of course that is just where many people have always thought I should be :>), but also because the courses in that department are really well-established, whereas there is nothing in Social Studies middle school and the mad creating of courses has gotten old for me.  I will work with the ms team to develop their Social Studies (brought tons of stuff) once I have made Com and English "my own" and have some creative juices and energy to spare.

I will end with a pic of the hotel complex that about 80% of the teachers stay in (some move to town after their first year there).  Many local families are also residing there - I love the ones with little kids - I smile and coo over the kiddies and the parents are delighted, so there is a bit of a little bond there (what parent doesn't love anyone who melts at their offspring!).  I often embarrass travel-buddy Benson (post #1)  when I connect / make a fuss over babies and toddlers in the streets but he has to admit that the parents have all been v receptive.  My bit for international relations - the maternal bond...

 You can see a dome-shaped, abandoned building on the right, and the condition of the pavement, which makes a scooter ride v bumpy.  I have no doubt that the school will figure out a use for that derelict, and the other empty shells.  At the moment a separate-from-the-main circular building is being transformed into an elementary school - which will be open soon.

ta ta

Karen