Blog

Yesterday morning all the visiting schools from Melbourne got together for a meeting to discuss the trip to China and how we can use the experience to help our students back home. It was a great chance to reflect on everything we’ve learned and seen while we’ve been here.

And then, finally, some free time. All of us took a bus to Suzhou to do some last minute shopping before we came back to our hotel in the evening. About 8.30 pm a group of six teachers decided to go and find some dumplings for dinner. None of us speak much Chinese, and none of the restaurants near the hotel have any menus is English. We couldn’t really find much to eat, so some of us ended up eating fried sweet potato from a Korean fast food place, while the rest of us grabbed bags of potato chips from the supermarket.

We leave this hotel in about an hour for the 2 hour bus trip to Shanghai airport. Although we’ve had a wonderful time, it’s been very busy and we’re all ready to come home and see our familes.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us while we’ve been away, even if you’ve read this blog. It’s been a real honuor representing the wider school community in China.

We’ve had limited internet access and very long days, so it has been difficult to upload as many photos as we would have liked.  Once we are back home we will put some more on the net and probably some up in a display somewhere in the school.  Also, feel free to come and chat to any of us about our experiences. We’d love to share them with you all.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the last day in Wujiang Senior Middle School. The International Studies class welcomed us in the morning with a cultural display. Students sang, played musical instruments and danced for us.  And then they asked us to become involved. We had to get up and teach them to sing an Australian song. You are all very lucky to be so far away, because it’s not a good experience to hear the three of us trying to sing “Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree.”  But we managed it, and the kids did a pretty good job with it. Then we had to play games with the kids, and even try to use a hula-hoop – something most of us haven’t done for many years.

The class then took us through to another room where they taught us how to make Chinese dumplings – and they were really delicious.

During the trip we’ve had a film crew travelling with all of us, but yesterday they joined the Mooroolbark team at Wujiang.  They interviewed each of us separately, and also filmed us involved in different activities. Hopefully you will be able to see some of this film next term.

Principal Li then organised a farewell ceremony for us. It was very official, and Ms. Williams signed a document on behalf of Mr. Reid agreeing to continue our relationship with Wujiang. Together with our sister-school we are starting to plan some very exciting activities.

In the afternoon Jane and David took us to Tongli, a beautiful old town that is built on canals and is known as “Venice of the East.”  We had a wonderful, relaxing time walking around the streets and looking in all the shops. And then in the evening we had a farewell dinner with all the visiting schools from the Yarra Ranges and their Chinese sister-schools.

This morning we discovered that our visit had made the front page of the city’s nespaper. Very exciting, even though none of us can read it.

 

Our driver picked us up from our hotel at about 8.15 and rushed us to the school to set up our first skype class.

The Chinese technicians and teaching staff were very well organised and soon we could see Mrs. Stratford on the big screen. Ms. Cameron and Carol Hale also waved as they walked past. And then Ms. Young’s Year 7 Maths class appeared on the screen.

Some of the Chinese students were very nervous about using their English skills, but pretty soon the students sitting in  both classrooms were chatting, asking each other questions and having a lot of fun.

Thanks to the Year 7 students at Mooroolbark who helped us with the project. You were wonderful, mature, and we were very proud of you.

We then spent some time discussing education and life in Australia with the English teachers at the school. They wanted to know lots about our daily lives and how we teach. They also were very interested in our students.

Lunch was in the school canteen, where we had to line up with the other teachers and choose our food. Of course it was all Chinese food and very good. I wonder if our Canteen will start serving food like this?

After lunch Ms. Williams, Ms. Cooper and Mr. Cameron taught a big class of students – around 200 kids – for 2 hours. We showed them a fantastic video made by Casey and Steve, and the Chinese students were really impressed by our school. During this class we gave out prizes – toy kangaroos and other animals. These were very popular and even some of the teachers wanted some. We taught them some English, and some Australian English, before we got to the most important part of the lesson. We had an AFL football with us, and after we showed them a video of some footy, we taught them how to handpass a ball.  Many students and teachers lined up to have a go, and it was a great success.

We had another session discussing Australian Education with a group of Chinese Humanities teachers (who gave us heaps of food) before Principal Li and his staff took us out for dinner.

Cassie, another English teacher at Wujiang, took us with to see some Chinese towns. Our first stop was Dongshan, a very beautiful town on an island. Cassie told us that until about 15 years ago the island didn’t even have electricity and so everyone lived a very traditional lifestyle.

People still live in this town. There are narrow lanes that wind between the houses, and while we were visiting we only saw one motorbike – the postman. We walked around with Cassie and Joe (our driver) and enjoyed the lovely buildings and gardens. While we were at one of the halls, we were able  to Skype Mooroolbark College and speak to Mrs. Godfrey and some of the computer techs.

After Dongshan, we stopped for a delicious lunch. The restaurants in this area are very famous for the fish from Lake Taihu. Then we were taken to the famous Carved Building.

The Carved Building is actually a whole group of buildings that were owned by a businessman about 140 years ago, with one main house where the family lived. We spent hours exploring the rooms and courtyards. Ms. Cooper even found the most incredible secret garden.

In the evening, Hunter and Jane took us out for dinner to a fabulous restaurant at Lake Jinji in Suzhou.

We’ve been told that some students have tried to ask questions in the comments section on the blog page, but have been unable to do so. If you do have any questions, please ask your teacher to send us an email on your behalf.

Ms. Cameron’s class sent us some questions, and so we decided to post the questions and answers here.

 

_____________________

Nihao All,

1. Do you have to speak Chinese while you are there?

No we don’t have to speak Chinese over here we choose to  with some of the basic formalities for example:
Nihao- Hello
Nihao Ma: How are you?

Xie Xie ( pronounced Sheh Sheh) – Thankyou
Boi Xie (you’re welcome)

 

2. How do you understand the kids and the other people you communicate with?

We understand each other as most students speak English and we are associated with English Teachers. Our Principal Li and Vice Principal Tang do not speak much English but with the help of universal hand getures and translators we understand each other. Most people are very good and the use of pigeon English helps too. We teach them Aussie slang and they teach us some Chinese terms.

 

3. Is the pollution bad?

When we were in Beijing the pollution was fairly bad. The first day we had blue skies but the second day was a yellow flag day (smog was between 100 and 250). The third day it was a red flag day (smog over 250).  At times visibility was down to 500 metres. It becomes difficult to breathe at times and eyes become red and throat quite dry. It’s not very pleasant being outside and there is a brownish yellow haze in the air. The day we left  to catch a flight from Beijing to Shanghai our flight was delayed for about an hour as there was only one runway open for departures and arrivals. The smog was very thick and it was hard to see the planes queuing up behind us.

There is much less pollution in Shanghai (although still smoggy) and now we are in Wujiang (town of our sister school) it is much clearer and easier to breathe.

Read the blog entry on Smog for more information and a photograph.

 

4.  How are you travelling around?

We have caught many modes of transport. Aeroplanes from Beijing to Shanghai, subway and buses around Beijing for local site seeing , a tour bus around Beijing and from Shanghai to Wujiang.

5.  Are the people nice?

The people are very friendly and welcoming. The other people on the tour are lovely and the locals all go out of their way to help us. At our Sister School we have mad many friends and it has been really nice reconnecting with our old homestays (Hunter – Mr Cameron’s) and Jane (Ms Cooper’s). We are very lucky to have such wonderful people and such a supportive school. Today for example, we were taken out by two staff members of the school and shown around sites in Wujiang.

6. Have you seen many Australian people while you have been there?

Apart from the people on our tour there have not been that many Australian’s. We did see a few at the Great Wall and a few at the Forbidden City.
7. Do the kids listen to music in English or Chinese?

The students listen to music in both English and Chinese. They have Chinese pop music (sounds a bit like Justin Bieber but in Chinese) and they like the pop English songs as well.
8. Is the food awesome?

The food can be ‘awesome’ but that depends if you are vegetarian or not! The food is generally pretty good. Most meals we eat around a big banquet table with a lazy susan in the middle. We are saerved plate after plate of local cuisines. This can be anything from rice, steamed vegetables, pork, roast duck, steamed fish, tofu, soup and sticky rice ( Ms William’ s favourite is soup and noodles, Ms Coopers favourite is the tofu and sticky rice and Mr Cameron’s favourite is the duck and crab ).

9. Have you met any people with red hair?

We have not met people with red hair but students seem to admire Ms Cooper’s.

Hope this answers your questions. Please send us some more. We look forward to sharing our stories when we get back…

Xie Xie,

Ms Williams, Mr Cameron and Ms Cooper

While we are having a break from our busy schedule at Wujiang Senior Middle School we thought we might share with you some of the pictures from our experience so far.

 The following photos are from the different faculties and the very formal flag raising ceremony which is held every Monday.

This morning, after breakfast, we were picked up from our hotel by Jane.  Jane is one of the English teachers at our sister-school, and she was also Ms. Cooper’s homestay host last year.

It really was wonderful to see her again and it seemed that our friendship simply picked up from where we left it. At the school we re-connected with Hunter (another English teacher and Mr. Cameron’s homestay host), Principal Li, Assistant Principal Tang and Secretary Zhu. It was great to also catch up with the other Assistant Principals and teaching staff we met last year.

There are a couple of banners around the school welcoming Mooroolbark College, but the biggest surprise was the three billboards – each about 1 metre high and three metres wide – proudly declaring our sister school relationship and displaying photos of our visit last year.

Mrs Godfrey, we miss you here. And Linda asked after you. The other teachers and Principals have also asked us to send you their regards.

We were given a guided tour of the school and spent some time chatting to the English teachers in their staff room.  Lunch was in the staff dining room – a lovely selection  of chinese food. We have a short break at the moment and so we’re taking the opportunity to update this page.

Yes, we’re the ones who are fortunate enough to be in China at the moment, but we are here at Wujiang Senior Middle School as representatives of Mr. Reid, the Assistant Principals, the teaching and non-teaching staff, and the students. And we thank you for allowing us to undertake this important task on your behalf.

 

 

So we had a great time yesterday up at the Great Wall. Of course we went to the tourist section where the wall has been restored, and although the smog was lighter up there, the haze still limited our viewing of the incredible mountain terrain around us.

We then went to a small local village where we enjoyed some delicious local cuisine before walking around town. Then it was back into Beijing with a quick stop at the Olympic Village.  The bird’s nest stadium and water centre are fantastic. We took some quick photos before boarding the bus once more. Just in time too, as the smog was starting to irritate our eyes and throats.

We had a free evening, but most of the tour group was pretty tired and didn’t venture far from the hotel. A few of us went to check out the silk market, which has about 9 floors of shops, but really only seems to have one shop that actually sells silks material. Otherwise the shops sell everything from shoes and sunglasses to toys and computers. A quick dinner, and the Mooroolbark team returned to the hotel for a meeting. We spent quite. A bit oworking preparing For the visit to Wujiang Senior Middle School and we’re getting excited about our return visit. Unbelievably we’d just finished listening to Ms. Williams’ speech  for the welcoming ceremony (She’d been writing it through the evening) when we suddenly realised it was midnight, and so we all went off to get some sleep.

This morning we will travel to Wujiang. It’s a two hour flight and then a two hour bus ride. .we have a briefing this evening and a welcome dinner, so I don’t think we’ll get much else done today. Tomorrow we’ll be back in our sister school. I’ll report more then. In the meantime, we’ll try to get some photos uploaded.

We’ve mentioned that the sky was clear and blue on our first day here. Our  tour guides told us it was unusually clear. We have all heard about the terrible smog and pollution in Beijing, but we had no idea.

Yesterday was smoggy. Thick, yellowish smoke/fog filled the air. The sun was orange/brown. We’ve talked about it, trying to describe exactly what it’s like, and find it very difficult to put into words. Even the photos can’t capture the reality.

Yesterday was a yellow alert day. A red alert day kicks in at an air pollution index of 250. This morning the index was over 450. Apparently three weeks ago it hit 900 after a sandstorm.

The visibility was down to around 600 metres in the city this morning, making everything seem ghostly and eerie. Buildings were shadows in the yellow smog and cars disappeared in front of us.

This week the congress elected a new leader, and environment is very high on the party’s agenda. Everyday the newspapers write about what is being done to improve the environment. But what affects the Chinese affects us all, and we all need to make an effort to recycle and conserve.