We went to school on the bus, but as soon as we got to the top of the mountain we turned around and got on another bus to travel to our cycling location. There were several KC students, maybe 8 or so, and then a group of about 10 students from the visiting school in Singapore. In addition to a couple of teachers, our principal came along as well.
We rode the bus to the bike station, where we were able to choose the bike we wanted to ride on the trip. It was an interesting day for us because EVERYTHING was in Chinese, so our principal put forth a lot of effort to translate for us. He was definitely watching out for us, asking "Do you have your sunglasses? How about the sunscreen? Did you wear sporty clothes?" Very personable, accomodating and helpful, and giving us lots of suggestions of what to do. So different from the image of the too-busy, distanced adminstrators we had expected.
The cycling trip was such an awesome experience! We rode about seven miles in total to our final destination, a small village in the mountains. The trail was diverse and we rode alongside a beautiful river, through some more wooded areas, by several larger sized temples, and even passed by an aboriginal village! When we reached the destination, we dropped our bikes and hiked up the mountain where we could do lunch and shopping. The students from Singapore were very interested in spending time with us, and a group of girls invited us to do some shopping with them and have lunch. There were many nice shops there with very authentic handcrafted items such as bamboo chests and clay teapots.
Afterwards, we learned that we would leave our bikes below and board a bus instead. So, we got on and Alaina and I both fell asleep. Next thing we knew, 45 minutes had passed and we opened our eyes and had no idea where we were. Before we knew it, we were getting off the bus and walking down this beautiful street lined with palms. Everyone was talking Chinese, so we just followed along, not sure where we were going. We thought the field trip ended with the bike ride?! Before long, we entered a ceramic museum, and we were led to seats in the back room with paints all set up. Soon, it became pretty clear that we were all going to paint a cup and then make our own piece of pottery on a potter wheel, but his directions, about 20 minutes long, were again entirely in Chinese! It was kind of fun to try and figure out what we were supposed to be from his body language and examples, without knowing the various steps. Our Singapore friends helped translate, and we were able to catch on pretty quickly.
Eventually, we got back on our buses and headed to the school, arriving at about 5:20 pm. Length alone made this a very different type of trip than an American school would take. Also, students were granted much more freedom. I am finding that these schools are looser than American schools in many ways, and the chaperoning of the field trip was no exception.
All in all, it was a lovely day and such a nice break from the lonnnnng school hours mid-week, and a great opportunity to spend time with students in a more informal yet still school-related setting.
A bridge we crossed along our journey...
View from the cycling path...
The principal getting all the students lined up and ready to go!
Sounds awesome! Do you think you might be able to incorporate some aspects of the laissez-faire attitude toward supervision you've observed into your teaching back in the U.S.?
ReplyDelete