Start to a New School Year

Ah, you gotta love government security measures. Has anyone ever uttered those words? No, I’m not talking about taking your shoes off at the airport, or being frisked by an obese man wearing delicate white gloves; I’m referring to security measures surrounding the G20, an annual meeting of the political movers and shakers from the world’s most powerful countries.

The 2016 G20 summit happened to be in Hangzhou during the first week of September. The high school year typically starts end of August/beginning of September here in China, but since the G20 is such as big deal, and China being China, the entire city was shut down that week. Well it’s not just China: I remember the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, back when I was backpacking there in 2014, when the government closed off downtown (or the CBD for you abridged-loving Aussies) for security reasons.

The Hangzhou Expo Center, built specifically for the G20, lies south
of downtown across the Qiantang River

World leaders at the summit; the few ladies present add much
needed color to the drab sartorial collection. Merkel power suits!

China likes to go big or go home, and the G20 was no different. Schools, most supermarkets, stores, and restaurants were closed across the city. Beginning the week prior to the summit the downtown area was off-limits unless you lived there—not that many people were around though, because the government actually gave discounted train tickets and temporarily eliminated highway tolls to encourage locals to leave (check out this article about the G20 here). Robbie, the school football coach, stayed in town over the summit, and he said it was like a ghost town. Although it would have been fun to see what the city was like during the G20, I was content with the extra vacation time. Instead of a late August start we didn’t need to return until September 10^th!

My flight to China was a doozy. I left Columbus on 11 am on September 8^th and didn’t reach Hangzhou until 8 pm on the 9^th. Now China is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, but still, it was a long trip. My first stop was in Chicago, where I was scheduled to have a 2 hour layover. As it happened we were delayed in Columbus for an hour, sitting on the runway due to a storm in Chicago; luckily we made it time for my next flight, a 16 hour odyssey to Hong Kong. I could have booked a layover in Beijing instead, saving me 3 hours, but I’m cheap. After a short break I hit the skies again and finally made it to Hangzhou.

Our decent into Hong Kong

I arrived the night of the 9^th and was back teaching on the 10^th—no rest for the weary! So although we got a longer break due to the G20, we had to work that first weekend back, and our fall break was cut from five to three days. That sort of thing seems to happen a lot here, where we have time off but then have to make it up, like when we have a holiday on a Monday...but you have to work on Saturday!

It was an eventful start to the new semester; we had a new boss, I took on an extra class, and our group of foreign teachers was still in flux. First, the big man. Well, last year it had been a woman: Sisley, from the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, had been the academic director of the international department for three years. Sisley wasn’t a perfect manager—no one is, of course—but by standards of the ESL world I think she was better than most. When we left school at the end of June Sisley said her goodbyes for the summer and nothing seemed amiss. Then, a week before the new semester, we suddenly learned that Sisley would not return to Hangzhou due to a medical reason.

I was ticked that they waited until the last minute to tell us. We foreigners always seem to be the last ones to know about news here at our school. The new guy, Byron (also Chinese, and no, not his real name either), seemed nice enough, although he also appeared to be over his head at times, barely staying afloat while trying to learn on the job. This impression was later confirmed when Byron decided not to take the job after his three month probation period was up.

Byron, who lasted all of three months on the job. He was a nice guy,
I'll give him that, but I don't think he actually did much of anything.

The new manager was a surprise, but new teachers were expected; that happens every year in the high turnover ESL world, especially in China. The unexpected bit was that not all of those new teachers showed up. When we started the school year we were down two teachers; fortunately they didn’t bail on their contracts, but instead were stuck at home waiting on visas. Christian, the new Geography teacher, showed up a few weeks into the year, but the other guy, Shawn, was still MIA by October!

From left, Joanna, Robbie, Christian, and Tina getting into the Christmas
spirit. Robbie, from Scotland, is the football/soccer coach, Tina is our
Russian dance instructor, and Christian is from Pennsylvania.

In the meantime I had to teach Shawn’s Speech and Debate class with the 10^th graders. Initially he was due to arrive in early October, then the end of the month, and when Halloween came and went without him I figured either he never would come, or this Shawn character was simply made up by the school as a way to get us teaching more classes. I marveled when, on a Monday in mid-November, Shawn the myth became Shawn the Academic English teacher and our crew was complete.

I actually enjoyed teaching the Speech and Debate classes, which were split into two sections, each meeting twice a week. As college deadlines neared I had more on my plate, but during the first month of school the extra class saved me from the monotony of my work computer and the occasional essay corrections. The students were new to our school and well behaved. Like nearly all Chinese students, most were shy, but as we got to know each other they opened up. Consequently it wasn’t long after they came out of their shells that Shawn arrived and took over the class.

A senior 1 class with Chris Bond, another new teacher (from Ireland).
Don't ask about those awful school uniforms!

Aside from school, there weren't many things to write home about regarding my transition back to life in China. I stayed in the school apartments—not an ideal location, but they are less than two miles to work. Since I stayed in the same place I was also able to leave my possessions in the apartment over the summer, which made for a straightforward start to the school year; no hassles with a new place or settling in to a new neighborhood.

Moving back to the same apartment helped make the transition back to
China smooth. This is a photo just before moving out...more on that later!

I did travel several weekends over the fall, which I’ll fill you in on next post. This is enough for one update; next up is my trip to Xi’an!