Spring 2017: Back in Hangzhou, Again

By the end of February, after two solid months of traveling, I was heading back to Hangzhou. In those two months I managed to drive a rickshaw across India (and only crash it once), make my first visit to Myanmar, party on the beach in Cambodia, and take a trip down memory lane motorbiking in Thailand. I certainly love to travel, but by the time I made it back to China I was ready to stay put. Not forever—not even for more than a few months—but at least for the time being.

As I write this it is nearly June, and in four weeks it is sayonara China. My plan is to head back to the US for my masters degree. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself just yet; there is a lot still to cover this spring.

During my trip to Hong Kong in April;
more on that to come in a later post!

Since returning to China on the 25^th of February I have traveled to three other provinces and Hong Kong, and in a week will be off to Macau. Now that my time is running out here I want to see as much as I can. I’ll do separate posts for several of those trips, so this will be a general update for what’s been going on in Hangzhou.

The other teachers had to be back in mid-February for the start of spring semester, but since I signed a short-term contract I didn’t actually need to be at work until Monday, February 27^th. Once I got back the others had settled into the semester; not much had really changed since I left at the end of December. We did get a new math teacher—a guy named Jason, from Kentucky—but aside from that all of the other teachers returned for the spring.

Robbie at our Xmas shindig

Well the same teachers were back, but Robbie, the football coach, was gone for good. So I guess I shouldn’t say that not much changed. Aside from Joanna, I spent more time with Robbie than anyone else. He had considered signing another contract with the school, but for some reason they took forever to get back to him with an official offer, and by then he’d already made plans for the move back to Scotland. As I’ve said in the past, organization is not one of our school’s strong points.

Oh, and when I came back this spring I started living in with Joanna (I moved all my stuff from the school apartments to her place before I left for India). So scratch that previous statement. I lot did change. I’m not one to divulge many intimate details here, so I’ll keep it brief. This spring is the first time I have lived with a girlfriend—and it’s my first serious relationship—so the change was an adjustment. I needed to take that step at some point, and overall I’m definitely glad I moved in. I enjoy spending time with Joanna, and sharing one place is much easier than going back and forth like I did in the fall. Plus her place (well ours now) is a nicer apartment in a better area. So yeah, a solid upgrade for me!

My new place. The bedrooms are upstairs (we have 2!)

I moved places and traveled often so far this spring, but as for school it’s been all quiet on the work front. Once I got back I continued with my College Writing class for the grade 12 students and organized weekly English Corner activities for the grade 10 and 11 kids. The class was only four 40 minute periods a week, and it seemed like half the time English Corner was cancelled, so my typical work day this spring is wide open.

The seniors' last day at school in early May;
they had cake and a farewell ceremony

By the beginning of May the seniors' classes finished and they no longer came to school, so things got even quieter. Now I am teaching a grade 11 ACT writing class, whose schedule changes week to week as the students cram for the upcoming June test. Aside from that class not much goes on up in my office. Last spring we visited middle schools around Hangzhou to market our international department. Those trips were once or twice a week, and since I had so much free time I was always part of the marketing crew. For some reason we made no visits this year, so my workload is even less than last spring.

I question the decision to skip out on those recruiting trips. Last year we had 80 some applicants to our international department, and 60 were accepted. That meant we rejected 20-25 students, and nearly 3/4^th were admitted. A few decline or drop out before the fall, so the incoming class tends to have 55 students or so.

This year we only had 63 apply…63! I thought 83 would be low. So that means if the school still wants a full class they can only reject maybe 5 students. Last year I already felt that we accepted some students whose English was simply not good enough for an international department. The upcoming year will probably be worse. In the interview portion had several students who could barely string together a sentence in English. Christian asked one how he got to school every day (the topic was transportation), and the kid answered, “I play football.” And Joanna had one who said literally nothing. I don’t envy next year’s teachers!

This year’s 10^th graders (they start high school in grade 10 here in China) have lower test scores than our 11^th grade class, which have lower scores than the seniors. Last year’s graduating class was significantly better than this year’s. Why the decline? I don’t think it is simply our school’s fault (although the marketing and the teaching can be better). In the past there were few international departments like ours, but now the supply is catching up to demand. Plus all the schools hold their admissions test on the same day, so if you are denied by one, there’s no second chance.

Some of the kids I coach on the weekends

Oh well, soon I’ll be gone and that won’t be my problem! It’s not that I don't care; I do want the school to succeed, but there’s only so much I can do. Plus, now I am looking ahead to the summer and starting grad school this fall.

Aside from school, I help out with basketball occasionally. At the end of last semester I taught on Monday afternoons at an elementary school, but in December that class ended. Now I coach with Chavi, the guy who runs the organization, on either Saturdays or Sundays. It’s only a few hours each time, but even so, the extra money is a nice boost. I don’t budget out a certain amount for each week, but considering I will be a jobless student soon, I need to keep an eye on my spending.

Hmmm…anything else to report on? There’s been an occasional party or event in Hangzhou—like when I showed up at one directly from the airport when I came back to China—but generally things here are quiet. I’ve had ample time to see more of China, which I will fill you in on shortly.