(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

The breakfast was a big western buffet! The best ever.

Some of the girls are scared of strangers -- like me, as I'm not their teacher. Also, when other Singaporeans talk to them at the restaurant, they are very scared and say that it is very strange that people talk to them just like that. Obviously, the kids have no concept that they are in an alien place. When other Singaporeans hear Singlish, they will surely want to talk to you. These kids have no feelings at all.

After breakfast, we left for the Panda Base. The place was very well-done. The enclosures were open like Singapore's. The pandas were very cute! And they allowed visitors to see their nursery via glass windows. We should allow people to see the vet building in our zoo too! They had a movie screening in English, which was good. We went across the road to get "chiong" panda souvenirs and other stuff. Once again, the kids were big spenders! The boy sitting across me on the bus had to borrow from his friend! He had 5 RMB left! I wonder if our kids are like that overseas. Yesterday, one girls' father even came over from Shanghai to Jin Sha Yi Zhi to meet her and he gave her even more money!

After the panda place, we went to Jin Li historic street, which is a shopping street. Again, we must have this in Singapore! Preserved old buildings along the street. I have got to suggest to STB!

We then left for the airport. It was the end of our trip. We had a KFC lunch and then got ready to check-in. Their teacher said that Xiao Long Ren school in Renshou is also as good as the Leshan Art School. Guess the schools they go to are all very good. Immigration had a quality survey! They really value service quality now!

The flight landed slightly early and I reached home at 12.30 pm.

THE END!

Teacher Attachment in China (Sat)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

We went to Emei Shan by foot. We took a buggy from the entrance to the temple -- quite remarkable that buggies could go uphill! The place was scenic, but it was temple stuff. We went down by foot.

Lunch was at the same restaurant yesterday evening. The kids had catfish (one of the best fish they had) -- and they did not touch it! It was the best fish in the trip -- no bones too. We took over their fish -- we had three! I thought it was because their parents told them not to eat China fish because of the bones (like my parents). But their teacher said that that was not the reason. They are used to their parents preparing servings for them. When it is just one big fish, they don't know how to tackle it. They pick a bit with their chopsticks and that's it!

The group has just 7 boys and the rest are girls. The kids are in general quite cute. But their teachers say they are monsters...

After lunch, we moved back to Chengdu. We visited Jin Sha Yi Zhi Museum. It was very solid, a museum built over an archaeological site. Very well-designed. And you don't think for a second that this is China until you see the Chinese words. A private developer had unearthed some old artifacts and work was terminated. (Poor developer!) The place was excavated and then it was protected by building a museum on top of it. Some of the stuff was reburied to protect them.

Ms Chen said that the Science Centre was also quite good. Dinner was at the same Tian Fang Lou Halal restaurant. We then went to the city shopping area. There were a lot of people in the streets! The weekend, I guess. We were supposed to take a tram ride inside the shopping area but the last tram was at 6 pm and we reached at 5.40 pm. The person probably thought we were not coming and left. Ms Chen was a bit disappointed that she could not fulfil her obligations. We then went to our hotel not far away. The plan tonight was to lock the kids in the hotel with the Singaporean tour leader. The teachers and P would then go out shopping.

I am staying with the AM tonight. The hotel has Internet access. They had net access in Dongpo International too. The AM said that he thought I was a big shot and did not expect that I was only a teacher. Probably because I'm very experienced -- 10 years. Anyway, it is my birthday today, so I thought I should see if there was anything interesting out there. The AM managed to sneak past the P's group which was delayed as he spoke to the children for a while. He also managed to elude the lady teacher group and we were out on our own.

We went to the shopping area by foot. We first went to a department store/supermarket. The AM wanted to buy tea, so we went to try out many varieties. He bought some tea, and we bought green tea cookies. The shopping area closes at 10.30 pm to 11.00 pm, later than in Singapore. We walked around and then eventually tried food at Dico's, which is a big Chinese fast-food chain modelled after KFC but with MosBurger's rice burger as well. One set meal was around 25 RMB. The AM wanted to look for a pub or a bar, but we could not find any.

We went back to our hotel and the AM accessed the net. I was in no hurry to access the net so I let him use it all the way. DBS axed 900 jobs today. And I watched the 2nd part of the documentary TV series on Shenzhou 7's EVA. Very good, this was not a dubbed show. The Chinese can be good when they put their hearts into it.

Teacher Attachment in China (Fri)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

In the morning, we moved out to Leshan and visited the Leshan Art Experimentation School. It was a marvelous school, well-run. Their programme for the visitors was also well-designed. They have small classes, 30 to 35. There is a plasma in each classroom. But they still had small tables. The fees are 10800 RMB a year according to a teacher but I'd say that was money well-spent! They have normal lessons in the morning and focus on the Arts in the afternoon lessons. Every visitor received a gift, teacher or student. The teachers received a hand-made fan with a painting on it.

We went for lunch. It was still the bony fish. After lunch, we went to Leshan Dafo -- a UNESCO site. It was done up pretty fine, except for the English as usual. We walked in, beside the river. Ms Chen chose to walk the site instead of just take a boat because we would get to see more. At the exit, we rode trishaws back to the coach park. Then we left for Emei Shan. We had dinner there at a hotel. The kids are really picky about their food. When they don't touch some dishes, we bring it to our table. When travelling with Huamin Pri (The Happy Learning Place), I eat with the tour guide, Ms Chen and the driver since I'm "extra". But it's good as I get to eat authentic food. After dinner, we had a short ride across the road to a shopping area for a twenty minute shopping session. Not much to buy, but the kids are really shoppers. Their teachers keep reminding them that they must carry everything back in their luggage.

We are at a hotel in Emei Shan. I have a room to myself tonight. That's a bonus! The hotel is all stairs -- no lifts. Luckily Ms Chen got porters to carry the luggage down. And she pushed her weight to get the people consolidated in one block for convenience. She is very dedicated to getting the best outcome in the tour and she is really good.

Teacher Attachment in China (Thur)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

I managed to clear the diarrhoea again before I went out today. Miraculous. Mr Zhu came to see me at 10 am and we went out by motorbike to the railway station. The security was very tight and the guard was really on -- no photos and bags. Then we went to the Public Services Building in the outskirts. They are very good! No different from us! We then went out to the other side of the bridge and then along the river again, but this time to the water wheel itself, right beside it. Then we went up on the dike to get a view of the river itself.

We went for lunch at the same place by motorbike. Another lady teacher joined us. She was of strong character and wished that China [CENSORED]. We had one good fish with very little bones. Then it was back to the hotel. Mr Zhu said that [CENSORED].

Mr Zhu came to pick me up at 2.10 pm. When we reached the school, I gave him his gift and Mr Song's, which I brought over from Singapore. I asked if I should also give the VP a small gift. (I had brought over a few.) He suggested that I should not as it was a bit too small, especially in front of others. No matter, I'll follow up with a Singapore gift and get Benjamin to carry it over next week.

The lesson was good and the drama was good, with the audience following and repeating. I expended my prizes too. I went to the VP room after that but they were having a meeting. This was an exception and Mr Zhu said they had very long few meetings. Mr Zhu took me around the school for a while. Many teachers were going for dinner in the cookhouse. Then the meeting ended and I met the VP Mr Bai. He bade farewell. The arrangement was for me to re-join Huamin Primary after their dinner in Meishan tonight. I would return to Renshou with them and move out to Leshan the next day. VP Mr Bai sent his regards to Mr Toh. He asked if Damai Sec could send him the necessary info on the main body attachment programme soon (by the end of the month) so that they could finish the work before the vacation. It would be too late if they did it when school re-opened.

Mr Zhu took me to dinner one more time on his bike. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and I packed up in a record 15 minutes. We took a cab out to the outskirts, and I joined up with Huamin at night. They were surprised to see the mysterious teacher who followed them on the first night and then disappeared reappear tonight.

We went to their hotel near Renshou and I stayed with the driver since I was "extra". (The teachers all had single rooms.) Doesn't matter for me -- I'm infantry. The driver remarked that my luggage was huge -- yes, I packed way too much. I had 2 sets of thermals which were unused. I did not need to bring a towel. And many of my short-sleeved stuff were unused -- I wash clothes each day as a matter of discipline to ensure that I always have clean clothes.

Teacher Attachment in China (Wed)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

I managed to clear the diarrhoea in the morning. I don't know how. It would have been most inconvenient if I had not. So probably it was just an irritant and not a full-scale microbial food poisoning, which would have been most difficult to fight on my own. HOD Mr Song came to fetch me again. His Spark was being used, so we went on foot around the city again. I recceed what to buy but did not buy anything. He introduced me to things which were Meishan or Sichuan specialities. We went a long way around the city, including the older and newer parts of the city. We basically covered the entire city centre. There was this fruit distribution centre which was just a dirty carpark. We went to the same place to have lunch, then went back to the hotel on foot.

Mr Song came back to fetch me using his Spark. The lesson was OK too, except that only page 1 of the notes was photocopied. They fixed it at once within 10 minutes. The mike died after a while but someone came to fix it and it was done within 10 minutes. I added in prizes for the three participants of the drama. When I gave out prizes for guessing the meaning of words in the Damai PPT (Art Club, Band, etc.) as well, the students all wanted one. In any case, I have only 3 prizes left for tomorrow, so it will be fine. My prizes are mechanical pencils which I brought over from Singapore. Just nice -- they copy with pencils.

I rode back with Mr Zhu to the hotel. He came back later and we rode to the dinner place. After dinner, we went on foot to the malls again. I had suggested to buy wine for the China P and VP but he said there was no need. I thought that maybe he was being polite so I double-checked with him. This time, I bought tea, Long Yan Su (local confectionery) and a thermal flask (not exactly thermos...) for me. Everybody buys tea for me from China so I thought I'd do the same. Box-set Zhu Ye Qing for Mr Toh, and bagged Zhu Ye Qing for Mr Leow and the 3 HODs. Zhu Ye Qing is some branded Sichuan tea, so it is meaningful. Of course, all of it will to the GO pantry.

We went back to the hotel on foot. I had a bit more of diarrhoea at 3 a.m. Not good at all. I must try to fix this.

Teacher Attachment in China (Tue)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

In the morning, I waited for a while before Mr Zhu came over. We went on foot to walk in the city. We went to some shopping centres to take a look. They are largely similar to ours except for some unique China products. Prices are expectedly cheaper than ours, but for some products, only slightly so. Their branded products are alien to us, but they know what is "China's branded". After a while, we took a bus to the outskirts. Their buses are like our old non-aircon private school buses and the fare is one RMB. We walked for a while until we reached a river-side park. There was water wheel, a small artificial beach and this was the place to be in spring or summer. There were also many good condo developments around the area, and it was a good place to stay. 2008 RMB per square metre for one development. Most of the sharing was done via chatting as there was not much formal sharing arranged by the school. We asked each other what we wanted to know.

We went for lunch at the same place by a shared taxi. It was difficult to get a cab as the roads were quite quiet. After lunch, it was back to the hotel on foot. Mr Zhu then came over later with his motor scooter and I rode pillion with him to school -- without a helmet. This was not my first time as a pillion, so it was OK for me. I've ridden pillion in Singapore before -- but not without a helmet. He had a helmet though.

The lesson was much better -- Food / Restaurant with some videos of 1E3 performing and the Damai PPT, so that they learn something about Singapore. The lesson had vocabulary first, followed by conversation. The students read aloud the words and sentences. I had my own laser / wireless mouse this time so I could walk around and check if they copied. Those who did not quickly started to when I got to them. At the end, I got three of the students to act out the scene. The watching students were excited as expected, and even laughed when the students could not say it properly (which meant that most knew how to say it). But I thought the watching students were a bit noisy. I'll get them to do something tomorrow to occupy their time. The teacher said it was suitable and the kids learnt something useful. It was also covered in their syllabus later, coincidentally. She said I might as well use the same package for the next two days, so I sent them in for printing.

After that, I rested at an admin room and saw some of the teachers working and two people marking. These two girls were very young! I think they are out-sourced markers -- alumni maybe. Or maybe they are beginning teachers -- but they are teenagers for sure! They were marking a CL test. They staple together scripts into a booklet for marking, probably to avoid lost scripts. Then I went back to the hotel on foot with Mr Zhu to put my things before we went on foot for dinner. After dinner, we went on foot back to the hotel.

Later I went out alone to see the night scene. I bought a Sec 3 Physics assessment book at a bookshop near the hotel. The traffic is chaotic in the city but since the vehicular speed is not very high, it is actually not that dangerous for the pedestrians. You need to have a safety distance between the vehicle and you, and then cross boldly. The traffic lights are also one of a kind. They are mobile as the junctions were probably never intended to be installed with lights. One four-sided light in the middle of the junction that operates on timing. In any case, when the lights are red and the traffic is clear, vehicles ignore the lights and beat the red light.

There has been lots of police cars on the roads these few days. I guess this is China after all, a police state. But they don't seem to mind the chaotic traffic or traffic violations. Even they go against the traffic sometimes.

I did not buy anything much as I was recceing first. I saw a supermarket and checked their prices. Actually, their toiletries are of the same price as ours, unless you get China brands. Their cinema tickets are about 25 RMB, with discounts for students and off-peak. Quantum of Solace was coming on -- they are as fast as Singapore when it comes to releases.

I had a bit of diarrhoea in the night. Not very good. It is probably some irritating spice -- maybe that numbing ma jiao.

Teacher Attachment in China (Mon)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

This morning, I woke up early at 7 am. I forgot to mention that the room does not have a bathtub, only a shower. I popped over for the Chinese buffet breakfast, which was interesting and good. The system here is that you get a breakfast voucher when you check in and use it the next morning. I got tomorrow's one tonight. Some local dishes, and porridge, etc. Fried eggs too. The teacher came to pick me up at 9 am with another teacher who drove. I did not catch what car he drove but he drove fast. First, we had a meeting with the principal (Mr Ge), VP (Mr Bai) and key staff of the programme in the conference room. They gave me a big bouquet of flowers. Then HOD Mr Song took me on a quick walk around the school. Pretty normal exteriorly, just like in Singapore. They have a hostel and a cookhouse. They have their lunch in class after collecting it from the cookhouse, explaining why there were so few seats. The roof apparently was damaged during the earthquake but is fixed already. I peeked at a class and besides the large class size of more than 60 and small tables, it's about the same. Students were well-behaved. No activities seen due to the space and large-size, but there's nothing wrong with that. They have subject notice boards done by students, as well as a board dedicated to Damai Secondary School! They also have a duty system like in SAF camps. They have a duty administrator, duty teachers, etc. every day. They also have motto, values, etc. statements like us.

After that, Mr Song took me to the San Su Museum and San Su Ci using his Chevrolet Spark. The museum focuses on the life and works of Su Dongpo (Su Shi), his father (Su Xun) and brother (Su Zhe). Su Dongpo was an exceptionally talented man who hailed from Meishan. The museum was world-class, what you might expect from any other city. There were English panels too, but they were simpler. I definitely did learn more about these three men. The San Su Ci was Su Dongpo's original villa. It has large garden grounds, but being autumn, the lotus were dying. There is also something about Yin Xing (Gingko) trees that the people like.

Lunch was at a restaurant nearby, with the Principal, and also some of his teacher friends from another school, Su Ci Zhong Xue. Some dishes were spicy, but it was acceptable save for the dish with ma jiao (I think), which numbed my mouth. I had to drink beer, but I did not drink that much, probably two glasses. We talked during the later part of the lunch when most of the others left. Mr Song then took me back to the hotel where we rested for a while. He explained the many TV channels in China. There are many free-to-air channels -- all covering different things! News, Drama, Law and Order, etc. There's even an English International Channel, a competitor to our Channel News Asia!

We went back to school for the lesson via Chevy Spark. Mr Song drove slowly but I think that is good because traffic there is chaotic. When you are slow, you can brake. Pedestrians are everywhere too, as are bicycles. You frequently go against traffic too. He applies the horn very frequently. The idea is to warn the others that you are there and tell them not to make any drastic moves because you are going to.

The first lesson was not good. Their level of English was much lower, so my original plan of using a "tourist English" lesson should have been used. In Singapore, I had been worried that it would be too simple, based on initial feedback by Mr Seetoh. Our English HOD had also said that it might be appropriate to use more English as it was an English lesson, and that we should get them to think up the answers instead of having items that they either know or don't know. But our Chinese HOD was very comfortable and it turned out that she was right and my original plan (lesson packages 1 and 2) was the most appropriate. Mr Seetoh had Sec 3 students while I had Sec 1.

The students were amused at the pairing of boy and girls but basically, they could only understand the Chinese explanations. I also should have the Chinese done up in the PPT and worksheet, but this was the English package -- only packages 1 and 2 were entirely in Chinese. They were not the sort to copy the Chinese explanations that I gave verbally. If I convert this to a Chinese lesson, it would be excellent. But that would be for next year... or for Vietnam.

Hot Food was fine as the vocabulary was simple and the students could elicit the meaning of each sentence from the words. But again, the students were not the sort to take notes. I will probably change the lesson package back in Singapore (no printers accessible to me here) so that they copy words only in Chinese, and maybe they can use it for Vietnam. Since many could not read properly, I got them to look at a PPT on our school.

The English teacher there reflected that proverbs were too difficult. The explanation in English is difficult to understand and since I explained in Mandarin as well, I might as well do away with the English. The topic of proverbs was interesting though as there are Chinese equivalents, which the students knew. The teacher remarked that even she herself did not know the meaning of these English proverbs until today. Hot Food was easily to understand but learning about poetry was probably not what they needed.

So I decided to serve Lesson Package 1 the next day. A good thing I prepared eight packages instead of two, with one difficult, four medium and three simple. I looked at their textbook and it was very simple (P1?), with a word list. I sent in my worksheets for printing. Walking past another EL class, I saw that they recited the phrases that the teacher read. That would be just the thing for Lesson 1.

After that, we talked a bit in the VP's room and then we went back to the hotel. I put back my things and then we went for the welcome dinner, which cost more than RMB1200. They had local dishes. This time I had to drink even more, Chinese "white wine", Dongpo wine -- much stronger. Each one of them toasted me, 13 of them if I recall correctly. I downed almost all those glasses, except for two, which I drank half because the alcohol fumes were getting to me. Also, Mr Zhu and Mr Song did not drink alcohol. Luckily, I made sure I had enough food in the stomach, so strangely, I felt little effect.

After dinner, there was quite a bit of food left, so that was their culture I guess. They left to play mahjong in the games room (qi pai shi) and I went back to rest in my room. Mr Zhu was surprised at how little effect the wine had on me. They thought I could hold my alcohol, but I told them that I seldom drank in Singapore. The secret was food in the stomach. I was very tired and so went to bed at 8.30 pm, no doubt the alcohol doing its depressant thing. I woke up in the middle of the night to write this.

Teacher Attachment in China (Sun)

(This is a pre-dated post uploaded after I'm back in Singapore.)

I joined up with students and teachers of Huamin Primary who were going on a leisure trip besides visiting their twinning school, a certain Sichuan Xiao Long Ren School. During take-off, once again I marvel at the miracle of heavier-than-air flight, the Physics of flight. The plane was an Airbus A319 -- a narrow bodied, small plane, which meant that this was not a frequently flown route. I had a late lunch on the plane at 1.50 pm -- Ee Fu noodles and triple chocolate ice cream. The flight had only 2 pilots and five stewardesses, surprisingly -- I did not know they made do with so few. One cabin crew leader and 4 stewardesses. And the Huamin kids were always going to the toilet. After lunch, there was a mad rush for the toilet.

After we alighted from the plane, along the long corridor of Shuangliu Airport, the AM (Eugene Tay) and the P's (William Pushpam) curiosity got over them and they chatted with me to investigate who this mysterious teacher travelling with them was. They were quite surprised that I was travelling alone. They thought it was because I was an HOD on some networking trip.

At immigration, I saw that they had immediate service level feedback buttons. Quite good that they are beginning to value service quality. I pressed the best button and the unsmiling officer (as they are the world over) broke into a smile. I think few had bothered to press a button and I was one of the few who did.

We were waved through without clearing customs as we were a school group -- just like how Changi Airport does it. We loaded up a bus to go to a Muslim restaurant to have dinner. There was a problem with the luggage though -- way too much to fit into the cargo hold of the bus! One piece had to go on the passenger compartment. We were in Chengdu. The tour guide was "Xiao Wang", "Jackie", female. We reached the restaurant soon enough. People smoke in the restaurant, which looks slightly Turkish. It is a Halal restaurant, since there were three Muslims in the group -- Aishah (Senior Teacher, Dean of Art), the P and his wife, who was also travelling with us. Was that a shisha pipe smoking corner? Maybe it is for decoration only... The group leader (Chen Jingyu) was most informative and professional, explaining the dishes to me. Not particularly hot -- I was expecting fiery hot stuff from what I learnt on TV and from friends / staff in Singapore. Perhaps they deliberately toned down the chilli.

After that, we went for a cultural show. It had the works -- percussion ensemble, Chinese opera, acrobatics, shadow play, changing faces, puppetry, drama, fire breathing, erhu master, etc. Puppets can change faces too! Very impressive stuff -- I think we should do this in Singapore. It was a teahouse setting and you drink tea while watching the show. I would doubt the quality of the performance in Singapore though. I'll find out if there are indeed such shows in Singapore. If there isn't, I'll get STB to look into it.

After the show, I saw a (propaganda?) poster on the wall which is about civilized society. Quite good that the country actually wants to progress and improve what they are weak at! we went to Huamin's place of stay for the night -- Dongpo International Hotel, which took a long time. We reached at 10.35 pm. After that, they arranged a taxi to take me to my hotel, MeiShan Bin Guan. One Chinese staff from the China tour company accompanied me. The teacher from Dongpo Experimental (Mr Zhu) was there and after sorting out the essentials, it was 11.30 pm. A quick set-up of the room, and I started work on my laptop, writing the day's journal and preparing the work the next day. I had decided to serve up the proverbs game to let them know that frequently, lessons in Singapore have to include games. There are parallel meanings in Mandarin, which is good. This would be followed by Hot Food, which is simple enough. They could watch the video of Damai students doing choral reading and of the author reading his work. If there were still time remaining, they could see the Damai PPT.

I spied what looked like a LAN point but found that the cable could not fit. There were no indications anywhere in the services directory that there was Internet access. I also checked for free WiFi -- there was one commercial one, but it was too weak. This probably meant that free WiFi was available somewhere in the city. It doesn't matter -- I'll be too busy writing daily journals, washing clothes or preparing stuff to surf the net.

Overseas Teacher Attachment in China

I'm going on a teacher attachment to Meishan Dongpo Experimental Middle School in China tomorrow. I'll be back next Sunday night. I'll be there all alone -- I hope everything turns out fine. I'll be teaching English as well as sharing about life as a Physics and English teacher in Singapore.