Judy has First-Aid Class at BISS today.  She’s been whining about it all week.  There’s “no rest for the wicked”.

Today is the BHSFIC “New Student” Welcoming Reception.  It’s held in the auditorium.  All students, 10^th and 11^th grade are in attendance and some parents.  There are speeches, musical performances (some good, some not), and introductions.  My first impression of the students is very positive.  One of the singers forgot the words, and the student body started singing along, encouraging him to finish, clapping in unison.  Everyone has a really positive “vibe”.

We move outside for group pictures at the end of the program.  Parents, students, and faculty are all involved.  The sun is bright but the heat isn’t a problem.  The high today is 77F.

Judy arrives not long after I do, and we begin an afternoon of relaxation.  We’ve heard about a great “dumpling” spot just down the street.  When we get hungry we find it.  It’s really good.  I think we just found our “local” favorite.

Judy has her first program today.  The BISS Elementary choir sings two songs at the assembly today.  They are a “BIG” hit.  Judy says they actually sing quite well.  When we join many of Judy’s faculty at the Friday evening “unwinding” at Bluche Restaurant, all they can talk about is how great it was.  They had no idea what they were getting when they hooked her.

After school, auditions began for “Annie”, the BISS musical for the year.  Judy says the kids have great attitudes, and are eager.  The faculty members she’s working with all have strong talents to bring to the production, and are great with the kids.  The real struggle is working through the paperwork to get the “permissions” paid, so they can get the music.

I spend more time in meetings, learning about my students.  The counselor talks about the difficulty of meeting the students/parents expectations for college acceptance.  They all expect to get into Harvard, or Cornell, or Stanford, or MIT.  They’re not pleased if they have to settle for less.

Many of the students live on campus in the dorm rooms on the 5^th floor.  They only get to use their phones after 9:00 pm, and lights go out at 10:30 pm.  They have required study times after dinner, between 7:00 and 9:00.  If they have an evening activity, there’s no time for homework.  The 11^th grade students have a total of 13 different classes spread out between 40 possible classes (5 days, 8 classes per day).  The music class meets twice each week.

After the BISS “unwinding” at Bluche, we join Deb & Graham (Austrialians from the Burger Contest a few weeks back) for dinner.  They take us to their favorite “local” chinese restaurant near their apartment.  We are treated to 4 different vegetable dishes, and 3 different meat options (BBQ).  We are stuffed when we leave, and the evening cost us $15.  I’m liking this part of China really well.

Warning!  Warning!  This is going to be a boring two days.  I’m going to break out into a comparison of education in China vs. the US.

Wednesday begins my orientation at BHS #4 IC (International Campus).  I’m going to combine these two days together.  Both days were pretty much the same.  I leave for school around 7:30, and from the apartment to the meeting room at the school, it takes 1 hour and 5 minutes (cost – $.75 round trip).  This is true both days.  It rained Wednesday, but the commute time is the same.  The train is very crowded for a few segments of the trip, and standing is the only option.

Our meetings these two days include the usual distribution of schedules, and discussion of policies.  We’re going through the initial accreditation of the school, so there is also a lot of talk about the “Vision”, and “Mission Statement”.  I’ve sat through many of these meetings during my previous 38 years, and although I understand the importance, I am struggling to hide some huge yawns.  I’m afraid I wasn’t able to hide all of them.

My schedule will be two 45-minute classes of 30 students each on the two days I teach, Thursday & Friday.  I start at 1:50 on Thursday, and 9:50 on Friday.  Thursday is the long day.  I sponsor an Instrumental Music Club on Thursday afternoons from 4:15 to 5:45.  I’m through on Fridays at 11:30 am.  I’ll probably eat lunch and head home those days.

The school serves us lunch each day, and it is GREAT!  If this is Chinese food, then I love it.  There’s watermelon one day, and cantaloupe the next.  Both days we’re served several different options of chicken with vegetables and sauces.  There’s also a pork dish, and a beef dish.  There’s a noodle dish each day, and rice.  There are 3 soups selections available also.  I can’t eat like this everyday, but two days a week will be a nice break from my sandwiches. Teachers eat breakfast and lunch free, but I probably won’t make many breakfasts.  There’s a Starbucks across the street that will provide needed caffeine before the afternoon sessions.

The real interest of the two days for me is listening to the administration discuss why the school exists.  They are genuinely interested and concerned for the well-being of their students, and trying to prepare them to attend universities in the US.  They spend quite a bit of time talking about the Chinese educational system and how test scores are so important to determine if the student will get to go to the top schools in China.  Everything seems to be about the test scores.  They tell us that most students stop participating in extra activities and focus only on studying and “the test” after 8^th grade.  They don’t think this is good, and openly admit their students are missing a lot of socialization and struggle when they try to attend a US school.

Apparently the Chinese system is a lecture style classroom with little or no interaction between student and teacher.  The teacher lectures, and the students take notes and work on memorization of the material.  The students fear their teachers.  They don’t ask questions in class and they don’t express opinions.

Students at the International Campus have given up their opportunity to take the Chinese “test”.  Their only chance for a “successful career” is to be admitted to a US or UK university.  The school is an AP curriculum, so the AP tests in May are “huge” for them.  They also know they need to develop independent thinking skills for themselves and prepare differently to attend college in the US.  There has been some serious trial and error as they work through the cultural differences, and the school is new (2^nd year, 10^th grade only last year.)

They began last year trying to immerse the students in English, in all classes.  The faculty realized it was too much, too fast, and the students were drowning, so an adjustment was made.  The science and math classes were then taught by the Chinese faculty, in Chinese, and the other courses were taught by foreign teachers.  For this year, the 11^th graders will have most of their classes taught in English.

My job, it seems, is to present on overview of music to 11^th graders.  More importantly, they want me to engage the students verbally, giving them a “taste” of socialization in the US, and how an US classroom might work. Since my experience has been in the band room, not the classroom, this should be interesting for all of us.