China Calling

Recently I had some WeChat with Angela, who used to be one of the board members for Shenzhen International Fellowship. This gives me an excuse for including lots of our old China photos.

Hi Simon, I hope you and Irena are well! I was hoping for your feedback. I’ve submitted an application to Green Oasis as a Year 2 teacher. How was your time there? Is it a place you would recommend?

Dear Angela, hooray! Yes, I did indeed teach at GOS for five years. On the whole, I really enjoyed it.

POSITIVES? The school paid the rent on our two-bedroomed apartment, next to Lianhuacun Park, the students were lovely, the school was fairly well resourced and the hours were okay. Some very good colleagues.

NEGATIVES? The food was horrible, ditto the dining room and some parents could be too pushy. The school follows the English curriculum (more or less) and that might be an issue for you. Also there were too many MEETINGS. (I hate meetings, in case you had not guessed). On the whole, I really enjoyed my time at GOS and in some ways I wish that I had never left! Give me a call of SKYPE, if you want.

Simon, thank you for your prompt response! I’m holding my daughter at the moment as she is napping, so I can’t give you a call now—once she wakes up I can try then though.

Your daughter is beautiful!

Music to my heart.

But how are you going to juggle a fulltime job with being a mum? Sorry, it should be "mom". English people have a "mum". You might have to get used to some boring, stuffed-shirted Brits if you get a job at GOS…

Actually I think this change will be easier! I’m head teacher at my kindergarten, which has been a wonderful experience. It requires a lot of time and energy though. I’m looking forward to being just a teacher again. If they’re like you, I will enjoy their company!

Excellent! I do not understand why anyone wants to become a head of any school.

Nor can I! What a difficult job! Kids are so much easier to deal with than adults. Especially primary school kids!

I think that you will like the head of primary, Anne-Marie. I think that she is still the head of the primary school.

Yes, she is! I actually had an interview with her and one with Helen, the principal today. She seems great!

I am not such a fan of Helen, but the good news is that I hardly ever saw her and rarely spoke to her.

I enjoyed speaking with them both. They painted a good picture of the school, but of course their job is to make it sounds wonderful. How much is true to life, however….

Helen was very keen of accreditation and I think that it is a waste of time, so Helen and I did not see eye to eye. I also (in my usual, tactful manner) told her why accreditation was so worthless and, having been a teacher since 1982, I also gave a few reasons and examples.

Oh I’m sure she loved that! Hah. She did seem very proud of the accreditation. She mentioned it a couple of times

Accreditation usually means more MEETINGS and I am not a fan of them. Accreditation really does not make much difference, although I suppose it might make the school sound better and more prestigious.

I think the prestige is exactly what the school was looking for. Of course in Shenzhen especially they probably wanted to attract more students.

Another thing about meetings at GOS was that they were full of educational jargon and acronyms, so most of the Chinese staff really did not understand what was being said at all and could not participate in any meaningful way. We had some great Chinese staff and I felt that these endless meetings were a massive waste of their time.

That’s unfortunate. There were a couple of acronyms used today that I had to mentally sift through and interpret. I can only imagine how much more difficult that would be as a non-native speaker.

My TP (assistant) was wonderful and the children adored her. She was so kind and she was like a big sister to the children in my class.

In general, was there a sense of community and collaboration amongst the staff?

It made me MAD when a few of the parents were rude to my TP (teaching partner). She was so good and she really cared about the students.

Parents are so difficult. That’s one of my least favourite parts of teaching—dealing with parents who don’t understand or respect what happens at school

On the whole I would say that most of the Chinese staff enjoy being at GOS and there is always a lot of applicants whenever there is a job vacancy there. Some of the GOS parents were lovely. If you support the school, then Anne-Marie will back you. I have to go and do some work because my wife wants me to finish something that I should have done yesterday. Give me a call on SKYPE, if you like.

Oh then you should definitely do that! Thank you for your insights. Lucy is still asleep but I may SKYPE you later, if I get a chance. Thank you!

Glad to be of help. God bless you, dear sister in Christ!

A few months later, I wrote to Angela again.

You never told me about the job at GOS. Have you actually started there or did you decide not to do it in the end? Just in case I did not mention it, I am now retired (that will not happen to you for many, many years). I do not have a beautiful daughter, but I do have a naughty and greedy little doggie. And our house is quite nice, if you like that sort of thing.

Angela replied

Your house is so lovely! And that view of the mountains and the trees! I did decide to take the job at GOS. It’s been a big adjustment it I’m finally settling in and I think I’ll enjoy my time there. Thank you so much for letting me know your thoughts on the place! Did you know they have a climbing wall now? It’s called The Hill, in your honour! I heard you were a big proponent for a climbing wall.

Dear Angela, yes, GOS is a good school. The bad news is that yes, it does some getting used to. I had five happy years there. Please give my best wishes to those who remember me (not many!) And yes, I was amused at your news re. the climbing wall. At last! I am sending you some more photos of our home in Bulgaria, as you seemed to enjoy the last lot.