The Calm before the Storm?

It’s been a little while since I last posted a blog. Partly because I’ve had issues uploading anything onto the internet, and partly because it has been a rather quiet fortnight in Shenzhen. Nothing ridiculous and entertaining has happened in the past couple of weeks, which is a first! My lessons are starting to wind down now as there are only two weeks until the end of the school year left. I have just found out that next week will be my last week of teaching and I have to give the kids an exam. I’m a bit gutted because I was planning a farewell lesson for my last lesson, where I was going to show the students the photos I have taken of them and the school in my time here. Unfortunately I won’t get an opportunity to do this lesson, which is a bit disappointing!

I will really miss my students when my lessons end. Especially Grade 1 Class 5. They are most well-behaved, sweet and lovely class in the world and it’s almost a shame that they will ever get any older. They should stay as they are forever! Hell, I’ll even miss my Grade 5 class that sometimes seem to be possessed by demons.

I will also really miss the student that I have had one to one lessons with, Cissy. She is brilliant and has taught me a lot about teenage life in China. In our last lesson she told me that every Monday at her school, it is tradition for the students to shimmy up the flagpole in the school grounds. Now that I’d love to see! I possibly get the feeling that she might be winding me up though!

The students in Shenzhen always wear their uniform, regardless of whether or not it’s a school day. This has always seemed quite strange to me, as back home kids wouldn’t be seen dead in their uniforms at the weekend. That would just never happen. I asked Cissy about this and she said that the Shenzhen uniform is regarded as the best in China so the students wear it all the time because they think it’s brilliant and are really proud of it. To be fair, it is a pretty cool uniform. It’s a navy blue and white tracksuit and looks massively comfortable. I actually want one. Would it be wrong to buy myself a school uniform? Obviously I wouldn’t wear it in China. Hmmm, I’ll think about it.

I have spent a lot of time over the past fortnight looking for and applying for jobs. My job search has actually not gone that badly as I have already had an interview and have two more lined up. Getting a job in Spain before leaving China would be a dream come true! The clock is ticking though, the internship ends a week on Friday so there’s not much time to get everything sorted. It’s bizarre that this experience is nearly over. It has been one of the most surreal chapters of my life and no doubt that there will be more surprises to come in the next few days!