Finally teaching :-) but Mao is sick :-(
I though that I’d add a little update from me. Hopefully I don’t repeat anything that Nat’s already written.
Well school is going GREAT. I’m really enjoying teaching my class and getting to know all of the staff. Cathy (another year 6 teacher) is helping me out a lot. She was trained in the UK and understands the British system really well. She was teaching at Yew Chung last year, so she also has the inside scoop about how they like things done.
We have to document EVERYTHING! Mainly because the parents are sooooooo anal – well they are paying US $15,000.00 not including uniforms, excursions, food and other expenses. So I understand but sometimes it just makes the day feel sooooooo long. First thing Monday I have to hand in a folder with everything that I have used in the first 5 weeks. Eventually by the end of the year I will end up giving in 9 folders with all photocopies, weekly plans, units and ideas that I used throughout the year.
So basically what I’m saying is…although I’ve had all the training, I haven’t had to deal with politics yet. That’s been the biggest learning curve – trying to show my independence, whilst not stepping on toes or upsetting the ‘apple cart’. But enough about school already…
Our Ayi (maid) started last week. She cooks fantastically and it’s a little pressure off Nat and myself. I don’t need to worry about coming home and doing a whole lot of house cleaning – I can just come home have dinner with Nat, study some Chinese (or do lesson planning) and then we can do whatever. It’s nice having our evening free.
My little kitten – Mao isn’t doing so well. We had to take him to the vet last night (a 5 min walk from our house) because he was having trouble breathing. During the week I had a cold and he caught it from me and then we found out that it had spread to his lungs and given him a lung infection. The vet checked him over really well; stuck a thermometer up his bum (he had a small fever), took a blood sample and then put him on a drip to hydrate him. He wasn’t very happy, but hopefully they will be able to make him better. We have to go back tonight – they are going to see how his fever is and check if his infection has gotten any better.
We got some skype credit – if anyone has skype add us in or email us your skype name. I would love to be able to chat with some of you over the net. That’s one thing that I’m really missing – just being able to chat with friends and family. I was using the home phone a lot, but after last months bill Nat decided that it wasn’t such a good idea. Hence the skype credit – Nat’s always looking after me. If you don’t know what skype is…it’s a free voice over IP chatting program – like MSN but heaps clearer. If 2 people have it, then we can chat for free, otherwise with credit (bought in Euro) I can call your home phone from my internet connection (0.017 Euro per minute).
Anyway I think that’s about all I have to add at the moment. We do try to keep you all updated, but sometimes it’s hard to take the time to write about our adventures when we are trying to live them at the same time. But as I said we’ll try our BEST.
LOTS and HEAPS and STACKs of love from all of us,
Sheree, Nat and Mao x x x
