Call me a fool or a glutton for punishment if you like but last night I asked if there was also a closing ceremony and what time it would take place if there was. Molly told me the last games started at 0800 and she thought the final ceremony would begin at 1000. I sent a text to Janet to ask her to tell the bus driver to pick me up at seven.
Oh it would be so easy to point the finger and accuse me of being a goody two-shoes or of trying to curry favour with the faculty. Or even of trying to embarrass the other foreign teachers (none of whom as far as I know have even been sighted and are probably not even in the city - along with many of the Chinese ones too) but I don’t need to seek Brownie points, all I have to do is agree to sign on the dotted line to ensure another year here.
Nope, I would certainly like to earn a little more respect and regard from the students (not that they are disrespectful in the slightest) and demonstrate that yes, I do care about their education and also about the effort they put into things such as this. Certainly I could have lounged at home or if I had the money, gone travelling.
But without students there would be no teachers and I believe that by teachers completely disregarding the students’ efforts and treating them as unworthy to watch, then they do those pupils a grave injustice. I wanted to watch those kids receive their awards and I shall never forget the kindness my chicks showed me when I was in hospital in 2011. I would like to leave as lasting an impression on my charges as they did on me way back then.
Mercifully, the final sports day was brief. It was also the hottest. The internet tells me 21C but if it’s that cool then I am Chinese. It was probably that temperature when I left home at 0645 to get the school bus.
The bigger of the two minibuses was in service today, along with the safe driver. It was also completely full, having on board about ten boys from the other campus who were competing at ours. Sod’s Law states that if the madman ever has an accident we’ll probably all die but it is to be the safe driver that has the accident. And so it proved to be.
Speaking objectively, our man was being a touch naughty by turning right when in a turn left lane but for China that is quite normal. The woman in the correct lane was so determined she would not give way that she ended up creating an accident which she could easily have prevented.
It was no more than an exchange of paintwork but of course in China it is not simply a case of exchanging details and continuing on your way. Oh no, you must leave the vehicles in situ blocking all traffic and wait for the police to come, take a million photos and write a full report - in this case for minor scuffs.
You may have guessed we all had to disembark and take Shanks’ Pony the rest of the way. Good job it was nearly at journey’s end.
They have had some very odd events this year. There was the team hopping on one leg race, another where they had a line of rabbits/frogs hopping and today teams had to run in line with both hands on the shoulders of the person in front.
The races finished before ten but before the medals, plaques and certificates could be given out the results had to be correlated. So they decided to get the classes fell in and to pass the time challenge the foreigner to beat the party secretary at shooting basketball hoops. Remember this is the guy who has final sway on whether I stay or not? Well I’ve never been the type that would let the boss win at golf if I could win myself.
But this foreigner, until today, had never ever attempted to put a ball through a metal ring so it was somewhat one-sided. I must say my opponent was terrible as well because it took forever for him to actually score, thus ending the debacle and the students encouraging me loudly to score. Despite being reduced to utilising a single arm I thought I did ok, I bounced off the backboard a few times and hit the hoop most times, admittedly from underneath on a few occasions!
Then it was prize-giving while we all sweltered in strong sunlight. I was summoned from my shady spot to sit at the VIP table in the sun while this happened and had to dutifully applaud when everyone else did after the speeches, even though I had no idea what was being said.
Then it was over. I was informed the school bus would leave at noon. It was by now about 1020. Having ascertained the driver had not been carted off to the nearest prison, I decided I could really do with an ice cold pijou while I waited. I never got that far, I was dragged off to the bus, disappointed at not at least getting one iced lager down my gullet but happy to be leaving early.
Before the bus departed, one of the teachers came aboard and presented me with an enormous wok (see photo)! If I keep showing up at their events I could probably equip an entire kitchen!
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