week 2 25th January - 31st January

This week has been great. I've had the opportunity to get to know some of the other exchange students better. We all headed to the outskirts of Tai Po to a unique restaurant with an 'all you can eat deal'. They bring you the meat, you put it on the screwer and cook it yourself over a fire. Its also been a busy week for Robert Black, the hall I'm in, as students have been raising funds for Haiti. I've been really humbled by how much the Chinese students have shown their care by writing notes, raising funds and throwing a desert party. There was sweet potato, red and black bean soups and I made fifteens.

Personal and Cultural Experience

Visiting Tai O has been the highlight of this week. It was also an interesting cultural experience. I joined the photographic society and we travelled for hours up and over Shek Pik. It was quiet scary being on the bus and wondering if we weren't going to roll back down the hill, this and the discomfort of my ears popping from the change in pressure made it great to finally arrive. This fishing village is unique for a number of reasons. The houses are built on stilts and there are no cars. The villagers are all very old, the students explained to me that all the young people have moved to the city and that the older folks choose to stay here and can survive because of the plentiful supply of fish. Tourism has also added to the income and survival of this unique village. While in Tai O we took a speed boat out some ways and were able to spot some of the native dolphins. The HK dolphins are pink and white in colour, it was like watching a nature programme on the TV as we just observed them in their natural habitat. They played with the other boat jumping over the bow.

I attended a cultural evening where all the students had researched different countries. As you entered you were given a passport and to arrive at your final destination it was necessary to receive a stamp from every country. Spain, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Brazil and the US were all represented. The students chose what country they wanted to research and this made the evening more fun because they had gone into depth, had unusual facts, were dressed up and each stall had a game with the aim of teaching you more. I had henna done on my hand which is fading off but a reminder of a thoroughly enjoyable evening of learning about so many different places in a quick fire way.

Professional Development

Michaela and I attended meetings at the international office to work out our teaching practice. The school would like us to do a block placement. I had thought that we would be doing our placement for two days a week but unlike the other exchange students the international school we have been assigned wants us to come for a block placement. This will be in April after the Easter holidays but I'm looking forward to being in the school and it sounds like we will be able to get great insight into how a school runs. We will be expected to attend all the events that a normal teacher would and have been told the only thing we won't do is meet the parents. I think this will be a great chance to learn more about the non-teaching aspect of the school day as it is compulsory for us to attend meetings after school. Teachers in Hong Kong are highly respected. It is not unusual to see a billboard with a teachers picture on it and there are even advertisements on buses for teachers who offer specialised help. Its similar to seeing an advertisement for a Leona Lewis concert. While Sara Lindsey was visiting we discussed the fact that they are treated like celebrities.

In my science class this week we carried out experiments on shrimps.

The groups were given a scenario and responsibility for working out everything was up to the students. Comparing this way of teaching to my experience of science at home where you are given the apparatus and a procedure sheet made it daunting but a much better learning experience. I would want to adopt this approach in my teaching.