Monday，September 1, 2008 Beanstsalk School
All teachers are called by their first name, so I am Ms. Sue, although some say Ms. Susan. This sounds much more friendly than “Mrs. Benson”. Classes are identified by the first letter of the teacher’s name, so Mr. Michael’s fourth grade class if 4M; Laurie is 3M. For some reason, though, Ms. Amanda’s class is 2M. Some think it was a typo, others say it’s because one of the clerical personnel thinks she is “a Manda”...like a panda. Who knows?
I met with the principal for over an hour today. He filled me in on the history and organization of the school. The director is a parent who began the school in the mid-90s. They moved into this building midway through last year. There is a fiduciary relationship between it and the Chinese government, and there are several public school classrooms in a separate wing. The library is not what we would think of as a public school library. Although there are many books and children can check them out, there is no card catalog and a very minimal organization. Most of the teachers this year are new to the school. At first they came to the library asking questions like, “Do we have any books on….” Now, they , like me, know that it’s not only a crap shoot, by it’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack…only easier because there aren’t that many books.
We do, however, have several hundred Chinese books, all not cataloged, some still in their wrappings…OK hundreds still in their wrappings. Another thing we have is Oxford Learning Tree leveled readers…plus some Scott Forsman leveled readers. I don’t see much in the way of the great children’s books we are accustomed to providing back home though. On Monday the Follett Asia representative came. He tells me this is typical. If Beanstalk wants to set itself apart in Beijing, a state-of-the profession library is the ticket. I hope that we, as a team, can contribute to that goal.
After school today we had a staff meeting. Looks like a very good group of teachers. There is a field trip to Simitai, a relatively unrestored portion of the Great Wall, planned for Saturday, the 13th. I can teach French or some other subject after school if I want to. No school the 15th…it’s Mid-Autumn Festival. The vice principal took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone…on his Vespa. So, on my first day I found myself buzzing around the streets of Beijing, clinging to the back of a little motor scooter (Sorry Ryan, maybe you think it’s big.); down back streets (Where I’d like to hold my nose if I only dared free up a hand.); against the traffic, with the traffic, busses, taxis, cars, bicycles and pedestrians flying past me, all a blur. It was fun, of course!
I bought the cheapest telephone card. Ones with 8’s and 9’s are very expensive (lucky numbers in China.) Ones with 4’s are not. Apparently, 4 is like the kiss of death here. For example, my apartment is on the 13th floor, but I push 16 on the elevator because there is no 4th floor, or 14th, floor, and because they honor our superstitions about unlucky 13…no 13th floor either.
All teachers are called by their first name, so I am Ms. Sue, although some say Ms. Susan. This sounds much more friendly than “Mrs. Benson”. Classes are identified by the first letter of the teacher’s name, so Mr. Michael’s fourth grade class if 4M; Laurie is 3M. For some reason, though, Ms. Amanda’s class is 2M. Some think it was a typo, others say it’s because one of the clerical personnel thinks she is “a Manda”...like a panda. Who knows?
I met with the principal for over an hour today. He filled me in on the history and organization of the school. The director is a parent who began the school in the mid-90s. They moved into this building midway through last year. There is a fiduciary relationship between it and the Chinese government, and there are several public school classrooms in a separate wing. The library is not what we would think of as a public school library. Although there are many books and children can check them out, there is no card catalog and a very minimal organization. Most of the teachers this year are new to the school. At first they came to the library asking questions like, “Do we have any books on….” Now, they , like me, know that it’s not only a crap shoot, by it’s a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack…only easier because there aren’t that many books.
We do, however, have several hundred Chinese books, all not cataloged, some still in their wrappings…OK hundreds still in their wrappings. Another thing we have is Oxford Learning Tree leveled readers…plus some Scott Forsman leveled readers. I don’t see much in the way of the great children’s books we are accustomed to providing back home though. On Monday the Follett Asia representative came. He tells me this is typical. If Beanstalk wants to set itself apart in Beijing, a state-of-the profession library is the ticket. I hope that we, as a team, can contribute to that goal.
After school today we had a staff meeting. Looks like a very good group of teachers. There is a field trip to Simitai, a relatively unrestored portion of the Great Wall, planned for Saturday, the 13th. I can teach French or some other subject after school if I want to. No school the 15th…it’s Mid-Autumn Festival. The vice principal took me to get a SIM card for my cell phone…on his Vespa. So, on my first day I found myself buzzing around the streets of Beijing, clinging to the back of a little motor scooter (Sorry Ryan, maybe you think it’s big.); down back streets (Where I’d like to hold my nose if I only dared free up a hand.); against the traffic, with the traffic, busses, taxis, cars, bicycles and pedestrians flying past me, all a blur. It was fun, of course!
I bought the cheapest telephone card. Ones with 8’s and 9’s are very expensive (lucky numbers in China.) Ones with 4’s are not. Apparently, 4 is like the kiss of death here. For example, my apartment is on the 13th floor, but I push 16 on the elevator because there is no 4th floor, or 14th, floor, and because they honor our superstitions about unlucky 13…no 13th floor either.
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