Chapters 10-12 School Number One

 Chapter 10

Teaching at the Number One Foreign Language School

(August 2002-July 2004)

I had never taught anything before I went to China. I worked at Land O' Lakes for nineteen years when I lived in South Dakota; I trained people for different jobs but I didn’t teach in a classroom. There had been other foreign teachers at this school before me. Besides Justin and I, there was a lady teacher (Gao Shan) from Japan that taught Japanese. 

Foreign teachers do not have books or anything to go by, they make up their own lessons. I learned how to teach by doing, although I’m sure some would question my teaching. I am not a trained teacher nor have I taught before. 

I tried many different ways trying to figure out what would work. Trying to be patient with the students and trying different ways so they would understand. Trying to make things simple. I learned how to speak slowly and to pronounce words better so they could understand me. 

I had been told by some people that ways of teaching in the US didn’t work in China and the Chinese ways don’t work here. I wrote on the board a lot using chalk, showing pictures and using simple common English songs (they knew quite a few Christmas songs) that they had learned.

The first time teaching was at the Number One Foreign Language School in Luoyang on Jiudu Lu. It was a middle and high school. Justin Patch was the other foreign teacher and he was from a small town, Peabody, outside of Boston. We had the 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th grades. 

Classes were forty minutes long and ten minutes between them. The students were divided up so we each had half. The middle school classes had about twenty five students. The high school classes had more. We each had twenty classes a week, which was 500 students each. We had each class once a week. Later on, Justin and I would switch students so that they would have both of us as teachers. One thing nice about this is that I could reuse the lessons that I had first used with my students and then use them again for Justin’s. Then I could start working on new lessons for the next semester. 

Between teaching and working on lessons, I would spend at least sixty hours a week working on them. I had never done anything like this before so I would really work on the lessons. I would write up something and then maybe redo it if I didn’t think it would work or it was too difficult. I made my lessons quite simple and basic.

The chalk that we had would break easily. When I would wipe the board with the eraser, there would be dust in the air and the students would kind of wave it away because it would get on their black hair and clothes. I did a lot of writing and erasing. 

The students could read and write quite well. A lot of them had better penmanship than I did, which isn't saying much. Mine was never very good. It was the speaking and listening that was difficult because they didn’t have the chance to practice much being there are so many students. They are not used to hearing a native English speaker. They are used to the Chinese teachers and their accents when they speak English. 

The second year that I was at the school I was alone. Justin had gone home after the first year. With SARS happening in March of 2003, no foreign teacher came for the following year so I had twenty classes a week which was 1,000 students. As with any subject, there are always students that don’t want to take the class but it was required just so the students were exposed to the foreign teacher. There were 1,500-2,000 students at the school. Some stayed in the dorms and some stayed at home.

Foreign teachers do not have evening or weekend classes like the Chinese teachers. When the Chinese teachers came here to teach Chinese in Central and Logan High Schools in La Crosse, it was so easy compared to how teaching was in China. They would be done at 3:30 in the afternoons and they didn’t have evening and weekend classes. They were so free here.

Chapter 11

The Number One Foreign Language School

(August 2002-July 2004)

Located on Jiudu Lu in Luoyang. It has between 1500-2000 students. It has both middle and high school students. Many of the English teachers came to La Crosse to have the opportunity to teach Chinese in Central and Logan High Schools.

The teachers give up a lot to come here to the US.. They leave their family behind of course. Some of them had a young child, some were older. I will give you one example. The teachers came here around the third week of August. One of the teachers had a daughter that turned one year old in October. Like I said, for them to be chosen to come here and teach for a school year was a great opportunity. Their spouse and parents would take care of the child. 

Over the years of the teacher exchange, many Chinese teachers came here but only a few American teachers went there. I’m not sure what the reasons were that only a few went there from here. Whether teachers come here or go there, you give up a lot to go along with the challenges of going to another country where the culture and traditions are quite different, also the food. We live in their world and they live in ours. There are all kinds of adjustments to make. Of all the teachers that came here and the ones that went there, I have never heard any one of them say they regretted it.

The last chapter explained some about the classrooms and the next chapter will tell about the schedules that the Chinese students have. Very different than how it is in the US.



Above: This is walking into the school from the South Gate.





This picture was taken from a teacher’s office on the top floor of one of the buildings. In the upper middle of the picture, you can see the entrance gate of the school. That is the South Gate and you can see traffic on Jiudu Lu. The white building by the gate is where the guards were that watched anyone going in and out of the school. There was also a gate on the northside of the school. To the left of the guard’s building are bicycles. They are outside of the school’s gate.



This was my classroom.



Notice the four legged stools that the students sit on. Every classroom had these. No padding, no backs. I have sat on them from time to time also and they aren’t the most comfortable things. Imagine sitting on those all day long in different classrooms.



These next three pictures are of some of my 10th and 11th graders. Notice that we are all wearing coats. See the date on the pictures, these were taken in December. There aren’t any heaters in the classroom. The main building had a small heater on the wall but was seldom used because it wasn’t big enough to heat the room. You get a lot of students in the room and there is body heat and there is hot water furnished so they bring their bottles and fill them.


The first two rows are standing on the floor. The third row is standing on a cement platform where the teachers stand when teaching. I am on the right in the second row, I am 5 ft. 10 inches. Notice how tall the students compared to me.







The four girls in the front right by the desks are standing on the floor, the rest of us are on the platform. We dressed warm. The Chinese students are used to this. That’s the way it was, you just adapted.



This shows some of the bikes parked outside of the school’s gate. It didn’t snow much in Luoyang. During the five years that I was there, either two or three winters had a little snow. The most at one time was eight inches. It usually melts the same day or by the next day.



Me, Justin Patch from Peabody, Massachusetts outside of Boston and Gao Shan was the Japanese teacher from Japan. She taught Japanese but for two years before she came here, she had studied the Chinese Language so she could speak Chinese also.




A Christmas program and party at the school. You can see Santa Rick in the back.



Wang Meilin (Jenny), Wang Yao (Chris), Meng Rui (Mary) and Li Jieming (Lucia)



Santa Rick with some students. Ms. Qin on the right taught English and also came to La Crosse for one year to teach Chinese.



Jane (Zhang Min), Santa Zhang Liang, Emily (Li Xiao), Ms. Wei, Santa Rick, Echo (Li Rui) and Ms. Qin



Christmas 2002

Travis Rusin was at the Number Two Foreign Language School, he was from the La Crosse area; Echo (Li Rui, Emily’s sister); Rebecca (Zhuan Hongjuan) and Emily (Li Xiao) were English teachers at the Number One school with Justin and I; Justin Patch.

We had a Christmas party at my place. KFC, Pepsi and apples for dessert - what more could anyone want?

Chapter 12

Student’s Class Schedules

The Chinese students have quite a schedule. It is very different than what American students have.

This is the schedule for the Sophomores (gao yi), Juniors (gao er) and Seniors (gao san) in the Number 19 High School where I was also at in my time in China. In Chinese, this is what their class names are; gao yi (gow ee; yi=1), gao er (gow r; er=2) and gao san (gow sahn=3) respectively.

Some students that do not live in the city stay in dorms at the school, some go home that live close by. There were 1,000 students that stayed at school in the dorms, 1,000 went home. Some of the students in the dorms may go to the classrooms very early, it could be by 7:00 a.m. or earlier so they can study when it is quieter. 

The students and teachers have to be in the classroom by 7:20. Classes start at 7:45. Classes are forty minutes long, ten minutes between. There would be three classes and they would end at 10:05 a.m. The students and teachers would go to the playground for exercises. They would line up by class and run around the track while some music played for about five minutes. Some teachers ran with a group of teachers while some were with the students. This refreshes everyone so they can go back to their classes feeling better. 

Classes started again at 10:30 and there were two more and they would end at noon then there was a two and a half hour break. During that time, you could eat, rest, take a nap or study. Classes started again at 2:30. They would be done at 4:50. Then things changed. Some students continued with classes starting at 5:00 and they would end at 7:00. Some students had a break at 5:00. Some would have to go back to classes at 6:30 and end at 8:00. Some started classes at 7:00 and go until 9:30 p.m. and then go back to the dorms or home. 

The lights are turned off in the dorms at 10:30. The students can continue to do homework in their dorm rooms by using lamps on the desks. Some will study until midnight or later and then get up the next morning at 6:00 a.m. and start over. This was Monday through Friday. On Friday afternoons, some students would go home, some would have classes. It all depended upon what class and level in the class that you were in.

There were classes on Saturdays. Most students had classes in the morning. Again it depended upon what year you are in school and what level you are. Some students had classes Saturday afternoons and evening. Except for the senior students the rest of the students had Sundays off. Seniors had a half a day a week off from classes and that was Sunday afternoon. All students would return Sunday evenings and have classes.

There is a place to eat at school. Many of the students go outside of the school because they don’t like the food much at school. It's similar to how it is here in the US.

As you can see, this is very different than the classes for American students.

I was telling one of the teachers from the Number Two Foreign Language School that came to La Crosse for one semester about writing this journal and I asked her what kind of schedule the students and teachers had at the middle school she taught at-7th, 8th and 9th graders. 

The schedule is similar to what I have talked about above, except the night classes are a little different. The afternoon classes end at 6:00 p.m. then they have a one hour break. The 7th and 8th graders go to classes from 7:00 until 9:30 p.m. and then go to the dorms. The 9th graders go from 7-9:30 also and then stay in the classrooms until 10:30 studying and doing homework. The head teachers then check all of the dorms after the students are done with classes to make sure the students are in their rooms. It is a very long day for both the students and teachers. Some students will stay up later finishing their homework and studying if they need to.

That school has 3,000 students. It is a private boarding school so it is quite a job for the teachers to check all of these students so they are in their rooms. These students have weekends off. They are done Friday afternoons at 4:00 and then come back Sunday afternoons at 4:00 and start classes for the evening.

I wonder how this kind of schedule would go over in the US?

I want to say here that The Number Two Foreign Language School is the number one private middle school in Luoyang. They have worked very hard to make it so.


(Carrie) Number 2 Foreign Language School Class Schedule (West Campus)(Nov. 2017)

6 a.m.-wake up
7:05-7:40 class
7:45-8:30 class
8:40-9:25 class
9:25-9:35 eye exercises
9:35-9:55 exercise
10-10:45 class
11:05-11:50 class
11:50-2:00 lunch and rest
2:20-3:05 class
3:15-4:00 class
4:10-4:55 class
5:25-6:10 class
6:10-6:30 dinner
6:30-10:30 p.m.-depending on the students, they have class, outside exercise and self-study.
10:30 p.m. bedtime

There are two times a week they can shower during lunch time.