A Month and Counting...

So much has happened since we got off that plane on August 1 that I feel I oughta start tracking for posterity's sake. Presently, Hawk and I are at Cafe Zarah, a hip little German place on Gulou in the Dongcheng district. From the look of it, patrons are mostly Caucasian foreign correspondent types, although there's a table of graphic designers near the window. I want to write more, but am distracted in a pleasing way by the young woman behind me who's speaking in flawless (to my untrained ears) Mandarin. How many years to get to that point? I am still working on ni hao.

Gulou street reminds me of Haight-Ashbury in San Fran. It is true that places, just like people, will often have a doppelganger. I feel comfortable here on Gulou among the vintage stores and mangas and anime knick-knacks, interspersed with alleyways that god's forsaken. There's a goose right now being fed a bowl of white noodles. His cries blend well with the jazzy soundtrack. And Hawk, as he is wont to do, has just abandoned me for manga browsing.

Things at school are quite good. After the kid-in-a-candy-store effect of the first few days, I feel I'm starting to get my grounding, or at least not turn down the wrong corridor. The school, you see, is humongous, and my metres-to-miles conversion has it pegged at about a mile around the outside hallway once. If you were to wander down the 4 inner hallways, then god bless you. You've achieved your workout for the day. No further exercise is needed. I jest, for it is true that the stress and busyness level is fairly high here, and one is served well by exercising as much as one can. For that reason, many teachers join a swimming club before school or do yoga, pilates, tai chi, or some kind of geeky aerobics class after. The wellness program for teachers is a big deal here. I prefer to just bike to the delectable Comptoirs French bakery, where the phallic eclairs come in chocolate and coffee.

Here are some of the delights I've encountered at the new school:

* The cafeteria is akin to an international food court. There are two kitchens each with 4 or 5 hot entree choices, a sushi bar (some days), a sandwich/panini bar, a salad bar, and a cafe. Before school, breakfast is usually served consisting of a couple egg dishes, bacon/ham, hash browns, some chinese items (baos, potstickers, etc.), oatmeal, and assorted danishes. Food is no longer free as it was at my last gig, but it is quite cheap--a complete meal will run 2 - 3 bucks. I am so pleased as punch by the variety of choices that I can't even complain about the lack of free lunch. Also, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

* I've a TA, in the third grade! Need I say more?

* I have so many classroom books, and the elementary school has a literacy room with booksets of every important title you could possibly want for your students.

* The technology is stellar. I'm so spoiled now from using the voice amplification system that should I leave this school, I will have to purchase mine very own to take to the next gig. It also feels dangerously close to karaoking and I've sung a few lines of Madonna to my kids already, so inspired by the stereo quality of my own voice lecturing and posturing. They are an astute bunch, those third graders. Two told me the first week: You are weird, Ms. Bory (to which I replied: I know you are, but what am I?).

* The professional development lending library is well resourced! And most titles with a buzz are there.

* The learning21 approach of the whole school is progressive and exciting. It's what I always imagined teaching should be. I feel like for the first time, I will actually be growing outside my own initiation.

There's more but yeah, yeah, yeah. how boring. I know what you really want to hear about--the eye candy.

Stay tuned.