Teacher Getting Hit By Culture: The New Year

Hi All,

Well it certainly has been a while since my last blog update. The pace of life seemed to have picked up immediately upon my return back to Macau after Christmas break. It was a little strange to have another full week off for Chinese New Year after just 3 weeks back from the previous break, but that is hardly a complaint.

The Chinese New Year break was actually quite relaxing. I didn't end up going anywhere in particular but decided on a "staycation" as we call it here. There was still plenty to do as there were Chinese New Year's festivities going on each day of the week. I managed to head to various locations around Macau to check out the performances, street festivals, and fireworks that marked the arrival of the Year of the Dragon, which just so happens to be my Chinese zodiac symbol as well. Managed to make a few trips up to the peninsula side of Macau and be a part of the crowd at a few of the big touristy places. I'll let the pictures with my new 50mm lens tell the rest of the Chinese New Year story.

Even at the school, Chinese New Year was a big deal. We had essentially one full day off classes to watch first the elementary then secondary students in their Chinese studies class performances. The young ones were super adorable and the performances from the older students were quite entertaining. All the festive spirit really made it feel like the Far East's version of Christmas.

Following up on my earlier point of the pace of life picking up, it seems wild that we're already starting to plan for the end of the year and new things next year at the school. Talks about hired teachers for next year, the school building project, the expanded athletics program for next year, and the start of the 2nd half of the school year puts into perspective the progress that has already been made this year. At the school, 2nd term report cards have just been distributed and all secondary school students are now in there 2nd term classes, although as I teach 2 core subjects, there is no difference in my schedule at all.

The classes themselves have been progressing as they have all year but despite that, I've found that as the year progresses I'm developing better and better strategies for dealing with classroom management and academic performance issues. Although there is still a ton of things to look forward to this year, I already can't wait for next year as there are so many new teaching techniques and classroom implementations I want to try out. At our school, there seems to be a stronger teacher-student connection than anything I've experienced at other schools before as a student or teacher. I find that getting to know the students personally really does help me help them overcome personal obstacles.

Well that's the short and sweet of what's been going on here the last few weeks. I'm definitely thinking of throwing together another blog post really soon updating you on specifically on the happenings with my 2 trips to Taiwan. Until then enjoy the photos.