A Visit to a High School

This morning we had to rise early to ride a charter bus to Yiwu High School. After a two hour bus ride through some very beautiful countryside with lots of rice and cultured pearl farms, we arrived at what looked to be a college campus. Yiwu High School (partly pictured below) is a top high school in the area, and only really high achieving students gain admittance.

In China first through 8th grade is compulsory. Kindergarten is not required and parents have to pay for their kids to attend it. Also, at the end of 8th grade the students who want to go to high school take tests to see which high schools they can attend. It is my understanding that Yiwu is a very good high school to attend. It was a huge, beautiful campus with dorms for the students to reside in since it is a boarding school. My fellow teachers and I were let off the bus and then led to a classroom where we were greeted as rock stars. Then, without warning, we were left to our own in the classrooms. None of us knew we needed to teach or interact for 35 minutes or so, but we all managed in our own classrooms by talking about the US, answering their questions, and just spending time with them. It was a lot of fun and most of us wished we could have had more time. The class of students I spoke with is pictured below.

After this impromptu English lesson, we were herded off to lunch and then a meeting with the principal of the school (he is at the end of the table on the left).

We left the school shortly thereafter, though again most of us would have liked to stay longer to learn more about the seemingly wonderful school. The bus then took us to a huge (and I do mean huge) market for bulk selling of all the junk you see in dollar stores around the US. After this we drove back to our hotel. After a birthday party and dinner for one of our fellow teachers, Claudia, Jose and I went back to the room to finish our homework for tomorrow.