stress and release

If you thought that mid-terms and finals were bad, think again. You haven’t taken the Hong Kong bi-annual secondary exam. It is brutal. They have written tests in all subjects coupled with oral and listening exams in English and Putonghua (school is taught in Cantonese so Mandarin/Putonghua is considered a separate language). Exams began Wednesday this week just as the weather has turned gorgeous. It has been a crisp 65 degrees Fahrenheit everyday this week with clear blue skies to match. Torturous. Starting Wednesday, the students have had exams beginning at 8:30 and running to around 11. Then, they go home to cram some more. This will go on until Tuesday of next week. It may seem like a light load but the students look like they have died. When I see them after their exams they shuffle listlessly past me with vacant expressions. They are convinced that they have failed and probably 65% of them have. I know for sure that the lower level classes of Form 5 (equitable to 10th graders) all failed one exam because some students were caught talking. They will either be held back or asked to leave the school depending on their discipline record. I am so glad that I had a different learning environment. Rag on the American school system all you want, at least you get to enjoy yourself and relax from time to time. I am sure that my outlook on the eastern schooling philosophy will improve in a few weeks after the stresses of exams have faded into distant memory, but right now I just want to hug all of my students and tell them that they are bright, awesome, and strong people! They need to relax and be kids. Some of them already have grey hairs, no joke!

I think that some of the exam stress has morphed into aggression because the day before exams were slated to begin, I caught some older boys torturing the younger boys by stealing their shoes and pencil cases and throwing them out of the classroom windows. Other such incidents have been occurring all over the school…..they have all gone mad!

Whew….despite what the above ramblings may have led you to believe, I have been having a wonderful October! Yesterday I carved pumpkins with the students at Polytechnic University in Hong Hom. I don’t know if I have mentioned it before but I work there part-time on Thursdays as a part of their Big Mouth Corner program which is a venue for students to practice their English with native speakers. English is super important to the university students because that is the language of instruction for all of their classes! Ai ya! Anywho, the pumpkin carving really made me miss home and it brought back a lot of memories of carving pumpkins on the back deck. The students got really into it and carved pirates, the Joker from Batman, impressions of their friends, and all other manner of things. They made some awesome looking squash. It was really cool because a lot of the students were from mainland China and this was their first experience with Halloween altogether. They think it is really funny that westerners and Hong Kongers are so into this ‘strange holiday.’

I was surprised that Halloween is such a big holiday here even though I shouldn’t be because of the British influence. But really, it’s huge! There are whole street markets devoted to selling costumes and accoutrements. Becci and I went to one in Central on Wednesday. She is going as Minnie Mouse and I’m going as a pirate. The dreads really complete the look! Pictures soon.