As of today, I have spent a total of eleven full days in a Chinese high school, a place American students whisper horror
stories about. It is said that in Chinese high schools, everything is extremely structured and organized by the administration.
Before I came to China, I was told that there were mandatory study halls after dinner, and no electronics were allowed in
class. School supposedly lasted hours longer than school in the US did, and the teachers still used corporal punishment.
Ironically, on the first day, our writing teacher told us, "Right now, you're really happy and excited to be in China. But after
a week, it will feel like a prison." Since she never told us her name, we've taken to calling her "the Prison Warden." In all
seriousness, Chinese high schools are very structured and intense. We start classes at 7:30 am, have a one and a half
hour break at noon to eat lunch before resuming classes and then we end at four or five in the afternoon, depending on the
day. The native Chinese students are required to study in a specific classroom without internet from around seven until
9:30 at night. However, because I am one of the international students taking language classes, that time period is simply
quiet study hours in the dorms for me. In addition, no one is allowed off campus on weekdays, except Friday.
The school is very structured for student life, but the administration of the school is very different from America. Our Resident
Director and American Councils, the organization implementing our trip and scholarship, didn't know when we'd be starting
school until two weeks before we left. In China, the government decides when school starts each year and then the schools
put out a call to the students, telling them when to come back to school to start classes. The first day of school for the
students was also the first day for the teachers. The teachers spent no time over the summer at school. The teachers
simply appeared at school on the first day and started teaching. Yet, somehow, despite the chaos, the thirty or so language
students all took a placement test, were organized into three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced) and started
classes that very afternoon. By the next day, we were already doing "tingxie" ‘s the Chinese equivalent of spelling tests. In
contrast, it took me a month and a half to get the results for my online placement test for Spanish classes, whereas
Beijing No. 80 had my results hand graded within two hours.
As for the teachers themselves, they are far from vicious. I have never seen them use corporal punishment on a student,
although it does have to be noted that I am in the international school as an international student, so things are a little
different. Traditionally, and even today, Chinese teachers expect to be more than just your teacher. They expect to hold
about as much influence over you as your parents do. They have no problem giving out their cellphone numbers so that the
students can call them about anything ranging from social issues to class work. In America, there is a certain propriety that
requires a teacher to remain on a professional level with a student, making it hard to really build a relationship beyond
school. In China, teachers involve themselves in all parts of a student's life and this is a socially acceptable thing. They
make sure we eat, and check how we’re doing in classes other than the one they teach. They give life advice and joke
around with us. They also scold us when we're goofing off a bit too much or don't score very well on a test. A Chinese
teacher is like a teacher mixed with an older family member, that provides both guidance and learning to a student.
Despite the amazing teachers, school does get a bit stifling, especially when one has just emerged from an endless, lazy
summer. Being trapped inside the school area, and only being able to study to pass the time is difficult. Because we weren't
allowed to leave campus on weekdays, the moment we were, everyone nearly sprinted back to the dorms to ask the dorm
mom for a pass to leave campus. That Friday afternoon, we step outside the safety of the school gates for the first time in
five days, into the smell of exhaust created by the cars speeding down the street in front of the school. Savannah and I
looked at each other and one of us, I don't remember who, took a deep intake of the polluted air and announced,
"Only in China does pollution smell like freedom."
Here are a few pictures of classroom life in the Beijing High school No. 80 language classes.
stories about. It is said that in Chinese high schools, everything is extremely structured and organized by the administration.
Before I came to China, I was told that there were mandatory study halls after dinner, and no electronics were allowed in
class. School supposedly lasted hours longer than school in the US did, and the teachers still used corporal punishment.
Ironically, on the first day, our writing teacher told us, "Right now, you're really happy and excited to be in China. But after
a week, it will feel like a prison." Since she never told us her name, we've taken to calling her "the Prison Warden." In all
seriousness, Chinese high schools are very structured and intense. We start classes at 7:30 am, have a one and a half
hour break at noon to eat lunch before resuming classes and then we end at four or five in the afternoon, depending on the
day. The native Chinese students are required to study in a specific classroom without internet from around seven until
9:30 at night. However, because I am one of the international students taking language classes, that time period is simply
quiet study hours in the dorms for me. In addition, no one is allowed off campus on weekdays, except Friday.
The school is very structured for student life, but the administration of the school is very different from America. Our Resident
Director and American Councils, the organization implementing our trip and scholarship, didn't know when we'd be starting
school until two weeks before we left. In China, the government decides when school starts each year and then the schools
put out a call to the students, telling them when to come back to school to start classes. The first day of school for the
students was also the first day for the teachers. The teachers spent no time over the summer at school. The teachers
simply appeared at school on the first day and started teaching. Yet, somehow, despite the chaos, the thirty or so language
students all took a placement test, were organized into three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced) and started
classes that very afternoon. By the next day, we were already doing "tingxie" ‘s the Chinese equivalent of spelling tests. In
contrast, it took me a month and a half to get the results for my online placement test for Spanish classes, whereas
Beijing No. 80 had my results hand graded within two hours.
As for the teachers themselves, they are far from vicious. I have never seen them use corporal punishment on a student,
although it does have to be noted that I am in the international school as an international student, so things are a little
different. Traditionally, and even today, Chinese teachers expect to be more than just your teacher. They expect to hold
about as much influence over you as your parents do. They have no problem giving out their cellphone numbers so that the
students can call them about anything ranging from social issues to class work. In America, there is a certain propriety that
requires a teacher to remain on a professional level with a student, making it hard to really build a relationship beyond
school. In China, teachers involve themselves in all parts of a student's life and this is a socially acceptable thing. They
make sure we eat, and check how we’re doing in classes other than the one they teach. They give life advice and joke
around with us. They also scold us when we're goofing off a bit too much or don't score very well on a test. A Chinese
teacher is like a teacher mixed with an older family member, that provides both guidance and learning to a student.
Despite the amazing teachers, school does get a bit stifling, especially when one has just emerged from an endless, lazy
summer. Being trapped inside the school area, and only being able to study to pass the time is difficult. Because we weren't
allowed to leave campus on weekdays, the moment we were, everyone nearly sprinted back to the dorms to ask the dorm
mom for a pass to leave campus. That Friday afternoon, we step outside the safety of the school gates for the first time in
five days, into the smell of exhaust created by the cars speeding down the street in front of the school. Savannah and I
looked at each other and one of us, I don't remember who, took a deep intake of the polluted air and announced,
"Only in China does pollution smell like freedom."
Here are a few pictures of classroom life in the Beijing High school No. 80 language classes.
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