Nathan's School

Every morning, Monday through Friday, Nathan wakes up at 7:00am and after a shower and a long session sculpting his hair, he flies out the door with an egg sandwich in his hand and his backpack over his shoulder to catch the 7:45am apartment shuttle bus to the south end of Zhuhai. After a 40-minute bus ride through busy morning traffic, he has a 10-minute walk to school. The walking route takes him down a very busy highway lined with little shops and new construction of office buildings. He sees the Muslim Restaurant, the Stationary Supply store, the corner grocery store, many fume-spewing city buses, a defunct telephone booth, rust-stained apartment buildings with laundry hanging from every balcony, and bicycles carrying an endless variety of people and objects. On one small open square he sees the bicycle repairman who runs his shop from a toolbox on the sidewalk. Nathan sees him changing tires, adjusting brakes, and tightening screws. When the man isn’t repairing bikes he is squatting on the sidewalk playing a game of Chinese Chess with a friend. Often other men are gathered around, arms folded across their chests, dressed in blue factory shirts, to watch the game.

On the way to school

Bicycle Repair Shop

As Nathan turns the corner to reach his school he passes a car repair shop with 6 garages, a tiny grocery store with chickens pecking in the broken cement out front, and a few impromptu vegetable sellers with their goods laid on woven mats on the sidewalk

Nathan’s school has a security guard who greets everyone as they enter. Many days he checks everyone’s temperature with an ultraviolet sensor pointed at the forehead. This is one of China’s attempts to control the H1N1 flu virus.

The school is a 4-story white cement building with a large track/playing field out front. The building was originally a Chinese elementary school. A year ago Quality Schools International bought it and remodeled the bottom two floors. They hope to grow into the building as more and more westerners move into Zhuhai for business and academic reasons. As Nathan enters the building he walks through a wide-open foyer with one side open to the outside. In a tropical climate it is crucial for the children to have a space with a roof in which to play and be shielded from the hot sun or the rain. Children have plenty of room to play tag, hopscotch, foursquare or ping-pong.

Front of the school

Track/Playground in front of school

Entrance Foyer

Nathan’s school day begins in Mr. Lang’s homeroom with Geometry. Nathan is the only student in the school studying Geometry, so Mr. Lang helps him get started on the assignments and then Nathan works independently. At the same time Mr. Lang is helping Kyoka, a 16-year old Japanese girl, work on Algebra II, and Anthony, a 13-year old Chinese/Thai/American boy work on Algebra I. This is the entire high school student body! Mr. Lang is a 60-year-old American, originally from South Dakota. He has a PhD in economics, along with a secondary teaching license.

From Geometry, Nathan segues into World History with Mr. Lang, Anthony, and Kyoka. At the same time Mr. Lang is also teaching the 7-8^th graders – a group of 5 girls and one boy who are from Germany, France, USA, and the Philippines.

Next Nathan, Anthony, and Kyoka walk downstairs to the office of Mr. Farwell, the principal. He is also the English/Writing teacher for the high school kids.

Lunch begins at noon and is eaten in a large multi-purpose room with the usual long lunchroom tables. Some children bring food from home that is stored in a refrigerator at one end of the room. A Chinese woman comes at 11:30am and heats up each child’s lunch in a row of microwaves on the counter. Some children opt to eat a hot lunch catered by a local restaurant. Fried rice, chicken feet, noodles, sushi, and soup (with various things floating in it) are often on the menu. The entire student body consists of 49 students ranging in age from 3 to 16. They all eat together, sitting with whomever they choose. After eating, the older kids mingle with the little ones, everyone talking, playing ping-pong or soccer, throwing balls, chasing each other, etc.

Ping Pong at Lunch Time

To start the afternoon Nathan heads to Biology with Miss Joanie (Mr. Lang’s wife). She is the main teacher for the 9, 10, 11 year old students, but she doubles as the biology teacher. The school has a nice science room with lab tables and plenty of fetal pigs to dissect. Chinese class comes next with Miss Helen, who doubles as the office assistant and Chinese translator for the principal.

Nathan’s day ends with alternating classes picked from Technology in the computer lab with Mr. A (a young man from Portugal), art with Mrs. Anderson (who doubles as the 7-8 year old teacher), Phy Ed with Mrs. Tina (a young Chinese woman), or music with his mom. The 12-16 year old students are grouped together for these classes.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays academic classes are not held during the final hour of the day (2:55 - 3:45pm) and the students choose from a variety of fun activities. Nathan has chosen bowling for the first session at school. Next week, board games or Chinese paper cutting will be the activities.

After school, a line of cars waits on the curb to bring children home. The drivers of these cars are not moms and dads, but rather Chinese hired drivers. Nathan’s driver is Charlie, a friendly man in his 30’s who speaks a fair amount of English and likes to sing pop songs as he drives. The trip home takes a total of 35 minutes.

Nathan enjoys the camaraderie of the school and the easy-going and caring demeanor of the teachers. Luckily he likes the other high school students, Anthony and Kyoka, and is sure he will treasure their friendships for a lifetime.