Around School & Shenzhen

2 August 2008, Saturday
We went shopping again. Besides the usual Wal Mart pit stop we ventured into the shopping mall next to it called City Garden and we were blown away! This was a 3 story mall with the latest of everything. Talk about swank and styling! Whoa, who can afford this place? In fact Shenzhen is the riches city on the Chinese mainland and one to the 10 most populous cities on earth. There is definitely an economic class distinction in Shenzhen. I’ve seen this in the various neighborhoods when I go out jogging or walking. There are homes and apartment complexes that are very UPPER CLASS and others that are at the opposite end of the income bracket. We’ve also come across many looking for hand outs. Most of them are men with infirmities and the elderly. There is no social security in China or other governmental assistance (as far as I know) so it is up to the individual or the family to aid the less fortunate. Since we live in a central tourist location with specialty shops all around these unfortunates are tactically located.

After dinner we went for a walk to a local Chinese department store called RenRenLe (everybody happy). It is likening to Wally World but visited by the Chinese. I like the 2nd floor as it is the food department with a bakery that is pretty good…as in tasty and not health conscience, just kidding. It is a 15 minute walk and through what I consider a typical city neighborhood with small mom and pop shops, grocery, bars, out door restaurants all squished together and very “blue collar”. If you’re a person who focuses on cleanliness, this neighborhood wouldn’t be for you. Yet two blocks away, closer to the bay, the neighborhood is posh with wide boulevards and up scale shops. What I found out after living in a few big cities world wide city culture is rather the same in most places. There must be a cultural anthropological study on big city world view and cultural. I’ll write more on that later.

5 August, 2008 Tuesday
We checked out our classrooms today as well as attend the new teachers’ luncheon. Eileen's classroom is in a new building and rather nice. Across the street is the play ground that I think belongs to the city. Her class is a nice size rectangle shape and everything is bright and cheery. The carpet gives a cozy feeling to the place and the class has it’s own AC, heating system. The only draw back is that if you open the curtain you’re right next to a series of apartment windows! Other than that it is very nice! The playgrounds are across the boulevard.
My classroom is another story. I’m on the main campus, formally a department store. It is two blocks away from Eileen’s building and on the top floor in the center of the building without windows, no carpet and rather dank. I heard one of the older teachers call it the cave. Everything in it is old and you walk down a short corridor before you enter the classroom. I was hoping to see if there were any files I could review but the entire building is under construction so everything is rather dirty and slightly disorganized.
The luncheon was informal but we found our specific leaders. Eileen’s principle is Kees Kiemen (a Dutch man). Ron is the middle school coordinator. Both are nice guys with lots of experience.
Well after the new teachers’ luncheon Eileen and I went exploring Shenzhen. We got some guidance from a Lee La Fond, a new high school math teacher, and were off. We took the bus to the metro and both were a “trip”. First we got on the wrong bus and a bilingual Chinese fellow helped us out. He was so kind. Then we got off at Shi Jie Zhi Chuang stop which is a major theme park called “Window to the World”. This park has rides and the theme is history and places of the world for kids. There are all sorts of models of major land marks but not full size. So you can see a mock Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower, Giza Pyramids, etc.
Well we didn’t go into the theme park but took the Metro, underground subway, to Shao Nian Gong stop or the city center (I think). The Metro is the cleanest and most efficient public transportation system I’ve ever taken! The cost is subsidized by the government as our trip cost less then a dollar. The Metro is expanding and one day will be across the street from our apartment. Anyway, at Shao Nian Gong stop one finds the Children’s Plaza, a major complex with all sorts of venues for educating children on many topics. We were trying to get information for the Space Theater and after the typical uses of charades, drawings and using the dictionary (a useless book to tote around) we got our point across and with the clerk’s little knowledge of English we found out the Space Theater would be closed for a very long time. I was a little surprised that they had English pamphlets because it would make for a wonderful field trip. We later went to a major book store and shopping mall. The music section was huge and best of all they have educational DVDs in both Chinese and English! It was rather inexpensive so I’m a happy camper as some of the topics I’m teaching were there.
There was more to see but it was 4:30pm and we decided to head back home to hit rush hour traffic. The rider home during this time was not bad. I think I met most of populace during the bus ride home. Oh, one observation for you. During the bus ride home (where you can gage the civility of people) I offered my seat to an older woman. She was below social security age but older than those around her and she promptly and politely said no thank you with a bright smile on her face. Other than that everyone was well behaved as one can be when you’re armpit to armpit!