Teaching in Lixian Vocational School, Hunan Province

This is my first overseas trip so I came here with an open mind and a positive attitude that I will make the most of my year long stay. I have been here 3 months out of a 1 year contract. First impressions were the friendly welcoming people who are generous to a fault. You feel like a celebrity because the majority of people have rarely if ever seen a blue eyed foreigner.
Buckland offer an orientation programme which not only helps you learn about the teaching but you bond with a bunch of foreigners over the shared experience. I would have liked another week of orientation where you do more class work however it is a good way to begin as you live in a tourist destination. The culture shock comes later when you go to your school which with Buckland is in a more rural or small town setting.
I live within the security gated school grounds so I feel very safe and secure. I am here with one other foreign teacher so I am not lonely or isolated. We can walk to town and have 3 different supermarkets to shop at. The biggest change for me apart from everyone speaking Chinese is the diet here. The province is famous for spicy food and I don't like spicy food. I miss butter and cheese the most, having sourced other English foods. I have been lucky because family back home have sent me care packages.
We have joined a bike club and get to ride flash mountain bikes on day and night rides. I love the long rides into the country and even though the group does not speak English we share a common interest and it's great fun and hasn't cost a cent.
The school has about 3,000 high school students. I teach about 900 of them a week. The classes are huge and my biggest was the very first class I had, 69, 16 year old boys! The hours are pretty good compared to the long hours the students do. I have 15 hours a week actually teaching.No more than 4, 45 minute classes a day. Every second week I teach in the weekend at a Buckland English school with primary and intermediate students and the classes are very small at 10 or less students. I am a trained primary school teacher but here in China I actually prefer teaching the high school students. While it is challenging because so many can't speak English and you don't have a translator in the class I am learning Chinese words and doing a lot of acting to get my point across. You focus on the students who are keen to learn and as long as the rest don't interrupt the class continue on. The resources are a blackboard and chalk! I use my laptop and a new printer we were given to print out what I will do or use. This is probably the hardest thing as you feel limited in what you can do. Highlights are the students themselves who hug and kiss you and tell you every day that they love you. I recommend you have a VPN here in China so you can access all the sites we take for granted back home. I forgot to mention I also do hour long VIP lessons once a week maybe twice one on one with a student can be an adult or younger where you read from a text book. This is extra and you get paid once a month on top of your wages.