Class 118. The 'key' class from the Senior 2 grade. This class was taken away from me when our timetables were reshuffled this semester and is one of the main reasons why my teaching experience this term has been slightly worse than it was before. When the school officials decided that the Senior 3s would no longer have an oral English class, Anthony took over half my Senior 2s. The split was arbitrary, straight down the middle. He got classes 118-121, I got 122-125. That was just the way it went.Anyway, I miss this class but am still involved with them enough outside of class to be invited out to a picnic with them, and that's what happened last Sunday.
It was my second picnic in as many days (following class 122) and for them was their first ever outing. They're normally too busy studying to have any fun. So it was pretty disappointing that while waiting for the bus the heavens opened and we were treated to a massive thunderstorm. It looked like the whole thing would be off but, once it passed, we decided to give it a shot. The promised bus failed to materialise, so the class teacher rounded up a fleet of heavy ma-ma-yo's to take us out to our destination - the much visited Wan Nian Qiao.
Maybe the geologists among my readership will appreciate this one of 'Romantic' atop a strange folded formation. I thought it looked cool anyway...
Because it was still a bit showery, cooking outside wasn't really going to work, so we all crammed in underneath one arch of the new bridge next to the old one and tried not to burn each other. We were pretty successful. I say we - I just lit a fire and ate everyone else's food - but it was a shared experience. It had to be under that small arch!
After lunch we all relaxed by the side of the river, and some students decided to go climbing. The opposite bank was steeply sloped, and made up of slippery smooth rock. It was great fun to climb across, and once we got past the steep section and underneath the old bridge, we had great views down the valley. Of course, my camera was being used by someone else at this point, so there's no photos, but from the quality of the remaining scenery, I guess you can imagine. Luckily my camera was being pointed in the right direction when everyone tried to climb back. Not everyone made it 100% dry. This young lad is just one of three who fell in this time!
I can't stress how beautiful it is round here, so the pictures will have to do.
Once everyone had had their fill of climbing/swimming we went off on a little walk further up into the mountains to another part of the valley where there's a small recreation facility. I'd been there before once with the English teachers. No boat ride this time but the swings were more fun anyway.
We climbed to the top of a mountain overlooking the river valley that had a spectacular view. I've had to include this really really awful shot of me cos it's the only decent one that shows the view. I've had my photo taken so many times that it's hard to smile anymore, so ignore the face, it doesn't reflect how I was feeling at the time. To be honest I had a fantastic time. Better than with 122. These kids are all wonderfully friendly people and I can have decent conversations with them as their English is so good. The bus ride back was accompanied by singing all the way and even though we were away for about 9 hours, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
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