If there is one thing that China does better than Canada it is grand events. At Maple Leaf we often have ceremonies that we are encouraged (read forced) to attend. For the most part I sit back and enjoy a laugh, tinged with a slight cringe at the cost. This year we even had a New Year's Gala furnished with prom dresses, choreographed dance numbers and Chinese opera. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the awe inspiring event. However, the past few ceremonies have been successfully documented!
Some of the students opening the Olympics
One of the latest events was sports day. You may imagine that I mean a student centred track meet, but actually I am talking about a STAFF sports day. Now although I am a fan of sports, I was a bit disappointed to be made to come in on a Saturday. Yes, a Saturday. Nonetheless, it ended up being an enjoyable day in the sun.
Maple Leaf has many schools in the Dalian area, and each school sent their delegates to the high school to compete. We are, by far, the largest of the Maple Leaf schools and led the meet with both participants from our Chinese and Canadian staff.
Our school strutting their stuff
Everyone was encouraged to sign up for events, and so I signed up for the team 100m relay race. However, before we got into the sports we were treated to an opening ceremony. Each school had a group of marchers who began the ceremony by walking around the track, and then into formation. Our participants even had to practice the week before! They got matching pants! The colours for the high school were yellow for the girls and white for the boys. I must say we looked just lovely.
Some rather strange mascots...
Getting ready to start the relay race
The day was long and hot, but actually it was fairly fun. I cheered on some badminton, dodgeball and some pretty ridiculous three legged races and skipping relays. The high school came out on top, and we were honoured with a flag at the closing ceremony! I even won a prize for our team win for the relay race! I bet you wish your staff had an annual olympics!
Too fast for a photo!
The most recent event at Maple Leaf was graduation. For the most part it was a pretty typical event, with a few China touches. For one, the boys all waked in holding glowing hearts. It was super cute. There are about 1000 grads from our school each year - so the event has to be quickened a bit to make it fast enough. The students were brought on stage by homeroom to receive their diplomas, quickly photographed and then let back down to their seats. There were a few speeches, but all in all it went fairly quickly and it was pretty heartwarming to watch the boys grad.
The boy's side and their glowing hearts
When we arrived there were corsages on every chair and at the end of the ceremony the students handed out flowers to all the teachers, which was really quite lovely. I enjoyed the chance to see my students with their parents, and to meet a few of them. Most of the parents do not speak English, but they were thrilled to see the people who had spent so much time with the kids over the past few years. I was lucky to be able to see my first group of students graduating as a first year teacher. I was so proud and excited to see them in their gowns!
Receiving their diplomas
One group of my students posing for their photo
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