景山学校

Yesterday, Friday, was sort of the first day of school for hte American exchange students but it wasn't the official first day. It was kind of like a half day but only school lasted for 2 hours. Yesterdays classes began around 8:00 or 8:30 depending on which class you were in. My class started around 8:00 and ended roughly around 9:30ish. Yesterday, the exchange group got 7 new textbooks (only 1 of which is in English... and i bet you could probably guess which one that is). Yesterday wasn't an official day of school for the Jing-Shan students either. They just went to school to pass in their homework, pay their lunch money for the new semester, and get their new class schedules. Monday is the official first day of school.
I got up that morning around 6:30ish and was out the door by 7:00. It took us roughly 50 minutes to get to Jing-Shan by subway. We arrived just in time for class. Since school officially starts at 7:20, next week I will have to wake up even earlier at maybe 5:30ish and leave the apartment by 6:00ish. Although waking up early is kinda hard to do, I think it's definitely worth it. Going to school at Jing-Shan is more awesome compared to going to school in America.
Each grade in the middle school is divided into 5 classes and each grade in the high school is divided into 4 classes. I got assigned to the 9th grade and I'm in the 5th class. The 9th grade in China is considered part of the middle school, but hte class I'm in is comprised of the smartest kids in that grade. So the kids in the 5th class are actually taking high school courses right now. They are taking the courses a semester earlier than the other 9th graders.
What surprised me the most was how the students all pitched in to help better their class rooms. During the beginning of class, some of the students had specific chores they each had to do. Victor (a Jing-Shan student going on the exchange to America in September) was cleaning hte black board while another student was mopping up the floors. Other students were dusting around the class and rearranging items on the teachers desk. It's surprising how the kids all came together to pitch in to better their class.
Next week, I'll follow the same schedule as the other Jing-Shan students and take all the classes they are taking. But by the second week of school, we (the Americans) will get our own schedules with our own specialized courses like martial arts. One bad thing about school is that the hours are long. The school hours are from 7:20 to 4:00.... doesn't that sound wonderful?? haha. Even though the long hours sound kind of bad, I'm still pumped for school and can't wait for it to begin.