But first, let's recap the school year that was...
Although there were quite a few times when Alex declared that she didn't want to go to school (usually after an extended break - eg. Golden Week holiday or trip to Australia) she seemed to enjoy it when she was there. She made many friends and enjoyed most of what she was taught. She even learnt to lie down for the afternoon nap/quiet time. Possibly the biggest adjustment was to the chinese way in the classroom. Alex has told us that her teachers shout and stamp their feet among other things. Out of the three teachers she has, there is one that she adores and the other two she's scared of.Of course, we struggled with the chinese way of sending notes home (usually) the day before something was required. Perhaps not so bad for locals who could a) read and understand the note quickly (we were using nciku and google translate), and b) know where to go to purchase any required items (I still can't believe that it took me all day to find all the required pieces of Alex's sport day uniform). But we made our attempts valiantly. So far as I know, there was only one field trip that Alex's class went on that we had no clue about and hence did not send a bag for her to carry the lunch in, neither did we include the red hat that the school had given her, but no matter. Now for some (ok, a lot of) photos:
Alex's class went on a field trip to a park, somewhere, probably in Xiamen, not really sure on the details but have a few photos from the website.
Alex paying close attention...to something but probably not the teacher.
Again, looking where ever the others aren't - that's our girl!
Looking at something else - a nice orderly line.
Group photo - everyone pose!
And again.
OK, now you can break for lunch. Notice that the boys like wearing their caps backwards. Also notice that Alex is universally hot - I get hassled a lot about her not wearing enough clothes but here she is with both sleeves rolled up and not a jacket in sight!
Apparently the school does drills for earthquakes/disasters (though for some reason the translation includes air raids...) during the year. We didn't know that it happened until I checked out the school's website and found this photo
Upon quizzing Alex about it she laughed and said that they had to have a photo of them with their hands on their heads...somehow the drama of the drill had been lost in translation. The drill proceeds with a whistle whereupon the kids squat on the ground in their classrooms with their hands on their heads. They then leave the classrooms and gather either in front of the school or in the playground depending on their class. We hope that this remains just a drill!Alex really likes the singing and dancing that her class does - we think that the exercise that they do must be something like tai chi. She also enjoyed english class: remember the infamous "dunkey"?!
The school sport day was a bit full on as we'd just arrived back from Australia 24 hours before so Alex had no clue what was supposed to happen. The games were enjoyed by everyone though. 
Who knew that a recycled outfit would have to last so long? Certainly not us! Thank goodness Daddy had left the outfit at work as Mummy would have thrown it out well before the note came home
that told us she would need the outfit for another performance (see previous post)...but first the original parade (we couldn't go - swineflu) where we saw that the red dot in the middle of the forehead and highly rouged cheeks were de rigeur - even for boys. (I need to get Alex to tell me who people are in photos so I can add that).
Alex was particularly taken with her cracker-box handbag.There were many opportunities for photos during the year - very often with the V sign which is oh-so chinese.
The last week of school, Alex brought home her school workbook and report card. There was also a "holiday homework" pack - though we're not sure whether it is just to keep kids amused or whether we are actually meant to return it next year. It also included this box of fun - a person with click-in clothes, a tangram, some other puzzles and foam squares, triangles and circles.
Here are some examples of Alex's work.Remember that project page we did early on?
Topics that I know she learnt about in school included candy (yeah, I know),
fruit, 
and growing things (twice during the year we had to send either a goldfish or a small plant in for them to take care of - and we haven't seen them ever again...)
The bottom picture is fish in case you were wondering :)Some of her drawings (I like the chickens the best).
We also saw a sample of other work pages Alex had completed. We had to smile at the flower they get for good work (Alex loved it)
And finally her report. We think that this is what they do for everyone at the end of the year - after all, they all advance from xiao yi ban (small first class) to the next one...
And now onto our holiday!
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