French vs Chinese vs English

Today I took the kids to visit the two schools that are an option for us here in Shenyang.  It didn't start out so well.  Tim sent Mr You back to Venice as soon as he got to work and he was down there waiting when we went out at 8:30.  We were supposed to be at the Michelin School at 9:00.  Technically, it's not a 'Michelin' school, but a Chinese school (called Northeast Yu Cai) with an international division that teaches French for the children of Michelin expats, and German for the children of BMW expats.  Overall is it a large school with several campuses but the one we were going to was the main campus.  Perhaps I should have told Mr You yesterday that we were going so he could prepare.  I assumed, stupidly, that since this school is listed in the taxi book that Michelin prepares for it's employees to show their drivers, that he would know the places in the book.  Really, it's not a big book, more like a bunch of business cards tied together, but nicer of course.  Anyway, I showed him the card for the school and he looked confused and started talking to the guard at our gate.  I was ready for this.  Before we left I had searched out the school online and checked out the location so I could show him on our map that we keep in the van where exactly we were going.  I also allowed twice as much time as it said it should take us to get there, which was 15 minutes.

We left Eastern Venice and drove up the street to the intersection with the Carrefour.  At this point he turned left onto the bridge that crosses the river, heading to the south side of Shenyang.  This was exactly what I had hoped he would do, we were heading in the right direction.  We crossed the bridge and he immediately pulled off the road and I could tell that already he didn't know which way to go.  I showed him again on the map but he just waved his hand at me, muttered something and got out to ask directions.  He got back in and headed out but still didn't seem to have any idea of which way to go.  I was trying to follow where we were on the map so that I could tell him when we got to the right road, but since almost all the roads in this part of the city, with the exception of the main arteries, are marked in Chinese, I had trouble following.  Also, not all the roads on my map are marked.

After stopping a couple more times for directions, at 8:55 I called the lady we were supposed to meet to tell her we would be late, that the driver was having trouble finding the place.  She offered to talk to him and try to help so I handed the phone over.  After they were done talking he seemed to have an idea of where he was going but after another half hour and two more stops for directions we still weren't there, although we were on the right street, until he turned off it.  I called the school back again and Mr You talked to the lady, then I got back on the phone and told her we were by another school so she said she would try to explain it to him again.  He took the phone and before long he was yelling at her and I could hear her giving it right back to him.  All this was going on while we sat at a traffic light with people going around us.  Luckily it wasn't an overly busy street.  Ryan decided he had to pee so I jumped out of the van, in the intersection, and took him to the bushes.  When I got back Mr You was done on the phone.  He turned left, drove a bit then turned right and we were there, sort of.  We had arrived at the kindergarten section of the school which was just down the street from the main campus.  Mr You got out with us and started walking down the street telling us to go with him.  I stopped and called the lady one more time and she said to stay put, that she would come and get us.  Good thing we did, he was still going in the wrong direction.

When the lady showed up (I keep calling her that because I'm not sure that everyone wants there name on here) I apologized profusely, especially for him yelling at her.  Even though the kindergarten building is the one that Nicholas would go to in the fall, we were not allowed to go in and look around.  They are very careful about who can go into the building and it appears to be only parents and teachers, not a bad thing at all.  So here is the deal if we decide to send Nicholas to the 'Michelin' school.

For the school year starting in September, Nicholas would be in the older group of kids attending kindergarten.  All the teaching is done in Chinese except for one part where they teach the Chinese kids English.  There is a teacher there that helps the French kids and would assist Nicholas as well.  There are a few things I like about this school.  Although it is a long day with the kids having to be there by 8:30 and staying until 3:45, it is broken up with lots of play time, Wednesdays are half days for the Michelin kids (not the Chinese though) and if we don't want to send him everyday we don't have to.  At one point in the day they have nap time, I believe for two hours.  However, since the Michelin kids don't nap (Nicholas doesn't either) the Michelin teacher takes them to her office and play games with them.  Also a bonus is that this school is normally only about fifteen minutes from Eastern Venice (not the hour and five minutes that it took us today).

Following one year at the Yu Cai kindergarten, Nicholas would cross over to the international section of the school where he would then be in a mixed class of children five and six years old, most of them having gone to the kindergarten with him so he would have some friends there.  All teaching here is done in French, except of course for the Chinese lesson.  The children have outdoor time here as well, but not with the nice playground they have at the kindergarten.  Although the classes are small (some of the upper grades have only one student) there are lots of kids around since the international section is right in the middle of the main campus of Yu Cai.  If we choose not to send Nicholas to school this September, next year he will go directly into the international class, with no introduction to French before hand, which he can get this year with the teacher for the Michelin kids.  We can also help him at home as both Tim and I remember some of the French we learned in school.

After checking out this school we went on to the Shenyang Foreign Language School.  This is quite a bit further from our place but they do have a bus that stops at Eastern Venice.  Although the school day is slightly shorter than the Michelin school, because of the bus schedule Nicholas would be picked up at 7:30am, dropped off at 4:30pm and would spend 45 minutes (each way) on the bus.  He would also spend all day, Monday to Friday in school if he went here.  All teaching is done in English which would be less intimidating and because of the cut off dates for ages, he would start in pre-kindergarten this year.  However, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten are a combined class (with 15 students this year) so he would essentially be repeating the class in his second year, with the exception of math where they split them up.  Part of the school day is devoted to bible studies (chapel on Fridays) and 'head down' time with the kids sitting at their desks with their heads down for forty minutes.  For my kids, this is time that could be better spent running around and playing.  The Michelin school has quite a bit more play time, which I consider to be very important.  I can't even imagine Nicholas sitting with his head on his desk for forty minutes straight.  Everyone is different though so some parents would appreciate the bible time and rest period.

This school does have art and music classes and we met those teachers.  They were very friendly and welcoming, as were the staff in the office.  They asked if we had eaten our lunch yet and when we said no, they offered us lunch in their cafeteria.  We went in but didn't stay long enough to eat anything, the kids wanted to get outside to the playground equipment.  We also saw the classroom for the pre-k class as well as the library and both were quite nice.    The classes at this school are also quite small, with a graduating class (grade 12) of four this year.

So, have we made a decision?  Well, Tim and I have to talk it over and decide with Nicholas who really didn't want to even go look at the schools.  When we got back this afternoon though, we were working on puzzles and he said that if he went to school, Ryan and I could do puzzles on our own and that would be a good thing.  I think it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.  He seemed to have the idea that going to school meant only sitting and learning numbers all day.  After seeing the playgrounds and art and music rooms perhaps that image is gone.  Today my instincts are telling me to send Nicholas to the Michelin School (Yu Cai kindergarten) this September for three and a half days per week (Monday, Tuesday, half Wednesday and Thursday) and see how he does picking up on the French language.  If that goes well, we can have him continue on to the international section of Yu Cai.  If he doesn't grasp the French we could transfer him to the Shenyang Foreign Language school where everything is in English and he wouldn't be repeating the same things from the previous year.

I guess the best thing to do it take it year by year and see how it goes.  I hope he will be keen to go by September and not have tears everyday.  I'm not sure I could take that! 

I hope everyone in Canada had a nice long weekend and that the sunshine finds you this week!

Au Revoir!