“Ring, ring.” The alarm clock is ringing. I open my eyes and look at my watch.
Oh! 5:30 AM already! I must get up right now. The first thing I should do is go to kitchen and cook myself breakfast. It will be easy and simple. I usually fry an egg and crab some pieces of bread and have a glass of hot milk or soybean milk. Soybean milk is one of the most my favorite milk I like in China. Many Chinese like to drink it with some other Chinese snacks. Such as the steam bread and dried dough or small pieces of cakes.
At 6 o’clock AM, I will read English or Chinese loudly. Sometimes I need to recite some famous Chinese poems or English articles. Because I think no matter what kind of languages you will learn, it is a kind of input or output process. That means we should spend some time on it.
At 6:45 AM, I should go to school, sometimes I will go to school by bus. However most of time, I will go to school by bicycle. In China, drivers should be older than 18 years old. Now I am in high school, I can not go to school by cars.
We should arrive school at 7:20 AM. It is our school rule. If you are late, you will be punished badly by teacher. If you were late often, your parents will be invited to see the teacher. And the teacher will talk to your parents seriously.
Classes begin at 7:40AM. We have 5 classes in the morning until 12:10PM before lunch. 30 minutes lunch time and 20 minutes rest time later, we will begin our afternoon classes. We will be done at 5:20PM. But we can not go back home at 5:20PM.
We will HAVE AN EXAM AFTER CLASS!!! It is so crazy.
I will be back home at 6:30pm. That means I can have supper soon. After 30 minutes of supper, we will have to do my homework. We have tons of homework everyday.
I will go to bed at midnight, usually at 12 pm. This is one day of mine, a common senior school student in China. Most of my classmate have the same lifestyle as me everyday. What is your dailylife in USA there my friend?
I am amazed at what I have learnt about your education system. I can’t comment on the US but here in the UK young people don’t go to school for that many hours, and they don’t have as much homework as you.
School usually starts between 8.45 and 9am and there is a break in the middle of the day for lunch. This varies depending on the school. The school day finishes between 15.15 and 15.45 and sometimes there will be after school clubs like football, different sports, music or drama. Most students will be back at home by at the latest 6pm.
It sounds like you don’t have much time to go out in the evenings. Do get any time to chat and talk to your friends or do anything other than school work?
I am also pretty amazed at your school day. It sounds so exhausting and tiring! In the US, or at least in Massachussetts, we do not have as long of a school day or probably as much homework.
School begins at 7:30-7:45 here, but if we are late we aren’t really punished. We just have to sign in at the office to show that we came to school and then it is shown on our report card, but nothing bad really comes out of it. My school has 6 classes a day, 5 of which are about an hour each and one that is about an hour and a half with a 25 minute lunch break in it.
School ends at 1:55, but many people stay after school to participate in clubs, theatre, sports, or after school help. Homework varies on which classes you take, but it usually takes about 4 or 5 hours for more people.
It sounds like you never have any time to rest of have fun. How do you focus at school with only 5 and a half hours of sleep and when do you get to have fun and just be a kid?
First off, wow. I am a Junior in high school in the USA. I can say things are very different here in the US. I cant speak for every school, because their are so many different options here, but ur normal big high school starts at 7 am to 8 am and gets out 2 to 3 p.m. You will have 6 classes and around 2-3 hours of homework, plus there are after school clubs or sports.
But like i said there is a lot of options. My school doesn’t start till 8:50, we only take 4 classes a semester, but we finish a years work in that subject in that time. We get out at 3:30, and finish all our homework on the laptop computers the school has given us. Please keep in mind that my life is not the norm, but unique. Some kids get out at noon. Other kids learn completely at home.
The way i came on to this blog is through a school assignment to find out about high school in china in honor of the Olympics. Thank you for writing about your life. It makes me grateful of my own easy daily life in comparison and very respectful of yours.
Your American Friend,
Anna
7.30 – 7.50 am: I wake up to a “My Chemical Romance” song playing on my alarm clock. I never eat breakfast (an unhealthy habit, I know) so I go straight to brushing my teeth and washing my face. Then I change into my clothing for the day, usually a t-shirt/jeans combination.
7.50 – 7.55 am: I pack all my books up in my backpack and put it by the door so I’m ready to leave.
7.55 – 8.10: I apply my makeup and style my hair.
8.10: I get in the car so one of my parents can take me to school.
8.50 – 12.05: We have morning classes during this time. Tardies (being late to school) are to be avoided, but their is no serious punishment for being occasionally late. (if it becomes a habit, however, your parents will be informed.) We have a quarter system at my school, which means we go through a year’s worth of work in one semester. We have two classes, each one hour and twenty minutes long.
12.05 – 12.40: Lunch. We eat and socialize before afternoon classes.
12.40 – 2.00/3.30: You have your last one or two classes of the day, depending on how many classes you take during a semester.
After school we go home, usually with forty-five minutes to an hour and a half’s worth of homework. Most people just relax until dinner time (usually sometime between 5.30 and 7.00), and complete their work after dinner. Bedtime is usually 10.00 – 12.00.
We’re pretty friggin pathetic compared to your hardcore school system.
Here in Aus we get up about 7.30 (usually, although I don’t get up until 8.10) Then we have school at 9.00 and a snack break at 11.00 for a half hour. Then lessons, then lunch at 1.00 then go home from 3.15-3.30. We relax at home or do an after school activity (usually sport). We then have dinner at 6.30 and go to bed at about nine.
I’m glad I found this website because we have to write a diary on a Chinese students’ life and I didn’t know anything.