Though it’s still summer break in other parts of the world,
my daughter is on her fourth week at her new school. I had warned her that she
would be in for a culture shock attending school in the Philippines after
Europe and New York. I, for one, experienced such a shock upon starting my
freshman year of college in Manila, many, many years ago. For one thing, most
of the students were still living with their parents, which for me was opposite
to the notion of Freedom and Independence which I had associated with
university life. But back to my daughter.
When we got the list of supplies it indicated she needed a
laptop. Now I had given her my old hp last year, which is too heavy to lug
around to class. She also has a tablet, not to mention my old iPhone AND my
husband’s iPhone. Neither her dad, my husband or myself thought it was
necessary for her to have a new laptop. Okay, so maybe I am a bit old school
(pun intended). Then she goes to class and finds out that all the kids already
have one, not to mention cellphones, smart ones, of course, with several having
iPhones, and using them in class. In Geneva, all cellphones were strictly
forbidden within school premises – talk of a contrast!
Next, lunch. The cafeteria is under renovation for an
indeterminate amount of time (as is the gym and the recess area). When I
inquired about school meals, the admissions lady explained that most children
have their lunch brought to them by their nannies. As a matter of fact, many of
the nannies (identifiable by their nurse-like uniforms) wait in a tented area
by the school entrance all day. Apparently they assist the younger kids in
eating their meal, and are dropped off in the morning and picked up after class
with their mini master or mistress.
So on her first day of school, the nanny drops the lunch
with the security guard as instructed. Somehow, it gets lost and never reaches
my daughter, who doesn’t say anything because it’s the first day and she’s the
new kid and doesn’t want any unnecessary attention. Thankfully this problem has
now been resolved, though the nanny has been personally handing the lunches to
my daughter, until a new rule came that they were no longer to do that and just
drop the bag on a table… we’ll see how that works out again. Some of the kids get spaghetti for snacks.
They were surprised that my daughter would sometimes only get a ham and cheese
sandwich.
Then of course there is drop off and pick up, aka One Big Mess.
There is no school bus so most kids are dropped off in private cars, which
creates a huge traffic jam around the school. Some of the kids live far away
and are dropped off as early as 6:30 am, or one hour before classes begin, in
order to avoid the city traffic. We live close by, precisely because I wanted
to avoid this commuting insanity, and though she is never late, my daughter is
always the last one in her class to arrive. God thing she is so good humoured, and taking all of this in stride.
