Fire!

So I was in my room this afternoon, getting ready for my last class when I heard the usual chatter and screaming of my students outside. When I looked out the window in passing, I saw what appeared to be all of my students heading out to the field.

Curious as to what was going on and whether or not I’d still be teaching my usual class, I grabbed my camera and ran out to join them.

In Canada, a fire drill consists of notices being sent out to teachers ahead of time with the approximate time of the upcoming drill and any further instructions needed. A piercing, annoying, and ridiculously loud alarm goes off; the students freak out in excitement, are yelled at (in vain) to line up single-file and then traipse out to the outskirts of the school property – all the while chatting to their friends over the scream of the alarm.

In China, a fire drill consists of everyone in the entire school traipsing outside to the track field, bunching up in their classes behind boundaries drawn out in chalk in the grass; directly in front of them are about 100 dust-covered fire extinguishers. The local fire chief (dressed in a suit) talks into a mic for a while, demonstrating how to use said fire extinguishers (the first try will be on a faulty one that refuses to work). The students then take turns using the extinguishers to put out one of three fires steadily roaring in a big bowl, after which point they’re re-lit by one of the off-duty security guards. The whole process is repeated about 380 times.

That’s China vs Canada for ya.