He came in through the classroom window

It was one of the first really hot days of spring, so the classroom window was open. I was teaching my class and paying no attention to what was happening outside the window when, all of a sudden, I saw a man through the window. He wasn't just looking in the window; as soon as I saw him, I registered that he was climbing through the window to come into the classroom! After climbing in, he started strutting around the classroom, without any doubts, acting as though this were perfectly normal. I was not sure what to do about this. For all I knew, he could be a crazy man instead of the builder he seemed to be. I looked to the Chinese teacher for guidance, but she looked just as confused as I felt. We both, then, looked to the more senior teacher in the classroom and asked her what to do about this man.

The top teacher said that there was no problem with the man being here, so I tried my best to ignore his presence and continue teaching. After about five minutes of looking around the classroom (for what, I'm not sure), he climbed out the window again. At this point, I had to give up teaching for a while because the children all rushed to the window to watch him jump out.

The whole time that this was happening, though, I was completely amazed that it COULD happen. That a strange man could climb in through a window and walk around the classroom and then leave just as easily completely boggled my mind. There were no rules against this, as there would be in the United States. In the United States, I know that in order to enter a school, you need to sign your name and have a visitor's pass just to get in. Then, to go into a classroom, you would need to know someone in the classroom or have a very good reason to go in. A stranger would not be allowed to just go in and walk around with a classroom full of students. Comparing this knowledge of rules in America to my experience here, I think there is a good reason that I was surprised. Was this man allowed to come into the classroom? I believe that in this case there was no "allowed" or "not allowed", no "signing in". In these schools, everything is a lot more informal. So, if you decide to visit China or teach in China, be warned and be prepared.