Drills and jingle bells

Every (single) morning, I wake up to... wait for it... jingle bells.  Yeah, not joking.  The christmas song.  It is played throughout the day, varying with non-recognizable kinds tunes. For you see, Chinese schools are run differently than American ones.  Bells do not exist.  Songs, including jingle bells, usher in every thinkable event at the school.  Arriving, period starting, period ending, flag ceremony beginning, flag ceremony ending, break time, protect eye exercise time, broadcasting time, practice handwriting time, lunch starting, nap time starting, nap time ending, lunch ending, etc etc etc.  While this used to drive me crazy, it's become a part of the day and every now and then I can actually recognize which song is playing for what event.
To add to this gem of hilarity (I asked, they don't know they're playing christmas music), the kids are also constantly drilled to exercise and prepare for military training -- which every person goes through even though there's not mandatory service.  This means that the highlight of my week days is at 9am, when the entire primary school marches outside (yes, to music) to practice marching and drills.  Why is this the highlight?  Because they're 7-11 years old, and therefore adorable.  I finally snuck a picture this week to share my enjoyment with you.

This is the view from my office.  Frankly, I have no idea what they're doing half the time but I love it anyways.  Just try and picture 500 primary students trying to march in neat little rows for the flag ceremony.  Haha!