1, there are homeroom teachers for grades 1-9. (Although there is a homeroom teacher for grades 8 and 9, classes are elective, so you go directly to the classroom you want to go to every day, and rarely see the homeroom teacher with your class).
2, kids talk mostly about what's popular and relevant to them. When the girls in the class come over to play, they are learning modern dance, and when the skaters come over to play, they talk about skating, getting their coaches' licenses, etc., and are curious about what's going on in China. They choose Chinese as their foreign language.
Most of the boys play hockey, tennis and video games. Girls generally play cell phone games, but many take piano lessons, swim, play tennis, and skate. Both boys and girls learn to ski.
3, no corporal punishment at all. Almost practicing homework is rare. There is never any scolding of children (illegal). Western education is based on developing independence and self-awareness. For example, in schools or clubs, anything that happens is posted on the bulletin board, not like in China, where the teacher informs each student and lines them up to lead them where to go and what to do. In western countries, the children themselves are the ones who see the notices and do the work themselves. For example, in middle school, when choosing a class, finding a classroom, or finding your locker, you look at the posted notices, you find the classroom that corresponds to your class, you choose the class, and then you go to that classroom based on the class you chose. Lockers are also numbered. Each locker has a combination, and children learn to use the rotating combination lock to manage their own locker. For example, if you want to skate in a tournament, the coach emails the child about the tournament and the child goes to the website to sign up, register, pay the fee (parent's credit card), etc. The child does not go to the tournament like in China. The children themselves go to the website to sign up, register, pay the fee (parents' credit card), etc. Going to the competition is not like China where there is a coach who leads the team and follows them all the way. Western coaches will arrange training and guidance when you arrive at the competition venue. But they will not teach you how to get to the competition site. (Of course, you don't have to pay for the coach's expenses.) Unless you ask, you will be told. In the west, education is mainly about reminding, usually just reminding once or twice, not often. For example, in this side of the coach in the training only tell you a sentence, how you should practice which action, and then also does not require and supervision, is entirely the child's own self-conscious practice. China is the coach will ask to do 100, or chasing after you to teach you which point is not right, redo, etc. (this point I like the Chinese-style supervision) After all, the child's self-consciousness is still poor.
4, in the western countries hitting children is illegal, whether it is a teacher or a neighbor found that there are hitting children can be reported to the police, the police will be parents and children isolated, some will be released from parental custody does not allow parents to go home to face the child, but also by the government to put the child into a new guardianship family to raise. This is because the Western philosophy is that children belong to the state, not to a family and not to the parents. Therefore, the child is given several hundred dollars a month by the government as milk money (called candy money in some countries) from birth until the age of 18. It is not that children in Western countries are afraid of their parents and point out their faults and shortcomings at a very young age. Rather, children and their parents are friends, and children know that their parents are the only friends who always support them.
5, elementary school is also not divided into classes every year. Classes in elementary school are very interesting, and kids can walk around as much as they want, go out to the restroom, or eat, drink, etc. Teachers are not accused of any of this. There was no disruption of class or anything like that. In middle school, because you take a class, you enter the classroom according to the course you have chosen (not all the students in your class, but all the students in the class who have taken the course). For example, if you take Science, Math, and English in the morning, you go to the Science classroom for Science and then to the Math classroom for Math. There are main subjects: English, math, and science.
6, the biggest difference between Chinese and Western culture is the difference in worldview values. For example: children's education, consumerism, dating and so on.
Chinese parents are eager to see their children grow up and put all their hopes on their children. They beat and scold their children for their own good. Western parents are treating their children as friends, just reminding to persuade, mainly to cultivate their children's independent living ability and self-awareness. In terms of consumption, Easterners generally believe that having their own house is considered having a home and being stable. On the other hand, many westerners are renting a house (some of them have been renting for their whole life), and when their work goes well and their salary is high, they will live in a new house with a good view, and when their salary is low, they will move to a cheaper house. They don't stress themselves out and lose quality of life just to make a mortgage payment. They don't carry cash, even if they buy a bottle of water for 1 dollar, they pay by credit card. Unlike Chinese people, they don't dare to go out without some banknotes in their pockets. Westerners don't save much because they have good welfare and no worries. Almost all of them are moonlighters. The biggest difference between the East and the West in making friends is that the East seems to be enthusiastic, treats, gifts, etc., while Westerners rarely invite to dinner, usually treats are family gatherings, the participants also bring a do-it-yourself dishes to participate in can. Their concept of making friends is in line with the Chinese proverb: a gentleman's friendship is as light as water. Children make friends, mostly online exchanges, but also often have children to play at home, if I invite them out to eat in restaurants (because of the lazy stir-fry), they will also take out their own money to ask how much to pay, if no money with children will refuse to go to dinner together. The kids are also happy to talk and laugh and play together. My daughter's best friends are a little foreign girl, a Korean girl and a Taiwanese MM, and a little sister of Vietnamese descent who is always clinging. They learn to sing together (popular) and learn modern dance.
Generally, when kids meet, they start talking about what's going on at the time, such as, do you like this song? Can you sing it? Or, how to play this game? Generally strange adults meet mainly to chat about the weather ah, women will talk about your clothes are very beautiful ah. Men usually talk about the ball, sports events and so on.
Additionally: Westerners believe that everyone has their own body odor, so they are out of respect for others, will wear perfume, while the Chinese always think that we are less sweaty, no body odor, but also because of the economic conditions in the past do not allow, did not develop the habit of using perfume. Once with a foreigner friends chat about the use of perfume, they are very euphemistic talk about said: do not believe you try, you enter the Indian left after the elevator will have a curry flavor. I have tried, indeed, but they themselves do not feel. Therefore, when the development of social civilization to a certain extent, the use of perfume in order to cover their body odor is as common and simple as brushing teeth and eating gum to cover the taste is the same common and simple thing.
The above is the superficial experience of living abroad for many years, what you want to know can always ask again, I hope to help you.