Today was a success!!! We went on a quest for butterflies! Our unit the past two weeks has been the life cycle of a butterfly so I decided to wrap it up by seeing a real one. I didn't really expect to find one because I've never noticed one here, but we found FOUR today!!! Tell me that wasn't divine intervention. Wow.
The kids stayed with me the whole time and chased after me instead of me chasing them. And their faces were priceless. They were all so excited. (Check out facebook to see the pictures.) What a rewarding day. Today was the best day I've had in China, even before I began teaching. PTL. I think He's making me a teacher afterall :)
On another positive note, I'm going to be traveling to Guilin this weekend. We have the next week off for National Day. Six of us are taking a train tomorrow evening, sleeping on the train, then touring Guilin for two days. We are staying in a hostel Saturday night, then traveling back on the sleeping train again on Sunday night. I'm so excited. It's cooler in Guilin which will be welcomed with open arms, and what I can tell from pictures it's gorgeous! Look it up. I'm so blessed. A hundredfold indeed.
I just tried to put a picture with this post. I have no clue if it worked because everything is in Chinese. Hope it did though :)
I love you all. I can't wait to tell you all about Guilin! PEACE!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Thank you!!
I know at the end of the majority of my posts I say I miss you all and love you all so I just want to take this time to say I mean it. I mean it everytime, guys. Your IMs, emails and facebook messages brighten my day so much that I can't help but love and miss you all even more. Every morning I get excited to see who sent me a message and I carry them with me for days, sometimes longer. Thank you so much, all of you. Every comment has encouraged me, no matter how small. Please keep them coming :)
I love you and I miss you.
I love you and I miss you.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
B-e-a-U-tiful day
*Yesterday I wanted to go home and there's still a part of me that's struggling that won't soon disappear, but that's part of the journey over here. Thanks for hanging in there with me.*
The weather today was beautiful!!!!!!!!!! It was probably only 80 degrees and there was a breeze! There hasn't been a breeze here since they opened the door to the plane. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but only slight. It was a gorgeous day.
On another bright note, my kids made circles and hearts with playdough for almost an hour today. That had never happened until this morning. Usually they're all over the place, but today was an answer to pr-yer. Speaking of which, thank you ALL for lifting me up. That's all that's going to get me through this job.
Rachel and I went to the fruit and vegetable market for the first time today. It was really fun. I don't know much Mandarin yet, but it was so much fun to use what I have learned. The fruit is really good here, and cheap. We can walk to the market within ten minutes. Everyone looks at us wherever we go. Rachel compares it to being a celebrity. Not that I know what that feels like, but I imagine it is similar to this. People yell, "Hello!" to us no matter where we are, and are always turning around to look at us. In America it's not odd to see foreigners, but we are quite a spectacle here I guess.
Have I mentioned that I can't read my blog? I'm sorry if I repeat myself.
Until next time, enjoy the breeze at home and the changing leaves. I miss you all.
The weather today was beautiful!!!!!!!!!! It was probably only 80 degrees and there was a breeze! There hasn't been a breeze here since they opened the door to the plane. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but only slight. It was a gorgeous day.
On another bright note, my kids made circles and hearts with playdough for almost an hour today. That had never happened until this morning. Usually they're all over the place, but today was an answer to pr-yer. Speaking of which, thank you ALL for lifting me up. That's all that's going to get me through this job.
Rachel and I went to the fruit and vegetable market for the first time today. It was really fun. I don't know much Mandarin yet, but it was so much fun to use what I have learned. The fruit is really good here, and cheap. We can walk to the market within ten minutes. Everyone looks at us wherever we go. Rachel compares it to being a celebrity. Not that I know what that feels like, but I imagine it is similar to this. People yell, "Hello!" to us no matter where we are, and are always turning around to look at us. In America it's not odd to see foreigners, but we are quite a spectacle here I guess.
Have I mentioned that I can't read my blog? I'm sorry if I repeat myself.
Until next time, enjoy the breeze at home and the changing leaves. I miss you all.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
finally connected
I finally have internet in my apartment. PTL!!! Hopefully communication will be easier now.
School has gotten better. My kids are so cute, but that doesn't really make up for the stress they cause. For instance, three of my children locked me out of the room today. Since we're not allowed to be negative at Eton House I had to calmly say, "We don't lock Miss LaRee out of the room" instead of my natural inclination which was to say, "Listen, you DON'T EVER lock me out of the classroom, do you understand me, punks?"...or something like that. I like this approach though. It produces results every now and then, but it keeps me positive throughout the day as well. If I was constantly saying my initial reaction to their behavior I would only use one word all day-no.
Since I can't just say no to the children, I say, "No thank you" to get them to stop punching me, each other, what have you. Today my entire class started chanting, "No thank you!!!" for a solid two minutes. I didn't know if I should laugh or get frustrated. I decided to laugh because I hadn't just told them to stop; that's simply one of the few English phrases they can remember at this point because it's all I seem to say.
I'm off to shop for groceries with Rachel!!!!! She's finally here :)
School has gotten better. My kids are so cute, but that doesn't really make up for the stress they cause. For instance, three of my children locked me out of the room today. Since we're not allowed to be negative at Eton House I had to calmly say, "We don't lock Miss LaRee out of the room" instead of my natural inclination which was to say, "Listen, you DON'T EVER lock me out of the classroom, do you understand me, punks?"...or something like that. I like this approach though. It produces results every now and then, but it keeps me positive throughout the day as well. If I was constantly saying my initial reaction to their behavior I would only use one word all day-no.
Since I can't just say no to the children, I say, "No thank you" to get them to stop punching me, each other, what have you. Today my entire class started chanting, "No thank you!!!" for a solid two minutes. I didn't know if I should laugh or get frustrated. I decided to laugh because I hadn't just told them to stop; that's simply one of the few English phrases they can remember at this point because it's all I seem to say.
I'm off to shop for groceries with Rachel!!!!! She's finally here :)
No taste = no calories
Preface: I wrote this last week but was unable to post it until today.
As I sit here eating my tasteless chocolate flavored swiss roll, I do not feel guilty. I don’t feel guilty because if it doesn’t have any taste it doesn’t have any calories either, right?
So I started teaching yesterday. It’s rough teaching kids who don’t speak your language. Of course that’s understandable, but my gracious…I didn’t expect it to be this hard. Classroom management is the least of my worries at this point. I can’t even understand if my kids need to go to the toilet which creates quite a problem if a three year old pees his or her pants in the middle of circle time, or what is supposed to be circle time. I can barely get them in a circle before one jumps up and begins reading a book. I understand that this is typical behavior for three year olds regardless of their nationality, but I can’t even get mad at them because they don’t understand what I’m saying. They’re not disobedient; they just speak Chinese, or Japanese, or Korean, etc.
I miss you all a lot. The team here is great, but I miss the comfort of each of our friendships. I can write something that raw because I’m sure if you’re reading this we’re close friends. If not though, thanks for reading. I’m sure you’ll get to know me really well if you keep up with my year. J Anyway, I miss little things, like calling you all. I don’t have internet at my apartment yet so my communication is neither consistent nor lengthy. When internet gets hooked up though I’m sure I’ll be writing you all a lot more.
Speaking of mail, I may not be writing many letters home. I went to the post office for the first time on Sunday, which took an hour and a half to find by the way, and it was packed. Sorry guys, but emails are going to be easiest. Expect cards at Christmas and maybe your birthday. J
Rachel gets here a week from today. I’m really looking forward to that. At least we’ll each share a piece of home by being together.
My advice for today: NEVER take American food for granted. I didn’t know how much I would miss it until today when the spaghetti sauce smelled like vomit, seriously. And when my chocolate swiss roll was not an oasis away from the bland rice, but instead proved to add to my growing longing of good, familiar food.
I love you all dearly.
As I sit here eating my tasteless chocolate flavored swiss roll, I do not feel guilty. I don’t feel guilty because if it doesn’t have any taste it doesn’t have any calories either, right?
So I started teaching yesterday. It’s rough teaching kids who don’t speak your language. Of course that’s understandable, but my gracious…I didn’t expect it to be this hard. Classroom management is the least of my worries at this point. I can’t even understand if my kids need to go to the toilet which creates quite a problem if a three year old pees his or her pants in the middle of circle time, or what is supposed to be circle time. I can barely get them in a circle before one jumps up and begins reading a book. I understand that this is typical behavior for three year olds regardless of their nationality, but I can’t even get mad at them because they don’t understand what I’m saying. They’re not disobedient; they just speak Chinese, or Japanese, or Korean, etc.
I miss you all a lot. The team here is great, but I miss the comfort of each of our friendships. I can write something that raw because I’m sure if you’re reading this we’re close friends. If not though, thanks for reading. I’m sure you’ll get to know me really well if you keep up with my year. J Anyway, I miss little things, like calling you all. I don’t have internet at my apartment yet so my communication is neither consistent nor lengthy. When internet gets hooked up though I’m sure I’ll be writing you all a lot more.
Speaking of mail, I may not be writing many letters home. I went to the post office for the first time on Sunday, which took an hour and a half to find by the way, and it was packed. Sorry guys, but emails are going to be easiest. Expect cards at Christmas and maybe your birthday. J
Rachel gets here a week from today. I’m really looking forward to that. At least we’ll each share a piece of home by being together.
My advice for today: NEVER take American food for granted. I didn’t know how much I would miss it until today when the spaghetti sauce smelled like vomit, seriously. And when my chocolate swiss roll was not an oasis away from the bland rice, but instead proved to add to my growing longing of good, familiar food.
I love you all dearly.
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