I'm baaaaacccck!

A view of Shui Hui Park from outside the entrance.

So for the first time in what feels like forever, I decided to write a blog post today.  Then I stared at the screen for an eternity, browsed Pinterest (‘ve finally figured out the navigations of that), searched this, watched that, then flipped back to my writing.  What do I write about?  It has been almost a year since I wrote any blog, and I feel like I have so much to say (and yet nothing of great import) what do I say?

In April, I moved to teach in China and that has been really interesting.  Honestly, I love the people where I live – they are super friendly, really inclusive and a lot of fun to be around.  Interestingly enough, it’s a lot easier to make friends here than it is in the United States.  My one of a handful of problems, however, is the language barrier.  My friends here definitely have a good grasp on English, but every once in a while you can see their eyes kind of gloss over as their comprehension fails them.  And that’s much more than I can say for my comprehension of Mandarin.  I mean it’s a lot better than when I first arrived here nearly four months ago, but it’s not conversational level by any means.  If the school where I work would have kept their promise, I’m sure my comprehension would be a lot better.  But everything I’ve learned, I’ve taught myself.

Time is sure flying though.  I am almost to the point where I have just two months left, which is kind of a pity because I’m really starting to rock as a teacher (even if the kids can’t see all the hard work and thought that I put into everything).  After months of dilly-dallying, I finally have the SMARTBOARD program installed in my computer.  And let me tell you, my lesson plans have improved significantly.  The kids love learning by games, and I’m kind of able to create mini-computer games that they play.  I mean they’re not super advanced, but they are still a lot of fun and make them think.  Kind of like the super simple, yet thought provoking, computer games like Reading Rabbit – again maybe not quite that advanced, but I think I could come up with something really similar.

However, I am really looking forward to going back home.  I miss my friends and my normal life there.  While I am definitely making the best of this adventure and enjoying the culture, I just miss home.  It’s pretty natural.  And of course with there only being two months left, I’m starting to freak out.  While the pay here isn’t wonderful, it’s good for here, and it is a job.  I’m, once again, starting the process of job hunting and it sucks.  I feel like I will be perpetually in a state of looking for a job, but I am hoping this next one is one that will stick for a while.  Well, I think that was a good re-introducing-myself-back-into-the-world-of-blogging-for-now update, right?

#China #Rugao #adventuresinchina #Mandarin #languagelearning #esl #tefl #tesl #smartboard #teachingabroad