I conquered those evil kidney stones a few weeks ago, I can not be grateful enough that it was not as painful as everyone said it would be! With the conquering of these evil stones that meant one thing, head back to China--to start the new job.
I had a really hard time with grasping that I would be returning to China. I was scared, I didn't want to come back at all--but because of the commitments I had, I came back. Best decision yet, it has been a great first couple weeks. I love where I am working and what is happening here, what will happen in the future and just hoping I can leave an impact here. The staff is all American teachers and we get along really well and I enjoy their company.
The past few weeks of being here in a nutshell:
I turned 23! yes yes I celebrated my birthday in Hong Kong with my friend Jessica. We went to lunch at a great little bar and grill and then continued to walk in a cemetery (I know, weird.) It is a cemetery that I have seen a million times while walking around in Hong Kong and finally I walked right by the entrance! It is huge and beautiful. It dates all the way back to the first people that colonized Hong Kong from Britain. It is an interesting cemetery to say the least. It is Catholic, Parsee and Muslim in different areas. We walked around and met a homeless lady there, we talked to her for a few minutes and it was just a really interesting day that I enjoyed a lot. After we headed for some frozen yogurt and then the jet lag got the best of me and I fell asleep pretty early. An eventful 23rd birthday, if I do say so :)
My friend Krystal came to visit that following Monday for 6 days! I have pictures, they will be posted later. I have been too busy to even upload them yet, so I will get that done soon! We visited all of Shenzhen. Walked miles and miles and miles, it was exhausting but a whole lot of fun! It was really cool to show her different parts of the city and show her what the team this summer got to see and just enjoy it together. I hope that I did a good job showing the city without overwhelming a first time abroader :P I had fun taking her to Lo Hu which is the shopping district where you get to barter and watching her stop and becoming friends with everyone as I tell her to keep walking...it was good ol' fun. I really enjoyed her coming! Art district, shopping, hot pots, moving.
I got to move to a new district of the city of Shenzhen for my new job. I am about 45 minutes west of where I was before. I now live with a roommate, who is fantastic. I am really enjoying getting to know her and what she has done in her life, she is an older lady. I hope I can be her age and still be living abroad! The new apartment is still not set up, when it is...I will attempt some pictures! Her stuff has made it quite cute and comfortable...my stuff is still everywhere...naturally.
The new job is great. I will be teaching language arts, math, science and social studies to grades 5, 6 and 7. I am essentially a real life teacher. weird. Not something I thought I would be doing 5 years ago. I am also the head of the ESL/EFL department, that runs the after school programs. So I make sure everything is running smoothly and that we are actually making progress in our EFL development with the kids. I will be teaching EFL every day after school with 2 or so other teachers helping to all the grades we have. I am excited to be busy and to also enjoy getting to know such a small group of kids. I have 9 students in my class and I am excited to get to know them. I am Miss Turner, weird. :) I also am in charge of bringing a group of 10 students to China this coming summer from Concordia, Irvine! I am turning into a busy bee, I am so excited though!
That is all I can update for now :) I will update again next week as I get into the teaching mode and update you along the way.
Prayer requests:
Continual growth as I figure out this whole teaching thing, especially with no specific training.
That I can show the Light to these kids and my coworkers in many ways.
I continue to stay healthy
That I can still be in the people I met last semesters lives, even with being far away now.
Highs:
Krystal coming
New school
New friends
Possible Chinese lessons!
Lows:
not seeing friends/family on my birthday
missing everyone back home.
with love,
Ashley
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