Zai jian, China

This will likely be my last blog entry from China since we leave Anqing in two days and China in three. There were times during our experience here when I never thought this day would come and yet I’ve found myself feeling a tad melancholy these past couple of days. No, I won’t miss the pollution, spitting, noise, and feeling lost most of the time, but I will miss the people I’ve met and connected with during my ten months. 


Today was filled with goodbyes. We bid farewell to some close friends during a lunch and dinner and it was difficult. I know that I’ll enjoy returning home, and the luxuries that come with living in the United States (blue sky, drinkable tap water that doesn’t smell like poo, a walled-in shower that doesn’t flood the entire bathroom floor, flushing toilet-paper, eating raw fruits and veggies without worrying about how they’ll affect my insides, etc.), but I’m not quite sure how I’ll feel about China once I’m stateside. 


What will I miss? I honestly don’t know because I haven’t figured out yet what this experience has meant for me. I certainly feel changed (who wouldn’t?), but I think it will take some time to process everything -- the good, the bad, and the bizarre. So far, I think that I appreciate my life much more than before; man I’ve got it good -- a loving family, a good education, great friends, a healthy savings account, a car, promising job prospects, enough food to eat, a computer, my travel experiences, the freedom to voice my opinions without worrying about repercussions, clean air and water, and the list goes on! In the coming days, weeks, months, it will be interesting to see the other ways I’ve changed. 


On Saturday I had my final day of teaching and I wish it could have gone a little more smoothly. The last class I taught was too excited about playing Jeopardy that they wouldn’t be quiet long enough for me to explain the directions. I gave the group a couple of warnings about their behavior and informed them that if they couldn’t listen to me when I asked them to, we wouldn’t be able to play the game. Unfortunately, they didn’t follow directions and I had to stop the activity and show them Mr. Bean episodes instead. Three students came up to me to ask if I would give them a second chance, but I refused to budge because the class had demonstrated to me that they couldn’t handle themselves (and this wasn’t the first time that I had problems with them). I was already taking a risk by playing Jeopardy, and the activity required a certain amount of maturity that the group of students didn’t possess. After a little while, I stopped Mr. Bean, explained to the class why they didn’t get to play the game, and told them that they had made the decision to refuse to listen to me so that’s why I cancelled the activity. Though they were unhappy, I think some of the students understood my actions.


A teacher arranged a going away party for us for the next day, but at the last minute the school informed him that he would have to attend parent-teacher conferences at the time of the event. This meant that we were on our own with students for about two hours, which caused a considerable amount of chaos because the kids didn’t know how to host a party. We didn’t know what was happening either, because the teacher hadn’t told us his plans. The students decided to rent a karaoke room, but it wasn’t big enough to fit everyone comfortably; the sound system was having problems and made intermittent, deafening screeching noises; three or four teens were hogging the microphone, so some of the other students wanted to open a new room; and many of the kids were unhappy with the party and left early, while others hinted that I should pay for the karaoke room (I ended up playing stupid and didn’t have to shell out the cash). Eventually everything got straightened out (we were never supposed to do karaoke originally) and we ate some lunch with a couple of students and some adult friends. Though uncomfortable at times, it was an educational and entertaining experience.


It’s getting late, so I should head off to bed! Our sleep schedule has been so out of whack lately because of interviews and late-night (or early-morning) calls to schools that I’ll be happy when it gets back to normal. Wait! It won’t for a little while because soon I’ll be dealing with jet lag. Oh well, at least I’ll be able to eat fish and chips and cereal soon (not together!) so I won’t complain. 


Thanks for being so supportive of us during our China Adventure! Your love, kind words, and cyber hugs kept us going through some difficult times and we can’t thank you enough!