I really need to get better at updating this! I feel like I only update every two weeks and so I have to sit and type like a short novel about everything that is going on! If only I would update every few days or something! I will try to work on that. Maybe updating about what I am eating for lunch, oh wait I don't usually eat lunch. Guess I will have to figure something out! :)
Well where to begin... I have really been enjoying my job at Ivy School. My kids are great and so stinking cute! They are so smart and so much fun to teach. It makes me sad that I will have to leave them at some point. I don't know when that day is, but I am already dreading it. I am also enjoying my extra cooking classes in the mornings. It is so cool that I get to teach cooking. I love cooking! And now I get paid to do it (kind of!). The past couple of weeks I have taught the kids how to make a peanut butter and jelly roll, a banana roll, and this week we are making fresh fruit yogurt! YUMM! This week's recipe was a last minute decision so I am hoping the kids like it! They are my guinea pigs. :). Once I get more comfortable I plan to do some more American cooking :) (I have no idea what that entails but I am excited!).
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| The Wangjing West Subway Station. I know this station like the back of my hand! |
I am riding the subway every afternoon to get back and forth between Wangjing. I think I have filled up all my time and I feel a little insane but I love everything I am doing and don't really want to cut anything out! I am still doing home tutoring Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I love the little boy! He has truly captured my heart. I just wish his parents would allow me to teach him instead of them giving me stuff that is English and they think he should learn. I know they are frustrated because he isn't memorizing the things they want him to know, but I am doing what they tell me to do. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks this will change. They want me to start teaching him a simple story and song every week. Great I can do that! That was my plan from the beginning! (Sorry for the tangent ramble, it has just been stressing me out a little).
Anyways..... I have really enjoyed getting to know some of the other foreign teachers at my school. Last Saturday we made dinner together! OMG it was delicious! We made chicken, broccoli, corn, and purple potatoes (yes they really were purple and they were YUMMY!). And we just hung out all night! It was great! So glad I get to work with these AWESOME ladies everyday!
The only hiccough I have met this past week (that has really stressed me out) is that my work visa was denied. :( Sad day. But my boss thinks there is another way to go about getting it. There is another TEFL course I could take here in China that is supposedly offered through the Education Cabinet of China. Supposedly with this TEFL course (mind you I already have my TEFL certification that I paid a lot of money for) they will look past the 2 year experience that are required for the work visa. My hesitations are that I have to miss a week's worth of pay to take this class and my boss is only paying half the tuition (1500RMB = $250). So technically I am paying for the class with the missed work wages and still losing money. The good thing is my agent is paying the other half of the class so it is suppose to look like I am getting the class for free. But the class is also like an hour away from my apartment so I would have to commute back and forth on the subway everyday for 7 days, at the most busiest times of the day (8am and 5pm). Of course all of this is coming from my own funds. The other option would be to stay at the hotel where the class is being offered but that would cost me 2100RMB ($325).
I think I am worked up over this class for many reasons. 1) I asked God for the work visa to be denied if I was supposed to go home in December. Well the visa was denied but does that mean I shouldn't try for this other way just in case? Also the thought of leaving China in December kind of saddens me :(. I mean I miss everyone back home, but I am having a pretty good time in China despite the work visa stuff. 2) I already have the TEFL certification and the class I took was long and intense and to be honest it kind of pisses me off that China won't acknowledge it because I don't have 2 years experience. 3) This class is only a week so how intense is it going to be? Yeah I'm not looking forward to that. 4)It seems like I am out to lose quite a bit if this doesn't work out for me to get the work visa. 5) There is money coming out of my pocket for this class that I don't really want to take.
I may be overthinking the class and everything, but it has caused me a lot of stress the past couple of days. So I am continuing to pray that God leads the way like he has the whole time I have been here. I know that I can trust God to take care of me and this situation. I just have to keep reminding myself that he is bigger than all this. Also I have to remember to cast all my worries and fears on him. I know his plan for me is great and if that plan includes me coming home in December or staying in China longer, I know it will be the best plan for me! Thanks for praying and being with me on this journey! :)
**one of these days I am going to have a blog post that only has positive things to say about what is going on! God has great plans!**