First Full Working Week

Well it was officially my first full week employed at SmartKids kindergarten here in Beijing. I think I am getting used to the school. It is definitely different than in the States. I only teach twice a day and the rest of the time is play time. I am seeing this as a blessing from God. The work is super easy. I'm not stressed out and I get to enjoy spending time with these cuties! My recruiter said my school was pleased with my performance at the school I just need to make my teaching more entertaining. I agree! I want to be more entertaining and fun but it's really hard to come up with something fun when you don't know what you are going to be teaching that day! So that is something I need to work on. Basically I need to go in each day with different games that will go with different types of lessons (reading, flashcards, review, etc). 

I went grocery shopping this week! We went to Walmart first, but it's not the same here in China as in the States. So instead we went to the foreign grocery story, Jenny Lou's. I got some olive oil, peanut butter, and black pepper. You don't want to know how much I spent. Let's just say it was crazy! I spent about $9 on a small jar of peanut butter! But if you know me, peanut butter is a staple in my life! I need it to survive LOL. The olive oil and black pepper are for the broccoli I love making. 

This week I made dinner 4 of the 5 days. And each day I made broccoli. I could probably live off this broccoli. Oh and we always have rice, LOL, while in China right?!?! Today I added peanuts to the dish and it was delicious :). So this might become a popular dish for me here in China. I am thinking about venturing into the meat department and buying some chicken to add. We will see. I am experimenting a lot here because I don't have an oven so I am perfecting my stovetop creations :). 

We had to go buy more rice at the store this week. Oh my goodness! It's crazy here. There are so many different selections of rice. All ranging from $5-$50 for a 5kg bag of rice! It was so crazy! I don't know how you choose or even know the differences. I guess I will learn as I get used to the different world I am living in :)

Nothing major really happened this week. Just getting used to this new environment. Praying it continues to get better and better. I know God has a plan for me here and I can't wait to see what else he has in store for me!

First Day Teaching...

I know everyone has been wondering how my first day of teaching went. Well here it goes....

Thursday July 10th was my first day at SmartKids Kindergarten (yes that is the name lol). I was super nervous that morning. I was afraid anything and everything would go wrong and I did not really know what to expect. I felt like I was going in blind, which I was, but Jesus was with me. 

So at 8:30 in the morning I left my apartment to catch the yellow bus my school uses to pick up students. I am so thankful that they let me on! My recruiter said that my school is not very good at communication so I did not know if they knew I was allowed to ride. But they let me on so that was a good start, and an answer to prayer! The bus picked up 4 kids at 4 different stops, then we were off to the school, which is literally maybe 5 minutes from my apartment!

I arrived at the school and I didn't know where to go. I went and looked for the boss. It always feels weird observing a new classroom because you don't know where to stand or what to do and all the kids are staring at you. The boss took me to the classroom that I am going to be working in for the next year. The teacher of the class right now is Korean but her English is very good. So I watched her do a lesson, it was very simple but the children seemed to enjoy it. After the lesson the students played. Then after play time they have a Chinese lesson. After their Chinese lesson they go and play in the playground area (kind of like a recess). By this point in the day I am asking myself, "What have I gotten myself into? I can't do this for a year." I honestly was wondering why I came to China. I would much rather have my own classroom in the States, one that is more structured and I know what they are doing and there isn't so much playtime. Also I would know where to get the materials I would need to teach the class.  

After the students played on the playground they came back into the room to watch some English videos. The videos are cartoon episodes about a bus named Tayo. I think the cartoon is from Canada based on how they say some of the words, like Sorry :). After watching 2 episodes (about 30 minutes) it was time for lunch. I ate lunch at the school. Yes I tried everything that was on my plate, except for the carrots. Things were touching but I still ate most of it. Since being here in China, my appetite has not been the same as back home. I have been eating small portions and not even finishing them. 

After lunch, the teacher asked me to try teaching. I was like WHHAATTT?!?!?! but I did it. I didn't have a lesson plan, all I had was the book that they are using for curriculum. So basically, I taught by the seat of my pants and surprisingly it went well. The students were responsive and seemed to really enjoy the review lesson. I basically structured it off the way she did the lesson earlier in the day. Once I was finished it was play time again. (I am not a big fan of all the playtime these kids have. I think there is something much more structured and educational for these students to be doing.) While I was playing with the children I was thinking about other things we could be doing instead of playtime such as story time or music time. Maybe this is something I could implement in the future. 

After the last playtime of the day, it is time for fruit. Today it was cantaloupe, I ate it and I am still not a fan of it but I ate all that they gave me. Then it was time for writing. During writing time the students wrote the words on the board in their journals 3-5 times depending on how many stars they wanted to receive (5 stars is a sticker, it's a big deal to get stickers!). These kids actually have good handwriting, well most of them anyways. Once they finished they were allowed to go with the other teacher and play in the playground area. At around 3 students came back and it was time to get ready to go home. This includes getting all of their stuff (toothbrush, water bottle, shoes, etc.). After that they have another snack (these kids do not go home hungry! LOL). At around 3:15 they watched some more episodes of Tayo. I think they only good thing about the videos is that it is in English and when I pause the video the students repeat after me.

At 3:50 it is time to go home. I had finished my first day! YAY!!!! Now it was time to figure out how to get home. They said I would be able to ride the yellow bus home, I was just hoping that was still allowed. I was! I take the 3rd bus that leaves the school. I get to sit by other kids from the school on the bus ride home. They are really funny. They are asking all kinds of questions and being silly. 

So all in all it was a good day. However, I don't think I could stay at this school for more than a year, but who knows that could change over a year.

My second day teaching was good too. I was nervous at first because it is still unfamiliar. But I taught one lesson and played with the kids the rest of the day. The kids are starting to warm up to me and they played and talked to me more today. Maybe by next Friday I will be familiar with the students and the school!

I think I am starting to like China more and more as the days continue. I am just hoping it continues to get better. :). 

Foreigner in Beijing : my first days

My first few days in China...... how to describe. Well it hasn't been easy. It has been nice having people around that speak Chinese and English so they can help me with stuff, but when I am by myself I don't know what to do. It's difficult when you don't even know how to say yes or no. And people stare! Wow do people stare. I knew people would stare because I am an American and supposedly they are fascinated by Americans but I also get stared at because I am not skinny like all the Chinese and Korean people. I wasn't really prepared for that. 

My roommate and recruiter met me at the airport! It was so nice to be greeted in English by people I had been talking to the past couple of weeks. They are both super nice. The first thing my roommate tells me in the car is that we need to get me some Chinese tea. I was like okay. I've never had Chinese tea before. But I guess I wasn't paying too much attention because she later said that I don't need to worry about my weight. After a couple of months of drinking the tea and lite exercise (i.e. Walking around sweating) people won't be able to recognize you in pictures. I think it's awesome that Chinese tea can do this! I just wasn't expecting my roommate to fixate on my weight. She talked about it like any other subject, not making fun or anything just being nice. It's amazing the differences in communication between the US and UK. 

A couple days later I was talking to my recruiter about my school and my classes. He was telling me some things to do. He said it is very important to be strict but fun! I have always struggled with this. How do you be strict and fun at the same time? I know I have done it but it's always confusing when they tell you this. He also told me to be prepared because the kids will make fun of my weight. (Thank God, Jesus is with me because He prepared me for this comment). He said it very nicely and said that a strict classroom with rules will help combat the comments. And to remember that they are just kids. 

So I observed Jose's class today (Monday). Only one kid asked why I was so fat. The rule in the class is if you say something bad you have to say 3 nice things. So I didn't have a lot of comments but I did have a lot of staring. It's so weird because in the States we know it is rude to stare and so we disguise our staring. In China everyone stares and they stare for a long time. I am pretty sure they are staring first because I am American and second because I am bigger than all of them. Well I'm sorry I'm not a toothpick. How in the world do the girls here stay so small? Their food portions are just as big as ours if not bigger. (I haven't finished one serving here) Although I have noticed they don't have as many sweets. (If you need to detox from chocolate come to China; I have yet to see some). 

I have noticed a lot of KFCs and McDonalds around every corner. I have yet to go inside of one. I'm not a fan of them back home so I'm sure they aren't any better over here. There are also some Burger Kings and Dairy Queens. The Chinese seem to be fans of ice cream. However I can't bare the thought of eating ice cream in this humidity. The dairy would just make me feel disgusting. So I have only been eating at foreign (to me) restaurants. I can't really tell you what they are but most of you would be surprised at what I ate. Things were touching and I never asked what I was eating. I just ate it because I was afraid that if I asked what it was then I wouldn't even try it. The only thing I have had thus far that I'm not too big a fan of is fish. I didn't like it in the States and I'm not a fan of it here. Except here you have to pick out the bones as you are eating it. Yeah. That's fun!

Sunday night my recruiter took me and two other TEFL teachers out for dinner. First off, it was great to meet other English speakers teaching here in China. They are super nice and I'm hoping we can hang out again soon! Back to the dinner... For dinner we had duck! This meal was fantastic! I really enjoyed the duck wrapped in a rice tortilla with onion and sauce (I don't know what the sauce was but it definitely added flavor). We also had some spicy chicken which was good. The spice definitely hit you after you chewed up the chicken. We also had garlic shrimp and stir-fried garlic broccoli. All of this was delicious. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the fish soup. I don't know the name of it but it definitely was not my favorite nor did it make my good enough to eat list. (I think my roommate added fish to a meal I ate at the house, it still wasn't my favorite but I ate it). 

Well tomorrow (Tuesday) was supposed to be my first day teaching at my school, but now it's the 10th (Thursday). I am quite nervous. My recruiter has given me a lot of information but for me I need to see or experience the classroom. He is talking about making lesson plans and everything but I don't know what to expect so I am not too sure of what to do. He said its like teaching Kindergarten in the States. The kids are basically training for international schools here in China. So please be praying that God guides me through this experience and give me guidance and wisdom when creating lessons and working with my classes. I am praying that my experience changes once I start teaching and begin a routine. It's really hard trying to get acclimated to a new and foreign city and then begin working right away. 

I'm praying that God shows me things while I'm here. Help build my confidence in myself as well as in Him. I am definitely learning not to care what others say about me. I know that Jesus loves me no matter my size or my clothes. I am also learning to trust Jesus more and more. He truly is with me everywhere. As much as I wish I was home I am sure it could be worse. And knowing that this is where God has me, helps me to not be as homesick. Although right now I am wondering how I am going to make it here a year, let alone 6 months. There are definitely times I wish I could just hop on a plane and come home. I am hoping that once I learn some of the language things will get a little easier. However at this moment I don't see me staying longer than a year. Everyone says after 6 months that will change. If it does.... great! If not that's ok, God knows the plans he has for me! I just have to keep reminding myself that I haven't even been here a week I am sure things are going to get better!

God is providing. I am constantly reminded of how great my apartment is and how great my salary is. I don't equate this to luck. I know this is all God providing everything I need to have a good experience. I pray that I continue to follow the path the Lord has for me for I know it is the best for me. 

*on a side note* the clothing is China is different! Girls here wear very short dresses and shorts compared to the States. However I can understand why here. It's so HOT! Too much clothing and you will never stop sweating. Also it is common to see guys raise their shirts and walk around showing their stomachs because it is so hot. Also you see a lot of English on clothing, so I often find myself wondering if people know what their clothing says or if they are just wearing it because they think it looks cute. LOL. *random thought/question*

Who knows maybe in a couple of months I will be sporting a new outfit!