Working Saturday

So I just worked my first Saturday here in China. Let me just say I am not a fan! In the United States when you have a holiday (days off of work) you don't have to make those days up on the weekends, I am pretty sure that defeats the purpose of a holiday. Well in China you do. I don't know the logic/reasoning behind this but during some holidays you have to work on the weekend to make up for the days you had off during the week. Yeah. It truly makes no sense!

Anyways... It's back to the grind with work. I am really loving my job. I love the kids in my classes and the people I work with. Everyone is so nice and helpful. Also the kids are well behaved compared to the last school I was at and compared to some of the schools in the States. LOL. I am glad I have an education background, but sometimes the things I want to do with my kids (who are kindergarten level) are too difficult because explain the directions is complicated. Also there days that I want to do something creative for arts and crafts but I can't find the stuff I need because everything is in Chinese (I know I'm in China what should I expect right?). Also the quality of the things here is not as good as in the States. Which is weird because usually everything is made in China. Guess the only export the good stuff and keep the poor quality stuff for themselves.

I am really struggling with the science class. I want to do some fun experiments but explaining what is happening is difficult so really we would just be doing an experiment. I enjoy doing experiments but I come across the same problem, I don't know where to find the things I need. I can ask people at school but it is usually last minute and I don't have time to go to the store or wherever I need to go to get the things I need. This is really just me venting :). I usually get through the week and I look back and I learn what went well and what I would like to change for the next time. So it is all a learning experience.

In my cooking class this week I made the classic American snack, Ants on a Log. If you don't know what that is it is a piece of celery with peanut butter and raisins. The celery is the log, the peanut butter is also the log (must have something for the raisins to stick to), and the raisins are the ants. I remember eating this snack a lot as a child. I would usually lick the peanut butter off and then eat the celery plain. So I decided to try this snack here in China. It was actually pretty funny. First one of the Chinese teachers asked me if you could eat celery without cooking it. She said they don't eat it raw it is always cooked. Then one of the kids in one of my classes saw me putting peanut butter on the celery and she said "that is no yummy". I just laughed and said "you haven't tried it yet". But in my head I knew she wasn't going to like it. So I put peanut butter on all the celery and let the kids add the raisins. Once they added the raisins I told them they could eat it. Many of the kids examined the celery and then closed their eyes to try it. I tried my hardest to hold in my laughter. Let's just say the Chinese kids were not a fan of this classic American snack (I say classic because seriously every time I looked up American snacks the first one on the list is Ants on a Log). So it is funny to see the difference between cultures. The Chinese are very used to eating a lot of vegetables, but they are usually cooked into their dishes. And then there are Americans who don't always eat a lot of vegetables (and those that say they eat a lot of vegetables, I am almost certain you don't eat as many as the Chinese!), but we eat raw and cooked veggies. So the iconic Ants on a Log snack goes over well in America, but is not a hit in China (or at least at my school).

On Tuesday I start my TEFL course at the Foreign Expert Hotel in Beijing. I have to leave my apartment by 7:30 in the morning to get on the subway to get to the closest subway station to the hotel and then take a cab to the hotel. I think I am dreading the class because I am dreading the commute. I am hoping it is better than I am imagining. Everyone is saying that this class will help me get the work visa, but I still don't know what I want. There is part of me that still would like to go home in December, but there is another part of me that wants to stay here. I really just want to go where God wants me. I know he has great plans for me and if that means staying in China I will gladly do it, but if it means going home then I will go home.

The thought of going home has had me thinking about what I would do back in the States. Would returning to the classroom be a possibility after teaching here? Do I look for jobs in other countries? Do I look into doing something other than teaching? I never thought I would say that but I am learning things about myself here that I didn't think about when I was home. I grew up always wanting to be a teacher but I don't think it was the teaching aspect that I was drawn to. I love working with kids and seeing them learn and grow. I think growing up I thought the best way to work with kids and see them learn is to teach, but what if that isn't the only way? Just thoughts that I keep thinking about. But they are just my thoughts. God has a plan for me that is bigger than I can imagine and as much as I want to know his plan I am glad I just have to follow and trust him. So I don't know what I am going to be doing in December, but I know that God's plans are better than my own!

**Some random comments**
*The pollution here is awful! LOL. The Air Quality was in the 400s this week which is hazardous and yes I walked to school in it without a mask.
*I am still singing on the worship team at church and I love it! I never thought I would sing on stage in front of people. I truly was content singing into my shower head, but God's plans are better than my own! Glad that it's to worship God because the focus is on him! :)
*I work with some really awesome people and they are one of the reasons I don't mind staying in China. I feel like I live at the other apartment with the girls and just sleep at my apartment. LOL.
*I went to a local market and bought some personal art supplies, like sketch pencils, pens, markers, colored pencils. So I am excited to start doing some drawing and writing :). and....
*I miss everyone back home! :)

With love,

Moving Again.... and everything in between.....

I accepted the job in Huilongguan, which means I had to move again. Let me just say that I am done moving. If this job doesn't work out then I am heading back home to Kentucky. So on Friday I had to again pack up all my things so that I would be ready to move when the school could provide a driver to come and help me. (That was a positive, the school provided someone to come and help me get my stuff and take me to the new apartment that they provided). I was kind of sad to have to leave that apartment because it was cozy. I know I had only lived there for a week but I knew my way around and I liked my roommate and I had my own bathroom! That is very hard to find in China, your very own bathroom. My new school called me Friday afternoon and said that I would be moving on Monday. I was happy and sad with this news. I had already packed everything up so I was ready to move, but I was glad that I would get to stay in my apartment in Wangjing for one more weekend. I also didn't know what to expect of the school come Monday. I know I had visited and actually liked it, but it had been 2 weeks what if I didn't like it anymore?
 
So Friday night I had my home tutoring. It has been nice having something to do regularly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week. I know it sounds like a lot but I need to keep myself busy because too much time in my room with nothing to do just makes me even more homesick. The little boy's birthday was Saturday and the family invited me to the party. They said there was going to be 70 people there! That's more like a family reunion rather than a birthday party. LOL. But they were going to come pick me and up so how could I say no? So Friday night they asked me to teach him a song to sing the next day at his party. Teach him a song in one day? Ok so like Row Row Row Your Boat, right? No. The mom wanted a song like, Let It Go. I know I had been practicing that song with him on Wednesday but there was no way I could have him ready to sing it (like she wanted) by Saturday. It would have been nice to know that she wanted him to sing something in English at his party and I would have been working on something the past couple of weeks. But anyways, we practiced Let It Go and Row, Row, Row Your Boat (because maybe I could convince her that this would be a simpler song for him to do in front of everyone). When class was over we had accomplished the second verse of Let It Go, but it was nowhere near ready to be performed in front of an audience. But the good news was that he had mastered Row, Row, Row Your Boat. LOL. I tried to convince his mom that Let It Go wasn't ready. She said ok, but I don't think she understood me. 
 
So she took me home and dropped me off at the apartment. I told her that next week I start a new job in Huilongguan and it will be easier if she just picks me up at the subway station by her house. She said ok and then she would drop me off at my apartment in Wangjing. This began the odd conversation of trying to tell her that she has to drop me off at the subway because I have to move again. She looked at me and said, “What? Moving 3 times in 2 months.” Yes. :(. I don't plan on moving anymore. Then she proceeded to call one of her friends to try and get me a job in Wangjing. I tried to tell her that I was ok with this new job but it got lost in translation (another motto for living in China). So when we got to my apartment her friend that owns a school was ready to offer me a job, but I told her that it had to go through my agent (recruiter) because he was handling my jobs. Let me just say, "Thank God for my agent." because I probably would have been on a plane how last week (and I know some of you are probably think why does she have an agent, I wanted her home last month! LOL). So he talked to her and it worked out. I am still going to be teaching in Huilongguan. I don't think I could have handled another job change. 
 
Saturday morning, I was picked up at 10:30am to go to the birthday party. The father and his parents picked me up. It was a quiet car ride. I always feel bad because I don't talk very much because I can't speak Chinese and then they feel bad because they can't speak English. I am perfectly ok with them speaking Chinese but I know they want to include me in the conversation. Hopefully one day I will know how to communicate in Chinese. It took us an hour to get to the party because of the crazy traffic in Beijing. Also it was Saturday morning and I swear everyone and their mother are traveling. When we get to the party I am greet with a bunch of Ni Haos (Chinese for Hello). I just smile back and say Ni Hao. At least there is one person there that could speak English, the cousin of the boy I tutor. She is my age so we stayed together for the whole party. I felt kind of bad because she had to do a lot of translating for me. But she was able to practice her English with me, so I guess it all worked out. She even taught me a few new Chinese phrases! After the party the family took me home. I got home around 4pm. I definitely wasn't expecting to be at the party for so long. 
 
My roommate came back around 5 and we decided to go out to get some food and then some ice cream because we have been talking about Cold Stone Creamery since she got here. So we walked up the street and found a Canadian/Irish Hockey bar. So we look at the menu and decide to eat because we were hungry and didn't know if we would find anything else. Of course no one else is eating, only us. Everyone is drinking and watching the Rugby (yes Rugby) game. The food was not that good, I guess normal bar food. So we finished our meals and left to go to Cold Stone, which was our main purpose for going out anyways! LOL. On our way to get ice cream we saw a movie store. This store had every move that has come out and it only cost 15RMB. For those of you not familiar with Chinese currency, that is about $2.50. The store had the movie Divergent, which just came out on DVD in the states, and I just had to get it. So I spent the 15RMB praying that the movie was good quality and not some videotaped screening. It wasn't! It was actually great, China doesn't have copyright laws so they have a lot of pirated movies. I know where I will be going to get my movies from now on!
 
Then we headed to Cold Stone. Finally! We had seriously been talking about Cold Stone the whole week, saying that we would go but every time we got back to the apartment we were either full or didn't want to go back out in the smoggy, humid weather. The Cold Stone was just like back home in Kentucky, if only everyone who worked there only spoke Chinese. But you chose your ice cream and then they would mix things in for you. Now they do have different flavors here, like green tea ice cream and dumpling flavored ice cream. LOL just kidding, there is no dumpling flavored ice cream. They had the normal: sweet cream, chocolate, cheesecake, mint, etc. I played it safe and got the chocolate ice cream. My roommate got the green tea (she said she had it in Korea). Then they mixed in different toppings according to the signature creations. We did our best at trying to describe the other thing we wanted mixed in. Then they tossed the perfectly formed ball of ice cream in the air and caught it in the cup. I think they have been taking lessons from my brother because they did it pretty well. However, it will never be as good as back home because the ice cream is made by my brother and tossed in the air (I promise it makes the ice cream taste better). But it is almost like a performance. So if you are in Lexington head to Cold Stone and make sure you ask them to catch the ice cream in the cup, you know you want some! (I want some as I am writing this. LOL)
 
On Sunday I went to church. I love going to church, even if it is a farther distance now that I moved and will be even farther when I move again. I like that I have a place that feels like a family. I know a lot of people there and they know me. God has really provided a great place for me connect with other believers and be encouraged during my time in China! After church, my agent and I met my roommate at Carrefour (a local and foreign store in Beijing, probably my favorite place to shop for food and other basic necessities). She was buying a comforter and coffee pot and then we were going to head to IKEA. Although I really didn't want to go to IKEA on a Sunday because it is super busy. I swear people go to IKEA for fun on the weekends and for the 1RMB ice cream cone. We decided to go to Ladies market instead because our agent said we could get things there cheaper. Well the market did sell the things she wanted but none of the designs she liked. Also we were trying to bargain hunt and they were not interested in haggling. LOL.

After we left the market we all decided to go home. It was later than we expected to get home. Both of us were planning on getting some things done in the afternoon to prepare for the start of our jobs. But instead we got back to the apartment and decided to go out to the Korean restaurant down the street to get some dinner. I know we are in China and are getting Korean food for dinner. But it was delicious, I ordered the Kimchi fried rice and it was sooooo good. Yes all I ate for dinner was rice but it was delicious and it filled me up and I still had some left over. It’s always fun to order food and get the check in China because you have to say things in Chinese. Well the two of us don’t have a large Chinese vocabulary, so it was hard to get the waitress to bring us to-go containers. She was trying to order us an entirely new dish but give it to us to-go. Thankfully the nice Chinese family at the table next to us could speak a little English and tell our waitress what we wanted. It is so nice to meet friendly Chinese people. I don’t know what people are talking about when they say all Chinese people are rude. It just isn’t true!

Then on Monday I had to leave the apartment at 6:45 to catch the bus so that I could make it to the school in Huilongguan on time. At least the bus wasn’t really crowded but the subway was CRAZY! I am so glad the school provides an apartment because I really don’t want to ride that subway in the morning every day. However I do end up having to ride the subway every day to go back and forth to Wangjing for my home tutoring and church activities. But I like that I am filling my time, it makes it hard to be homesick.

My first day at the school was pretty nice. I followed my new roommate around, shadowing his classes. He is really nice and helpful. The school is actually pretty easy. The students have theme English, where they are introduced a new theme each week with flashcards and then they build on that theme throughout the week. They also have different special classes, such as cooking, science, drama, and arts & crafts. Either the teacher incorporates these special classes into the lessons or they have another teacher come. There is also a break for the teachers from 11-2 for lunch and nap time. I love having this break! It will definitely come in handy to prepare lessons or to take a quick nap between classes. LOL.

I should be getting a schedule of my classes either tomorrow or Friday. I was told that I am going to be teaching cooking and science classes in the morning (which is easy because I just do the same lesson over and over again with different classes) and then have an English class in the afternoon. I am actually really excited about this because I love cooking and I love doing science experiments and activities. And in the afternoon the English teaching is actually really simple. I have to present the vocabulary, play a game, sing songs, and have students use the words in a sentence. I know it sounds like a lot but it actually seems quite simple. At least I am hoping it is! J Next week is my first day teaching!!!

One of the other foreign teachers at the school is a Christian. She started talking to me yesterday and it was God’s timing because I was ready to pack up my bags and reschedule my plane ticket. We started talking about church and music. It was really comforting to know that another teacher is a Christian and that we can encourage each other and help each other. And I can see this becoming a great friendship. I know there is a reason God has me at this school. I don’t know how long I will be here in China but I know that God has a purpose for me. I can’t wait to see what he does in and through me. For I may not know how or why something happens but I trust that God is taking care of me!

Hard times and far from Home

Well it's been over two weeks since I have given an update about my journey here in China. I have had people asking me how I am doing and what is going on with me here. I kind of feel bad that I have left so many people hanging. Well here it goes....

Two Mondays ago was a supposedly a normal start to a week. I left my apartment at 8am to catch the bus to SmartKids to teach. The day went well, the kids listened and really seemed to have fun. This was also the day My recruiter was going to talk to the school about my contract and pick up my salary for the past month. 

Well the day ends and I head home. I was pretty happy with the day, the boss actually acknowledged my presence and talk to me and the day went really well with the kids in my class. Well at 5pm my recruiter calls me and says that he needs to meet up with me to talk about some things and it needed to be today. So I rearranged some of the plans I had made so that I could meet up with him. 

My home tutoring family picked me up at 5:30 to take me to the Carrefour market to meet up with him. We sit down at a table in the Burger King. He hands me my salary for the last month! I wasn't expecting to get paid so that was a nice surprise! And then he hits me with the news! So he talked with the boss man at SmartKids today and the guy said he didn't want me to be a lead teacher at his school anymore. He said I wasn't entertaining enough and I didn't build enough relationship with the kids. (Bullshit!) My recruiter was confused because he had been talking to other teachers the past 4 weeks and they had all said I was doing a good job. But anyways the boss man didn't want me as a lead teacher, so now I am sitting in Burger King with my first paycheck and also my last one from SmartKids. I didn't know what to do. I had never lost a job over something that wasn't true. The kids loved me and they were always having fun during my class. But anyways, I was now jobless in this foreign country and city without any of my friends or family around. Also I still had to go do home teaching without breaking into tears. 

So all night at home tutoring I just tried to forget about the conversation I had just had my recruiter where my dreams of China began to get crushed. Once home teaching was over and they drove me home the water works begin. I just had to be in the comfort of my own bed so that I could cry. My roommate kept saying that the school wasn't worth my tears but I wasn't crying because I lost the job. I truly hated that job. I was crying because I was let go from the job for no reason. I felt like I had failed and I was 7000 miles away from my friends and family. It was also too early in the morning to get ahold of someone back home to talk to. All I really wanted to do at that point was get on a plane and go home. I know God has called me to be in China, but losing my job for no reason was a big obstacle I didn't think I could get over. I stayed up all night talking to some of my friends and trying to comprehend that it wasn't my fault, maybe I wasn't supposed to be at that school. And I was miserable at the job so it was kind of a blessing. I just held tight to what Jesus told me, I am supposed to be here in China and He has amazing plans for me here.

The rest of the week I spent hanging out at the house waiting for my recruiter to tell me about interviews. I spent Tuesday wallowing around the apartment. I just didn't feel like going out. Then on Wednesday I got a call saying I had an interview Thursday morning at 10am at a Chinese Kindergarten down the street from my apartment. The interview was actually a demo class so I had to prepare a 15 minute lesson to do at the school. Oh yay! Teaching a random class of Chinese kids a quick English lesson, it's harder than it sounds. So I came up with something simple that I thought the kids would enjoy and it would be easy for me. So Thursday morning I met my recruiter and we went to the school for the interview/demo. I was super nervous because I have never done this before (although that seems to be the theme of my time in China, doing things I've never done). The demo went well, I was super nervous but the kids seemed to enjoy it. The school said I would know the next day if I got the job. 

The next morning (Friday) my recruiter called me to tell me I didn't get the job at the Chinese kindergarten but I had another interview/demo at a Montessori school at 2pm. I wasn't really upset about the job at the Chinese kindergarten because after the interview I wasn't really impressed and I didn't think I would enjoy working there. So the interview was at a school that was a little far away. So I met my recruiter's wife to go to the interview. We got lost and couldn't find the school. So we had to wait til 3 for someone to come find us. We had actually walked right past the school twice but didn't know it was the right school. For the interview I had to teach a short demo class, so I used the same one I did for the previous interview/demo but I shortened it. I might have shortened it a little too much or I rushed through it because I was so nervous. I'm just not too keen on interviews I always get choked up and nervous. :/ So after the demo, all the people interviewing had to go and talk to the assistant to the headmaster about the school and ask questions. I really liked the school. The only problems were that the school day was super long and they couldn't tell me which location I would work at. I don't really want to work too far from my apartment because it's hard to get around Beijing in the morning!

My recruiter said I might hear back from that school the next Monday or Tuesday and until I heard back I could teach at this other kindergarten in Wangjing. He said it was super easy and super laid back. Also he negotiated a higher salary for me and said that they were desperate for teacher so there would be no way for me to get fired from this job. So on Monday I was going to start working at this kindergarten and I could still interview and look into other schools and see if I could find one I liked better. So I stopped worrying about the job situation because I had a job that I might love and if not I could continue looking for a new job. 

On Saturday I went the my recruiter and his family to BeiHai park and walked around. It was so much fun to be out of the house and seeing some of the sights. I know a lot of the buildings in China are similar but it's so cool to see the different places that have been around for thousands of years. The oldest building in America could only be 200 years old. America is still young compared to the rest of the world. There is just so much history here in China!

In front of one of the building at BeiHai park. Love the ancient architecture. Why don't the Chinese do stuff like this anymore?

In the middle of the park is a Lake and in the background there is a temple (that white dome in the middle of the picture to the left of my head).

During this time we also talked about finding me a new apartment. I  won't go into details but my roommate is kind of crazy and it just isn't working out. So my recruiter said he would start looking at apartments. We were all expecting my roommate to be leaving so that I could get a new roommate but it didn't seem that that was going to happen ( her leaving). So I decided that it was just time to move out. I wasn't going to tell her until I found a new place because I didn't want to make thing more awkward. Well on Sunday, shit hit the fan (sorry for the language). My roommate pushed me past my breaking point and I told her I was going to look at apartments because I couldn't live there anymore. I told her I wanted my money back. She said ok.

So I left to meet my recruiter and look at apartments. We went to 5 different ones and only saw 2 that were even worth trying to get. The first one was too expensive so we were trying to get them to come down a little on the price. But they wouldn't. So we found the last one. The apartment was nice and it had 2 bathrooms. And the landlord was willing to drop the price to one that I could afford and there was another teacher coming next Monday who could be my new roommate. The plan was for her to move into my current apartment because my roommate was supposed to be leaving, but that didn't happen. But the apartment was nice and the landlord spoke some English and it just seemed right. I really believe God provided the right apartment because it's unheard of to find an apartment on the first day you go looking. So we said we would rent the apartment and I would be back tomorrow evening to sign the contract.

So on Monday I took a taxi to the new school. I arrived early with some papers I wanted to print out to do with my class. I got there and met with the headmaster. She told me a little about the school and the class I would be teaching. She showed me that the school had tons of worksheets I could do with the students. I found some worksheets I could do with the kids. So the morning went pretty well. The students didn't really want to listen but they would do the worksheets and sing the songs that I had planned for them. After lunch they had play time. After play time I was supposed I take the kids back to my class and have constructive playtime with the them.

During the constructive playtime I had the kids form a circle and we played ring around the rosie so that I could get the kids to sit in a circle. The kids really enjoyed going around in a circle holding hands but as I said sit down one of the little boys lunged forward to sit down. I was holding him arm so he didn't face plant on the floor but he bit his lip and it busted. So on my first day I had a kid bust his lip. That's a great first impression. So we went and rinsed out his mouth and then I took him to one of the Chinese teachers (I didn't have a Chinese teacher in the class with me which seemed odd, because you are supposed to and it was my first day). Then I took the rest of the class back to do another lesson. The rest of the day went well. The headmaster asked me what happened to the little boy and I told them that he fell and bit his lip. I left around 4 and the manager said he would talk to My recruiter about my leaving time tomorrow and that they would see me tomorrow morning.

So now I was headed to the new apartment to sign the lease with the landlord. It's only a 15-20 minute walk from the school. I had to meet the housing agent at the bus stop because he had the contract. Once we got to the apartment I basically just sat at the table while the agent and landlord discussed the contract in Chinese. They would randomly look at me and the landlord would translate what the agent was saying if he was asking me a question. Once they had discussed the contract it was now time for me to sign the contract. The contract was all in Chinese so I was signing a document I couldn't read. So I prayed everything was correct and I would have my recruiter read it over just in case. Then the landlord showed me around the apartment again and told me how to work some of the appliances and the utilities. The utilities in China are usually prepaid so they have cards that you stick into meters in the house to add credit to your water, electricity, and gas. It's all very interesting and confusing. LOL. 

After I finished the apartment stuff I headed back to my old apartment. I didn't get there til like 7 and I was super tired. So I went straight to my room and passed out on my bed. I woke up like an hour later and decided to work on some lesson plans for the next day. Since I knew the schedule and the kids I figured I could be better prepared for school. So I begin making plans trying to come up with activities that the kids would enjoy but were also educational :). I was getting excited about the next day. At 11pm my recruiter calls me. I answer the phone wondering what's up because it's late. He tells me he just got off the phone with the school. (Oh no this can't be good). He said that the little boy that busted his lip went home and told his parents that I pushed him. WHAT?!?!?!? I saved him from doing a face plant on the floor. Seriously. But the school didn't want me to come back until they worked out the problem. My recruiter said that he was trying to get the school and the parents to have a meeting with me so that I could explain what happened because the kid is only 4/5 years old. 

So again I was jobless. Twice in one week. That's unheard of. I called my friends back home and I was crying and just wanted to come home. I had just paid the rent for the new apartment and now I was jobless and moving. Was this really what I was supposed to be doing here in China? I was ready to get on a plane and head home. I had grown enough right? Was my time in China done? I know my friends would welcome me back with open arms and be so glad I was back. But was that what God wanted me to do? As I started to pray and remember the past week I could see that this was an attack from the enemy. The first job, my roommate, the second job all had common themes - lying and manipulation. You can really see the devil does not want me here in China. Must mean God has some awesome plans for me here. I just needed to get over this hurdle.

So Tuesday I went out with my recruiter's wife because I couldn't stay inside all day because I would have definitely convinced myself to go home. So I went out with her and just talked about how I was feeling and she told me to stick it out. There are always jobs in China and that Koreans here are crazy (the past two jobs were Korean schools). The ways the schools operate is just weird and the parents band together to gang up and get what they want. So I felt a little better after hanging out with her and talking. Then I headed to church for the prayer meeting. It was so good to be surrounded by other believers and praying for the church and the people and the city. It was so good. One of the guys at the church had a word for us and for me. Trust God. He has a plan and although we don't always know the next step He is always there.

After the prayer meeting I talked to the pastor and told him I felt like God has been wanting me to come and talk to him. So we set up a meeting for the next day at 10am. I went home and my recruiter called me and said that he had set up an interview for me at 10am the next day. Seriously? I just set up a meeting to talk with the pastor at the same time. So I had to text the pastor and ask if we could reschedule the meeting because of the interview. He said no problem but I still thought it was weird that it was at the exact same time.

So Wednesday I went to the new schools, it was kind of far away. The boss picked me up from the subway and took me to his school. He showed me around and told me what I would be doing. I also met the other foreign teachers. It was a really nice school. The school provided housing (so I would have to move, but it's close to the school) and 3 meals a day Monday through Friday, but the salary is low compared to most schools. I would have to share an apartment with a guy from Ireland (I'm a little hesitant but it could be awesome). I liked the school, but I didn't have the feeling that I wanted to say yes right away. So I told the boss that I needed to talk with my recruiter and I would let him now my decision. So I headed back to the apartment and called my recruiter and he said I didn't have to make a decision right away and that he was talking to 3 international schools in Wangjing. So I continued to pray about the school and ask God if that was where I was supposed to be. As I told more people about the school the more and more I liked it but I still didn't feel right about accepting the position. 

On Thursday I met up again with my recruiter's wife. I didn't want to be at home alone for the entire day. So we went out and just walked around and talked and she showed me the gym where I could take jujitsu classes (I think it would be fun!). Then that evening the pastor was going to a worship night at another church and I tagged along. I can't pass up a good worship night! And oh my goodness I'm glad I didn't! It was so awesome! I love being in the presence of The Lord. I just know he has me covered and it's all going to be ok! I love it! He is amazing!

That night I made plans to meet with the pastor on Friday (tomorrow) at 1pm. Well then my recruiter called to tell me that he had an interview for me tomorrow at 2pm. Seriously I just made plans again to talk to the pastor! I wasn't going to cancel again. Thankfully the school pushed back the meeting until 3:30. I was beginning to wonder why these interviews kept conflicting with my meeting with the pastor. Was the devil trying to get me not to meet with the pastor? I know I was supposed to meet with him! But it worked out and the timing was perfect so I could meet with the pastor and go to the school.

The meeting with the pastor went really well. He and his wife just confirmed everything my friends had been saying about me being in China. The agreed that God had a reason for me to be in China and that great things are coming. I felt very encouraged when I left and I am excited to see what relationship grows between me and them while I am here.

I went to the school and I fell in love. It's everything I wanted in a school. It's just like a school in America. It's an international school so I could possibly have it count towards my teaching license in KY (maybe I still have to check into that). There are tons of other foreign teachers and it sounds like they are really supportive and have a great work environment. I left the school hoping they would call and say I got the job! It would mean I could stay at the apartment I just rented and I wouldn't have to move to a new part of Beijing! I went home after the meeting praying that God would give me this job if I was supposed to have it and if I wasn't the school would call and say they weren't interested. I know that if I don't get this job then I would take the other job.

Once I got home I finished packing up all my stuff because I was moving to my new apartment after I finished home tutoring. I was super excited about moving because I couldn't stand to be in that apartment anymore. The mother of the boy I am tutoring came to pick me up and allowed me to fill her car up with all of my belongings because she was going to take me to the new place once I finished tutoring. I am so glad God provided me with this family because they are super sweet and very helpful!

Tutoring went great. I really love the boy I am tutoring and he really seems to like me. The mother took me to my new apartment. We got lost but thank goodness she has internet on her phone and I could navigate us to the new place. She helped me move all my bags in and then she left me in my new apartment. So I started looking in the rooms to make sure all was as I saw and thought it was going to be. I went into the first bedroom and notice something was missing. The mattress! So I go and check the other bedroom and it too is missing the mattress. Did the landlord really take the mattresses? He was moving to Sweden, don't they have mattresses there? So my first night in the new apartment and I slept on the couch. At least there was a couch, it would have sucked to sleep on the floor! I talked to my recruiter about the mattresses and he said that we would go to IKEA sometime to look at mattresses. The landlord kind of screwed us over with the mattresses. It's a great thing that IKEA is just around the corner from my new apartment.

On Saturday I met up with my aunt's friend from Mexico. It was really cool on Thursday I got ahold of my aunt who told me that her friend was in Beijing and he is moving his family to Beijing in September. What a small world! So on Saturday I met him for dinner in San Li Tun, a major expat place in Beijing. He took me to this Mexican restaurant and we talked about China and what we liked and didn't like. I am really glad we met and I hope I get to meet his family soon. It will be nice to have more people to talk to! Your family here is made up of all different kinds of people!

Sunday I went to church and sang on the worship team, despite my horribly bad cough that I am almost certain is caused by the pollution. I am really enjoying singing back up on the worship team. Then the message that the pastor preached was amazing and I felt like it was just for me! It was about God's plan for you and even though you don't know what the next step is follow The Lord because he makes divine appointments. So even though you don't understand it at the moment, it is all working toward his plan. I don't think I do it the justice of how good it was, but trust me it spoke to me and encouraged me! After church I went out to eat with some members of the worship team and the pastor. It was nice to be included. Then after lunch I went home to my new apartment and took a nap on the couch. Then the pastor called and invited me to his house for dinner with his family and two other girls from the church who are my age. So I went to his house and ate dinner with them and then we watched  a movie. It truly was a great day!

On Monday I met up with my recruiter's wife and we walked to IKEA to look at mattresses. We got there and I swear whoever designed IKEA had an ulterior motive as a science experiment because that place is a maze! Are they trying to see if people can find their way out or if they get tired and just sleep on the furniture. Yes at IKEA in Beijing you will find people sitting on the sofas watching movies on the televisions or you will find people sleeping on the couches and mattresses. And IKEA is ok with this, it is common. There was even a news special about people sleeping on the furniture at IKEA! But anyways we walked around trying to find the mattresses and then once we did I remembered that I didn't measure the beds so I didn't know what size beds we needed. So we had to walk back to the apartment to measure the beds. Then walked back to IKEA to figure out which beds to get. The mattresses were kind of expensive so my recruiter looked online at the Chinese Amazon place and found some cheaper mattresses that would be delivered the next day. Perfect only one more day of sleeping on the couch.

Monday night my new roommate arrived from Canada! I felt bad that we didn't have any beds in the apartment but I tried to make the other couch more comfortable. :) She is super nice and she has experience teaching abroad. She has never been to China but she taught in Korea. So far we have gotten along great! I am really hoping I can stay at this apartment because I am really enjoying it living here with her. We are a great match because she has experience living abroad and I have some experience in China, but we are both new to China. Hoping this will be a great friendship.

As I was finishing this post my recruiter called and told me that the international school didn't want to hire me. I'm not going to lie I was kind of sad because I really liked the school. But I did ask God to close the door to that school if it wasn't where I was supposed to be. It is just hard because I really liked the school. My recruiter did say he was going to look into one more school here in Wangjing, before I pack my stuff up again and move. So we will see. I really need to stop getting my hopes up and just wait for God to tell me where to go. Maybe I am supposed to move to Huilonggong. I don't know.

Praying for guidance and direction  :) thanks for sharing in this journey with me! And thanks for praying!!!