Even Better

Another busy and tiring week had passed. Which means I have now been here just over a month. A month ago I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like in China, and today I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I wasn’t here. I am falling more in love with China everyday, the people, the culture, and even the hugeness of the city of Beijing. I have definitely fallen into a routine here, and each day no longer seems foreign. I love how we are right in the city, and so many things are just a short bus or subway ride away. I love that we can walk less than 3 minutes off campus to find two of our favorite Chinese restaurants. I love how one of the most foreign districts in Beijing is just a 20-minute bus ride away, and we are free to go there to find western food or a coffee shop to sit and relax at.

I also love my students. Even though they are all older than me, many in their 30’s and 40’s I find myself referring to them as my kids. They are all super sweet and so many of them are so eager to learn. Yes, they are getting tired from the rigorous program, it makes me tired too J, but they can always make me smile or laugh at the end of the day. Each week they write journals and it is so nice to read them, as they give us more of an insight into their lives and helps us get to know them better. We are able to do really fun activities with them. I am going to try to include some pictures of the day we had them work on body parts. We had a race where they had to label as many body parts as they could in 5 minutes on one of their group members. Needless to say, it was hilarious! We try to make everything as student centered as possible because the Chinese education system is not at all, and this is one way we can slowly change the system since out students are teachers and will hopefully go back and use some of the new methods they learned. This is the last week of the session, so it will continue to be busy…but I know that I will miss them when they are gone. It will be a lot of fun to celebrate with them at the end of the session and see how far they have come!

We have a break after the session ends, which I am very excited for! I really don’t have any big plans, just relaxing and probably going to a few places around Beijing. Hopefully a few of us are going to be able to go to an orphanage an hour or so away to spend a day loving on the kids there!