Yoga Pants, Here I Come!

So, we are down to 22 days left until my adventure to China!  My passport should be coming in the mail by Monday or Tuesday.  Then, I will apply for my Visa.  I will be applying for a tourist Visa, and once I am in China, I will apply for a working Visa.  Luckily, the company I will be teaching with is helping me in the entire process.  Like I said previously, I have never traveled outside of the country, so every aspect of this is completely new to me. 
All of our stuff is moved and stored away.  I planned on buying the major things I need for China while visiting my sister in Valdosta.  (Mom and Dad live in a town that you can just about blink and be out of, and every town within a two-hour radius is exactly the same.)  So, for the past few days, I have been indulging in some guilty-free shopping.  I am 27 and haven’t ever even owned rolling luggage! 

I also had to buy about two weeks worth of yoga pants for work.  Yes, YOGA pants!  I am so excited that my heels and ironed dress pants are out the door and yoga pants are in the closet!  I actually get to be comfortable while crawling around on the floor with my little ones.  I am ready to enjoy teaching again.  Don’t get me wrong; I did love my previous school.  However, the grade level and subjects I was teaching brought extreme pressure focusing entirely on test scores.  From the first day of school, our focus was always on…how are these kids going to perform…and what do I have to do to ensure they are going to not only pass…but EXCEED!  For example, last year, 100% of my students passed the state test (and every other teacher within the school always performs this way also)…did we sit back and celebrate…nope not really…it was more along the lines of…okay, now what do we do to make sure the scores stay the same for next year. 

With Romp N’ Roll, I will be teaching babies – six years old various classes that range from art, music, P.E., and English.  Of course, I will be held accountable for my performance as a teacher, but the focus won’t be solely on test scores and my whole year won’t be a constant worry of how the kids are going to perform on the state test.  After five years, I began to feel as if I was simply teaching my kids the test and how to test.  I did make learning fun and I enjoyed the classroom, but the environment of the entire school was all about our scores.  I knew I was at the breaking point when last year’s “state test pep rally” had no music or motivation involved…but simply a lecture on how to test properly and consequences for goofing off during the test.  As I said before, I’M READY TO ENJOY TEACHING AGAIN!     

On a different note, below are some fun pics from a little family trip to the boardwalk in Valdosta...with my NEW SLR CAMERA!!! 





And below are some of Dad and Trey's phenominal modeling skills!







A Piece of My Heart Missing...

Well, I spent the day driving up to north Georgia with my sister, boyfriend, and brother-in-law.  We are going to spend the weekend moving our stuff from north Georgia to storage in south Georgia.  Charles and I will be spending the last month of my stay in Georgia divided among my parents and my sister.  We have always been a very close family, and this will be the first time, in my whole life, I have been this far away from my family for this amount of time. 

There are quite some mixed feelings among the family. 

Let’s start with my sweet Love, Charles:

As I mentioned in one of my earlier post, I was considering enlisting in the military to experience some of the world.  Well, Charles was not too happy about this idea.  However, I must say during the process of considering and accepting a job in China, Charles has been very supportive of me.  We have been through three years of craziness, which expands from finding an adoptive sibling to battling cancer.  We have decided to stick through this battle as well, and are keeping our hopes high about him coming to stay with me as much as he can.  We are trying to keep our eyes on the positive of the separation and stay focused on the all the opportunities that will come out of this experience.  He is has always been more than I can ask for in a best friend and a boyfriend, and big piece of me will stay with him while I’m away from the States.

My Sis:   

Becky and I had the typical love/hate relationship growing up, but as we got older, we grew closer and closer in our relationship.  Now, we would do anything for each other and love each other dearly.  Knowing how badly I have wanted an opportunity like this, she was very happy for me when finding out about my offer.  I am a very indecisive and naïve person in general, and I have already come to her for quite a few opinions regarding decisions about China.  I will miss her and my brother-in-law so much.

My Sweet, Sweet Mom

Since the interview, mom has not wanted me to leave.  She is quite the spoiled one when it comes to love and attention from her daughters.  Even when I was living four hours away, I would make it a point to come home and visit with Mom and Dad at least one weekend out of the month.  Ever since my interview with Romp N’ Roll, Mom has been throwing other job ideas out there for me to consider.  I was actually at Mom and Dad’s the night I got the job offer.  The news hit her like a ton of bricks.  She was very upset.  No matter how I tried to comfort her, nothing seemed to work.  As a few days passed, she eventually came around.  She has expressed that she is very happy for me, but I can see the sadness in her eyes.  It hurts me that I am hurting her.       

My Dear, Dear Daddy:

Dad responded to the idea of China quite differently than Mom.  Dad has always wanted me to experience as much as possible while I am young and prior to building a family with Charles.  He was very excited for me and encouraged my ideas of traveling.  With that in mind, I was very shocked with his reactions to the actual job offer.  I have no words to describe the look on his face after I told him about accepting the job offer.  His jaw dropped, and he was literally speechless.  He didn’t say a word to me, but simply turned around and stepped outside the house. 

He later told me that there was an unexplainable weight among his shoulders.  He, himself, was actually shocked at his own reaction to the news.  Dad and I have always had a special bond, and I felt awful about breaking his heart.  The last thing I ever want my parents to feel is a since of abandonment from their own daughter. 

Each one of my family members has a significant role in my life, and I will miss each one more than words can explain.  I believe the most difficult part about China will be exactly that…learning to cope with a piece of my heart missing…   

No Tampons in China...

I have faxed my contract to my new boss in China, and I am in the process of filling out the paperwork for my visa.  There is so much on my to do list now that I have found out about my offer.  I have never even owned a passport prior to the job offer.  

Some fun facts for packing…no deodorant or tampons in China!  After doing some research, I found out that because of their diet and genetic factors, Chinese people don’t emit the same odors that we try to cover up.  If a city in China is heavily populated with foreigners, deodorant is easier to find, but it will still be difficult to find the popular brands we commonly use here in the States.  

Also, due to the culture and misunderstandings about tampons, pads are the preferred method of feminine hygiene.  Tampons tend to be much more expensive or even difficult to come across in China.  Well I don’t know about you guys, no pun intended, but I’m not sure I will be able to part with my feminine hygiene tools.    

As of right now, after training, I will be in the city of Changchun.  Changchun is the capital of the Jilin Province.  In red is Changchun and the orange is the Jilin Province.   

 

These are a couple of Google images of the city:

An Itch

About three weeks ago, I had an interview for a teaching position in China…exactly…CHINA!  I was raised in Small Town,Texas and moved to Small Town,Georgia at the age of 17.  I have always had a passion to travel and see the world, but simply couldn’t afford it.  Throughout college, I drooled at the opportunities to study abroad that other students could afford and I couldn’t.  So, I did the responsible thing and finished my four years and started my career in Georgia.  I am now 27 and have been teaching in the same school and the same grade level for five years.   

After two years, I was already “itching” to get out and see the world.  So, I get the courage to tell my principal I am applying through the Department of Defense in hopes that she will approve.  Unfortunately, I didn’t even land an interview.  I settle for another year of traditional teaching in Small Town,Georgia.  The next year…here comes that “itch” again…so I consider simply enlisting full-time into the military and leaving teaching behind.  However, I find out that I won’t be shipped until the middle of a school year...my principal would never be okay with that one!  So, I put my “itch” on the back burner again.

Now, where am I?  Still in Georgia, but on my way to China!  I found out tonight that I have an opportunity to teach for a year in China…yes…CHINA! I still cannot wrap my brain around the idea.  My feelings are insanely mixed up right now, but I know that to a certain degree, my “itch” will finally be satisfied.