First, I would like to begin by offering a sincere apology to all of you. I over-estimated how much free time I would have here in China, and underestimated how hard of a transition it would be.
In the beginning, I honestly thought I would have ALL this free time to read, draw, go for runs, watch movies, do research (yes, that is fun to me), etc. Little did I realize how much time I would spend every week creating lesson plans, grading, meeting and hanging out with all of my kids as best as I can. On top of this, I never imagined the difficulty I would encounter in trying to adjust to life in China. Not as in it would be hard here, I already knew that part. What I mean is that the beginning was VERY VERY hard for me because I kept wanting to compare everything to Korea. The people here, the students, food, clothes, attitudes, behaviors, Everything. I wasn't trying to. I didn't mean to. There were countless days I would consciously tell myself NOT to. Yet I couldn't help it. This made my transition here harder than I expected, and in a way, I guess I deserve that.
Second, I'm still alive! Let's take a moment here to applause this fact! Haha! I have successfully made it through two months of being a college professor, with as far as I know, no students hating my guts yet. Though they did come close last week when I gave them the homework assignment to not use their cellphone for 24 hours... Anyways! As I said previously, this job keeps me on my toes and super busy. Just this last Friday I was the emcee and dance teacher for two hours at a dance party we had here on campus. While great fun, and I honestly did not mind leading all of the dances, two straight hours of jumping around, running, moving, and talking to students was exhausting!
The other two teachers here at Dongda, Luke and Suzanna also do a lot of social activities with the kids. Sometimes the three of us do things together with each other and the kids, and sometimes separate. Just yesterday I spent about 2-3 hours eating lunch, hanging out, and talking with four of my freshmen girls. But on Saturday, Luke, Suzanna, and I took 23 of our kids to Mt. Zushan to go hiking.
Last but not least, I am only a few days away from my 27th birthday. Hard to imagine that I have celebrated four years overseas, growing, learning, and becoming a better version of me. The me I was always meant to be. While I wish I could say that I have achieved all of the dreams I had set for myself by this age when I was younger, it's just not true. I thought by this point I would be living in the north-east of the States, married, working as a history teacher, and possibly with one child already. Instead, here I am. Entrepreneur, world traveler, international educator, college professor, daughter, best friend, and turning into a woman I never before imagined could exist. On one hand, I could go "woe is me, I'm single and childless". But that's not how I see it. I've taught around 1700 students in my four years so far, and all of them are my kids. I used to think I was this shy, quiet, invisible, and easily forgotten little girl. Now I sit here at my desk in China, 1pm in the afternoon, smiling with the fresh positive feedback from my boss just yesterday still ringing in my ears. His words telling me how clear it is that I am a professional, amazed at my passion and compassion when teaching, and how my presence is the glue pulling the team together. No superior has complimented me so kindly and honestly in a long time, and I know that he is not the sort to provide others with fluff compliments. I love who I am, and even more who I am becoming. Happy Early Birthday to me, here's to another 27 amazing years on this beautiful Earth.
I love all of you, and hope that you are not only healthy and safe, but happy and smiling all the time. You are beautiful people, and never forget it!
Always,
Your Wanderlust Friend/Sister,
Rita
P.S.- If you'd like to follow along with my photos, you can go here: https://ritaschinaadventures.shutterfly.com/
It's a website I created for family back home to be able to see all of my photos easily. Now you can too!
