Hubei for the Holidays - Thanksgiving Part 1

2011 Thanksgiving - JUST ENGLISH SCHOOL:

Reflecting back on last year I realize I have mixed emotions.   I loved the school where we taught and the people with whom we worked, but we were in a small city and were the only two Americans. (There were two Ghanaians that Brad met, of course, when I was home to have Leila.  CRAZY!) We were the 'test run'  as to how this foreign teacher thing worked.   Sometimes our Western culture and ideas weren't totally embraced.  It was a great year, but it was hard as well. 

For example, we had been told that we were completely in charge of the Halloween party, but then ended up being handed the itinerary for the party by Amy, the school's head manager.  We were kindly allowed to give our input, but not much was modified.  Brad had an MC type of role, though I was not given a job because being pregnant, I obviously was very tired. 

Right after Halloween things got rolling for the Thanksgiving party. Again we were told that we would have complete control.  About 90 kids came to the Halloween party so I wanted to try to break that large group up into smaller sections.  I designed a party plan that would have groups of students doing things in different classrooms.  After 15 minutes they would change rooms so that all students would do all activities.   

In the initial meeting with the teachers my plan was met with some hesitation.  It felt like a lot of hesitation.  I was confident that it would work so I positively pushed forward.  After a few more meetings and  some negotiations, Brad and I got our way.    There would be three classrooms of games and then a (whole group) feast in the dining hall.  Everything in the plan, including all transitional procedures were typed, printed, and given to the teachers. 

The day of the party Amy made modifications to the plan.   Those changes weren't mentioned to me ahead of time.   I didn't understand why our ideas weren't being trusted.  I wanted JUST to see that western ideas could work in a Chinese school, but was worried that would never be possible since our original plan kept being adjusted.

All in all it was a fun party and the students really had a great time. In one room Emma and I taught Thanksgiving vocabulary and then had students try to race their competitors to put together a turkey while being blindfolded.  It was hilarious and fun.  The winner received candy.  In another room students made Native American headbands and then reached into a box turned stuffed turkey (created by Brad) and tried to feel around for a directed item (ping pong ball, apple, etc.).  In a third class the traditional turkey hand was drawn and colored after which students participated in a quick round of Pin the Feather on the Turkey. 

Blindfolded Turkey Assembly

Competitors sat down one side of the table
while the others cheered from behind.
  

Making Native American Headbands

Proud Artist

My sample turkey hand and
Stick the Feather on the Turkey

Post-Activity, Pre-Feast Wrap-Up in Dining Hall

Sweet Lucy.  Mentioned aloud to others
 that she was "Thankful for Dana." :)

A FEAST IT WAS!
Included: pumpkin pastries - supposed to be pumpkin pie,
corn on the cob, fried chicken legs, fruit, popcorn, chips, candy.
They GOBBLED it up!! (comment made by Brad)

Best part of the night. 

Brad and I bought a couple apple pies
from an American restaurant in Wuhan.
We cut each teacher a piece after the party.
 I was so excited!
Lisa was the ONLY teacher who liked it!
BOOOOOO to the other teachers!
More pie for ME!

2012 Just English Thanksgiving:
So this year the deal is that every Saturday I go back to teach at JUST School.  It was actually something that helped me feel better about returning to China this year, the chance to continue those relationships.  Amy is currently on pregnancy leave (her beautiful baby girl was born in December) and Lisa has taken on her leadership role.  

On the Saturday before the 2012 JUST Thanksgiving celebration, our school's headmaster and my boss whom I love, Mei, sat me down to explain the details of the party.  She wanted to make sure that I understood the teacher's plan step-by-step.  She said that they had worked very hard and had done a very good job planning.  She explained that the students would be divided up into groups and that each group would be in different rooms completing different games.  (My initial emotional reaction was to stop her and let her know I already knew all about it because I designed it!  Instead I kept my mouth shut and let her finish.) 

After explaining all the details she wanted to know if I had any questions.  

"I got it," I said with a smile and a softened heart. 

I guess our ideas had been embraced after all.   

Hoping everyone's Thanksgiving was equally as meaningful. 

Hubei for the Holidays... Halloween, Part 1

Just English School in Daye City, China opened up last year,  but we wouldn't have known that with all the hoopla and excitement over Halloween!  The halls were decorated with ghosts, skeletons, and witches and almost 90 students attended the party.  YIKES!   

English training schools in China love Halloween and think it is such an important American holiday! 

Here are some pictures from JUST school's party last year:

Pumpkin Carving was a HUGE hit!

Team games: Three legged-race

bobbing for apples

Just gave these out to all party-goers.  Brad and I tried to explain
what 'dressing up' was, but this was as far as it got.
 All masks had to be returned before leaving.

Teachers at JUST English School during the adult-only party. 

Everyone loved carving pumpkins!

This year JUST ENGLISH SCHOOL limited their numbers, added a talent show (very culturally Chinese), and a couple kids actually wore a costume!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We, we, we here are wishing you there, a very, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Chinese or other...your pick).

Our New Home

Our new school is located at the top floor of the Daye City library. For those boys on my Summerville Soccer Club U-16 team in 9th grade - that's a bull in front of the building. (Not like any of them are reading this blog, but Becky if you ask Johnny he just might remember why I mentioned this.... Oh the suspense!)

June 9, 2011

Brad and I have really enjoyed our year in Qingdao, but we have tried to keep our options open for next school year. We have been praying about it and trying to see where God is leading us. We have received a few different invitations to go to other cities, and last weekend Brad and I visited one of these. Daye is a small city, less than a million people, in central China. This city does not have a McDonalds or KFC, both popular in many other cities in China. Moreover, if we move to this city next year, we will be the ONLY two foreigners there for most of the year.

The roughest part of our trip was the beginning. We had to fly from Qingdao to Wuhan, just under 2 hours, and then drive another 2 hours (or so) from there to Daye City. Unfortunately, as my family and mother especially know, I often get sick when traveling.

The plane ride wasn’t too bad, but the quick transition to the car was tough and I feared wouldn’t be good on my tummy. Our sweet host Mei in the front seat kept assuring us that it was okay to “take a rest” so I took her up on her offer and closed my eyes for a bit. I knew I needed to fall asleep in order to keep my belly from exploding all over the back seat of the car. That would have been quite an embarrassing first date.

I did fall asleep for a while, but was awoken by a rough patch of stop-and-go traffic. One time our driver even turned off his engine. YUCK.

The Chinese like to preserve energy when driving so the driver didn’t turn on any air inside the car. The problem with that was that it was raining so the windows could not be rolled down either. Well, they were from time to time, but after getting wet for a few minutes, they were quickly put back up. The air in the car was thick and heavy as the air outside the car was warm and wet. I prayed to God to keep my stomach at peace with the

food and coffee I had a few hours earlier on the plane.

About 2 ½ hours later, after the traffic, motion-sickness and rain, we were nearing our destination and I was beginning to feel better. The rain had stopped, the windows had come down, and the feeling of fresh air was making every new breath of mine a little bit easier and quite soothing. By this time we were off the main highway and were traveling on small town roads so the view from the windows was exciting and new as well.

It was also at this time, as my day was looking brighter and my health seemed as if it was under control, when Brad calmly called from next to me in the back seat, “Uh-oh, puddle.” I looked at him and then looked out the window where I found not just a puddle, but a place in the road that was flooded. Cars coming towards us were slowing down to make it through. Unfortunately, our driver didn’t speak Mandarin, no less English, and so Brad’s warning did nothing for him. He kept his speed though the puddle, with his window down. As he was venturing through the flood, a car drove past him and somehow splashed water through the narrow space between our driver's head and front window and HIT ME square in the face and chest. HA! NOT joking!

Brad burst into laughter. I wanted to laugh and cry and think I probably did a little of both. Somehow neither the driver nor Mei, in this small sedan of a car, knew that I had just gotten saturated by a dirty, Chinese, GIANT puddle. How in the world did the DRIVER not get wet? Brad continued laughing; I wiped my face and wondered if I had swallowed any of the puddle and thus contracted a new disease. Brad continued his supportive laughter. I joined him finally and tried to sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride. At least I had had a splash of cold water on my face.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful. We were taken immediately to an apartment where we would be staying and allowed to rest for a while. About an hour later we were picked up and taken to a huge, fancy lunch where the whole school’s faculty had joined together and I especially was warmly greeted with a H U G E bouquet of flowers. Everybody cheered when we walked into our little personal dining room. I'm sure if it hadn't been raining they also would have rolled out the red carpet. (kidding)

Over the next two days we walked around the city, small but quaint and friendly, and spent lots of time at the school and with the students and teachers. Brad and I were so impressed by what Mr. Embree (school’s U.S. founder), Mei, and the others teachers had been able to accomplish in just one year. Each classroom had a SmartBoard, student work on the walls, and happy students. This small city school was BETTER than the majority of English schools where I worked and visited in Qingdao, a city of 9 million!

****************************************************************************************************

Sept. 29, 2011

So...the good news is that I have no new disease, and I know that for sure because I have been to a few doctors in the last few months since I am 5 months pregnant. Looking back I realize now that the weekend we visited Daye was the first week that I was experiencing the beginnings of "morning sickness" (hate that name, by the way, so misleading). We met Mr. Embree a few weeks ago (he also lives in Charleston) prior to flying back to China and he commented, "I'm glad you're feeling okay. You look a lot better than you did before." ha! I didn't even know 'before' that I was preggo-sick yet! Oh, Mr. Embree, you have no idea...

We are getting ourselves adjusted in our new apartment and at our new school. We both have taught a couple of classes thus far so the stress and nervousness of starting something new is beginning to dissipate. We are still figuring out the safest and best place to have the baby, though as with anything else, you get what you are able to pay for. In China, that often means super-duper pricey. I'm not so sure I'm willing to pay that... so we'll continue to search and research. Keep baby Hedge in your prayers. :)

That Ram…

3.10.11

Brad and I are sitting in the “Sharing Bar” which is the little café in our international dorm. He’s on the internet as I try to blog. Country music is playing in the background. Not today’s Zach Brown Band or Darius Rucker (my favorites) or evenShania Twain (she’s a popular one here), but none other than George Jones. Brad is feeling all warm and cozy on the inside. He just called out “hen hao” (very good!) to the owner / manager and claimed the music as being from his state. Oh,that Southern Pride. You can take the boy out of the dirty South,but you can’t take the dirty South out of the boy. I wonder if the two Middle Eastern guys in the booth eating pizza and smoking cigarettes are equally as impressed with this evening’s selection.

Chinese schools get about a month off through January, their Chinese New Year / Spring Festival. A couple weeks ago we resumed our regular schedule. I use the term regular lightly. I am outsourced to other schools sometimes and last Thursday as I finished up some extra hours filling in for a different school, we’ll name it Plan B, the manager (sort-of) of that school came to me with my schedule for the next week. It included teaching 1^st grade and 3^th grade at a public elementary school (thus outsourced from my outsource) and a few at her school teaching 20-somethings (which I love). She gave me the primary school books from which to teach and quickly said, “Okay?” (it wasn’t a question) and then was done with me. This was the first time I had received a schedule from her so I thought it was a little weird. She is definitely a tricky one, but she told me she had already emailed Cheny so… I just went with it as cordially as possible.

Though I didn't this time, I have stood up to her before, S.H.O.C.K.E.R., I know. The first time I was scheduled to teach at her school (way back in September) I had to give a demo lesson, a lesson given to a prospective student. She told Cheny that she would have the book for me to use there at the school. Cheny went with me since it was my first time to Plan B, and we got there early so I could have time to prepare. When we arrived she didn’t seem to remember that she had promised me a book and instead told me to teach “anything I wanted.” What did that even mean and how would I know the English level of the students? I was furious but sat down at the one computer to try to think of something. She and Cheny started talking in Chinese. There was a lull in their conversation and I used that moment to get up from my chair, walk over to her, look directly in her eyes (she’s short, don’t worry, I didn’t need my toes) and say, “If you would have told me earlier I could have prepared something, but I didn’t know what I needed.” I was so proud of myself and for the moment didn’t care if she hated me. I was so strong. Then, I cried. Haha -kidding.

Cheny told me later she would have said something if I hadn’t. hmmmm.....

So anyway, I wondered if Cheny did in fact know I had these classes. She had told me previously that I possibly would have extra elementary school classes this semester.

Friday passed, and then Saturday, but I had yet to receive my new week’s schedule from Cheny (weeks are Monday - Sunday). On Sunday after my first class I texted her just to make sure I did need to teach those classes. She said yes. I received my official schedule later on that evening, with still yet another new elementary school class listed Thursday afternoon. Those classes that were given to me from Plan B school had not been the original elementary classes Cheny had been talking about.

Of course, as usual, the ram was already in the woods! (Shout out to my life group sistas.) I didn’t have to teach Monday morning, the college class had something else planned for the students, so I was able to use that time to prepare. I went to Huawen (our home base) where I had a computer, printer, and copier.

I found out there that Cheny didn’t know I was given more primary school classes. She had been told Plan B needed me for hours, but that was it. She called Plan B and found some things out so I could have more of a direction as I planned my lessons. She was also told: 1) I would be given a Chinese assistant to accompany me, and 2) these were smaller advanced classes (between 25-30 students each). I wouldn’t have to deal with lots of crazy kids in a huge crazy-kid classroom. This was good news.

It took me about 4 hours that morning, but I got something together. I went back home and left quickly again for Plan B so I could then be told where the primary school was located.

Things were busy when I arrived at

Plan B. I stood in the lobby type area for a bit and waited. A few minutes later the manager walked up to me and thrust LESSON PLANS into my hands.

“Lesson plans for you.”

“Lesson plans?”

“Lesson plans for you. The school has them. I sent them last week.”

“Lesson plans? But I already made lessons. Can I still use mine?”

“Oh, it’s just for your reference. Lesson plans for your reference.” She walked away as quickly as she had spoken.

Seriously, Cheny had called her THAT morning, why hadn’t she said anything about lesson plans she had already typed up and sent to the school a week earlier??

I stood around about 5 more minutes. The director of the school, the ONLY person above this lady, and fortunately someone who somehow has grown to like me, had ridden the elevator up with me and engaged me in casual conversation. He saw that I was still waiting and motioned to his manager (who was on her cell phone) that I was still standing there. At that she motioned to another girl who was sitting in a chair. That girl got up and came to me; I gathered she was my assistant.

This girl walked up to about 2 inches from my face and happily asked, ‘Hello, I’m _____ and I’m studying French. You speak French?”

“No.” – that was all I said. Did she think I was going to be speaking French? You’ve GOT to be kidding me. WHAT is happening to me right now? She looked confused when I responded negatively. She regretfully said that her English wasn’t so good. She then clenched me at the elbow and began moving me down the hall, down the elevator, outside down the street, and then into a taxi. Seriously, I know I’m on my way to middle age, but I assure you I can walk by myself.

We made it to the school and alas, I had one more surprise. I was waiting in an office when I learned that there had been some miscommunication. I wasn’t going to be teaching 1^st grade, but in fact 4^th. WHAT?! I had 25 minutes to think of something extra to teach concerning “WORKING AT A FACTORY” to 4^th graders. So much for having anything prepared. (haha – China. I had to teach about a factory!) Ready, GO.

Well, faithful blog followers, the ram was still in the woods and I was able to do all things through Christ who strengthened me. I made them laugh, I made them cry. (Okay, kidding about that too. No one’s been crying.) I even had them working in groups by the end of class. As the kids filed out, many said goodbye and two girls said I was beautiful. (aaaw, oh stop,... I mean… I’m sorry what? I didn’t hear you.) It had worked out

and I had actually even enjoyed myself! Better yet, now it was OVER and there would be no more surprises!

But, there were more surprises. Happy surprises! I got back to our dorm and I had gotten so much mail! I L.O.V.E. mail! After that my husband surprised me by taking me to a sushi restaurant. I L.O.V.E. sushi and we hadn’t had it since being here! Then my husband surprised me with a beautiful framed picture from our wedding with the lyrics of Crazy Love by Van Morrison printed on it. I L.O.V.E. that song and who doesn’t L.O.V.E. presents??? The next morning I checked my email and had LOTS of Facebook messages filled with love. I L.O.V.E. Facebook love!

Turns out it was a pretty great birthday after all. Of course it was; the ram was in the woods the whole time.

A Day In The Life

Today I was happy from the bottom of my heart. You know those days when you’re not just supposed to feel joyful, but you actually are joyful? That was my day, especially my morning.
Problem is my husband is not here in Qingdao right now, but visiting with his family, so I felt a tad weird about it. Is it okay that I felt that good?

The truth is I’ve realized I’m an introvert. Thanks Jason and Lindsey for clearing that up for me. According to their studies, introverts refuel alone, whereas extroverts refuel with others. Just because I like to be crazy with friends doesn’t mean that I’m automatically an extrovert. I used to think it did. It totally makes sense. That’s why during my planning periods as school all I wanted to do was close my classroom door and turn off the lights. That’s probably also why I survived being single until my 30s. I’m an introvert! It’s kind of liberating actually.

Fortunately this morning I actually was missing my husband, so that’s not the reason why I was happy. I was happy because it was snowing, and it was sticking. And you should have seen the flakes – they were so big; I swear I could have proved the theory that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. It started falling really hard as I was teaching, around 8:40 or so. (My tutoring school is on the fifth floor of a building and my classroom has huge windows on one side.) I got so excited I asked my students how to say, “I love snow” in Chinese. They all just looked at me with blank stares. I would have been okay with that if I was actually asking a question about something in their lesson, as that is their normative response to most academic questions, but this time I was NOT okay. “Hey, Chinese students! You speak Chinese. I need to know how to say I love snow in Chinese!” I really said that. Thankfully they started to laugh and tell me. A few minutes later I went to the back window, slid it open, and stood up on its sill to take some pictures. There’s nothing quite like a breath of snowy air.

I was also happy because for the first time in a long time, my students were quite good today! Believe it or not, kids are kids – whether they are in China or in the U.S. Regular K-12 school classes are huge here. Brad’s 7^th grade classes were an average of 60 students each, and that was at a private school. I think students are used to getting away with talking, etc., in their regular classes and then most of their tutoring instructors on the weekends aren’t certified teachers anyway. You should hear the kids in the hall during breaks, they’re crazy!!

It's the carryover into class that drives me nuts. I have to get on these kids often for talking, etc. I had to move as many of the boys possible to the front row a few weeks ago. But today I had them working on a project. After the first 10 or so minutes of chaos, spent going around to each student making sure they were on track, they started p e a c e f u l l y working. It was a-mazing, and I actually think they were learning. I can hope.

To top that off, I had brought my super-cute, go-go-gadget battery life, netbook to class so I played the Beatles as they were working. Haaaa – a teacher can’t get much better than that. I may have even (aghast) smiled a few times in class. The Beatles will do that to a girl.

I secretly skipped their normal break, which they didn’t realize until about 20 minutes left in the class (It's 2 hours). Don’t wake the baby! I knew if they had a break it wouldn’t be the same after they returned from the crazy antics of the hallway. It was much too risky and I’m way too conservative. One kid finally asked when we were breaking and I acted totally caught off -guard, that we must have forgotten. Teaching is also acting. (A wise man once said that… my dad.) Sorry young lad, no break for you (Seinfeld flashback ...no bread for you!). Just sit back and enjoy the music.

One last funny anecdote: That kid also tried using the ‘F’ word today in class when talking to his buddies. At first I didn’t believe it and told myself, “Man, some word in Chinese totally sounds like the ‘F’ word!” He felt confident enough to use it again so I addressed him that time, in a low voice, looking straight into his eyes. I told him no matter who I teach, in which country, no student of mine may say that word in my class. Then I turned around and laughed at myself. I’m such a teacher.

Oh and, anyone need a new sporty bag or handbag? Adidas? Nike? Kappa? ... I know a guy.

The Joys of Primary School

12.1.10 - My gorgeous Grandma T asked me a while ago to write about teaching. Since my last blog entry I knew that the next time I wrote I would finally need to oblige her request. I also knew I would probably start with my primary school gig. Today is the PERFECT day to do that.

So, I have been outsourced (sort-of) by my employer to teach at a primary school once a week. I alternate first grade one week and then second grade the next. There are three classes per grade and I teach each class for about 40 minutes. There are about 40 first graders per class and 35-40 second graders. I guess the guy who was in my role last year did a poor job in controlling behavior because the principal of the school wasn’t keen on taking in an English teacher who only spoke English. That’s when I first learned I would be teaching the class WITHOUT a Chinese teacher in the room. I wasn’t too keen on the idea either.

The first couple weeks were hard. I was told to teach anything and then when I taught something it wasn’t right. For example, I taught letters to the second graders and after the class the regular Chinese-English teacher said that the students don’t learn the letters until grade 3. I was observed by lots of people in those first couple of weeks too. One man (who I had not seen before then nor since then) even mentioned that I needed to write more formally. What? What does that mean? Cheny, the girl who was married a month ago, was with me those first couple of weeks. These people who were constructively I’m sure, criticizing me only did so by talking to her. After Cheny told me what he had said, I asked her how to write more formally than I already did. She said after a pause and a laugh that she didn’t know. She thought I wrote very well and very neat. “Who was that guy, anyway?” I thought, “Didn’t he know I was kind of a big deal?”

It’s fortunately gotten a lot better. After the third week I was told, “They like how you teach; they like your style.” That was encouraging. My “style” was / is to make sure the students all have pictures to use as manipulatives. Last year the guy would teach a new word by going around one-by-one to each student to listen to that student say the word. (What??? A first grader is a first grader. They still go crraaazzzyyyy if they’re not actively engaged, even in China.) So, depending on what lesson the students are doing (the Chinese-English teacher now informs me what to teach each class) I find pictures from the internet, etc., to go along with the lesson. I make 40 copies of all the pictures and then put them in Ziploc baggies for each student to easily access. In class I first teach the words and then let the students say the words and show me the pictures at the same time. I also, whenever I can, try to think of some kind of song to teach with the words in them. I have rocked out, The Wheels on the Bus with the 2^nd graders, and Window– Door – Ceiling – Floor (to the tunes of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and

Toes) with the 1^st graders, just to list a couple. I have also taught them a clap rhythm that I use in order to get them quiet. Shout out to Chanda on that one! Thanks also to GOD for helping me think of these things to do!

I did have one worst-case scenario. Most of the classroom teachers leave the room when I’m there. In fact, there is a 10-minute break between classes when students are allowed to freely leave the classroom, so sometimes it is up to me to settle them back down. That was hardest to do with the first graders. The last of my three 1^st grade classes is my crrraaazzziiieeessstttt group. There are a few kids in there that need more help than the average student, I guess I could say. One would definitely be labeled, “special needs” in the U.S. Of course, they put these students all together with the one super young teacher. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is her first year. She leaves when I’m there, well she used to at least, and I don’t blame her. I’m sure she needs a break.

This one day the class was NUTS. Two boys whose desks were together (well, used to be together) kept hitting each other in one row and wouldn’t stop. The boy who obviously has some kind of ‘special need’ kept turning around and slapping the boy behind him. Now with this boy I usually give him extra attention. I stand by his desk, give him lots of eye contact, give him high-fives (the kids love that), make sure that he has the right answers, etc., etc. He usually is fine and even fun, but there was NOTHING I could do to make him act correctly on this day. He turned about and kept hitting, again…and…again… and then started making loud noises and laughing! There was another boy in the back who tried to sneak to a friend’s seat by ducking behind the kids in the last row, and on top of that there were little conversations going on everywhere. I kept trying to gather them together with my special clap, but the boy in front kept yelling out noises and turning around to hit the boy behind him. Seriously??? I finally moved his entire desk, which was the first one in a row closest to the wall, so that it was up against and facing the wall. I also moved his bag over to his new spot. He refused to move. He just stood where his seat originally was and wailed. At the TOP OF HIS LUNGS, in the front of the classroom mind you, he was crying. I just kept on teaching. Hahaha - it was a mess! After a few minutes of ignoring him and the students thinking I was crazy, or he was crazy, I really don’t know, I moved his chair back and he sat down. I collected the baggies of pictures early since they were misbehaving and we practiced words back and forth until it was time for me to go. There are windows at the very top of the wall that separates the classroom from the hallway. They’re always open. Why someone didn’t run into the room during that time, I will never know.

The Chinese-English teacher came to meet me at the end of the class to show me what to teach the following week and to have me sign a time chart. I told her about some of the scenarios that were going on and asked if maybe the classroom teacher could sit in with me the next time. I’ve had two 1^st grade weeks since then. Both the Chinese-English teacher and the classroom teacher have stayed in the room and it has been a world of difference. And the students have really been able to learn and remember a lot being focused, which is the fun part too.

This brings me to today. I leave our dorm around 7:30 to walk to the front of campus and get a taxi. I usually am able to get one rather quickly, but today it took me 10 minutes. That was about 5 minutes too long, but I was still okay. My driver decided to go a different way than other drivers have gone, but I had to have faith that

things would be okay. That is not always an easy thing to do regarding taxi drivers. I was sure that God was in control and that this driver was going to take me on a quicker route since I was short on time. “God must have told him,” I thought. Haha – not exactly. This road ended up being bumper-to-bumper, stop and go traffic. At one point my driver put down his window, turned off his ignition, and got out a cigarette. He offered one to me; I politely declined.

At first I was fine with being late. “I’m always on time,” I thought, “this happens sometimes.” But then the time got later, and later, and then I finally started freaking out a little. I didn’t have a cell phone – Brad and I haven’t gotten them yet. I was disappointed I couldn’t call anyone and let them know I was sorry, but on my way. Not like I know anyone’s phone number anyway, but if I did… I was also worried about the poor teacher who was stuck in her classroom with no idea what was going on. What if the kids were going crazy? And how would I explain what happened? None of them speak enough English to understand! … We got out of traffic, but then my driver had to pull over to the side of the road and stop someone on the sidewalk and ask for directions. REALLY???

By the time we finally got to the school, I was at least 20 minutes late for class. I walked towards the room, wondering what I was about to find, hearing a sound in the hall of children being crazy. I felt so badly for the teacher who probably didn’t know what to do with her students. I timidly opened the door and walked in. I found 40, 2^nd graders all sitting down at their seats doing different things. N o t e a c h e r i n s i g h t. Seriously? That would surely spell out l – a – w – s – u – i – t in America. They were sitting and basically working. They all greeted me, “Hello teacher!!!” I started teaching like everything was as it was supposed to be. Aww, these kids are sooo good and soo cute! ...Then, a boy in the front turned around and threw something at another boy behind him. hahaha - and yet they’re still 7.

Tip to remember: Throwing paper is only fun if the possibility of getting in trouble for it exists.