Right now, I am sitting in my apartment surrounded by suitcases. This is my last night in China.
I apologize if this post is more emotional Taylor Swift song (impossible for anything to be more emotional than a Taylor Swift song, except maybe the movie
Beaches), but I am feeling a bit emotional tonight.
I can't believe how fast this past year has flown by. I came to China in September, extremely nervous about my new job and filled with thoughts along the line of
what did I get myself into as soon as I stepped off the plane in Beijing. I hated the food, the weather, and the fact that I couldn't communicate with anyone. I was thrown into a six day-a-week schedule teaching 6 intense subjects at the second best high school (students are regularly accepted into the top 50 universities in America & Canada) in a city of 6-ish million . I pulled several all-nighters weekly to keep up with my workload. The customs were strange (umbrellas in the sun?) and the people were stranger. I constantly worried what I would do professionally after my year-long contract concluded.
What would employers think of my choice to teach in China for a year?
Slowly, things started to get better. With the help of my boss, I bought an e-bike and started zipping around the city. I met friends and tapped into a foreigner circle that I didn't know existed. I found the most amazing apartment and moved in with a Chinese roommate. I finally learned the trick for how to avoid the hawkers at the supermarket.
In December, I was becoming accustomed to life in Fuzhou but was also eager to return to Australia. During the cold/sunless winter, the thought of seeing my family and returning to AUS kept me going. In January, I returned to Sydney for the first time in 2 years. After my trip, I arrived in China with a fresh perspective. Things became easier; I started to work five days a week, learned the tricks of lesson planning and started sleeping 8 hours a night, met an amazing Chinese girlfriend and received highest marks on teacher evaluations in my school. Although my course load was consolidated into something more manageable, my classes were so popular at my high school that another US History class was added to my schedule.
Bookclub with my Chinese bestie
Since adjusting, I have come to love living here; I find happiness in my job, relationships and lifestyle that I am able to live. I have traveled extensively, both in China and around Asia/Oceania. I have formed close bonds with my students, met amazing foreign & Chinese friends, learned a bit of Mandarin, taught myself Physics, and so much more. I do not regret my decision to come to China one bit. In fact, it was one of the better decisions that I have made. Looking back now, I cannot believe I even questioned coming here at all.
A response from a co-workers test; best end of the year 'bonus' ever
The hardest part so far about coming to China has been saying goodbye; saying goodbye to my students- who showered me with gifts and threw me two wonderful goodbye parties, saying goodbye to my friends, some of whom are staying in China and some of whom are leaving as well, saying goodbye to my routine and life that I have created for myself here. I am sad to say goodbye but I am excited to move forward and experience the next stage of the real world.
再见
Clip from farewell video made by my students
