it's funny the mixed reviews i get when people find out that i am going to china.
reaction #1: that is so AWESOME!
(approximately 85% of all reactions)
reaction #2: that's great but, umm, have you been to china before?
(approximately 10% of all reactions)
reaction #3: what are you thinking?
(approximately 5% of all reactions)
so, mostly positive. somewhere in reaction type three is the reaction i got from my dad. he tried to be positive but his exact words were "if there is ever a pandemic, china is the worst place you could positively be." i love that guy.
but i am going. everyday it sinks in a little bit more as being real but i'm still waiting for the full impact of this decision. two years in china. two years!! this is my step one for me becoming an international citizen. i think it'll start really sinking in when i get all the info about my school, my subject, my flight information. it's less than four months away! that is totally bonkers. that is no time. a few weeks in kelowna, a few weeks in nova scotia, a few days in saskatoon, a visit with my baba, and i'm gone.
i am actually so excited i can't even stand it!
remember how i wrote a while ago about the hero's journey? i got stuck around step 5, crossing the threshold. but i think here it is. i'm leaving my ordinary world and entering a new one! and i shall return one day (in 2+ years!) with the elixir. that's the read i'm getting on it right now. i'll keep you posted.
love, once again,
your hero
April 25, 2010
April 21, 2010
meet me in chongqing
i got the contract!
of the people i know who interviewed four out of six got contracts. i'm not exactly how they made the choices they did (meaning: certain picks were not ones i would have made) but overall, i'm glad to be going with people i know.
so yes,
i signed it. i really signed it. today! and i faxed it in! and all my applications are in the mail! and things are happening for me!
i'm off to chongqing. supposedly the biggest city in china, maybe the biggest city in the world.
and you know what that means.
travel blog!!
of the people i know who interviewed four out of six got contracts. i'm not exactly how they made the choices they did (meaning: certain picks were not ones i would have made) but overall, i'm glad to be going with people i know.
so yes,
i signed it. i really signed it. today! and i faxed it in! and all my applications are in the mail! and things are happening for me!
i'm off to chongqing. supposedly the biggest city in china, maybe the biggest city in the world.
and you know what that means.
travel blog!!
April 17, 2010
teacher
so, the interview.
i'm not really sure how it went. he said i look like a partier. but i think he meant it as a good thing because right after that he said he was looking to put together a group of 5 social young people to go to a school that it is in a more rural area. haha. but yeah. i should find out in a week or two. fingers crossed. but sort of not. the nice thing about not getting it is that then i don't have the decision to make. but, then again, i want it. i at least want the choice to be mine.
two more week of my practicum! two more weeks of teacher clothes and classroom management and photocopier mishaps. i'll miss it, i really will. but it'll be nice to be free. to be a university graduate. a teacher.
a teacher!
last class a girl, who is not the keenest of kids, said that i explain things really well. i don't know why but that stuck with me as a really huge compliment. she just said it kind of offhand, there may have been an f word that slipped out, but she meant it.
sometimes (all the time) i don't know how to react to kids who say fuck. i mean, i say it all the time. but there's a difference between when i overhear it and when it is shouted across the field/room at someone. i usually just give it a "not in my class" and let it slide. it's interesting though. those little things.
i will miss this. hopefully i won't spend too long without it, though.
i'm not really sure how it went. he said i look like a partier. but i think he meant it as a good thing because right after that he said he was looking to put together a group of 5 social young people to go to a school that it is in a more rural area. haha. but yeah. i should find out in a week or two. fingers crossed. but sort of not. the nice thing about not getting it is that then i don't have the decision to make. but, then again, i want it. i at least want the choice to be mine.
two more week of my practicum! two more weeks of teacher clothes and classroom management and photocopier mishaps. i'll miss it, i really will. but it'll be nice to be free. to be a university graduate. a teacher.
a teacher!
last class a girl, who is not the keenest of kids, said that i explain things really well. i don't know why but that stuck with me as a really huge compliment. she just said it kind of offhand, there may have been an f word that slipped out, but she meant it.
sometimes (all the time) i don't know how to react to kids who say fuck. i mean, i say it all the time. but there's a difference between when i overhear it and when it is shouted across the field/room at someone. i usually just give it a "not in my class" and let it slide. it's interesting though. those little things.
i will miss this. hopefully i won't spend too long without it, though.
April 15, 2010
life choices
i am getting an excellent on my practicum report. not a good or a satisfactory. an excellent! i didn't realize it was that big of a deal but apparently it will make all the difference if i ever want to get on the toc list in the district, or in any popular district for that matter. i honestly don't feel like i'm doing an excellent job. 90% of the time i feel like i am just flying by the seat of my pants. but i have fun. i am enthusiastic. it feels natural. and so i am getting an excellent. i'm glad it hasn't worn off, my initial love of teaching. i thought it might. i thought i might get into it and realize that it wasn't for me. it hasn't happened yet.
but.
i am nervous about this china thing. my interview is tomorrow and i just don't know. i would love to go, i mean come on, but it's a long time. it's far away. i like what i'm doing here. i like my life right now. i actually love my life right now. this isn't like me. i'm usually focused on the next best thing. so it's tricky to think about leaving it behind. but then again, once this practicum is done there isn't a lot to keep me here. my family, of course. the lake. the way it stays warm, in the summer, even after the sun sets. but there are no jobs here. i don't have a place. i do have a cat, the sweetest cat ever, but he has a home waiting for him. so. what to do. i just have the sense of urgency. i may not even get a job, but if i do, it'll be a quick decision. yes or no. and if i don't get it, where do i go? everyone says i should get on the list here, put in my time, there will be work for me, and see what happens in terms of getting a contract. but i've always said that's the last thing i want. but maybe it's not? i don't know. oh man. dilemmas.
thankfully, this is an exciting decision. oh do i want to go to china and make money and have crazy adventures or do i want to stay here, in one of the most beautiful places in the world? oh woe is me.
i'll keep you posted.
but.
i am nervous about this china thing. my interview is tomorrow and i just don't know. i would love to go, i mean come on, but it's a long time. it's far away. i like what i'm doing here. i like my life right now. i actually love my life right now. this isn't like me. i'm usually focused on the next best thing. so it's tricky to think about leaving it behind. but then again, once this practicum is done there isn't a lot to keep me here. my family, of course. the lake. the way it stays warm, in the summer, even after the sun sets. but there are no jobs here. i don't have a place. i do have a cat, the sweetest cat ever, but he has a home waiting for him. so. what to do. i just have the sense of urgency. i may not even get a job, but if i do, it'll be a quick decision. yes or no. and if i don't get it, where do i go? everyone says i should get on the list here, put in my time, there will be work for me, and see what happens in terms of getting a contract. but i've always said that's the last thing i want. but maybe it's not? i don't know. oh man. dilemmas.
thankfully, this is an exciting decision. oh do i want to go to china and make money and have crazy adventures or do i want to stay here, in one of the most beautiful places in the world? oh woe is me.
i'll keep you posted.
April 06, 2010
+/-
+ the grade eight volleyball team i help coach won the zone championships last thursday.
+ i got an unreal reference letter from one of my sponsor teachers.
+ i have a job interview with maple leaf schools on april 17th-ish. that would mean committing to at least a year in china, but probably two. i was so so so gung-ho about this plan but now i have to give it a good think. these are exciting decisions though!
+ only 18 more teaching days left! this is actually a +/- because i'll be so glad to be done but i'll be sad to leave my school and my students. i've grown pretty attached.
+ i started playing the stock market (actually my dad plays it on my behalf) and i'm making money.
+ i went to edmonton and got to eat at chianti, see lots of my friends, visit my baba, and inspire jenna with my love of nailpolish and this one type of starbucks travel mug (alie knows about this mug, i think).
+ i took a risk with some facebook stalkery and it looks like it may have paid off.
+ i got into the explore program so i get to spend 5 weeks in nova scotia in may/june.
- i am meant to be running another half marathon in halifax but i have not trained even slightly and still haven't seen a physio yet about my knee. i feel like this will be a recurring pattern in my life. oh wait, it already is.
- marking. oh my gosh the marking. so much marking to do.
+ i got an unreal reference letter from one of my sponsor teachers.
+ i have a job interview with maple leaf schools on april 17th-ish. that would mean committing to at least a year in china, but probably two. i was so so so gung-ho about this plan but now i have to give it a good think. these are exciting decisions though!
+ only 18 more teaching days left! this is actually a +/- because i'll be so glad to be done but i'll be sad to leave my school and my students. i've grown pretty attached.
+ i started playing the stock market (actually my dad plays it on my behalf) and i'm making money.
+ i went to edmonton and got to eat at chianti, see lots of my friends, visit my baba, and inspire jenna with my love of nailpolish and this one type of starbucks travel mug (alie knows about this mug, i think).
+ i took a risk with some facebook stalkery and it looks like it may have paid off.
+ i got into the explore program so i get to spend 5 weeks in nova scotia in may/june.
- i am meant to be running another half marathon in halifax but i have not trained even slightly and still haven't seen a physio yet about my knee. i feel like this will be a recurring pattern in my life. oh wait, it already is.
- marking. oh my gosh the marking. so much marking to do.
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