first quarter

The weather is really pretty here now. And this past week at work was kind of easy. Wednesday and Thursday were Market Day. The kids get fake money and the teachers set up stands with different things they can buy like stickers, school supplies and snacks. The kids get stamps for doing their homework and behaving. It's the way I discipline them. They'll be quiet and do work if I remind them that I'm the stamp god. Market Day is really fun to watch. It reminded me of being a kid, and how simple life used to be. And now I understand why the stamps mean so much to them.

Yesterday was Monthly Test day for my older students. I just watch them while they take a test, then play hangman with their vocabulary words for the last ten minutes. For my younger students Fridays are easy too, because my usual two hour classes are only one hour. We cover the same amount of material, so the class period just flies by and I never have to worry about making extra activities to fill time.

Random images of home keep popping into my head this week: good things that I used to do all the time or the way people used to look when they lied or laughed or told me about their day. And I get a little lump in my throat and have to suppress the memory or I start tearing up. It's a bittersweet homesickness, though. I like it, because it honestly makes me feel like I have it all: a great past and a dream present. I'm trying to imagine how coming home will feel. I think I'm afraid to actually. Being surrounded by "familiar" things again, an overload of what I've been craving and will have wanted for a whole year. All of a sudden being able to have them again. I can imagine the euphoria.

Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

I think part of it has to do with the fact my dad is sending a care package and asked me what I'd like him to send. The list is so long, but I know shipping is ridiculously expensive, so I cut it down to only the essentials. It made me realize the things I've been living without. I hate to admit it but I miss things from home as much as I miss the people. I'm always trying to understand homesickness.

Towards the end of this week I hung out in a bar where the foreigners in this area always go. It was full of people who spoke English, but not all from English-speaking countries. There were some guys from Africa, a girl from Mexico and a guy from France. That's just of the people I talked to. Anyway, it was the first time I met people who weren't visitors, English teachers or soldiers. There are foreign students living here, too. Basically I found out there's a big group of exchange students that go to a university near me, studying abroad for their Masters. I'm so glad I met them, because now I know I have that option, too. Apparently they get paid to study here, teach some English, and they even get paid to travel! I'll be looking into the program.

I found out I get a five-day weekend about a month from now, from May first to the fifth. I'm really looking forward to that, I need a long break from teaching. I have to plan something cool OR it would also be an ideal time for someone to visit (hint hint).

Okay, I think now I'm going to go grab some ice cream at Baskin Robbins and walk around the park. It's a beautitful day in Dongtan...