I am living posh here! Life for a foreign teacher is great! Just outside, however, is real 3rd world society. Let me compare my life as a foreign teacher to the students and most of the other teachers here at the school.
+ I have a heated apartment with hot running water in the shower when it has been in the 30’s and 40’s Fahrenheit since the holiday.
They have unheated, some of them without window panes, apartments with no hot water at all. They have to go across campus for a small canteen of hot water.
+ I teach classes the earliest at 8:10am and the latest 5:55pm Tuesday through Friday, total of 16 hours a week.
They go to school from 6:00am-10:00pm with 2-hour breaks for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week.
+ The school never inconveniences me and fixes whatever problems I have.
They have to do chores for the school outside of their time in school and no time to sleep or study.
+ I teach one lesson the entire week and then I can come back to my apartment.
They never get a break and they are constantly at school. Their livelihood and that of their entire family rests on their success as a student at age 14. Parents work day and night to support their children in school in the slight hopes that their children will make it into a prestigious university and make enough money to afford to take care of their family.
The middle school at which I teach has 3 grades, 200 teachers, 4,000 students, and this is only the county’s 1st middle school. There are 5 others just in this city. Small cities are those that have a million, believe it or not.
While I sit here in my warm, clean-ish apartment, humming to John Denver, entire families work in one-car, run down garages trying to sell their goods and food basically on the streets to support their entire family on a day-by-day basis. I can get a delicious, good-sized meal for 4 Yuan, which is the equivalent of 50 cents in US dollars. They put everything they have into their daily produce and rarely have anything to fall back on. If they were to randomly disappear, another family would be in line to take over their garage and life goes on. There is one restaurant in the ally outside the school where this old lady cooks awesome food (same old same old for her day after day), and it is a one-car garage sized, dirty place that functions as not only her business but her home too! There is something humbling about eating in a filthy garage with cheap, small, dirty tables and chairs next to the makeshift bed of the owner.
The people here don’t think they are all that poor though, they are happy in their work and they don’t complain. I have a student who is so vibrant about wanting to earn lots of money and be like Oprah to help people in Africa. Her family is dirt poor and yet she doesn’t see it that way- she wants to help other people less fortunate, and I thought you couldn’t find anyone less fortunate.
Needless to say I’ve learned a lot here. I LOVE THE PEOPLE SO MUCH! I feel my greatest dreams are coming to pass here! I have never felt so much like I was in the right place doing the right thing! I love these people. I hate to think about going home, even though I miss it. It’s something I cannot explain. The people here are so dear to my heart. I feel like I belong here, and not because I fit in, but because I am prepared to make a difference in these people’s lives and to see the changes in others because of things I’ve done and to see the changes in myself from what I’ve learned. I’m trying not to think of having to come home in a few months, even though I just got here, because I love it here so much and it makes tears come to my eyes to think about leaving. I can see why Robert Tate is still here after a year and a half. There is just something about the people here that makes me realize life is SO good! They are a different kind of happy! They get a piece of candy and their week is made! They get a hug and remember it forever. You make a friend here and they are sincere. They don’t step on eachother to get to the top. Oh there are a million things about China that my heart sings for! I could go on for hours just talking about all the things I’ve learned this week, but you still couldn’t comprehend my great love for these people!
Try explaining “love” to someone who has no clue what it is…that’s like me trying to explain to you my love for the Chinese people. You have to feel it to know it! Just like the gospel. No matter what I say you can only try to understand, but when you immerse yourself in it, it is the greatest thing you know!
On a lighter note, my classes are AWESOME! I teach 16 classes of 60+ kids each a week, and yeah they are rowdy because they are teenagers, and I can’t give them a grade so there’s no incentive there, but my knowledge and my love for them are what keep them doing as I ask. Foreign teachers are basically spoiled icons or mascots for the schools-this school is deemed as most prestigious in the city because they have foreign teachers. They milk the students but spoil us to stay here and be those models for the school. I love the students so much that I do everything I can to give all I can. I invite them over to my apartment if they ever get a minute so they can feel warm and welcome in a clean, smell-good apartment. I talk to them and they feel at peace listening to music, looking at pictures, and it’s like an escape from the rest of the world. Every opportunity I get to safely show my love for them, I gladly do! This week I’m teaching them about animals and adjectives, which they are all excited about because I’m showing them a million zoo pictures. Oh the simple joys! :)
This week I am doing a seating chart, but these are some of the "English names" my kids chose:
Iron Man
Super Man
Chinese Man
Black
White (Black and White sit next to eachother)
Obama (several of them)
Smile
Happy
Joy
English Name
Alone
The Death
Demon
Nelly
King, Kevin, and King Kevin (they are friends)
AK-47 and AK 74 (sit next to eachother)
Baby (a boy)
and the list goes on...they make me happy! :)
Madi and I, after reading a conference talk last night, made a fort out of my couches and had a campout in my living room! Good times! We even made it fancy and had oreos (pretty much the only sweet thing here that is American). We made Sam come down too and join in the fun! Speaking of Sam, I'd just like to say every day having him here is a great blessing! He is an outstanding priesthood holder and all around just one of the best friends you can find. He knows the ropes and he's always willing to help out or play. Keep him in your prayers too...especially your gratitude prayers! :)
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