Once upon a time there was a young teacher who was sent to China to teach English. When she got there, things just fell into place, and every single moment of teaching made her want to teach more. Classes only got better and better every day, and she’d never trade teaching these classes for anything in this time she’d been given. Every day miracles occurred, unexpected opportunities found her, and she had the time of her life. She'd never feel unattended even when she was alone, and life was beautiful.
Circle One:
This paragraph is a fairy tale:
True / False
To tell you the truth, this is how Nikki Checketts feels!
Not even kidding, it’s all still as true from the first day as now. From day 1 in China things have just “worked out”, fallen into place for the better. Now I’ll admit I am human so many people would think “Not everything can go right ALL the time, especially in Communist China” but that all depends on what you mean by “go right”. Here in China everything happens for a reason; there is a purpose to everything, and if you open your eyes it’s obvious God’s hand is in it all, and if God creates perfect things, how can you say those things aren’t “going right”? One thing I liked about the movie “Princess and the Frog”, which I watched before I came here, was Mama Odie’s message about how you often know what you want, but not necessarily what you need, and says:
“You gotta dig a little deeper!
It really aint that far!
When you found out who you are,
you find out what you need.
Blue skies and sun shine; Guaranteed!”
Sometimes we just have to remember who we are, and when we do, we know who is in charge, and when we know who is in charge, it’s time to take a step back and see all the sunshine unfolding all around us to opportunities of the day and not just the light from outside disturbing our sleep, if you catch my drift. So honestly I can say it has all been marvelous! I never go anywhere alone, even when nobody accompanies me. Life here in China truly is incredible and has done wonderful things for me. The person I come home as will still be Nikki, no worries about that, but she will be a little different. I’ve learned so much here, loved much, laughed much, lived so much! That’s why I don’t often think of going home. I love it here so much. It’s changed my life so much in these short 2 months I’ve been here.
Teaching, no greater call….’nough said. What? You want details? Fine…This week was amazing! So 3 weeks ago I taught my students music genres, then 2 weeks ago I helped them create bands, and then last week they presented their bands. They spent the first ¾ of the class presenting their bands, telling what they would sing about, what genre they’d sing, what instruments all of them would play, and then write their names on the board. Then they surprised me in a good way, which always makes a teacher happy. They had prepared songs and some of them had written original songs with their bands to sing to the class! They all were so beautiful. I feel so blessed to teach these such talented students! They teach me so much of the time, and we are ‘all edified together’. This week was just so much fun! They did all the work and LOVED it. This upcoming week I think I’ll teach them Weird Al’s “Eat It”, and introduce some parts of American culture. They all know Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, so it won’t be hard for them to learn it. Haha, I’m excited.
I love all my students so much. They are all different but all have secret dreams and wishes, and they can express them in class as they share their feelings on certain aspects of life. I seriously hope they enjoy class time as much as I do, which, judging by their smiles and enthusiasm is a comfort. Every week I plan hours for the lessons, and as Elder Perry said about preparation in conference, it’s never wasted, and it’s so much fun here. After teaching my 15th class of the week Friday, I just got an overwhelming joy and realized that I could do this forever. Live like this in China, teaching such beautiful, smart, loving children, hungry for truth and knowledge. (Yes I understand that sentence is a fragment, but I’m a teacher so shush. OK, Nikki stop talking to yourself. Ok. Thanks. You’re welcome.)
This week has produced some sunny days, so I’ve spent time outside this week with students, rather than just inside my apartment. I took one student running this morning at 6am. Oh I love China. Usually my afternoons and evenings are taken up with students visiting, which I absolutely love. You know, I’ve become quite casual about leaving pictures of missionaries, temples, my family, my scriptures, scripture journals, etc around. If you know me, you know that’s 70% on purpose, 30% because I’m lazy, and 100% convenient. Now I can’t proselyte, but I can help familiarize those around me with bits of the most important things to me. Every single student who has spent more than 5 minutes in my apartment ends up asking about the purpose of life, if there is a God, what I believe, why I am so happy, or what the beautiful pictures are and of whom, and the more often they come over, the more they ask. It’s SO SO SO SO SO SO SO hard, times a million kazillion, not to share my testimony with them. When they ask why they feel different and more relaxed in my apartment, I tell them about love and truth (fruits of the Spirit, but not using those words) and how I am a strong believer in those things. Many students have told me that they just know anything I say is true, even though they don’t know me that well. It’s almost torture not to proselyte, but I’m doing what I can, and I hope to help them learn to recognize truth and divine love, if nothing else. I pray I can serve among these people again someday, and this time…I can do what Nikki likes to do best. Testify and bring everyone into the fold.
This weekend the girls from Shuangpai and the couple from Dong’an came here to Ling Ling and we watched General Conference! We watch it a week late because of the time difference (we get the DVD’s), and it was wonderful. Why is it that God loves me so much to make every single talk inspire me to do better and love this work more? I feel so greedy sometimes about it, so greedy I want to watch all the sessions, including priesthood, and then read them again when they come out in print. Hehehe, yeah, GCT (Gen Conf Talks), PMG (Preach My Gospel), BoM…all my addictions are getting worse here in China. Oh, funny story, Saturday night the director of the school and our liaison came over to Sam’s apartment drunk, and the first entertained us with the little English he knew and his crazy gestures, (drinking out of Sam’s cup, trying to make friends with everyone by holding their hands for too long and slaughtering their names, urinating all over Sam’s bathroom, giggling, and doing some sort of Chinese sign language), while the latter took Sam out to buy 150 yuan worth of snacks! Oh I love this school!
Life is good, not a day is dull, and the memories are countless. Yes, I can say things go right. They go exactly as they are supposed to, as long as I do what I am supposed to. Life in China is not a fairy tale, but I’ll tell you what, they are better than any dream!
I love you all! Be good, safe, don’t smoke!
--
Nikki Checketts
C/o Zhou Zhixi
Foreign Affairs Office of No. 1 Middle School of Yongzhou City
Hunan Province, P.R. China
Post Code: 425006
Here are some sample videos from my classes. Enjoy!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY0NTkwNTUy.html
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY0NTkyOTYw.html
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY0NTkzODc2.html
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY0NTk2OTAw.html
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY0NTk5OTQw.html
School Campus
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