4ever Discovering
Did I Blink? At the Halfway Point Already
It seems just like yesterday I was frantically packing my life into two suitcases to move across the world. I know one thing for sure, I will never procrastinate like that again. I don’t recommend leaving your packing till the day you leave; it is very stressful. Although I didn’t forget much, there were some essentials that didn’t make the cut in my luggage (like my PC White Cheddar KD). It’s hard to believe that was 4 months ago! Now, I am just finishing up my first semester of teaching and packing my backpack to travel to China for Chinese New Year. I can vouch that time really flies when you are having fun (and are super busy).
The Countdown is Officially On For Summer!
Being at my halfway point in the school year, I can say that I am definitely comfortable with where I am. My weeks fly by, and the students are (thankfully) behaving better in class. I am even starting to pick up on some Mandarin! Sometimes when the students are talking, I can pick up a few words they say. Although it isn’t much, I can understand when they talk about fish and ice cream. Two essentials I would say. We’ve been having a Chinese class every Friday, but we’ve been slacking lately with writing our report cards and travelling around the country. I swear when semester 2 starts I will give the teacher my undivided attention! It’s weird being the student now. I think my biggest accomplishments have been learning how to tell the taxi driver our address, and understanding what the lady says when I go to order my miso soup. Emily and I have turned into ‘regulars’ at a lot of the food stands and restaurants near our apartment. Nothing is wrong with loving sushi and soup a couple of times a week, right?
Now that we are about to finish our first semester, I have started to realize we don’t have a lot of time left! If the next semester goes by just as fast as the first, it is going to be summer before we know it (not complaining). Emily and I decided to really buckle down and see everything we want to in Taiwan on the weekends. The countdown is on; we have 19 weekends to explore once we return from our Chinese New Year vacation. I started a list of different excursions we should do, and it is over 19. Now we will need to really pick and choose what is at the top of our list, and what we won’t lose any sleep over if we can’t go. This just goes to show how you should never take time for granted. We thought a year would be plenty, but turns out it’s not enough! Semester 2 will be focused on ourselves; now that our students know the daily routines, we can put our energy towards planning weekend getaways and day trips. If only my students knew I lived a double life, and don’t always worry about school! I am dreading the day I see one of them at the beach; I hope it never comes to that.
My only big event that has happened since I last wrote about my Christmas abroad, has been my unwanted and unexpected visitor. That’s right, I had an intruder in my room. I accidently left my window opened one night after hanging my laundry. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but this window does not have a screen. No wonder it was a little drafty. At about 4am, I awoke to a rustling sound. It sounded like someone was playing with a ziploc bag. I told myself I was just imagining things and tried to go back to sleep. Nothing is worse than knowing you have to get ready for work in a couple of hours. I tried falling asleep, but I kept hearing this noise. After about an hour and 5 times of turning on and off the light to try to scare this thing away, I said screw it and ran to Emily’s room! When our alarm went off shortly after, I made Emily go to my room first and see what was in there. The sound was coming from my bookcase, which is about 5 feet from my head when I sleep. She bravely looked around for me, and found one of my Reese Peanut Butter Cups eaten! I’m assuming it was a rat who ate my prized possession. The stupid thing ate right through the ziploc bag and wrapper. It didn’t even leave any crumbs, just pieces of the wrapper on the floor. I then realized my window was open, so hopefully it crawled back outside. Since that night, I haven’t been able to sleep the same. I bought a ‘trap’ (a sticky piece of wood), but haven’t caught anything yet (just ants). Now every night I hear creaking from the walls and pray there is no animal living in my room. I mean, there isn’t a lot of places to hide; it’s just one room!
As you can imagine, with a disturbed sleep and added stress from tying up the loose ends of the semester, I have been quite busy. I keep thinking about what I will be doing next year, and it stresses me out even more. The company offered to renew my contract with a raise for next year, but I know I don’t want to stay in Taiwan. I love this country, but I want to try something new. There are so many countries I want to see, I don’t want to get ‘stuck’ somewhere comfortable. One of my students asked me today if I was going to be their grade 4 teacher next year, and I couldn’t tell them no. I told them “maybe” and that I need to go back to Canada to see my family. He seemed like he understood, but I know at the end of the year I will be a wreck. As much as these kiddos stress me out, I have a soft spot for them. It seems far from now, but next year will creep out on us fast; I need to start thinking things through soon.
I remember finishing my first week teaching here, and telling myself only 40-something more weeks until I’m done! I was counting down the days until our break at Chinese New Year. Now the time has come, and I know next semester will go by even faster. Instead of counting down weeks until a break, we are counting down to our summer vacation and end of school year. I am so excited to travel this summer; it is the motivation I need some days to fall asleep on a positive note. I am constantly researching different countries to visit and things to see (mostly beaches to relax at). More importantly, there are only 6 more months until I get to see my mom! If that isn’t motivation to get through the day, I don’t know what is. Of course I have those days where I feel defeated, especially at the halfway point. You mean I still have one more semester of this?? But, I remind myself to make the best out of any situation, and grow from it. I am beyond excited to spend Chinese New Year in China, and celebrate my 24th birthday in Hong Kong. With all the ups and downs, it is what we learn along the way that matters most. The endpoint is just that; the end. Of course I’m going to make it to the end; but I want to learn throughout my journey. I want to grow and learn more about myself. We all think we’re strong; but we never truly know how strong we are until it is the only option we have. If you had to choose between sink or swim, you will learn you will always choose swim no matter what. That’s what I love the most about travelling; the strength we find within ourselves when faced with an obstacle. That’s what I live for, and will get to test myself again in China! I will make sure to take a selfie at the Great Wall and keep you updated when I get back. Stay warm everyone!
