My First Day of Teaching

I started this blog for a couple reasons. One, I wanted a way to be able to update my friends and family on everything going on without having to send out 47 emails every day, and two, this is basically my journal. I have a really hard time masking how I feel about anything and that's going to show. So just a warning, things are not always going to rainbows and unicorns. I'm going to be real and honest about how I feel mostly for myself, because I don't want to forget anything about this experience, not even the bad stuff. With all of that being said....

I wish I could report that I loved today. That my excitement hadn't taken a hit. That meeting my kids and teaching for the first time was a huge success.

It wasn't.

It was terrible. Awful. Miserable. Stressful. Insane. Frustrating.

But you know what else it was? The first day of class. I'm a perfectionist. Things were far from perfect and I didn't take it well. The kids didn't listen, they spoke Chinese the whole time, and they had zero interest in me or what I was talking about. Chaos didn't know what to think about today.

I knew it would be crazy, but it was a different kind of crazy than I was anticipating. I wasn't expecting them to be perfect, but I was expecting them to be somewhat cooperative. Don't get me wrong, there are a few kids in each of my classes that are angels. They are so good. But the vast majority, and of course it's mostly boys, I'm almost certain that they're partial spawns of Satan.

Don't let them fool you.

I was feeling extremely let down and discouraged after class today. And then I went out with my group to get ice cream which of course fixes everything (almost). While walking back to the night market, Kate spotted a guitar store and dragged me in. She asked if she could play one and the man happily obliged. He brought us two bar stools and she serenaded us with her amazing talent for a few minutes. I can never say it enough, this girl is flippin' awesome and she makes me want to move to Spokane and live with her.

Strawberry :)

My awesome, wonderful roomie :)

It's hard days like these that make me miss home, though. Mostly Lucas because he's the one who always makes everything better, or at least makes me feel better about it.

Tomorrow is a new day. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm dreading it, actually. But I know things will get better, it's only a matter of time.