Oh Life

Favorite Chinese picture..

There are moments in life when you realize that you have changed. You are a new person with new ideas and ways of living. I had one of those realizations this last week. This last week was really hard.

First... I had a bad teaching day. I had to get upset with my classes for speaking Chinese and not English and had to threaten lowering their grades.

Then.. My computer crashed.

Then.. I got a cold and fever and blah.

Then.. I had to get mad at more students.

Then.. I got homesick for the first time.

At home, my family is opening our new Chicken E in Longview. It's on Judson inside the loop. Go eat! We have all kinds of deliciousness there. My brother is finally in a job that he enjoys and is really really good at. It's fun to hear about everything, but hard to be away during such an exciting day. There isn't much more exciting than opening day.. the new employees and how everyone comes together in the franchise. It's nice how Chicken E is still a family. I miss those people.

My computer crashing was the hardest thing of the week.. and then a Chinese student came over to fix it and made it worse. Thankfully one of the teachers here was a Computer Science man and he fixed it. It was the happiest day. I didn't even lose any of my music or photos or anything important. I am so thankful. Everything that went wrong this week ended up being fine.

The point that I realized I was a new person.. When my computer crashed I wasn't even stressed. I didn't freak out and worry about it and lose sleep. I didn't worry about emails going unanswered or facebook unchecked. I didn't think immediately about how to get it fixed. I just didn't stress about it. I have always been a worrier. I have always lost sleep worrying about useless things. This time I didn't I just shut my computer down and eventually started asking for help on how to fix it. When Chinese couldn't fix it.. I just said "No Worries." It's such a nice change to know that I'm not in control.

I hope that when I return stateside that i can remember this new person I am and know that it will all work out.

The cold is getting better.. it's moved down to my chest and my fever is broken. I have been sleeping a lot. I have also started planning some retreats for this year. I am really excited about them. I hope that they are successful and will become annual or bi-annual events for the foreigners of the east coast. It's so nice to get together and encourage each other. Sometimes you can feel really isolated here from others.

Everything else is going well. Fridays are full of studies and Sundays as well.. It's encouraging and nice to see the work. It's the best part of each weekend. I have also found a new friend and Chinese teacher. Her name is Katie and she is precious. She says she has a lot of free time and wants to help me with my Chinese. I graciously accepted and will compensate her for her time with English lessons or dinner. I'm excited to have a new friend that is in no way associated with my teaching in school. Also, Milk and I are getting to be better friends. Lots of questions.. so that's encouraging. We talk a lot about my Father and how we should live our lives. It's nice to talk deeply on this subject.

This week is shaping up to be nice already.