A Merry Christmas and Reason to Live Abroad

I do love Christmas traditions and certainly miss celebrating them with family. Yet celebrating holidays abroad often makes for an unforgettable experience and contributes to the benefits of living in another country.

Tonight I had the opportunity to teach our school's and our provinces best students. They are recruited from impoverished families from around the whole province. The government then sponsors these students to go to the capital city to be taught by the best teachers and work among the best students. I taught them about the holiday season and when I arrived I was showered with presents--poems, fruits, notes, decorations, and even a little tree. Then we had a wonderful class where they read, listened, and spoke (writing exercise as homework--write a letter to Santa), completing what would usually take my normal students three classes to finish.

After a stressful and unsuccessful Christmas concert last night, these students' hard work and presents made me feel so grateful. It's certainly unlike any Christmas before and, thus, such a wonderful experience while living abroad.

Merry Christmas!
Rick

It's finally over--The Christmas Concert that may make one hate Christmas

We prapared for the last few weeks solid. We all tried to teach our students a Christmas number. We made props--or in my case a Wheel of Fortune that took 20 hours and broke right before going on stage--and set up music. Then last night it all came together--more like collided--in a 3 hour Christmas concert with no intermission. There were Christmas songs, plays, dances and more. Don't forget there was also Lady Gaga, the Jabbawokies dance group, and a foreign teacher that had her daughters dance while all the Chinese students simply stood in the background holding candles. While both of my classes' performances this year could be declared "below expectations," I can rejoice that it's over.

Off to Singapore he goes

In 36 hours Dominick (郭维), an exceptional student I had the privilege to tutor for the last 10 months, will board the plane for Singapore. He'll begin a planned 11 years in Singapore, in which time he'll complete a bridging course, a degree at a world-leading university, and six years of work. Today he and I had our final session together, and I said farewell.

Working with Dominick has been incredible. He works unbelievably hard. In our time working together he won 1st prize in a Zhengzhou speaking competition, earned a full ride to the University of Singapore, and won #1 in all of Henan for an English competition. Well done, Dominick.

It's strange to be in this position--I'm watching him leave. Usually it's the other way around. Either way, I'm thrilled for him as he experiences many many firsts--first time flying, first time leaving the country, first time in Singapore, etc. Ironically, do you know what he's most worried about? He's most worried about how the food on the plane will taste.
Today I wished him well and am silenced in contemplation as I watch a significant part of my Chinese experience come to an end. Fortunately, I get to hear about everything in 6 months when he briefly returns to China--just in time to see me off.

Later Days,
Rick