Getting tired of the economy and the frequent budget cut offs, I decided to turn my head towards Asia. I wanted to become a teacher in the US, but it seemed that the folks on the other side of the world just had many more interesting options.
Though finding good options when you are not a native English speaker can be pretty hard; I sent quite a few emails around the world asking if they would like to take someone whose first language wasn't English. "Sure, you can teach Spanish here" they said in Korea "but do you have a Spaniard accent?"... Well, no... not really. I'm Latino American, not European...
So sending emails here and there, I finally got a response from the only country that seemed willing to consider me for a teaching position: China.
China? Never in my life had I even considered going there! Quick! take a look at the map!, for sure at some point in middle school I learned where China is! (actually, I'm kidding, I knew where it was... but it never hurts to double-check!) After a quick interview, and an even quicker "hey, we need you here before the 6th of August, and oh yeah it's the 25th of July, so you may want to start looking into departing flights right now" , I decided for the first time ever, not to read anything about the country I was about to visit and just let it surprise me. I booked my flight and soon after I was landing in Beijing.
I have to say that I had a few misconceptions about China that were influenced by the previous trip I had taken to another Asian country. For some reason, I was expecting China to be somewhat similar to the first Asian country I visited, but when I got here, everything was so different from everywhere I had ever been to. I always tell myself before a trip that things will be somewhere between slightly to overwhelmingly different to how they are back home, so try to be patient and tolerant. I expected the language to be a problem, I expected markets to be different, how to buy food, how to pay when you get on the bus, etc.
As I write this, I'm glad to say I have been happily surprised by Beijing so far. Of course I understand absolutely nothing, but there is always someone there willing to point at this and that, draw, repeat the same sentence ten times, and anything they can do to help you; so far, no one has ever yelled at me like they did in other countries, or gave up on me. I am profoundly surprised by the warmth of Chinese people. My brother asked me if I didn't know about the Chinese people's reputation of friendliness and kindness. I said no, not at all; then he proceeded to explain to me how the Chinese succeed in other countries by being friendly and nice to each other within their communities. It always feel good when they make you feel welcome and like you are home away from home.
But it's not just the random people at the streets or supermarkets that have been nice and helpful to me. My school's staff wear a smile on their faces most of the time, and I'm sure one day I will be able to gossip with the cleaning ladies, since they are always talking to me, and when they are alone they seem to have some sort of super interesting conversation that for some reason ends when the other teachers come into the room... I love my students, and I think they like me too; my favorite student and I play this wordless game of staring at each other and just laughing and laughing, because we just love laughing without any reason. We were both wearing Mickey Mouse shirts last time, and he was so excited he even told his mom about it.
I had such a big laugh in one of my classrooms last time,that I wasn't able to keep on singing my song; they just go crazy when the song includes spinning and jumping around. It's wonderful to be reminded every day that the simplest things fill your heart out with joy. Sometimes it's hard not being able to understand a word of what they say, because they are so talkative, and there is of course a little bit of disciplinary actions that I wish I could carry out without any help. Luckily for me, the teachers are there to help me when the kids don't want to pay attention, and without them Id be lost trying to explain my students what the activities are about.
Since, I don't have a computer at school, or a printer at home, I have been drawing my own flash cards, and everything I need for my lessons; this week I drew a Mickey Mouse and then cut it out as a puzzle, and the kids were pretty happy! I found out that it can be somewhat easy to keep them in control when I bring these kind of activities with me. I point at their seats, put my finger in front of my mouth and say "shhhh", and raise my hand. The older kids understand that they need to be sitting in their places, quietly and raising their hands if they want to help assemble Mickey Mouse, or the teddy bear, or the parts of the face and the body. Then the youngest follow. Speaking of the verb "to follow" I avoid using that word in one of my nursery classes, or else I will have a bunch of kindergartners walking around in a circle around me singing "follow me, follow me, follow me".
I met this little boy that was the only student on one of my classes not sitting on the carpet during the English class. The teacher told me that he was so terrified of the other foreign teacher (not that the teacher was mean , but that it had been a male teacher), that he never sat with the other students during the lessons. Now he joins every time, sings, participates and I'm thrilled.
I stopped wearing my glasses when I teach, because at the end of the lesson, some of the students like to say good bye with hugs and kisses; since the lesson takes place with all of us sitting down on a carpet, the kids can wrap their hands around my shoulders when they say good bye. But sometimes many of them try to do it at once, and I'm just covered by many kids wishing me a good day and saying good bye to me. I love the feeling!
I'm sure a lot of people may think that going abroad to live/work is only for the adventurous, but hey! worried about what you could be eating here?... well, do you actually know what's inside a Big Mac?. Is the language a problem? sure it is, so carry a pen and a small drawing pad with you, or buy a smart phone as I did, and google the images of what you are looking for when you go out. Tell your Chinese friends-acquaintances what you will be up to this weekend and if it's possible that you call them in case you need some help; besides don't they say that smiles are universal? ha!. Scared of being alone? for some time maybe, but you can always join the gym, and there are places where the instruction takes place in English, and most of your friends from home are one email/skype-viber call/fb post away!. And if you just feel too homesick, stay home and talk to your friends, and forget where you are for some time.
I believe that the faster you understand that you are in a different country, the easier it will be to transition from a tourist to just another citizen. Acceptance. Crossing busy streets where everything except a plane could run you over is not a very big deal for someone who grew up in a place where streets are like that. I hate buying my plastic bags when I go to the supermarket, so now I just keep one inside my purse. Problem solved. Everyone pushing in the bus? Yeah, I had that before in other places. Not a problem! Different places, different things. So I'm enjoying my time here, because it is really up to me what kind of experience I want to have. I'm sure if I wanted to feel miserable, I could find a million reasons to be miserable: oh why did i run out of water already!? why are my kitchen and toilet in a separate room outside my apartment? wait... why are my toilet and kitchen even in the same room on the first place? Man, where is the spicy food?
But since this is what I will be calling home for an entire year, I can definitely overlook those minor inconveniences, and start living like a Chinese, because at the end of the day, that is what brought me here (and not the imaginary Chinese boyfriend some people think I have), and also because, next year when my trip is over, I will not look back and wonder why the toilet situation bothered me so much, I couldn't enjoy my apartment when it was just a silly thing I could have easily got used to had I wanted to? A year goes by so fast that I better make the best out of it!
I know I will have awesome days, OK days, remarkable days that will say with me for the rest of my life; and sad days, days when I wish I could just go back home; but they are chapters of the same story. And that is what going abroad is all about: a good collection of assorted memories!
I'm sure if I had had more options, I would have probably chosen a different country; and that's why I'm extremely happy that this was my only option instead, because I know I myself couldn't have chosen a better place! I am loving it and can't wait until I get paid to of course spend my money in exploring more and more.
Though finding good options when you are not a native English speaker can be pretty hard; I sent quite a few emails around the world asking if they would like to take someone whose first language wasn't English. "Sure, you can teach Spanish here" they said in Korea "but do you have a Spaniard accent?"... Well, no... not really. I'm Latino American, not European...
So sending emails here and there, I finally got a response from the only country that seemed willing to consider me for a teaching position: China.
China? Never in my life had I even considered going there! Quick! take a look at the map!, for sure at some point in middle school I learned where China is! (actually, I'm kidding, I knew where it was... but it never hurts to double-check!) After a quick interview, and an even quicker "hey, we need you here before the 6th of August, and oh yeah it's the 25th of July, so you may want to start looking into departing flights right now" , I decided for the first time ever, not to read anything about the country I was about to visit and just let it surprise me. I booked my flight and soon after I was landing in Beijing.
I have to say that I had a few misconceptions about China that were influenced by the previous trip I had taken to another Asian country. For some reason, I was expecting China to be somewhat similar to the first Asian country I visited, but when I got here, everything was so different from everywhere I had ever been to. I always tell myself before a trip that things will be somewhere between slightly to overwhelmingly different to how they are back home, so try to be patient and tolerant. I expected the language to be a problem, I expected markets to be different, how to buy food, how to pay when you get on the bus, etc.
As I write this, I'm glad to say I have been happily surprised by Beijing so far. Of course I understand absolutely nothing, but there is always someone there willing to point at this and that, draw, repeat the same sentence ten times, and anything they can do to help you; so far, no one has ever yelled at me like they did in other countries, or gave up on me. I am profoundly surprised by the warmth of Chinese people. My brother asked me if I didn't know about the Chinese people's reputation of friendliness and kindness. I said no, not at all; then he proceeded to explain to me how the Chinese succeed in other countries by being friendly and nice to each other within their communities. It always feel good when they make you feel welcome and like you are home away from home.
But it's not just the random people at the streets or supermarkets that have been nice and helpful to me. My school's staff wear a smile on their faces most of the time, and I'm sure one day I will be able to gossip with the cleaning ladies, since they are always talking to me, and when they are alone they seem to have some sort of super interesting conversation that for some reason ends when the other teachers come into the room... I love my students, and I think they like me too; my favorite student and I play this wordless game of staring at each other and just laughing and laughing, because we just love laughing without any reason. We were both wearing Mickey Mouse shirts last time, and he was so excited he even told his mom about it.
I had such a big laugh in one of my classrooms last time,that I wasn't able to keep on singing my song; they just go crazy when the song includes spinning and jumping around. It's wonderful to be reminded every day that the simplest things fill your heart out with joy. Sometimes it's hard not being able to understand a word of what they say, because they are so talkative, and there is of course a little bit of disciplinary actions that I wish I could carry out without any help. Luckily for me, the teachers are there to help me when the kids don't want to pay attention, and without them Id be lost trying to explain my students what the activities are about.
Since, I don't have a computer at school, or a printer at home, I have been drawing my own flash cards, and everything I need for my lessons; this week I drew a Mickey Mouse and then cut it out as a puzzle, and the kids were pretty happy! I found out that it can be somewhat easy to keep them in control when I bring these kind of activities with me. I point at their seats, put my finger in front of my mouth and say "shhhh", and raise my hand. The older kids understand that they need to be sitting in their places, quietly and raising their hands if they want to help assemble Mickey Mouse, or the teddy bear, or the parts of the face and the body. Then the youngest follow. Speaking of the verb "to follow" I avoid using that word in one of my nursery classes, or else I will have a bunch of kindergartners walking around in a circle around me singing "follow me, follow me, follow me".
I met this little boy that was the only student on one of my classes not sitting on the carpet during the English class. The teacher told me that he was so terrified of the other foreign teacher (not that the teacher was mean , but that it had been a male teacher), that he never sat with the other students during the lessons. Now he joins every time, sings, participates and I'm thrilled.
I stopped wearing my glasses when I teach, because at the end of the lesson, some of the students like to say good bye with hugs and kisses; since the lesson takes place with all of us sitting down on a carpet, the kids can wrap their hands around my shoulders when they say good bye. But sometimes many of them try to do it at once, and I'm just covered by many kids wishing me a good day and saying good bye to me. I love the feeling!
I'm sure a lot of people may think that going abroad to live/work is only for the adventurous, but hey! worried about what you could be eating here?... well, do you actually know what's inside a Big Mac?. Is the language a problem? sure it is, so carry a pen and a small drawing pad with you, or buy a smart phone as I did, and google the images of what you are looking for when you go out. Tell your Chinese friends-acquaintances what you will be up to this weekend and if it's possible that you call them in case you need some help; besides don't they say that smiles are universal? ha!. Scared of being alone? for some time maybe, but you can always join the gym, and there are places where the instruction takes place in English, and most of your friends from home are one email/skype-viber call/fb post away!. And if you just feel too homesick, stay home and talk to your friends, and forget where you are for some time.
I believe that the faster you understand that you are in a different country, the easier it will be to transition from a tourist to just another citizen. Acceptance. Crossing busy streets where everything except a plane could run you over is not a very big deal for someone who grew up in a place where streets are like that. I hate buying my plastic bags when I go to the supermarket, so now I just keep one inside my purse. Problem solved. Everyone pushing in the bus? Yeah, I had that before in other places. Not a problem! Different places, different things. So I'm enjoying my time here, because it is really up to me what kind of experience I want to have. I'm sure if I wanted to feel miserable, I could find a million reasons to be miserable: oh why did i run out of water already!? why are my kitchen and toilet in a separate room outside my apartment? wait... why are my toilet and kitchen even in the same room on the first place? Man, where is the spicy food?
But since this is what I will be calling home for an entire year, I can definitely overlook those minor inconveniences, and start living like a Chinese, because at the end of the day, that is what brought me here (and not the imaginary Chinese boyfriend some people think I have), and also because, next year when my trip is over, I will not look back and wonder why the toilet situation bothered me so much, I couldn't enjoy my apartment when it was just a silly thing I could have easily got used to had I wanted to? A year goes by so fast that I better make the best out of it!
I know I will have awesome days, OK days, remarkable days that will say with me for the rest of my life; and sad days, days when I wish I could just go back home; but they are chapters of the same story. And that is what going abroad is all about: a good collection of assorted memories!
I'm sure if I had had more options, I would have probably chosen a different country; and that's why I'm extremely happy that this was my only option instead, because I know I myself couldn't have chosen a better place! I am loving it and can't wait until I get paid to of course spend my money in exploring more and more.
Special collaboration from Beu Cárdenas
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