Faces: Why I Stayed

Here is a look back at some of my students from each semester I have taught in China. These people are why I stayed.

These were the first students of mine that I taught- Monday morning at 10:00am. Ever since my first day of teaching in China, this class has had a special place in my heart.

Lots of great conversations and relationships happened in this class. This was always the funnest class I taught last year.

These are the guys in my Freshman Business English class- Carter, Corin, Dante, & Ashton (yes, I did give them those names). Their English isn't great, but every class they sit right behind my podium on the front row ready to begin. I love getting to teaching them and am looking forward to hanging out more this new year!

These girls are also some of my new freshmen. Their English is pretty good and they are all close friends with each other which has led to some fun times together! ...they made me sit in the middle...

These were some of my seniors last year! These dear people all hold a special place in my heart, and I feel honored at the fact that I can call them friends. 

Last but not least- Johnson, Little Star, Leo, & Edison. I had a ton of fun with these guys! They helped with my haircuts, brought a lot of joy to class, and always kept things interesting!

Same Planet, Different World

Living in America, I always imagined other countries to be far off exotic places! Even as I write this, sitting in Thailand, I remember how I used to imagine Thailand as such an exotic and mysterious place. But after living in a small city in China for some time, Thailand practically feels like America.

For me, as I have become more immersed in a place, it becomes less exotic yet more complex. Beyond that, you remember you live on the same planet as everyone else, but at the same time you are in a completely different world.

China (or Thailand) is not like America, yet it is hard to describe what life is like over here unless you actually experience it. It is hard to describe how almost every single aspect of your life and how you live it is effected by where you live.

It is not like moving to another state, where there are many familiar things. It is not like moving to Europe, where people still look like you and act in a similar way. It is not even like going to a Spanish-speaking country, where you might be unfamiliar with the culture, but you can still read the language (even if you can’t understand it too well).

Everything is different, and you pretty much only experience the familiar when you are eating food that tastes like home. Most things you thought were normal, or have never even thought about, are turned upside down. Different isn’t usually bad, but it is uncomfortable sometimes.

At the end of the day, I do miss a lot of things about America. It’s comfortable, it’s clean, people stand in lines, there are smoking laws, and when something looks like a chocolate donut, it probably is a chocolate donut.

China is not very comfortable, most places don’t have the standard of cleanliness that I am used to in America, lines are almost nonexistent and cutting isn’t seen as rude, breathing in pollution and secondhand smoke is common, and foods that look like chocolate donuts are really red bean paste donuts.

However, amidst all the differences, good and bad, God made me for this place, this different world. I don’t know for how long I will stay here or what my future will look like, but I know I am supposed to be here now. And in that I rest, for there is such a great peace in knowing you are doing what you were created to do.

China From The Air

Pacific Sunrise

 Countryside Villages, Northeastern China

Pacific Sunrise

Why Not?

One day, a few years ago, I received an e-mail about an opportunity to teach in China. After countless thoughts, prayers, and conversations, I decided to take chance…and that chance changed my life. I never felt a specific call to come to China, I never dreamed of living in a place so different from my home, and China was never a place I was really attracted to. 

When it came to making the decision to teach for a year in China, the question that settled in my mind was “why not?” There were plenty of reasons to stay home- family, friends, food, familiarity, but if I chose to stay in the comfortable, who knows what I could miss out on? 

I spent my whole life reading stories about people who went on adventures. Some stories were true, some were fictitious, yet they all involved people who left the world they were familiar with to discover a bigger world.

One of my favorite quotes is from one of my favorite adventures, The Lord of the Rings, where Frodo says to Sam “Remember what Bilbo used to say: 'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.’” 

When I stepped on the plane to China, I had no idea what was to come, I had no idea where that road led. But, one of the greatest parts about adventures is that you often experience the unexpected. 

I didn’t expect to love teaching English. I didn’t expect to have amazing students. I didn’t expect to fall in love with these people and this place. I didn’t expect my life to change into something I could have never imagined.

Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Don’t be afraid to ask “why not” and take a step into the unknown.