Goodbye 2012

It has been quite some time since I updated my blog. I have been unsure whether to leave it just as my teaching abroad blog or to add to it with my everyday immeasurable blessings. No matter what I decide, I know one this is certain; the year 2012 has drastically changed my life for the better!

In early February, I was contestant number 7 in a scholarship pageant at my school, the University of Florida. We were about a week away from the pageant when we got bad news that it was cancelled. This was absolutely devastating to me! I have never been in a pageant before so I was very excited. I put countless hours into my presentation, walk, smile, talent, and interview answers. 

Although we were never able to have the pageant, I am very proud of the fact that I did not let this negative experience defeat me. I saw it as a stepping stone into something better. I took the knowledge that I gained from the pageant (confidence, assurance, poise, vocal clarity, charity etc) and found an opportunity that seemed too good to be true: the UF in Beijing Chinese Commerce and Culture Program. I took the skills that I gained from the pageant to put towards my interview. Only eight students were chosen out of an application pool of about 52 students; I was proud to be one of the eight.

I then embarked on an experience of a lifetime where I made new friends from all over the world, tried new foods, learned a new language, and really immersed myself into the culture. I came out so much stronger, independent, wiser, and more excited about my future. This feeling has never left me and it has led me to countless high’s: 2 internships, a campus desk job, all A’s and one B in the fall semester, a successful semester presiding the UF AMA, and an exciting social life. I’m now planning trips to Washington D.C., maybe a spring break trip somewhere tropical (as if Florida wasn’t tropical enough) and many other places. Who would have thought that I’d be so adventurous and excited to see the US and the world!

I used to think that life came to a hault after graduation, but now, I see it as just the beginning. The moral of the story is this; never allow yourself to get stuck in societal pressures. Be yourself, have fun, laugh, explore, get outside of your comfort zone, don’t compare yourself to others, never give up on your dream, then look back to see all that you accomplished. I’m glad I did…and man oh man…what an immeasurable blessing 2012 has been.

Here’s to 2013! I can’t wait to see what’s in store!

4 months ago

It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday

This song was stuck in my head during the last day of camp. My students and I spent our last day talking about the good times that we shared, indulging in various sweets, and cranking that Soulja Boy (oh they loved that lol). 

I was doing just fine the whole day until my students asked me to give a speech. I told myself “I won’t cry, I won’t cry, I won’t cry” and at the beginning of my speech, I didn’t! 

“Coming to Tsinghua University’s English Summer Camp was one of the best opportunities that I have had a chance to experience in my life. I came with the intent on teaching you guys about American culture and helping improve your English speaking skills, but in reality, you guys have taught me so much more.” When I began thinking of all that the students have taught me: Chinese culture, Tsinghua University culture, friendship, and genuine compassion for others, the tears just began rolling down my face uncontrollably. 

I am a changed person (for the better) because of my time in China. I see things differently now; I’m not as “Americentric” as I was before. I’m not as greedy for material things now as I was before. I now understand and appreciate a culture that seemed for foreign to me before. And most importantly, I have many new friends to keep in contact with across the world. These are what I consider immeasurable blessings because without my month-long experience in Beijing, I would have never been able to see these changes in myself. 

And as I recover from jet lag and look through the many photos that me and my friends have posted on facebook, I can see how blessed I was to be able to go on this trip. I know not everyone gets the opportunity to experience all that I have, so I am definitely thankful. However, this is not the end, this is just the beginning for me. As I complete my final year at the University of Florida this fall, I hope to take the knowledge that I gained from my summer in Beijing to help me find my way to what will make me happy in life. 

Where am I going? I’m not quite sure yet. But I’ve learned “Education lights the journey to life” and as long as I remember to count my blessings, I know I will go far.

10 months ago
The famous Tsinghua University gate where parents bring their children to take pictures in hopes that they will be accepted one day. 

The famous Tsinghua University gate where parents bring their children to take pictures in hopes that they will be accepted one day. 

10 months ago

Tsinghua University’s English Summer Camp had its annual singing competition and two groups from my class were performing in this competition. One group, our small group, sang “Aint too proud to beg” by the Temptations and our chorus sang “Don’t stop believing” by Journey.

It may seem silly, but watching my students perform and getting them ready were two of the most exciting times of this entire camp. I really felt like a proud mother watching her children graduate from college or something…words can’t express my joy for them.

Although both of our groups came in 3rd place, I consider them all to be winners. They have worked so hard, and performing a song in their second language to thousands of people can be pretty intimidating but they did it!!!

Teaching is such a rewarding profession; your emotions are truly tied into the progress of your students and seeing them succeed is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

I love my students and I am so thankful to have been a part of this camp. Our last day of camp is tomorrow; 3 weeks have come and gone so quickly! I have formed close relationships with many of my students and the other foreign volunteers from the English speaking countries. Tomorrow will be very hard for me…I just know it. Goodbye’s are always the worst, but I am so blessed to have had this life changing experience. 

If you ever find yourself struggling with the decision to study abroad or not, GO!!! Do not hesitate at all! Yes, it may be expensive initially, but if you work as hard as I did, save every dime, and ask your family and friends for help, then you should get ready for one of the greatest experiences of your lifetime! 

10 months ago
Province N after the speech competition! Congratulations to my student, Christine (sitting to my left [second row, 4th seat from the right]), on winning first place on her speech about dreams!  GO RED N!

Province N after the speech competition! Congratulations to my student, Christine (sitting to my left [second row, 4th seat from the right]), on winning first place on her speech about dreams! 

GO RED N!

10 months ago
I have the most talented students…EVER! One of the objectives in class was to draw a personality profile; basically drawing yourself and your interests. My class was given around 7 minutes or so to complete their personality profile and I was handed this portrait from one of my students named Cob. How spectacular is this drawing?! Remember, he only had about 7 minutes to draw this and this portrait looks EXACTLY like him!  Now that’s what you call a blessing…the artistic skill of a true professional. 

I have the most talented students…EVER!

One of the objectives in class was to draw a personality profile; basically drawing yourself and your interests. My class was given around 7 minutes or so to complete their personality profile and I was handed this portrait from one of my students named Cob.

How spectacular is this drawing?! Remember, he only had about 7 minutes to draw this and this portrait looks EXACTLY like him! 

Now that’s what you call a blessing…the artistic skill of a true professional. 

10 months ago

My class!

There are 2,562 students within this summer camp, so it is a great idea to split up classes into “provinces” to make the camp feel smaller. There are 8 “provinces” that create the “nation” of the Tsinghua English Summer Camp:

1. T

2. S

3. I

4. N

5. G

6. H

7. U

8. A

Each city (class) also has different colors to denote the different cities (classes) within the province (group of 5 classes to make the camp feel smaller and let more relationships form between students and volunteers/teachers).

We call courselves “N-Red” or “Red-N” because in Tsinghua University’s English Summer Camp, we are in the Red “city” (class) within the N “province” (group of 5 classes).

I just want to say that I LOVE MY CLASS!!! They are incredibly energetic, willing to learn, and always looking to show us a good time. I hope that I have taught them and been there for them as they improve their English, but I know that I can definitely say that I’ve learned so much from them.

The second photo is of me and my student, Alex, at a park in Tsinghua’s campus. I told him about the Gator Chomp that we do at the University of Florida and he wanted to do it as well! 

The third photo is of me and my students: Alex, George, and Allen. Allen, on the far right, had never been to the Forbidden City (the emperor’s palace) before, and although I went once before, it was a rushed trip, so we all decided to go together! I really enjoyed my time at the Forbidden City with my students. 

The last photo is of me and my student, Jerry. He plays the piano very well. He showed me yet another park on Tsinghua University’s campus! Although the photo is very blurry, you can still see the beauty in the park.

These kinds of memories that I am creating with my students will stick with me forever. They find great happiness in just hanging out with me and using me to practice their English skills. It is also great for me because I am making so many new international friends.

Studying abroad is such a rewarding experience and my time here at Tsinghua University has honestly been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful program!

10 months ago
Ni hao, yall! Tsinghua University’s English Summer Camp is filled with many students, foreign volunteers (those in the white t-shirts like myself), foreign teachers (those in blue shirts), and camp coordinators.  To make the camp seem more personable for everyone, Tsinghua’s Foreign Language Department has decided to make the summer camp a “National” country, with “Provinces” that split the nation into smaller groups, and “Cities” which are the individual classes. This is a photo of my fellow Tsinghua volunteers, foreign volunteers, foreign teachers, and camp coordinators. We all went out to lunch together to celebrate a successful first week of camp.  I have formed so many great relationships with the people in this photo and in the camp; it is truly a blessing to be here. 

Ni hao, yall!

Tsinghua University’s English Summer Camp is filled with many students, foreign volunteers (those in the white t-shirts like myself), foreign teachers (those in blue shirts), and camp coordinators. 

To make the camp seem more personable for everyone, Tsinghua’s Foreign Language Department has decided to make the summer camp a “National” country, with “Provinces” that split the nation into smaller groups, and “Cities” which are the individual classes.

This is a photo of my fellow Tsinghua volunteers, foreign volunteers, foreign teachers, and camp coordinators. We all went out to lunch together to celebrate a successful first week of camp. 

I have formed so many great relationships with the people in this photo and in the camp; it is truly a blessing to be here. 

10 months ago
Subways in Beijing…SO CROWDED!!!

Subways in Beijing…SO CROWDED!!!

10 months ago
Wally Wally Wally Wally Wally Wally World!!! Unfortunately, we were strictly forbidden to take pictures inside…BUT…I can talk about it on my blog! Because there are so many buildings in Beijing taking up so much land, many businesses choose to build upwards (many floors) instead of outwards (like in America with the huge, single level warehouse buildings). This Walmart was one of those buildings; there were maybe 4 floors or so filled with merchandise.  How do you go upstairs with a basket full of merchandise? I’m glad you asked! They have several large, flat escalators that are situated on an incline, taking you upstairs to the next floor. The baskets have locks attached to the wheels so that whenever you walk onto the escalator, the wheels will lock so that your basket will not roll back due to gravity. The food was also very interesting because instead of a frozen foods section (with packaged fish and other meats), the Chinese prefer live foods. So for example, there were large beds of ice where the associates placed large dead fish for sale (and squids and eels too). You can also choose to buy live fish that are swimming around in Walmart’s many tanks. Aside from the “frozen foods section,” the Walmart had a large inventory of dried duck. The duck was de-feathered, cooked, dried, and hung up for people to buy (the head included…it sort of reminded me of beef jerky).  A few other popular food items for sale at Walmart are chicken feet (which is very spicy) and Master Kong’s Noodles (similar to Ramen Noodles).  All in all, my trip to Walmart was an experience that I will never forget. One reason why I will never forget my trip to Walmart is because of an incredibly horrible encounter that I had with one of the associates. There was a large candy section that I found with many assortments. Bags were placed on the sides of the isles so that you can walk around and fill your bag up with your favorite selection of candies. My parents LOVE peanut M&M’s and I found a lot of these with Chinese characters on the front…a perfect souvenir. I put a few of those inside the bag along with a few others that I thought they would enjoy. I then put them all in one bag like I saw everyone else doing and took my bag to wait in the really long line where an associate will weigh the candy and put a price sticker on the bag. To my surprise, she poured my candy out on the table, threw my bag in the trash, and proceeded to the next customer without saying anything or even looking at me. She just treated me as if I did not matter.  This made me very very VERY upset…I don’t think I have ever felt so enraged and helpless at the same time. Maybe if the line wasn’t as long as it was, I would have been less upset but this experience just really put a damper on my day. I wanted to tell her that what she did really made me mad, or ask for the manager…but then I realized that both efforts would be worthless because of the language barrier so I just decided to let it go.  Although my experience at Walmart was not the best, I’m glad I got to go and see what I saw for myself. 

Wally Wally Wally Wally Wally Wally World!!!

Unfortunately, we were strictly forbidden to take pictures inside…BUT…I can talk about it on my blog!

Because there are so many buildings in Beijing taking up so much land, many businesses choose to build upwards (many floors) instead of outwards (like in America with the huge, single level warehouse buildings). This Walmart was one of those buildings; there were maybe 4 floors or so filled with merchandise. 

How do you go upstairs with a basket full of merchandise? I’m glad you asked!

They have several large, flat escalators that are situated on an incline, taking you upstairs to the next floor. The baskets have locks attached to the wheels so that whenever you walk onto the escalator, the wheels will lock so that your basket will not roll back due to gravity.

The food was also very interesting because instead of a frozen foods section (with packaged fish and other meats), the Chinese prefer live foods. So for example, there were large beds of ice where the associates placed large dead fish for sale (and squids and eels too). You can also choose to buy live fish that are swimming around in Walmart’s many tanks.

Aside from the “frozen foods section,” the Walmart had a large inventory of dried duck. The duck was de-feathered, cooked, dried, and hung up for people to buy (the head included…it sort of reminded me of beef jerky). 

A few other popular food items for sale at Walmart are chicken feet (which is very spicy) and Master Kong’s Noodles (similar to Ramen Noodles). 

All in all, my trip to Walmart was an experience that I will never forget. One reason why I will never forget my trip to Walmart is because of an incredibly horrible encounter that I had with one of the associates.

There was a large candy section that I found with many assortments. Bags were placed on the sides of the isles so that you can walk around and fill your bag up with your favorite selection of candies. My parents LOVE peanut M&M’s and I found a lot of these with Chinese characters on the front…a perfect souvenir. I put a few of those inside the bag along with a few others that I thought they would enjoy.

I then put them all in one bag like I saw everyone else doing and took my bag to wait in the really long line where an associate will weigh the candy and put a price sticker on the bag. To my surprise, she poured my candy out on the table, threw my bag in the trash, and proceeded to the next customer without saying anything or even looking at me. She just treated me as if I did not matter. 

This made me very very VERY upset…I don’t think I have ever felt so enraged and helpless at the same time. Maybe if the line wasn’t as long as it was, I would have been less upset but this experience just really put a damper on my day. I wanted to tell her that what she did really made me mad, or ask for the manager…but then I realized that both efforts would be worthless because of the language barrier so I just decided to let it go. 

Although my experience at Walmart was not the best, I’m glad I got to go and see what I saw for myself. 

10 months ago