Oct. 31, 2016
11:00 pm
Beijing, China
Today’s the Day!!!!!!!!!
Today was my first full day at my center! I got there a little before 2:00 pm, Beijing time. Yeah, during the week my earliest start time is like 1:15. Don’t get too jealous, though, because I work until 8:30. Also, I don’t have the actual weekend off. I get two days off during the week (this week is Tuesday and Wednesday) and then work my butt off Saturday and Sunday. The schedule is pretty wacky and it’s going to take a while to get used to.
So today was not bad. Brian and I had a lot of training to do. We found out a little bit more about our schedules. The rest of this week will be spent in training during the afternoon and then observing classes in the evening. Saturday and Sunday we will start team teaching (teaching a little bit of each lesson) and then Monday we actually start having our own classes! I actually start teaching a class that will be mine on Saturday. Gretchen, one of the senior teachers at my center, and I will be opening a brand new class! The kids are 4 years old and this will be their first ever class at EF. I’m not sure exactly how it will work, so I’m excited for Gretchen to show me the ropes. It’s scary to think that in less than a week I will actually be in charge of groups of children. I’ll be responsible for their learning. It’s a bit terrifying.
Also a bit terrifying is the fact that I sign my lease tomorrow. So you all know that I found an apartment last week, but I only put down a deposit because I needed to figure out how to transfer money from the US to here and wait for my advance to go through. Tomorrow I will pay the rest of my first payment and get my apartment! It’s crazy! But I am going to be in the hotel one more night, mostly for the free breakfast on Wednesday (and maybe one more long, hot shower).
So before I go, I want to explain to you the featured picture for this post. If you haven’t noticed, I suck at remembering to take pictures. Even though my phone is so readily available, I just don’t think about it. But today I got this picture. Today was freezing in Beijing! No, literally, it was right at the freezing point (0°C and 32°F) and you could definitely feel it. So tonight there were a bunch of people around town lighting fires, like the one pictured. Someone from our intake group asked in the group chat if anyone knew why they were doing this. One of the girls said that she was told by a local teacher that it was a spiritual ritual. When it turns cold, people burn paper for good luck this winter and money to buy warm clothes. I was able to get amazing pictures of this man up top and these two men right by our hotel. It was very neat to see.
Words to Remember: 1 Kings 5:1-5
Challenge: David had a dream and was unable to fulfill it, but Abba assured him that his son would complete what David had started. As you go about today, remember that everything is in His timing. You may have a plan, but it may not turn out as you expected. Keep pursuing your goals, listening for His guidance, and remembering that He knows what is to come.
Also, happy actual Halloween!
Bless,
Kristen
