All things must come to an end

It was a rainy, bittersweet day in June when I said goodbye to my last class of students.  We spent our final class time together discussing fun ways to continue learning English, from funny movies to BBC webpages and songs featuring Rihanna.  After giving them my final reminders to be confident about their English and to not be afraid to talk to foreigners we went outside to take group photos.  The mood was quiet and sad.  I gave them my contact email and we finally said goodbye. 

The same went with my Chinese friends who I similarly said goodbye to that night.  “How quickly things come to an end,” I said.  They included my site mate Chris, our Japanese teacher friend Ai and our Chinese colleagues and friends Rachel, Wen Xiaomei, Fisher, Hunter and King (some of whom went by their English names).  I can’t imagine my life without them now.  It will seem strange. 

Saying goodbye to students

My final Peace Corps act was a Close  Of Service (COS) meeting with the leaders of the Peace Corps departments in Chengdu- admin., the program manager and the director.  Then it was over.  A whole two years over in the blink of an eye.  I have to say it went by quickly.  But I had a great time and I learned so much about my students, who God bless them have had more difficulties in their life than I can believe, about myself and about a foreign culture and language.  I think, though, that what I gained most was friends and a plethora of different viewpoints about the world.  How different the world can look from perspectives other than those I grew up with, it always mesmerizes me.

I’m sure I will look back on these experiences with happiness, and easily forget about the frustrations and difficulties of living abroad, of which there were a few.  But that is the same with living anywhere I suppose.

Now I am ready to come back.  It’s certainly time for that.



In front of a church and next to the Nacional Museo del Prada

But first…why not travel a bit more?

I thought so too, so now I am in Madrid, Spain, trying not to lose myself in the culture shock of flamingo dancing, tapas and coffee.  Oh how happy I am to finally see coffee again!!!  And it’s real, too!

When I return at the end of July I will have traveled to the UK as well, to visit friends I made while travelling across China.  If you are sitting back thinking about how much you wish you were here I wouldn’t blame you.  But in my defense I needed this trip to slowly transition back to western life.  And what better way to transition than to enjoy 3pm lunches and 11pm dinners? 

Parque De El Retiro

On a side note, Katie and I will live together in D.C. once we return, very exciting.  She and I will be attending graduate school in the area- she at Univ. of Maryland (most likely) and me at Johns Hopkins.  And although I will be very busy starting in September I hope that I can have time to travel around and see all you friends again. 

Stay tuned for my summary of life/politics and culture in China.  I have so much to say that I left out while still maintaining an apolitical volunteer lifestyle so strictly enforced in Peace Corps, for obvious reasons.  Much needs to be said and so I will divulge that information in the very near future here on my blog.

I miss you all, but will hopefully see you soon!!

The Low Down

So what exactly is going on in Yibin?  Quite a lot actually, but I'll spare you the details.  For one, I'm now in my last semester and due to arrive back in the US of A in late July.  And although I have loved my experiences here, I think I'm ready to return.  In terms of what I will do, well I guess that is still the 1 million dollar question.  But I do have a plan, albeit a rough one.  Grad school is part of that plan, though it will be part-time and likely in something like Public Management, and applications have been sent in for various jobs in D.C.  And alongside all that will be my continuing goal of becoming a Foreign Service Officer (FSO), a dream slowly but surely becoming a reality.  Already I have passed the State department Chinese language assessment (yay!), and I have had the chance to get great advice from current FSOs and others, like me, who are still in the trial phase.

On the China front things have been going smoothly.  Teaching has gotten loads easier due to all the help and tips from our PC community.  And since my students have pretty good English I spend most of the time getting them to practice using it (a surprisingly rare practice here).  We do games, critical thinking activities and yes, on occasion random cross-cultural activities like song and dance.  Last week my students went crazy when I taught them the Macarena, proving once more that the most cliche activities in the U.S. can be golden teaching material here in China.  

I've also started a cooking club for students to come cook at my apartment.  The students get the chance to practice English and I get to learn how to make Sichuan dishes, so its a great trade off.  And several times a week I will teach younger kids from around the city.  Its a great feeling as most of them have never had the chance to meet a foreigner and are grateful for the chance to improve their English at such a young age (usually 4-10 ! yrs old).  Also, they are extremely funny so I don't mind the extra workload.

Other developments since my last entry?  Well Spring is finally here so I can finally feel my ligaments again and my father will be visiting in just 2 weeks!  In addition, I recently participated in a marathon (though only part)  in Chongqing, a major metropolitan city not far from my site. We even made it on the news while saying "we love Chongqing" for some city ads!

http://www.cqna.com.cn/na_content/2012-03/17/content_2104151.htm

 And Katie and I are still going strong!  

Spring Hello!

Well after untold amounts of procrastination I finally made it back to my blog, here again to regal you with all the incredible adventures I have experienced since you last heard from me.  

OK so maybe nothing that enormously exciting has happened recently, but I certainly have had lots of great experiences in the last few months.  First off, I had a great time when my mother, sister Rose and her fiance Ryan came to visit.  After traveling for a week from one Sichuan landmark to the next we had seen a lot- including my apartment and several of my Chinese friends at a Chinese style banquet!

 

Thanks for coming guys!!  I had a great time.

 

And then, if that wasn't enough, another visitor arrived...

Eric you survived two weeks of raucous adventurism, I'm proud of you!

Thanks for the visit, hope you had a good time!