Plans

Have you ever had one of those days where you're frantically trying to get everything done and it's totally not possible so you are freaking out a little and maybe are a little bitter towards life?  Yeah, today was one of those days.  Actually, this weekend was one of those days. 

Friends, being a teacher is tiring.  If you're a teacher, you're nodding your head in agreement. 
Being a first-year teacher is even more exhausting. 
Teaching and living in a country where you barely speak the language calls for a daily nap (which, sadly, is not always possible).

Today after fellowship I took a much needed rest.  Upon awaking from my slumber, however, I was hit with all of the things that still needed to be done.  So I put on my proverbial working boots and rushed headlong into finishing up planning details for the week and preparing to go print things and then, my least favorite task, heading to the copy shop to explain in my poor Chinese how many of each paper I need (which since I teach 8 different classes of students and 3 different courses means a lot of different papers that need to be copied). 

As I trudged from the office I was mentally preparing myself for a lot of 'ma fan' (bother).  I crossed through the gardens between our building and the library and noticed a group of students.  Since I was on a mission I decided to circle around them to avoid as much as possible the awkward stares I get whenever I go anywhere in China.  As I skirted around and passed the group I heard "Hello!! Hello!  Hello teacher!!"  I figured I couldn't ignore an obvious greeting, so I said hello and struck up a conversation with a few of them.  One of these students was Thor.  (Please do your best to remove the image of the extremely strong, muscular Norse god from your mind and replace it with one of an average-looking young Chinese man.)  I discovered that these students gather in the gardens for a kind of club where they speak only English for that time. 

Students: "Teacher, please stay and talk with us and teach us a good English accent". 
Me: "I would love to, but I must go make many copies of these papers for my classes..."
Thor: "Would you like help?"
Me: "That would be great!!!!"

So, Thor and I journeyed to the copy shop together where he communicated all of the numbers of copies I needed and even counted as things were printed off to make sure they were right.  I thanked him multiple times for his help.  His response: "It is my pleasure.  This experience (to be able to talk in English with a native speaker) is very special for me."

On the way back from the copy shop, with him lugging my 480 copies, we exchanged phone numbers so he could reach me if he ever wanted to practice his English.

So today Thor got an affirming experience in practicing speaking English.  I got a ton of help and a reminder that I love Chinese students and I will gladly go through the occasional drudgery of planning to help them.  And I got a text message wishing me a "Happy Teacher's Day" 2 hours early.

I still have tons of work to do, but that's okay.