i am not a trained elementary school teacher, so one of the things i love most about my job is being with kids all day and watching them do funny things. its very strange too, because i think teaching at the elementary level is really helping prepare me to go back to america (someday, maybe...) to the high school level. i know that doesn't make any sense, but i really feel like i'm finally learning how to be a teacher. today, we were doing a writing activity. of course someone finishes every two minutes so i hear a constant chorus of teacher, teacher, i'm finished!!! and someone tugging at my shirt to show me something. i love when they file into the classroom, one by one, commenting on my earrings or saying teacher is pretty and giving me candy or having me choose a keychain out of a box: teacher, you can only have ONE! it is amazing to me how accepting and loving they are to me. i am a foreigner in their country, and they don't seem to mind or even notice. i love the hearts of children, and how they can see past all the things that are bad about a person and love them anyway. i struggle to understand their language and they struggle to understand mine, but we can still talk to each other, laugh, and learn things. everyday when i come in the classroom, they run to hug me and shout hello teacher! and when i leave, i hear a happy chorus of see you next time, teacher! i often wish that everyone could still look at the world the way children do. my kindy kids are the youngest, and the ones who don't really learn english, just use it. however, i feel like i am really making progress with them when they speak to me in english, or see a letter in a book and tell me what it is, or even say hello. they are so young...its amazing their progress! when teaching esl, it is very easy to see the progress your students are making. when these groups came to me in july, oh...those were difficult days. i was often met with dead silence and blank stares (sometimes tears)...but we have come so far! i love feeling like i am accomplishing things and finally doing what i was meant to do with my life.

and by the way, we are in single digit day countdown til chinese new year. only 9 days! 加油加油加油! its almost here!