Traveling the World

I’m having a lot of problems at work, as my co-teacher finds it necessary to challenge me and fight me on every little detail possible. I can’t stand it, and I haven’t told her that in 3 weeks she’ll be forced to fend for herself and teach the kids for a month on her own. Maybe she’ll actually be happy that I’m gone so she can continue to teach the children in her own way!

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This is my second Thanksgiving away from home. I was teaching my students about Thanksgiving yesterday, and I explained how unlike our other holidays, we don’t exchange gifts, and instead say what we’re thankful for. My example for them was that I’d be thankful for being back home with my family on Thanksgiving, because I live in China and can’t see them every day. As I said it, I sniffled a bit but didn’t let anything show.

Expats always talk about life in their new home, yet usually refrain from thinking about their old home for fear of feeling emotions one would call normal. I have to admit I have fallen victim of that at some stage in my time here, but talking about these things is normal and all expats should do it to maintain a healthy mental status.

When you think of city life, it’s kind of hard to imagine the idea of poor people being there. It’s the opposite for life in the countryside. On the way to Fenghuang from Huaihua via the private car, we saw many children walking very long distances on the mountain roads by themselves, just to get to school. Later on, we were fortunate enough to see a school bus, except this is no ordinary school bus. This bus picks up kids (I don’t know if they have to pay money or if it’s free) who have to stand for a very long time just to reach school.

This situation is in dire need of being changed, but who can change it? It’s not like foreigners are jumping at the chance to teach in a rural setting, especially because there isn’t any money to pay them for their time. I feel bad saying that all foreigners only care about money, because I quit my high paying job due to not agreeing with their business policies and how they treated their staff. My point is that, people in the countryside are poor and lack proper education, especially English classes. The bigger problem is that there is no money to make it an incentive for someone to move out there and do something about it.

As much as foreigners love China, village settings would just drive us crazy, even if the kids are adorable and hard-working. If the government would pump more money into the tiny economies of the villages in the countryside, we might see them in a better situation sooner rather than later.