I've been told that the time after Spring Festival break is one of the most difficult in living in China for a year. I fully agree. The fall term was filled with new experiences, planning and taking trips, settling into a new culture and generally being quite busy. After arriving back home for the spring term, there was time spent recovering from travel and getting back into teaching, but then things began to change.While on vacation, I started thinking about the possibility of returning to China for a second year. I began talking with friends around China and making lists of pros and cons. This was such a difficult decision for me I began withdrawing and finding ways to forget about it. I've spent many hours reading and catching up on TV shows online to escape.
Now that my decision has been made: I will not be returning to China next year, I have found myself in a new state of mind. I'm bored, restless, and anxious to go home. I miss my friends terribly. I'm also very sick of the food here. I spend many days feeling hungry and looking for something to eat. (If I knew how to cook or had any sort of motivation to learn, this wouldn't be such an issue.) I've finally started noticing how much weight I've lost and sometimes it really scares me. I'm not sure if it is caused by a lack of food or not, but I've noticed my normally positive attitude becoming harder and harder to find.The worst part is that I have only three months left and it will go quickly, but I need to use it to the best of my ability and not isolate myself so much. Sara and I are trying to plan things to look forward to in the next two months to make the days pass more quickly, so that should help a lot.
On a positive note, Sara's sister was here to visit this week. We had a wonderful time with her though the time was too short. I hope she enjoyed her temporary celebrity status!
If you're wondering what else I've been up to, we've done a few things, but nothing is very different than things we've done before. We went to Guangzhou one day and Zhao Qing another day. We went to a village for Lantern Festival back in Feb which was pretty cool. We saw fireworks, dragon dances, and a play put on by a theater from Guangzhou. We've also spent some time with friends. This week we've talked with Brandon and Caroline (the teachers at the middle school) quite a bit since Brenda and Adam came to visit, and also because it is Easter tomorrow. We'll see them 5 times in a week! I've also had some opportunities to shop and I've added to my shoe collection. I now have a pair of red heels and brown boots! :) Next up: tennis shoes.Please keep me in your prayers these next few weeks. My friend, Shari, will come to visit in May for two weeks, but until then I need to find ways to be a blessing to this small town in Southern China.
