Chapter 2: No Bones Attached

The heat. The smog. The pollution. The honking. The yelling. The anxiety. The confusion. The first time I had to get to my apartment alone. I’m glad it was daytime. That looks like my gate… I think. Yes, the bus stop is right across the street. That is where I live… I think.

Ahh yes. This is my apartment complex. Yes. Okay, now which building do I live in? I look at the electronic building key to see what it says… nothing. Then the door keys… they have many different numbers on them. None that seem to really help me. Okay… I’m a bit anxious. I know I’m home, but I don’t know where I live… which building is it? I will scan my access card at each building until one of the doors open or I get arrested for suspicious activity. Yes, that sounds like a plan. The fourth building opens… or was it the fifth? I still don’t know, but I can get there. The monkey bars for the children are right outside my door. My landmark. I enter and go to the elevator. Yes, this is familiar… this elevator… it brought me downstairs this morning… but from where? I look again at my keys to find an answer and still, nothing helpful. I try the fourth floor. That looks good. Uhh no I definitely didn’t see that red scarf hanging over my door before. This isn’t home. I try another floor. The seventh floor maybe. No. Okay, I’m starting to get a little nervous so I’ll call the housing director, and ask him which floor I live on. So I do. It’s the 13^th floor. Fabulous. I’m glad I’m not superstitious. I’m home.

I reported to work yesterday morning (for the first time) just in the nick of time for no one to notice that I was slightly late. My substitute was to cover my classes all day while I “orient myself.” I wasn’t sure what it meant to orient myself so I went to visit my department chair, right before school started to see what she thought it might mean. She suggested I take my materials into the air-conditioned library to begin planning my units since the substitute was still covering for me while I “orient myself.”

I decided to stop by my classroom first, briefly, and when I did, my substitute introduced me to my class. As soon as she said I was their new teacher, immediately, they smiled… and clapped… without sarcasm… without hesitation. This resolved much of the anxiety I had about starting the school year in this new environment.

I was working in the library… almost… but I didn’t have my laptop, so I walked home to get it. The sweat. The beads of sweat. The thick, dripping beads of sweat.

Then I was working in the library… getting sleepy, very sleepy. My eyes were getting heavy, very heavy. So I did what any new employee would do in this case. I walked out of work, crossed the street to this wonderful two level Korean Coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi and where the employees speak English and ordered a coffee… the best coffee I’ve ever had and took it back to work all because it’s allowed “as long as we don’t do it everyday.” Then… I was hungry, so I went to the security desk up front where they have menus from restaurants around town and call and place the orders as part of their security guard position. I placed an order with the guard for a particular dish, left the money with him, and later picked up my hot meal that was delivered to the school right at lunch time. I wasn’t expecting meat, but I was pleasantly surprised that even though it did include meat, it was beef and the bones were not attached as they usually are to meat here in China.

Then I was working in my classroom. My substitute had the last class period off, so we chatted and decorated the bulletin boards together. She showed me how to work the projector and told me where the copy machine and printer were located. This was my orientation to the school procedures. We learned that we live in the same apartment building! Such a small, small world. I asked her to be my friend. She said, “Yes. We will also see each other all the time everyday from now on. Call me and we will have coffee on Saturday.” I said, “I’ll watch your baby too!” And I jumped up and showed her a few silly pictures of me with my nephews and sister on my computer screen.

Now, here I sit. I just finished my second day of work, my first day of teaching. I planned on going in tough, but the kids… they just bowed their heads at me and did what I told them to do. So I smiled… a lot. They exceeded my expectations. I gave them more work than I’ve ever given a group of students and they did it… they worked really hard. They put forth quality effort. They asked if they could write more than just one or two paragraphs. They asked if they were allowed to type their papers for me. I said, “Of course, can I make type your papers for me,” with a smile on my face, “Because if I can, I will.”

I know that they will challenge me, but I believe I am up for the challenge. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to teach these kids. I see their personalities just like my other kids from past years, except now, my classes are so small, and I have the opportunity to really know each child.

So here I sit. The soft piano music that I can hear through the walls mid morning and mid evening. The new FRIENDS that I can celebrate with on Sundays. The new FRIENDS I can go out to lunch with on Sundays who speak Chinese and can help me order meat with no bones attached.

Tuesday, September 6, 11