Goodbye 2012...

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone!  It seems like just yesterday I was beginning my student-teaching as a scared-to-death newbie a year and a half ago.  Though I have only been teaching on my own for a semester, I have gained so much confidence and I have survived my first big concert experience as a teacher (very stressful time but well worth it). I have one week until school starts again and I'm actually really excited to start some new units with the students, especially middle school (jazz, film music, STOMP unit!). 

This year has obviously brought upon many changes but it has all been for the best.  Yes I miss my family and friends and yes I miss certain luxeries the US offers (not to mention being able to communicate and being able to get Reese's!) but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything!  I love my school, I love my students, I love my co-workers/friends and I love China!  I know it may sound like I'm being overly optimistic but I still haven't hit the part of culture shock where I hate where I am (everyone said I'd experience it).  The Father has blessed me immensly, and why?  The only reason I can think of is because He is good, all the time! 

My Christmas in Wuxi was actually pretty good.  Definitely not the same as "normal" but as close to what I'm used to as I can get here.  A lot of the teachers and some university students had a party on Christmas Eve and we had our own service, watched "The Nativity" and sang Christmas songs.  We also had AMAZING food!  A few of us stayed the night and woke up sharing stocking stuffers that we each bought.  That evening I was able to Skype with my family and that's when it truly felt like Christmas because I was actually able to see them.  Overall I had a great Christmas and hope you all did as well!

After Christmas I went to Shanghai for a few days.  I was in luck as we stayed in an amazing hostel!  It was right by East Nanjing (one of the biggest shopping streets in the world) and was really nice but had a great price.  We did a lot of shopping and got some great things like "Oakleys", a "Burberry" purse and "Beats by Dr. Dre" headphones (all knock-offs of course but still awesome!).  My biggest deal of the weekend was on a pair of nice real leather boots with fur lining.  The lady was asking 1280 RMB (about $165) which I would never pay for, BUT after some bargaining I got the boots for 300 RMB (about $45)....that's almost 1000 RMB in savings!!  Haha my bargain-hunting mother would be soooo proud! 

I am now back in Wuxi just enjoying some down-time and exploring the city until school starts (I might go to a hot springs in Suzhou though for a day-trip!).  I pray that you all have a wonderful and safe 2013 and I hope to see you before the next new-year!

Blessings,
Rachel

*picture from our Christmas Eve party

Going to Thailand!

Wow time has flown..I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving!  I will be spending my Thanksgiving break in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  We have a teacher's conference there and so the school is paying for the trip which is awesome!  I'm really excited to visit another country even if most of the time I will be in workshops.  I plan to do a lot of exploring during free time though!

School has continued to go really well.  It's hard to believe that our Christmas concert is less than a month away!  This will be my first concert at this school and I really want it to be a success.  Once again I've become a worrying woman but I'm continuing to learn to trust.  I'm also learning that preschoolers are really cute no matter what they sing but they are extra cute when they sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" at the top of their lungs!  I tell them that I bet Jesus is smiling right now because they're singing to Him.  I'm starting to see things come together like the music and plans for the event.  I'm really proud of my students and all the hard work they've been doing.  I hope that they feel good about their performances when the concert is over.  Most importantly though, I want the message of the real meaning of Christmas to be conveyed through the students and their performances. 

Tomorrow night I will be performing with a few other teachers at a big event here in Wuxi.  The city hired a vocal coach to come and teach us a Chinese song and we will be singing it an outdoor pavilion downtown with Chinese-style shirts.  We had the dress rehearsal today and from what I can tell it's going to be a big event.  The scary part is that there are going to be a lot of cameras and I'm not so sure that I'll remember all my Chinese lyrics, but when in doubt I'll just sing "watermelon, watermelon" :) 

My roomate, Bethany, and I are looking forward to when we come back from Thailand because that means we can go buy a Christmas tree!  I want to make the experience of Christmas as close as to what it's like at home so that I don't get too sad about being away from family during the holidays.  We've made some really fun plans though and I'm looking forward to it! 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and I hope that you have a wonderful break with family and friends!

-Rachel

Recent Happenings

Hello everyone!  I figured it's about time to update and fill you all in on what has been going on.  Since my last post I had a week of vacation time and went to Hangzhou.  It is a city that is about a 2 1/2 hour speed-train ride away from Wuxi.  It was a blast and I loved getting to see the beautiful lake, although since it was during the national holiday there were so many people!!!  It was worth it though and was a very inexpensive trip to take.

Since the break ended I have been back in school for one week and we have been starting our Christmas music.  I'm thankful to finally have all of my music picked out and the kids working on it so that we can be ready by December 14th!  Working on Christmas music has been making lesson-planning easier but has added other responsibilities so it all has evened out as far as how much time I spend working on school-related things.  I have a feeling time is going to fly by these next two months!  School has been going really well and I feel like I am learning so much.  I am so thankful that I was lead here and can't imagine being anywhere else right now!

As of yesterday I have been in China for 3 whole months (or 1/4 of a year as Bethany and I like to think of it)!  In some ways it feels like it's been longer and in some ways I can't believe it's been this long.  Our apartment is slowly but surely starting to feel more "home-y" but it still has a way to go before it feels really lived in.  We bought a rug and some pillows for our living room and we're hoping to hang some curtains soon if our landlord will allow us to.

I've recently been revisitng crocheting and have found it to be a very good stress-reliever.  Today, Bethany and I went to the market to buy a lot of yarn and I found some decent deals.  I was with one vendor who was trying to sell the yarn at a high price and when I kept bargaining and talking her down she seemed rather surprised that I was actually doing that and laughed at me.  I always keep in mind that they always overprice for foreigners because we can be easily taken advantage of when it comes to bargaining....but I'm trying not to let them get away with that with me, I'm too cheap! :)

Hope you all are doing well and I can't wait until next June when I get to come home and see everyone!

(below is a pic of my travel-buddies and I at the lake in Hangzhou...we had no problems finding someone to take a pic for us since they were all taking pics of the crazy Americans anyways)

-Rachel

Christmas in September?!?

Sigh, I thought I would get better at updating this blog more frequently but I look at the last post date and I didn't do a very good job :( 

Well, I am in my 7th week of classes here in Wuxi!  I cannot believe how fast time is flying.  We haven't had a 3-day weekend or any breaks since school has started but next week we have the entire week off for the Chinese October holiday!  I know I speak for all of the teachers here when I say we are ready for it!  It's hard to believe that when we come back from break we will start working on Christmas music in all of my classes which means I've been picking out music these past few weeks.  I love Christmas music but I usually at least try to wait until Thanksgiving to start listening to it!  Unfortunately we can't wait that long to start rehearsing for our concert so we have to start now.  I have chosen a very difficult piece of music by Straight No Chaser for my high schoolers.  It was a request of one of the students but I'm not sure with our numbers if we'll be able to pull it off.  I decided this week would be our "trial-run" to see how we progress.  Needless to say we spent a majority of our class period today singing the arrangement of "What Child is This?" and yes, it is September!

Our Father is continually showing His love to me and those around.  I feel so much closer than I ever have to Him and the hope, joy and peace He brings.  I wish I could go into details but I'll save that for when I come home next summer!  Btw....I know I told some of you that I would be gone for two years without coming home but my family has used frequent flyer miles to buy me a ticket home!  I'll be home for 3 weeks in June (unfortunately that's all the time off I get for the summer...the rest of the time I have Chinese language lessons). 

I've started my Chinese lessons as of last week!  Apparantly my pronunciation is unusually precise which I'm really happy about, but there is definitely a lot of work to be done to learn even the basics of this language!  I just want to be able to communicate with those around me and understand what they say when they speak to me. 

Anyways I need to head to sleep soon...tomorrow is a school day!  I miss you all and I hope you are doing well!

-Rachel
PS-Happy (day early) 17th Birthday to my baby brother, Caleb!!!  (I cannot believe you're that
OLD!)
"

If you love to travel, live in China!

These past couple of weeks have been crazy but so much fun!  My roomate and I had to go to Hong Kong for visa purposes but we had to wait for a few days before we could get our passports back....so that meant 2 days of experiencing Hong Kong with free accomodations and airfare! :)  I love how European the city is (except for driving on the left side of the road...I almost got ran over a few times!).  We walked for probably 14 hours straight one day just experiencing the city and of course shopping in Western stores that we can't find on the mainland (did I mention that we bought 7 bags of chocolate chips??).  Now don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but if someone were to pay me to travel it would be a very tempting offer! 

After that experience we came back for a few days of school and then I decided to go to Shanghai with a few friends over the weekend.  We were able to stay with our school's city manager and his wife in their apartment which was wonderful (and free!).  People were kind of suprised that I wanted to go seeing as I had gotten back from Hong Kong 3 days prior but I'm glad that I did because it was a blast!

This weekend I will be staying in Wuxi but I will be biking with a friend to the large lake that our city sits on (I have yet to see it).  I'm very much looking forward to it and am hoping for great weather!  We will also visit the orphanage on Saturday and I get to see a little girl who is stealing my heart.  She has a "sick heart" and I am hoping that there is something that can be done.  Her little fingertips are blue and so is her tongue (a circulation problem I assume).  She also gets winded very easily.  Despite all of this she always has the cutest little smile and seems like a very happy, content little baby.  I'm not sure of her exact age but she can roll onto her back and I assume she's very close to being able to crawl on her own.  Please keep her in your thoughts!

On the teaching front things are going quite well although I know within the next month I'll start to feel the stresses of our Christmas concert and planning for it (it's crazy to be thinking about that already!!).  The high school students played for the school a few days ago in their "band" that we've started in class.  It was so neat to see how excited they were to play the kind of music that they were playing.   What started out as my biggest stress during the first week of school (only having 4 boys and 0 girls in high school choir) turned out to be the biggest blessing!  There are times when I feel stressed though because I wish that I could've done something better in one class or taught something a different way in another.  I know it's all part of being a first-year teacher but I really want to be good at what I'm doing.  The peace that I have found through this is in the fact that I know I'm fully equipped to do the job at hand since this is the direction I've been lead.  If I wasn't capable of doing this then I believe that I would've felt called to do something else at this point.  I have to keep saying this to myself otherwise I become overwhelmed with feelings of doubt and inadequecy when things don't go well in class or if I can't think of a good way to teach something.  I think the best thing for a first-year teacher is to just take things a day at a time...it's what I am having to do everyday!  On the bright side though I have (almost) finshed 4 full weeks of teaching and I know it will only get more and more comfortable as the weeks go by!

Well that's about all I can think of for right now to share.  I hope to have more interesting stories to share soon!!


(Traveling through customs to get to Hong Kong....gotta love the "backpack baby" style!  It was worth it though because I didn't lose any cash!)

Worry Robs Us of Joy

Wow it's been awhile since I've updated...I'm sorry!  It's been a crazy couple of weeks with school starting.  I am in the middle of my second week of teaching and it is incredible how much better this week is going than the first!  There were a few things that happened last week that really caught me off guard and caused me to stress which wasn't the reaction I should've had (of course being human that's what I immediately go to in tough times).  I was fully prepared to teach a high school choral class with both guys and girls but it turned out that I had 4 boys and 0 girls (there were other classes being offered at the same time and most of the high schoolers want to take music in the Spring anyway because we have a big choral festival we go to in Tianjin in the Spring).  I had to completely rethink my whole direction for the class without a lot of time.  Looking back this is definitely not as stressful of a situation as it seemed a week ago.  I had been praying for direction for the course because we tried singing and they were not really into it with just the 4 of them but then I asked them what their thoughts were on starting a praise band and they were really excited to try and start one!  It's amazing how much these students are motivated to make such wonderful music to bring praises to our Father!  We've been working on starting some music this week and it's been going pretty well (now that we have a piano that will stay in tune...that is an entirely different story completely!). 

Needless to say, through this situation and a few other stresses that a first-year teacher would typically have, especially during the first week of school, I have learned a lot.  I'm learning more and more that worry and stress are evidence of a lack of trust in Him.  This prevents us from experiencing true joy in our lives.  I want to be joyful.  I want to not have a worry in my heart about school, about my situation or about anything because I know that my life is not my own and is in good hands.  I'm hoping that I can remember this when it comes closer to concert time and I'm running around like a crazy person! :) 

On a completely different note, I am going to Hong Kong this weekend/earlier next week to (FINALLY) get my work visa (hooray for legally being in a country)!  I have been on a tourist visa but it expires every month and I need a work visa to stay here and teach.  It should be a nice little trip and I'm hoping to find some chocolate chips and Velveeta to bring back to Wuxi!  (it's really hard to find chocoloate chips here and cheese is really expensive)

Anyways I hope to update this much sooner this time!  I hope everyone is well! 

-Rachel

Getting Ready for School!

I can't believe school will be starting in 11 days!  It's crazy how fast time has flown and how much I have to get done between now and then.  I have been getting many things done in the past few days though which is good.  I've been making seating charts recently and I am learning that it is hard to set up for elementary music when you have one class with 22 kids and one class with 7 kids.  I'll just have to organize a way to reset the classroom quickly between classes. 

I also went to the doctor to get a physical today.  I was very suprised by how efficient they were there!  It only took about 20 minutes to get an ECG, XRay, sonogram, bloodwork and other physical-type tests...it took me 4 hours at home to get all of that done!  I was also happy that I didn't pass out when I got my bloodwork done :)  (they let me lie down which I think prevented that from happening). 

My apartment is looking more and more like a home.  I recently bought a nice rug to put in my bedroom, a desk and many picture frames to put my printed pictures in (that really helped!).  Bethany (my roomate) and I bought a DVD player and attempted to set it up yesterday...we got it to work but only in black and white (it's definitely supposed to be in color though...).  We also tried to connect a wireless router to our internet.  I feel like I could do all of these things without any problems at home but the problem here is that everything is in Chinese so you have to play the guessing game as far as how to set things up.  Luckily the school has a tech guy who can come over and fix it for us.

As far as being overwhelmed by the culture it hasn't been too bad overall.  I did experience my first "cultural-stress" situation the other day though.  We had a water leak in one of our closets and the maintence guy from school was going to come fix it...he hadn't gotten there yet and there was a knock on the door.  A few people were at the door who were speaking to me in Chinese and I had no idea what they were saying.  I said "ting bu dong" (I don't understand) but they still kept talking to me expecting me to understand!  It was stressful because they sounded angry and I had no idea who they were or what they were doing.  Luckily our maintence guy showed up and saved the day.  We found out later that one of the people who seemed angry was the landlord from upstairs whose apartment was leaking water into ours.  I'm sure things like this will happen again but I'm trying not to stress about it.  The only thing I can do is try my best to learn as much Chinese as I can....but even that probably won't be enough.

Overall I can say I am having a great time so far here in Wuxi.  I love the people I've met and the school I'll be working in.  I'll try and keep posts updated as much as possible, but if it takes awhile it's because I'm going to be very busy within the next few weeks.  Miss you all!

I'm HERE!

I've made it to Wuxi!  I arrived late this past Saturday evening and was very tired/jetlagged.  I have had limited internet access so this is why it has taken me so long to post another entry.  My roomate Bethany and I can safely say that we both feel like we have transitioned to the new time zone which is definitely a blessing!  I cannot say enough wonderful things about the staff here at the school.  When we arrived at our apartment there were sheets on our beds and food in our fridge.  They met us at the airport and have taken us around Wuxi to show us everything from how to use a bus pass to where to go to get linens. 

It's definitely an adjustment trying to get around and not knowing what anyone around you is saying.  I've also used the phrase "ting bu dong" ("I don't understand") quite often!  I can definitely say I am in the minority now (lots of stares)!  I am enjoying it here though.  Everyone is very nice and our apartment is amazing.  The school has a great atmosphere and I've even met three of my high school students already (who are all three very friendly people).  I can definitely see myself fitting in here at the school and in Wuxi in general.  I'm excited to start learning more of the language so that I can do things like take a taxi and order food by myself. 

This Saturday Bethany and I leave for Suzhou for a training course that will last a week (TEFL).  Prayers and thoughts would be much appreciated as we are very unsure of what to expect.  I'm also trying to settle in as a first year teacher and trying to plan the beginning of my year.  I think it will be stressful which is typical for the first year of teacing but I think it will be a much smoother year at this school than anywhere else that I can think of.  I know that He is with me no matter where I am and will help me become the teacher he has designed me to be. 

Anyways that's about all for now...I'm planning to post another entry while in Suzhou because I will have much more internet access!

(below is one of my personal favorite "Chenglish" signs I've seen)

Stressed is Desserts Spelled Backwards

I have been spending the past week and a half in Houghton, NY for my pre-field orientation before going to China.  While I wish I could be spending my last couple of weeks in America with family and friends, I am thankful for this experience because I really feel like it is equipping me for things that I will undoubtedly face when I move to China.  We have covered a variety of topics including moving to a new culture, "third-culture kids" and how to teach them, personality types/profiles (I learned that I am an ESFJ on the Myers-Briggs evaluation if you are familiar with that), professional issues, language acquisition skills and many, many more topics that I can't even think of because my brain is so full of information from all of the sessions I've attended here.

Besides attending different sessions I've also met some of the amazing people that I will be working with in China.  I don't think I could've asked for better people to work with and I'm very excited to have such a strong support system.  We also went to Niagra Falls which I had never seen before.  It was absolutely beautiful and far exceeded my expectations (I can also say I've officially been to Canada now, yay!).  I've also met other music teachers here and bounced ideas off of them which has been very helpful!

I have been experiencing a wide-range of emotions since being here.  I learn things and think about what is to come and I am beyond excited.  I'm excited for the adventure, meeting my students, being a part of something bigger than myself, learning about a new culture and experiencing all that this journey is going to bring.  On the other hand I am also feeling fear, stress and sadness as I realize my time with family and friends is coming to a close and a new, unfamiliar reality is about to take over my life.  There seems like so much to do between now and next Friday when I leave.  It's difficult but I'm trying to let the excitement overshadow my other emotions.  I also know with all of my heart that this is where I'm meant to go at this point in my life and that gives me peace.  It's this peace that I have to cling to when times get tough as they undoubtedly will.

(Below is a picture of my future China roommate and I!)

T Minus One Month and One Day

Wow time is flying!

As of today my flight is officially booked.  On July 13th I will leave my family, my friends and my home for the biggest adventure of my life this far.  I will be teaching music at a K-12 international school in Wuxi, China.  I wanted to start a blog mainly for my friends and family to be able to stay connected with what is going on in this crazy and exciting journey.  I leave for 2 weeks of training soon and I'm starting to realize how little time is left at home.  It's bittersweet.  I'm so unbelievably excited for what is to come but I will also miss many people while I'm gone. 

There is a lot that has lead me to the point and deciding to go on this crazy adventure.  Early in this process I wasn't 100% sure that this was actually where I was meant to go.  Fortunately that soon changed and my heart has the assurance it needs to know without a doubt that this is where I'm supposed to go at this point in my life.  I have no idea if I will be there 2 years or 20 years but that's what is both exciting and frustrating about life...expect the unexpected and be open to giving up control for a plan in life that will be much better than anything you could ever think of on your own! 

One lesson that this adventure has already taught me (even though I haven't even left the country yet) is not to worry.  I was so worried that I would make a wrong decision about where to go and what to do.  When I stopped worrying and gave up control, that is when everything fell into place and I found a peace that I hadn't found in a long time.  I have struggled with worry about being prepared for classroom lessons, learning a new language, first year of teaching and what seems like a long list of other things but then I remind myself that since this is where I'm meant to go, I don't need to worry!

As this journey continues, I'm sure that there will be many more lessons learned and I plan on sharing them here.  There's so much in this life to experience and learn that I can't let the fear of the unknown keep me from embarking on what I believe will be an incredibly life-changing experience!

I hope to see each of you before I go and if I don't, please stay in touch (my Skype name is rachel_sneed1).

-Rachel

(Below is a picture of the beautiful Taihu Lake in Wuxi where I'll be living!)