Emily: “Do you understand what we said?” Students: “No.”
This is quite a common question and response we have been getting the last week or so since starting our service project. Over the last three weeks we have returned from a team retreat to the beach, finished our month language intensive, and moved to teach at the local high school. Whew, as I think back to our journey the last few weeks, it makes we tired to type all of that. Being at the high school has been my favorite adventure yet. It is so good being on campus surrounded by students and all the activities that go with them. We are in the middle of it all. We always have students walking by our apartment; or our friends stopping by for a chat; or we find ourselves humming along to the national anthem being played on the loud speaker.
Campus life is so vastly different here than in an American high school. For one thing, the students live on campus in dorms rather than travel to school daily. They also are studying literally from sunup til sundown. First period class starts at 7:35 but students are normally in class at 6:45 am self studying. This continues until about 10:30 pm with a few breaks in between. All of their three years spent in the high school is preparation for ONE test that will allow them entrance to a good university. If they do not do well after three years, they will return for a fourth year in hopes of scoring better on their entrance test. It actually saddens me when I think of all the pressure they are under. If they do not do well on their test they will not get a good job. If they don’t get a good paying job, they will not be able to support their family and their parents as is the custom when the child grows up. (Adults must retire at the age of 60) The parent-child relationship is very different from America as it is built on the honor/shame system where children have a level of responsibility to take care of their parents later in life. So, you can imagine the pressure a student feels when they enter high school. I am still trying to understand how everything works here on the campus. In spite of the major cultural differences at the high school, both Joanna and I are enjoying the teaching so much! I now feel as if I want to teach in my future.
We now have many opportunities of making friends and building purposeful relationships. We have been really blessed in this. In fact, just now a huge spider actually helped us get to know one of the teachers better. Finding a spider in our house has been one of our main fears since living here. Tonight we did. They grow em big here. We had one hiding in our hot water heater in the bathroom. Jo and I both screamed loud enough to disrupt a class so that the teacher came to check on us. She came in and we told her the problem which she replied with, “You are very brave girls to live here.” Because of this incident, we were able to have a great talk with her and will get together with her soon. Also, we have one really good friend here who offered to cook us dinner one night. She told us she had a friend who wanted to talk with us since we were foreigners but he was nervous. We told her to bring him over and he could join us for dinner. She then proceeded to warn us that he had a disease and they are not sure how long he has left. But, he was very excited to talk with us. This broke our hearts. Oh, how we want them to see past our nationality. We know that because we are American’s it is a great door opener. Our hope is through that door we will be able to do and say so much more.
Last week we were invited by some of the teachers to go to a wedding. Weddings here can last three days! We only joined in on the last part of the wedding where everyone gathers for a huge meal, perhaps at a hotel, and gives the bride and groom well wishes. It is traditional to set off fireworks at the beginning for every big event like this to keep away the evil spirits and to bring good luck. We had a good meal; however, it was not free. Every guest is expected to bring some money to give as a gift to the bride and groom which in the end basically pays for your food. The bride and groom come to every table for a toast. They came to ours (we drank juice, don’t worry) and we took pictures with them as the foreigners. We didn’t even know them, but they were very honored to have us come to their wedding! It was a great bonding time for us and the teachers. They helped us understand the culture a lot more.
It has been a new challenge living on our own. I realized the other day that this is the first time I have officially lived “on my own”. It is really weird....and hard to plan for meals and go shopping to keep your fridge stocked with all you need. It is one thing doing this in American and another thing doing it here. The people here shop daily for every meal. This is not very doable for us therefore we must plan ahead. There are several good markets which we shop at. It is frustrating though when you plan to go out, pay for a taxi to the market, and then forget something you needed or discover that the item is out of stock. I know this is normal to most “grown-ups” but it is even more of a challenge living here. I have to say though, we have become quite creative with our meals. You only have to eat peanut butter and crackers so many times to become inspired to make something good. Thanks to a package from my mom, we are stocked on all the necessities like Dr. Pepper, poptarts, and ranch packets. We made a really good salad yesterday with ranch dressing and chicken. We were quite proud. Thanks mom!
This week we have a “holiday” at the school. I call it a holiday in quotes because the schools actually make up for missed days on the weekends. It is for a festival called Mid-Autumn Festival. I only know a little about it. I do know that it is mostly about eating Moon Cakes (not to be confused with moon pies). All over our town they are selling Moon Cakes. We are traveling with our best friend to her home town to visit her family for the festival. It is custom to bring a box of Moon Cakes to your family when you come home. Joanna and I will do this for her parents as well. When we return I know I will have much more to write about it. We are excited for the opportunity to travel to a new city and learn more about the culture.
I can’t really believe we are almost halfway done. I don’t know if I think time has really flown by. I think it is simply passing and every day brings something new with it. One thing I am learning while being at the school is that schedules are not really all that important. This is forcing me to live in the now. Things change all the time (much to my dislike) but that is the way life is here, and I think life in general. I really have so much more I wish I could say. I will save all the “deep” stuff for my return for those of you who have a few days/months and you want to sit down and talk with me. J Just know that this has been an adventure of a lifetime so far. I am so grateful to everyone who helped get me here. Your encouragement from back home is helping me stay here.
