Suddenly.....

...it turned cold. Last week, Monday to Thursday, we were still sweating our clothes soaked. The heat, smog, and mug of the city of TEDA slurps its way through everything. But suddenly, last week, as if jumping from the earth's core to the North Pole, everything changed....well, it wasn't quite that bad, but it has been fairly strange, the change, the winds, the rains. Today the skies are blue and things are bright, but the cool air still nips. No jackets this afternoon, yet still baffling that there is no sweat dripping from every pore. Today it is comfortable, my body is comfortable, in temperature, yes.
Heart and soul, thats another story. The honeymoon is over and I think we are starting to feel the beating. Students are definitely different here, there has been a different discipline and training so far for our 10-12's, and completely different to all, within the Maple Leaf School system. The Chinese Way, added to the Privileged Way, is beginning to test my confidence, my cool, my sense of direction and my outlook on things. Students are feeling more unjustifiably bold, to speak their mind (oh and what fanciful ideas they do have about a teacher's role), tell a teacher how they should be teaching, remind a teacher they are doing things wrong, compare a teacher's methods to another and indicate the unsavory flavor of a chosen technique. Everything is either too hard, too boring, they are too sleepy, too hot or too cold. There is never not a complaint in ANY class for ANY teacher. The audacity of some students completely catches me off guard, amazing, I am amazed, my small mind cannot comprehend simple cultural differences which carry a world of weight when it comes to daily interactions. Yes, of course, there are some gems and jewels, but the last couple days I have found myself drowning in coals. And yes, these coals if put in the right fire, under the right pressure can turn themselves into jewels and gems as well, but, WHAT A TASK! Do I have to be under pressure with them?! Am I a coal as well?! Perhaps I am, perhaps some pressure, some fire, I am meant to find myself, on the other side, another color, a brighter shade, a clearer crystal. Who knows.......today, strange and small, I am simply thankful that my measuring cups and spoons came to me, in a pre-ordered package, and delivered to my desk. I can finally have something to bake with. Oh love, I can't wait until we actually have a real stove, the little things, right now, are such comfort.