Day 1

I slept for eight hours  on the plane ride from San Fran to Beijing and was picked up by an English I teacher from the Yanqing No. 11 Middle school. It took about an hour and a half to get to the school and we passed through a section of the great wall and it was gorgeous! Once we arrived at the school I was going to be living at (Yanqing No. 7 Middle School) I was greeted by the headmaster and a few school officials. I was then led to see my room which is on the top floor of the living quarters building--the fifth floor. It's great for getting in an exercise at least four times a day. :)

I met my roommate, Si Yu, who is a Chinese teacher at No. 7 and dropped off my things. I was surprised to find that the school officials had purchased all my bedding and essential living necessities for living in the dorms. I felt very welcomed. After asking a few questions I realized that many of the things I was promised in the beginning were not actually true, and I started to feel upset. I called my sister in Beijing and being the great sister she is, supported me through my tears and worries. Of course I did not want to cry in front of my new roommate, so I stepped into the hall to speak to my sister privately. After a few minutes she came out to give me a jacket and tissues and told me not to worry. When I re-entered our room I noticed her eyes were red like she too had been crying. I didn't think anything more of it until later when she handed me a note she wrote when I was out of the room. Her English was a little hard to read, but her message was strong and the kindest thing stranger has ever written or even said to me. The note was about how she understands how I am feeling because she too had just recently come to Yanqing to teach and felt sadness as well. She told me that it is a part of growing up and that we will get through it together, day by day. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I hugged her and started to cry again. I can only hope that if she ever came to America that she would be so fortunate to meet someone who was as nice to her as she was to me. Si Yu helped me make my bed and I drifted off to sleep while listening to Friends (the TV show).