When you finish a job you have a completely different set of questions. How in the world did the last seven months go by so quickly? Will I ever have to do an English Club again? Why did the women's bathroom never have any paper towels? How do I get used to not seeing these great people everyday? What was the most important thing that I learned here?
I'm at the end now. May 31st was my last day of work at Kaien. Seven months exactly since I left the US on Halloween. Over the last seven months I have taught English, but I have also learned about myself. I know now that I'm capable of talking about anything for 45 minutes. I learned how to describe how to pronounce the "th" sound. I know that fourteen, forty and fortieth are very difficult to tell apart. I've gained confidence and board skills and learned how to monitor a room. I have come to appreciate having two days off in a row and that in the US if there is a three day weekend you don't work on one of the weekend days so it's really a two day weekend. All of these things I will take with me into the future.
I wouldn't have learned nearly as much without the people that surrounded me during this experience. My fellow teachers, managers, the sales staff and receptionists really supported me. At the beginning Charlie, Chad, Curt and Erica made my transition into the crazy Shanghai world much easier. Erica trained me and helped me buy my first cell phone. Curt (my old manager) picked me up after the health check before my visa process. Chad and I ventured out to Carrefour together and Charlie just projected confidence about everything which made me feel much more comfortable. Amber then came back from Australia and fit into our core group. We made our own rules and laughed and ordered too much take out together.
The Chinese teachers also helped and spoiled me. Rose bought me dice from a street market so I had a game that my students could play while I tested them. Maria was my language exchange partner who was the one that I called for silly things and help and laughs. She encouraged me to send my first text messages in Chinese. Jane with her unending puzzles and jokes - some of which I swear had no punchline.
At the new year I had a new manager, Jonathan, and after Spring Festival a whole new corps of teachers. Geoff, Karen, Iain, Richard - we've had a great three months as our ranks grew and more classes started and we worked and complained about hours and "non-native" thinking. For a long time, no one left, just more people starting and so you forget that teaching in Shanghai is a transient pursuit and people come and go.
And two weeks ago Chad left, and last week I left and in a month Charlie will leave and... the cycle continues.
I am planning a big karaoke party for tomorrow night and just about everyone has promised to stop by. It's a fitting way for me to say "再见！" to this group of friends because I truly hope I will see them again. Shanghai has me hooked - let's see what happens!
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| Kaien Friends and Faces |
Enjoy the photos of the people I referenced above and some I didn't, but all are connected in some way to Kaien. I have tried to write captions that capture something about each person, so don't forget to read them!
Question - What is your biggest pet peeve in your current (or former) workplace? The no paper towels in the bathroom in Pudong was definitely one for me. Share!
G
2 comments:
I'm using your Kaien business card as my bookmark.
Every time I see it, I recall the time when you gave it to me at Wai Tan, saying: "Actually, the email is not working". ^^!
Easy. My biggest pet peeve at my current work place is having to share my cube with another person while there are empty cubes on either side of us. Why are they empty? Why, just in case someone drops in that needs to get some work done, of course! Grrr... Sometimes the managers in my office are lacking in the logic department. However, my current work place will be my former work place in about 2.5 weeks. Yikes! Time is a crazy thing... Love you!
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