Teaching in China is the easiest thing in the world. I'm reluctant to even call it a job. I work about 10 hours a week over 3 days and get paid a living wage, oh yeah, and the work is to play games and speak English and talk about America- not exactly strenuous. My students are delightful, I'm hardly supervised, and I don't even have to pay rent or utilities! In fact, if I could somehow transplant the setup closer to home, I would probably do it for the rest of my life.
So yes, in many ways I live quite a charmed life, HOWEVER, it's not easy! To be more accurate, I would label teaching as an "activity" and living in China as draining and laborious work! Cooking, cleaning, shopping, communicating, and even BREATHING are much harder over here.
I wonder what the difference is between culture shock and homesickness. The more I think about it, the more they seem nearly interchangeable. The things that frustrate me here are things that I take for granted at home- is that culture shock or homesickness? With just under 7 weeks left, I'm definitely wanting to soak up what's left this experience, but I have to admit, there's no place like home. Some people think the reason I'm not staying another year is because I started dating someone over the break, but just to clarify: yes, he's wonderful, but I was already committed to returning to the land of genuine dairy and too weak to withstand the lure of central heating and air long before he entered the picture!
All this to say: I'm taking a vacation! Me and 10 of my foreign friends are headed to the closest you can possibly be to America without (technically- depends who you ask) leaving the country... that's right, we're going to HONG KONG! No Mandarin, Western food and Western sizes! I can't wait!
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