You know the day you don't want to end because it's just too perfect... you almost don't want to go to bed becuase the magic will end? I had one of those days. Just stumbled home, swerving down the LQ pathway like a drunkard after my amazing massage that I wisely scheduled minutes after we were done with conferences tonight! couldn't have had better timing... I always am anxious that I'll see someone I know when I'm on my way home from a massage and they'll wonder if i've had too much to drink... I just get so relaxed I'm in another world after the wonderful hour floating during a massage.
I had one of those teacher "awhh" moments today... the kind where your heart says, yes, this is where I'm supposed to be and my efforts are worth it... and just maybe I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life. Hard to believe that I'm a 4th year teacher - almost 5th... seems so much like a veteran... So my students are doing student-led conferences today and tomorrow - ie: I sit and grade papers and they conference with their parents ! It's the best end of the deal! It's actually a way to spotlight their strengths, weaknesses, show what they've accomplished and still want to work on, and show their parents their classroom - they lead the conference. Most of them did an exceptional job, and were excited to be in the spotlight. One special star was Jason. He couldn't stop telling his mom, and the other parents in the room, all of the details about basically everything on the walls. It was after the conferences were done, and they were heading home, and well, i've never quite seen him that way before. He totally was flitting from here to here, giving great enthusiastic explanations about everything in the classroom - stumbling over his words because he was so excited he couldn't get them out fast enough. It was the cutest thing ever - we were just busting up watching this show. It was so fun to see him blossom with such an activity and to so be eating up such positive attention. It was classic!
When I got back to Shanghai last night after our may holiday (spent in Kunming with Janai visiting another friend Amber who works there... pictures and blog to follow... ) I had the biggest sense of coming home that I'd yet experienced landing in Shanghai. My apartment was beautiful... homey, everything was just so comforting... it helped my ayi came while I was gone so it was spotless too... :) It was just this immense feeling of joy to be in this place, knowing that I'm called here, chosen for this work, and being blessed to be a blessing. Compared to other times I've gotten back to my apartment after vacation or trips to the states and burst into tears because this is the last place I want to be... this was exciting and comforting beyond words to just see that this is the place I'm meant to be and belong.
So those are the thoughts running through my head... hopefully I communicated them clearly enough for you to grasp... oh, and we're already in summer... it's 80% humidity today... sticky ... 20 degrees celcius. Our spring lasted for about 2 days... literally... I stopped wearing a puffy coat and ear muffs last week... had a few sunny days that made all the winter gloom feel worth the wait... and by the time we got back to SH from Kunming it's already summer... i had a feeling we'd skip spring this year since winter hung on for so long..., but I was hoping my hunch was wrong. The only redeeming factor is I get to wear flip flops and show off my new pedicure that i got for 25 RMB - roughly 3 usd... it's pretty awesome! :)
Well, I bid you farewell. Off to get rest for another 13 hour day tomorrow... but I'm actually looking forward to it! How awesome that is to be able to enjoy work. (it does help that the end is in sight... less than 2 months.. but whose counting??? :) )
Hava Nagila Song/Dance
