First Week Thoughts

Finally—some thoughts are becoming clear on my first week here in Hengyang. Immediately after arriving, I was too overwhelmed to sort through all the experiences. But here I am, a week into the adventure and my thoughts are starting to congeal.
First, I would like to compare my time here so far to my time in Junior High. Do you remember feeling like people were constantly watching you and intrigued by you? (I am revealing a little too much about myself here, but it serves this analogy). Well, I feel like I am back in Junior High here in Hengyang, and I don’t think it’s because I am paranoid. I think that people are genuinely staring at me and the other teachers because we look different, dress different, and are probably doing things that are culturally unusual. To complicate this feeling, I feel as though my body is going through puberty again too. I have broken out in acne, my hair is nappy and frizzy, and my clothes are all loose because we just let air-dry them (a 3 day process.) So, in many ways, my time here is reminiscent of the feelings I had in junior high (but hopefully I am a little more mature than I was then.)
As for the city, I would be lying if I said that Hengyang were the most beautiful city in China, or even a beautiful city in China. But the people are truly beautiful. They are very patient with us and willing to spend more time working with us foreigners. I cannot but thank the faithful teachers who have gone before us with this organization. Our predecessors have made it easy to engage with the people in this community.
Today the bubble tea lady and I had a very natural, communicative session again. She is working with me. She said an entire phrase to me in Chinese. She spoke very slowly, and when I looked confused, she repeated and used hand gestures. She was asking me if I had eaten yet. “Ni chi fan ma la” which literally means—have you eaten rice yet? I understood!! I said yes, and I said the name of the restaurant in Chinese. She knew it—we communicated. What a feeling. Maybe I should up my bubble tea intake to two a day just for these wonderful sessions. . .