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“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get”– Forrest Gump
Last Thursday, one of the most unexpected thing happened. Given only a 5 hours notice, my roommate and I were informed that we would be heading to a small town that was 3 hours away from Nanjing to teach English to a local elementary school. We received the news literally at 11am and we would be leaving for the town at 4pm on that same day. (We would also not be returning to Nanjing until the next day, which means we would be packing for a one-day trip) Since the school was in a rural area, the students had never encountered any foreign teachers before. The people in the office told us that we would be staying in the best hotel that was in the town but of course, we should not expect too much because the town is rather poor. And to think that I had just started to settle into the Nanjing environment, thus you could probably imagine my expression when I received this news. With only a backpack, my stuffed toys and a few lesson notes, I left for the town of Si Hong on Thursday evening.
To be frank, I was more scared than anything as the van started to drive off. I hate not knowing what to expect. However when we arrived, the local teachers warmly welcomed us with a very grand dinner. The food was fantastic and the conversations between the local teachers and us were endless. After the dinner, we went back to our hotel to prepare for the lessons for tomorrow. It was such a relief to find out that we would only be doing three 40mins lessons, which is not bad at all. And the local teachers told us that they had only wanted us to make the lesson more fun and enjoyable for the students so that they would have an interest in learning English.
That night in the hotel was probably one of the longest nights of my life. The mosquitoes in our room were not only aggressive, but they were numerous! I literally had to hide inside my blanket for the entire night just to not get bitten! I tried to stay up for as long as I could in order to fight off the bugs. And I still woke up the next morning with a swollen eye and face because one of them had actually bit my eyelid and my cheeks! It was truly a long and unforgettable night!
But guess what? Even with one of the worst night of my life, the kids in the school made it all worthwhile! The school wasn’t big in size, but it had over 2,400 students! They had recently closed down a few schools around the area because of funding and therefore, this school became the only remaining school in the surrounding areas. The students were not only eager to learn English from me but they were eager to be my friend. Though they were shy at the beginning, by the end they would run up to talk to me or to jump into a photo with me. After my quick lesson, they would hug me or grab to my arms to beg me not to leave. That honestly almost brought me to tears. I was shown hospitality from 12-year-old children that I had never experienced before. I am reminded once again of how gratifying it can be to be a teacher. Life can sometime throw you a curve ball and put you in situations that are least expected. But it is also these moments that are the most rewarding.
