Hi everyone back home hope you are all well and its not getting to chilly. So I now only have one week left in Urumqi and I finished teaching at the primary school last Friday.
It was a great last week and it was sad to walk out of the gate on Friday. I had so much fun and I also met some amazing people. The teachers work way to hard but they love their job. I highly recommend to everyone to work and travel, you really get to experience the culture once you are working and living in a totally new and different country.
I don't know if I was much help in the school, but I tried hard and learnt quickly. It was a totally different kind of experience than I had expected, I didn't really feel like a volunteer as I was given some money by the school, but I learnt so much. I learnt quickly that the kids really did not understand much of what I said but they gave it their best. I also learnt that discipline is a big part of the teaching process, though I was no good at it and any attempt at discipline was met with laughter. If I achieved anything I hope the kids got to have a little fun with lots of laughter.
I really went into this job blind. For one I did not know much about the city Urumqi and also I had no clue about teaching. Plus I am prone to getting lost and I didn't have Meg with me this time to point me in the right direction. But I gave it my best attempt and it only took about 5 weeks to learn the right direction to go in. I really had the best time and would one day love to come back to Urumqi.
My last week was great, the teachers took me out to dinner on Wednesday night. We went to Hot Pot, which is like buffet style mixed with the idea of the sushi train. You choose as much ingredients as you want, from Tofu to beef to prawns and many kinds of mushrooms and then you boil it up at your table, its delicious. I think I am finally using chopsticks and not looking like a complete idiot (my own opinion). After the hot pot we went out to the night market where you can purchase anything at a much cheaper price than normal. Then we moved onto the movies, Pirates 3 and yes it was in chinese I had no idea what was going on, the teachers didn't like it so we left half way anyway. The teachers were so generous to me and even gave me the lucky chinese knot.
So it was farewell to No.22 primary school and all the lovely teachers and hello to the rest of china. I can;t beleive how quick the 3 months went. So I will be on the move for the next 4 weeks, then its on to Vietnam for my next placement.
Oh the latest crazy thing to happen, to have a hot shower, I now have to run the bathroom sink tap so that I get hot water, hmmmmmm go figure!!
Well I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all. Also I uploaded some more photos. Lots of Love Katie XXXXXX
