Friday, December 11, 2009

China, Here I Come!

The ever present question in my mind for the last few years has been, "What do I want to do with my life?" and "Where do I want to go to do it?" I do not have an answer to either of those questions but I do know that I love to travel and create. I will graduate with my associates degree in May and so, instead and running off to a university to pursue my degree, I decided to take some time off and go to China! That will at least satisfy my love of traveling and I will find a way to sprinkle some creativity in there.

A friend of mine, Wendy Smith, told me a couple of months ago that she was signing up to be a volunteer English teacher in China to little kids with the ILP Program. In the process of telling me all this she said, "Tessa, you should come!" I thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "Okay!" So, it is settled, for the fall semester of next year I am doing to go teach English in China to children ages 4 and up. To answer some frequently asked questions up front, No, I do not know Mandarin. I am not sure how I am going to teach the kids exactly, but they are young and pick up the language fast. I am sure the system they have set up works. I will live in dorms and will be living at the school I teach at. There are six different places I could go in China and we are not assigned yet. If anyone has any input on where I should go please let me know. I am going to have plenty of opportunities to travel while I am there so if you have been to China or know about some great places there, I would love your input.

I am very excited and also terrified. I will leave sometime in August and will post more details as I know them. I have been accepted to the program so off I go.

3 comments:

Allisun said...

I am so excited for you! I am not so excited for me because your leaving! Its ok China's worth it I guess. During those lonely times I will go eat Jumbos and watch Mulan, and I will think of you

Sarah B. said...

Congrats, Tessa! How exciting!!!!

Kenningtons said...

WOW!! So great! I'm happy for you and the experiences you will have. Two of my cousins did the same thing and they loved every minute of it. Thanks for the details. Oh, and if you ever have a chance to travel outside China you HAVE HAVE HAVE to go to Singapore!!