goodbyes
I am sitting at a computer with a broken screen, exhausted from trying to wind my way through red-tape, in sultry Kashgar, at the far end of Northwest China. Having officially closed my Peace Corps service last Friday at midnight, I want to wrap this blog up properly before more time passes by.
My final months in Lanzhou flew by. My students did really well on their final exams, making me one very happy laoshi. Once we entered the exam period, leaving my aparmtent each day became emotionally exhausting, saying goodbyes each time I passed a student. It was incredibly rewarding too, though -- each day my time was equally balanced between the paperwork and packing that I needed to do, and the time spent with students and friends and co-workers who I care so much for. And their affection in turn became a real affirmation of what I've accomplished in the last two years. There were moments that I really regretted not putting some of my big plans into action, but in the end, I made a lot of friends, I worked hard and learned how to teach, and I know that my impact on my department and students has been real. Some photos from my last month at site can be found here.
Last week I spent 5 days in Chengdu "mentoring" the new group of trainees, the China 14s, as they had their first stab at teaching in China with their training Model School. It was fun to meet the newbies, but even more so to see how far my group, the China 12s, have come. In the last days of the week, nine more China 12s trickled in to complete their medical and administrative check-out process. Most of the other PCVs had already wrapped up their service several weeks earlier. There were some long sweaty days as we bustled around the city taking care of business, but on Friday night we all gathered, tired, to ring in the rest of our lives. We joked, and remembered, and at midnight stood silent. "Two years in China and none of us can manage a toast?" In the end it was simply "to Peace Corps China" -- and then, fittingly, the power went out.
If you want to follow along with Ben and my journey home, here's the link: http://chinatohome.blogspot.com
My final months in Lanzhou flew by. My students did really well on their final exams, making me one very happy laoshi. Once we entered the exam period, leaving my aparmtent each day became emotionally exhausting, saying goodbyes each time I passed a student. It was incredibly rewarding too, though -- each day my time was equally balanced between the paperwork and packing that I needed to do, and the time spent with students and friends and co-workers who I care so much for. And their affection in turn became a real affirmation of what I've accomplished in the last two years. There were moments that I really regretted not putting some of my big plans into action, but in the end, I made a lot of friends, I worked hard and learned how to teach, and I know that my impact on my department and students has been real. Some photos from my last month at site can be found here.
Last week I spent 5 days in Chengdu "mentoring" the new group of trainees, the China 14s, as they had their first stab at teaching in China with their training Model School. It was fun to meet the newbies, but even more so to see how far my group, the China 12s, have come. In the last days of the week, nine more China 12s trickled in to complete their medical and administrative check-out process. Most of the other PCVs had already wrapped up their service several weeks earlier. There were some long sweaty days as we bustled around the city taking care of business, but on Friday night we all gathered, tired, to ring in the rest of our lives. We joked, and remembered, and at midnight stood silent. "Two years in China and none of us can manage a toast?" In the end it was simply "to Peace Corps China" -- and then, fittingly, the power went out.
If you want to follow along with Ben and my journey home, here's the link: http://chinatohome.blogspot.com
posted by Kristen at
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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