Rejoice and be Glad!: 1 month...

I can't believe it, but I have hit the 1 month mark overseas! Time has gone by very quickly and it does not seem like I have been here long at all, until I take a look back.

I am going to bullet-point some things I have learned and gone through the past 30 days (feel free to skip over this as it may be boring).

1. I was COMPLETELY and UTTERLY naive about how homesick I would be when I moved. The first 2 weeks were absolutely brutal. I cried at least twice a day. Sobbed actually. During the work day, I was fine. But in the morning before work and after, I was an emotional basket-case and sunk very low. I just prayed I would get over it soon and tried to read my Bible as much as I could.

2. I am so thankful that the Lord carried me through that time as I could not have done it without Him.

3. The kids are even more wonderful than I remembered.

4. Teaching English is a lot harder that it seems.

5. Jet-lag is NOT your friend.

6. I have LOVED introducing new music to the preschool class. It reminds me of my class back home :) The kids sing their new songs all day long and every time I see them outside, they ask me to sing to them! It is really funny when you have 6 children shouting their requests at you! So precious...

7. I did not have an idea of what I would be doing during my time here, but I have to say that I really love my schedule. The new classes we have added have been very rewarding.

8. My 1:30 class has 5 students. 1 teacher, 3 assistants. And it takes all of us working the whole time with the kids. Haha! If that gives you any ideas...

9. I miss American food. Thanks Mom for sending me Cheez-its!

10. At the same time, I love Chinese food. Particularly cucumber dishes, noodles, these rice cracker snacks that are delicious, fresh fruit for low prices, and barbeque chicken on a stick.

11. My Mandarin language skills are going NOWHERE. I think I am worse than before. My goal is to study for 30 minutes during my lunch break, but usually I am busy socializing :)

12. When we are out in the backyard, you will often catch me on the big bench swing with 3 kids in my lap OR holding a sweet baby.

13. I really love the nannies and the preschool teachers. I want to be able to communicate with them badly. It's just more motivation.

14. The support system I have here I am so grateful for. Truly. My 5 roommates are a God-send. The people I knew before have welcomed me back with open arms.

15. Everyday I play volleyball and on the weekends we play soccer! In true Catherine-style, I hurt my knee the first week! It is still recovering.

16. Also, we had our first kitchen accident which left me with a second degree burn and a few other burned spots on my arm. And yes, it did hurt.

17. Our apartment lost our electricity in the middle of the night one day. I know this because I woke up sweating bullets. It did not come back on until 10 hours later. Life overseas I guess!

18. My favorite thing to teach right now is the letters of the alphabet. One week we did "W" and then we did "P" (see post below). Those seem random, but that was the theme! I love doing the letters because the kids then talk about them non-stop. They draw the letters, they look for them in books, on boxes, in puzzles, etc. They also make the cute sounds and signals with their bodies (thank you ZooPonics!). They will ask me to write them on magna-doodles so they can copy me or make the letters with play-doh. Often when I am in the playroom or outside a child will come up to me and shout, "Look, 'P'!" It always makes me smile.

19. This post is really long.

20. I am head over heels for the 3 baby girls that I visit daily. Totally smitten. Would adopt any of them in a heartbeat. I absolutely drool over them and cannot squeeze and kiss them enough. It hurts how much I love them. I could stare at their pretty faces all day long. I have no idea what I will do when I have asian children. Look at them in awe all day I guess.