Reality Check

As many of you know, I have done my fair share of complaining about my accommodations since I have been in Tianjin. "It's dirty, it's uncomfortable, there's no furniture, the lights are too fluorescent, the bed is hard, I don't have a nice view from my window..." The list goes on and on. As much as I hate to tell you about me being such a complainer, it is necessary as I tell you about my recent reality check. The students on my campus live 6 to a room - they each have a lofted bed with a small desk, closet, and stool underneath their bed. That's it... I had 9 students over on Saturday night to watch a movie and as soon as they walked in there were "Oohs" and "Aahs" like you've never heard! They quickly ran around my apartment, checking everything out and they were totally amazed. One girl, Angie (pictured to the right), said to me, "So, how many people live in this unit?" My reply, "Just me." She became a bit more persistent..."Okay, so you live in this room (the living room) but how many people live in the other rooms?" Again, my reply, "Just me...this is all mine." They were blown away...they could not believe that someone on their campus lived in such luxury. Soon after, Angie plopped down on the couch and got comfortable, then she looked at me and said, "I have a new goal for my life...someday I want to live in a place like this." I felt like a total jerk! How could I complain about where I'm living and then sit and listen to a student tell me that it was a goal for them to live somewhere like this?? Wow...reality check! During the movie, all 9 girls piled onto my couch and rug in total comfort and happiness. At one point, one of them even started to fall asleep and I was so glad that they felt safe and comfortable enough here that they could do that. University students in China have so much pressure and stress...I was happy that they could take a few hours to forget about that - and in the meantime they taught me a great lesson.


To end this blog on a light note, I have to include this story from today's class! I was walking around the classroom as my students were working in pairs and I stopped to help one girl, Emily (pictured to the right). When she was done asking me a question she said, "By the way, today you are dressed to kill!" I was so surprised to hear her say that, I just burst out laughing! She must have thought that I was laughing because of an incorrect use of the phrase and she asked, "Did I use that correctly?" I quickly reassured her that she had, in fact, used the expression correctly but that I just was not expecting her to say that. How cute is that?!?!? :)