Winds of change

The air in and around Beijing has been thick with pollution. I have found myself laboring to breath by the end of the day and as I may have stated earlier, I believe this is why people spit so much as they walk down the streets. There are times when a building 45 stories high, less than 1/2 a block away is barely visible. Coming from 7,000' clean mountain air living, this is a bit harder on me than most. I find myself describing to the Chinese how where I come from there are 'blue' skies. I am grateful for the pictures I have on my phone of the mountain, the snow and the crystal clear skies that surround my home 350 days of the year.

Tonight celebrates one week since I arrived in Beijing and the end to my first intensive week of school. I am slowly adapting and even achieved 8 full hours of sleep last night. I also did my first student teaching today and had 4 Chinese nationals in my class. They were all adults and upper beginner level. I was apprehensive for about 30 seconds and then found myself slowly delving into the wonderful world of teaching English.

The looks on the faces of the students was priceless for me. I had one man who would look up into my eyes, wait to see a 'spark' of encouragement and then continue with his english. I have never witnessed a human put more effort into learning. It just made my heart so happy I couldn't help but just smile at him. It was an amazing day, and again I must say - I think I have found my calling. I will teach again on Tuesday with the current model and then I will learn a new model and continue with that.

Tonight was spent in celebration with several young people from school. They are the greatest group of kids, only one of them being older than my boys (she's all of 26). We all get along famously and we have the best time. They let me hug them, they ask my advice, they treat me as a contemporary yet need me at times like they need their parents. They are all alone, independent, strong and away from their homes. In the middle of conversation one looks at me and says, "Oh, my mom would love you, you'd be great friends!" It was a wonderful compliment but reminded me of my age. We sat in a bar near the school having a couple of beers talking about Jesus and Lao Shi. We spoke of our name origins and the similarities in our countries. It was a grand night indeed.

I am beginning to feel at complete ease despite the language barrier and I am slowly making friends with he locals. The lady at the morning breakfast cart doesn't need me to specify for her to leave the sauce and lettuce off my egg and rice pancake, she is used to me now and smiles when I approach. The girls at the front desk don't look startled when they see me step out of the elevator, and on occasion a man will let me enter or exit the elevator first. I am making strides. I am starting to get smiles at the street crossings and hearts in my latte foam at the bakery. I am noticing things are looking up and I am being accepted more and more everyday. The temperament towards me is changing. Like the air today, the wind blew all day but along with that came blue skies. There are winds of change, and for me, I hope they keep blowing.

(the pictures are of the CCTV News Bulidings, both designed by a French Architect. First clear skies since I have been here. Also, there is a shot of the interchange I cross in 6 spots everyday. Both pictures are taken from my classroom window)