Christmas and the end of teaching

The countdown is on until my last class… no, hang on just a minute - the countdown is over! I got a text Wednesday morning, just as I was snoozing the alarm (again), to say that class is over and not to come in, so I finished my stint as a TEFL teacher two days early! I’d said goodbye to everyone at Kindergarten 1 on Tuesday, so at least I got one set of goodbyes in properly (even though like the mug I am, I’d forgotten my camera). So, since I now haven’t got emotional stories to tell about my last day as a teacher I’ll tell you about Christmas instead!

Actually, I lie. It’s not exactly an emotional story, but I shed a wee tear as I was walking home on Tuesday – I really enjoyed Kindergarten 1. I don’t think I’ve really been a very good teacher and I don’t know the names of any of the kids or teachers there (I actually feel a bit terrible about that), but I do know the kids have had some fun, which is half the battle with learning a language. It’s also been good to have a place where I can indulge my inner four year old, just be silly and have a good giggle. There’s nothing like making kids laugh, and it’s such an escape from all the stress of being an adult!! Having my last tutoring session on Monday was a bit emotional too, even though I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks and I was more scared about starting that than kindergarten. I’ve actually taught Mingyu something – she’s a dab hand at naming colours, the rainbow song and the rudiments of artistic colour mixing. Teaching hasn’t all been peaches and cream, but what can I say? I’m an optimist even in hindsight and fortunately I’ve had a light teaching schedule with enough variety to keep me on my toes. Distraction is the better part of enjoyment, or something to that effect.

So yeah, Christmas.

This was my first Christmas away from home, and we went to Beijing to meet up with Niamh, Will and Mark. Steph and Laura have both been really homesick and missing the build up to the festive season, but as the last few Christmas’s I’ve worked in retail (stressful!!) and there aren’t any kids in my immediate family to wind up with sugar and threats about Santa, I haven’t been massively homesick and I’ve managed to enjoy the novelty of being away from home. Having said that, I’m not missing next Christmas home for love nor money! Christmas isn’t big in China, at least away from the bits with Westerners it isn’t, so I took it upon myself to be Festive, with a capital F. I made advent calendars for the girls (I got bored after doing theirs so I haven’t had one) at the start of December, and when I got two packages from home – mince pies and Cadbury’s from the utterly awesome Hannah Fry and wrapped up stocking fillers from my wonderful Mum – I decided that everyone should have something to open too, so I made stockings for the six of us last week. That put me in such a festive mood!

We got the train on Christmas Eve morning, at the ungodly hour of 7.05am, and after a stupidly long, boring journey, during which I got told I look like Naomi Watts(!), we arrived at the hostel mid afternoon. The boys had already arrived, and after we’d filled Steph with medication (she’s not been well) and Niamh arrived, we had some sustenance then went for a foot massage. Heaven. We got our backs and shoulders done while our feet were soaking, I could hear things crunching away but it felt so good!! When it got to cupping on the feet I was less jazzed but at least I didn’t get it done on my back too – Laura came away covered in polka dot bruises! (Not painful apparently. Hmmm!) We went for the most amazing Italian food after that, I actually can’t believe how much I’ve missed pesto and the chocolate lava pudding was frankly to die for. Then came the bars… after which Laura and I rolled back to the hostel at 5am - I dished out the stockings and fell happily into my bunk.

The only plan for Christmas Day was “eat, drink and be merry” – I think the stockings were a good start for that. Steph and Laura knew they had them but it was a surprise for Niamh, Will and Mark. The looks on their faces were just the epitome of Christmas – no wonder Father Christmas is jolly, I had a smile on my face all morning from that! I put on my new green silk dress, discovered the potent combination of Irish coffee and admiring looks – it’s a nice dress - then we went out for Christmas dinner. It wasn’t turkey and stuffing by any means, but hey it was interesting. Deliciously creamy mushroom soup, smoked salmon on hash-browns(!), steak or lamb chops and cheesecake or a mini chocolate soufflé with free wine and cocktails. Everyone was getting a bit homesick by the time dinner was done with – I’d arranged to Skype home and my granny, so I headed back to do that. It was lovely talking to home, but watching Mum open her present from my brothers and me set me off and I had such a cry… what a relief that was! Sometimes you just need a good weep. After that clearing up shower, I decided that a sure route to being merry was getting merry, so I headed back out to do just that and you know what? It worked. I had a great night.

Boxing Day was a whole other story – my hangover was fully proportional to the fun I’d had, but pretty much everyone was in the same boat so we all had a quiet day and got the train home in the evening. We went out for a meal and drinks on Wednesday night to say a big goodbye to the Handan family (now that was emotional) and Charlie cooked yesterday too. That pretty much brings you back up to speed! It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m getting the train up to Beijing to see in 2011 and get ready to start my new job.