First post in 8 months

So I'm posting for the first time in 8 1/2 months and certainly a lot has changed since I have first gotten to China, let alone, Shenyang, where I've been residing for nearly 7 months.

I don't really know where to begin, because I'm sure that most of you know most of the story.

I left Huaibei, mostly because the school ended up not being what they said it was. Nor was the contract. I found that the other teachers that I was going to be with were going to follow far more of their own agenda. Don't get me wrong, now thatI've been in China for nearly 9 months now, I certainly want to follow my own agenda. They were certainly nice, but in the grand scheme of things, I was never going to last at that school. I knew that on day one. When what had taken me several hours to plan, only took 20 minutes in class. The classroom also had a massive hole that I fell into, and I just figuratively never got out of it. I still talk to two people from the city, and surprisingly, they aren't the other two foreign teachers. I found that the foreign teachers, certainly were helpful and in the three weeks I spent in Huaibei, I certainly owe them a lot. However, at the same time, it's not often in my life that I can honestly say that I quit a job. I talk to a friend that I met, who was a local and lived on the college campus, as well as one of my former students. Both of whom were my saving grace in that city.

I left on a midnight train to Harbin, where I took a TESOL course, where I got some better foundations of better classroom planning that I have certainly still used to this day. I also layed a foundation for a reasonable support group that I now certainly consider some of my better friends in China.

I now teach at a private language school in, Dongbei (northeast) China, in one of the larger cities, Shenyang. The population here is 10 million. I teach at an English First branch, and in all honesty, it certainly hasn't been easy. I thought I was ready in college to study abroad. Ooooh Snap, that was a bad choice. In all honesty, it has been my boss and my tesol friends who are also in the same city that have kept my sanity. I've had my fair share of difficulties, and in time, over the next seven months, I'm sure that things are not get any better, but I have a support group that will see me through it until the end.

I have lived with the same girl for the past 6 months of my contract, however, as of this Friday, after 27 years of living with people, I'm branching out on my own, not really sure what to think of that.

I'm hoping to start to posting here more reguarly now, but won't make any promises