Things I miss about PL

Over the past few days, a wave of emotion has washed over me and has had me missing PL.  Last night, I had all of these things running through my head and thought I’d take a minute to type them out.  If you’ve been to PL, you’ll get where I’m coming from with these thoughts and how I could miss them.  So, here are the things I miss:

• the smell of coal burning stoves in the morning
• little kids saying, “Ai i hao!”  (Hi Auntie)
• the sounds of morning….the old man outside my window exercising, trucks going up the hill, honking, the milk lady hollaring
• the smell of fresh steamed bread (bingzi)
• passing by my favorite shops and saying hello to the shop owners
• all of the grrrrreat and amazing PL food!
• the comfort of my apartment
• being able to grab a student last minute and take them to lunch, dinner, or have a shopping partner
• movie nights at my apartment with students
• running into the students/grads/PL friends as I walk in PL
• watching the old people dance in the park in the evenings or do tai ji in the mornings
• funny conversations with taxi drivers
• random strangers watching me shop in the grocery store
• teaching my precious students

Of course, I could go on and on, but I’ll stop now because frankly, you get the point.  I miss it!  How on earth am I going to survive another year and a half without these things?  I know, He is with me and will help me through it and I know that there are several really good reasons, such as improving health, why I’m here now, but when these waves of emotion come crashing over me, it’s hard.  Thank you for your continued thoughts for me as I apparently continue to transition back to the States.

Losing weight and gaining sanity

So, in case you haven’t heard it through the grapevine, I’ve recently started a part time job working for Fresh! Healthy OK.  With the addition of a new job, my time has been divided between Perspectives Class homework, my job, and a few other obligations.

As I stated in a previous blog, I’ve also been able to get on the right track concerning my health.  I’ve been working out about 4 times a week and at this point, I’ve managed to lose 14 pounds!  It’s absolutely amazing how easy it is to PUT ON the weight and how unbelievably difficult and time consuming it is to LOSE IT.  The good news is that I’ve finally begun to feel encouraged with this weight loss and working out is starting to feel like a desire and not a forced thing.  My hope is to be able to lose another 40 pounds, so cross those fingers!

Not only have I been working on my physical health, but also my mental health.  My counselor and I are working through a lot of things and I’ve got hope that when I return to the field, I’m going to be an all-round healthier person.  Please be thinking on this with me.

 

 

New possibilities and responsibilities

As of today, I am officially employed part-time.  Yeah!  Oh wait, that means I have to miss Dr. Phil.  lol  Kidding!  I have been hired to work for a small company called Fresh Healthy OK.  They have vending machines in businesses, schools, and YMCAs that sell “healthy” food alternatives such as granola bars, juices, water, yogurt, etc.  I start tomorrow!  It will be nice to have something to occupy my mind with some new responsibilities.

Now, onto possibilities….there is a slight possibility that I may get my masters in education.  This is something that I had thought of a few months ago and looked into.  Well, now, our school board has decided that it would greatly benefit OTC to have a staff member with  a masters degree because it could potentially open up lots of doors for internships with universities in the States.  Afterall, that’s how we got the wonderful Lori Ryan!  So, I think it would be well worth it.  Cross your fingers!