You never know where an
education will take you. |  |
Sitting in business classes at Texas Lutheran, Adrienne Ramsey never imagined that she would become a teacher - much less an educator in China. This summer she left to begin a two-year contract teaching in Bejing. But before she began teaching, she traveled through the country. The following are her reflections - about teaching, traveling, and her life. Read more in her blog at
www.mybeijingadventure.com.
The journey of a lifetime. An adventure of this present age woven together with unexpected twists and turns, rests and crescendos, and ultimately a tale to tell. Join with me as I take an unplanned trek into the outback of China without an itinerary, a credit card, or another soul in the world and ultimately settle down in Beijing to teach at an international school for the next two years of my life.
eaching is the most unexpectedly fulfilling job ever! I would never have dreamt it for myself but I absolutely love it and I couldn't possibly imagine doing anything else now. I spent my first couple of years out of college floundering in grad school because I really didn't know what else to do with myself until I finally settled down in the business world running bakery teams for Whole Foods Markets in Austin and Seattle. I loved Whole Foods! I loved the food, the people, the fast pace, the running of a business but I didn't feel like I was making a difference. I have a lot of heart and teaching is the perfect place for that. I finished my second year of teaching cultural geography to sixth grade students in the Houston area, and I am now in China to teach business at one of the top 10 private schools in the nation! This is my fifth time abroad, and I have no doubt it will be an incredible experience.
My love of traveling started at TLU. I remember going to a meeting about studying abroad where I met a girl who had been there, done that, and lived to see the other side of world travel. I was thoroughly inspired and ultimately spent a semester abroad in Europe. I haven't stopped traveling since and never will. The world is not a scary place!
"
So many people fear places they have never seen before... I am completely enthralled with them."
Selected Entries
from Adrienne's Blog. JUNE 19 - Beijing
Where do I even begin????
It is 7 am Sunday morning. I am curled up in my comfy pants about to have some coffee in the wifi cafe here in the 9 Dragons Hostel, Beijing. I arrived Thursday afternoon after an 18 hour trip across the north pole.
As we taxied to the gate the pilot got on the load speaker to announce that we would not be getting off the plane until health inspectors had released us. The flight attendant came by as I had my head buried in the pillow in my lap and warned that I better get myself together or end up in quarantine. I straightened quickly and within moments several masked and gloved inspectors were going seat by seat pointing temperature guns at our heads to make sure that we didn't have a fever. We all passed inspection and were allowed to make our way through customs.
So, I get into the taxi and hand the driver my directions (written in Chinese of course), and I get my first glimpse of Beijing... or not.
I read about the smog in Beijing, mentally prepared myself for it, but visibility was so limited that I wondered how I was even going to see street signs during my following day’s excursion to my new school.
I have had two full days here so far – one at my new school and one exploring the city. The language barrier is a factor and I have no doubt that when I go traveling there will be a bit of culture shock. But here in Beijing? It is as modern as modern gets. And it’s cheap enough too. I can get a half gallon of bottled water and point to something yummy looking on the street- all for less than a dollar. Oh, and the smog from day one was actually fog!
The subways are really fun too. I love public transportation anyway but to go and bebop around the city for about .30 per ride. Good stuff! Taxis are also abundant and very cheap comparatively. Most rides are about $3. If that's your only mode of transportation though... it could definitely add up.
So for today... I am going to enjoy my last few hours of privacy before moving to the dormitory. And then I am going to buy my train ticket for Tuesday, stow my stuff away and head out in it again to wander and discover my new little world. I am thinking about going to the Pearl Market or possibly Silk Street. I will be sure to post pictures of wherever I go. And be sure to pass along any cool stories too!
JULY 1 - Yungshuo I always find myself at a loss for words when I sit down to document my journey here in China. When I traveled in college it was so different. I was so different. My mode was go, go, go! I wanted to see absolutely everything and everyday was a different city or a different country. Here in China all I want to do is stay! I had to tear myself away from Beijing to head down south to Yungshuo. I was sad to leave Beijing because I was having such a great time I didn’t want it to end even though I knew that I was coming back. Now that I am here in Yungshuo I feel the same way yet again. I love it here. Now, as an adult traveling in China, not only do I want to see everything but I want to truly absorb it too and each place has so much to offer.
I woke up here on Saturday after two days of just walking through the town and decided to take a bike ride through the country side. I was a bit weary of the sweat factor with the heat and humidity here but I thought that a bike ride had the potential of being pleasant and I would at least get a view of Yungshuo from a different perspective. It turned into one of the best days of my life.
I decided to hire a tour guide to show me the sights and every question that I had was answered - “What’s this? What’s that?” - all day long. My tour guide was a local villager named Daisy and she was very patient. At 22 she just graduated from university in a nearby city and is going through the same scary process that we all do when we graduate from college. It was really fun to explain to her that my dad is a rice farmer just like her dad is. Even though we come from around the globe our parents still have the same job. That was pretty cool.
After a morning of biking, I decided to explore the water caves. What is so cool about this place is that you trek throughout on bridges going over streams, pools, and ponds. You can take a mud bath and then bathe in fresh water from the stream right next to that. You go to a hotsprings and then there is a freezing cold pool directly next to it. And this is all natural! The cavern then leads you to this waterfall that you can dive in. Fantastic!
After about three hours swimming and hiking throughout the cave I made it back to Daisy. She had lunch planned in the countryside where I had the opportunity to eat fresh local produce overlooking a farm. So we dine and talk about life in China and life in America. Alongside us a water buffalo crunches on the wonderful grasses that grow in abundance here.
When I said I was going to China, people’s reaction was, “China! Why in the world would you go to China?” I didn’t really know what to expect. Now everything around me consistently meets and exceeds everything that I could have possibly dreamt it to be. This place completely overwhelms me in the best way imaginable and leaves me wanting more of all of the beauty that it holds. If the surface that I have scratched is just the beginning of all there is to be experienced here, two years just might not be enough for me.
