A little appreciation goes a long way

I have been teaching English and Australian culture to a few groups of Chinese exchange students the last two weeks, and while I initially found it an overwhelming and stressful experience it was very worth it. I tried to learn some basic Mandarin, but that was an epic fail. My pronunciation was terrible and I think it made it worse for the students, so I just stuck to English. I was very anxious teaching something completely different from my usual teaching areas. I worried that I would get it all wrong and end up in a mess. I worried that my stutter would make an appearance and my tendency to loose words and mix words up would make it difficult for the students to understand me. But by the end of it, I have had quite a different experience.

Today I decided to host a Possum Magic party for a cultural experience. We had loads of fun trying vegemite, they all LOVED fairy bread, the chicken dance and hokey pokey were a hit. It was a lot of work on my part, getting up super early to stand and make sandwiches, then on my feet all day.

I was enjoying myself and had a lot of fun taste-testing various Aussie foods, smelling eucalyptus, tea tree oil and vegemite, playing Aussie songs and teaching them how to tear mintie wrappers to see who could make the longest line. Their new favourite word is 'bonza!'

But for me the highlight of the day was the small gift of appreciation I got from one of the students.

It was a tiny elephant on a lucky red string with roses and leaves dangling on the bottom. I have been working with these students only two days, and yet I seem to have made a difference to this one.

It's been a pretty stressful week with medical appointments and yet another thing to add to my "diagnosis list", I've lost a lot of sleep and felt a lot of anxiety with one thing and another. And yet in that moment I felt extremely grateful to have worked with such pleasant and appreciative students. It made me feel like I could do anything and overcome any challenge set before me.

So while my personal life holds many challenges, and things aren't going to plan, it's nice to know my efforts are appreciated by someone.