March picked up the pace both in the classroom and at the weekends, being in a crazy circumstance I found myself a lead teacher in a classroom without an English teacher. Having just negotiated my Montessori deal I was trying my best to keep things together, like I was trying my damnedest because those two years in Wuhan had taught me to be resilient at all costs and to push forwards. I arrived back from my Spring Festival holiday all refreshed and ready for the challenge in hand, also ready to begin my Montessori teacher training course, it was something extra and then some! Making the first month of my lead teacher days felt good, things were going smoothly in the classroom but I was virtually exhausted at the end of the day. I saw these events as pure experience, getting myself together it was another chance to hone new skills with the help of the academic leader, an angel. I wanted a break B!Exiting Beijing on the night train to Changchun felt like I was escaping everything, arriving in the early morning I explored the city to my hearts content. I found the former Puppet Emperors gaff, those former lavish furnishings impressed me much. Being in a city that I had previously shunned felt correct, I used that weekend to correct those foolish mistakes. Fuelling my stomach with some hearty Japanese stew I knew the night ahead was going to be full of scandal and realness. Changchun gave me a place to slay, I luxuriated in that moment to not give a damn because things had been so damn crazy! Changchun allowed me exploration, something that being so dog tired in Beijing, I was thankful for Changchun's efforts. Changchun showed me some Japanese colonial realness and I even helped a Chinese junkie buy breakfast! Seeing what I needed I returned back to Beijing as the Tomb Sweeping Holiday concluded. I knew the next month I would be setting off to Suzhou, J!
My snatched days off in the week allowed me to have a few drinks at home but those nights in town were off the menu, it was strictly Montessori during that time. Missing most of Practical Life I finally attended the Sensorial classes after my weekday rest day was considered, getting what I needed I felt able to fully attend the course. I loved the Sensorial course, it was truly interesting and that's not a lie! Pulling myself out of bed I found myself at Beijing's famous Tsinghua University, situated on Line 15 of the Beijing Subway it allowed me to have a half-day out during April or so, I can't quite remember the month its all blurred into one time. That university discovery made me feel like I had not seen anything of Beijing, I came to terms with that fact because I was dealing with other shenanigans so things would fine their way soon enough! The process meant I was still a stranger to Beijing in the day. Oh!On the odd weekends I broke out of my routine, dressing in my best tee and trousers I would take a taxi down to Destination to dance my cares away! I had gone there after getting back from my Shenzhen-Xiamen Spring Festival holiday, I managed to get on quite well as I navigated the dance floor with confidence. Beijing so far had been mad, the springtime had been something else, I was riding a pure rollercoaster! Turning a negative into a positive, a princess entered my class, of Chinese and Australian parentage she knew she was beautiful and that confidence gave me life for certain! My class gave me challenges but I was applying my training to the fullest, my brain was mashed but I put my 100 into that space, the parents never gave me flack because their kids were happy but there are always haters. That person will know in time that I wasn't playing games! I had faith in what I was doing, something would give and I knew what was going to happen next was right! Go!
In the midst of the craziness I booked a tour during June 2018s Dragon Boat Festival to Datong to see its delights. I treated those three short holidays as therapy because I needed it, working four days then training two had me dog tired, so getting off schedule for 3 days felt good. Datong had many delights inside and outside of its city walls, the grottoes didn't get me mad but those tourists tried me. Mellowing out for the moment, fresh off the plane I saw the Hanging Temple. Carved into the Hengshan Mountain I was truly impressed by the shear craftsmenship of that house of worship. Chilling in the hotel with my Wal-Mart finds gave me life nonetheless, it was amazing to relax in that comfortable room. Datong has realness, it was dry with its normality and for that reason it grounded me. The noise of the immediate area worked well, my district is too quiet at times, getting into the noise felt good. Oh my, god!The springtime shenanigans might have been docile and professional but I made sure I got my own time during those months. Throughout that time I experienced a very different spring to the ones I had in Wuhan but those were my training years, getting my things together here I was able to shutdown those rough times. Slipping away into town had to be done from time to time, those three trips grounded me with the chance to get away from Beijing because all I saw it for was work and training. I look forward to the summer to enjoy that season with more free time, but for all those missed weekends I can shock the lead teachers I work with, my Montessori talent might shock them? With a possible move beginning in August, I am ready for something more familiar. I already know I didn't come to play, but I didn't come to play to sacrifice my life, getting things into perspective as the summer makes an appearance I've got this! Beijing, you're out of your mind! Talk to me later B!
Shenanigans!
Joseph Harrison
