February 18th

Yesterday we went to this HUGE opening presentation put on by the kids! IT WAS UNREAL. I have never wanted to have my camera so bad in my whole life!!! Everything was in Chinese and it was hilarious! The kids were screaming into the mic and dancing and singing and it was in this huge auditorium with the whole school! They introduced us to their culture and there were lots of masks and costumes and dragons, all celebrating the Chinese New Year. It was so exciting to me! I have no words for it, you would have just had to be there. The best part was at the end they asked all of us ILP teachers to come up on stage and a row of Chinese kids walked out and handed us each a stuffed horse because it's the year of the horse. Every one of us almost cried and we thanked them and hugged them and talked about it all day. We'll always treasure our horses. I am so happy to be here working at this school, I feel like I was born to do this! Every time we walk through the cafeteria they all yell out "HELLO TEACHA!" and wave at us. It melts my heart! It makes me realize that I am their teacher and that I have a responsibility to them! I can't wait to start teaching. I already love those kids so much! We started planning lessons and I loved it, even that was fun for me! A lot of other people were struggling and I was helping them. We've got a full day ahead to prep for our first day tomorrow! Wish me luck! Love and miss you all.