I think I have overcome the culture shock, and things can only get better from here.

I think things can only get better from here. I started at another school today. I am technically a substitute. There's no guarantee that I will have this position permanently (for the remainder of my contract), but the odds are in my favor I believe. If the school out in pingouyuan was hell, this school is heaven. This school is legit, it is legal, it is accredited. Today, when a child was crying, because he's three years old and he misses his grandma, they consoled him. When a girl threw something, she got yelled at. It's amazing. I have just come from a place where a kid got kicked and picked up by one arm for stomping his feet on the floor, after I told him to, for god sakes. If a child at Golden Apple decided to throw something, they would have probably been thrown out a window from the third floor! At the school in pinguoyuan, when kids cry, the are, at best, ignored, and at worst, hit and abused. I don't want to think about the school in pinguoyaun anymore. I hope that it changes soon, for the kids' sakes, but I don't want it to be a part of my life anymore. I don't want to think about it. I am glad I don't have to dread it. It doesn't have to be my problem anymore. I am just so happy that I have a chance at something so much better. There was an amazing stroke of luck involved that I will talk about in a future blog, but for now, I need to get to bed. All I know is that my quitting that job at Golden Apple was a massive risk, and I believe that risk is paying off, and it is turning out to likely be one of the wisest choices I have ever made. There was so much luck involved in this, it has been unbelievable.