Hello everybody!

I switched to a new blog site, pretty much just because I like it better. Sorry for the confusion.

Here's the link:

http://travelpod.com/members/ashleyinshangai

You might want to check it out. It's pretty exciting :)

Love to all!
Ashley

Moving to China in 5 days! 

Looking back on it now, I'm having a hard time believing that this summer is nearly over. In the spring, I accepted a job in China before I even graduated, and then I GRADUATED (holy cow, that's amazing)! I feel like I spent the first half of the summer getting used to the fact that I am finally a college graduate and trying to really enjoy that. Then, I spent the rest of the summer getting ready to move to China! 

I still sometimes cannot believe that I am doing this. How long does "I'm moving to China to teach and I'll be there for almost a year" take to sink in? Now that I'm about 5 days from getting on a plane and making this whole thing a reality, I'm realizing that it probably will not sink in fully until I am there. I feel like I am doing something way, way bigger than myself, and honestly, I'm quite terrified. 

Since the beginning of my whole "Becoming a Teacher" journey, I have often thought of what it will feel like the night before my very first day of teaching my own classroom. Every time I thought about it, I had this feeling that I would be so nervous/anxious/excited that I wouldn't even be able to sleep! Of course, in all of these visions, I pictured teaching in an American classroom. No question. It had never even crossed my mind that my very first year teaching would be in a different country. I had no intentions of moving out of the country after graduation. Yet, this amazing opportunity came along, turned my head, beckoned me to come on one of the biggest adventures of my life, and I just couldn't say no! 

So, here I am. 

If I am going to be completely honest (why not?), I have definitely had the thought that I wish I wasn't moving to China. It is really scary. I will be way the heck out of my comfort zone in so many ways. I already have been and I haven't even moved yet! I kept thinking to myself after graduation that I just wanted to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING this summer. I just graduated from college. It was a lot of work. I deserve a break, right? All I wanted to do was read books, watch movies, lay around, not worry so much about the future. But, the future is there. And it's looming. CHINA. Work needed to be done to prepare. If I really wanted to take the easy way out and not have to do much this summer, I would not be moving to China in 5 days. 

It is interesting for me to think about the parallel of my two choices for how I could be spending the next year of my life. When they are lined up side by side, they are SO different. If I were not moving to China to teach, I would most likely still be working at Walgreens for the next year, doing what I have been doing for the past 5 years. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for my job at Walgreens. But, with the path that I have chosen, by this time next summer I will have had the opportunity to directly apply what I have learned about Early Childhood Education. I will be a better teacher! Is there anything better than that? To become better skilled at something you really love to do? I will be a better person! I will be more comfortable with teaching and I will have invaluable experience that will allow me to be more confident in everything that I do. 

To make the most out of life, I think that it's appropriate at times to take the path that scares the crap out of you. It is probably most everyone's natural tendency to take the easy way out. Our comfort zone is preferred. It's nice there. And safe. We don't have to take any chances in our comfort zone. But, is that really living? I know that this has defined me for many years. I am the girl who over analyzes, who worries about EVERYTHING, who imagines the worst that could happen and thinks that it probably will. I have been paralyzed by fear in the past. I have no idea if I have what it takes to succeed on this endeavor, but you know what? I'm at least going to try! That's HUGE for me and that excites me! I'm probably not going to change the world, but I am doing something and I know that has to better than doing nothing at all. 

I am going to try my very best to keep this blog updated with entries and pictures. If you care enough to read, then you are on this journey with me too :)

Where the Journey begins.......

During my 2nd to last semester at Western Michigan University (September 2011-December 2011), I interned at Galesburg Augusta Primary School in Galesburg, Michigan in a Preschool classroom. Part of the requirement  for this Internship was to attend a seminar class on Western's campus. One day, I walked into class and was surprised to see that we had a guest speaker. He was walking around to the tables passing out brochures and having friendly interactions with the students in our class. I sat down and began to browse through the brochure. It was for a school called Morgan Rothschild Academy. The brochure was colorful and exciting and frankly, quite impressive, and I found myself very intrigued. That is, until I flipped the brochure all the way over and saw the the address to the school was in SHANGHAI, CHINA!!!

To be honest with you, my first thought was essentially this: "There is no way that this nice man is going to get anyone in this room to agree to move to China to teach! He is wasting his time! I hope his presentation isn't too boring." Some of this I may have said out loud to my table mates. So, moving on, he gives his presentation and by the end of it, it was like a switch had flipped inside of me. Now, I'm not saying that I was ready to agree to move to China right then. No, not at all. Not by any means. BUT, I have to say that what he had to say made a lot of sense and it really stuck with me. I couldn't shake the idea and found myself thinking about many, many times over the next few months. And talking about it. And thinking some more. 

I still very specifically remember a thought that popped into my head as I was sitting at my table after the presentation: "I don't know if this is an option unless I apply for it." This thought guided my steps over the next few months. I put off applying for quite awhile because I was so busy with school stuff (considering it was my last year of my college career). Over time, I realized that if I was going to take this opportunity seriously, I really needed to stop putting it off and apply. And that's what I did. It lead to a phone interview, and eventually to a job offer!!! I honestly did not believe that I would be offered the job (I'm not sure why, but I guess I didn't want to believe that I could be so lucky). 

So, that was in March, and before I even graduated from college, I had a job! What a blessing :). Now that I am graduated, everything I do now is in preparation to move to China! I will be living in Shanghai and teaching Preschoolers at Morgan Rothschild Academy. There will also be 4 other teachers from America and I am very much looking forward to getting to know them. All of my lessons will be in English (thank the Lord) and I will be teaching the same curriculum that I would here in the States (reading, writing, math, etc). It is a fantastic opportunity and I am SO excited!!! And, obviously, slightly terrified. Every step of this process, I kept telling myself that I can't let my fear of the unknown stop me from taking part in an experience that will make me a better teacher and a better person. I'm jumping in with both feet and I can't wait to see what happens! :)