Elle
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Week
This week was an unpleasantly difficult week. We had monday off for a mid autumn moon festival holiday, and the rest of the week was pretty close to hell. I haven't gotten more than 5 1/2 hours of sleep for the past three nights, and all I do is homework. Constantly. I am getting huge blisters on my hands from writing so many characters per night. No joke. It is miserable. I can't even describe it. However, I'm doing well in Chinese, which makes it a little bit worth it. But honestly, I am ready to collapse. Mr. Bissell, our resident director, talked to us this week and said something that was incredibly accurate about adjusting to China. He said "All of you are stressed out, and some of you are falling apart at the seams (for the record, I don't think I'm completely falling apart at the seams). And there's a reason for this. You guys may not be getting any more homework than you would be back in America, and you may be getting just as much sleep, but in America, getting to school each morning isn't a stressful experience. Communicating with people requires no effort. You don't have to adjust to anything". And he is so right. Living here increases my stress level dramatically, even if I don't notice it sometimes. There are so many little things that I do automatically in America, but here I always have to be aware and attentive. Which isn't bad, it's just tiring. I wouldn't call it "culture shock", but the adjustment takes time. And right now, I'm trying to adjust, keep my grades up, not disappoint my family in any way, and enjoy China. And half the time I have a stomach ache for reason, probably because my digestive system is also trying to adjust. Doing all of this stuff is harder than it sounds. But tomorrow we're going to hike the Great Wall, so hopefully that will put me in a better mood. I have been a little bitter all week, but have tried to overcome it and in the meantime, not let it show. I have good friends here too. I'll get some pictures with them at the Great Wall, and post them asap. Until then... toodles.
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2 comments:
Hi Sweetie!
I have every confidence that you will meet these challenges! However, I also fully acknowledge that challenges they are! I'm really hoping you can get more sleep, as being well rested makes everything more do-able. I'm also hoping you're not shy about taking your ginger as needed so your tummy hangs in there with you.
Indeed, I bet you aren't falling apart! I have a hard time believing you have the same amount of homework there as you did here, as it seems like more from your description. Particularly the Chinese.
I'm also really happy that Chinese is going well for you and hope that calculus and English are at least okay!
I'm wondering if you could ask your advisor or Mr. Bissell if there comes a time when you don't have to participate in all their family activities so you'd open up more time for homework and rest. I don't know if that would insult your Chinese family and am thinking it is probably too early in the year to mention anything. But you were definitely in charge of your own schedule here in Iowa and that gave you the ability to pace yourself. I bet you figure out a way to pace yourself there too without having to be up till obnoxiously late hours on a consistent basis.
I'm sending good thoughts your way that everything falls into place eventually and am remembering what Dai said about the first month!
Take care of yourself as best you can and know you are loved!
Mama
If you are who were in fifth grade, you are holding yourself to a much higher standard than those around you are holding you to.
I will not tell you to relax, I know better.
What you're going through is culture shock, that's the perfect term for it. Everything about your life is different, and that's shocking.
No advice, just a prayer or two offered to lift you up.
Miss Stewart
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