Today was quite a day!
I woke up this morning to my roommate Laura packing all of her bags, and it was a very sad sight to see her go, but we all knew that it was for the best, and we had a peace about her leaving, although we will miss her dearly!
But there wasn't much time for grief, because the students arrived today!
But before they could get settled into their dorm buildings, there was a need for us (the T.I.P. staff) to move around a hundred beds from the 5th floor of one building to the second floor of another, and it was quite a task!
We set up another assembly line on 10 flights of stairs and passed mattresses down them until we all were soaked with sweat. It hasn't rained the last few days so it's be HOT! The greatest thing though, about working as a team in this fashion is the feeling of purpose that comes with it. Standing on the 4th story of a huge building endlessly passing mattress pad after blanket after mattress pad can start to seem tedious, especially when you aren't able to see the big picture of what you are doing. But knowing that what are you doing has a great purpose, and that without you there, things will won't function as well, is encouraging. I hope that everyone can find their place, even if it is seems small and sweaty and insignificant at the time.
After that we did the student interviews, which were very exciting!
We were dressed very professionally, and the students came into a class and we talked to them to determine their English speaking level. I had a few students from every level that I interviewed, but I knew that all of them would grow immensely throughout their time at T.I.P., whether they were able to fluently converse with me or if when I asked, "How are you?" they responded, "Yes."
I'm eager to start working in the classroom with these students!
We were all pretty tired after the long day, but we ended the night by having a crazy 4th of July party in our dorm!
It was probably one of the most fun and interesting independence days that I have ever celebrated. There was ice cream and Chinese "fireworks". Which were quite a blast!
And big news about tomorrow, it is orientation day for the students, and also me and the 4 other girls in our gross old dorm get to move into the really, really nice dorms! I'm so excited, you have no idea.
And here is a picture of the facilitator team here, who are all amazing!
