It’s Friday of week 2 already
Everything I hear says that the children have settled well and hopefully week two has been as much of a success as week 1. I am now coming to the end of my hotel quarantine and will finally be heading home on Sunday. As many of you know, Joseph has now started a new job over in Chongqing and he welcomed his students back this week. His first assembly with them focused on the value of courage and of ‘firsts’. It was his first assembly as he welcomed many of his students for the first time. It occurred to me that I am experiencing many firsts too. This is the first year at BISS when we won’t be teaching in the same school and this is the first time we have spent more than a couple of weeks apart. This is the first time we have lived in different cities and indeed the first time I have lived alone! So, as I prepare to return home, I will begin my solo living for the first time in over 40 years.
Firsts give us very different emotions, although they manifest in rather similar ways and I am sure this is for a physiological reason, probably related to the primal fight or flight response. We are all nervous about a whole variety of things, and there will be a very good reason for this. The feelings of butterflies in the stomach – excitement or nerves? Regardless of how we feel at these times, what is most powerful is how we respond to them. The unknown is both exciting and terrifying. Naturally, I am the sort of person who errs towards being terrified of new things. I was fortunate enough to be able to move away from home to go to university, but I only went less than two hours away and I had a boyfriend not far away who I saw every weekend. Not particularly adventurous! I then returned home to do my PGCE, partly for financial reasons and partly because I wanted to be home and somewhere familiar, somewhere I felt that I belonged. As I have got older, I have broadened my horizons and I have gained confidence in myself. I no longer shy away from new things and am very proud of that. My godmother said that she couldn’t believe I was the same child that hid behind my mother’s skirt when meeting new people. I am who I am today because of the experiences I have had as are we all.
These last two years have been full of firsts, so here’s to new beginnings and plenty more firsts. I for one am going to attempt to further embrace these firsts and endeavour to seize every opportunity.
Music today? I tried a new playlist. It’s now moved on to Ace of Base and The Sign. Yes, I know, ironic!
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