Looks like I'm dwindling down to one post per season. I can't believe I only put up one post for Season 11. But, to follow up on that one post, I did make it over to China. It wasn't quite to plan...I'd wanted to go to Shanghai or Suzhou, but ended up in Shenzhen...That's where the doors opened so that's where I went.
...Which ended up a fairly happy accident as Shenzhen is warmer than Shanghai or Suzhou and has less pollution. And it's just a nice city. I got placed in a nice school and, yeah, that's been great. It's a high school. This is the first time I've taught high school since I started teaching...um, nearly 14 years ago.
And that kind of segues into the title of this post...I feel like I've gone back in time a bit. Or maybe I should have called this post "Full Circle". But going back to teaching high school again, just like when I'd started teaching...combined with the fact that all my co-teachers are about the same age as when I'd started teaching...it just feels like I've gone through a wormhole.
Unfortunately, I didn't become younger traveling through that hole...though I was tempted...no, I tried to disregard it, as many have advised me to do.
But I don't know, I just can't pretend that I'm in that place in my life. It's not that I'm trying to seem above it all because I'm older. And I get along well with my co-teachers. But I don't have the perspective that I'd had in my 20s.
And yet, I don't feel much different than I did when I was younger,...And certainly, my job description hasn't really changed...at all. I've contemplated maybe getting higher degrees and maybe studying linguistics...But I wouldn't want to do that just to convince others that I'm accomplishing something with my life.
Really, I am accomplishing investing for my financial future. And I feel getting another degree would undermine that. Plus, I'm not interested in moving up in this "career". I enjoy working with the students, but I don't feel teaching is my calling. Finally, the idea of studying linguistics seems overly mechanical. In a way, I've come to the conclusion that language is ultimately meaningless, especially when considering the discrepancies between what people say and what they do. Language is just storytelling. It isn't truth.
I'm sure, there's irony in those last few statements.
As for a calling, I think I've mentioned it in posts past, I don't feel I have one...at least nothing I want to be paid for. If people ask me what I would want to do if I weren't teaching, I say I want to retire. Of course, I also say that there isn't anything else I see myself doing besides teaching. And since teaching is allowing me to save money to invest for retirement, well, I keep teaching and investing. I mean, those are my actions.
That's probably a good stopping point.
