Precious Memories

　　MLIS – Xi'an Frances Mao, Shaowen

　　When I first started working at Maple Leaf, I was absolutely floored to see so many different faces and hear unfamiliar laughter, words, and sounds coming from these unfamiliar people. I had prepared myself mentally to encounter situations that I had never experienced. I remember looking into the mirror and practicing all my salutations with the biggest smile on my face. I was typing challenging vocabulary words that I needed help in pronouncing.

　　I called some former classmates that had equally excelled in English alongside of me, and I practiced full English conversations with them. I laid restless in bed, counting sheep in English. I was physically tired but excited and eager to meet and see all the new foreign teachers as well as the new local staff. My mind was running a million miles a minute. The morning had come, and I had barely gotten any sleep. I went downstairs to my community shops and had breakfast, while saying the names of all the things I saw in my head in English. I set out and jumped on a bus and took the nearest seat to an exit so I could immediately get off the bus and see the new place I would gain priceless experience.

　　My heart was beating fast as I exited the bus and walked in the direction of my new workplace. I arrived at the security gate and was greeted by two female security guards that smiled and welcomed me to the campus. I asked them where I would find the office I was to meet the school personnel and I was accompanied directly there! This was a wonderful start, and I was anticipating what other pleasantries were awaiting me.

　　I entered the office, the secretary had stepped out but would return shortly. I decided to wash my teacup, and as I headed to the door a tall, brown and physically superior guy opened a door. He was about to exit and spoke to me but the manner and speed in which he uttered these words left me puzzled. I smiled and acted as if I understood and said thank you as he held the door for me to exit the office first. This was my first experience in meeting one of the foreign teachers at the place I would consider a home away from home. Over the next few weeks, I was invited to sit at lunch tables by the round-eyed surprisingly friendly foreign female staff. I listened to many of their stories and looked at pictures of families, pets, and scenery from their home countries.

　　I was in the midst of the destruction of cultural barriers. I, along with other local staff, shared our stories and gave suggestions on how to assimilate into Chinese society and things these beautiful ladies could expect and shouldn't expect while in China. I turned red as the foreign staff complimented about many of the local staff and teachers with a variety of compliments about our amazing style of dress, smiles, and hair. Over the course of what was now months, a true and sincere friendship had been built with these foreign teachers.

　　Times were amazing, and we got to know each other very well. It was something to laugh about seeing how differently the foreigners reacted to weather conditions here in China. I sometimes thought that the foreigners were not human in seeing how they were not bothered by the extreme heat that made locals bring out umbrellas when there was no rain in sight. I began to analyze myself, and I came to know myself in a different manner than I had ever thought I would know myself. I began to draw encouragement from non-traditional sources and listen to music and watch movies that I had no interest in watching before I started working at Maple Leaf. I was excited when I was invited to taste home cooked food in which the recipes had been passed down from generation to generation. The food made me feel as if I had entered a time machine and that I was going to know the great great great great grandmother of the woman who had concocted this recipe.

　　I was grateful that I was given this opportunity to come and work at Maple Leaf. Otherwise, I would never have the chance to enjoy these new experiences. Maple Leaf organizes many staff dinners with local and foreign staff, and it's always a fantastic experience to go to a KTV and hear the songs that the foreign teachers select to sing and the manner in which they sing the songs. Sharing our culture is always eventful and to see the foreign staff try our spicy dishes leaves me feeling guilty for the warning wasn't conveyed in a better way—but it is a bit amusing, to say the least. Maple Leaf has brought together some of the most intriguing foreign and local staff and to see the interaction of the two is something like poetry in motion.

　　It is the highlight of my week when I am able to go around the school and see the students and staff actively participating in the English Clubs. Chinese staff is more traditional in their selection of English Clubs, but it's the foreign staff gives me a good laugh when I see the clubs that they decide to offer. One foreign teacher suggested starting an English Boot Camp Club! It was very intense, and I could see that he wasn't just aiming to help get the students in shape, but he was also helping some of them develop discipline, character, and determination. The cooking club was run by a foreign teacher who looked as though he was an NBA player. It was wildly popular and a success on some days and disaster on others. I think the students loved the mystery of the dishes that they would prepare each week and being able to be on the other side of the skillet for a change. I learned from this foreign teacher's club that sometimes it's OK to fail and not to hang your head low after you fail. Failure is not about the fact that you fail, but the experience that you take away from experience.

　　The joy that I feel at Maple Leaf doesn't simply come from the foreign staff or the local staff, but it mainly comes from getting to know the students and watching them grow and develop into young adults. It is a fantastic thing to witness the change that you are making in some of the student's eyes. One student was a very timid, unsure, and unsociable student when she first arrived at Maple Leaf in the Pre-10 program, but she has now blossomed into a social butterfly that is the center of attention. She is positive about who she is and what she wants, and where she is going in her life.

　　When it comes to the students here at Maple Leaf, I think that anyone can buy a student a gift and over time they will potentially lose it, or it will break. Giving students something that can never be broken, lost or damaged is the most significant part about being a part of the Maple Leaf team. Students may get old and lose their hair, but they will keep and cherish the memories made at such a crucial and vital stage in their lives. Maple Leaf is giving me the opportunity to have friends for life and to have some of the fondest memories in my life. Maple Leaf is educating staff, students, and parents at the same time. Life is a journey, and when I arrived at Maple Leaf my journey began. I thought my education ended after I received my degree, but it actually continued, and I am thoroughly satisfied that it has continued.

　　Maple Leaf may not be the place for everyone, but if you are passionate about inspiring students, facilitating the learning process, and stepping outside of your comfort zone, I feel that you should come and be a part of the Maple Leaf team. The internet doesn't do a good job in the manner they portray foreigners, but Maple Leaf does a wonderful job in creating an environment where everyone can come and experience the journey of life, work and learning together. I can't think of a person that works for Maple Leaf, or whoever has worked at Maple Leaf isn't satisfied with the work they are doing and the lives that they are changing.

　　I commend all the efforts that the administrators put forward into making the school environment, work morale, and life such a pleasant experience for all staff and students. Many staff finds love, their true calling, and their purpose when they walk through the doors. I am happy that I have been given the opportunity to share just a few of the countless experiences I have had the pleasure to enjoy. I write this in anticipation of my next experience that I will encounter. If everyone could share their experiences and tell just a few short stories of their life here at Maple Leaf, I think we would be able to write three-thousand trilogies of Journey to the West books. I'm sure that the front-line staff who are actually inside of classrooms could write more vivid stories than myself. Maple Leaf isn't just a job for me; it is a lifestyle that I am living and a lifestyle that I love and look forward to living. 枫叶百人故事