What travel taught me about teaching

I've been back in Canada now for almost three months now, and I can hardly believe that. It feels like just yesterday I was walking that willow lined street back to my apartment with a load of groceries in my arms (building up my sick biceps). I miss that, not the lugging of groceries, but being in China on the biggest adventure of my life thus far. This evening I watched two episodes of Departures with my fellow travel enthusiast friends. I have developed a love/obsession for Asia in the past year or so, and so I was so excited to watch double episodes on Indonesia. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter or know me in general, I have not made this a secret: I have the travel bug again.

I do realize that I may not be able to travel again for a while, but there was something incredible I experienced while in China that I am eager to replicate frequently throughout my life. I'm not sure if it's the uncertainty of what you'll come across every day. Maybe it's the knowledge of having your mind opened up to new ways of living and finding that something you really disliked at first about a new place is missed now. I even miss the adventure of sprinting through a massive train station trying to catch the last train back to Shanghai before nightfall.

Being home, I find myself on a brand new kind of adventure, that of being a preschool teacher to thirteen three year-olds. Being a preschool teacher stretches me in new ways that travelling, I think, kind of prepared me for. While I was travelling to China and within China, the unpredictability of life was a guarantee and you had to be okay with that. At first I wasn't, but as time went on I learned about a new layer in my patience that needed to be uncovered. Pretty soon, I enjoyed experiencing the unpredictability of life in China.

As a preschool teacher, I find that I am learning yet another new layer to my patience as a teacher and as a person in general. Being a teacher is not always an easy or comfortable job. Travelling is not always easy or comfortable. Sometimes the things you love most are not always easy or comfortable though. The things that you learn and the people you develop relationships with during both is priceless and rewarding in so many ways. So, while my travel bug kind of hibernates happily (albeit, a little eagerly), I'll make the most of my days as a preschool teacher and as I grow in my relationships with my kids. I'm eager to see what new things I'll learn about them and myself in the coming months.