Preparations for going to China, ups and downs to deal with.

Making preparations to go to China as an ESL teacher was fraught with complications for us. Not only were we adventurers at heart, we were also filled with trepidation at what something so new would be like. We couldn't speak any Chinese and we had never been there before, it was all pie in the sky to start with, but even so, it was something we thought we would like to do.

It was really a chance conversation with a girl I worked with that started us on this idea. Her name was Davina. Like most people I have had my share of ups and downs. This poem sort of says it all.

Life’s a beach

Life’s a Bitch – or – Life’s a Beach it says so on Tee Shirts

But Bitch or Beach depends it seems on how much your heart hurts

For some life is a soaring bird in joyous freedom flies

For some it seems to be a pain they’d like to exorcise

For some I fear it’s very grim, barrel bottom scraping stuff

When many times a day they say of life “I’ve had enough”

And mostly it is struggle on and try to call their bluff

‘I’m fine,’ you smile, ‘and how are you,’ ‘I’m fine as well,’ they say

But their little hearts are trodden flat as they battle through their day

And then they go to bed at night another day got through

What can you do? You must keep on, they all depend on you.

  

Been there? Done that? Haven’t we all. Often there isn’t much you can do to make an immediate change, but sometimes we can take charge of our lives and do something different. We did this after we met… The Sunbeam.

The Sunbeam

I met The Sunbeam on September 29th, 2004. She was the receptionist/girl Friday for the company that shared our office.

She was in her thirties, married to a fabulous husband that loved her to bits, had two delightful children, and she would willingly die for any of them. She had Irish heritage with plenty of freckles, and red hair that was dyed black and gelled till it poked out all over the place like a dunny brush. When she smiled, her green eyes shone, and her radiant face lit up the whole place. She loved people, was hardworking and a diamond of a girl.

Sunbeams sort of glint around the place and spread light. My Sunbeam did that too...she had such a lovely nature and sense of humour. She just exuded confidence, brightness and happiness. I doubt that her boss had ever been in the barrel. He was a lovely man, swore like a trouper and was as honest as the day, but his wife bobbed around in varying levels of the barrel.

Even Sunbeams have to earn a living, so she worked in the same office as me, spreading her sunshine around. I don’t think she ever thought of herself as a sunbeam. In her job she had spare time, so every once in a while she would surf the internet.

‘Lookee here, TESOL!’ she’d exclaim.

So she did hours of research, checked up all the likely places to do TESOL training, and handed on the information to me. She continued to bounce around her little world spreading light as Peter and I went to the information evening. She kept spreading her light all over the place as I surfed the internet for jobs in China. Her light went out for a few minutes when I left my job, but she continued on, sun-beaming around as we made our plans and booked our flights. She has been a girl of inspiration, and I don’t think she had a clue about how her brightness affected other people. We email still, and she’s made her plans to do her TESOL course. And what do you know, the unbelievable happened. She spent some time in the barrel. Her father died, and it took her to the depths for a while. However, sunbeams keep going, and she’s back up again, beaming hither and yon. What a girl!

I called her Davina the Divine.