This is Me, Being Positive

My mattress is as hard as a rock.

No. It’s harder than a rock.

And as a result, I don’t sleep very well. Or at all.

Apparently if I flipped over the mattress it wouldn't be as hard, except the teacher who had my room last year wasn't exactly clean, so my boss said that I probably wouldn't want to use that side.

How am I staying positive? Since the bed is so uncomfortable, I never waste time sleeping in.

I am not familiar with most of the food here.

I am always willing to try new things, but more often than not, I do not finish what is put on my plate.

Often times I can’t figure out from what animal the meat in front of me has come from.

How am I staying positive? I will not be spending much money on food. 

Why, hello lots money in my savings account!!

Most of the food that does, in fact, look appetizing, is way too spicy for me to handle.

Yes, I know I need to work on my tolerance for spicy things, but for now, I am a total and complete wimp.

There is also this numbing spice that makes your mouth go all tingly so you don’t realize how hot the rest of your food is until you have already eaten all of it. Then, all of the water in the world wouldn't be able to extinguish the volcano that is your mouth.

How am I staying positive? I guess I will lose a bit of weight by not eating the food given to me.

I don’t know where anything is.

Most of the time I am afraid to venture outside of my house because I feel like I’ll get lost.

My very small world currently consists of my school, my apartment, and the market 50 ft from my front door.

How am I staying positive? I get to go on daily adventures where everything is brand new.

I don’t speak Chinese. If I do get lost, I won’t be able to communicate with anyone.

Someone could be talking about me with other people right in front of me, and I wouldn't even know it.

How am I staying positive? I will look at this as a learning experience.

My teaching schedule keeps getting changed.

How is this positive? Compare it to all of my possible teaching experiences and repeat to myself, “It can only get better.”

I get charged triple the amount on everything, just because I’m a foreigner. At the mall I asked how much a purse was, and found out it was 900 yuan ($140). My boss said that for her it would only be 300 ($47).

How am I staying positive? This is only more incentive to learn the Chinese words for numbers.

The time differences between here and the US is really inconvenient, so I am never able to be on Skype at the same time as anyone else.

How is this positive? I will look forward to the weekends more.