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Last Segment of this Large Blog Entry

Hello to all, This is the third segment of that same long blog entry. As always, please enjoy. Monday, March 4 That was the official first day of school. I felt like I had just started to get used to the routine, and I knew it would change once school really got under way, but I wasn't exactly prepared mentally for what that entailed. The first day was a big event. One of the teachers made a speech and everything. I experienced a bit of sensory overload and not knowing where to go or what to do at times. I got a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people in the school for such a big day. Often a large group blocked part of the hall or some of the rooms, so trying to figure out how to get around them was confusing. I really don't like bumping into people, and feel especially bad if I almost knock a kid over or trip them with my cane. The school echos quite a bit, so the sound of their voices felt like it was being magnified, thus resulting in my hesitation and uncertainty. I
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Second Segment of a Large Blog Entry

Greetings! This is the second segment of the large entry I wrote weeks ago. Enjoy. Monday, February 25 Having spent some time with the kids during the weekend either loosened me up a bit, or maybe the kids were getting used to me being there, or both. In any case, I was a little more comfortable with them and interacted with them a bit more. I'd gotten to know some of the music they loved, and even succeeded in finding one of their favorite Chinese songs on Apple Music. I would bring my bluetooth speaker with me, and eventually, one of the older boys would come up to me and sing part of the song he wanted or put my hands on my backpack, indicating that he wanted me to get the speaker out. The girls--predictably--love "Let It Go" from Frozen, all the kids love the upbeat version of Baby Shark, to the dismay of some of us here. Even though this week wasn't the official start of school, we began doing small lessons to ease the kids into it, and some of our scholarsh
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First Segment of a very large Entry

Ok folks, This is waaaaay past the time I promised to have another blog entry out. My only defense is that I had a huge technical issue with my Brailliant Braille display’s notes ap, resulting in me having to rewrite everything on my computer. I am not able to copy and paste what I’ve written, nor am I able to transfer it any other way, so please bear with me as I put out smaller entries segment by segment. I believe the last day that I wrote was March 12, so we have a few segments to go before we’re all caught up and I can blog about current happenings. Until then, I hope these entries keep everyone reading. Thank you so much for your patience. God bless, Valerie Hi all, I hope this finds you well. This entry promises to be quite large, as it will attempt to give everyone a Glimpse into these past few weeks and the days before which I have neglected for too long. Thursday and Friday, February 14 and 15th (Actual days this time, not combined like my flight dates.) Th
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Introduction and Arrival at Beijing

Greetings! Many of my readers will already know who I am, but for the benefit of anyone who happens to come across this blog while browsing the web, I will briefly introduce myself. My name is Valerie, and I am totally blind. I just graduated college with an AA degree in art. As recently as last November, just before Thanksgiving, I accepted a volunteer internship position at an orphanage called Bethel China, located in the suburbs of Beijing. This blog is being written specifically for those interested in my experiences teaching these young blind children the basics of the English language as a means of easing the transition once they are adopted by an English speaking family. I have already been at the orphanage for a few days, so in order to keep things straight, I will write about some of the things I have already experienced. I will divide each section by day to make it both easier for me, and--hopefully, for anyone else reading this. Tuesday/Wednesday, February 12/13 I didn'
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