One year. One suitcase. What's worth taking?

If you're a teacher moving to China, here are two essentials that won't push your bag over that nerve-racking weight limit.

INTUITION.
Part of thriving in a cross-cultural classroom starts with learning how to function in an indirect society. China rolls hard with the trusted “maybe” as a catch-all answer to everything. Students as well as administration are no exception.

Straight answers are out of style on this side of the world, so intuition is key.

While abroad, consistent intercultural exchanges will teach you how to read rooms and between lines. Your sense of perception will sharpen. You'll learn how to wield a serious social lightsaber. Become like Yoda, you will. 

ADAPTABILITY.
Pack your yoga pants, y’all. Plans made by administration are free-spirited and often arranged and announced within a 24 hour window.

Adapting to new and changeable situations is an underestimated skill in the workplace. But whether you stay in China long-term or return to your home country, adaptability is a strength that will put you ahead in any crowd.

Go on and stretch those metaphorical muscles. Flexibility ain't just for yogis anymore.

One month into China life, I joined a gym. Being one of the only two foreigners who worked out at this gym, not to mention within the entire city, incessant eyeballing was daily life. 

After a while, though, everyone became more comfortable and less intrigued by my presence. I was grateful & threw up all the praise hands.

I took yoga classes & became friends with the personal trainers & won the tug-of-war contest at the gym Halloween party. I interacted with the majority of the gym staff often, with the exception of the manager, who intrigued me the most.

In group texts with stateside friends, he was referred to as HAGM: Hott Asian Gym Man.

He had a wicked scar on his right arm, chiseled biceps I appreciated from afar, a quiet, mysterious demeanor, and a blue blazer he wore often. His name literally translated as “King Handsome”, which was ironic & mostly accurate.

One evening after yoga, I casually asked my friend Zhen Zhen about him. She giggled like a teenage girl and told me he had a girlfriend.

A week later I discovered that fiancé is not really a word in Mandarin.
The following Saturday, HAGM got married.

Zhen Zhen’s pictures of the wedding on social media also reminded me that no matter what culture, all the beans enjoy being spilled.

“Salad is so brokenhearted” a friend from the gym commented.

Salad? Who is? What the? Why Salad?

A few translations later, I realized: ohmygosh I AM SALAD.

(In Chinese, my name is pronounced exactly the same as the word salad.)

So there you go, world. This is my life. Summarized by translation. And I don't exactly hate it.