Be prepared for amazing experiences as well as emotional drain

First of all, I applied for my program about 4-5 weeks before I started so it was a rather spontaneous decision. I'm glad I had prepared myself for this adventure by learning some basic mandarin Chinese and talking to some Chinese acquaintances so I could build up some general knowledge about Chinese culture.
I would suggest everyone to learn some of the language at home, otherwise it might seem to be an unsurmountable barrier which I wasn't prepared for at all- most people in Xi'an, where I spent four weeks volunteering at a special needs care centre, do not speak English.
This is what I was told by the driver who picked me up at the airport after I had arrived in Xi'an, after I had not found my baggage in the baggage claim area, as it was late and I had tried to talk to the staff at the airport. The only thing I had asked for was to step outside for 5 minutes to find the person who would pick me up and I realised very late that nobody understood what I was deperately trying to tell them. So by talking to them in Chinese I finally managed to get out of the airport.
When I arrived at the volunteer house I met David, our host, who was very nice and welcoming, he also helped me with my baggage so I eventually got it in the evening the day I arrived.
The next day, my program started and we (we were two volunteers working at our placement) were picked up at the house by our shuttle bus. The commuting time took about 45 minutes to one hour each day in the morning and in the afternoon.
I'm not sure about my expectations, I hope I didn't have any because everything would have been different than expected anyway but as soon as I arrived and met the special needs children for the first time I have to admit I was shocked.
Shocked about the overall conditions. I used to work at a special needs school near where I live, in a rural part of Germany, so I thought I would be prepared for a special needs school in China as well.
In fact I suddenly felt so bad and priviliged when I noticed the bad hygienic conditions, it seemed like there were no rules, some of the kids were peeing anywhere they wanted and nobody really cared. Everywhere around me there were special needs- but the care was missing most of the time. I can't blame the teachers- they probably didn't have much training before they started their job so they just learned based on their own experiences.
I stopped comparing the place to the school I had worked at because I didn't see it as a school, more like a waiting room. At first I waited for the teachers to tell me what to do, but they didn't. That's what I was used to, orders, but here there were none so my project partner and I tried some small activities like drawing and playing ball with some of the children. When we were doing these things everybody seemed to become more active and happier and these were the only times I didn't feel useless. As long as we weren't just sitting around waiting for the day to end I really enjoyed working and playing with the kids as they are very lovely. There's a big difference in what they're capable of, some of them didn't seem to interact at all and it was difficult to draw their attention, sometimes very frustrating.
In general, I found it frustrating to see the problems at the placement and not actually being able to help, the only thing we could really do was talking and playing with the children, some of them were able to remember English vocabulary so we also tried to teach them some.
I wish I could say it was a rewarding experience but I personally had a hard time getting along with the placement, especially with the missing structures etc.
It was hard to communicate with the people I was with because... of course they didn't speak any English.
Nevertheless, I am very happy I went there. I liked most of the kids very much and it was sad when one told me she'd miss me when I'm back home, three kids even said they love me, something I had experienced at my "old" school before- you should be prepared the children are craving for body contact. Sometimes sitting next to each other closely is enough, sometimes they need hugs.
Something I liked about the placement was that they're trying to help the children through music. They were listening to music every day and even had musical instruments which is a big plus. Some of them enjoyed dancing and singing very much, others just watched but I'm sure this concept is a good start.
I was very happy about my accomodation at the volunteer house and the overall support from David and his assistants. They showed us around and we had a really great time with them. Exploring the city by night, watching the fountain show near the famous Big Wild Goose Pagoda, going to a karaoke bar are only some of the things we did together.
The City of Xi'an is definitely worth a visit, you'll love the atmosphere and all the sights, the city wall and the muslim quarter were my favourite places.