My Experience in China...

I couldn't wait to come to China. My brother lives here, I love to travel and I love kids. It seemed like the perfect... ideal 6 month get away from life. School, work(or the lack therof) social life (or lack therof), just reality. I saw it as an escape of sorts where I would be in another country experiencing incredible things and developing new friendships. And it's has been all this and so much more.

Teaching was not at all what I expected. It was and is a much more difficult thing that I expected. Which... has made it a more challenging experience but also more rewarding simultaneously. I LOVE the kids. I really enjoy kids to begin with which is a big reason why I decided to come and participate in the program, but I have grown to absolutely love and adore these kids. It's been unique because teaching the kids every day has given us the opportunity to spend time to get to know each of their little personalities and see and watch them learn and improve as the semester has progressed. It is incredible to see the change. I have loved getting to know the Chinese teachers we work with. They are funny, and beautiful, and sweet, and I'm so happy we've been able to develop some friendships with them. I wouldn't trade my experience here in China for anything. It has truly been a splendid experience.

There are some things I've learned being here that I will hopefully take back to America with me and it can help me to become a better person.
Not that this one will necessarily make me a better person, it's just something to keep in mind. Public transportation is nothing to be scared of. I don't think before this experience I would just hop on a city bus to go somewhere, but... the first thing I'm doing when I get home is looking up the local bus schedule.
Walking and riding a bike is definitely doable for distances that I would normally drive.
I plan on being more spontaneous. Live a little, ya know. Travel. Take weekend trips, it's so worth it. It may not seem like a lot of time for a trip, but really? We only live once, and there is so much to see and do. Just jump in the car and go! Take advantage of the opportunities. Work hard and go enjoy the beauty.
The gospel is so much easier to share than we think it is. Really. Being in a country where we are forbidden to speak about our beliefs and religion makes you want to even more, and there are just as many people in America waiting to hear about it as there are in China.
Traffic rules are optional. Probably won't apply this one in the States. :)
Gratitude has a whole new meaning in my life. I think everyone has their own individual experiences that somehow change their lives in one way or another... 'eye opening' some would say. This has definitely been an eye opener for me. We can never be too grateful. Ever. I feel so blessed to have been able to have come here and be where I've been, see what I've seen and do what I've done. It's been an incredible thing.
Nothing is more important than helping someone else. The Chinese people are so kind. It is never too big a thing that you will ask. They will always help you. And not just the first step, but they help you until you are completely helped.
I've just learned to love walking, and walks. I love evening walks. To just walk and see and enjoy the beautiful-ness around you. It is so great. I'm going to take more walks. And enjoy it!
I've learned to love. I loved before I came to China, this is a different kind of love. More of an unconditional love if you will. To have a class of 8 kids and look at them all in the eyes and feel nothing but complete love for each one of them, to walk down the street and feel nothing but love for every one of the people I passed. I learned to see every one I came in contact with as a brother or sister.
Kindness is easy. It takes so much more energy to be angry, irritated, annoyed, frustrated, etc. Why not just be happy, and kind. Serve those around you, especially the ones that tend to make you go crazy. You will learn to love them. I did. :)
I have obtained a real love and deep appreciation for my country. Spending time outside the country tends to do that to you. Our country isn't perfect. It certainly has it's flaws... but I know that our country was founded by men of God. Our Father in Heaven was involved in the founding and establishment of our great nation and I feel so blessed to have been born into my country at the time that I was.
I feel like I've learned to have an open mind to things. I'm more open to learn. I had a roommate here that I think struggled with 'not knowing'. She couldn't ever say "i don't know" which I struggled with but she helped me to self evaluate myself and I realized that too often I think I am afraid of not knowing, and being naive. But there is nothing wrong with 'not knowing'. That is what this life is all about. How boring would life be if we knew everything. We are here to learn and there is nothing wrong with that. I love learning new things. :)
Independence is important. It is fun and comfortable to be with others and have them there to do things with etc, but in some aspects of life, we have to do things independently to experience it for ourselves and gain something from it for ourselves individually. This experience was so great for me in that sense, and in more ways than just one. Mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Also, I learned along with independence, that people need people. The girls I went to China with are all incredible. Each one of them touched me in one way or another at some point during the last 6 months. I have learned something from every one of them. I needed them. I believe that they were possibly one of the reasons I went to China. It has made me want to reach out and be there for someone else who is in need of someone.
I have learned so much spiritually. Never before this have I ever studied my scriptures more diligently, or prayed more fervently, or depended on my Savior more than I have in the past six months. The Book of Mormon is so great. It is certainly here for our learning and benefit and I have LOVED reading and studying it's words. I have never really enjoyed reading it like I have. I look forward to reading it now, and that makes me sooo happy. Prayer is such a comfort. I felt like I had to depend on my Heavenly Father and my Savior far more than I ever have during this experience... especially in the beginning. I struggled with teaching, and other things and I found myself constantly communicating with my Father in Heaven and I am so grateful for that. I have loved becoming closer to Him and my Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you China for such a great experience.
Wo ai Zhonguo.

Goodbye's aren't my thing...

I couldn't have laid out a better agenda for the last two days I have in China. I spent both days with Sonia. She came to Zhongshan when I couldn't go to Shenzen. We had dinner with the Bond teachers all at Bond. Michael, Jenny and Denial made us dinner. We ate, and toasted, and laughed and talked. It was so much fun, as always with the Chinese. Then we all piled into the school bus and went to Karaoke. I didn't do much singing, but everyone else did. And SONIA. WOW. She has such a great voice. I played this dice game with Jaimie and Sonia. They both kicked my butt, but it was fun. The entire night, the Chinese teachers were individually bringing us gifts and notes from them. There were lots of Hugs and tears. Aike, sweet sweet Aike was so emotional. She made us earrings. All of us, and when it was time to go she was so sad. She bawled. It was so sad giving our last hugs and goodbyes. So hard.

Wednesday was another fun day. We got our hair washed, got smoothies, took pictures with the kids, packed our luggage, and for yet another set of goodbye's... we met John at the bus station and Sonia and him took all of us out for our last dinner in China. He was so sweet to do it. We had to be quick and catch the bus home, so my goodbye to Sonia was very quick. Gosh I love her so much. I've become a lot closer with her, and John both and it was really really hard to say goodbye. I wish I could stay longer and be there with them and see the girls. But I couldn't. And that's alright. Wo ai Zhonguo

Spectacle Children's Day Performance Pictures.

Wo ai wo Ba ba...

Happy Fathers Day to you Dad. I love you. You are the best Dad any of us could have asked for. We sure lucked out... :) Or we're just really blessed. One of the two :)

Wo ai ni

A cockroach named Steve... Steve Pony.

There is a cockroach in my bathroom. It is living in my cabinet with my hygiene items. Jillie and I have tried our hardest to persuade him to leave, but he will not. So... we have decided to adopt this cockroach as our own. We call him Steve. Steve Pony. And we must be doing an incredible job of making him feel at home because he has YET TO LEAVE! Unfortunately. Curse Steve Pony.

U.S vs. Slovenia.

We had an American Party tonight watching the U.S. vs. Slovenia game. We had cookies, pudding, mashed potatoes, fruit. Just a bunch of junk food really, but it's American. :) Spring and Hui Hui came. :) So great. Hui Hui is perfect. He is simply adorable, and just the cutest thing. They both got really into the game, it was a lot of fun. It was established that both Spring and Hui Hui really enjoy playing and that Jaimie and I enjoy it as well. So Spring suggested we all play sometime before we leave. Tuesday morning. I'm excited, not only because I get to spend the morning with Hui hui, but because I'm excited to play soccer again. It'll be fun.

Good game tonight. Ridiculous call back on the U.S goal though. Really. So absurd.

If Hangman could predict my life...

this is how mine would go...

I would live in Honduras
I would be a great kisser
My house would be turquoise
I would wear a cloak...
I would have a daughter named Samantha
My husbands name would be Rowen
I would be pregnant with a child
I would eat Cherries
I would drink Corn Juice
I would speak Chinese

. . . according to Hangman.
Sitting on my bed reading tonight, Jillie asked me if I wanted to play a game. That game... hangman, with a twist.

Tough.

Today is our last day with our kids. Talk about surreal. It's like when we first got here all over again. Only then, it was surreal in a different way. We were just going on a vacation to China. It didn't settle that we were staying for a while until we were settled. And now... we're here, in Zhongshan, and it's our home. It's been home for 6 months. It feels like we're just going to America to visit, then we'll be back to school in another week. Back again on Monday morning looking down at my class of big brown hopeful eyes & huge smiles & laughs. I can't imagine never seeing my kids again. That sounds dramatic but really? It will be the case with most if not all of them. I can give my contact information and promise to keep in touch, but will they remember me? Will I physically see them again? I don't know. I see them and I think about what their lives have in store for them. Will they be happy, successful? I'm sure they will but along with that will come the pains and struggles and trials that life tends to throw at us, and I just hope that somehow I've been able to teach them something that will help them through those times and help them to be happy. It has been really special being here and watching our kids every day progress more and more. To watch their personalities develop and grow. I have definitely developed a unique and meaningful love for each one of them. And not just the kids, but the Chinese teachers as well. We've been so blessed to have worked with such wonderful people.

I just want to make a deal and sign a contract with their parents that says, "you taught my children for 6 months so in return we will send you monthly updates and pictures and let them call you, email you, etc. etc. etc." ha. But... I'm afraid not.
What a fun time though. I've loved every minute of it.
. . . And I want to adopt a Chinese baby someday.

Children's Spectacle Performance...

It's finally here. I've talked about it for so long. Today was our Spectacle Children's Day Performance. And the day before our last with our kids. We skipped teaching to run through the performances once more. It was so great! The performances themselves, the costumes, music. Such a great show. Leo did so great in his lead as the Frog Prince and Bella as the Princess, and all of them did so well in the Medley. Jillie and Abs sang the song "For Good" from 'Wicked' and they sounded BEAUTIFUL, and ... we rocked our dance! Naturally. :) I was actually completely lost the entire time. Somehow. We've been practicing for like 2 months and I still got thrown off. (Says a lot about my ability in the first place, or the lack thereof) But it was fun :)

At the end of the show, the kids all went into the audience to find and give a gift to their dads for Fathers Day. Then, we were very unexpectedly ambushed... by ALL of the kids. Our kids and the Cambridge kids. They all gave us gifts and cards and hugs and 'thank you's' and their parents took pictures. Sweet Angel started crying. She didn't even want to give us our cards because she was so sad we were leaving. The parents of the kids are so kind. Some of them gave us really nice gifts; 100% silk scarves, fans, cards, tea sets. Karen's parents gave all of us free admittance gift cards to an amusement park. Belinda came up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and handed me something she made me and said, "Teacha I will miss you. Thank you." :) and Leo. Leo brought tears to my eyes. I am going to miss them all sooo sooooooo much. A lot of us got kind of sad and a little emotional and the kids didn't understand. Alice was giving me a hug and I was crying and she touched my face and wiped my tears and said, "teacha, teacha... why?" :) Good question. Beats me. This is so much harder than I anticipated it to be. I love my China kids.

I'll post some pics later today or tomorrow

A Little World Cup Lovin'

I'm not in America. So I don't know how it is there, but in the past I don't remember being blown away by the world cup advertising. In China, a clip of the world cup theme song plays at the end of every song on the radio, bakeries are advertising and selling Futbol cakes, every billboard refers to the South Africa 2010 World Cup, big screens in public shopping centers stream live matches. McDonalds LOVES the World Cup. Even lingerie stores advertise it, :) "B cup C cup, WORLD CUP!" It's everywhere. Just as it should be. :)

Go U.S.A!

Bu shi. Uh ah.

No to the Enrichment Dance Party. For those of you who posted on the post a few back. Absolutely not. I will have NONE OF IT. :) I'm just sayin'.

Xiaolan Run... Cockroach escapade... Locked out.

We picked up Sonia at the bus station, and hopped on another to Xiaolan for the day. She was so sweet. We met her at the McDonalds by the station and she came out with a bag of lychee and 3 different kinds of cookie things that she pulled out of her bag one by one and gave to me. Ha. so funny. On the bus ride, a guy got on at one of the stops, young... maybe 22, handsome... Anyway, after only a couple of minutes, he began a conversation with Shaila nearest to him and of course our ears are trained now for Chinese so when we hear any English our ears perk up a bit. He was so great. He spoke incredible English and was the nicest guy. He's never left Zhongshan but his English was perfect. He wanted to go to school in the U.S someday. He got our contact info, and us his. We got there and walked from the bus station just down the street to the da fuyuen shopping mall. We went to the infamous second floor to get lunch. Which was... GREAT. Of course. There's a reason it's infamous. We had baozi and noodles. Real good baozi and noodles. We shopped around on the 4th floor a bit (the bartering floor) Then Sonia and I did our nails with the other girls. She really wanted to get them done. :) and we headed home shortly after. The girls took the Kaiyin bus home and I walked with Sonia to her bus stop and waited with her until her bus came, then I headed home. I read the entire bus ride home. I'm reading this book called 'The Book Thief'. It's so interesting. The book takes place in 1940's during the Holocaust and takes place in Molching, Germany. The narrator is death. It's a phenomenal book. I'm really enjoying it.

So... I get home, get off the bus, walk up to our apartment and open the door to find Mikelle standing on a chair against the wall watching a movie. I was a little perplexed as to why she was watching the movie standing on a chair with a plastic bowl in her hand so I asked her, "Mikelle what are you doing?" And she informed me in a very dramatic tone.... "There's a cockroach. It crawled under the couch and it won't come out." Hence, why she was standing on the chair rather than watching her movie from the couch. "Mikelle, how long have you been up there?"....
"About 20 minutes."
"Mikelle."
"Yeah?"
"You're pathetic, get down from the chair." :)

For the next 20 minutes she would remain on the chair and ask me to get or do things for her because she wouldn't get down. Such as... "Sarah, will you hand me my computer?" of which I replied, "No. No I will not. Get down and get it yourself Kelle." Which was then followed by minutes of whining and complaining like a 4 year old. But... she couldn't move me. I went into my room and locked the door (remember that part) so that I couldn't hear her whining. A couple minutes later there was a knock on the door, "Sarah?... It's really hot out here will you turn the fan on?"
"No. I absolutely will not Kelle. Get down off the chair, be a man and turn it on yourself."
"But I'm not a man! Pleaaasse please please please. Ugh hu hu hu hu!" (that's her crying out loud)
"No Mikelle. Sorry. I love you, that is why I'm doing this. You can do it yourself. You're going to have to get down from the chair eventually. It might as well be now."
Some would call me heartless, but... not really worried about it.

So after a few minutes I came out and sat on the couch. "So, how about we watch a movie hu, how about Goal?" (hinting that we turn off the movie she was watching in Chinese since, Oh. I don't know... we don't understand Chinese) She thought that was a great idea and told me where I could find it in her bedroom. "Uh ah Mikelle. No way. Go get the movie. You have to get off that chair at some point. Just go get the movie." She wouldn't. I ended up getting the movie, and she ended up climbing from the chair to another chair to the couch to avoid touching the floor.

We had only watched a few minutes of the movie when the other girls got home from Kung Fu and walked in the door. Right away Mikelle informed the rest of the cockroach residing underneath our couch. Jillie grabbed the broom, threw me a bowl and she prodded it out and I caught it with the bowl as it came out. She came and slid some paper under the bowl to go and throw it in the toilet. :) On her way to the toilet, something happened and she dropped it so the roach scurried away into Mikelle and Abby's bathroom. Right then Jillie went to walk back into the bedroom to get something but couldn't because "someone" locked the door and shut it. We were locked out of our room. Oh goodness. So here we were. I was trying to watch a movie, that I was very into I might add... Mikelle was hyper ventilating about to have some kind of episode because of the roach in her bathroom and now... we were locked out of our bedroom with no way in because we don't have a key. Mikelle and I tried to get the door open with a card, a bobby pin, and chopsticks but we couldn't budge it. So we grabbed Abs because her Chinese is probably the most developed and we went outside in search of one of the complex guards. We walked around saying, "Shuai ge! Shuai ge! Qing wen!" Thinking maybe that was the best way to get 'his' attention. Finally we found one and said, "qing wen" (question) and we asked him, "Ni ke yi bong wo ma?" (Can you help us?) He looked so confused, but tried his hardest to understand and help us. We eventually got him to follow us up to our apartment and we showed him the door and he looked at us like, 'how the heck did you lock your bedroom door?' So Jillie goes to the other bedroom and plays a mini game of charades to show him exactly what happened :) He just laughed, gave us a number to a locksmith and left. So, we had to get it unlocked somehow or pay for a locksmith. Then I think it was Shaila that said, "What about the bathroom window?" The thought really hadn't occurred to any of us because it's really not a big window at all. It's actually kind of small. BUT. We do leave it open with just the screen down all the time, so it was worth a try. I went out to the porch and opened the screen... and began to climb through head first. I went in up to my waist and then came back out. Jillie, Abs and Mikelle followed me out and proposed that they lift me in feet first so that I didn't plunge myself into a pitch black, tile shower head first. But I refused because... just... no. I tried again. It could work. I saw that if I could grab hold of the shower door and lift myself through it would work without falling down head first. I just needed to figure out how I was going to fit my big pahookie through the window. But... I figured it out and 30 seconds later... I was in, door was open, no problem. Which was great. Not to mention, did a great little number on my self esteem after having a chair doubled up in my behalf only yesterday. Ha ha ha.



One of our most eventful evenings in a while. :)

6.14.10

Mmmm. Today was another one of those days that you just smile at the end of and think 'what a great day!' Our apartment woke up and went for a run. We did the Kaiyin loop and finished at the Baozi noodle shop by the school. We got Baozi for breakfast and came home for a quick shower before we caught the bus.
We took the bus into the stadium and walked to the school where we met Tina and Cherry. They walked with us to Wendy's house. Vicki, JoJo, and Jesse were all there, and Tina and Cherry came with us. It was so fun to see Wendy outside of school and meet her husband and her little baby girl. Her daughter is stunning. She is a beautiful little girl. We asked Wendy if she had an English name and she told us that there was no English name beautiful enough for her. :) I thought that was so sweet.
Lunch was grrreat. We sat and made jaozi together around the kitchen table (of course because that is what everyone does in China, and I absolutely love it... date night all the way :) and then we all sat around the table in the living room and ate. Wendy and her in-laws that live with them were so great. They fixed so much food for us, and it was all wonderful. Well there was one dish that Abby and I ended up spitting out under the table but no one saw, mei wen ti. We had noodles, jaozi, corn soup, and a handful of other small dishes.
Was embarrassing, now funny story: The table we were sitting around was a big round table in her living room and it was about the height of a coffee table, it was not big so we just sat on small plastic stools. We were eating and I was backing up my chair trying to just scoot back away from the table and one of the legs of my stool caught the grout in the tile and it gave way beneath me. :) So the legs came out from underneath it and it and I fell together to the floor. But! No problem. The embarrassing part is that the whole table of people... Jillie, Jaimie, Shaila, Brianna, Kelle, Abby, Tina, Cherry, Jo Jo, Vicki, Jesse, Wendy, Wendy's husband and her in-laws all just saw that the chairs legs came out from under me and collapsed. They didn't see me scooting back, they didn't see it catch the tile... they just thought I was a fatty American whose weight couldn't hold the one stool I was given. SO.... to make the situation worse, Wendy gets up frantically and runs to get another stool and she doubles it up for me. SHE DOUBLED IT UP FOR ME! What the? Oh my gosh. Really? I was sooo embarrassed. So terribly embarrassed. Not to mention a heavy shot to my self esteem. :) I got over it. Eventually.
Wendy's little girl was so cute and sweet. And for anyone who knows me, I LOVE babies, and I totally get baby hungry around them. I think people don't let me hold their babies, or hope I won't ask because their scared I'll steal them :) I probably would. Especially this little girl, she was adorable. Anyway, so I went over to JoJo who was holding her at the time and kind of just patted her little back and started talking to her. She starting SCREAMING at the top of her lungs and everyone in the room, all the eyes just shifted to me as if to say, 'what did you do?' Again... so embarrased. And every time the baby got anywhere near me she would do the same thing. The grandma had to take the baby outside or out of the room to calm her down every time it happened. Oh brother. :)
It was such a great afternoon. These last couple of weeks here are getting harder and harder. The thought of leaving and not seeing these great people we've built relationships with, worked with and spent so much time with for the last 6 months is really tough, and so sad. So any time we get to spend with them is very treasured. We love it.
Kelle, Abs and I went shopping after that with Jesse and JoJo. They wanted to take us out. We really didn't buy anything, we just did a lot of looking but it was fun being out with them.

A good good day.

Really Hui Hui?

I probably have a little thing for Hui hui (the Kung Fu teacher). But what's new?

A Saturday at school?

Because of Dragon Boat Festival, we have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all off next week from teaching so to make up for some of that time we loose we got to teach today! a Saturday which has yet to happen for us. We had opening with the kids and then we ended up rehearsing a lot for Spectacle rather than actually teaching a lesson. The performance is on the 17th. It'll be so great. The kids are awesome & they've been working so hard. We were at the school all day, from 8:00 am -9:00 pm. Where we were scheduled to teach but didn't end up doing so... I got to Skype Rebekah, Catie, Tarah & Mom, Dad, AND... Elisha & Nelly! SUCH a great day for Skype. And it was so wonderful, every minute of it. Then we had our dance lesson (a final run through before we performed later that evening :) Spectacle Rehearsal with the kids. We got to sit and watch the entire performance how it will go. The kids are so adorable. I'm going to miss coming to school and seeing their sweet smiley faces everyday. Oh boy. Then we helped set up for our Festival that night and at 6:30.... the Festival began!

Man! The Chinese sure know how to throw a party. Michael, Denial and Jenny made a number of dishes. French Fries, Cucumbers, Squid, Chicken, Corn, Soup, fruit, lots of random things and we ate dinner. Dinner was followed by a program (if you can call it that, it was a little more spontaneous and unorganized than something labeled a 'program' but... all the same) A group of Chinese teachers did a dance for everyone. Ha. It began as a Chinese Fan Dance and turned into a hip hop routine to the song, "Nobody nobody but you! da da da... Nobody nobody but you... da da da. Nobody nobody! Nobody nobody!"...:) They were hilarious. Then we all did our dance... the, aerobics/cheer dance. Surprisingly, as miserable as I am at dancing, I had sooo much fun doing it. Because we all knew how goofy we looked doing it and everyone else did too so we just rocked it! :) Mei wen ti. After that, Cherry and Icey sang a duet, Abby and Mikelle sang a song that Mikelle wrote the words and melody to but Abby wrote the music for it... and we played a series of games. They had the foreign teachers put headphones in and sing or hum a Chinese tune and the Chinese teachers had to guess the song. If they got it right they got a prize, if they got it wrong they had to eat some rolled mean doused in Wasabi. Eeeeeey. So Spicy! Another one, we played musical chairs... ha. and then we just sang Karaoke for the rest of the evening. We didn't leave the school until about 8:30 or 9.

By the time we got home we were all so tired, but... Saturday night, we couldn't go to bed. So Abs, Kelle and I walked down by the school to this shop that sells Bao zi and Manto, but they don't start selling it until 10:30 because they make it fresh for breakfast the next day, so we had to wait until late to go down. We did... and it was delicious. Mmmm, and the owners of the shop were so fun to talk to. When we got down there, the shop was empty and the manto wasn't ready yet so we just visited with them as best we could. Such sweet people. We got home around 11:30 and Jillie was watching the Nigeria vs. Argentina futbol match so we joined her for the rest of the game and then hit the hay by Midnight so we could wake up at 2:30 for the U.S vs. England match.

We missed the first half (when all the goals were scored) but we caught the second half. Didn't expect the outcome, especially after watching it. But it was better than expected, so... shoot! We'll take what we can get. :)

A Shame.

Yesterday, oh yesterday. Not my day. I was so impatient, with EVERYONE. And after the fact I feel really horrible about it. I really do. I think for the most part I have been a very easy to get along with... easy going person here and no one is used to seeing that side of me. But yesterday I was easily irritated with everything and everyone. Even the kids. Which is really sad. My lessons went miserable. I snapped at Abby for something I wasn't even right for. I got in a really ridiculous argument with Jaimie for something silly and I wish I hadn't. I feel awful. I apologized for all of it but still. I don't want to be that kind of person. Ever again. I feel awful at the thought of even being that way around these girls. I want to be someone they look up to and want to be like. But we're human and we all make mistakes. I just hope I don't make one like that again.

Oh brother.

So... living with 6 girls, it has come up, and is probably apparent (ha) that I am not really a huge social butterfly at home, that I've only ever been on 3 dates, and that I've never dated anyone. I'm not sure if it's because most of them have missionaries, boyfriends, fiancés, or just potentials at home so the topic often comes up, or if girls are just girls and in the 6 months we've all been together, they've asked. Either way, it is certainly known within our group. So! Tonight... I'm sitting on my bed and Kelle and Jillie come into the bedroom so I can show them something and somehow the conversation turned to just that, and how I need to learn from them how to be charming, and flirtatious so that I can get dates when I go home. Jillie, being the hysterical great little actress that she is proposed the idea that we do role plays. HA! First she had me be the guy and she tried to play me so that she could show me what to do in a situation like that. But I'm afraid my sarcasm and uncooperative attitude got in the way of things so Mikelle suggested that Sarah (me) should probably play the part of Sarah. Brilliant right? So, that is what we did. We rehearsed a number of situations. The first, Jillie was Sam (because apparently Sam and Sarah sound good together, :) haha. Oh Jillie). He wanted to go to dinner, but turns out he was weird, so it didn't work out. The next, was... Dionne-gae! Ah hu. The conversation went as follows:

Jillie (Dionne-gae): "Girl! Whaz up? My name's Dionne... [Mikelle, whose middle name is Dionne interupts]
Kelle: "Uhmmm, Hello!"
Jillie: "Oh, right. Sorry.... I mean, 'My name's... Dionne-GAE! What up girl!?"
Kelle: "That still has Dionne in it!"
HAHAHA
Dionne-gae was weird, but incredibly interesting so I accepted his dinner offer.
The next is nameless. But. He is from Frasier's Bottom West Virgina and spoke in the most feminine nasally voice I have ever heard (Jillie's acting is so great... I was almost crying I was laughing so hard) He was incredibly interested in my China trip, and rambled way way way too much about Mao. Ha. But again, he made me laugh too much so I couldn't possibly turn him down. That's my second date when I get home. Wow, would you look at me go!
The next... my personal favorite, was Nicholas, from... AUSTRAILIA. How perfect! :) He told me he's new in town but somehow he heard that I play 'futbol' so he asked me if I wanted to show him around to some good places to play and invited me to play with him and then go get frozen yogurt. Uhmmmm, yes please! Of course I accepted right away. I'm looking forward to that one :)

Anyway, I haven't laughed as hard as I did tonight in a little while. Kelle & Jillie are so great. Jillie is hilarious. Her improvising is incredible. I have no idea where she comes up with some of the things she says and does, ha... but it's great. Plus, now I'm set... 3 dates lined up for when I get home and one of them I'm actually looking forward to. Pretty good ratio if you ask me :)

p.s... Evidently, if I were one of Mickey's friends, I would be Pluto.

24 days. That's all it takes.

I have always, as far back as I can remember had the horrible habit of biting my nails. Since I've been in China, I think my nails like the humidity because they grow real fast. We've been here almost six months and every time they grow out I'm so happy and proud of myself but then... I get nervous, or bored, or scared... or something! and I bite them down again. SO! I decided about 2 weeks ago that I was going to break my habit. They say it takes 24 days to make or break a habit and I decided to go for it. My nails are so long and beautiful and I don't even have the desire to bite my nails. Not even a little bit. (False. Maybe a little bit) You know when you get acrylic nails on, and you just feel so beautiful and you keep holding your hands out and looking down at them... yeah. That's me right now. :) I'm like a little girl. I love it. I'm so happy about it. It's so silly how different things get different people riled up. Zao gao.

16 days. Wow.

I ran 3 1/2 miles today. I had been running 3 and I bumped it to 3 1/2 this week. Because of our trip to Guangzhou I actually hadn't ran in 3 days so yesterday I decided not to jump right into 3 1/2 and I just ran just over 1 mile and I juggled for a while which was SO great. I love that. It feels so good to just get a foot on the ball again. My knee was really sore afterward but I'm sure it's getting worked... and that could be a really good thing for it. Anyway, so tonight after dinner I took my ball and walked to the track, but my dinner was a bit bigger than usual so rather than run right off I juggled some first, and then I went for my run. The weather tonight was perfect. Breeze, overcast, so gorgeous. So I gathered my rocks... (28) and started my run. I don't run with an ipod anymore because it's a bit pointless with mine. I think it began to just take more energy to run with it because I had to work to even get sound out of it. Anyway, I was running my laps today thinking to myself, 'anyone can do this. anyone could run any distance. I could even run a marathon... running is all in your head. It's a mind game. 6 months ago there is no way I could ever run 28 laps around a track without stopping and I certainly couldn't do it without music... and now, I do.

After my run today my knee felt like it had run a marathon. I think I really pushed it today, but I'm not so good at reading my body. There aren't shooting pains or anything so I don't know if it is a good think and it is just sore because it's not used to being worked or if my body is trying to tell me to stop and give it a rest. I will keep going and we'll see how it feels. But it feels good. It is such a great exciting thing when you set a goal for yourself and you are accomplishing it. It feels SO GOOD.

June 7th... Night (10:30)

I can't sleep. It's almost 11 and I can't sleep. For the first time in almost 3 months, i've just layed in bed and I cannot sleep. I can't get John & Sonia off my mind. I just can't stop thinking about them, and worrying about Sonia and hoping and praying that John doesn't do something crazy that he'll regret. Sonia didn't sign up for this. She doesn't deserve it, and John doesn't deserve her. I don't really know what emotions I am feeling right now. I'm sad.... heart broken, and I'm angry. I am so upset with John. I want to confront him and just tell him how horrible and wrong he is acting. It isn't like him. It's not. But all I can even think to do is just to pray for them both and be here to communicate with Sonia and John.

Spectacular.

We're on the school bus this morning, and Miley Cyrus comes on... and Sparky (our driver) slowly reaches for the knob and turns it up a tiny bit … then Shaila recognizes the song... and starts singing along. So Sparky reaches down and turns it up a little more... then Jaimie hears Shaila singing along and starts to sing along as well.... so sparky leans down and turns it up even more. Then... two others, Breanna and Jillie start singing along and Sparky grabs the knob and just cranked it. Hahaha. I love Sparky. I'm gonna miss him so much. We couldn't have asked for a better driver, and handyman. He is so great.

Oh. Celena... our Chinese Coordinator. She had her baby. A bouncing baby boy! How wonderful.

Opening went so smooothly this morning. Our kids were so great. Allow me to paint a small picture for you. This is how every one of my mornings go before class. This morning, Teacher Breanna had opening today... so she finishes leading the last song and then yells, “Attention!... time to line up.” Right then all 7 of my home room kids race eachother to the front line spot to hold “teacha sarah's” hand. This morning, Leo beat the crowd... which is so great because he's one of my favorites. :) Oh my gosh I love that little boy. Ah! He grabs my hands and gives me a big hug. Then he says, “Teacha Sarah... you smell so gooood.” Then he grabs my arm and pretending like he's going to bite it he says, “ I want eat you.” hahahaha..... I don't know what he is smelling. I don't wear perfume here... maybe it's my deoderant but I get a kick out of it every time he says that to me which is quite often. Leo's little smile and his eyes with that constant sparkle in them are sooooo adorable. And those lips. He has a huge underbite which is too bad. He'll have to really get that fixed when he's older, but in the meantime it's so adorable on him. It makes his little lips pooch out and they are just irresistable.

Ichino today... at snack time runs over to me and jumps in my arms. He says, “Teacha Sarah. Baby. Baby.” After I figured out just what it was he wanted I picked him up and cradled him like a little baby. Ha. He knew just what to do. As soon as I had him in my arms his body went limp and he went into sleeping mode... just like a baby would :) haha. So I just rocked him and pretended like he was my little Ichino baby.

Daniel was wearing pants today that said, “I love Daddy.” That's only funny knowing his Dad. His parents are so stinking awesome. They are always wearing great matching out fits. So seeing Daniels pants today, I just imagined Daniels dad wearing a shirt that said I love Son and his mom wearing something matching that says, “I love my boys” or something like that. They are so cute.

Need I say more?

We just have so much fun......

My kids.....

This is Sterling. He is one of my most sensitive students. SO fragile. Him and Phillip, ha. But they're adorable. Ichino in the backround.



Anita/Alita



Belinda and I. She normally smiles, I don't know what this look is.



Daniel. LOVE Daniel.



My Homeroom Class....



Justin choking Leo, pretty much a daily occurance... which is generally followed with, "Justin! Rule #4... Hands to yourself!"



Fe-fe...



Glamorous Magnolia.



Jackson... this is one of his more tame photographs :) The kid is crazy.





Jillie and I went on a walk one afternoon, and we met these cute Chinese girls. They were so sweet and insisted on a photo op. We did our best to oblige.

Wow.

Teaching today was in...sane! It was just one of those days. We could tell from the very beginning during opening that it was going to be one of those wild days for the kids. We did a bean bag relay race in Gym class today and two of my classes went well, but my middle class, with Phillip, Fe-fe, Karen, Sterling, Jackson, and Gordon was crazy. They were nuts! Just running everywhere, and talking a mile a minute which I guess isn't the worst thing that could have happened. It is English class so at least they were talking. The bean bags got holes in them and leaked sand all over the gym, the kids were fighting over the basket, and Phillip tipped the whole bucket on top of him while looking up at it so he got a handful of sand in his eyes. Ah! It was wild. A crazy day indeed. These kids keep you on your toes, that is one thing for CERTAIN.

Finally.

I have been seeking a soccer ball I could use without buying one for almost 2 months now, and today... I obtained one! I am thrilled! After my run today I juggled for a while and kicked it around with Mikelle a little bit. It's so great. I want to be able to get my foot on the ball a lot to get used to feeling the ball at my feet again. Ah, Yes.

My runs are going good. I started a couple weeks ago running 2 miles, then 2 1/2 the next week, this week it's 3 and I hope to be up to 5 before I go home. It'll be way tough and it'll kick my butt but I can do it.

Today, for some reason was a harder day for me. I wanted to skype with Mom but for whatever reason, I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, skype just would not let me. I was feeling really nasty and gross about myself all day, and teaching went insane. I just was frustrated with myself and mom and Tarah a little bit. I don't know. But that's alright. I'm irritated with the whole Guangzhou trip and the plans that go with it. John and Sonia are so difficult to work with sometimes, it's frustrating and I don't want Jilly and Jaimie to be dissapointed. I don't know. I stress out way too often about silly silly things. I wish I didn't. It's okay though. Sometimes in life it rains, and sometimes it pours. So when it does, I just try to dance in it. :)

Tinker bell Socks and an excuse for an Ice Cream outing. Thank youuuu... Tarah..

Something I miss a great deal. I've spent a lot of time around kids since I was a kid and one of my favorite things ever is to just watch and listen to children interact with each other. It is so sweet and tender but can also be so humorous. Kids have no filters. They say what they're thinking, what they want, how they feel without thinking twice about it. Unfortunately, normally when our kids are interacting and communicating with one another it is in Chinese and it's fun to listen and pick the phrases we are familiar with out, but it's not the same AT ALL.

Sweet sweet William today was feeling a bit under the weather I think. It was so odd coming from him only because he is usually flipping off of walls and screaming at a level I didn't think any one could reach. He had his head down on the desk during every class, and I'm pretty sure he fell asleep in almost all of them. Then he threw up during the last rotation and had to go home. Made me realize just how much I love the usual William.

I got my first 'washie washie ' today. In other word, I got my hair washed for the first time today in a Chinese hair salon. It was heavenly. I loved it. Every minute of it. For 15 yuan, you get your hair washed, head massaged, face massaged, neck massaged, hands and arms massaged, shoulders and back massaged, and a rockin' hair styling. Perfect. Excellent. Marvelous. Wonderful. Absolutely Fabulous! I loved it. And somehow, the guy straightened my hair with only a brush and a blow dryer. It was straighter than I've ever gotten it with a flat iron in America. Shen me? How do they do it? I think they're magic. Wo bu zhidao. Probably.

We ventured out from Kaiyin dinner today and went to eat at a little noodle shop just around the corner from the school. Some of the Kaiyin group, Shaw & Tiffany, Debbie, Andrea, Amanda, Ryan & Joey took us there. It was fun to visit with them some and do something different outside of our regular Kaiyin cafeteria dinners (which are still fabulous of course :). Afterward we hit up the market for 5 jiao ice cream. Mmmmm. I love ice cream, I do. And! I got Tarah's letter in the mail today which also contained money for an ice cream outing on her and tinker bell socks. I don't know why she sent the socks, nor do I know why they are tinker bell... but I love them, so... mei wen ti.

Thanks Tarah :)

Celebrating Two Holidays

In China today, it is Children's Day!
In honor of, we did not teach but rather we celebrated with a series of games and prizes for the kids and ended the day early with a big luncheon. All of the parents were there complete with cameras and video cam's.

And in America today, it's Memorial Day! I'm so grateful for the country I live in. Having the opportunity to travel and experience other countries like this has been so great. It's eye opening and has helped me develop a real love and appreciation for my country. Of the 6 + billion people populating the earth today, it's hard not to wonder what my life would be like if I were not born into America. What if I were raised in the Sudan? or Cambodia? China? or Nigeria? What would my life be like? Would I be starving? homeless? Would I still be alive? Would I be able to practice my religion of choice? Makes you wonder how or why we're so blessed to be where we are. But so grateful. And I am. I'm so grateful for the men and women that have given their lives for our country so that we have the freedoms we have today. Not only those who have in the past but those who are serving and protecting our great nation today.

Happy Memorial Day!... and Children's Day :)

The What If...? game

What if the fat lady lost her voice?
-She would be so sad...and eat some cheese, LOTS of cheese.

What if Bob Marley appeared at our door with a Papa Johns Pizza, RIGHT NOW?
-We'd all kiss him on the face and eat it all in about 30 seconds.

What if you were as crazy as Jeanie?
-'Then we'd all talk like this'(haha... she's from Canada-raised French speaking)

What if we had another 6 months in China?
-We would be peeing in streets, our hair would turn black and our eyes would become slanted.

What if Mikelle never dated another man?
-Men all over the world would cry.

What if you could get a degree without finishing school?
-Then the world would be filled with doctors that are in malpractice.

What if Shaila was from Utah and not Virginia?
-Then she would not have her suuuper cool accent, "Gra-a-ama! I miss you!"

What if the pool outside overflowed into our house?
-Then we would all either go swimming or all DIE.

What if we found out that Jeanie is not really from Canada?
-My world would be turned upside down.

What if all of Jaimie's toenails fell off?
-We would probably have to lock her somewhere dark where no one could see her... EVER because that is really gross.

What if Dan came to China next week and Jaimie and him got married in China?
-Then she could really wear her ugly dress and party like it's Chinese NEW YEAR again.

What if Channing Tatum was our Sparky? a.k.a handyman
-I would NEVER get off the school bus! or something in our apartment would ALWAYS be broken. (because Shaila would always be breaking things :)

What if China had a democracy and the U.S was a Communist Country?
-Then Sarah would marry the Kaiyin teacher and just call China home.

This was our FHE activity tonight. We had a lot of fun.

Something sweet that happened at school today: Chinese people all have the same eye color, (brown) so that is one thing that the kids notice right away on foreignors are our eyes. I was sitting watching the kids practice 'Spectacle' today when William ran up and sat on top of me. He wrapped his little arms around my neck and looking me square in the eyes he said, "Green teacher. Eyes, Beautiful green." :) I thought it was so cute.

Affirmations

I love myself.
I can do anything good.
I love my life. My life is so GREAT!
I love my hair. I love my hair cut.
I love my family, I love my Dad, I love my Mom.
I love China. I love my Chinese kids.
I can do anything good.
I love soft serve ice cream. Soft serve ice cream is sooo goood!

So Funny. Watch this. It's adorable. This little girl could take on the world with her attitude :)
http://comedy.video.yahoo.com/?v=7519839 cx

A perfect weekend.

I got frames. Pink and Orange. Yes.

We had a unique opportunity this Sunday to attend church at the Shenzen Branch for their District Conference. Truly a magnificent day. It was great meeting. The District President came down from Beijing to help reorganize the Branch Presidency. It's so incredible to me. We can meet across the globe in a home dedicated in His name, and witness the reorganization of a Branch without skipping a beat. The men that were called have been called of God. They have been chosen specifically at this time to help build our Fathers Kingdom in China. Even if the church isn't here yet... these are the baby steps. The meeting was sweet, the message was powerful, and the spirit was so strong. I'm so glad we were able to attend.

I do not have a shopping addiction...

That would be false. BUT. When it comes to bowls and any sort of home decor really, it is so hard. I'm a real sucker for it. I bought some great things today. :)

I had a really great run tonight. The more I do, the easier it gets and the more I enjoy it. (Naturally) It just feels good to be exercising consistently again. It's been a while. And so far, no pain in my knee, so I plan to keep going and hope for no flashing lights. Hopefully we'll just go up from here. On top of that, I timed myself just for kicks to see where I am at. AND.... so exciting. I'm running a faster mile than I thought I was. Nothing special by any means, but a nice surprise indeed.

I think I might come home soon. Yeah. I'm thinking like, uh, hmmm ... 28 days. Whaaaa!?
Mixed feelings.

Hmmm, what to do today?

We don't have that much time left in China.

The last couple of days we have been trying to do more than just take the bus home after school because our time here is so quickly coming to an end. Yesterday, Jillie and I walked to the park down the street from our school and we spent the afternoon there. We walked around, took pictures, sat and visited. And all the while, we didn't worry about anything! We didn't think about having to be somewhere or do anything but just what we were doing then. And it was sooo great! We chatted, had some great conversations. And on top of that we stopped for cheesecake and a mango slush on our way home. Mmmm. So good!

That was yesterday, and today! Today Jillie and I took the school bus to ju yuan and missed the bus, so we went into the clothing store right there, where I bought a GREAT skirt for Tarah. I love it. She gave me a few bucks to buy her some things and she will love this skirt. I'm excited to give it to her. Also... again (my latest weakness) we got another Mango smoothie. Oh they are just too good to say no to. Ah! We finally caught the bus and we took it down to Jusco. We got off and walked to the bridge and walked along the river. It's so beautiful down there. We've always taken the bus past there and thought how lovely it looks so today we finally went and explored a little bit. We found a random Museum on our walk. It was very small, and looked a little bit deserted. It certainly wasn't a very busy or well known museum. So we went in, hoping they wouldn't charge us on our way out. It was incredible. It was a Children's Art Museum and it was really magnificent. We loved it.

It was fun. Fun to just get out and see the city and again just walk, just look, just enjoy.
My run tonight was really great. I ran 2 miles and it is getting easier the more I do it. Just like most things tend to. Next week I will probably bump it to 3 and I hope to be doing 5 by the time I go home. That is the goal anyway.
Every night at the track there are a handful of kids playing soccer. And every night I want so bad to jump in and ask them if I can play with them. I have yet to do it, but I want to... eventually. And I plan on getting a soccer ball as well. Goodness I miss it. I miss it so much. Sometimes I just want to get my ball and go out and juggle. Or just take shots, or just kick it up against the wall. I don't know.

Something that irritates me a little bit. I shouldn't let it irritate me. But it's a little bit hard not to. We get fruit every day from Michael, and today we got a watermelon. I came home after dinner and I cut it all up and put it into a big bowl for everyone later one when we could get it out and eat it all together. But... that was not the case. Rather, I was in my bedroom writing in my journal and doing some reading and I took a break and went out to have some watermelon with everyone because I heard everyone out there. I went out to find the ENTIRE HUGE bowl of watermelon that I HAD CUT UP for EVERYONE was gone. None left. I said, "oh! hey it's a party out here." then I walked up and saw the bowl and I took a little piece that was left and said, "Wow. Thanks for leaving some watermelon you guys. Really. You shouldn't have." I wasn't really suuper jokey or nice when I said it either. I definitely had an irritated tone to my voice. Then I turned around and went right back into my room as they were saying "oh yeah, (haha hahaha)" giggling the entire time of course as if they had done nothing wrong. And Jillie said, "I kept telling them to stop and leave some for my roommate." But she's full of it. Jillie could care less. Anyway, I just looked at them and said, "mei shi... mei shi" but really. I was and am frustrated. I just don't get it. That has not been the first time that has happened and we get 3 meals a day and we get fruit to bring home so that fruit is supposed to be our snack for when we do get hungry. And for me... because I do care about my funds and I don't like to spend all my money on food which everyone else does anyway, I really look forward to that fruit because it helps me not want to buy anything when I am hungry. But they are just so self absorbed. Rarely do they think of those around them. Just a little minor irritation that I wanted to vent about a little. But it's fine. No worries.

Pura Vida.

A Fabulous Sunday Afternoon in Zhongshan, China.

Sunday night we went to dinner at Rachels house. Rachel is our friend who we met at my surprise birthday party. She's a friend of Tina's. Her and her parents invited us over to make Jiao zi and spend the evening with them. We got there and the Womens China vs. Australia soccer game was on, which was great! We watched that for a little while whilst we snacked on the most delicious chocolate cookies (the ones in the tin boxes that they sell at Costco... Tu sabes?) and grapes (which I haven't had since I left America because they are so expensive in China) and pears and peanuts. :) Mmmm. So great. Once the jiao zi filling was finished, we all sat around the table and made folded the dumplings. That is always a great time. I love making jiao zi. I think it is so fun, especially the way they do it here. It's like a family activity where everyone gathers around the table and folds jiao zi. And the result is absolutely wonderful.

For dinner we had the Jiao zi of course, as well as... a plate of outlandishly spicy cucumbers that ignited my entire mouth after the first bite, so unfortunately... that was all I could handle. Also a dish of sprouts, corn on the cob, and... my personal favorite :) a very large oddly seasoned chicken wing. I'm being sarcastic. Thus far, I have not been too picky about what we've been served here. I've never been a real picky food eater. Besides the real spicy things, chicken feet, and a few others... I've been fairly content. But I took one bite of this chicken wing and I felt nauseous. I'm sure that sounds really exaggerated but I'm completely serious. I couldn't eat it but I felt horrible because it was really big and I didn't want to offend them or waste it. I came up with an alternate plan. The kitchen table was conveniently located right beside the sliding glass door that went out onto the porch. We were the 13th floor up from the ground, and I thought, as soon as Rachel gets up and goes into the kitchen with her parents, I will just walk out there and throw it over the balcony real fast. So as soon as she left I wrapped my leg in a napkin and got up to take it out... but right then Rachel turned back around and was coming back to the table. I don't think I've ever moved so quickly. I sat back down in my chair and put the chicken leg in my lap. Oh gosh. I was cursing myself for the idea in the first place and I was really wishing I hadn't wrapped it in the napkin that was now stuck to the chicken leg and I couldn't get it off without pieces of it remaining. But now, Rachel had definitely sat down for good. She was there to stay and it was clear she wouldn't be getting up for a little while. And my chicken leg was in my lap wrapped in a napkin that was stuck to it and would not come off. I was under the table trying to pull off all the bits and pieces of the napkin that I could, and once I thought I'd gotten enough of it off, I got my camera out and gave it to Rachel to look at something so as to distract her so I could transfer my chicken leg from my lap to my plate. It worked. Mei wen ti. I got it there. I have no idea if she noticed that I had nothing on my plate for 5 minutes and then a whole chicken leg appeared but that is how it worked out. And despite my efforts, it was still dotted with little specs of napkin so I had to quickly bite and eat those parts of the chicken leg off so that it wouldn't form questions. :) It was hilarious. Abby was sitting across the table from me trying not to laugh the entire time. Poor Rachel was feeling a bit left out I think because she had NO idea what we were all laughing at. But... it all worked out. I ended up eating most of it. I just couldn't waste it. My parents raised me well :)

After dinner we just talked and played a few games with Rachel and her family. It's always the best spending time with families. Even if it isn't our families, just being with families is the greatest.

Oh dear. I have one more funny story. After dinner Rachel was helping us learn how to say some phrases in Chinese and Mikelle wanted to learn a phrase that she now knows in a handful of languages. The phrase is, “Shut up and kiss me.” She asked Rachel and she was a bit confused and didn't know right away what Mikelle wanted to know. Abby jumped in and suggested, (I'm paraphrasing) Maybe not shut up... that is a little abrupt and not the nicest way to say it. Maybe if you said, “be quiet and kiss me, or stop talking and kiss me, or close your mouth and kiss me.” haha... Then she said, “Wait. What kind of a kiss are we talking about here?” AHA! I think you had to be here, and you'd have to know Abby to really appreciate how funny that is. It would be like Tarah saying that. Ha. Soooo s.t.i.n.k.i.n.g. f.u.n.n.y. We laughed. A great deal. For a long time. Shoot. I'm still laughing about it.

It was such a great night. I love spending time with Chinese people. They are so sweet and kind hearted. Rachel is so genuine and great, and her parents are wonderful. Rachel is 18 and she is moving to Michigan to live with her Aunt to go to school in August. She is so excited, and so are we. I know I don't often go to Michigan, but the chances of us seeing her again are much more likely with her in America than in China. :)

New Student!

We got a new student today. His name is Nicholas. He is such a sweetheart. Real well behaved, speaks well, & participates. I think he has a big crush on Angel. And I think Angel likes him back which is too sweet. She holds his hand and shows him around, where to go, what to do. It's adorable.

I learned today, in my lesson... that evidently, the Chinese do not eat raw vegetables. At all! Or maybe it's just the kids they don't allow to have raw vegetables. Either way, I got a kick out it. Kind of ruined my lesson a little since that was what we were using... and what fun is a Kitchen lesson when you can't eat what you make after ward right?

I'm afraid I've been slacking a little with our Family Night's. But this last one was fun. It was so fun. Just the seven of us and we had a blast. A suuper great night that involved, signs, laughing way too much, watermelon, golden oreo's, video clips and a really great spiritual thought from Kelle.



I love laughing. I love it so much. I feel so good after I laugh a lot. Life is here to laugh. Really. It has to be, because it's so much better when we do.

Let's speak some English shall we?

Tina, Jilly and I went on a little day excursion with Aiden and his Mother today. We were waiting outside our apartment complex for her to pick us up and Tina received a phone call, and … it was her, Aidens mom. Her name is Xiang. So Tina answers the phone, “Wei ni hao Aidens mama!” ha. Jilly and I got a kick out of that and thought it was so funny that she referred and called her Aidens mama, even directly to her. When she got off the phone, I asked her, “Tina. What is Aidens mothers name?” and she just looked at me, then at Jilly, and back at me and said... “I don't know”, in a tone and with an expression as if to say “should I know?” ha.

We got into the car and noticed right away how quiet Aiden was, because at school it is quite the contrary. He almost looked sad, so we asked him what was wrong and Tina told us that he was sad because they were so late picking us up. Ha. I thought that was so sweet, especially because they were about 4 minutes late. :)

They took us down to walking street and we walked up to the big pagoda there. It was beautiful. A beautiful pagoda and the walk up there was scenic as well. I felt like I was in a rainforest. It's so lush and green. It was really a splendid day. We didn't do anything elaborate or anything that required a whole lot of planning. We just walked. We walked down around walking street. They took us up to a neighborhood where there were a lot of older homes built years ago but also many newer homes scattered in around them. Xiang explained to us some of the history that was there. She was born and raised in Zhongshan so it was neat to have her there with us. We continued our walk and went down to a big lake with a handful of big pagoda pavilions and willow tree's, and bridges. It was beautiful.

And of course... the reason we agree to these outings (not really, but maybe a little bit). We then went to the Shangri La Hotel. We have been once before with the same family only that time they took ALL of us out to eat. This time, it was just Jilly and I. Oh my goodness. I had a food baby last time we ate there, and I certainly had a food baby this time. But you can't help it. It's unavoidable because these sweet, great people are paying a fortune for us to eat at this International Hotel with a Western Buffet that is known all over the world, so 2 plates of food just won't suffice. Period. Even if we wanted it to. If there was ever a period where I did not have anything in front of me they told me to go get more. And there is simply no arguing. 1) Because it's not easy to argue in a language you hardly know and 2) because they are paying for you to eat. So Jilly and I obliged... :) It was worth the pain, and the food baby, and waking up the next morning still never wanting to eat anything again in our lives.

Such a great enjoyable day though. I'd rather be out with the locals walking around the city than in our flat skyping family or updating my blog, or running, or reading, or any of the other activities I find myself doing on Saturday days. (I love skyping my family, don't get me wrong :)

The main purpose of our Saturday excursions with Aiden and his mom are because his mom is smart and she knows how to work the system. So, what she does is she offers to take a couple of us teachers out each week to museums or to dinner or just out to see the city so that she can take advantage of us (the English teachers) while we are here and get Aiden to speak as much language with us as possible. So during our walk today, she just had him drill us with questions and questions and questions. Most of which consist of something like, “What is that?” pointing to a pillar, or a tree, or something we know he already knows :) but it makes his mom happy to just see him speaking English. So that is what we do. We just talk to Aiden, the whole time. And it's fun. I love it. He can be a pain in the rear during class but when we are outside of class, he is so bright. He is such a smart kid and speaks and understands English so well. He's only 5! But we have full on conversations. No problem. And on the flip side, he teaches us Chinese. I love it.

34 days left! AHHH!

Sarah's blog has been high-jacked by her twin sister for this important message. (I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of updating YOUR blog for you)

I'm not counting down, but.................


SARAH WILL BE HOME IN 34 DAYS! and uh...hmm................I CANNOT WAIT! Sarah! You're coming home so so soon! It's about time darn it. It's been like a year already hasn't it? That's how slow time has gone for me. It's been a good semester but so many things would have been easier if you were here with me. SO, when you come home, would you just stay put for a little bit? Plehehease! Atleast til you're sick of me again. ;) great. I love you sis.

Deviled Eggs.

We made Deviled Eggs today in Kitchen class. The kids LOVED them. I can't believe how soon we are coming home. We were asked to write down a wish or hope for each of our kids today. A good fortune type thing so that they can have it and always keep and look at for the future. My kids are the oldest ones here at the school, and their group is graduating from the Kindergarten this semester. Oh I will miss them so much.

Oh Decklin...

Decklin, will you marry me? Not now... but eventually, 5 years down the road when I'm ready. Not literally Decklin. I don't actually know a Decklin. Rad name, but it doesn't have to be his. That is just how I refer to the man I should like to spend the rest of my life with. My Decklin is witty... he'll make me laugh. Not just giggle and smile (that too) but I mean like laughing out loud laughing... crying, tears coming from my eyes, can't breathe, squinty eyes laughing. He will have the ability to grow facial hair. I know that's weird, but... so are bug nets that don't keep bugs out. He will tease and joke and have a sense of humor...play along with jokes, instigate them. An accent would be ideal, but.... well, no. We'll just leave it at that. :) Brunette would be great. I've got the blonde covered. :) Tall. I'm short, and I know I don't ever wear heels, but maybe (according to my sister-in-law Sonia) someday I will :) He'll have a smile that takes my breath away. I mean that. I want my heart to skip a beat every time he smiles.

Okay, I could go on but I think maybe I will stop because others are reading this, and that makes me feel weird. I will finish this entry eventually. But it was just a thought that I wanted to put into words. I know I have somewhat sacrificed this being a private journal by making it public, but it is indeed still a form of journal for me, so... for those of you who follow it, you get all the good stuff. Thoughts, stories, experiences... the works. Luck you! :)