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.