Update for my China fans!

Day 17 of my trip to China. The time is 19:00 and I am back at home in Zhongshan.
1. Pedestrians NEVER have the right away, even when the cross walk says it is okay to walk. That also means, you can cross whenever and where ever you want.
2. Everyone should invest in a Microfiber towel!
3. People give up life savings to go to church and to the temple. I have it so easy, back at home. it was an expensive trip, but it was worth it. And in the future, we'll be holding it at our apartments.
So we just got back from church. Yesterday morning 6 of us in our group decided to make the trip to ShenZhen for the weekend. It was their first district conference. Well, like this anyways. I guess usually the President goes out to the different branches. This time it was broadcasted, I think from Beijing. so we met at the closest church to us -- 3 hours away. ShenZhen also has some of the best shopping. So Mark, Callie, Brett, Jess, Kim and I hopped on a bus at 7:45 and went out there. We had originally booked rooms where there are 3 to a room and you could be sharing with anyone. But then 2 girls dropped out so we were able to get a family suite, where the doors locked and we had a kitchen and bathrooms 1 western toilet and then a squatter with a shower.. it was pretty sweet! there were two beds to a room and 3 rooms so it was perfectt for our little group!
It was a great 2 days. We had the BEST noodles EVER for lunch, and got to see them made fresh! We had some not so good noodles for dinner ( I personally think they just cooked us some top ramen) topped with what looked like worms (I didn't eat that). We got some excellent shopping done in between. 2 pairs of True Religions and a Jimmy Choo bag, among other things, all for under 100 bucks... Not a bad deal! I think we were getting pretty good at the whole bargaining thing. Today was great. It was good to go to church after not going for 3 weeks. We got to meet some church leaders of the branch and The Branch Presidents invited us over for lunch. AMERICAN COOKING!!! :) we still had rice and chicken, but it was free of bones and it was cooked in a crockpot. AND the best part... peas and corn, and they weren't cooked in oil and smothered in seeds of flaming hot red peppers. it was awesome! then she brought out peanut butter and jam and put it on bread. it was great! we haven't had that since we've been here. But it was great, and it was fun to talk to members of the church. Well. I am still loving it here and I already feel like it is going by way too fast.
OH!!! AND! I forgot to tell you about Friday... We took a trip into the City and went to Karaoke, Chinese Style!!! it was awesome. We had a room to ourselves with a couch and TV and they brought us food and it was SO much fun! We could pick our songs and there was even a little stage. Bomb! that experience was money, and I am sure we will go back for more of that!
Well I miss you all and love you! thanks for your support! I hope everything is going well for you back home. and if you need anything, let me know, I can pretty much find anything under the sun here! Although, depending on how much I have to go out of my way to get it, I may ask for compensations, such as Trail mix or drink packets or even some Cafe Rio would be nice... JK.
Lauren