You eat your turkey, I'll eat my... PIZZA?!

There is one crazy thing about China... Okay, Okay, there are a bunch of crazy things. But right now, I am just going to tell you about one. You will be walking down the street one day and you will see a pile of rubble inside an old worn down building. It has been there since the day we got there. Then, about 3 days later you walk by again and now that pile of rubble is suddenly a convenient store! Things go up in a snap! These Chinese really know how to work fast. It's awesome. Well behind our school there is a whole, let's say: "strip mall". Actually, let's say "Ghost strip mall"? It's totally abandoned, except for the fruit market; well, it was. Now there is a Deli/Pizza place (just like the one beneath us), an imported goods store, a Chinese restaurant, some photo place (I'm not so sure what exactly but, I saw a bunch of people and it looked like they were having a photo shoot inside), and most recently, a Pizza Stop. Can you believe so many pizza places?! Well, this is the best one yet.
We wanted to have a Pot Luck Turkey Dinner with our whole group. Like a family. We thought it would bring us "together". HA! Don't get me wrong, my group is... GREAT! but, I don't think everyone cares to feel like a great big family. Jadan and I started a signup sheet to pass around. We were so excited! Get everyone together for dinner... yeah right!
-"We would rather go to McDonalds"
-"Oh, we already have plans to go to KFC"
-"Are the boys going to be there?"
-Hmmm... Guess no one is home....
Okay, so we were the only ones that wanted it to be a big group thing. Guess we'll have to downplay thanksgiving dinner this year then... It is, after all, an American holiday, and in case you haven't noticed, We're in China.
So we had to make different plans. Pizza Stop it is.
Jadan, Kandace and I all tried the Hawaiian Chicken Pizza. It was Delicious!!! It tasted like an Enchilada. Yeah, dunno how that happened. But it was the best thing since the wagon wheel!! ha ha. And Alicia tried the Italian. It wasn't thanksgiving dinner. But it was still fun. In China they like to bring out everyone's food one plate at a time. So we waited for everyone to get their pizza before we ...dug? in. While we were waiting we went around the table and said things we were thankful for. Just because we didn't have a turkey feast doesn't mean we have to downplay the thanks giving part...
I hope everyone really did take a minute to think about everything they have been blessed with; and if you haven't yet, do it now. There really is so much to be thankful for! Take a minute to think about the things you have been given. Think about all the things you take for granted. What would life be like without those things? Think of the little things that make you smile. Isn't life just great?
Here is a short list of things I am grateful for:
A mom and dad who love me and care for me. Having the Gospel in my life. Knowledge of My Heavenly Father and his love for me. Brothers and a Sister that are Examples to me. I am thankful for Christ's Atonement. Repentance. Temples. Friends. Tears. People who teach by example. Missionaries. Scriptures. The ability to Pray. Life. Good Health. Laughter. Skype. Love songs that make my heart beat a little faster. The smell after it rains. When kids do silly things. Good books to read. Ice cream on a warm day. Ice Cream on a cold day. Ice Cream in general. Mom's Chili. Leaves changing color. Watching a movie that makes you think, and teaches you something. That bubbling feeling inside when you get excited about something. Fresh snow with no footprints. Sand between my toes. Warm Showers. Blankets. Fire. That warm feeling inside when you feel the spirit. Music that makes you want to dance. Finding that pair of jeans that just fits. Little sticky kid fingers. telling someone you love them and meaning it. Hearing them say it back. Answers to prayers. When God doesn't answer your prayer because he wants you to figure it out yourself. Forever Families. Family Scripture and Prayer. mountains. Stars in the night sky. Public Transportation. iPods and headphones. Country dancing. Falling asleep to my favorite movies. Christmas lights. Family traditions. Going for a walk. That feeling when you know you are doing what is right because you just feel at home.

Okay... you get the idea, Once you get started, isn't it just hard to stop? There is so much to be grateful for. Don't you think? I hope you all just take time to realize it. And we shouldn't limit being thankful to one day a year... I hope you take time out of your busy lives to notice the little things that you are thankful for each day. And then if you look at one thing that you are thankful for... That brings up so many more things...take a look at one of mine... going for a walk. Well, I need my legs to get me somewhere so I am thankful for them too. and I need somewhere to walk so a side walk, a dirt road, just the ground you are walking on. Freedom. If I didn't have freedom I couldn't just walk when or where I please. Free Agency from the Lord. The ability to choose what I am going to do today and I'm going to decide whether or not I am going to be happy about it.
I think coming to China has helped me to look deeper into things and not think so superficially...
Alright well this post is getting a little long, I don’t want to bore you too much. I just want to say I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. And I want everyone to know that I am truly thankful for everyone's love and support. Thanks for the emails and updates. I really do love and care about you.
So, Thanks.
Day 92

Apple

Things were going pretty good. I can usually keep the attention of the kids when I am teaching kitchen. Today we made jello poke cakes. yummy! But this was when we were lining up. The kids get distracted pretty easily. I had Alicia's class: Sharalynn, Kevin, Harry, Yo-yo, Leo, and Apple. John was gone this week. It was the last rotation of the day. I was just waiting for Alicia to come trade aprons. I had them all lined up by the window and I was trying to get them to fold their arms. Apple looked up at me. She said "teacher, teacher" and was pointing to the ground at the scraps from a cut out heart and then she said "teacher, I love you"

:)

Day 90


Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! LOVE YOU!!

Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows Part One

Okay... So it all started on Saturday the 13th. The Harry Potter Marathon began that night at 2000 hours. That night We started with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and every night following we would watch the next movie all up until yesterday, the 18th. On the 17th Alicia and I went to find the theatre. We wanted to see if we could buy our tickets in advance. We didn't know how popular HP was in China. So we went to Walking Street. Gloria, our coordinator, had written the theatre on a piece of paper so we could find it. We went strait to the ice cream stand. There is a sweet lady that owns an ice cream stand on walking street, she speaks english pretty well so we went to ask her where to go. She told us to keep going strait and we would see the Mall on the left. The Theatre was at the Mall. So after getting some Ice cream we continued on to find the theatre. We walked until we saw the sign that said Mall. We looked at the building. It was all closed down. it looked like it had been abandoned for years. but there were movie posters everywhere. Then we saw the arrows. They were pointing down the Hallway of that abandonded building. So we followed them to the elevator at the end of the hall. We went up to the 4th floor. The theatre looked pretty nice. We tried really hard to communticate that we wanted to buy our tickets in advance but it just wasn't working so we decided to have our coordinator call when we got home. We took a business card and we were on our way. We stopped and did some exploring and got back home in time to watch HP#5. Yesterday, Alicia, Jadan, and I watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We couldn't wait until 8:00 because we wouldn't be home. so we watched it around 2, while we baked cookies and muffins. At 5:30 we went to dinner and then we got on the 6:15 bus that took us to Walking Street. We went straight to the Theatre and Purchased our tickets for the Midnight Showing! As soon as the tickets were in hand we began our quest. We searched every little store we could find until we found the 3 perfect pairs of HP glasses. We may not have had cloaks and hats, maybe we were missing scarves. But we all had our glasses. and we looked awesome! We stopped for some McDonalds and smoothies and then we were ready to go. We had been walking for a while and we didn't know how long it would take us to get back to the theatre. It was about 10:40. We didn't know how crowded it would be. They had reserved seating, but we didn't know if they followed it like we did in the states. So, We Thought we should head back. BUT we didn't feel like walking. Alicia and Jadan had never ridden on a rickshaw (I had in Shanghai) and I had never ridden on the back of a moped (in China) So we decided to make an adventure out of it. We showed the rickshaw driver the business card for the theatre and he said he could get us there but since only 2 fit, he had to have the help of a moped driver. So we all hopped on one vehicle or the other and we were on our way... in the wrong direction?? My driver said he would lead the way because the rickshaw driver didn't know where to go and soon I was being taken down a dark alley way... It was awesome! and before I knew it we had arrived at the theatre. We took the shortcut. Soon the rickshaw driver showed up with Alicia and Jadan. We paid them 5 yuan each and we were on our way. (that is less that one U.S. dollar!!) Totally worth it. We walked into that abandoned building where we hurried and drew scars on our foreheads and went up to the theatre. We got there so early and apparently they didn't seat until closer to the show time. So, we waited around. There was almost no one there. which was weird because When we bought our tickets the theatre was almost full. Well Sure enough, people showed up. they showed up about 10 mind before the show started. They finally took our tickets and got us all seated. As they took our tickets they handed out pirate hats... I am still unsure of the significance there, but hey, it was pretty cool. We were the only white people in the whole theatre. We thought there would be at least a few, but nope. Everyone was in theirs seats, but did the movie start? nope. We got to see a magic show first. It was very impressive. and quite entertaining. Finally the show began. We were the only 3 people to cheer when the title screen came on. They all just laughed at us. but hey, at least our phones weren't going off like crazy and if they had gone off, we wouldn't have answered.
Well... That movie was AWESOME. I am not going to say anything in case someone hasn't seen it yet. but I loved it. I couldn't remember anything from the book so I was really getting into it. My heart was pounding out of my chest most of the movie. I already want to see it again and I am just dying to see part 2!!! I don't know if I can wait until July. I might want to read all the books before then. except the 7th one. I want to be suprised. I don't want to remember everything.
When the movie ended we had to find a taxi because it was about 2:30 in the AM so we found one and made it back safely. only to find that the magnet in my key was not working! :( we were locked out! We didn;t know what to do so we went searching for another entrance. We found one... it required going in and out of windows and climbing on ledges. But I made it safe and sound and I was able to unlock the door for the other girls. it was quite the night! lot's of fun for all of us! And guess what. We get to sleep in, we don't have to teach this morning! :) Well I am tired. An Adventure like that will drain a person!
Day 85

Last Vacation, So soon??

Man Alive! It seems as if we were just saying "there is such a long time before our next vacation, what can we do to make time go faster?"
Well, time went fast enough. I can't believe it!
Time flies when you are having fun, doesn't it.
I love teaching, I love the kids, I love China!!
Now, we are getting ready for our semester end performance. It kills me to know I will be going home so soon! Don't get me wrong, I am excited to see everyone, but it is going to be so hard to leave this behind. I have honestly thought that I could stay here for a year. I would totally come back and do it again. But we'll have to see what life throws at me and if that is actually in the plans.
So for now, I'm am just going to enjoy this time I have here. And boy, am I ever enjoying it.
Okay, so it was vacation time again. I am going to have to say, I think this was my favorite vacation. I think it was because it wasn't a holiday. The last 2 vacations fell on National Holidays and therefore, everything was SUPER crowded. So this one was nice.
We went to Xi'an. It was Mark, Callie, Jessica and I. The rest of the group had already been there. They went when we were hanging out on the beach. We stayed at the same hostel as they did because they had said that they really liked it. I am glad we listened because I really liked it too. It was a 4 person room, So we were the only ones in there. Personally I would have liked to have a room that fit more so that we could meet some people. I think that is fun. But I don't think anyone else would have agreed.
This vacation was good because we had good amounts of relaxing and adventure. We spent a good amount of time exploring the city. We rode bikes along the top of the city wall, we found the Small goose Pagoda (from afar) and hung out around the Large Goose Pagoda. I liked it there. There was a strip along the side of the gates where there were shops lining the walk. They were selling lots of treasures and treats. We all got giant Cotton Candy. Mine was blue. It changed the color of my mouth and teeth. Then I bought some bubbles, just for fun. When I was bored I gave them to a little girl. I hope that it made her day. I just liked the feel of it there. kinda relaxing, but it was just a fun place to hang out and to see a famous sight in China. We also spent a lot of time in the Muslim quarter market. We found some pretty sweet treasures there. The one thing that was popular to buy was terra-cotta warrior sets. Which makes sense. We were y the terra-cotta warriors.
Actually, The terra-cotta warriors were my favorite part. Every one in my group that had been said that they were a bit of a disapointment. But personally, I loved it. They were really cool to see. I was kind of in a daze the whole time, I guess just because I was in awe at homw many warriors each pit housed. it was cool to see. I wish I could have read up on the information that was posted. but I couldn't read the chinese. Dangit. It was still remakable to see!
I really did have a good time in Xi'an. Although there were lots of things that I know I missed out on. there are some pretty cool things to see in that area. We are just getting a little low on money, we are nearing the end after all. So Mark, Callie and Jess didn't want to spend it on seeing something Awesome, they wanted to save it to buy more treasures to take home. But yeah, this trip was perfect. Just enough time for a break. Not so long to make you miss home so much, but long enough to cathc your breath.
Now we are home again. It's smooth sailing until the end.
I have started to "work out" with Jadan alicia, and Kandace and I have been trying to plan my weekends so that I can get the most of China.
It also hit me on Wed. I really am going to miss my kids so much! I really get so excited to see them every morning. I really want to bring some of them home with me!
Day 78

Happy Halloween to you all!

Yes, this was a Happy Halloween. Full of fun and excitement!
So This past week besides auditions, police stations, and halloween parties, we have been spending our time at the Community Center. The building was huge and very fancy. There was a cool pond type thing in the courtyard. Our group, and the group down the street, were put in charge of the haunted house! Haunted houses are my favorite part about Halloween. Too bad I had to miss The Haunted Forrest this year. But this may have been better.
So a while ago they told us that we were in charge of the haunted house and that some finance company was sponsoring the whole event so we needed to make a list of what we wanted and they would get us for us. Here they go, saving face again. telling us things that they can't follow through on. To make a long story short, we spent our Thurs-Sat Afternoons building a haunted house in the entrance of the community center with mainly black garbage bags, tape and string. I am not going to lie though, it turned out pretty neat.
We split up our group and the haunted house consisted of 4/5 ish sections.
Entrance: Kandace, alicia, Jadan, and I had a creepy clown theme.
Next: Brett and Chase had some psycho/human butcher thing going (to be honest I am not really sure what they did exactly but it consisted of chopped off human limbs, ripped up newspaper, and lots of numbers).
Next: Jess, Kim, Mark, Callie, and Liz had some graveyard theme, with Adam to finish it up, he had hung ropes and "bloody" things around. not really sure what he was going for either. but it works.
Finally: The girls down the street were in charge of the exit. It was pretty much one big scare fest. Their room was just open and creepy.
Miranda, and our Coordinator, Gloria, helped lead people through.
I had a blast! Kandace was our artist and painted everyone's faces. We looked pretty good I thought. We made our costumes from random things we found in the supply room, and I think we turned out pretty great.
I love haunted houses, I love getting scared, but being the scare-er is pretty exciting too.
The fun part for me was being a clown. Reason: It is hard for me to stay serious and not laugh when I am trying to scare someone; so, whenever I was going to laugh, I could just cover it up with some creepy laugh and it worked. I would try to stare people down but holding in a laugh was hard, so I came up with some creepy high pitched cackle/laugh thing. everytime it got quite Chase would come in from next door and say "do the laugh, lauren."
It was weird though because we tried practicing before and all my laughs just sounded silly. and if I try to replicate the laugh it doesn't really work. It was just kind of an "in-the-moment" thing.
And now to answer the question that I am sure is burning inside of all of you...
Does China celebrate Halloween?
No. It has just kind of become something they do with international schools or schools that have foriegn teachers. BUT. don't quote me on that because I have actually heard a few different answers to that question. That was just the latest.
Day 65

Party, Party, Party.

Every morning I get up and teach at 8:30. We start with a ten minute opening. During Opening we talk about the date and the weather and then we sing songs. If they are being good they get to pick the song out of the jar. For the past 2 weeks we have not been letting them pick songs. We have been teaching them a new song "Purple People Eater". They love it! and it is SO SO cute to watch them do the actions. My favorite to watch is Jack. He is one of my 7 students. And then Eric, he is one of Callie's (he is the one we went to visit) always shouts "one more time!" after we finish singing. It is adorable. I love our kids!
Well, today, being Friday, was our last day teaching before Halloween so we got to have a party. Normally, after opening we switch and teach 3 rotations with the older kids. Then we switch and teach our younger kids 3 rotations. But not today. Today we skipped the switch and just taught our 3 younger rotations. Then we all piled into the older kindergaten room where we had our mini party.
We started our with our performance. Our kids sang "purple people eater" for the older kids. And the older kids, while we were practicing "purple people eater for the last 2 weeks, they learned "the Addam's Family" Theme song, so they sang that for the younger kids. and then We had them all sit down and us teachers did our "Ghostbusters" dance. So it didn't go to waste after all! The kids were laughing, so I was happy!
When that was over we sat the kids down to watch Monster House while I took some small groups to decorate bags and Kandace painted their faces one at a time. Then we got them all to go trick or treating. There are several doorways in the room so we had them walk around and fill their little bags with goodies. It was so much fun to just play with the kids! I even got my face painted! Happy Halloween!!
Day 63

Dress Rehersal??

Okay. So today we had to go to the Bond Kindergarten. There are 2 schools here in Kaiyin. The School where I teach and the Kindergaten. There is a group of girls that came a month earlier than i did (lucky ducks) to teach at a summer camp. They live down the street from us and they teach at the Bond kindergarten. It is about a 20 min bus ride from where we live. Anyways, we had to go to the kindergartern for a "dress rehersal". We are getting ready for a HUGE Halloween Party and we all had to come up with dances to perform. Every group had to have 2 dances. Our School was doing Monster Mash and Ghostusters. Since we have twice the amount of teachers as everyone else we were split into 2. I was in the group doing a dance to Ghostbusters.
We got to the school and took turns doing our dances. Everyone had come up with some really good dances and really fun to watch. They were all very well choreographed. I had been the one to come up with most of our dance. Ours had been more like a skit put to Ghostbusters. I thought it was funny. Sure enough, we got the response I was hoping for. Everyone laughed. When we were finished, everyone said that they loved it. It was so funny!
At the end of the "dress rehersal" They announced that they would let us know if we would be performing at the Halloween Bash... Auditions?! No one told us! We would have practiced more if we would have known. So what happened was this: It ended up being longer than they expected and they were going to cut one dance from every group. They would know by tonight who had made it, and they would inform our head teachers. So it was between Ghostbusters and Monster Mash for us. Who do you think go cut... Ghostbusters. Turns out, ghostbusters was the ONLY dance that got cut. What a round about way to say "your dance sucked" huh? So, we decided that it wasn't humor they were looking for. They wanted precision and good dancing. Ghostbusters lacked both. We were all about having a good time and making the crowd laugh. But I guess it's not even all that funny if you can't even understand the Lyrics of the song. So that was part one.
Here is where it gets exciting: They asked us to stay and wait for about 45 mins as soon as we were finished with the so-called dress rehersal. Then they took us to the Police Station. All 30 some-odd teachers. While we were waiting though I taught a bunch of girls a line dance. "Fishin' in the dark" So on the way to the Station Life became a Musical... Yes, we did our line dance in the streets of China. It was pretty sweet. I had my lap top, and Alicia had her speakers. So we blasted our Country song and danced our way to our destination. We were having a blast!
When we got to the station, they crowded us all into a big room and made us sit there while they spoke to us in Chinese (like any of us could understand) If they asked us any questions, we weren't allowed to say English, and Teacher, in the same sentance. "We are here for a cultural Experience, We are at the schools to spend time with the children..." Apparently we are all here illegally. Not really. They just don't understand "volunteer" we are all teachers and we don't have working visas. So They gave us 3 months to get it figured out or else they are going to kick us out. Good thing we only have 1.5 months left, right? I guess it is because of the Asian games. They are taking place in November, not to far from where we are living and so they just wanted to check up on things.
So I'll say today was a pretty eventful day, wouldn't you?!
Day 60