Katie's life... or something along those lines

The End of a Year

2011-06-20T03:02:00.000-07:00

It's been 3 months since my last post, and no, I'm not dead. Besides, I call my family all the time, so of course I'm not dead. I'm just a terrible blogger. I probably shouldn't even have one. And yet I continue...
This week is the last week of school, and it is EXAM week. I can still hear the groans of my students all the way to my apartment. It's been a great year, and I've really enjoyed my students and co-workers. I'm really happy I moved to Clifford School, even with all its foibles and things that annoy me.
Today is June 20th. I fly back to America on June 29th. Do you know what that means? It means that there are only nine, count them, NINE, days left until I am back with English speaking, rule abiding, non-staring, non-spitting people! I love China. I really do. Most days. It just is wearing after a while.
Lately, I've been thinking about sewing. I really want to learn how to sew. I've wanted to learn for a while, but I was in college, poor, and sharing apartments with people. Now, I'm not in college, not poor, and live by myself. I also have lots of free time in the evenings. So I've decided that this summer I'm going to buy a sewing machine and try to figure out this new hobby called sewing. So that's the plan for this summer.

Mental Health Day

2011-03-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

This whole week I've wanted one. I haven't had one in a long time; a day off from work, just sit at home, do nothing or everything. Relax or be super busy. Who knows? I'll probably use the rest of today as one. I really want to make a lemon pound cake. Yum.
I finally bought picture frames and candles, so my apartment isn't so stark anymore. I'm excited. Pictures are in frames, waiting to be hung up. Decorating is a lot of fun :)
Yesterday I went and got facials with some friends, and wow, it was good. Two hours of pampering, scrubbing, exfoliating, massaging, and then washing my hair and styling it. I love China! I would never think to go in the States because of the cost, but here, it's great.
This post is kind of ramble-y, but whatever. So are my thoughts!

Crapfest of a week

2011-03-10T02:28:00.000-08:00

This week has been (~insert expletive~). Usually I'm a pretty happy, upbeat person. Not this week. This week I have no patience, my students are especially trying, and people are just bugging me. Why, oh why, do people do things to annoy everybody? Why do my students insist on asking me questions over and over and over again right after I've answered them? Why do they ask for a fricking Chinese translation of every new concept or idea???? Context clues and decoding and explanations using the English you already know should be sufficient, and if not, ~then~ ask for a Chinese explanation. The quirks and idiosyncrasies of my students that don't usually bother me have really just exploded this week. Maybe I've been bottling up and I've just reached my boiling point. Maybe they really are super annoying this week. I don't know. And sadly, it's not even just my students. Urg.
On the bright side, when I'm stressed, and this week, oh boy... I bake. So this week I baked a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting that was, if I do say so myself, fabulous. I took it into the office to get rid of it, and my coworkers liked it too, so I'm happy. Some catharsis achieved.

February and into march!

2011-03-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well, school has entered "March Into Reading" month, and basically it's stressing reading reading reading. Most of my students are way into it, as there are god prizes (wear their own clothes, no homework weekends, and the principal will dress in a funny costume). I have also challenged them within my class; if they can beat the number of minutes that Ms. Dean reads, I will buy them something small from McDonalds. Wow. I had no idea what a sense of competition some of them have. Reading Month started on Monday, and on Friday, I had a student who had read 900+ minutes. She's definitely kicking my butt. She reads all the freaking time, and I don't feel like I should read as much, because the grand majority of my other students are nowhere near her. The next student has like 550 minutes. I'm standing at 600.
Besides all their reading, we also have guest readers and and I, as a teacher, go guest read to other classes. I went to teach to a grade 1 class this week, and they were so cute, if waaaaayyyyy into the book. It was a very... interactive and loud reading experience :)
Most everyone who reads this blog (namely, my family) knows that I am staying at Clifford school next year. The other two teachers who I share an office with are both leaving. It will be quite a change. The office as it is is filled with video game, basketball, football, and fantasy sports talk. Such testosterone! My friend Kimi is going to be one of the new teachers next year, but I don't know about the other one...
This week I also went to a bar called "The Brew" for my first Trivia Night. I am proud to say that my brain full of useless information was at last put to use, and I carried my team to a 3rd place victory, out of 11 teams. It was a lot of fun, and I think I will start going more often.
I can't really think about anything else that's happened in my life since I got back from Thailand. That's about it! By.

Vacation from a Vacation

2011-02-05T04:56:00.001-08:00

Man, I'm tired. We've been going around Thailand and Cambodia for two weeks now, and living out of a suitcase is wearing thin on my patience and good humor. I love Thailand, and I love Cambodia, but after a while I feel like I'm ready to go home, be in my apartment, sleep in my bed, cook normal food, and see people I actually know and like. We leave tomorrow, and in my opinion our flight could not be early enough. Unfortunately, it's at 7 p.m. which means I have a whole freakin' day to kill in Bangkok with my brain just going "I want to be home, I want to go home..."

I really enjoyed Hua Hin this week and just having the chance to relax at the beach, bury my toes in the sand, and read a good book with the sea breeze in my face and the smell of the ocean. However, I am now firmly resolved that any and all future trips to any and all future beaches must include a hotel that has a POOL. I love being at the beach, I love walking on the beach, but I don't like swimming in the ocean. There are... things... in the ocean. Things that I can't see and don't care to dwell on. I much prefer the chlorinated sanitation of a swimming pool.

I am so tired. I want to sleep and then wake up and go to the airport and then fly home and sleep in my own bed (sans hornets, please!).

Goodnight and farewell, my peeps.

Thailand and Cambodia

2011-01-31T03:49:00.001-08:00

So, I'm in Thailand. Again. But it's good because Thailand and Cambodia are awesome. It was a little weird/boring to repeat the Bangkok portion, but the Cambodia and beach part are still awesome.
Cambodia is/was amazing, and I'm glad that this time around I got to spend another day there and explore other temples I didn't get to see last year. I have determined though, that I will not travel with a guy any more. Unless it's with another girl, too. It's so much more expensive when you don't have a person to split a room with! In any case, Alex and I are at Hua Hin now, and I am enjoying the "compulsory relaxation" (as Alex calls it). The sea has been kind of rough these past two days, so no swimming, but I've enjoyed sitting by it, enjoying the sea air, the breeze, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
This is in Ayutthaya, which used to be the capital of Thailand before Bangkok. It has some cool ruins, and Alex was very insistent that we ride elephants. It was very wobbly.
These kinds of buses are everywhere!

The Grand Palace in Bangkok
We saw a million Bhuddist monks in Cambodia.

This is in Ta Prohm, my favorite temple in the whole Angkor complex. They've let the jungle kind of stay how it was (Somewhat) when they found it. It's pretty awesome.

Not sure I know what this was. But this was a grody, stagnant pool of water around some center thingy.

Christmas

2011-01-25T04:38:00.000-08:00

"Catching Up" Post

2011-01-25T04:07:00.000-08:00

This is Yangshuo. I went during the Chinese National Day Holiday in October. It's freakin' awesome. These mountains just jut out of the landscape for miles around, and the land around it is pretty flat.

VPN

2011-01-12T15:59:00.001-08:00

I finally splurged and got a VPN, so this hopefully means I will be blogging more.
Much has happened in the last three months. I went to Yangshuo for Chinese National Day Holiday, had "Thanksgiving" at my Chinese friend's house, and Christmas at Stuart and Brooke's. I also moved apartments, because of many complicated things I don't know or particularly care about. I just know I had to move. I'm giving exams and getting report cards ready this week, so it's been kind of hectic, but I have a whole week off next week before I go to Thailand, so I will try to catch up then!

Three Weeks In

2010-09-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

We've been in school for three weeks and I love it. I'm super insanely busy, but in a good, feel-productive, love-my-job kind of way. I spend an insane amount of time in my office at school getting stuff ready. I don't know how other teachers don't have to do the same, because I know my prep periods alone aren't enough time for me to get everything I need accomplished. My TA, bless her, is a wonder, and really helps me so much. I've gotten to know all my students' names now, and they are really fun. I feel like so much more of a teacher than I did last year. We're going to be starting a unit on World Cultures sometime next week, and I've been getting all my materials for that sorted and prepped. Parent orientation is on Sunday, and I think a lot of my students' parents will show up. They just strike me as an involved bunch. I've already had notes from several of them, and I think it will be good.
Last weekend was district conference, and it being in Shenzhen, I did not attend. So I had the laziest, most do-absolutely-nothing weekend imaginable. I went out of my apartment building two times in two days. It was awesome. I really needed the relaxation time. I watched movies, I drew, I read books, I crocheted, and just hung out. Fabulous. And then on Monday it was back to reality. Urg. Next week we have a three day holiday, but for which we must work three weekend days to make up. I don't understand this system, but it seems to be pretty standard across the Chinese school system. Why bother even having a holiday?
This week has been nice, too, though. I went with Andrew, Kimi, and Kathryn to get foot massages on Monday, and got a mani/pedi today with Kimi. Life after payday is niiiiice. :)

New School, New Year

2010-08-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back in China, settled in, and ready to get the school year started. Summer was great, and one week too short. If I'd had another week in Utah to see everyone I needed, that would have been perfect. But as it is, my trip was pretty close to it. America is awesome. Just in case all you natives who are living there with English speaking, non-smoking, non-spitting people take it for granted. You blend in. People don't stare and ask to take your picture. No joke, this has happened to me in China. You can buy anything you want and you have a variety of food. Okay, that's all for my America pedestal putting.
China is good too; I like the food here, even though I miss Mexican food like nothing else. I live really well, make a good salary, and have a good circle of expat friends. I've learned to speak some Chinese, and can now function fairly competently on my own, which was not the case early last year. I needed a lot of help.
I've changed schools this year; I'm now going to be teaching grade six in the Bilingual (as opposed to International) section at Clifford School. Clifford is an enclosed community that is in Panyu, a suburb of Guangzhou. It has a lot more shops, stuff to do, and well... polish, is a good way to put it, I suppose.
I've been at school for over a week now, but no kids until this past Thursday. I thought that five and a half days for prep was a little excessive, but as the whole sixth grade was moved and we had to unpack the office as well, by the end I was feeling the pinch of dwindling time. I really like the other teachers I work with; I share my office with the other two sixth grade teachers and out TAs. It feels like a comedy show in there. Really good environment. School started on Thursday, and while I thought it kind of weird to start it that late in the week, by Friday I was grateful for the more gradual transition. I'll be working a lot harder here than I did at Country Garden School, and it made me tired already. My kids speak really good English -- better than I was expecting, so I'll be able to teach really good, in depth lessons. I'm kind of surprised how diverse my classrooms are for China; I have four kids from Taiwan, two from Hong Kong, one from Korea, South Africa, and Australia - all in one class. I haven't even asked my other class yet.
Earlier this week Andrew and Kimi and I bought electric bikes. I wasn't sure I really needed one, but I'm sold on it now. It's really nice to be able to just zip off and not have to wait for the bus. I just ride along, with my hair flying behind me and my purse hanging on one of the handlebars. Awesome.
I've also been crocheting a lot this week; I recently finished a project for which I waaaaay overbought yarn, so I've been trying to get rid of it all. I've made a scarf, a shawl, started a blanket, and done four hats (with limited success - they're harder than I thought; easy in theory, difficult in practice). I swept up my bedroom today, and the majority of it was fuzz from all the yarn. Stuart made fun of me for having such an "old maid" hobby, but I like doing it, and I can make things. What else should I be doing? Playing video games?
It's been a long weekend, and not quite as laid back as I'd been hoping. I did get a pedicure yesterday though, which is something. Now it's 9:40 and I'm ready for bed. I feel like such a boring grown up. But when the sun wakes you up at six in the morning, you gotta go to bed early.
Good night!

Ahhhhh, Vacation

2010-08-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

So, America is awesome. That's what I've concluded in my five weeks back in the States. Being in China made me realize and appreciate how great America really is. No spitting, staring, scary driving, or bones in my meat unless I ask for it. And people understand me when I talk to them. Which has been such a nice break from my new reality of sign language and broken apologies in Chinese for my massacre of their language. I've had a great time here; spent three weeks in Maryland with the family and shopped like a madwoman, and now two weeks in Utah, also shopping like a madwoman. I have to stock up on everything that I can't get or is difficult to get in China. I bought more clothes than I anticipated... oh well. I'm really enjoying being out in Utah; I really wish I had another week. I have too much to do, too many people I want to see, and not having a car sucks. I hate being dependent on everyone else for transportation; I feel like such a burden, and it makes me feel bad for putting anyone to any trouble. I'm staying at Rita's house for home base, with satellite visits up to Sandy for family time, and to Provo for friends-from-college time. Utah has been really fun to visit; I'd forgotten how pretty it is, and how much I enjoy it.
I spent some time up with Jen, Colin, and the boys, and it was awesome. Evan calls me "AnKatie," with no spaces. I think he thinks that is my real name. He's probably too young to know that "Aunt" isn't part of my name, but my relationship to him. So it's really cute; he wanders around and comes to me "AnKatie, I wanna watch Mickey Mouse," or something else, always preceded by "AnKatie." And he's a snuggler. Which is so nice. Ryan wasn't much of a snuggler, so I'm enjoying having a nephew to snuggle. Ryan is very much his father's son--interested in xbox games and not a whole lot else :) It's really cute to see him play Harry Potter Legos on the xbox. He gets really absorbed in it, and ends up standing six inches away from the tv until reminded to back up a bit. It's been really nice to hang out with Jen and catch up; we've done some shopping together, and she introduced me to In-N-Out, which is a burger chain from California that recently came to Utah.
I've also been hanging out with Ashley and Steven a lot, which has been great. They're thinking that they might come visit me in China next summer, so keep your fingers crossed, cause I would love to have them! It's been really nice to see everyone and play.
Yesterday I went to Walmart and Costco to load up on supplies for China this next year. Oh my gosh. Money money money. Oh well, I'll be grateful for it later :)
So that's all for now, I think. Nothing else really to report.

Home Sweet Home

2010-07-08T03:38:00.000-07:00

It's 6:39 am in Maryland, and I am wide awake because of jet lag. Which actually hasn't been too bad. My trip was really long; 20 hours of combined flying time, and then layovers on top of that. My flight into Baltimore landed at like 6:30 in the morning, and since I'd slept a bit on the plane, I wasn't too exhausted, and adrenaline carried me through the day until about 6:15 pm when I crashed really hard. Being home is super nice, and I'm enjoying English speakers and the good food, and of course the time with the family!

Blessings

2010-06-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've been in China for an entire school year. It feels like I just got off the plane a couple weeks ago and I'm still new. It's gone by super quickly, and I've had a lot of fun. I've been thinking lately about everything that has happened, everything I've done, and all the new people I've met and become friends with. It's really awesome. So here's what's been on my mind:
Stuart and Brooke. I am so grateful that they both speak Chinese, are more gutsy than I am, and patient with me when I'm wishy washy and don't know what I want or what I'm doing. It's been so awesome to have them here as family and support; if they hadn't been here I definitely would have been on my return flight home six weeks later. China was kind of overwhelming. Especially when I broke my ankle.
Andrew and Kimi. They have been my other great support system in China, and it's because of them that I know my way around as well as I do and feel comfortable doing things on my own. They've shown me places to eat, get things fixed, buy a bike (which was unfortunately more trouble than it was worth), and they generally have been just awesome friends. I'm so happy that I get to go to Clifford next year and that they're going too!
Dad. He's handling my bank and student loan accounts while I'm in China, which is a big help, as I'm 12 hours ahead and it's difficult to arrange things from here. The internet is a wonderful thing, but it just can't do everything in case of an emergency. He's also safeguarding my car, which I'm so happy about. I love that thing.
Skype. This is my favorite thing on my computer. I love that it lets me call my family for free or for super cheap. I've been able to keep in touch with friends and call and talk to Erin till the wee hours of the morning. I'm so happy that I didn't do this earlier in life when skype didn't exist. Because calling from China on a telephone is a definite money-drainer and would be a no go.
Traveling. I love that I can pop over to Hong Kong for a weekend, and that I got to spend two glorious weeks in Thailand and Cambodia. If I'd stayed in the States, who knows if and when that would have ever happened! I love that I can save up enough money to do these awesome things.
China is cheap. Food is cheap, entertainment is cheap or free, and luxuries are cheap. This lets me have a lot of fun and still save a lot of money.

Basically what this long post of happy thoughts means is that I'm really glad that I bit the bullet and came to China, and I'm excited that I get to stay another year, without having to deal with the culture shock this time around. I'll already be familiar with stuff and not stress out as much.

The Merry Month of May

2010-06-02T00:41:00.000-07:00

May has absolutely whizzed by; I can't believe it's over already! My friend Alex's sister Marianne came to visit from England for two weeks, and we did a lot of stuff to show her around. Amusement parks, tombs of dead kings, pearl markets, and just wandering around Guangzhou. It was a lot of fun to have her around, and she and Alex introduced me to two awesome pieces of British television: "Blackadder" and "Doctor Who." Love them! Such funny, great shows.
It's started to get warm here, and the rainy season has started; it rains a lot now and the cockroaches have begun their assault. I've had to kill three of the little buggers this week, and it's driving me crazy. Now whenever I have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night I have to turn on all the lights to make sure I'm safe from the little nasties. I have no desire to step on one in my bare feet while half asleep. Ugh.
I'm also really excited to go home and visit! I'll be in the States for like a month, which will be wonderfulness. Good food, clothes shopping, people who speak English... ah bliss. It' making this last month of June a little more difficult to wade through though. I want it to be time to go already! I want to see everybody!
My birthday was really good this year; it lasted for like a week! Stuart and Brooke took me out the weekend before because they were going to be in Japan for the actual day, and then Saturday the 29th I went to their apartment and took over the kitchen for a couple hours to bake up a storm. I've missed baking and cooking so much. Mom, prepare yourself for a flurry of cooking when I get home. I made a bunch of cookies and then in the evening we went out for Vietnamese food at this really good restaurant called Tiger Prawn. Sunday was my actual birthday, and Andrew and Kimi made me a breakfast lunch after church and I made more cookies since I still had leftover ingredients. It was really good.
Today is Wednesday, which I love, because it means no afternoon classes. I get to sit, play, or be as productive as I want. I'm kind of bored now, though. I've read all my books a million times and finished my television show that I was going through. Suggestions?
And sorry no pictures; I've been trying to upload them while writing this post, and it keeps giving me an Error message saying the request is too big, whatever that means.

Rain Rain Go Away

2010-04-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

I hate the rain. It's been raining nonstop for a little over a week (which may be slightly hyperbolic, but whatever), and I'm tired of it. The floors are wet, my clothes won't dry, and the bottom six inches of my pants are continually damp. Today we get the added bonus of thunder. It's hard to get up the desire to go out and do stuff when it's wet and cold. I have a friend here that loves the rain, and whenever I complain about it, he laughs and says it's great. But he's from England, so I guess you have to like rain then, as it rains all the time there.
In other news, I have to go judge an English competition tonight, which is kind of a joke, but I get paid for it, which I didn't know, so that's a nice bonus.

I saw on Erin's blog that she made a desert island playlist, which I thought was kind of a cool idea. And as I was reading hers, I was thinking about what songs would be on mine, so here they are:

Bleed it Out - Linkin Park
Don't Stop Believin' - Glee
Let it Be - The Beatles (but I agree with Erin, and I'd probably choose the Across the
Universe version)
Here Comes the Sun - Bob Khaleel
Old School - Hedley
Take Me or Leave Me - Idina Menzel and Tracie Thoms (from Rent)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Hallelujah - either by K.D. Lang or Alexandra Burke, both versions are good
That's What You Get - Paramore
Ignorance - Paramore
What Have You Done Now - Within Temptation
Headstrong - Trapt
Halo - Beyonce
Mercy - One Republic
Happy - Leona Lewis

Nothing else to report as of now. Toodles

2010-04-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

My speaking has changed since I've been in China, which I was not expecting. For example:
1. I say "supermarket" now. It's never the "grocery store."
2. I pronounce my 't's. If I say "Beddy" instead of "Bet-ty" for example, my students protest that it's not their name.
3. I say "fond of" much more than "like" now. I think this may be the result of British friends.
4. In general I articulate my words more, especially when speaking to my students.
5. Sometimes when I'm talking to my students individually I don't conjugate all my verbs or change tenses. I use the grammar I know they'll most easily understand. This is probably a bad thing.

On Saturday a bunch of us went to the Japanese all-you-can-eat restaurant in Guangzhou. Yum. They have this steak and onion dish that is the best beef I've had in China. Mmmmmm.

MJ, some guy who worked at our school last year that I don't know, Andrew, and Kimi
Julie and April
Alex and me

Stuff

2010-04-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

Life in China is good. I'm enjoying my classes and I've started doing more things with other teachers. February was our holiday, and I went to Thailand and Cambodia with my friend Stephanie from Church. It was fabulous, and I loved it absolutely. I bought a ton of books, since there were a ton of English bookstores : ). We went to the beach for a week, sat on the sand and swam in the ocean (but only a little for me... jellyfish. I stuck to the pool more). Cambodia and the ruins at Angkor were amazing, and almost out of this world. It was hard to come back to the cold weather in Guangzhou after the heat in Thailand.

The ruins at Angkor; specifically, Bayon.
The view from our hotel in Phuket
Aranyaprathet ruins; it used to be the capital city of Thailand, and I really liked this Bhudda head encased in the roots.

The Grand Palace in Bangkok.

March wasn't very eventful other than the fact that I applied for a job at a new school for next year. I'll be teaching at Clifford School, which is a better school, and they will pay me double what I'm making now. They also have a curriculum for me to follow, which is nice, so I won't have to teach blindly anymore. There are a lot of the members of the branch in Clifford, and the complex has a lot more stuff to do: stores, restaurants, and more frequent buses to the city. I'm pretty happy with my decision to stay another year; I'm having a lot of fun in China, and I'm looking forward to staying.

Last week Andrew, Kimi, some other teachers, and I went to see the circus at Chimelong. Wow. It was really cool, and I saw people do things I would not ever in any lifetime be brave enough to do. Sadly, I forgot my camera that night, so no pictures. It was really fun, and nice to finally get to Chimelong, which is close. I still have to get to the amusement park and safari and water park. It's a fun to do list.

One of the teachers at our school, MJ, is leaving on Monday to go to the Shanghai Expo, so there was a farewell party for her last night at a bar that's closeby.

The girl in the white tank top is MJ, the teacher that's leaving.
April, Julie, and Alex

January

2010-01-31T03:30:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow I am going to Thailand. It's Chinese New Year break and Stephanie and I are celebrating by spending two weeks baking in the humidity of Thailand. I'm packed and ready to go, and excited, but calm at the same time. Kind of like I was right before I came to China. It will be a lot of fun.

The month of January has been a good one, and a particularly easy one, work wise. As the end of the semester neared, students were madly prepping for exams, as were the teachers. Because of this, I had many unexpected days off while the Chinese teachers reviewed with the students. And then of course I didn't have classes while the students were taking their exams. My students are very high achievers, and would come and tell me their scores, expressing disappointment with anything less than a 95. When I told some of my fourth graders that I got an 83 in math when I was in school, they were all like "whoaaaa!" It was really funny for me, and I kept trying to tell them to chill out about their grades. My students are really funny, and come and talk to me before classes and after classes, so much so that I almost can't finish getting ready for my lesson. I really enjoy it though, in spite of the distraction.

After exams it was babysitting time for a couple of days, and then vacation. All of my students went home or on vacation, and I've had the entire week off. It's been really nice, actually. I've had some days that were productive and well spent, and some days where I've enjoyed just being lazy, watching tv and reading.

2009-12-15T22:33:00.004-08:00

Hi there! The big news of the month is I no longer have a broken ankle!! My cast is off and everything! (Longest 6 weeks of my life). I'm doing well here; I've made a new friend at church and we click really well. So Stephanie (which is her name) and I decided to go traveling during winter holidays together. We're going to go to Thailand and Cambodia. I'm pretty stoked about it. Teaching is going well; I've started to teach my students some slang (what's up, whatever, cool, etc...) and most of them really get into it. When I was teaching them "Whatever" (in the sense that you use it to say you don't believe someone) I would tell outrageous lies and they would respond. Some of my third graders still do it to me, giving me outrageous lies to which I respond "whatever." It's a lot of fun. I've been exploring more; I got a bike and I'm learning cycling proficiency again. It's been a while. I went to Hong Kong a couple times and played; got some new clothes, went to Disneyland and such. I found an English bookstore (thanks dad!) and so I splurged and got some books. Thank goodness. Here's pictures!

The third grade had an "English Star Arena" where they played games and sang English songs. I was asked to 'host' it.
This is Ella. She was my co-host. She's probably one of my best students. Such a sweetie.
Thanksgiving dinner at the Aufderheide family residence. They kindly offered Stephanie and me a place to go.

Not quite sure what this was, but the girls were all frantically tying their hair...

Stephanie and I went to Hong Kong for a weekend of revelry and shopping.

This is us on the metro. It took us a while to get there. The guy on the right is Joey Christensen; his family are old friends of my parents, and they let us stay with them.Disneyland!!! It was a lot of fun.

Some kind of yumminess...

The Star Island Ferry to Kowloon

China Post

2009-11-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I realize it's been a while and I haven't yet posted about China, so here it is. I don't have very many pictures of me going places because of my broken ankle, but hopefully that will change soon. I am working at a school in a suburb city of Guangzhou, and the bus ride into the city is only 40-ish minutes so it's not too bad. I'm really enjoying all the good food and cheap living. Last week I went and got an hour massage for six US dollars. It was nice. At my school I teach graes 3, 4, and 5 Oral English; basically what that means is I help them develop their speaking and conversational English. It's kind of hard because the kids don't get grades or marks for my class, and so they're not invested in it and they don't focus. Some classes are getting better though, thank goodness. There are two LDS couples down here at the same school I work, which is kind of unheard of! It's really nice, and they've been great helping me get around and situated. They've shown me all the good places to eat down here, and where different things are. I am going to Hong Kong this weekend to sort out my visa, since I broke my ankle the day before my last planned trip. Hopefully everything will go smoothly! Stuart and Brooke live right in the city, and it's nice to be able to go and visit and see them so much; they've been great helping me get started and find a job. Well, here are some pictures of my school and my apartment!

This is the front of my school. If I turn right like 45 degrees, there is my bus stop and the street down to my apartment.
The inside of the school entrance. My section is on the right hand side here.
This is the building I teach in. I have the top two floors.

The whole elementary school gathers everyday for morning exercises.

This is my apartment. It's kind of messy in these pictures, but whatever. This is what you see when you are standing in the doorway.

My bedroom.
A very teeny kitchen

That's all for now; it takes forever to upload and post!

Graduation!

2009-10-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

On August 14, 2009, I graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts in French Teaching, and a minor in English Teaching. It was a very cool ceremony, and I had a lot of fun that day. Mom, Dad, and Erin were there, and we went out to Carrabba's for lunch. Then in the evening a bunch of friends and I went to the Cheesecake Factory (which is my favorite restaurant...). It was a fun vacation overall, and the next Friday Dad and I drove my little car across the country before I left for China.

Ravioli at Carrabbas. Yumminess beyond belief.

Colin took us shooting during our stay, before which I had never even touched a gun. It was a lot of fun, and really loud.

Summer 2009

2009-08-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

Life has been very busy this summer; I'm back working at the group home, I've been working at the Telefund, and I've been busy socially as well, which is always good. In July I was having some second thoughts about my decision to go to China, but after lots of prayer and booster calls from Mom and Dad, I've decided to still go. It's something I've wanted to do for a loooooong time, and I figure now is the best time in my life to do it. Dad and I are leaving end-ish of August to drive my car back to Maryland, as I don't want to sell it, and I will be flying to China in the beginning of September. AGH!!! I'm so excited!!!
I've also been having a lot of fun with friends this summer. Ashley Johnson, Stephen Clouse, and Robbie Petterborg are my main source of entertainment; we've hung out like every night, and we have a lot of fun together. We do a lot of cooking and movies on Robbie's big screen (and by this I mean a projector on an entire wall). Action movies are really cool this way, as is the Planet Earth series by BBC we've been going through. The hunting snow leapords, elephants, and desert sandstorms are super cool when they're bigger on the screen than you are in real life.
So next week I graduate from BYU. I've been a student here for 5 years, and it's kind of difficult to imagine me leaving. It's comfortable to be a student and know what's coming the next year. Even though I'll be sad to leave, I'm excited for this new phase in my life. I also stopped working at the Telefund, which was very sad. Most of my college friends were made there, and it was really a good place for me. I'll miss it a lot.

Ashley and Stephen are engaged, and getting married in December. This was on the fourth at the Freedom Days festival, and I joke that this is how their marriage is going to be...

Fourth of July up on Y Mountain to watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire. This way we were spared the Jonas Brothers. Left to right: Robbie, me, Ashley, Stephen

I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was so awesome; I've never been to a midnight showing before.

I went camping this summer for the first time in 9 years. With nothing to do that night we resorted to interpretive dances around the fire. This has something to do with magical milk and unicorns, which if you've read the Fablehaven series, will make somewhat more sense. My friends Holly and Bradford.
Bradford was doing something about a baby quail.... best interpretive dance of the night

Not sure what Robbie was going for... a bunny rabbit?

My dance. Not sure what *I'm* going for either....
Me and my good friend Holly. ~Holly started the fire, it was always burning, since the world's been turning~
Robbie bought a cake decorating kit, and we made a mongo carrot cake that took six hours from start to finish. I had the biggest subsequent sugar high in a veeeery long time. We kept sampling the frosting during the making process, and then to actually eat the cake and frosting, well you get my point. We had fun decorating.
Robbie is stabbing the cake while Ashley decorates.

Telefund summer BBQ. It was a lot of fun, and there was a watermelon eating contest. Awesome

Holly and me.
Spaghetti night!!
A berry smoothie that was a-MAZ-ing!!!

So that's pretty much my life this summer. A lot of fun, a lot of work. Good times.

Hello Again

2009-06-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody; I've been somewhat spacey and haven't updated for more than two months. Let's see if anyone still reads this!! I got to go home in April and visit, and Erin and I went up to New York for three days. It was fabulous; we went everywhere until our feet were going to fall off, and we got to go see Wicked!!!!! It was absolutely amazing. Here's some pics!

On the ride up to NYC

We went to toy stores and had perhaps too much fun for what is appropriate and expected in people of our ages....

We found the library by accident. Happy accident

This is the view from the Empire State Building; we went up at night, and it was so cool to see all the city lights.
A very windy crossing on the Staten Island Ferry
In front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. So much fun

Baby got back.
We also had a lot of fun imitating art....

In another toy store....
In central park
M&M world. Enough said right there.

May was a good month, if a little slow. I finally got to go back to work at the group home, which, surprisingly, I had missed!. It was also my birthday, and some friends and I went to the Cheesecake Factory (which if you know me at all, you know is my favorite restaurant).

My friend Sarah evidently can't be serious in a picture...

June has passed with little note, except no! I have finished my last class as an undergraduate at BYU!!!!! Last paper handed in, last exam taken, finished!! Finito, stopped, done!!! It was kind of a cool feeling.
Also, I have decided to go and teach for a year in China; this is not news to my family, but I thought I would put it up here, all official like ~wink~. I'll be leaving at around the end of August or beginning of September. I'm excited but nervous too; it's a big step, but one that I want to take. I figure if I get over there and hate it, I have enough money to come back. No biggie. However, the goal is to NOT hate it. So that's my life in the two months since I've posted. I can't really think of anything else!

Student Teaching

2009-04-10T18:21:00.001-07:00

Tuesday April 14 is the last day of my student teaching, and I am extremely sad about this. I am going to miss my students so much; I think this is what missionaries feel like about coming home. I'm definitely going to have to visit. This past week I've been taking pictures of my classes so I could remember everyone. Here they are:
First of all, these are pictures of my classroom that I took one day after school:
This is the view when you walk in the door.
Standing in the same spot, with the camera shifted to the left. I'm still by the door.
In this one I'm standing in the other corner, under the TV that you can see in the picture above. The teacher's desk is where all the students are crowded.
Same corner, with the camera shifted to the right a little bit. You can see the door in the other corner.
This is the third corner. I'm still under the tv, and looking to the far right. Sophie is writing me a message on the board:

My cooperating teacher's last name is Schlendorf, hence the "Schlendy."

This is my first period class, which is a French Intro class. I told them we would do one nice picture and then they could do one silly one.

This is my period two class, which is also a French Intro class. I have about five girls in this class who are just brilliant beyond belief. Whenever we do a game and they choose groups they all end up together and sweep the competition. I've had to separate them so it's more evenly distributed : ). I call them my powerhouse ladies.

This girl in the green sweatshirt is probably the sweetest, cutest girl I have ever met. She's kind of shy, but I can tell she wants to talk to me all the time, and I love it. I basically just want to give her hugs all day long. I absolutely love her to death.

Third and fourth period I don't teach; third is my prep and fourth Kathy (my cooperating teacher) teaches a reading class. My fifth period is a seventh grade English class. We've been doing grammar in preparation for state tests, so they were only too glad to take a break and have a picture taken.

They had some trouble with the whole "Silly picture" concept. They're much sillier in person and when not under pressure to take a picture : )

This is my sixth period, which is my more advanced French class. They are hilarious. They all know each other from last year and they've been with each other this whole year, so they have a really good group dynamic (which sometimes gets them in trouble).

The girl in the green and gray shirt is Miranda, and she's one of my most brilliant students. She always knows the answer and she's such a sweetie!!
The blond boy in the sweatshirt is my other genius of the class; I swear he has a photographic memory because he always remembers EVERYTHING!!
Sarah had a little too much fun with the scarves I brought in to serve as blindfolds for an activity involving giving directions.

This is my last class, period seven. It is also a seventh grade English class, and these kids either all have ADD/ADHD, or they're excited for the end of the day. Either way, I love them. It's been the running joke of the semester to see who gets to go fill up my water bottle, cause by that time of day it's always empty. I have kids who fight over who gets to do it. One day I let Nate go do it after he'd been asking, and he did a victory dance around the classroom!! I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe.

Chelsea, on the right, is one of the ones who always fights to go fill up my water bottle. She considers it her "job."
Nate, of the water bottle victory dance is on the right.

On the Telefund front, all is still weird, as you might have guessed!

There!! Now I don't feel so guilty for hardly posting all semester!! Whew, that was a long one. I'm going to miss this semester so much. Stay tuned for a future post about Erin and my trip to New York City. It'll be fabulous.

Life Update

2009-03-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

So... Life has been insanely busy, but oh so good. I am loving student teaching more than perhaps is healthy. I really love being at a Middle School; the kids are so fun and energetic. It's great! Some highlights from my teaching experiences so far:
1. I have a really outgoing student who became very withdrawn suddenly, and being concerned, I spoke to her about it. I asked how she was doing, if she needed anything, etc. The next week at Parent Teacher Conferences her mom came in and talked with me about some difficulties she's been having with different circumstances. Her mom told me that I was the only teacher of hers that noticed, and that it meant so much to her. That was like "AHH" (with joyous, triumphal background music). I felt like such a power teacher!
2. My seventh period class. In general. They are so hilarious; I don't know whether they all have ADD or whether it's just because it's the end of the day, but they are so hyper and so funny. My water bottle is always empty by the time seventh period rolls around, and my kids all argue over who gets to go fill it when needed. They are just something else. They have such a great group dynamic and they are just so fun I can't stand it.
3. I have one student who is probably the sweetest child I have ever met in my existence. She's so sweet, kind, courteous and just great in general. She's such an artist and such a great girl; I kind of wish that I could have her in all of my classes for the rest of my teaching career.
4. I love my kids!!

That's it for now!!

Student Teaching

2009-01-30T16:44:00.001-08:00

Well, student teaching is under way. Completely, thoroughly, exhaustingly so. I have five classes filled with twelve to thirteen year olds, and I love it. Many people react with appalled horror when I say that I'm teaching at a middle school, but I love it. The students at that age are not as cynical about life or school as high school students are. In high school, it can be "teach me. I dare you." if you don't have the right chemistry. In middle school, I am more the grown up, and the students are still young enough to enjoy school (most of them). I have been doing pretty well I think, and an added bonus is that my mentor teacher and I get along really well. We have very similar temperaments and senses of humor, so life is entertaining. I've taken over all the French classes, and will take over the English classes next week. I'm still trying to learn everyone's name; I keep telling my kids that I need to go to special ed for name remembering. It's quite awful. I am really enjoying my time, and I'm grateful that I was not as nervous as I had anticipated. The classroom management part has been easier than I was thinking it would be, and I fully acknowledge that this is because of my time working at the group home. Working with those kids helped me a lot with my "authority voice" and it's made life as a teacher much easier.
In spite of my enjoyment of my student teaching, I am tired all the time. I am still working at the BYU Telefund, so I go to school in the morning, have an hour after school to get a jump on lesson planning, and then I go to work for four hours. By Friday I'm wiped. For example, today I could really use a shot of adrenaline. My mentor teacher is in Seattle for her son's wedding, and so it was just me, Ms. Dean, with the kids all day and no prep period. This means no break from children or teaching. Even lunch was not responsibility free, as I had to get ready for the next period. Even though I'm tired all the time, I'm so excited it's kind of ridiculous, and everyday I go to work and just tell everyone what my kids did that day. This may be my last post for a while, as I will have no life for the next three months.

Lots of stuff...

2009-01-11T17:05:00.000-08:00

So over Christmas break I had no wireless internet and couldn't update my blog cause it takes forever, so here's lots of pictures from Christmas. I'm an auntie again, and Christmas break was a lot of fun. I don't know how much I'll be able to update my blog this semester, as I'm an idiot and decided to work at the Telefund while student teaching. The first week was good, and I'm starting to learn the kids' names, which is always a plus! I'm really looking forward to it.
Brooke and Stuart with their new baby boy Ocean.
Mom and the baby

He's a cutie. Go Brooke and Stu!

My brother Stu and his wife Brooke

This is the view of the Washington D.C. temple from the Capital Beltway. You round a curve, and there it is, almost floating in the trees. It's a cool sight.
Me and baby Ocean
We webcammed with Colin and Jen so they could join us in opening presents on Christmas morning

Baby Ocean in his Santa hat. It was awesome.

I was excited to get this, since I've wanted it for a while.

Me and Erin. Finally a semi-normal picture!
Mom and Dad. This is at the airport when they came to send me off back to Utah.
We always knew that Erin loved me best...
This is Justin. I work with him. He has some issues.... (not really, I'm being mean. We made pipe cleaner crowns, and the girl he was sitting next to put hers on his head and I happened to catch it)
We're really official at work. Can't you tell?
I prove my point.
And again....

I found these fairy wings in the toy box, and I had to wear them, because they went with the crowns. I'm the Telefund Fairy.
This is our somewhat annual Leadership lunch at Tucano's. It was a lot of fun, and very noisy!

This is all the supervisors at work. We're really just a bunch of crazies.

2008-12-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while; life has been crazy with various multipage papers and mom coming and the holiday...it just never seems to slow down any. So this is a super long post. Everyone should be happy, with lots of pictures. I'm just hoping I can endure through the end of finals.

This is what BYU does to all the statues around campus during rivalry week, when we play the University of Utah. I don't know if it actually prevents any vandalism, but it looks cool.

We all went to the California Pizza Kitchen to celebrate Ellen's birthday. It was a lot of fun! Here's mom and Rita.
My roomies, starting from the left: Crystal, Ellen the birthday girl, Njeri (who is not a roommate but Ellen's friend), and Kristin.
Ellen and I were being silly...as you can see quite plainly.
All of the roommates.

I finally got a picture of me and mom.
All of us at the restaurant.
Sorry Ellen, I told Crystal to make a funny face.
Crystal and Ellen battled over Ellen's birthday dessert. There was some whipped cream spread, some faces dunked, some laughter, and some exasperation.

Me and Rita
Mom with her grandbaby Evan.
Colin's boys attacked him.
This is Colin's face during the BYU Utah game when we were losing. Evidently since we lost the church isn't true this year.

We all had Thanksgiving at Rita's house, which was awesome. This is the Dean side of the table.

Colin assented long enough to make a nice face for a picture. I love this photo.

Nana and baby Evan.

So this is my life lately; I quit the group home and so now have more free time to do things like study, papers, and other school work.

Randomness and Halloween

2008-11-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

So a lot has happened lately, and I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but here it is! On Sunday my roommates and I went down to Rita's house to have dinner, which was yummy, and we had a dance party to ABBA's greatest hits, because seriously, what's better than that on a Sunday night in a girls' apartment?? School has been going pretty well, but it's getting to the point in the semester where life starts to suck, what with all the papers and tests and junk. Urg.

Ellen and Rita!

Ellen and Crystal. They stole my camera and made many faces. This is just one of them.

We partied to ABBA's greatest hits; the three girls on the left live above us, and we had a lot of fun! Ellen's hair is just awesome. I can't believe I caught it at that moment!

This is me with two friends from the Telefund: Dani on the left, and Holly on the right. We went to Saturday's BYU vs. SDSU game, and had a lot of fun! BYU: 42 SDSU: 12. Co cougars!

This was before the game, when the marching band was doing their marching band thing. They made a Y on the field, and I thought it was awesome.

Holly and I at the Telefund before we went to the game. We were wearing the same tee shirt, so we thought we had to take a picture!

Ellen and I went to Target this week, and I'm crazy with the camera, so I was taking pictures. Oh well.

This is me at my other job, the group home, except you don't see anything. The other girl making the weird face is Whitney, who also works with me at the Telefund.
Halloween parties are awesome, and the Telefund's is so much fun. We all dressed up, and had a blast. Here's Holly and me. When she came into work, I didn't even recognize her!

This pirate is one of the cool costumes I saw on campus on Halloween. My favorites were: Darth Maul, a tavern wench, Braveheart (complete with facepaint and weaponry), Thing One and Thing Two (from Dr. Seuss), and a Deer. Don't ask.
This is Dani, our resident ghost-nun. She wanted to be a ghost, but we couldn't wear "masks" so she had to cut a hole for her entire face, so she ended up looking like a nun!

Holly again, being her bad goth self.

Me and Jaclyn; I don't know what she was quite going for... a mobster? I was just trying to milk my Irish heritage for all it's worth.

I think this was my favorite costume at work. Hannah's dressed up as bon qui qui, and if you don't get the reference, here's the video from Youtube. It's awesome.

Ward Temple Trip

2008-10-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

My ward went to the temple today, at 6:30 a.m. I don't think I've woken up at 5:30 since seminary, so it was a little difficult. My roommate is one of the temple coordinators, so we had breakfast and juice in our apartment before we went. I was surprised at how many people showed up so early! The poor guys in our ward couldn't come into our apartment because it was too early (they can't go into a girls apartment until 8:00), so they took their cinnamon rolls and juice to a guys apartment. The two temple pictures are of when I went in and when I came out.

Work Work Work... and then school work

2008-10-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

So I've been working like an insane woman lately. This has been my weeks lately:
1. School (15 credits)
2. BYU Telefund (17-18 hours a week)
3. The group home (today I worked a 14 hour shift, followed by another 14 tomorrow)

Basically, I have no weekends, no evenings, and no time to do things. Urg. Despite this, I love my job(s), and am enjoying myself. Maybe I'm a closet masochist. Who knows. I really should be working on a French test right now, but I have to go to bed in a half an hour, and I don't really want to open that can of worms. Thought I would check in. No pictures today; I'm using my roommate's computer, since mine is being fixed.

My first post!

2008-10-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

So... I have decided to start a blog, because I figure now that I have a digital camera I can put something up besides just words. Mom and dad, this is mostly for you. Life has been pretty good lately; I've got some serious emotional senioritis, but I've actually kept up with all my readings, papers, and exams. At least this senioritis has not affected my school work. Some recent good news:
1. I handed in my student teaching application (the beast is finished)
2. General conference was this weekend, and I got to visit my brother's family.
3. I am over my awful cold.
4. Mom is coming to visit for Thanksgiving.

Today I was able to go visit Colin and Jen and their boys, something I haven't been able to do in a while. I have new respect for Jen , who has to try and get Ryan to look at the camera; it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! I just hung out for a little while, and drove home. These are some pictures from today, and also some random ones of stuff I've done recently.

These are my awesome nephews, Evan (six-ish months), and Ryan (three). They're awesome.

Colin and Jen, with Colin doing his standard photo pose.

We had BYU spirit week at work one week, and everyone dressed up one day, and we had games all week. Priscilla and Holly stole my camera to take this. The lower one is what my work looks like.

This is me and Amanda... working...

This is one of the games we did this week: BYU Donut eating contest. It was quite entertaining to watch.

Each team at work made banners to show their spirit for the cougars; this is my favorite one. If you notice, on the bottom there is a small picture of a football field and a player kneeling, with a speech bubble that says: "Give us this day our daily touchdown." It seems to be working lately, huh?

These are my roommates: Ellen, me, Kristin, and Crystal. It was Crystal's birthday a while ago, so we took her to Outback Steakhouse, which was a lot of fun.

I got to go visit dad a little while ago, and here are pictures to chronicle the event.

Me and dad in the hotel, and eating ice cream at the airport. The visit was a lot of fun, and I was so excited to see him!

I think this is all for now... we'll see how good I am at keeping up with this thing!

P.S. This formatting thing is tricky! I spent forever on this, and still haven't figured it out!