Blessings

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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