Grad School, Disney World, and China

      First off let me say it's been way too long since I have written in this blog. No I didn't forget about it I just got really busy with grad school and life. This blog is going to cover a few things the main topics being Grad school, Disney World, and China.

      Let's start off with grad school. I am officially 75% of the way done with my studies. So far every session ( my semester are broken up in two 9 week sessions I have earned an A and B of some kind every session. The fact that my GPA is at 3.373 is cause to say PTL, because He is the one that granted me wisdom and helped me through some very hard classes. I am all signed up for my last semester and have my books already so I am excited that I am almost to the end of my studies. For those of you that prayed me through some hard spots (hugs to Grandma Nancy) thank you so much! I have to check with my adviser about when to submit my intent to graduate. If I can pull it off I want to go to APU for graduation and the hooding ceremony. For those of you that don't know what a hooding ceremony is "a special recognition ceremony for doctoral degree candidates during which a faculty adviser and the Dean of Graduate Academics place the doctoral hood, signifying his or her success in completing the graduate program. The ceremony is similar to a graduation in that the faculty and students are dressed in academic attire. The Hooding Ceremony is in addition to and does not replace the Graduate Commencement." (got that from the internet).  In this case it applies to my Masters degree instead of a Doctoral degree.

          I don't know if it will happen this year but I am hoping that I can swing it since I have worked hard for this MA which brings me to Disney World. I had an old room mate from college get married the beginning of June and since the wedding was in Alabama I was only 6 hours away from Orlando. My parents surprised me with my graduation present early and for a week my mom and I went to WDW (Walt Disney World).  I had so much fun...no really I had more fun then the 5-year-olds. My mom and I were the only two people in the park that were enjoying the crazy hot and humid weather. To be honest it reminded me of Wuhan in the summer so I didn't mind. We did go to the China pavilion at EPCOT and yes the minute I walked trough the gates I felt like I was home. There was even milk tea!! It was so good and I hated leaving I just wanted to curl up inside their replica of the Temple of Heaven and spend the night. I will post pictures at the end of our trip. My phone decided to be weird and my camera kept crashing so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked.  With the milk tea and Temple of Heaven we come to China.

         As I only have one semester left I have begun serious prayer and fasting to know where the Father plans on taking me next. For a while I thought maybe Thailand or somewhere in the Asia Pacific region. But after much prayer my heart is still in China and I feel very strongly that the Father is sending me back. I am searching on ways to get back to the country love. I have been looking at the International Schools across China. There was a school WYIS that was close to where I taught in Wuhan but the main organization that it goes through has schools all over China. I would gladly go wherever they had a need for me to go. I found it so ironic this trip that the last time we went to the China pavilion at EPCOT (2011) the Father called me to China and I was so afraid. This time when I went I was sad to leave and filled with peace and 'being home' even though I was standing the the middle of Central Florida.  I would ask for your prayers that the doors that need to be open would be and if there is a different path he wants me to take then the doors would not even budge open. With all my heart I simply want to return to the people I love, even though you have your TIC (This is China) moments there is no substitute for the peace of the Father that permeates the heart when you are exactly where you need to be...even if it's halfway around the world.

         So for now I will leave you this this simple update and let you explore some of our pictures:

 Got my pirate Minnie ears on ready to relax

 My Mom got the cheesecake with caramelized bananas

 Mine was a white sponge cake with coconut cream that the cake soaked up

 The Tree of Life is huge in person and you can stare at it for hours an still find new animals.

 One of the 'islands' as the Caribbean Beach Resort where we stayed.

 Our view in the morning on our walk to breakfast

 Couldn't resist this one at Animal Kingdom

 Hand is there for scale these were about 5lbs.

 Walt's own words

 Everything tasted better Mickey shaped

 At the Coral Reef in EPCOT we sat right next to the tank as we ate

 Hello, Mr. Turtle

 My Mom got turtle cheesecake so they made it into a turtle.

 Home Sweet Home

 Milk Tea!!

 From here I have Spectro Magic Parade pictures

 Kinda in love with Peter Pan

 Sorry this is hard to see it's Dopey

Thanksgiving and Black Friday... Which is the Bigger Holiday?

           First off its has been eons since I have written, largely due to my lack of time from school. My basic day consists of getting up going to work and then coming home and doing school work until I go to sleep and start all over. Thus I really don't have a social life right now, but on the good side I got through my first 9 weeks with an A- and a B. Since I have to have a 3.0 at the end of my first semester or I am booted out of the program I am working like crazy to keep my grades up. This is not always so easy. Every 9 weeks I have a new teacher with a new set of standards and rules I have to adapt to in a minimal of 1.5 to 2 weeks. By week 3 they expect the best from you (seeing as this is graduate school they should) needless to say there are times I get a wee bit stressed out.
      I have so much school work to do in the next 6 weeks ( we get 2 weeks off for Christmas break, but I will be working straight through them). We have so many papers and lesson plans due back to back that I can't really afford to take a break. Maybe summer vacation I can relax a little, for now I am content with my hour and a half of fun reading before bedtime to unwind. It's not much but it works for me right now. I feel so bad that I have not been more diligent with my blog, I didn't realize how much time grad school was going to take up. I am enjoying my studies and learning so much about how we learn language, it's amazing at least to me.

            So yesterday was Thanksgiving and I enjoyed being home with my mom and relaxing (ok so yesterday I did take a break). I found myself grateful for so much and at the same time I find myself with a different attitude about my culture. All week it has been about shopping and getting the best deal, not spending time with family just obtaining more things. I had a co-working sharing with us at our lunch break that instead of celebrating Thanksgiving because they are so 'poor' they are sending the kids with a sitter and shopping for all the cheap deals. I cringed so hard on the inside I was afraid it was coming across my face. I saw real poverty last year in China, most of them make very little and yet are happier then most of the people I see here who have so much. I made a total of $3 a day and I remember living on very little and I was content, that is a lesson that I pray to never forget. Every time my clothes come out of the dryer and are soft from the fabric softener I find myself surrounded by luxury. My view of the world around me as changed and there are times it even surprises me by the ways it has changed.  I still haven't gotten over sticker shock over here everything is so expensive.

         I am sad to say that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is dying and fading away in the mainstream of my culture, instead let's accumulate more things because that's what will make you happy. The only problem is it leaves you more empty and broke. This is something I am studying right now in my grad classes, 'reality' is not the same worldwide. Every culture has a different 'reality' in no way is it relative. We have been talking about how your 'reality' changed after you went abroad to a different culture and then returned to your own. There are few people around me who understand this (there are those who try, don't get me wrong). I find there are times I don't really fit in with the culture I was born and raised in, that's ok because in the end this isn't my real home.

         This Thanksgiving I am grateful for a Father who loves me and will never abandon me. No matter what comes He is with me cheering me on. I am grateful He never let's go and believes in me even when I don't believe in myself (this comes in handy when I feel like I want to quit school). This holiday I am counting my blessing from a roof over my head to fabric softener in my clothes.

Back in the Classroom

     Well I got through my first week of classes with only one late assignment. This week will be so much better now that I have found my rhythm. I had one day of training at Bayne's and at the end of the day they told me I was not a good fit. So basically my whole day was wasted when I had a ton of work to do at home.  After that crazy day, I started to think I wouldn't find a job...enter Mama Place. She works for the Midland schools and told me of a job opening over there so today I had an interview with them and .....got the job!!! After I pass all the background checks and such I will be a paraprofessional (I work with the special needs kiddos) with the Midland Elementary Schools. I am so excited about returning to the classroom! This gives me an income but I still have the flexibility to do my course work, the bulk of it on Saturday. This job is a perfect fit for a graduate student who really needed a job and needed time to study and not feel overwhelmingly stressed out all the time.

     PTL my Father has taken care of me once again and He even gave me a little break for summer vacation. Next summer I am hoping (at this moment) to find a job like Subway or something like that to supplement my income over the summer and stash away money for APU and my celebratory trip to celebrate my Master's (something to look forward to on 'those days'). I am praying for a mild winter or finding someone whom I can rent a room from for those weeks the weather is just awful. So here is my quick update about the faithfulness of my Father and how amazingly well He treats me, I am so very grateful!

Classes and Carmel Apples

    First off I am so sorry that I have not updated this blog in so long! My life has been so crazy the last few months. Ok time for the update:

         The last most of you knew I was trying to find a way to pay for graduate school. Well PTL it all came together. They confused me with another student with the same name and in the same program (but the campus one not the online one). I was able to get financial aid that covers my entire first year plus my books. I had orientation today and got my first syllabus today. I have a lot of work ahead of me in the next 9 weeks and that's just one class I will have two of them for the first session (9 weeks Sept. 1-Nov. 4) and then two of them for session two (Nov. 11- Jan. 25). That's just the first semester, but after three semester I will be certified to teach anywhere in the world. So right now it seems like a mountain but you simply climb it one foot at a time until you get to the top.

      In other news I had a job interview at Bayne's Apple Valley Farm. It went very well, they could not hire me until I knew how my classes work so now that I know I can let them know and hopefully start my training the week of Sept 9th. It is only a seasonal job but its something and I am grateful for it. There will probably be times of craziness but those are the moments I learn to lean on my Father and let Him teach me a new lesson. I will mostly be working in the bakery section making caramel apples so it should be a great autumn of helping to make memories like the one I have from when I was little.

     In completely non related news I had my 'vacation' with my mom yesterday and went to Frankenmuth, It was so much fun!!!! We walked the entire length of Bronner's which took about 4 hours, by then we were so hungry so we went to Zehnder's . I did not have the all you can eat I just get the two piece meal and take half of it home to eat for dinner. We did a lot of shopping, which was fun. My Mom has her shopping buddy back. We got to Frankenmuth around 9:45am and left around 5:30pm. We made a day of it and still didn't see most of the city. So I think one of these weekends in the future we could easily stay in town at a hotel and just enjoy Frankenmuth for a few days and have a vacation not so far from home. Ok so here are some pictures I know you have been waiting for these so impatiently.

  Says God Bless you

 Merry Christmas (of course found the Chinese)

 Ice Cream!!!

 Missing the Aloha family in China

 If you are a HUGE angry bird fan here's your tree

 Hello Kitty

 Yay China flag!!

 It's always sunny with these shades on!

 My Mom's favorite

 Thank you!

 Coolest mail box EVER!

 This is what you dream of when its chicken feet night in China

 Buttered noodles, still amazing!!

Looks Wuhan represented at Bronner's

The Longest Day Ever!

           First off sorry that it has taken me almost a month before I wrote my last blog post. This isn't the end of my blog but my post might be few and in between over the summer months. As most of you know I am not returning to China in the Fall so I have no idea where my travels will take me. I am starting classes in the fall at APU via an online course. Right now I am just looking for a job and so far I have come up empty, but something has to be out there....somewhere. Anyway enough with my babbling and on to my last crazy adventure in China.


          My last week was my hardest I had to say goodbye to my kiddos and they were crying and I was crying it was not the best week ever. My fellow teacher Michelle even cried when I had to say goodbye (we became good friends) it was an emotional roller coaster. Anyway I was trying to pack all of my stuff and it is not that easy. I had winter stuff that my mom had sent to that I didn't take over so  I was trying to stay under the weight limit (which was proving difficult) I ended up with a pile of things I had no where to pack and needed to get home. Amy (my waiban) said that she could mail it for me, at last it seemed like there was finally sunshine streaming in again. But it wasn't going to last long. Instead of going through the post office she was going though places like DHL and FEDEX so that meant 2 things 1. I had to find my own box and 2. it was going to be expensive. But the day before I was leaving (June 24) I was so stressed out about it and they kept on jacking up the price because I was a foreigner so at that point I told Amy never mind and went shopping for a small hard shell suitcase to pack the remaining things. At the same time I had to go to two different banks to pull out my money and close my accounts, then I had to head over to the Bank of China to exchange $500 dollars worth (I couldn't do all of it because I am not Chinese they can do up to $10,000 a day). After I left the sky was getting very dark and the wind was picking up I knew we had rain coming and I was trying to hurry.

          I got to Zhong Bai and bought my suitcase then went downstairs to get some fried rice to go get snacks for the plane ride home. After a half hour of all this I was finally free to race back to my apartment and finish packing. As I walked out of Zhong Bai I was meant with rain and not just a light rain, this was the kind that soaked you in a second. I was without an umbrella and on a time crunch so I simply headed out in the rain. In the process of getting soaked my bag of snacks got completely wet and the bottom fell out into the mud no less! Of course the Chinese don't help you they just stand there and stare at the crazy foreigner I was getting a little upset with China at this point. I finally made it back to my apartment with most of my snacks (some where left in the mud). I took a shower and blow dried my clothes dry so I could pack them (with Amy's help). In between layers of packing stuff I ate my fried rice and tried to not panic. Finally at about 9:30pm I was packed and ready to go for morning.

         The next morning came quickly, I was up early since my flight left at 8am out of Wuhan. I had to lug all to my stuff down 4 flights of stairs which was a learning experience...of patience. After finally getting everything downstairs and packed in the taxi I was on my way to the airport. I had to pay a fee at the airport for being over weight with one bag (the flight from Wuhan to Shanghai was domestic so I could have 2 carry-ons). We had some turbulence on that flight but not terrible like when I went over to China. Then I got to lug my luggage onto a cart and carry it to the other side of the Shanghai airport. Now at this point I need to use the little girls room, but I had no one to watch my stuff so I just held it. I figure by 1:30pm I could check my stuff and use the bathroom by the gate. To make this a little shorter that did not happen around 12:30pm we were informed that the flight was cancelled...Cancelled what do you mean cancelled!! But once again the Father took excellent care of me. Delta put us up in a Wyndam Hotel and I got an amazing room (pictures at the end of post).  I finally got to use the bathroom after  six hours of holding it. So I left Wednesday morning at 6:20am (after getting up at 2:10am) and I got a new plane (the day before there were mechanical problem) there was so much leg room and I got to watch Disney movies the whole way home. There was a little guy behind me and we played hide and seek with his teddy bear (I was by the window). It was a good trip and the food was ok. I was however glad once I got to Detroit to get through customs and get my stuff and head home. The first thing I noticed was the lack of people...don't get me wrong the airport was hopping but there are so many people in China that everywhere you go is super crowded. Then I noticed how blue and clean the sky was this still gets me even a month later, you can actually breath the air it was amazing! So now I  am back in the States but I left my heart in Wuhan and miss my babies everyday. I will now commence with the pictures, just a few of my kiddos and then a few other things including my favorite meal at Aloha and the room I stayed in in Shanghai.

 This is the 'Castle' that I lived in and taught in

 This is part of the drvieway. Its a straight shot to the road all together a mile long (with the picture above).

 Aloha jr. burger, best burger I have ever had!

 Chimme chimme cheesecake with strawberry filling. There are strawberry's and cheese cake in a fried tortilla with cinnamon and sugar and Taylor's vanilla ice cream.

 From here on through is the amazing hotel room I had in Shanghai.

 See the little square that look like a mirror it a TV. You can watch TV while taking a bath.

 Yeah there is phone with the toilet.

 I had a chandelier!

 Class 6 Grade 3

 Class 4 Grade 3

 Class 2 Grade 3

QQ Club (English Corner)