Christmas China Style

Well it was a very memorable Christmas. I received cookies for one of my students, Tiger, he is very sweet! I also had one of my 4th grade boys make and give me a stocking so now I have my own stocking for next year and its from one of my kiddos!! I got lots of Christmas hugs and "Merry Christmas Becky" honestly I have so many 'mom' moments. We practiced for the play (which is now the New Years play) and I got stage fright and completely bombed with my Chinese. I felt so bad that I couldn't remember anything and when I walked into my last class today my kids came up in a big group to tell me 'Becky your Chinese was sooooo good!' and then I got so many hugs. These kids lift my spirits so many times, its pretty easy to fall in love with them. Here in China if you simply try to speak they think you are very smart and brave....I don't really feel like either right now but I am working on memorizing like crazy. In fact this post is a short break between memorizing.

Since it is Christmas it wouldn't be right to not have a great dinner so Inga took Amber, Lulu, Jon, and I out for Christmas dinner at a really good restaurant. I have never been there before so it was a new experience. I had Udon noodles with seafood (that has fish, octopus, and shrimp with the eyes and all) I overcame my fear and tried the octopus suction cups and all. It's rubbery like squid but more so kind of like eating fishy rubber. Yes I liked it but I have always like the weird stuff...except for eel I can't stand the after taste. If you have told me a year ago what I would be doing for Christmas I would have given you a blank stare. All in all it was a pretty good day different and not like any Christmas I have ever had but it was very memorable and what better way to spend the day then loving a bunch of awesome Chinese kiddos. There is a shirt back in the States that says: 'Have you hugged an Asian today?' well that is my life on an everyday basis and I love it. On to New Years 2013 it's going to be a new adventure!

ps I will post pictures when I get my computer back aka a new power cord

Lack of Connection

Well I am writing another blog post because I have no internet so I have run out of things to do while waiting however impatiently for a connection. Amber is on but my iPad will not connect for anything it looks like I might be going to Starbucks tomorrow night if I can't get a connection today or tomorrow. I am glad that the end of the semester is within sight I am very ready for a break...this morning I did not want to get up and I even went to bed early. These moments (without connection to the outside world)  make me learn patience whether I want to or not...usually not. There is a lesson to be learned even in this even if I can't really see it at the moment. Maybe this was what Trevor was talking about last Sunday with waiting...if it is its not fun. SOmetimes I wonder if its from the cold. In the States our electronics stay warm but here they get so cold that they don't really work properly, I find that very true when I try to play a movie at the end of QQ club my DVD skips so much because the computer is cold.

Today is Christmas Eve but it doesn't really feel like it. Some of my classes have decorated for Christmas but I not really in the holiday spirit I am still very much in work mode...maybe by February I will be ready for Christmas. This reminds me of my college days they would push Christmas in the middle of October and by Christmas I was so over the holiday because I felt like I had been celebrating it since before Halloween!  I keep looking up in the corner of my screen hoping for a signal...but sadly nothing. On the bright side the sun just came out it will help, even a little.

Well I finally have a signal but my new VPN is not working...China has really been blocking them with the change of power here. So my blogs might get updated in a mass update with several post in a row. I have learned to live and love these times of TIC, it builds character as well as makes you very grateful for internet in the States or '美国的' or 'mei guo de'. So its time to teach and I will write later, Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year!

To Travel or not to Travel

            Well I am getting closer to break. Tis coming week I work through Saturday to make up to part of New Years break (we get 4 days off) and then I work my first 8 straight days. We make up for to other two days off and it makes no sense to send the kids home Saturday just to bring them back Monday so I will teach my first Sunday :(
But after my long week I know that I only have one more week of teaching and then Chinese New Year/ Spring Festival begins!! Originally I had all these plans for traveling all over China not I have non whatsoever. Hollie is traveling for 4 straight weeks and I think Amber and Lulu are couchsurfing in Tailand. I wanted to meet up with Hollie in Beijing but that is going to be really tricky so so far my 5 weeks off include me cleaning my apartment (which it really needs it) and exploring Wuhan. It moments like this I am actually grateful that I am an only child and used to being by myself.  I do however look forward to sleeping in plus this takes up almost a whole month of winter. Those of you back home know that I am not a fan of the cold...one of the reasons I rather to to Beijing in the summer instead of the cold even though they do have heat. At this point I don't really have plans to leave Hanyang, which makes me sound really boring. Maybe this year can just be low key and next year I can go somewhere...maybe. I kinda take it one day at a time here, I find if I make plans too far ahead China changes them anyway.

In other news I am very grateful for my wireless keyboard and my iPad, it has come in handy with my lack of a computer right now. For those of you who have not heard my power adapter died...the 3rd one for this computer. You would think as brilliant as Apple is they could make a cord that would not be so delicate. So Amy and the tech teacher here at WEFLS are helping me get a new one off of Taobao (Chinese eBay)  so far its going to cost between 288-390 yuan which is not bad its between $40-$60 if I get one straight from Apple it's gonna end up costing quite a bit more after I pay duty fees. Next summer when I buy my new Apple I am getting a back up cord to bring with me to avoid this next year. Again so glad for my iPad and a few apps called keynote and pages.  After I come back from break I have 4 months to go... I can't believe how fast time has gone. I still can't believe I am in China at times, like at lunch time I am eating Chinese (the real McCoy) in China...it really is mind boggling. Well this is all I have for now it's a pretty short update but the next one might be really long depending on internet availability and if I can get my >pn to work (its a sideways v). In the meantime Merry Christmas!

4 months

   Well today I have been here for 4 months...I can't believe how fast the time has gone!!  This has been 4 months of stretching in ways I wasn't really prepared for, but I am glad of it even though it has been very painful at times. I think back to my first few days of teaching and how scared I was, not to mention the fact that I was ready to throw some of my 4th grade boys in East Lake. That has changed so much in the past few months. I still have a few 4th grade boys that can be a handful but it is very different now. I am more confident in my teaching and I really can't go anywhere without hearing my name from one of my kiddos. I have one little boy (whom I cannot remember his name right now) he is so cute he is in Class 2 Grade 3 I have him on Thursdays when he sees me he lights up like the 4th of July and shouts my name until I wave and say hello. It is absolutely impossible for me to have an outright bad day when my kids are around. I can be having the worst day and I will get smothered and I mean smothered in hugs from my students. I could be having a bad day where I don't really feel very great about myself and a little girl will come up to me (or a 4th grade boy...there are at least 3 of them that like me) and tell me 'you are so beautiful'. 

   Moments like this are like hugs sent straight from the Father, he uses my kids everyday to encourage me and let me know that my life is important if for no other reason then to show these kids that there is someone in their corner...they are loved and very special. In the darkest of moments in my life when I feel like I just want to give up or that nothing I am doing really matters I see their little smiles in my mind and I look at my wall of art from my kiddos and everything changes. I think we underestimate the power kids have, they get the important things more then adults do. Somewhere in the growing up process we forget the simple truths and replace them with busy emptiness. My kids remind me to keep it simple. They believe without much proof and they love freely, maybe that's why  JC told us to be like little children...they get it and just believe they don't fight the truth  they just go with it. They have taught me more in 4 months then I think I have taught them. 

   I am going to miss my hugs from my students over the summer...I knew I might get attached but I didn't think it would be this bad. Who knew a bunch of kids in Wuhan, Hubei, PRC would capture my heart. I found out today that I do have to work on Christmas Day but I don't mind I am spending it with my kiddos they are my family in  crazy way and I look forward to spending it with them...plus that is the day of our Christmas Show. I get to preform a poem in Chinese (yes I'm nervous but I am practicing like crazy and getting better!) If my kids can learn English I can learn Chinese, besides the more I learn it and can talk to them in Chinese the cooler they think I am. They like to say something to me in Chinese and I do my best to answer them if I can you would think I just gave them the moon, its the cutest thing! I am glad I got on that plane as nervous as I was if for nothing else then the simple love of my students it is like a soothing balm on the cuts and bruises of my heart. They have eternally changed me and forever taken a piece of my heart with them.

Christmas Blessings

     Well this past weekend I spent most of it in my bed sleeping getting over a very bad head cold. I still have a little that I am getting over but being able to sleep was great. I did however forfeit the Zhong Christmas party instead...which made me sad but I felt like a Macy's parade balloon so sleep was looking so much better. Since I still don't know if I have to teach on Christmas or not I got to open my presents early!!! I got a $50 itunes card which I bought A Christmas Story first because I watch that every Christmas....in China it will be no different!! I also got amazon gift cards from other family members so between movies and reading I am feeling very blessed this Christmas not to mention some of the hugs and smiles I have already gotten from my kiddos.

      I am however looking forward to summer it is finally getting super cold here and its nothing like Michigan its colder...not kidding. This cold is a cold in your bones cold you can't wait for June to arrive!! (Inga if you are reading this continue laughing you warned me and I didn't fully believe you). I just keep thinking that summer is around the corner and it keeps my hopes up despite the fact that January is around the corner, but hey that means I am almost to break time...yay for sleeping in and cleaning my apartment doesn't that sound fun

In Sickness and in Hugs

       Well this morning I woke up with a lousy sinus cold. I really didn't sleep last night so I felt awful this morning, I just got done teaching my last class and I still have English Corner, but some of the most amazing things happened today. I had one class cancelled which was great I got to save my voice and in the class before that I was welcomed with a roaring ovation and they sang he a Christmas song. In the class I just had I was feeling very icky just before having to go teach, my head feels like a Macy's parade balloon, so I wasn't really looking forward to teaching at all. I always ask the Friend (HS) to help me with my classes and as I walked in the door I got 10 hugs from my kiddos and one of the twins Angel made me a heart that says 'I Love You' on it.

  
        If a child gives you their heart even if its a homemade one that it a very big deal. I have to always remember that they are watching the example that I set. But this just made me want to cry on the spot. Although I have felt far below par today I am glad I got up today and pushed on. Sometimes I see my kids around Wuhan and they wave at me and excitedly tell their their parent or grandparent 'That is my teacher!' it makes all the trouble you go through worth it...can't really explain it. Being here in China I have learned not only a lot about myself but what is really important. I don't have all of the stuff and distractions that I have back home it changes a person teaching in another country. I didn't really realize how much it would change me until now and I have almost been here for 4 months...I still have 6 to go. In this case change is a great and needed thing, I think it will really set in when I get home this summer.  For now I will just be grateful and very much in awe that a few little girls in China have given their love to me so freely. If that doesn't warm your heart this Christmas season then you are worse off then the Grinch (which my kids are watching and they love it!)

Weekend in Wuchang

           Well it has been another crazy weekend. On Friday after Chinese lessons the three of us (Amber, Charlene (Lulu), and I) packed ourselves in a taxi and went to see Hollie and go shopping at the night market in Wuchang (you say it Woo Chong). Our poor driver had no idea were he was going and asked like three or four people how to get to the campus. We finally got there and he dropped us off at the farthest gate possible.  So Hollie had to come find us to get us to her place. So she showed us around campus there and we took crazy pictures (thanks to Amber for remembering a camera), then we went to dinner which was so good at that point cause we were starving!!! After we did the craziest thing yet…we took a sketch van…by that I mean that they are not exactly a recognized way of travel. We went to the crazy, awesome night market and saw the most adorable puppies as we entered the street. Of course we all held one and wanted to adopt them in a matter of nano seconds but alas none of us are allowed to have dogs…plus none of us have ways of bringing them home in the summer.

           Then we went to several shops with hair stuff and we all bought pretty things for our hair. I saw a knock off Louis Vinton that I fell in love with but it was 200 qui that I really didn’t want to part with…right now if I budget something like that in I won’t feel so bad. Right now though I am looking at having to buy a new cord for my computer because it is seeing its last days…then again so is my computer and it makes me a little worried cause I need it to do my power points for class. If it dies that is so much money I have to come up with for a new Mac…hang little lady just a few more months; ok 6 more just hang on 6 more! So after that we saw a stand that had these funnel cake/ donut things…they were delicious. I had one of those in one hand and in the other I had a lovely stick with fruit on it glazed in clear sugar…here are some of the reasons why I love China street food is so good…shady at times but so good. Like Trevor pointed out this is the only place you can get trash can bread from a guy in an alley and its all legit. I am safer here in China then anywhere in the States…no really I have been out at 12:30am and you never feel in danger you can walk home and your fine, I can’t say the same for back home I’m pretty sure something bad could happen to me that late at night.

            So it was a great night at this point and we were all shopped out and ready to go home (Hollie’s). We got back to there place and started walking back to the hotel (she lives in a hotel on campus) well Hollie, Mark, and Tristan decided to go get something to drink before heading back so Lulu, Amber, and I decided to do the Chinese thing and link arms as we walked back to their place. Well we are walking along when all of a sudden Lulu starts screaming, which makes me scream and then Amber joins in. We turn around to see a shadowy figure in a black cloak behind us…its Mark (he doesn’t wear a coat but a cloak think Lord of the Rings). He was coming to let us in the building but he is so quiet that he ended up scaring us instead I even peed my pants a little it was that bad.  We finally got inside and it took a few hours for Lulu and Amber to calm down after that…all in all it was a very memorable weekend. While in the sketch van we sang Christmas songs and looked at the Christmas lights they have put up. So I got to keep a childhood tradition alive in a very odd and slightly illegal way. My life is so random and crazy over here but I would change in it.

         When it comes to my kiddos in English Corner (we call it QQ club) we watched Peter Pan because my kids had never seen that movie and that is a travesty again childhood!! Now they can grow up and be well rounded not to mention they loved it I have never heard them laugh so hard before…they study so hard I wanted to give them some down time to just be kids and blow off steam. In my other classes I have lots of new kids trying to read and talk in English and I am so proud of them for trying. Even if I have to help them with every other word I am so proud of them for being brave and giving it a try. As always I got hugs and I think I heard ‘Becky you are so beautiful’ like 20 times this week. Sometimes even though I am trying to be the hands and feet of JC to these kids I think they are His hands and feet to me. My third graders are learning about soft and smooth, rough and scratchy, opposites so a bunch of my little girls came up and started to pet my arm, ‘Your coat is soft and smooth’. I love my kiddos so much I might not ever find a cure for cancer, or write a great novel, or became someone famous or important, but that’s ok because to these kids I am loved. Sometimes being the least of these is the best feeling ever because I am making a difference even if its only in the lives of my kids because I don’t know who I am teaching, there is great potential in my kiddos. I will leave you with that thought you never know whose life you are touching and changing with your simple acts of kindness they never go to waste and they never just stay in that moment they keep effecting others straight into eternity, so live and love extravagantly hold nothing back!

Eph. 5:2

Jiaozi, Hello Kitty, and E-Coffee

        I had a very busy and very crazy weekend. Hollie came over on Saturday and stayed till Monday. Over the weekend we brought the party to Wuhan. We decided that Hanyang will get really boring after the four crazy foreign girls go home next summer. We were very entertaining to all the Chinese people passing by. We would get maybe four footsteps ahead and double over in laughter. We were even more entertaining to the people at Aloha, not to mention I ate so much food (a Aloha burger Jr. and a chimmi cheesecake).  I don’t think I have laughed that much in forever, my stomach felt like I was going to throw up. We also went to a Christmas bazaar over on French street. I bought a new scarf here is a picture.

      Then we went to a new jiaozi place it was so good and super cheap. After the great food we went to E-Coffee and I had a caramel milk tea it was so amazing!! Then after we spent a few hours looking at crazy Chinese magazines we were walking to the bus stop and went shopping at the street market that is there every night. I bought a huge cozy blanket with Hello Kitty on it. 

       Then the weekend was over and my week started. Monday and Tuesday went by in a flash and then Wednesday I went down to my office to find that I had the day off since my 3^rd and 4^th graders went on a hike that day. It was nice to have a day off to rest. Next weekend will be just as busy. We are headed to Wuchang to stay with Hollie and go to the night market over there. Then Hollie will come back with us and stay here till Monday. The following weekend will be in Wuchang as well because it’s the Zhong Christmas party. My social life is so crazy but fun. Anyway that is pretty much it for now, when I get a chance and a good internet connection I will post more of my adventures over December.

Moments of Being Human

         Well this has been quite the weekend. My week went pretty well as you already know I have great little artist in my classrooms! Some of my kids gave me their art so it is not on my wall, I decided to have a wall of just my kids art and I love it!! 

        Now its time for a funny story (although at the time it wasn’t funny and I finally had my I really hate China moment and cried) So I skyped with my mom and got to see all the Christmas decorations around the house…I miss Christmas it’s not really a holiday here and I teach 4^th graders all day on Christmas…anyway after talking with my mom it was time to visit the little girls room before all the kids got out of class. I forgot to pull out my mobile out of my back pocket…yeah you can see it coming can’t you. Well because TIC we have squatty Potty’s down where the kids are this is normally not a problem until Friday when all at once I heard ‘plop’ in the water and thought ‘O crap my phone just feel down the toilet.’ (the toilets are on a slant so I had no chance of saving my phone if I had tried)

        I was soooo ready for pumpkin pie that night (I went to Aloha for Thanksgiving with Sabrina it was fun and really good. I don’t think I will go for Christmas and I doubt I will do that again next year but for my first year it was nice.) I actually have enjoyed these past few days without a phone I find we are becoming way too attached to our electronic lives. This will now be phone 2 Sim card 3 I am glad this was a cheap phone and not an iPhone then I might have thrown up as well as cried. In the midst of feeling like a complete idiot it was now lunch time (cue some well needed perspective) at least 3 or 4 of my little boys who seem to be very in love with me gave me hugs as well as 3 of my little girls. A little guy from one of my classes had a class on the 4^th floor were I live (yes there is a giant classroom next to my apartment I never really leave school) his teacher wasn’t there and he had gotten turned around so on Tuesday night he knocked on my door. I thought it was Amber or Amy instead it was him. I helped him find his classroom and all was well. Well (this would be the perspective) he came up to me and told me “Your apartment is so cool!” This is when I remembered how blessed I really am even here in China. I have heat, which back in the States seems standard but here in China my babies bundle up at night because their dorms don’t have heat. I have a kitchen and a really nice TV and DVD player, a fridge, and a washing machine. I realized in that moment that losing my phone down the toilet was a small problem compared to some of the things that people here in China deal with everyday.

When you go for a walk you will see the tents of the migrant workers looking for any kind of job, its starting to get really cold outside and I wonder how they manage to stay warm. A phone is replaceable (hopefully there are few language problems when I do it) but it is a small thing compared to what is happening all around me.

      I have always loved how the Father sends me hugs from my kids when I really need them they make my heart smile. On a random side note for the next 4 hours after it dropped down the toilet it glowed every time you flushed till it died. So this weekend I re-learned what it means to truly be grateful. I come from a society that dictates self-importance and greed. They started Black Friday on Thanksgiving the day we are suppose to be counting our blessings we only think of what more can I obtain…it makes me kinda sick. Living here for even 3 months has taught me that less is more, I live pretty simply here and I have found that my life in some ways is better. In China they do think of life as the whole, your actions not only effect you but those around you…no China doesn’t have it all right but when disaster strikes here everyone is patient and works together when things happen back in the States we demand that things happen instantly and have it our own individual way always thinking ‘me first’. There are things about my own countrymen that make me cringe. I have a feeling next summer things are going to be different for me. It’s hard to live somewhere else and not change, Adam was right when he told us that China would change us. It stretches you and pushes you sometimes to your limits, but it also strips away all the things you thought were important you find really weren’t. I don’t make that much according to Chinese or certainly not American standards and yet I find all my daily needs met more then enough. I am learning what it need and what is want, it reminds me of the verses in the Good Book were the Father talks about the wildflowers and the animals and how He takes care of them and their daily needs are met, I find I am perfectly content with my simple life. So this Thanksgiving I found myself being truly thankful instead of just thinking that I am. Ps. Thanks for the Poptarts mom they are amazing!! (It’s the little things, honestly you should see us when someone gives you cheese its like giving the Hope diamond).

Happy Thanksgiving China Style Part 2

Yes I am back but so is my awesome wall art from my kiddos!! There is also a picture of some of my precious girl from Class 6 Grade 3. Enjoy the pictures cause I certainly am.

 The one without glasses is Angel the other is Maggie

 These are all projects that they have done for class they were very proud of them so of course so am I

     It never ceases to amaze me how much they pay attention. The new thing is to talk to me with Chinglish (Chinese + English= Chinglish) Honestly I love these kids so much I was afraid this would happen :) .

Happy Thanksgiving China Style

        So this week in my classes we are talking about Thanksgiving. Their favorite part I think is when I show the pictures from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This will be the first year ever that I don't watch it...kinda sad. But fear not I am eating great food on Friday I am going to Aloha with some teachers from Jianghan University and eating very delicious food. It's not cheap but at this point I don't care I need a taste of home on the holidays. Even thought I didn't go home for most Thanksgiving's (I think I only went home for one while in college) it's still different I will celebrate it the same day as everyone back home since I am 13 hours ahead of most of you.

        I will post pictures of the amazing-ness that is Aloha Thanksgiving. In the meantime enjoy these beautiful (and some are a bit crazy) hand turkeys from Class 3 Grade 4 (I found out I have another set of twin girls that makes two sets so far how did I not see this before?!) Anyway enjoy the art!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone or as we say in China Gan en jie Kuila (愉快的感恩)!!

Everlasting Arms

      Well this was quite a week (last week) it came to a crazy point when I almost passed out in front of my babies. Class 6 Grade 3…some of the sweetest kids you will ever teach. I was almost done with my power point (or here in China PPT) when my eyes began to blackout. Michelle (my fellow Chinese English teacher) took over the class and I went to the hall. She ended up having the get Amber and my poor kids were so worried about me…which broke my heart cause I didn’t want them to worry. I am feeling much better now it was a combination of tired, a pinch nerve that would not release, and stress. I was glad that even in that moment my Father held me in His everlasting arms. Three other teachers actually did pass out the same day…teaching in China is so hardcore and extreme. We don’t have unions or sick days you just teach no matter what (unless its an emergency) but even in that you make up the time you were out. Everything I went through in college is making so much more sense now it really prepared me for this destiny that I am in.

              There are so many times I question if I am making a difference at all and then some of my kids give me hugs or (they love it that I speak some Chinese) the shout ‘Ni Hao Becky’! Moments like that I realize that maybe I am not changing the world like a Roman conquest but I am leaving a make on these kids that will stream long into eternity. I love my kids…well most of them there are a few 4^th grade boys that test my patience. My little girls however its hard not to just love them, Angel and Maggie are twins in one of my classes I get great hugs from them. Little Lucy always says hello and I always remember her name, which makes her giggle (cutest giggle ever!) I do have some 4^th grade boys who flirt with me relentlessly…the sad thing is guys don’t really mature past that age…no really. Despite the moments of hardship (which we all face) I know that these are only for a moment and worth it…I love my kids and they are worth it.

Fridge Art, Aloha, and Shuài ga

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      Once again it’s been a while since my last update. I feel like I am always fighting with my VPN so posting has been nearly impossible. Well some boring stuff has happened like teaching…not that its boring but sometimes its just routine. Last weekend Amber babysat Sophia and Elise for the day on Saturday and Sophia drew me a beautiful picture, which is now on my fridge and makes me smile every time I see it.

       I think the craziest part of my weekend was dinner at Aloha well lunch actually. I was supposed to meet Hollie there since that’s the only time I get to see her. So I called and she never answered so some of the guys from Zhong let me eat with them...a few more guys from Zhong came and ate with us. As I sat there all I could think was “I am surrounded by Shuài ga (Chinese for handsome guy) this is never going to happen again you better enjoy it. I have to say though guys haven’t changed much from Junior High they still talk about the same things food, girls, and technology…sad I was hoping they had mature even a little. Anyway it was a pretty entertaining lunch mostly thanks to Kevin. I have to say I don’t know how I get myself in these situations but they fill my life with drama. If my life were a movie it would be entertaining at least here in China. This weekend I am hopefully Skyping with friends back home, meeting my German friend Sabrina at Starbucks, and Hollie is planning on coming over this weekend. Not sure when the next post will be sorry this one is so short maybe the next one will be longer who knows?

Colds, Coats, and Milk Tea

            For one thing I apologize for the space between my posts. The past two weeks my VPN has not really been very reliable. I can’t get to my blog to post without it on thanks to the Great FireWall of China. So Last week I had a terrible cold, like came down with it Friday night and by Saturday morning I have no voice whatsoever. I spent the day in my apartment drinking hot water (the cure all of China). By Sunday morning I kind of had a voice so my week was spent with a terrible dry cough. Class 5 Grade 3 was very sweet about it I had some of my students come up to me “Becky you are sick so we will speak loud for you” I love my kids they are so sweet. I normally have a little girl or two stop by my office just to peek in and say hello, honestly its moments like those that keep me going sometimes. The thing with China is that they never tell you anything to your face they tell Becca who calls me to tell me that the teachers want me to teach differently or add something to my lesson plans, this is to avoid hurt feelings something we never do in the States we don’t care who’s feelings we hurt, this is something I am not used to. In college I had professors tear my papers and projects apart to the point of tears (not kidding) so that make you get a tough skin when it comes to criticism. Mostly it just makes me frustrated when they tell me one thing and then change their mind without telling me.

            Now for the fun part of the post – Coats!! I got my coat today at lunchtime its purple plaid and pretty much perfect because we got to pick the fabric and lining and buttons ourselves. Honestly I will find a way to bring this coat home I love it that much!! Here are some beautiful pictures of my new coat as well as Amber and Charlene (whom we lovingly call Lulu, and she calls me Beckles).

Amber and her new coat with teal lining.

 My Purple plaid awesomeness!!

This was my ode to 'Singing in the Rain' (which I just bought at DVD guy)

 Char-lulu with her beautiful teal coat with gray lining.

           

            So winter is coming and practically here in Wuhan so I went to Wal-Mart and found the most amazing thing…milk tea mix all you need is hot water. This drink has become my new addiction here in China along with Fried Jiaozi (dumplings). We (the WEFLS gang) went to dinner last night and had that and lotus fries, kung pow chicken, and this caramelized banana thing that is delicious. I know I am eating so poorly here right? Actually I love the food here, but everything well almost everything is super spicy or covered in what we call Christmas trees. They are little peppercorn like beads that taste like a Christmas tree but they are really hot and make your mouth go numb/tingle. American food is really safe and bland compared to most of the food here in the Hubei province. If you need a cool down there is always Aloha you can get some of Taylor’s new flavors of ice cream. Right now he has peanut butter cup (he makes his own peanut butter cups…amazing) and cookie dough. I have a pint of volcano in my freezer and I am not really sure how long that’s going to last. It’s chocolate ice cream with chunks of gooey brownie in it, honestly the food here is soooo good!!! So my life in China has its ups and downs but for the most part I’m loving it, there are so many things I have done that I never thought I would do…so many things most people never do. Sometimes you just have to be brave and take the leap of faith knowing that there is One who will always catch you. He will never abandon us or fail us…food for thought.

Ps. 18:1&2

Fabric Market and Burning Pans

             Well this past weekend I went to the fabric market over in Wuchang. Amber, Charlene and I went with Trevor and Inga to get fabric and then this super sweet single mom is making our coats. Let me tell you that coat cannot get made fast enough, the temperature dropped and it’s so cold. Moments like this I remember why I chose to go the college in Florida…I hate the cold yet the Father send me to a place that gets cold like Michigan cold. Sometimes the will of God is painful and not really something you want to do…like winter I don’t want to do winter. The only good thing is that my mom sent cozy American flannel sheets. 

Yes those are cupcakes and sock monkeys, this is me were talking about. I slept with my sock monkeys last night and it was warm and cozy and smelled like home it was wonderful. Not to mention this morning was dark and rainy…my pillow and blankets were trying to seduce me to come back but I was strong and got up—that was not easy sock monkeys can be very convincing.

       This past Monday was WELFS night so Amber, Charlene, Jon and I all got together and cooked dinner and watched a movie. Charlene and I were making the Alfredo sauce and in the process kind of set my pan on fire…there was smoke and it was a crazy adventure. We watched the Corpse Bride since its so close to Halloween, that’s the only time I ever watch this movie pretty soon it will be time for the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown…he’s coming!!! I’m loving living in my new apartment and slowly making it home. It’s crazy to think that when I finally moved out I went to China…yeah that’s me go to an extreme never play it safe just live with everything you have. In many ways that is true, I want to have nothing left when I take my final breath, no regrets go on an adventure and see where the Father takes you. I still have TIC moments but I choose to not hate and love since love is a choice and I think about my cute little kids and it helps the anger disappear faster. It’s been quite the adventure and we are only going into November…can you believe I will be back in the States in like 8 months? I just look forward to winter being over and the heat coming back…if you haven’t already got the hint I hate winter unless I am in Florida and can go to the beach for Christmas. I have to remind myself that winter here doesn’t last as long as back in Michigan (where its always winter, and never Christmas). Well for now I will say good bye and maybe post again before November comes… don’t hold me to that life here is anything but slow. 

 Trevor and Inga

 Hollie (best friend in China)

 "I finally moved in" ice cream!!!!

 This woman put on a show when she haggled with Amber it was great!

Move in Day!!

Well I am finally in my new apartment! It was crazy I moved into the apartment in the middle of the day. They cancelled all our classes because Thursday and Friday were field days (also no classes!). So I moved in at like 9:30am, but you have to understand China is filthy…no really. My apartment was a mess, so I cleaned my bathroom first as a matter of necessity. I went to our IGA across the road and picked up the basics to get me through till the weekend (well until Friday). I still had to teach English Corner from 6:30pm till 8pm so I couldn’t just focus on cleaning and settling. I went to dinner to find my favorite thing…ok not so much it was chicken feet night (this is why I normal eat dinner out or make it at home).  I was so exhausted from everything (I have been fighting a cold this week) that I just boiled some water (for the 2^nd time, 2 times boiled= safe water to drink) and put it in my pitcher in my fridge so it would be cold by morning. I did my devotions and went to bed, I have to say the morning was much brighter.

I woke up and cleaned my kitchen (full of dirt and mold, eww) and then I could actually make myself breakfast. I realized after putting the eggs in the pan I had forgot to buy a spatula so I used chopsticks and they worked pretty well.  I also found out that my pan I brought from home for making brownies is too wide, so I need to go and buy a new brownie pan. I knows this sounds crazy but that was one of the only things we found that was actually made in the USA, my flag I brought wasn’t even USA made and its our flag!! After breakfast I left for the office to skype with my mom and let my kitchen air out the cleaner was pretty strong. Then after I came back and tried out my new washing machine; I have learned that you should just use the quick wash twice and your clothes are clean. If you use the cotton setting it takes 2 hours and the spin cycle sounds like a plane taking off not to mention it almost broke the frame at the bottom of the cupboard its in…lesson learned. I also swiffered my floors in the bedroom and living room, now you can walk in your socks and they don’t turn back as coal. If they do my washer is very handy at getting them clean.

      Tonight will be a quiet night of noodles and peppermint tea and early bedtime. I have a lot of Wal-marting to do tomorrow…O the RMB that needs to be spent makes me shutter just a little. Not to mention the bus ride back however short it may be can be interesting (stuffed bus arms full of goods=TIC moments).   Then there is Saturday which will e (hopefully) spent with Inga, Amber, and maybe Charlene as we go to the fabric market to get coats made for winter! I wish I could video blog a day of living in China, like a weekend and you could get a feel for life here…except you are still breathing cleaner air then I am so I am jealous. When I come home next summer I look forward to clean air to breath even for a short time.

      I know some of you have been ‘thinking’ on my teaching. Thanks first of all for all of your ‘thoughts’ even when it is the middle of the night for you, it’s the middle of my day and I really appreciate it! This week has been the best week of teaching so far; the teachers have been so much more helpful and Amy (our other wiaban) helped me with how the Chinese teachers structure their classes so I know what the kids are used to. They also provided me with stories to teach the kids so between that and Amber helping me come up with some activities to re-enforce the story it has gone much better. I know I will continue to improve with time this is my first year teaching and some of the others that came this year were teachers back home so they had some experience on me. The Friend has been helping me with so many things I really don’t know how people live life without Him…I would be a mess and would have not made it to China nevertheless made it this long in China. Can you believe we are almost to November?! I will be there a few hours before you so I will let you know how the month starts since I am 12 hours ahead. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this update and the pictures of my apartment!

                                           China is terrible at interior decorating!

                                                    It comes up to my chin, yay for China funsize!

                                                               Tons of storage space

                                  This is my sholiet, so much easier to clean then back home

                      This view is very beautiful at night.