Spring Festival and Beyond

Well I am sorry it has taken me so long to update this blog. Life has been a little crazy, but now that I am back to teaching I am back on a schedule. I will break up my adventures in parts.

Part one
Spring Festival starts with Amber, Lulu, and I getting our nails done. It was fun and very girlie but hey when in China do as the Chinese. The girl there that did my nails took my hand and with wide eyes said 'Your skin is so white!' here in China that is a mark of beauty the whiter the better...you don't really get whiter then me. So we had a pretty good night...then comes the morning and wait for it...the flu. I woke up the next morning and felt like a fleet of MAC trucks had bowled me over like road kill. I was down for a week and a half just getting better. On top of not feeling good we got a few bad snow storms that left snow in my kitchen. The windows here are not sealed properly so the crack between windows leaves a space. The wind was blowing just right that a pile of snow ended up on my kitchen counter...snowball fight anyone? They turned off half of the power in our office (which is the only place I have internet) so our heater was not working so Skyping with people back home was an adventure. I had to make sure I wore tons of layers just to not freeze while I was talking. Then came the next big adventure.


Part two
Guiyang here we come! I left for Becca Kelch's the night before we left and it was the deadest I have ever seen China. Because Spring Festival is the only time China has off, people go to see their parents. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE travels during this time. Well after getting a little lost and having Becca talk to the taxi driver via my mobile I finally made it to her place. Her flat mates made us dinner (Hannah is from Korea) I had my first taste of some Korean food and finally had curry, it was good. Then came bed time...we (Becca, Mandi, and I) slept horizontally on her bed to fit all three of us. This however was not the crazy part that was the fireworks (and a little bit of Mandi talking in her sleep, I love you Mandi it was entertaining). February 9 was the first day of festival so the night before into the morning there were constant fireworks. I was amazed that I slept at all it was so loud. I think when I come home I may be able to sleep through anything because it is so noisy here in China you learn to get used to it. So the next morning we went to the train station and I embarked on my first ever train ride in China. We had hard sleepers for the ride over it was not so bad on the way over, really long (18 hours) but the countryside was beautiful! I got to see a lot of China that most people don't see because they mostly do the tourist things, what I saw were small villages and the way that China may have looked before all the industry took over. We played a rousing game of Farkel that Mandi won on her last roll...it was pretty intense (like camping!...that was for you Amber). We got to Guiyang at 3am, yes it was so early!! Melodie took us to our apartment so we could get some rest before starting our day. I think all together I got 8 or 9 hours of sleep from the train and Melodie's. I learned a lot about myself on this trip and the kids taught me a lot too. Before going on this trip I was so nervous I have always doubted what I call my 'mom' abilities. After this trip however I no longer doubt them, its like a switch that turns on when it needs too. I was christened in juice, throw up, kisses, and God only knows what else. The kids were so sweet, I worked with severely autistic kids and kids with downs. The one little girl that melted my heart was Maddie, she has cerebral palsy but she is the sweetest little girl you will ever meet. She had only been at Melodie's for two weeks. She came from a place that severely sexually abused her and she had burn marks on her skin. It was sad to think that at the age of 4 she had gone through so much. Though it all though she taught me my first lesson: We complain about needing more things and this little girl had been through so much yet always greeted me with a smile that looked like her jaw would pop. The doctors said she would never walk but when we were there she would walk between Mandi, Becca, and I (always holding a hand since her legs aren't that strong yet) and sometimes she would be brave and try to walk to Joanna in the corner (another Zhong Relations teacher that went with us). The kids are kept on a pretty strict schedule but for special needs kids this is perfect and very helpful.
Joyce one of the downs kids likes to have her face scratched, for downs kids their nerve endings are different then ours so they can scratch till they bleed but they don't feel pain. They grind their teeth you can hear it and it doesn't hurt them but they feel the sense different then you or I. One of my favorite times was song and 'thinking' time. The kids love to sing (Ruth especially she sat in my lap and just sang songs one day). After the singing each child got to 'think' after they would say Amen! really loud, so much enthusiasm! It was so exhausting and I really loved my time there. Then it came time to go home...here comes the brutal part. Our train was delayed by an hour so we didn't get to board until 11pm and did I mention we only had standing tickets. Everyone has to go straight back to work by that Sunday/Monday so the train was packed like nothing and American has ever seen...honestly it was crazy. We headed straight for the dining car and we were able to purchase a booth to sit in until 6am. So in my little booth Becca, Mandi, and Joanna were my bunk mates again. I got a little sleep but not much, in the 18 hours back I think I got maybe 5 hours and that is being generous. At 6am we left and headed for the aisle of the next car. We ended up next to some University students that were headed back after Festival. They were very kind and would let us sit in their seats for a break while they stood and stretched or waited in line for the toilet. (don't ask about the toilet on the way back all I will say is thank God for hand sanitizer). We took turns sitting and when we weren't sitting or avoiding a food cart coming down the very slim aisle we were taking request from the Chinese and singing...yes we were the entertainment for the train. When we finally got home I was so very glad to get into a taxi, Hanyang has never looked so good in my life!! I came home, took a shower (the train was very smoky from all the Chinese men CONSTANTLY smoking) ate some dinner (the first meal in 20 hours since we were standing I would only snack on a steamed roll or a small bag of almonds that I had packed) and went to bed. It took me a week to bounce back from that trip but I did and that started the current adventure.

Part 3
The last semester is here!! I have 17 weeks to go, well next Monday starts 16 weeks. This week was filled with ups and downs already. I found out this is the first year they have given grades to the Foreign teachers, I did not do well...I decided to use it as positive criticism. This week has also had its ups like seeing all my kids and getting squished in hugs, especially from my twins Angel and Maggie, I love those girls their hugs and smiles get me through all the negative that I get from teachers. I walked into all my classes this week to shouts of 'Happy New Year' and lots of hugs. I have to say its good to be back! I am learning more and more how to do this teaching thing, especially here because they are so strict. At the end of this semester the teachers and students will evaluate me again, if the teachers don't give me a good review then they will not ask me back. I have a back up plan just in case but I am trusting the Father and working very hard to show the teachers that I have greatly improved.  So we will see what new adventures this semester brings, I will see you all in 16-ish weeks! Happy New Year from Wuhan!