Roger

Almost 2 weeks ago (on May 19th), we bought a turtle!

We went to the grocery store in Xiaolan, about a 20 minute bus ride away from Guzhen, and looked them all over before picking the one we wanted. He was the runt of the group (did you know a group of turtles is called a bale?), but he also seemed to be the most active. We got the attention of one of the employees, who then went and got the person who was in charge of the turtles and fish, and we pointed to the one we wanted. He picked him up, put him in his hand, then covered him with his other hand and shook him! He laughed while we all stared at him with a "What are you doing? Don't shake our turtle!" look on our faces. We picked out a little container for him and the man put the price sticker for the turtle on his new home. (He only cost 8 yuan! That's like $1.25!) We also got him turtle food, and rocks for his home. We carefully transported him back to Guzhen, where we named him Roger....or "Rog" as we called him.

He was a grump too...but we blamed the man who shook him...and Olivia-for kicking him across the room (on accident). We changed his home to a bigger bucket that he seemed to like more, and kept him outside on our porch in the fresh air. We showed him to our friends who would come over to our apartment...Mary, Apple, our student Benny boy, as well as a boy down our hall who is also named Benny. Benny from down the hall asked us if we were going to eat him, which we quickly shook our heads to. We enjoyed having Roger...even though we were convinced he was trying to die because he didn't seem to ever eat. And then...on Sunday morning, he disappeared. Gone. Vanished. Benny from down the hall had been over for a second in the morning, and we can't be sure...but we're convinced he let Roger out, or took him, or something...cuz there's no possible way for Roger to have gotten out on his own. He was cute. We miss him. (We also have no idea if "he" was actually a "he"...but Roger seemed to fit...)

Also...the sky was pretty the day we bought him.

Beijing! (April 28-May 6)

 

So last week, we had our week-long vacation to Beijing! 4 of us left on Saturday right after teaching in the morning. The other 3 girls were flying to Beijing...they didn’t want to take the 21 hour train ride with us and our standing tickets. Yah...by the time we bought our tickets the sleeper beds had sold out...as well as the seats...so standing it was! We were not excited about it at all...but we didn’t have the money to fly! We tried sitting down in seats as soon as we got on the train...just picked some random seats and sat down...and that worked for about 2 minutes, then people started telling us that we were in their seats. After everyone had boarded and we realized how many people there were and how crowded it was, we all went a little crazy. We tried figuring out how we were gonna sleep...we contemplated sleeping on top of the luggage racks, and planking on the top of the seats. We made friends with the people who’s seats we had tried to steal though, and they shared all of their food with us (the good stuff, as well as the bad...I had no idea papaya tasted like puke!) One of them actually got off after an hour, so Katey slid into that seat before any of the other people standing could, so then we had the one seat that we would rotate every hour, taking turns sitting in it. We would also sit down whenever someone went to go to the bathroom, or went to have a smoke, or sometimes they would just stand up to stretch their legs. There were also plastic buckets that the train had for people to sit on, they ran out of them before we could get any for ourselves, but sometimes one of our new friends would let us sit on theirs. It was a long train ride for sure. We all slept (or tried to) on the floor that night. At about 9am a bunch of people got off, including our new friends Johnny, Bruce, and Bruce’s wife, so then we all got seats. I was finally able to sleep then, usually only for about 20 minutes at a time, but it was sleep that I needed.

 We got to Beijing at about 3pm on Sunday afternoon. We had directions to the hostel...so we tried following them... They said to take the metro, so we got onto the metro and realized that the station at the Beijing West train station doesn`t connect to any other line yet because it`s still under construction... So we headed back to the train station, and while standing around, wondering which way was north so that we could walk to another metro station, a guard walked up to us and asked if we needed any help. I pointed to the metro stop we wanted to go to on a map and he told us to follow him. At first he walked us to some taxis, and they were telling us how much it would cost, but we were like, no, we want to walk...it's free! So then the guard started walking us to the station...asking like 8 people along the way for directions, and at one point we were following him, and he was following some old guy, but we did get to the right metro stop, and got to our hostel safe and sound. The four of us just kinda walked around near our hostel that day, we went to a little shop that I would go to almost every night that I was in Beijing last year and introduced these girls to my friend Zo there and got a couple shirts from him.

On Monday we all went shopping!!! We went to the silk market, then to the pearl market. We were only at the pearl market for a few minutes before it closed, but were able to make some friends and make the short time worthwhile. On Tuesday we went to the Temple of Heaven in the morning. We danced with some old people there, and watched a bunch of people stretch and exercise. They were pretty crazy though...folding themselves in half and swinging around upside down, even though they were like 60 years old! We headed over to the pearl market after that and shopped some more.

On Wednesday we headed to the Great Wall of China!!! We went to the Mutianyu section, which is actually the same section of the wall I went to last year, but we walked in a different direction, so it was all new still. A day or two before we went the girls had seen some of the ``I climbed the Great Wall` shirts and had said something about not really climbing, and I had told them then that it was indeed a climb, and they saw what I meant when we went, because there are parts where the stairs are gigantic and go so steeply up the mountain. It`s exhausting. We made some friends on the wall though, including Chao Yun, who shared his cucumbers with Brianna and Olivia. It was a gorgeous day though, and we had a great time on the wall. After sliding down the mountain from the Great Wall we ate lunch and headed back to Beijing, then went back to the silk market for some more shopping.

On Thursday 4 of us woke up at 4:30am to go to Tiananmen Square and watch the flag ceremony that happens every day at sunrise and sunset. Later that morning we all went back to Tiananmen Square and then to the Forbidden City. I`d been there last year as well, but since the place is so big I was able to walk through a different part and see almost entirely new things...plus I don`t have any of my Beijing pictures from last year...so it`s nice being able to have pictures from Beijing now. That night some of us went to the Olympic plaza and saw the bird`s nest and the water cube. It was cool seeing them all lit up too. We chilled around there for a bit, watching all the Mickey Mouse’s pose for other people, then photobombed a few people while walking back to the metro.

On Friday me and 2 other girls went to the Lama temple, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. It was really neat, we saw a 26m tall statue of a Buddha carved from a single piece of white sandalwood, and were able to watch a big group of monks begin some chanting thing. At one point they were all chanting and the 3 of us were sitting outside the building, then one of them walked out and went to a corner and started texting on his phone! I thought it was a bit strange that he would stop the chanting or praying thing, to go text on his phone! That evening we went back to the pearl market for a few last minute things. I bought some shoes from this one guy, and the girls all around his stall were all telling me that I should be his girlfriend...they said he was very rich and that I would get all the free shoes I wanted, haha, but I passed on the offer.

Saturday was our last day...and there were just 3 of us left...Brianna and Olivia had left for Shanghai on Thursday afternoon, and Celine and Marina had gone home on Friday afternoon, so it was just me and Tiffany and Katey. We had kind of a lazy day...but the rest of the week had been so full, we had been constantly on the go, so it was nice to have a vacation from our vacation for a day, haha. We did have to go back to the pearl market to switch some things around, and then headed to the train station that afternoon. We got our tickets really easily (sometimes they make us go to some specific window to pick up the tickets that we paid for online...and sometimes they don`t speak english, so sometimes it can be a bit of an ordeal picking up the tickets). We had sleeper bed tickets for the ride home...so the trip home was about a million times better than the ride to Beijing. There was a big group of university students on the train with us, and so we made a bunch of new friends. They didn`t really have super good English...but usually between a few of them they could figure out how to say something...that or use a translator. The train ride went by super fast, and before we knew it, we were home! It was a great vacation, there were a million jumping pictures, Chinese opera singers in the forest, love notes, and Rain advertisements! I`m just sad that it was our last vacation!

VACATIONS – April 14th

So we had 2 vacations in the past month...the first was from March 16-19^th and we went to Xi’an! I was so excited to go because Xi’an was the main place I didn’t get to see last year! We flew there to save time and got to our hostel at about 1am on Friday morning. We just walked around Xi’an that day...looked at the bell tower, drum tower, and the Muslim quarters. Did some shopping, then went back to our hostel that night for a free dumpling party! 

Saturday was when we went to the Terracotta Army. We went to Qin Shi Huang’s tomb at first...kind of...it’s full of mercury, so basically all we actually did was look at a man-made hill from a safe distance, haha. There are 3 pits of the warriors, so we went to pit 2, then 3, then 1 (that’s in order to save the best for last). You are able to see some of the warriors up close in pit 2, so that was really neat...there is soooo much detail on each of them! I had known that each of them has a different face...but actually seeing the detail on them-the shoe soles, the hair, the armour, and their faces, and knowing that each one represented an actual person is crazy! And pit 1, seeing thousands of these warriors...wow. We also got to shake hands with the man who discovered them!

On Sunday we did more shopping at the Muslim quarters, then went to the Great Mosque as well. That was really neat. It’s gorgeous, just this quiet area right in the middle of everything with beautiful buildings and greenery that the Chinese Muslim people go to to pray. It was really neat actually. 

We left that day too...2 girls flew home, and the other 3 of us took the train home....28.5 hours. Haha. At least we had beds though...sooo much better having a long train ride when you have sleeper tickets, believe me! We got to Guangzhou too late for our light train back to Guzhen, and the buses weren’t running anymore, so we took a taxi home. We were all starving by this point...we had expected there to be cup of noodles for sale on the train, but the food going up and down the aisle was not cups of noodles...so we made do with our 2 apples and 2 bananas...for nearly 29 hours. I practiced my Chinese with our taxi driver on the way home from Guangzhou, we gave him an English name, and told him we were hungry, so he offered to stop and let us get something to eat, but we just figured we’d eat when we got back to Guzhen...so when we got back to Guzhen and he started turning onto the street of our apartment, I said ‘NO! We want hamburgers!’ He thought that was funny, that we had him drop us off at McDonald’s instead, haha....good trip overall though...we stole some pizza, had some cabbage thrown at us, and met a dumpling master named Fly.

2 ½ weeks later, from April 1-4^th, we were on our way to Yangshuo!!!!!!!! Oh Yangshuo! It was my favourite vacation last year. Everything there is absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous! We took a sleeper bus there...and it was a very bumpy ride. Brianna asked me at one point if I was sure Yangshuo was worth the bus ride, and my response was Yes. Definitely. Absolutely. No question about it.

We got there a couple hours earlier than expected...our bus was going very fast...thus the bumpiness. So we got to our hostel and checked in. While eating breakfast with these crazy mountains surrounding us, Brianna and the rest of the girls agreed...the bus ride was worth it. That day we went and rented scooters and drove around the countryside near Yangshuo, taking pictures and basking in the beauty...if anyone reading this doesn’t know what I’m talking about...just search google images for “Yangshuo”, and imagine seeing all that with your own eyes.

Monday would’ve been my Mom’s 52^nd birthday...I thought of her while cruising down the Li river on a “bamboo” raft that morning. Again...gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. That afternoon we went to the mud caves as well. We went with 2 other guys from our hostel, Max from Holland, and Joe from England. Max was actually mine, Celine’s, and Marina’s roommate in our hostel. On the ride to the mud caves it came up that we were Mormon...so most of our discussion with them the rest of the day was about our church. Neither of them had ever met a Mormon before...what they did know about our church was just from South Park, haha. Joe had said that he wasn’t religious, he was Catholic. Haha. And Max said that he was a realist...he couldn’t believe in things that couldn’t be proven...so I guess in other words he had no faith. Strange. That night we offered Max one of our Book of Mormons, but he said it was too heavy to carry around in his backpack for the next 5 months. The mud caves were great though. We went to some hot springs in the cave after the mud to clean off, and while soaking another lady came and sat with us while her family went into the mud, and she said her and her family used to live in Illinois, so I mentioned that I’d been there once to Nauvoo, and she asked if I saw all the sites there and so I said yes, but the temple was under construction when I was there, and she says that it’s beautiful, so yah...turns out she was a member of the church too!!! We just thought that was the craziest thing! I mean, what are the chances that the lady you’re sitting next to in a hot spring in a cave in mainland China is a member of the church?! To make things even crazier, she knows guy who is here in China teaching English with a different program who also turns out to be friends with 2 of the girls in my group! It’s such a small world...

On Tuesday we checked out of our hostel in the morning, then went and rented scooters again. We went and saw the Big Banyan tree too. We took a bus home that night...the bus left at 7pm, so we decided to get home with an extra day off, rather than get home at 4am, then have to be at the school 4.5 hours later...so we got home at about 4:30am on Wednesday morning and were able to have the whole day off still before having to teach again on Thursday....it was a great trip too...we ate countless chocolate pancakes, found a fake Subway restaurant, and held cormorant birds, monkeys, and dressed up in traditional Chinese garb and took pictures with all 3 (not at the same time though, haha).

My time being back in China has been great...I try to spend as much time with the kids as I can...trying to stock up on all the Chinese baby love while I can...it’s gonna be rough going home again...I can’t believe today is the half way mark! L

1st day! (February 13th)

Today was our first day of classes!!! Aaahhh! I was sooo happy to see all these kids again! Well, about half the kids I taught graduated from Happy ABC’s Kindergarten last year, so I know about half of our kids we have right now...but some of my favourites are still here!! We greeted the students arriving at the school for about half an hour this morning, then went to our classroom to get ready. Not all of the kids remembered my name, and I had been prepared for that...I mean, it’s been 8 months since I was here, and they had a whole semester with other teachers since then, so I figured it would happen. I had actually ran into one of my kids, William, who had graduated last year the other day at KFC, and he hadn't remembered my name, which broke my heart a little...but he did remember ME...just not my name. Turned out some of the kids who I had thought would remember me hadn’t (well, not my name anyways), and some who I thought might not remember me did, so I guess it balanced out a bit.

The first one of my homeroom kids that I saw was Chad. Oh Chad. I was terrified to see this kid to be honest. He had warmed up to me eventually last year, but it took a long time, so even though he was one of my very very favourites, I thought there was a chance he wouldn’t remember me. He did! I saw him in a doorway to our classroom and he said my name! We had a big hug and ooooohhhhh, I almost died of happiness. I missed him. I sat with him during breakfast too, and he was great! So funny! I just remember how he was when we had first got here last year, and he had such a bad attitude against the teachers, it’s good to see that he’s not like that again.

The next one of my homeroom kids I saw was Steve. He was sitting at the table crying L Girl Benny told me that he was sick, but he wouldn’t talk to me...so whether he doesn’t remember me, or what, I don’t know...

A few minutes after classes started, Boy Benny showed up. I had been in a classroom, then went out to the hallway and Apple called my name and said Benny was here!!! I skipped (literally) over to the door and there he was! I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then ran and got a box of Jello I had for him. Aahh! I love that boy!!! I took him by the hand and led him to his class, but really just wanted to run away with him and take him home, haha. At the end of the day I went to the classroom to say goodbye to the kids and Benny was there with his mom, and she had brought me some food from her home province...duck tongue. haha. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have normally eaten it, but it was from Benny!! So I had to! And they actually aren't bad at all! I mean, I don't know if I'll eat the entire 2 bags they gave me, haha, but I've already eaten a few of them.

Class was a bit crazy...but it was the first day and all the teachers are just getting to know the program and learning how to teach, so things will get better as we get further along. It was a good day though. The kids are what I really came back for, so I just feel good. Oh so good. And to add to the happiness we had tomatoes and eggs for lunch!!! It’s been a good day. We had dinner with Coco tonight, so the teachers were looking forward to that because her mom told us we’d go to a Western Restaurant, haha....these girls have been having a harder time with the food than I remember us having last year, but that’s ok, and they might warm up to it as the months go on, we’ll see. Zaijian! J

Going to Guzhen

So I am now at the ferry terminal, waiting to head over to mainland China! I had a pretty good time in Hong Kong...we had our tour on Saturday. It was the same tour I'd been on last year, but it was still good. We went to Aberdeen fishing village and took a little boat ride around the harbour area there, then went over to Stanley Market. I hadn't bought anything there last year, but I did buy a Hong Kong shirt this time, as well as a couple other little things. I know other things are cheaper in China though, so I didn't get a lot, and I would tell other people that things were cheaper in China, so they wouldn't waste their money either. Then we went to The Peak and took some pictures there. That afternoon me and the other Guzhen teachers, as well as one other girl went to the ladies market to shop some more. That night we were able to go to the light show too! I had missed that last year, so I was happy to see it. This morning I was able to go to church too! We went to church across the street from the temple and took pictures of it too after sacrament meeting. It was sooo cool to go to church here...even though they weren't speaking english (there were people translating for us), we were still able to feel the spirit these people had while bearing their testimonies, it was awesome! We're about to check-in for our ferry ride though...heading home to Guzhen! Yay!

Hong Kong!

I'm in China! Kind of...Hong Kong is different...but close enough right? I said my goodbyes Wednesday, then my sister dropped me off at the airport Thursday morning. Between my 2 checked pieces of luggage and my carryon, I was 19 pounds overweight! Haha...luckily the lady felt like being nice I guess...cuz I paid zero overweight charges! Yay! The flight to Vancouver was fine, then once I got to my gate in Vancouver I had about 30 minutes before they started boarding that flight. The flight was good...long...but I did have an emergency exit row seat, so LOTS of leg room, which was nice. I slept for about 4 hours...so even though it's 4:30 am in Sparwood...I'm feeling pretty good! It's 7:30 pm here in Hong Kong...and we've got a few hours to kill...already made a stop at 7-11...one of the 23094823047 of them that they have here in Hong Kong, haha. Well, that's all for now...excited to be back!

ONE WEEK!

I leave for China in less than a week! And I have so much to do! I am going to Calgary tomorrow for the weekend. Me and my wonderful sister are going to a Hanson concert on Saturday night, but I also have an appointment to get new contacts, and will need to buy other supplies I'll be needing over the next 4 1/2 months. Then I have to come home and pack everything into 2 suitcases...and 50 pounds is never enough. I got my suitcases out of my shed almost a week ago...thinking if they were in the way in my bedroom I wouldn't procrastinate and would actually do something about them and fill them up....I was wrong, haha. I go back to Calgary on Wednesday and spend the night there (we didn't really feel like leaving Sparwood at 4 am to get to the airport on time), then fly out at 10:10 am on Thursday! I am meeting up with one girl in Vancouver for the 13 hour flight to Hong Kong, where we are scheduled to arrive at 5:20 pm on Friday (Hong Kong time). Then we need to wait in the airport for another 5 hours before the main group gets in at 10:45 pm... (At least I don't fly into Hong Kong at 2:30 pm and have to wait 8 hours, like a few others). We'll be in Hong Kong till Sunday, when we head out to Guzhen!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait!

Back to Zhongguo!

Last year I moved to China. I lived there as a volunteer English teacher with ILP (International Language Programs) in Zhongshan. I met amazing people, saw the most beautiful places, made some great friends, and taught the most wonderful 46 kids in the world! Coming home was bittersweet. It was great to see my family and friends...but I missed it sooo very much. So... I'm going back!

I applied to be a head teacher in September and asked to go back to my sweet little town of Guzhen. Since then I've travelled down to Utah to go to training, and found out just a few days ago my departure date is February 2nd! Let the countdown begin!