Here I Come.......

I will be home soon!!! Wish us luck as we take our last adventure through China, ferry across to Hong Kong, find our way to the Hong Kong airport, weight our luggage, get on a plane and travel to Taipei, switch planes and travel to Los Angeles, arrive on American soil (I LOVE THIS COUNTRY :) go through customs, get on a plane and head for Salt Lake City arriving at 7 p.m. tonight. It is going to be a long day! Love you all!!!

#1 Favorite Thing I Love about China - My Students!

My all-time favorite thing about being here in China is the the reason I came.....the kids!!! I have loved spending time with them and getting to know them. They understand us more than most Chinese people and they have taught me more than I have taught them. I truly fell in love with these kids and I will miss them so much. What a rewarding experience this has been!!!

Me and my students. Look at those adorable faces :)

Well, maybe these faces aren't so adorable!

#2 Favorite Thing I Love about China - Shopping

The shopping here is fun!!! We go shopping pretty much all the time and every time we go out someone has to buy something. The Chinese people are very talented and take a lot of pride in the things that they have made by hand. They are usually selling these items on the streets. If you walk by them without purchasing the items they holler after you yelling, "cheap, cheap." They know that American word very well :) The shopping is very cheap and just last week I got two pair of shoes for $15. I am going to miss buying things for cheap. I can definitely say that between the six of us we have helped out the Chinese economy. Pray for me that my suitcases are not overweight!

A street market where they sell their homemade items.

Street vendors selling fruit and vegetables.

Nothing stops us from shopping...not even the rain!!!

#3 Thing I Love about China - Spa Treatments

We have definitely spoiled ourselves in China. We love having pedicures and manicures and it is not expensive at all. The Asians are very good when it comes to the pampering services. More than anything I loved getting my head massaged!!! The Asians spend about 30 minutes just massaging your head, it feels so good and it makes me want to fall asleep every time. When they are done with that they straighten our hair. They don't straighten it with a straightener, just with a brush and a blow dryer. They are amazing! They can make my hair straight but it only lasts for about 10 minutes until I go out into the humid weather, then it goes back to curly. I will not miss the humidity!

Me, Mandy and Jadie getting ready for our pedicures.

Guess who's feet belong to who? Unfortunately, my feet are the swollen ones. My body does not like the hot, humid temperature.

The finished manicure.

This is the part I love and I can fall asleep every time.

Here I am with straight hair.....for about 10 minutes :)

#4 Thing I Love About China - Birthday Parties

I have also enjoyed Chinese birthdays! Our first encounter of a Chinese birthday was Ryan's birthday in February. He is one of our students and his parents wanted to celebrate in the evening at the school, of course, with the American girls. Birthdays here are full of food, friends, family and red bean angel cake. In our time in China Lindsey, me, Jadie and Mandy have had birthdays and we have celebrated each of our birthdays in a different way! Every birthday Annie brings us a cake. At first we were scared of the cakes because we thought they were going to have red beans in the middle but Annie has taken good care of us and she gets us cake with fruit in the middle.

Ryan's birthday party. We are surrounded by friends, Ryan's family, red bean angel food cake and lots of food.

#5 Favorite thing about China - The Bakery

One of my favorite things about China has been the Bakery!!! We visit the bakery every time we go to the supermarket, which is pretty much everyday. America has better sweets than China does by far. The Chinese people do not have a sweet tooth but they do know how to make some awesome bread!!!! All of the bread isn't that good, some of the breads have meat and red beans on top and in the middle. We have learned to stick with what we know is good. Here are a few of my favorites, yum yum!!!

Here is our favorite little bakery which isn't far from where we live.

The newest add to my list of favorite bakery items. It is made with egg and that is about as far as I can explain it.

This is also a favorite. It is a sweet wheat roll with seeds on top. It looks very american but I have never tasted anything like this back home.

This is my all time favorite. I cannot explain this one either but it taste like coconut. I am going to try to smuggle some home for my family, I hope they make it!

5 Days and Counting

I cannot believe that I have been in China for 5 months and it is now time to complete this adventure. These last few days will be busy ones as I have much packing to do, last minute things to do and places to visit and many goodbyes to say. It is definately a bitter sweet but I am looking forward to seeing my family at the airport on Friday, sleeping in my own bed, eating American food, going back to my job at the clinic, getting my haircut and colored and going to the doctor. Yes, I know that sounds strange but I am looking forward to going to the doctor so that I can start feeling well again. I am taking my cousin Mandys idea and going to highlight the top 5 things I have loved about China...This is hard as their are many more than 5. Enjoy and I look forward to seeing you all very soon. Much love, Raychel