Yummy Yummy Food

Hello, I haven't written on my blog for a while because I don't know what to write about! This week of teaching was hard, the kids were so out of control. They don't listen to us anymore, I'm very annoyed with them even though they are adorable. The school feeds us breakfast, lunch and dinner, I don't eat the breakfast because it is usually boring gross bread that has no flavor, so lately I have been eating Frosted Flakes! The milk is not too bad, I like to refrigerate it because I don't like warm milk. Lunch is always a surprise, they feed us rice and usually strange things like chicken gizzards and who knows what else. I just get rice and sometimes choy and I put soy sauce on it. The dinners are always pretty good, tonight they had beef that was boneless and there wasn't very many fatty pieces! I was so surprised! Our chef's name is Spencer, he just doesn't know that yet. That's what we like to call him though. Amy, our head teacher, informed us that the school is taking away our dinners because not enough teachers eat dinner, so he is basically only making dinner for us and a couple other people. That made me so sad because now I have to make my own food and waste money on food. Come to find out they will still feed us, I was relieved. Overall what we eat is pretty OK, sometimes it seems really good and other days it seems not good at all. Just depends on the day! I will write on my blog some more later! Hopefully we will do something cool tomorrow!

Massaging Blind

FINALLY!!!! We went and got massages! Annie, the asian who shows us around, she showed us this massage place and she said it was really good. Today we set a time and went, it was me, Mandy, Jadie, Emily and Keegan. We get there and I was so excited! There were 5 of us and the lady wanted 4 of us in one room and 1 of us in the other room. We didn't like that plan so Jadie, Mandy and I stayed in one room, Emily and Keegan in the other room. Mandy and Jadie's massagers came in, Mandy's looked blind, he was running into things. I thought I was in the wrong room so I walked out into the hall to find Emily and Keegan in the other room, when I went out there I saw a guy he was running into things and he was feeling the walls like he was lost. I went back into my room and sure enough he was my massage guy and he was blind-they all were blind!!! The massage felt so good, at some points it hurt so bad I wanted to barf! He started massaging my forehead/head, when he was done with that he stuck his fingers in my eyes-that felt weird, I really did not like that part. He then massaged my arms, he popped my fingers and yanked on my arm so it popped-that was strange as well, so when he got to my other arm I didn't relax my arm so it wouldn't pop. Then he motioned me to lay on my stomach, he massaged the back of my neck and ow! did that hurt. I really was not a fan of that part, he then massaged my back, most of the time that tickled like crazy and I tried not to laugh, I liked when he massaged my legs and feet the most because it didn't hurt or tickle. Massages are very strange but it made me feel so good and tired:) We are planning on going back every once in a while.

Jadie with her kids

Me teaching Emily's class, we made happy face sandwiches!

Cute little Jackey in drama, he is adorable! He looks good in those shades!!!

Emily teaching my class, Peter is in the orange (he is a wild child, I try to get mad at him but I can't do it, he is just too stinkin' cute!), Rebecca (she is half Spanish, half Chinese) to Peter's left, Lake's head is being covered (Lake is a big boy) Lucy (is probably the tallest girl at this school) and Ray, he is one of my personal favorites-he is so cute and such a sweetheart.

Mandy teaching Lindsey's class. Lucas is sitting next to Mandy, he is the one in the glasses-he is so cute and very smart! Suzie is the one to the left of Mandy, she is very smart as well but very stubborn.

After the awesome motorcycle ride!!!

Ok, this is a picture of Emily on a motorcycle, but if you look close, I'm right in front of her in a gray t-shirt:)

Us girls walking to the toystore

In the little bus coming home from church

Yummy yummy Pizza Hut on Valentine's Day!

A Smell from Home

THANK YOU MOM, DAD, CELS, and TANNER!!!! Today I got a package!!!! Finally! It has probably been sitting at the "Bond Institute" for about a week now. The Bond Institute is about 30 minutes away on bus. My package had my retainer in it-which still fits:) Valentine's candy, letters, a project for the asian kids, my watch and underwear. The undies were new, they smelled like home and they were freshly washed!!! All the girls were smelling them-it was funny and so not weird. We miss the smell of home, we use Tide here, our things get clean but they just don't feel so clean. I don't know why-probably because China is so dirty and humid:)
This week of teaching has been so crazy! The kids were very naughty on Monday and Tuesday, I couldn't even bribe them with "yummy treats!" as they would say. They kept speaking Chinese,which is a big no no, they were stealing and they wouldn't sit down!!! I don't like when they misbehave but when I look back on they day I just laugh to myself because they are just kids and they are so funny to be around. Like Peter, in my home class, when we tell him to go to the Chinese chair he does a little dance there, it is like a girly, swing your hips kind of dance. I would be mad at the moment but I would try so hard not to laugh at the same time. Then after teaching the other teachers and I will talk about the naughty/funny things the little kids were doing.
Today was so much better! Today Lake, he is in my home class, said, "Teacher, I want to go to America." he said it in such a sweet voice. I wanted to pick him up and hug him, it was the cutest thing! These kids really are so innocent, I will try my hardest to sneak one in my suit case when I come home:)

Going to Church

We got up early today to go to church. We went down stairs of our apartment and there was a very small bus that was going to take us to Shenzen where church is. It took 2 hours to get there and when we got there we had to take our shoes off because we were in a really nice building with AC and a normal toilet. Most of the people there were White and from America, they live here with there families for business, there were Asians from Singapor-it was just like normal church at home except the children there were more loud and naughtier than at home, the bread was extremely soft and it seriously melted in my mouth, yes that is possible:) There were about 90ish people in the branch and about a 3rd of the members were ILP people! There were about 25 of us-we didn't even plan on going the same day! It just happened! After they fed us lunch and it was normal American food! They had BBQ beef sandwiches, chips, cookies, cheese cake, fruit and a lot more! It was so good!
I'm very glad I'm at this school. The other groups were telling us that they get charged $50 Chinese money if they don't eat everything on their plates at their school and they were fed pig's blood last week and they aren't suppose to teach the ILP method so they are teaching out of textbooks to 1st-3rd graders and they are giving them tests and quizes!!! Amy, our head teacher, said that the last ILP group must have left a bad rep. because now this school doesnt like ILP. Sad that people had to do that. I have a lot to be grateful for here (at our school) and I would never change it for the world! We get along with our teachers, we get to teach the ILP method and they feed us but we don't have to eat it if we don't want to. I'm also glad to know we have church kind of close by that we can go to once in a while, it was good to go and see white people and to hear English:)

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was awesome!!! We didn't do anything but play on our computers all day. We did dress up though and we went to Pizza Hut. Whoa, that was amazing! The Pizza Hut here is like Olive Garden at home, it was so good and very American! My favorite part was that there was no red sauce and a lot of cheese!! It is my new favorite place. We got a Hawaiian Pizza with real non-fatty ham and pineapple on top and we got a Super Supreme Pizza-that was not my favorite. I'm not a fan of pepers/onions/sausage, so I picked it off and ate it anyway because it was American and very yummy:) The waitress at Pizza Hut was crazy! She wanted pictures with us, on our cameras and she wanted our head teacher, Amy's, email address after the waitress touched Amy's curly blonde hair. She did give Amy her email address, she was very nice. We were going to get massages but the other girls didn't want to, who wouldn't want a massage? I'm going to go another day after teaching this next week, no one will stop me!:) After Pizza Hut we got chocolate to bring back to our apartment so we could eat it while we watched Beauty and the Beast. Tomorrow we are going to church. We will leave Sunday morning and come home Sunday night. It will take about 2 hours to get there and it will cost around $120 Chinese money. It is so expensive! That is why we are only going to go to church once every month, but we do have Sunday School and Relief Society here and our apartments. I'm excited to go to church, there will be white people and they will speak English! I will let you know how that goes!

Chinese Birthday Parties

We just got back from Ryan's party! Whoa, it was so much fun! Ryan's mom is a teacher here and she invited us, she told us to come at 7:30. We got there at 7:30, that was weird, we should have gone later because we just stood there and Ryan and his friend, Ricky, were running us over with this tricycle. There were a couple other Chinese teachers and family there. Ryan ran around screaming in people's ears, I think they just wanted the Americans to come to the party, I'm cool with that. There was goodies galore and there was a huge box in the center of the table, we knew there was cake in it, but what kind of cake? We were nervous because they like to eat weird jelly cakes. When they opened the box, it was a cake with noodle things on top. Weird. We got a piece of cake and it was like angel food cake, whipped cream and fruit, including tomatoes, on top. It was good other than the beans that were in the middle of my cake. They put the weirdest things together, like meat in yummy sweet rolls. It is just nasty. I felt like it was a party for the American's instead of for Ryan, we went around and told the Asians about ourselves. I told them I play the piano and they made me play because there was a piano in the room. I played very poorly. Oh well, I will practice and redeem myself later. Then we learned about the asians who were in the room. Ryan's dad is a police officer, his name is Eric, he is very nice. Overall the asians we were hanging out with were normal, I like them a lot. And Chinese birthday parties are exactly like American birthday parties. They have cake, candles, singing and talking. Oh and camcording, they enjoyed filming Ryan and the Americans, it was really weird but whatever. I'm glad we went and I'm glad Ryan's mom invited us. It was culture-enriching.

Whoa, this week was only a 3 day week and I'm glad it is over. Teaching is a lot harder than I expected. You never know what kind of mood the kids are going to be in. Yesterday (Thursday) they were angels, they were so good! I didn't have to send them to the Chinese chair that often, they were paying attention really well and teaching went by fast. Today was a whole other story! They were so naughty!!! They were fighting all the time, I had to split kids up, James barfed, I couldn't send everyone to the Chinese chair at one time, so I took away their food, Peter and Jonie were cry babies today and teaching went by so slowly. It was so much! I think it was a combination of Friday, they were tired and it was cloudy/warm and humid more that usual. (Amy, our head teacher, said that the weather affects kids' behavior) Oh plus it is Valentine's Day tomorrow-maybe that has something to do with it. James came to my class today, he did not look good at all, he wasn't talking, he had a runny nose and he didn't have much color to him, as they lined up to go to Teacher Lindsay's class, James bent over and threw up. Jonie kept speaking Chinese and I would send him to the Chinese chair but he would not go! So I had to force him over there and he would cry the whole entire time. The Chinese teachers will stand in the classroom with me and they baby all of the kids when they are doing something bad! When Jonie was crying about being in the Chinese chair, a Chinese Teacher went over to him and put him back into his normal chair. The Chinese Teachers baby these kids and give them whatever they want. I'm excited to see the kids again next week, but I know they are going to have their good and bad days, I am more mentally prepared. There is a new student who started yesterday, his name is Harry and he is my favorite! He is so little and he has dopey ears! He is very smart and he doesn't follow the naughty crowd. Tonight is Ryan's birthday party. Ryan is a naughty boy but he gets away with a lot because his mom teaches at this school. She invited us to his party tonight, I'm excited to go and see how Chinese parties are! I will let you know how it goes!

Today was our first day teaching-whoa that was crazy. Last night it seemed like we were all running around with our heads cut off because there was so much to do, so little time. With all said and done, we got everything done we needed to and our head teacher and all of the chinese teachers were very proud of us. I think they were expecting us to not be as good as we were. It is good to expect the worse. The kids are so cute! They are naughty though! We have 6 different rotations for them, kitchen, arts and crafts, shop, gym, drama and games. I was in-charge of kitchen and I will be for about a month, I think. Today we made fruit kabobs, most of the kids knew quite a bit of English already, if they speak Chinese they sit in the Chinese chair and watch us while we have fun. My "home" group is pretty good, these are the kids I will spend most of my time with. There is one little boy named Peter, he is a hellian because he is spoiled at home so he thinks he can be spoiled at school. The Chinese teachers put up with it, but our head teacher, Amy, said we are not going to put up with it and I agree! He is always crying for no reason. It is so annoying. But the other kids are so good, so far. I'm excited for tomorrow, even though I am nervous again. I'm thinking about making them something with peanut butter for tomorrow, peanut butter is always good. They kept yelling "peanut butter!" today, so I think they like peanut butter so we will cook with it! Anyway, I am worn out! Thanks for reading my blog!

A real lion!!!

Getting ready for a sweet ride:)

Budas they worship, they are huge!

These guys at the circus were amazing!

Yesterday (Friday) we left at 8:30, we rode the bus one hour and 30 min to Guangzhou. When we got there we saw signs to an amusement park, so we got on the subway and went. When we got off the subway, we went up the stairs and the amusement park was right there!!! It was totally empty we rode "the biggest rollarcoaster in the world" 7 times. It was a straight up and down drop, it dangles you there for a couple seconds and you can just feel the suspence! We met a very nice Asian worker, his name was Darren. When the ride stopped, we stayed in our seats because there was no one in line behind us! It was the best day to go to an amusement park! Then we rode other rides like a halfpipe one where you sit in a chair and you spin while you go up and down on a half pipe, that was probably one of me and Mandy's favorite ride. Then the group wanted to go to a show but Mandy and I didn't want to go so we went on more rides, just me and her, she loves her rollarcoasters which is sweet because I do too! We went to a LumberJack show, it is a show where Americans cut wood. Pretty boring and now the Asians think we are a bunch of hicks that just cut wood and we wear very short shorts. It was very disapointing, but nice to see Americans. After the amusement park closed, we went to the circus which was just right in the park! It was so amazing! We saw lions, elephants, hippos, boxing bears, flipping monkeys, guys standing on a ferris wheel doing tricks, trapeze people, and divers. When the performers saw us in the audience they stopped and waved because I think they liked seeing white people! I felt very special. We stayed in a hostle, it was pretty nice, better than what we have at our apartment. Today (Saturday) we went to 3 different Asian Buda worshiping places. They walked around with insence, I think that's what pollutes their country, then they bow down to huge buda sculpures. After we went shopping, we got cute jade friendship rings for $1.50 American! I also got pearl ear-rings and a pearl necklace for $3 American dollars! I love shopping here! It is amazing! I have learned so much about this culture in only a week! I'm excited to learn more! I will keep you guys posted!

Victoria's Peak that looks over Hong Kong Island-so beautiful!

Look, real Asians imitating Asians!

Hello everyone!
These past couple days have been really relaxing, we made our apartment more homie by cutting out things out of colorful paper. We cut out polkadots for our living room/dining room. Jadie has triangles, Emily has randomness like snowflakes, stars and friendship people, Mandy and I have hearts in our room hanging next to Edward's poster:) we went to the supermarket again this day, we love the supermarket, they have cool things like Chinese candy, real frogs, fish, snakes and some other weird animals. A couple days ago we were standing in the check out and the Chinese lady standing next to us was getting a fish that was in the bag, as we were standing there her bag with the fish in it was flopping around!!! It was so scary and creepy and gross! Today we were at the supermarket again, we walked past the place were the real fish stay, one of them jumped out of the water and back into the bowl, Keagon (my new friend) started screaming! It was quite dramatic and we got even more looks. We went to a park today, it was beautiful, there were pagodas that were lit up all over the place, it was so pretty! I loved being there! Tomorrow we are headed to Guangzhou, our bus leaves at 9 AM, we will be shopping and going on the biggest rollarcoaster in the world! I will let you know how that goes, thank you for your love and support!

Here I am in China!!!!! We first stopped in Hong Kong, there we went to DisneyLand, watched a light show where the buildings lit up to music and we went on a tour of Hong Kong, we saw the biggest buildings! They don't have very much space to build new buildings so they build up and they get very very big! We are now in China, we don't start teaching until the 10th of this month or so. We are just sight seeing in our city, we got head massages today for only $1.50 American money. I can't believe it! We also went to a cute little bakery this morning, it was interesting but good. They put meat in there pastries! I think it is better not to know what I'm eating, it makes things better. I love the people here, they are very nice even though they creep me out, they stop and stare at us. We were eating dinner yesterday at a nice place, people were staring at us through the window! I guess it is ok, I will take it as a complement:)

Raychel has landed safely in Hong Kong and it sounds like they are having the time of their lives. They went to Hong Kong Disneyland yesterday and had a blast! Once she gets to Xioalan, the city where she is teaching, she will take over her own blog and keep us all updated on her adventures. As a parent, thank you for all your love and support you have shown towards Raychel. We all look forward to seeing pictures and reading stories!

At the airport, Wednesday Jan. 28, 2009