Bread

I just finished my weekly Chinese lesson, when my teacher pulled out some bread, "Want some?" she asked. Sure, I like bread. Here was the conversation that followed...

Me: It's good! It reminds me of bread from back home in America.
Teacher: Really? Why do you eat so much bread there if it tastes like this?
Me: (Trying not to laugh) Well, in America we usually put something on our bread, like meat or peanut butter.

Chinese bread is usually a little sweeter and you don't usually add anything to it. So, if you get some good 'ol wheat bread, it might taste a little plain. But oh.. it was so good!

Last Day of School

Friday I taught my last class of the school year. I have been teaching the same students twice a week for 2 hours each time since September. I have seen them over 60 times this year (wow, that's a lot of lessons I've taught-what have we all done?). Anyways... I know them quite well and I will miss them next year. I probably won't teach them next year so Friday may have been the last time. They aren't always perfect, but they sure do come close. Here are some of the things we did this year:

• designed Halloween costumes
• discussed the impact of 9-11 on the world
• described what they want to be remembered for
• persuaded the class to choose the other person to eat for thanksgiving (they pretended they were turkeys)
• described the perfect teacher (one person just said, "Jessica" yeah, he's a brown-noser!)
• explained the true meaning of Chr-stmas
• watched Ocean's 11
• debated about whether money can buy happiness
• played Taboo
• solved a murder mystery (game with clues and English activities)
  
• so, so, sooo many more things!

The last  day we played Pictionary together. I will never forget Martin and how frustrated he got with his words. He had 12 words to choose from to draw and 2 minutes (he could draw as many as possible). He got 3 quite quickly and then stopped. I told him to keep going, he was sort of pacing up front. He turned to me and sort of screeched, "I don't know any of these words!" The whole class busted out in laughter. I stopped the timer to laugh. It may not seem funny to you, but you just had to be there. It was a great last day and I will be sad when I can't see them twice a week.

Midtown 2012

As you may know, Wuhan is split into three parts. I live in the middle part. Last year Nicole and I were here alone. :( It was lonely. But this year... we were given some friends! Peter and Darin joined us in the middle. We are now Midtowner! And we make a great team! The guys have been great this year. They explore on their own, get lost, and randomly text us asking which bus they can take :) They have also done great in our studies. They both have amazing knowledge on lot's of different topics. They have truly been a blessing.

Here are some pictures from the night we saw "Titanic" together!

There are some chairs in the mall.

Yup, a little awkward...

Family portrait first try...

Pretty good, but where's Darin?

Nope... really can't see him now!

The whole group of us in our glasses!

Keeps ya going...

Living abroad can be a lot of fun, but it can also be very difficult. Things happen you can't control and you can't communicate with the people involved. You learn to take the good with the bad, hoping that there is more good than bad.

One thing I've started is keeping quotes from friends. These things keep me going in the bad times. Here are some of those quotes...(direct quotes too, the best kinds!)

"I feel you like a elder sister. Like my sisters."- study friend after chatting on QQ. I talk with him quite often this way. His English isn't the best, so he does better in written form.

[sighing and smiling to herself while looking down at her Book] "My first Book."- a new study friend who just got her first Book! :)

"After studying with you I always feel at peace."- a friend I study with one on one

"I'd love to be your friend and give you warm and strength, I really like you, actually."- after telling a new friend how great my Chinese friends are and how they help me through my time in China.

There you have it, my short but ever growing list.

Next time, just say "有“ (pronounced 'yo')

I was biking home tonight from school when I remembered I needed to add money to my phone. I pulled alongside my street to a small shop. After leaving the shop "bag lady" came up to me. She is a lady I see just about every day outside her shop. She started stroking my arm and we had this conversation (all in Chinese)

"British?"

"American"

"Oh, do you have a boyfriend?"

"no"

"Do you want a boyfriend? I have a son, you can marry my son"

"No thanks, I don't want to"

"why not?" (hmm... where do I start with answering this question...)

"I can't speak Chinese."

"He can teach you!"

"No, I don't want" (not knowing what else to say to have her stop touching me and let me go)

"You can look in my shop for some nice bags" (my guess is he was inside that shop at that time. I do know what he looks like already.)

"no thank-you" and I tore my arm away from her, jumped on my bike,  and was off. yikes... at least I know that if I wanted a husband RIGHT now, I could... sadly, it's only because I'm white.

Next time anyone asks if I have a boyfriend I will reply "有!" (yo). Which means, "have". It's much easier that way...

A "new" leader

Short post tonight. I just got back from study. This study was a special one. Although they are all special in their own way, this one was special because it was not held by Nicole or me. We have these intense studies on Saturday. They have to do homework and tests. One of the classes is about teaching the Book. So, for their final exam, they had to lead a study. That's what my good friend Chenjing did. She led the study. She was afraid, but the rest of us were excited (especially one of our friends).

She started out a little rocky. Not to any fault of her own. You see, her English is great, but her Chinese is better. When I saw her struggling to explain it in English I said, "Chinese is ok too" She sighed an amazing sigh of relief and then comfortably explained it in Chinese. That's our goal. Not to be the dominant leaders, but to train them to be comfortable.

I listened to the whole study. Mostly in Chinese, English here and there. I was so proud of my friend. She was able to lead a study by herself. Although Nicole and I were there, we seldom talked. Keep thinking about her as she continues to study and continues to tell others about her peace and her hope. :)

Qingdao

What do you get when you have a short holiday, 2000 rmb to spend that your school will reimburse you for, and 4 friends who want to have some fun? You get an unforgettable trip to *Qingdao*!

 Nicole, Julie, Aaron, and I jumped on an airplane and flew off into the distant land of mountains, sea, and beer for an extended weekend in Qingdao. The city was unique, the food was amazing, and the time with friends was priceless. Here are some things we did on this fun trip to a new world.

Day 1 was a bit rainy so we ended up going to an Aquarium. Not bad, but not the greatest. They didn't actually have many fish. Some of the rooms were fake animals or old, preserved fish. But it kept us warm and dry.

Julie and Nicole bought us these awesome shirts!

The rest of the time we were blessed with amazing weather. Everywhere we went it was adventure. The next day we decided to go find 石老人 (Shi lao ren) otherwise known as "Old Rock Man". We were told the bus stop and I was confident as we boarded the bus. As it so often happens, we didn't quite find it the first time. However, eventually we arrived at this "rock". Sadly, once we were there, we didn't see any such rock. I've been told that it's not there anymore. Hmm... too bad I wasn't told this before I went! Anyway, we laid on the beach and enjoyed the relaxing waves.

After the beach, we went to the red thing. It's some sort of monument. Yikes! Were we popular here. It was hard to hang out and enjoy the area. People kept approaching us to take their picture with us. Aaron and Nicole are tall, I have blond hair, and Julie is just cool- so who wouldn't want their pictures with us?! We decided to also have some fun taking our own pictures.

notice how I'm the only one looking? That was planned. We all have pictures like this.

 Other adventures included eating great food, exploring the German style streets of Qingdao, and walking through parks. We also drank some beer, sometimes that came from a bag. Since Qingdao is home to the famous Tsingtao beer,  you can find it just about anywhere, even on a street corner. You simply say you want a beer to go, they fill up a bag, hand you a straw, and your off! Have I ever told you that China is a bit different than America?

waiting for the beer in a bag

posing by a lake

trying some starfish- not very good

always a fun picture with the four of us!

one of the beaches in Qingdao

Beer street- a street with a lot of restaurants and a beer museum

on the pier- view of part of the city

having lunch at our FAVORITE BBQ restaurant! We went here almost every night.

 The saddest part of the trip was knowing that this would probably be the last time I would get to travel with my dear friend Julie. :( She will be going back to America next year. I'll miss her greatly. She can always put a smile on my face and is up for a good time all the time. :)