Welcome Back

I never thought I'd be the one to have such a break in the blogging. I was doing so well with it and then, bam... silence. Here is a small update on my life.

I had two months off of teaching which resulted in lots of traveling and no routines. I went to America, Guangzhou, Bali, East Java, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.

This past week I started teaching for the second semester. I have 50 days of class altogether and just finished 5 so only 45 to go!!

Coming back to Wuhan is a bit of a shock since it's still pretty cold inside. Currently it's warmer outside than inside which makes it a little frustrating ;)

Next week we'll start studies so it'll be nice to see friends again and catch up on their winter holiday breaks.

Besides that, nothing to fun, crazy, or exciting has happened (well... Indonesia was pretty fun, crazy, and exciting). I'll try to keep updating more and putting on pictures.

I'm Back!

I made it back to Wuhan without any difficulties. I arrived in Shanghai Friday night and after dropping my bags off at a fellow FoCer's house, I met up with an old Chinese friend. She didn't realize I was arriving from America, so she was a little surprised about how tired I was. Man, was I tired!!! I tried so hard to focus but sometimes when I was talking my words began to slur and I couldn't always focus on what she was saying. It was still really good to see her though!

Coming back to Wuhan was great because my friends Adam and Linda picked me up with their car. It was soooo nice to have them waiting there for me once I arrived. The ride back was great and I made my way into my apartment. Yikes, is it cold here! I don't like it at all, not after being warm in my house in America. I miss heat in the bathroom and living room. I spend most of my time in my bedroom now with the heater on, it still isn't as warm as I'd like, but.... BALI here I come!!!! I leave again on Saturday, I'll try to  keep you updated on my traveling! :)

Wuhan Traffic

Everyone in Wuhan will tell you how terrible the traffic is. I'm sure I've mentioned it before how traveling by bus or taxi there are headaches.  Buses are crowded, taxis are hard to get, traffic jams happen at all times of the day/night. However, regardless of the frustrations of crowded buses, the transportation system is awesome. You can get anywhere in the city for under $2 (usually about $0.30) And... the third subway line opened!!! Wuhan's subway is continually growing!!!

Enjoy these pictures of the impressive bus system in Wuhan.

The bus line outside my house before school. I'm very thankful I can bike to school every day.

buses looking the other direction

The "sidewalk". The actual sidewalk doesn't exist right now so we walk through here. Don't worry, the cars aren't really moving anyways.

More of the sidewalk

Christmas Time

Year four in China has surely been a blessing. The past week I got to see a friend I studied with for over two years get washed. She mentioned it a few weeks ago and I was shocked. I didn't realize she was ready and I was so happy to hear! She has surely has grown in her life over the years.

Then, about a week later my good friend and roommate Leona was confirmed! I was so happy that I fought the tears (I later gave in a little). Such a blessing to see these "lost" friends find the truth about life. It reminds me that living half way across the world is worth it. However, holiday times are hard. It's hard to see and remember what's happening in America and know that you aren't able to be a part of it.

This year is going to be different. About nine months ago I bought a ticket to America. I would fly from Shanghai to Milwaukee on December 19, six days before Christmas!!! I wasn't about to miss another year! One catch... I wanted to surprise my Grandma, so, after keeping it a secret for the past months, I'm finally able to say hi to my grandma in December! I'll let you know how it goes... right now it's December 23rd, I'm sitting on the couch with the tree lit and the fire going. Outside the snow is falling and we are enjoying a very white Christmas!

I started this before Christmas, now I'll finish it.

My grandma came over for Christmas and was surprised so see me in the kitchen! It was fun to see her for the second time this year. She was a little sad though to know that I will have to fly back to China after Christmas, but she would enjoy the time for now.

Chinese Characters

Learning Chinese is a lot of fun. I get to feel like a young child again as I walk around outside discovering my world of becoming literate. Learning to speak and listen is one thing, but learning to read is another. Although reading isn't super important, it's fun and important to learn some words. Here's a short introduction to learning Chinese charachters.

Some characters you learn out of necessity... 男 (boy) and 女 (girl) will tell you which bathroom to use. 街道口 (my street name) will tell me which bus I can take to my house.

Some characters you learn because they are easy...  一 (one), 山 (mountain), 不 (no...).

Some characters you learn because they look cool...哭 (cry), 夸 (I'm not sure, but I know it's "kua")

However, some characters you learn because of emotional connections behind them. For example, 拆 (cut down) is a character which brings sadness to my eyes. China is developing. This means that many old buildings are being cut down in order to build newer "better" ones.  The other day I ventured to my old old apartment. The 拆 character was everywhere. The entire complex is being torn down. I didn't even recognize the gate as I walked by. I decided to see if my old building was there. Sure enough, it will soon be torn down. A few people still live in the complex, but most buildings are deserted and awaiting their fate. Here is a walk down memory lane...

By the way... I saw the character near my current apartment... [sigh]... it just keeps going.

The main entrance

Looking back into the street

This used to be an open area, now it's full of garbage.

I walked past this every day and wondered what it said. Now it's crossed out... and I still don't know what it says.

The door to my building

Haha, we always walked past this... it's still there, but now with lots of beer bottles

My floor...

kitchen on the left, bathroom on the right

Our couch used to be there

TV

My old bedroom

Nicole's bedroom. Her map of Wuhan is still on the wall. We haven't lived there for over 3 years!

View from the roof

The whole to climb through to get to the roof

Here is the 拆 character, which carries so much meaning

The walkway I took every day...

This is just for fun. It's where Nicole and I would buy our train tickets. They were so patient with us!

BBQ!

I grilled out the other week with some friends. It was a mixture of American and Chinese grilling.  Although it took a while to get started, we finally were cooking with oil. Haha, literally, we used cooking oil to start it and on the foods...

Brian is setting up

Some of the food we prepared

The view

The cooks

The grill with food!!!

Still here

I want to do a nice post with pictures and fun things to say, but this will be strictly business. :)

I've been a bit busier than normal lately. I always thought I was busy in China, but his year has proved my last years to be easy. I'm taking my online classes and teaching extra hours at my school. This week I had to reschedule classes, so it's been an extra busy week.  I'm excited for next week when I can relax a bit more! I won't have master classes next week since every class is 5 weeks, then one week off.

We had a big Halloween party last week. It was a great hit! I invited over 40 people (of which maybe 25 came) and there were still at least 15-20 people that I didn't know at the party! Although it had nothing to do with Reformation, it was still a good way to connect with people and get to know them better.

Well, I'm off to start my day! I hope all is well on that side!