While in Beijing...

(I'm home now, but still want you to be able to read about my adventures (if you want to, of course). So I will catch things up over the next couple of weeks or maybe just days if this jet lag is as epic as it seems it will be.)

So here's the rundown on my time in Beijing :)  (again I am full of details and love to give the whole story...I realize that is boring for lots of people who want the big picture, but again, that's my style....when you tell me stories, I want ALL the details too.)

I arrived in Beijing on July 4th and from the last post you should know that my re-entry was not without excitement and laughter. I also felt very at home. I hadn't quite anticipated just how comfortable it felt, but that was a really nice and confirming surprise.

So July 5th was Kai's (Zach and Carrie's son) 5th birthday, so we went and did western things :) Well, don't let me get ahead of myself...the first thing that happened was Carrie and I went to starbucks and got coffee/tea and a muffin. Then we took our time getting ready and went to a Bar-B-Que place for lunch...yes legit Texas BBQ! That was kinda nice for me too since I had missed the 4th of July with my fam...I was on a plane and all....Then we went and found a Cold Stone Creamery for some Birthday Ice Cream!

The next day was Sunday so we went to BICF (Beijing International Christian Fellowship)...Let me just tell you, it looks like heaven in there...people from literally every part of the earth all worshiping together. It really was lovely, and, yes, I did scope the crowd for a possible future mate (I kid...well sorta). Then we went and found a non-chinese lunch...You see, Zach and Carrie have been living in Xian for a year and a half now so I knew they would need their Western-food fix...So that day I had an amazing salad (almost impossible in China...gotta be careful with those leafy greens.)

The next day we changed hotels because the rest of the team was arriving. Still it was a better hotel than I was expecting. You just never know what to expect in China, so I try to keep low expectations :)  A majority of the team arrived late that night, my roommate Landee included. She was leading a team of 10 college students from a college in Missouri. We chatted a bit, and then went on to sleep because the Great Wall was the adventure for early the next morning. Jet lag doesn't have a chance to set in when you just keep moving.

We did the Great Wall that morning and it was amazing!!! I was pretty excited to go to the Great wall again because the last time I was there, I was on crutches with a torn meniscus...it was miserable, but I survived and have a great story...this time I was looking forward to actually being able to go some distance on the wall! So that's what I did. The wall is very hilly and has lots of stairs and even though I am 4 years post-op on my knee I was still a little concerned as to how it would handle The Great Wall. Miraculously, I had ZERO issues, no pain or discomfort whatsoever. I also got lots of great pictures, some with a rainbow nonetheless!!! ALL of His promises won't let go of me!

Yes, that is the exact same shirt 4 years later:)

Originally, I had intended to go up with Zach and Carrie and the kids so that I could take pictures of them on the wall, but something got mixed up and I had to go up the other way. When I was in China, I learned to be extra flexible. So, though I wasn't excited about separating from my friends, I knew there was nothing to be done, you just go with the flow...mei ban fa! (kinda means there isn't anything that can be done).

That afternoon we visited the Temple of Heaven. Such a beautiful place. There are still many things I would like to know about the spiritual ideas behind this, but for now I've at least been there to see it, and have gained some insight...

The next day we went to Tiananmen Square and into the Forbidden City. Both very historically important places! I hadn't been inside the Forbidden City yet, so that was a treat! It's quite large, but also it was very enlightening. While in Tiananmen Square these two kids (dressed in a school uniform) came up to me and asked-in English- if they could 'say their speech' to me. Of course, being a teacher, I obliged :) They were the sweetest kids ever and kept telling me how friendly I was...I wonder if they had encountered less friendly people?...SO we took a selfie...

I have lots more pictures, but I am working on getting them organized :) I will post them all very soon!

Love from China/Alabama.

Beijing Welcomes You! 北京欢迎你！（I think those characters are right:))

First let me begin with a few stories from traveling :)

Birmingham to Dallas 1 hour 26 minutes

My flight buddy was a young asian guy (clean cut and handsome) who was wearing a Nike T-shirt that said "Shot Caller"...AND was carrying a giant stuffed Winnie the Pooh. I said 'hi' and he returned it, but didn't seem to be in the conversation mood...However, he did try to sleep the whole time, while cuddling/hugging the stuffed Pooh...there is a picture at the bottom:)

Dallas to Seattle 3 hours 52 minutes

My flight buddies this time were Synchronized Swimmers. They were lovely girls (16-17 years old) and were quite chatty for a while. They were on their way to Seattle from Florida for their National Competition...no picture of them, sorry.

Seattle to Beijing  10 hours 50 minutes

No one actually sat in the seat right next to me, but there was a guy in the other seat. I don't think he spoke English...not Chinese either...not that I'm super talkative in those situations, but it would have been nice had we at least had a common language...The only real interaction that we had was when he told/motioned to me that he had left his glasses in the lavatory...not sure why he took his glasses off....maybe he was washing his face...yes, let's go with that.

IN BEIJING!!!!!!

As soon as we were off the plane, everything felt different...I was 'home', sort of.... (It will be really hard to leave China this time...don't worry mom, I will come home.)

My real initiation back into China:

As we walked off of the plane our first venture was an escalator (on the way to immigration). As I'm going up the escalator, people in front and behind me, the Chinese guy in front of me farts...If you haven't already you should picture the situation...I'm on an escalator, going up, the guy's butt was basically at my face level. Since we are in China this is not that unusual, my face was just in the wrong place at the wrong time....There was no acknowledgment of the fart, don't know why I would expect one...this is China.

I also smelled a full fledged Chinese bathroom while in the airport...I don't know how to describe it with words...you just have to experience it to know...

When leaving the airport, I had to get a taxi to take me to the hotel....So I get in line for a taxi, and its my turn...the guy doesn't want to take me because I have too much luggage or something...( I had two large bags and a carry-on...actually a pretty good amount for me). So another guy approaches me and tries to get me to ride in his bus/van thing...he wants basically 45 USD and a taxi will cost me about 10 USD...So, of course, I tell him that's too expensive, and that I will be taking a taxi (in Chinese of course). He immediately starts to bargain and drops it to 30 USD...enticing, but still a taxi would also be a safer way to go...A few more taxi's turn me down (par for the course in China as a foreigner with 2 large bags and a carry-on)...the guy comes back and again offers 30 USD (so persistent), but I knew for sure if I waited a little longer I would get a taxi, and I did....and it was right at 10 USD. 

This was actually the smoothest travel between Alabama and China I have ever experienced. (Something has gone wrong EVERY other time I have flown between the two.)

Love from Beijing! (I've been in Xian for a few days now, and am leaving to go to another city for 2 weeks and I won't have internet access)

Cari

Seattle, Where have you been all my life?!

I'm in Beijing now, but I wanna write about Seattle before I forget some of details (I have given you more details than a normal person can stomach, but that's my style.) If you get really bored, skip to the end, there's a picture! :)

So, as you know, my first stop on my way to China was Seattle, WA! Let me just say that Seattle did not disappoint!

Brad had to work (from home or wherever) while I was there, so I was able to sleep late and that was exactly what I needed. However, I'm finding that recently I am not as skilled at sleeping late as I used to be...I can force myself to keep trying til about 9, but that's usually the latest now. Sad day.

The weather was AMAZING when I woke up-breezy and cool, sunny, blue skies-so I sat on the back porch for a while just soaking it in. (I had just come from the Alabama heat.) 

After a while, I got ready, and we went to watch the US Team play in the World Cup at a sports bar called Berkley's I think (great atmosphere for cheering on the US of A). This is also where I got to meet a couple of Brad's friends- Jake (knows way more about sports than I know about everything...literally ask him anything, he knows) and Jessica (Jake's lovely wife who is one of the sweetest people I've ever met). It's always fun when you put real people with the stories that you've heard.

After the game was over and a few tears were shed, we headed to a cute little coffee shop close to where Brad had lived before. We sat outside while he held a phone/video conference with a coworker, and I read a few more chapters of Sophie Hudson's book "A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet". (By the way, I love that book!) 

When we were done with that, we took a walk towards the Seattle Center ( I think) and hopped on the monorail which would deliver us downtown. The monorail was a good way to see lots of the cool things in Seattle in a short amount of time. When we were downtown, we first went on a short hunt for these things called Spirit Hoods. There are lots of imposters, so you gotta know your stuff to find the real ones, right Brad?  We weren't successful with that adventure, but because of the search we got to explore cute little stores and alley ways (the journey is sometimes more important than the destination).

We walked down to the waterfront, walked through Pike's Place Market, and saw the original Starbucks. Oh and we also walked by a giant wall of gum, already chewed gum. It was...very colorful!

( I have pictures of all of this, but right now I'm having some difficulty with how to get them posted here...I'll figure it out eventually.)

Then we took the monorail back to where we had started, which happened to be right by the Space Needle. Obviously, this is a Seattle staple so I felt like I needed to do it. Brad has probably done this several times, but was such a trooper. 

So we went up in the Space Needle to the observation deck where we were able to see all of Seattle. Did I mention that the skies were sunny and clear that day?...Apparently you can only see Mt. Rainier about 120 days per year (I've heard that might be a high estimate). Well that day was one of the 120! I also got to see, from far away, where parts of Sleepless in Seattle were filmed...The view from the observation deck was amazing! I've got some pictures, so don't worry:)

At this point, you are probably thinking 'whoa that's a lot of adventuring'...That was just the first day!

Tuesday night we packed everything and headed for their family cabin which is located on Hood Canal. Oh and I also got to meet Brad's roommates, Nate and Brad Duncan. They were lovely too! (in a manly way of course) After we had packed the car with all of my stuff and all of his stuff, we made our way to the ferry!!! This was one of my favorite parts for sure! A ferry ride at night time!!! The Seattle skyline is pretty amazing at night (and in the daytime), so it was really cool to see it from that perspective!

Day 2! Their cabin on Hood Canal is pretty amazing! Lots of space for lots of fun! I woke up to really cool windy weather (like 60 degrees) and cloudy skies...This is what I had been expecting from Seattle however, it didn't last long. By mid morning, it was sunny blue skies and progressively getting warmer, it didn't get hot though.

That day was the laziest of days...Brad's dad cooked breakfast, I went outside to soak up the sun, read a little, finally got a blog posted, and really just relaxed most of the day. That afternoon, when Brad was done working for the day, we played this game called Ladder Golf-I LOVE Ladder Golf. I almost beat him...then we played his parents and they beat us...Brad's mom cooked us dinner and then later we (all 4 of us) went upstairs to their game room and played tetris on a Nintendo 64 (I think) while listening to old songs from a juke box! There was definitely lots of laughter, and a constant reminder to not get "box greed"..."box greed" will cause you to lose at tetris every time.

Brad's parents are some of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. I actually hadn't met them before this trip, but that was hard to believe because I knew so much about them. ( I had spent a whole year hearing stories about them. I did meet them via skype once I think. They stayed in my apartment in China while I was in America. They sent us lots of jelly beans; jelly beans work great for making a bad China day better.) So as you can see it would be hard to think that we hadn't actually met...So when I met Brad's dad that morning, his greeting was 'Nice to see you again'...Brad quickly reminded him that we hadn't actually met, haha....So later the boys (Brad and his dad, Joe) decided they would see how things went with Brad's mom Sally. I was instructed not to let her know that we hadn't met, and just to wait and see what she said. She of course didn't play quite into their hands...She greeted me with 'nihao' and didn't say anything else...With some coaxing and some awkward pauses, she did say 'nice to see you again'...SO, neither of his parents remembered that we hadn't actually met, lol...They had seen lots of pictures of me from when we were in China and after some time (5 years) it just seemed like we were old friends:)

Every Fourth of July, they (Brad's Family) host a large gathering and it usually lasts a couple of days..like I said lots of space for lots of fun... So the first of the guests began arriving late that night. I got to meet several more of Brad's friends and let me tell you they were lots of fun! They also helped me to stay up into the wee hours of the morning (I had to fly out the next day and was trying to make myself tired so I could sleep on my long flight from Seattle to Korea.) 

I did sleep a little and then got ready for my flight. Brad's mom made an amazing breakfast, and after that we went to catch the airport shuttle...goodbyes are never fun. 

If you knew me when I was in China before, you know that Brad was so important to me. He walked with me through some of the hardest times I have ever experienced, and continues to be such an encouraging friend even when we don't talk for years at a time. I thank God that He put us together in China, because I know I am a better me because of our time together.

Much Love from Beijing!

Cari

Leavin' on a Jet Plane (again)....

I hadn't realized until just now that I haven't blogged a single word since I've been back in America....I've been back 4 years...

Moving on....Currently I am sitting in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, and I'm typing on a very small keyboard that is connected (via bluetooth) to my Ipad...I apologize in advance for the massive amount of typos that are likely to occur.

I am in the process of making my way to China...here's the breakdown. (I love a good timeline.)

June 30 (today of course!) -Fly to Dallas and then to Seattle for a few days with on of my favorite people! (Bradley Thomas-he was one of my very best friends in China.)

July 3-Fly from Seattle to Seoul and then to Beijing.

July 4 ('merica)- Land in Beijing. Zach and Carrie (other best friends from China) will be there waiting (with great anticipation) for me to arrive!

July 10- I will move further into the country and go back to the city where I lived before-Xi'an!!!

July 17ish- We will go to a smaller city where I will be teaching among other things...

(Just an aside-if the parentheses didn't already give that away- There is a young (mid 20's at the most) guy siting across from me at the boarding gate who just pulled out an entire shoe shining kit and proceeded to shine his own shoes in the most legit sort of way)

July 27- I go back to Xi'an and hop a night train to go to a different city where I will be camping with some other really amazing people.

August 1/2- 5 Flights to Birmingham!

August 5- School Starts! (Yes, I know I've lost my mind.)


I will be trying to blog on occasion while I am on this journey, so feel free to keep up with me here:)

Much Love from Dallas! (I'm actually in Seattle now.)
Cari


For those of you who thought I was kidding about the shoe shiner, here you go!

The Crazy Whirlwind of MAYhem. (a long lost post from June 2010)

In the first two weeks of May I took over 500 pictures....you know what that means...lots of fun!

The first week of May was XIS's Spirit Week. This is similar to a high school's homecoming week in the states....Because I am not good a delegating and like to be busy (and maybe bossy-get that from mom:)) I was in charge! This meant lots of planning and making sure everything got done.

Monday we were out of school for the official May Holiday similar to Labor Day for China.

Tuesday- Twin Day! At the end of the day we did things like water balloon toss, 3 legged race, and relay races!

Wednesday- Pajama Day! a good excuse to wear pajamas to school! then we watched a movie in the afternoon.

Thursday-Pirate/Ninja Day- Dress like a pirate or a ninja! Then that afternoon we did a treasure hunt obstacle course...6 tasks to be completed by each team in each of 3 divisions and there were treasure maps to get you to your next task! So much fun, but it was real hot that day...

Tasks: Cannon ball toss, ninja monkey, ninja skills, swab the deck, shoot the target or walk the plank, cave diving...these were all fairly simple tasks with a ninja/pirate name...:)

Friday- School Spirit Day!- Dress in School colors and then do fun stuff in the afternoon...one of those things was to make a big XIS on the field using all of the students! Thanks to Darron, those pictures turned out great!!!

To top off the very Spirited week, we held a charity concert to raise money for one of our school's custodians. He fosters 3 children with pretty severe disabilities and doesn't really have the proper things to care for them. So we wanted to help. This was actually a student's idea! So we put on a concert. There were about 5 acts...one of which involved me singing...The headlining act was OSAW (official size and weight) which is made up of a few of our students and a couple of homeschooling kids that we know.....With all of our efforts and some divine provision we were able to raise 14,000 RMB which was way more than we had set as a goal. So the custodian will be able to do a lot to his home to make caring for these kids easier. I was so so proud of our students. They really are impressive people.

Also the next week, we had our first official XIS 'formal'...I use the word 'formal' loosely because there wasn't really a dress-code, but it was a special outing for our 9-12th graders. Because we have so few students, it didn't really make sense to do a prom/dance....there were lots more boys than girls...so with the suggestion from a really smart and creative girl I know, we decided to do a murder mystery dinner! This was so so so fun. We reserved the 2nd floor of a restaurant in Xian and had a great dinner and lots of fun solving the mystery! The kids played along really well and I think they had fun so that is what I cared about. I think it was a great event to have toward the end of the year! So much fun! It was set in the 1920's and so several dressed for the occasion which made it even more fun! Of course there are pictures.

Once that was finished, I had a yearbook to make happen....This year it was an awesome 4-day yearbook. I think that my eyesight has been damaged because of the hours that I spent looking at the computer, but after all was said and done, we have a winner! Of course I didn't do it all by myself...I had some students work on it too, but they don't stress out about it as much because they are not in charge of making sure it happens...

Also, while all of this was happening, I got a JOB for the Fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My first interview was on Pirate/Ninja Day, so I had to go home and shower and get ready for my 8pm interview :)...While interviewing with them for a math position, they asked me about my chinese....if I had been studying...I told them that I had been studying 3 hours a week for almost the whole time I had been here...I wouldn't say that I am fluent yet, but I can carry on a conversation without too much trouble...then they asked me if I would be interested in helping them start a Chinese language program at their school?!?!?!?! I of course said most certainly I would! I wouldn't need to teach the class just help in the organization and help the kids if they need help....score! They said they would get back to me....so I waited and waited and a little over a week later we did yet another interview...ugh...I was a little disappointed at this point cause I was feeling less confident about it...BUT the next day they called me and offered it to me :) What a blessing it is to have a job even before returning to America! I also have a place to live! The Lord has truly blessed me and is making the transition back a lot easier than it could have been!

Pictures from the MAYhem!

Beijing and Beyond!

Well really just Beijing, not beyond.

Even though I was on crutches the whole time I was in Beijing, and I wasn't able to do quite as much as I would have liked to, Beijing was amazing!

We flew out on Friday night, had a short layover in the middle of nowhere also known as a small city called Zhong Wei...we arrived in Beijing at about 1am, tired but excited to be there!

Saturday we went to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and Outback Steak House. In case you forgot, we don't have many American restaurants in Xian so eating at those in Beijing is a part of the vacation!

We had a great time at the wall and were able to get a bunch of great pictures! Oh yea, I almost forgot...to get up to the wall we took a ski lift and to get down, we tobogganed back down...it was really fun!

Sunday, we were able to go to a Foreign Fellowship for Easter!!! It was a great service! I was thankful to be able to celebrate with such a diverse group of people! Then, after the service, we went to eat at Pete's Tex Mex...Mexican food is definitely what I miss the most. It comes in a close third after my family and friends :) That afternoon, Carrie B. and I went to the pearl market to do a little shopping!

Monday, we did a little more shopping and touring and then headed back toward Xian. It was a fast trip, but well worth it!

You can see some really awesome pictures from this trip if you just click on these words ;)

When it rains it pours...

In addition to the emotional pains I was feeling, there were some physical ones too. At the end of March I also tore my meniscus. If you aren't sure what that is, I can explain it...The meniscus is the cartilage that sits between the femur and the tibia and fibula...It is the cushion that keeps your leg bones from rubbing together during physical activity...as you may already know, right before I left for china, I tore both of my ACLs (the ligament on the inside of your knee that keeps it from moving too far inward). The left one was a complete tear. I have been taking very good care of it, and decided that I felt okay to 'play' a little. So I decided I would help out with PE because they are doing baseball right now, and I love to play...well needless to say, I shouldn't have been playing.

So on a cold rainy Wednesday afternoon, I took my first trip to a Chinese hospital! I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure what I would encounter there, but it was actually a fairly pleasant trip. However, the doctor didn't spend much time with me and told me that everything was fine, and I just needed to rest it for 3 weeks...I was like...ummm...I'm a teacher, so that's really not doable.

Luckily, knowing what a knee injury is like (from the previous injuries) I knew that it wasn't okay. So I asked them to do an MRI anyway. They of course agreed, cause you just pay for stuff here in China, there is none of this crazy insurance scandal kind of stuff...so I paid about $80 for an MRI and that was that. A few days later, I went back to let them tell me what it said...all of this is in chinese mind you, luckily I had a great friend who could go and help with that...when I handed it to the doctor, he said that I had torn my meniscus....he said it in English too! He was very helpful and gave me some meds and told me what to do...In America, it would have been immediate surgery, but here they think that sometimes that stuff isn't necessary. In this case, however, I agree with America.

I had my mom call my orthopedist and ask him if I needed to have it done immediately or if it could wait until I got home this summer. He said it could wait, just to be careful.

A few days later I went to Beijing and climbed the Great Wall, with crutches of course. That trip (the topic of my next blog) had already been planned, and I really didn't want to miss it, so I went anyway. I stayed on crutches for about 2 weeks, and am now getting around with a very small limp and little to no pain. Don't get me wrong, I won't be playing any baseball or running anywhere quite yet, but I am getting around pretty well now.

Needless to say this has been a rough month, but I am looking forward to finishing up my time here and enjoying every last minute of it!

Love from China!