Wrapping it up!

In this blog I would like to catch you up on a few things that happened before I went back to America. Don't worry a quick rundown will be sufficient!

End of May-Brad and I took a weekend trip to Beijing so that we could hang out with Zach and Carrie B. while they were waiting on Kai to arrive. We flew into Beijing, ate at only western restaurants, saw two movies, watched tv at Zach and Carrie's cool apartment, walked around a little, and then flew back to Xian. It was only a couple of days, but it was a nice break from the norm...Brad's first night in Beijing was a little bit more eventful than mine. You should read about it on his blog:)

Also at this point because Zach (the principal at XIS) and Carrie were in Beijing, someone had to be in charge at XIS. I was the chosen one. Because I had a few years of experience in the states, especially experience talking with parents, they chose me to oversee things while they were gone. Though things went well, I don't plan on moving into the administrative realm anytime soon;) It was really hard work, and I had a few people (especially brad) who helped me stay sane. I definitely couldn't do it all myself!

School ended June 12th, and on that day I did my very first graduation ceremony. This one was extra special because there was only one graduating senior. The graduation was a little rough around the edges, but was all that it needed to be too!
That night was a birthday party for one of our chinese friends including an all night Karaoke session!

Oh and the weekend before this I moved into my new apartment in the midst of all of the craziness, and had a fun night of karaoke with some other really awesome people-the stewarts, the durbins, and the wendlers!

Then we had to pack up the whole school because over the summer we were moving into the new building!

Then I helped brad pack his stuff cause he was getting ready to go back to america, and we eventually had to say "goodbye", or at least "see you later."
It was a quite dramatic goodbye if I do say so myself. We didn't plan it that way, but it definitely happened...there was taxi trouble and a race against time involved. Lately it feels like everything I do is a little dramatic. So if you are coming in on the story a little late, Brad was my BFF this past year (we are still bffs, but it is harder to keep that going when you live 7000 miles away from each other). If you know anything about my life, you will know that this past year was probably the best and the worst year of my entire life. Brad was a really great friend when things were tough and he was a constant encourager. Not only that, but he was so much fun to be around. We went on lots of adventures together. I couldn't have asked for a better friend, and I know that this year will not be the same without him. If you think about it you could tell our Father to pour out blessings and favor on him, because I am a better me because of him. Another funny thing is I have almost no pictures of us together, cause who was gonna take them?

After we said goodbye, I helped my friend Jenee move to Xining, a city north and west of xian (i think). It was really cool to see where she was gonna live. I only stayed there for a day, cause I had to get back to xian so I could pack for america!!!! The next blog will tell of my adventures in the USA!

oh and the picture at the top is me holding a 1000 year old egg! they are yummy, and not really 1000 years old...

Love from China!