As for the rest of October...

The last few weeks of October were just as eventful as the first week had been. Shortly after we returned from our trip to Yinchuan, it was time for my Birthday... I had a hard time deciding what to do for my birthday, because I normally don't have to think very hard about it...usually mom, dad, me, and noah go out to a japanese steakhouse, cause that is a fun dinner, and then we do something a little more adventurous for noah's bday which is just a few days later...Well last year I had a great friend who basically planned it all, so if you will recall there was a small celebration on my birthday, and then dinner and bowling on the weekend...This year things are a whole lot different, but the birthday stuff was quite similar...so I had a Birthday dinner with Carrie B., Zach, and Kai. We went to a newly opened PAPA JOHN'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know Papa John's might not seem like a special birthday dinner, but when you live in china, what you consider special changes quite a bit! So they took me to Papa John's for dinner, and then we went to another nearby restaurant for some really awesome apple pie! It was an awesome and relaxed birthday! Then the next weekend we went bowling, so that others could celebrate too!

I got a bouquet of flowers from my friend Stephanie, and some other really cool stuff too!

Moving on...

So the following week was the week of Culture Day! This year for me wasn't as fun as last year, but all in all it was a great day in the new school! The day after culture day I went to my second Chinese wedding celebration! It was again very interesting and literally a celebration!

The following week was Halloween. (On Halloween day, I went to an orphanage that we have been working with for the last year.)

Now normally in Xian, Halloween is not something that is very well known. However, this year we have an area near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda that has been “built up.” There are lots of new shops and restaurants ( that is where the new papa john's is located). This area has become kind of touristy...so in an effort to be more western (I suppose) they had lots of halloween decorations and even some events...There was the traditional hayride....but it was really like a large nice covered electric cart with hay-like seat covers:) It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen...I knew it probably wouldn't be the real thing, but this was past what I had imagined.

Well I guess that about wraps it up for October; Now on to November!

Wake me up when September ends...because...

Because then it will be OCTOBER!!! I'm still trying to get all caught up on my blogs

October was a very busy month...I love October. It probably has something to do with it being my birthday month and that I really love fall weather...

In China, as you may recall from last year, they have a national holiday to celebrate the beginning of this part of their country's history. This is recognition of the cultural revolution that took place in 1949. This year was the 60^th anniversary so things were a little more festive than usual. You could compare this to our Independence Day except for the fact that the Chinese people celebrate for an entire week. So because I teach at a school in China, we also observe the national holiday. The actual day is October 1^st, but we were out of school from the 1^st to the 7^th. This was a great opportunity to travel so I did.

If you don't remember from before, Zach and Carrie Brinegar are really awesome people, and since I have been back in China I have spent most of my time with them. They have really become family to me here in China. I really love them and they take great care of me! Also, on July 5^th they had a baby! His name is Kai and he is one of the cutest babies I have ever met. The reason I am telling you all of this is that because they are basically my family here in China, they pretty much take me with them wherever they go. Because of this, when they got the opportunity to go somewhere, they invited me to go along with them!

The four of us used our October holiday to travel to Yinchuan. It is a city north and west (I think) of Xian and is much much smaller. We stayed with some of our team members there, and really had a great time relaxing and seeing what was there. We ate western food for basically every meal (because they cooked for us) so that was a real treat! It made it really feel like a vacation. We went to the mountains and it was really really beautiful... Some Chinese people think that maybe aliens visited this site and drew some things on the stones in the mountains, but I am not too sure that I believe that...;) You can see some of the drawings and explanations in my pictures.

Another day we went to a part of the Great Wall that hadn't been completely restored yet. It was mostly a large pile of dirt toward the end of it, but this was a part where the wall stopped because there was a lake there. It was really cool because I really wanted to travel to Beijing to see the wall there, but I couldn't make it work for October holiday. I will eventually go there, but this will do for now! I'm standing on top of the big pile of dirt in the picture;)


October had been awesome at this point and it had only been one week!


Note to my peeps: I am having trouble with posting pictures because of the program I use. There are several websites that I like to use that I cannot currently use. I am hoping that soon I will have access to them again, but because of this it is taking me longer to get pictures attached to my blog;) It also means that I cannot use facebook. You are welcome to leave me messages, but I won't be able to respond on facebook. I am able to read them though;)

love from china

Pictures from this blog will be posted soon hopefully;)

New, New, New

XIS has been looking for a new school building for a couple of years now...In china, things work differently than they do in the states when purchasing property. Sometimes the paper work and red tape can be a lot to deal with. After looking at several properties and having several promising ones fall through, our administrators found the right place! The property was a building that had been made for a universtity, but hadn't ever been used. It was a diamond in the rough...rough being the key term. The outside of the building was finished, but the inside and the space around the building left a lot to be desired. So once the property was purchased, the plans for renovation began! We had several contractors and teams come over from the states to put together the details of the rennovation. It was a huge project and making things work is definitely harder when you are in a foreign country. But, with the hard work and lots of talented people, it all came together! There are still a few things that need to be finished, but those will be done within the next few months! This property and building has lots of potential and has already been a real asset to our team here.

Pictures!

Lanzhou, Linxia, and beyond!

I returned to China in a whirlwind of delayed flights and sickness, but the good news is that I had time to rest when I got back. Jet lag hasn't been bad on any of my other trips between here and the US, but this time-because I had so much free time- it was awful! Because I wasn't feeling well I decided that my first day back I could sleep all day...well that wasn't a good idea. That next night, I slept from about 10pm till about 4am...I laid in bed awake until about 7, but was tired again by 11am...It became a vicious cycle...I eventually regained my norm...up til at least midnight and awake at 9:30 or 10am...but it took about a week. A week after I returned to China, I was over jet lag and on my way to the northwest provinces!
I went on a week-long trip that took me almost into Tibet! It was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever experienced! This blog is about that week.


A few facts:

Xian (the city where I live)
population: Approximately 10 million
land mass: 9,983 square kilometers (about the size of one and a half Delawares)
elevation: about 400 meters above sea level (apr. 1300ft)

Lanzhou (the first city)
population: Approximately 3.3 million
land mass: 14,620 square km (about the size of Connecticut)
elevation:1600 meters (apr. 5200ft)


On Monday we took a night train from Xian to Lanzhou! We arrived in Lanzhou at about 7am where we met one of our friends, Jason, outside the train station.
First we went to his house and met his wife and daughters, and then quickly proceeded across the street for breakfast! The famous breakfast of champions in Lanzhou- beef noodles! These were the best noodles I have ever had in China!
Then we went to the Yellow River to ride down it on Goat Skin Rafts...yep its true.

Goat Skin Rafts- they take goat skins (8-12 of them) and tie them up at the feet and neck...the bottoms have been sewn together...and blow them up...with their mouths (I have pictures don't worry). The skins are tied to a grid of sticks and then there are cushions placed on top of that for the riders to sit on. So yes I rafted down the Yellow River on a Goat Skin Raft...it was pretty cool to see the yellow river that close up!

Then, after riding down the river, we took a ski lift sort of thing to the top of the mountains that were on the other side of the river...we were able to see all of Lanzhou from up there, well all that the pollution would allow us to see.
Lanzhou is heavily polluted because of its geographic location mountains all around and the yellow river to pull it into the valley. The pollution gets stuck...Lanzhou is kinda famous for its pollution. Even with all of the pollution, there was a nice park at the top of the mountain.

Then we had lunch at a Brazilian BBQ place called 'How Nice.' Then we moved on to the next city...

Linxia (the Mecca of China)
population: approximately 300,000
land mass: really small...couldn't find the info:(
elevation: 2000 meters (apr. 6500ft)

In Linxia, we explored a little bit and then had dinner on the street! A few of us (me and the other young ones...all were 10+ years younger than me) stayed up and played cards for a while...The next morning we got up really early and hiked up to a daoist temple...it was very quiet up there...we climbed 300 stairs to get there...needless to say, by the time I made it to the top, I was ready to dance around like Rocky Balboa ( I did a little dance) but it wasn't the same without the music...Then we did sort of a scavenger hunt to other mosques and temples...We were looking into the religious aspects of the area...After a little shopping and some lunch, we moved onto the next city...Xiahe!

Xiahe (basically Tibet)
population: approximately 75,000 about 80% Tibetan
land mass: apr. 6000 square kilometers (about the size of Delaware)
elevation: 3000 meters on average (apr. 9750 ft)

First let me say that the drive to Xiahe was beautiful...Mountains lining both sides of the road...blue skies with big white puffy clouds, and a small river/brook that ran along the side of the road the whole way to Xiahe!
Xiahe has one main street and one huge lamasery (don't know about that spelling)...Even though Xiahe is rather small...It has 5 western restaurants...hotels where people speak English, and about 1200 Tibetan Buddhist monks...This was a really relaxed city...It was so nice to be there...However, we went on a tour of the lamasery and all I can say is it was hard to see all of these people walking around the lamasery, spinning the prayer wheels...the monks spend hours and hours memorizing and studying their philosophy and then praying...you will see lots of pictures...Even with all of the sadness I felt spiritually, the lamasery was beautiful as the sun rose over the mountains around it...Xiahe is a peaceful place, but there is lots of unrest there. Because most of the people are Tibetan and the land is still part of China, there are some political issues...We didn't really experience this, we just know about it. While in Xiahe I ate a yak burger...and got up to see the sunrise twice, and laid in a field at night to watch a meteor shower, and saw more stars than I think I have ever seen. I could even clearly see what I think was the milky way!!! It was totally awesome, and it was cold in the mornings and in the evenings...I loved the weather there!

We drove back on Friday and we drove through Linxia (china's mecca) at the time for the call to prayer...it was very interesting.

This trip was very spiritually charged, and I loved learning all about what is going on around me...I learned a lot! There are some really awesome pictures from this trip!

More Pictures from this Adventure

Living in America (again) ;)

Now for my awesomely awesome summer vacation to America! Above: me flying a kite in my parents' front yard! Me and Noah, Mom, and Dad...Blogspot is actin' a fool so I can only put the pictures at the beginning...maybe one day I will be able to disperse them throughout my blog, but right now I can't:(

America was so so beautiful!!! the skies looked bluer and the clouds puffier and whiter, and I loved the sunshine everyday!!!You don't get that in xian so I appreciated it more when I got to America. Don't take those blue skies and that clean air for granted, I miss it every day!


America was awesome! The End...just kiddin'




So I flew back to America on June 30th...the trip was fairly uneventful, but I did sit next to an Chinese/American family. The mom and their 3 year old son sat next to me...At first I was a little worried that there might be lots of crying and maybe some other annoying things (which wouldn't have been a problem had we not been about to fly for 12-14 hours). However, this turned out to be one of the best rides yet...The little boy was so cute, and fluent in English and Chinese! The mom was really nice too! When we were about an hour out of Atlanta, we had a few turbulence (i don't know how to spell it)...at the time the mom had gone to the restroom, and the little boy was laying in the seat asleep...The dad and the other little boy were just across the isle. I asked the Dad if he wanted me to pick up the little boy, and he said yes...these were pretty rough turbulence. So I picked him up, and held him for a while, and since we had been sitting together for at least 11 hours at this point he was cool with that. When his mom got back she asked him if he wanted her to hold him and he said no...so he sat with me the rest of the trip, and we looked out the window and talked about all of the cool things we saw...it was a pleasant ending to the long ride.

Then we landed in Atlanta, and I got all of my luggage through customs, and hurried to my correct gate, and then when we were about to board, my flight got delayed...the pilot was running late...we left about an hour later...I am going to devote an entire blog to my traveling 'fun' between the US and China, well actually it has been all international travel that I have done...more on that later...

So I landed in B'ham about an hour and a half later...oh wait. I forgot to tell you that when I went through customs in Atlanta, the customs guy who checked my passport, and asked what I had been doing in china said these words "welcome home miss cook" and I almost cried...its one of those times that you kinda wanna kiss the ground or something.
ok Back in B'ham...Mom, Dad, and Noah were there to pick me up, and Noah was dressed for the occasion...a black hat (not a baseball cap, a fedora I think) a skin tight swim shirt...like surfers wear. it was white...black pants, and a black and white stiped button up shirt (yes a dress shirt). That kid cracks me up...Anyway. Hugs and kisses were distributed, and noah told me that I looked goth...I had on black pants and two tank tops one of which was black, and he said that my hair also looked more goth than usual;) He also kept insisting that this was not really happening that I was an imposter and his sister was still in China. He kept saying "I can't believe my eyes," and "Sissy, is that really you...are you really my sister" I really do love that kid, he makes me feel like I am the coolest thing ever!

Mom and a few others had already planned a special treat for me! On the way home from the airport we picked up some food from sonic, and then went to Sarah's house! Sarah gave birth to an awesome baby boy (Tyler) on June 11th, and I needed to meet him in person! I also got to see Brianna, and Jackie and Sarah and Hannah...So I got to catch up with them a little, but mainly I went to hold Tyler and love on Brianna! Tyler was so so cute, and Brianna was literally a walking miracle. The last time I had seen her in person, she was still in the hospital looking pretty rough. So to see her was just a testament to the miraculous!

The next day I had already planned to eat mexican food with most of the girls in my family...a few boys were there too! Everyone couldn't make it, but it was fun none the less! I had a hard time not using chinese to say thank you and things like that in the restaurant...I knew it was spanish that they were speaking, but my brain thought that any language other than english would do just fine!

The next day, I gave noah a haircut (he had a mullet), went to the dentist, and then went to hang out with my friend Angela! Mainly the first two weeks were just family time, but a few friends snuck into the mix;)
We had a really awesome 4th of July celebration, as usual, and I gave myself a really bad tummy ache because there was just so much good food. I made my usual flag cake, and the day went really well! Then me and noah and mom and dad went to the beach for a week! I love the beach! I like reading on the beach, and napping on the beach, and swimming in the ocean...I prefer it without seaweed...but wont stay out of it just for that reason;)

The first day we were at the beach, it was really stormy, and we couldn't even get in the water:( but I didn't care cause I was at the beach...I got burnt maybe the 3rd day we were there. I like to get some sun especially on my legs, but this time I got a little to into the book I was reading and got fried! Only the fronts of my legs got burnt so I looked really stupid, but I had a good tan on the fronts of my legs for a good long while! Of course my dead skin peeled off twice about a week after I got burnt!

So the first two weeks were mainly for the fam, and the next two weeks were lots of plans with friends. There was some Noah time scheduled in as well!

Friends stuff...
We had a Chi Alpha reunion while I was at home, so I got to see people I haven't seen in a while, so that was really awesome!
I had a teacher party too! My Angela threw a party at her house for the teachers that I had taught with before I came to china! It was a great time of catching up and hearing all of their fun stories from the past year! I really do miss teaching with those people because they really made the job fun!
Cheryl and Jenny took me to a Japanese steak house right before I left....Dana and Regina and myself went to Sips and Strokes where I proceeded to paint the coolest funky peacock that has ever been painted! Me and My 'sistas' went to a place called 'All Fired Up' where we painted stuff that later would be fired in a kiln...I made a chip and dip bowl. This was lots of fun too!
There were lots of really awesome fun times with friends and I wish I could write about them all, but it was just to awesome! Seriously though, for the last two weeks of my stay in America, I had so many things going on that I had to keep a schedule. Most of those days I had two things scheduled...I have lots of really awesome people in my life, and getting to hang out with all of them in a short amount of time is a hard job.

Really my time in america was refreshing overall, but I knew I was coming back to China, so I don't think I really relaxed all the way while I was at home. (probably a self-defense mechanism)

One more tidbit of info...about 4 days before I left, my body decided to rebel against the idea of going back to china...I got really sick...We don't really know what I had (we did rule out the swine flu), but this is how that week went...;)

Monday, took Noah to Alabama Adventure!
Tuesday, feeling kinda icky...went with Noah to the Zoo...home for a nap...dinner with Cheryl and Jenny.
Wednesday, woke up feeling horrible!!! to the doc in the box! Wait...do I have insurance? yes, but no insurance card...call the insurance company...get a digital copy of the card, and have a real one sent in the mail...go to the doc in the box...insurance? yes...what is your copay?idk...lemme call them...$500 deductible! so it doesn't really matter cause you are gonna have to pay for it!
See the doctor..."I feel really gross"...but no fever, a really bad cough but no congestion...received...a steroid shot in the booty, cough medicine, and an antibiotic (just in case)...
Thursday...feeling much better! lunch with Janet and baby Josh and Zoriah... All fired up with the sistas!
Friday...steroid shot has worn off...feeling horrible with congestion now:) Back to the Doc in the box..."I'm not better" Dr. said lemme pray for you, and right there in the room he prayed for me to get better!... gave me another steroid shot, an antibiotic shot (both in the booty) a perscription steroid, and a perscription for a sinus infection! To the movies with mom and dad and noah!!! walmart to pick up the last minute stuff and to get the new meds! party and packing at my house!
Stayed up all night, and then left for china Saturday morning...

Got to the B'ham airport...my first flight-delayed...this would cause me to miss my flight from ATL to Shanghai...so...everything had to be redone;) Ended up flying from B'ham to Detroit a few hours later, and Detroit to Shanghai, once in Shanghai I missed my flight to Xian, and had to purchase another ticket for a later flight!!! I finally arrived at home in Xian at about 2:30am...and that is where the next blog will pick up...

I love you all! thanks for reading!



more pictures!

love from china!

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!

What time is it? Summer time!

The title of this blog is a song from High School Musical 2...I think my little brother will like that:)

The next few blogs will be to catch up on my summer adventures. I found out that several people were actually reading my blog, and liked it, so I am gonna try to get back on the same schedule as before...I am gonna try to post something on Sunday nights. That was originally my routine...but I got busy and maybe lazy (seems like you couldn't be both) and therefore wasn't blogging as much. I will probably bore some of you with the in and outs of everyday living, but to me everyday is an adventure, and I want you to know about it even if it seems a little mundane. I have one more year in China (for now) and I plan to make the most of it! I love you all very much and want to thank you for caring enough to read about my life here!