These kids I love

As my time here in China approaches its end, I have so many thoughts and feelings to express! I know we still have a couple weeks, but hey, I only get access to a computer every so often. Better take advantage of it. Thanks Kam Bam! :)
First of all, I can't believe I've been waiting over a year and a half for this experience and not only is it here, but it's almost gone! We're all starting to realize how close we are to the finish and how fast our time has flown.We're all excited to be going home and seeing our families and experiencing the wonderful Christmas season, but there's also a little bit of heart braking. Let me fill you in on a precious experience I had today. We celebrated Megan's birthday, even though it's tomorrow. She loves the kids, and what she really wanted is to spend time just playing with them. So we surprised her by inviting the younger kids to a little party after school. She came down the stairs and the room was decorated, and all the kids were standing at the back yelling, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEACHER MEGAN!" and running to hug her. She was handed and enormous bouquet from one of the kids moms, and a few other gifts. It was the most tender thing I've ever seen, and for no good reason except that I'm such a baby, I just teared up. Maddie laughed and comforted me. I was just so happy for her and it was so sweet! I just adore the life out of that girl. Plus I realized, once again, how much I'm going to miss those precious little ones.

The things I'm going to miss most:
-How Gordan always screams, "I'm being quiet!" the loudest.
-Little Jessica and her precious grandma face. What a hip little girl.
-Little Oscar's puppy dog smile.
-Kaycee acting like teachers pet and totally getting away with it because she's so darn cute.
-Norah's beautiful big smile and her tender ways. Definitely the best in her class. She's also usually the first one to say "Good morning Teacher Andrea!" when I walk in.
-Aubrey's beautiful porcelain face and how we totally bonded at the park outing. She's now in the top 5 favs most definitely.
-Handsome little Eric and how he won't participate when he doesn't want to, and that's final.
-How I can't ever tell if John is a demon, or if he's just a big sweetie. I think he tries to be good but just has anger management issues. what a cute kid. "Lule lumbu one, Lo chinese!"
-Vivian, her irresistible hugs, her little racing mind, and Kambrie's undying love for her.
-Sammy being the most adorable child I've ever seen in my life and how It takes all my effort not to squeeze her because she's just not a cuddler.
-Leo and his chivalry and smurf like features. What an adorable child.
-Rabbit and how her name says it all.
-Riley's deceptive smile. He looks like an angel but watch out, he'll hauk a loogie on your head and any moment.
-Tate and his plot to join /riley in abolishing all things good. But his little face is irresistible.
-Angel's concern for all the other kids. "Teacher. Justin! Justin! Teacher Justin! (motions that he hit her or ran away or something similar) Also willingness to sit and fold her arms and try so hard to focus on the teacher while all the other demons in green class run around bumping into her and being destructive.
-Neville's english and how he doesn't speak any... He did eventually ask to go to the bathroom after he'd been sitting there quietly holding it all day for the first few weeks.
-Dori being brinlie's evil twin.
-Justin and my impatience with him in the beginning. I'm sorry Justin but please listen for just one second! And keep your hands to yourself! (something only us teachers will understand.)
-Henry's adorable smile that I can't get enough of and his little eyes that disappear into little slits when he smiles (which is always.)
-Michelle and her at first sassy, but then really sweet ways. What a little performer.
-Tony and his adorable spacey innocence.
-Bruce's 'I'm too cool for school attitude'.
-Quinn's gangster/girlyness and beautiful features.
-Jerry and how even though he was rough in the beginning, my heart had a little something for him and now we're best friends. Also our tender book reading moment and megan's party.
-Habibi's kung foo obsession and gangnem style dancing.
- Athena being so smart that she's bored and looks at you like you're a failure. Ok Athen just give me a chance! She's a sweetheart and I love her parents!
-Brinlie sitting in,class playing with my hair. Also how I thought waving her hand in front of her face meant that she had to go out and stinker, but actually it meant she was hot and wanted to put her jacket away.
-Tony and how he cracks himself up at everything.
-Lorin being such a smart little cookie and so darn cute
-Coco and how she and henry will get married one day. She's also grown a place in my heart as time has gone.
-Abby being PERFECT in class every day. She's so beautiful and so sweet and I just love her.
-Jackie being such a gentleman and offering me his chair in gym class. I'll never forget that. He's the best kid ever and will be such a great big brother to his baby sister!
-Owen's trying to be big and bad but really he's just not so we all laugh. Also family visit nights at his house and crying because we love him so much.
-Ivy's incessant copying of our every move. She's so funny and loving and always grabs my hand on my way out. Also how she cried when we left and just stood there hugging me. I'll never forget how much that broke my heart.
-Mikey's love for Megan and his way too cool style!
-Lucy's independent attitude and need for perfection.
-Peter calling himself peanut butter and his sweet hugs that come rarely but are a great surprise.
-Annie's love for everything and everyone. She's the best cuddler I know and can always be counted on for a great hug. Her big kisses and little laugh after saying, "Teacher I LOVE you. See you tomorrow!" as she skips away.
-Johnny's enthusiasm and adorable crackling voice.
-How seans punching and climbing habits are highly annoying, but knowing that's how he shows his love makes it ok.
-Megan's princess esque ways and her patience in waiting for the other kids to be done bombarding me when it's time for store.
-Brendan being such a sweet, handsome little guy, but also kind of oblivious and distracted.
-Ava's perfect english and how she grabs what she wants and doesn't give it back until I threaten with a strike. That girl... so stubborn but so sweet.
-Matthew's studly style and enthusiasm in "being good".
-Boyee being my best friend and giving such great hugs. You can literally have full on conversations with her she's so smart.
-Joanne always saying hi to me even though I don't really know her.
-Wingel's crackly voice and adorable face. "Teacher alice has 500 tokens!" Oh wingel. I want to take you home.
-Jackson being the nicest, coolest, funniest kid around and just making me laugh m head off. I wish I had their class so bad!
-Alice being the one everyone wants to know and all the guys have a crush on.
-David's style and singing.
-Emmett being just like his brother and me always having to think really hard about which one he is. I think I have it down now.

As you can see, these kids are so great and you're missing out on not knowing them. I love them so much and I'm so grateful for their little spirits! I can't wait for the day when they are introduced to the gospel and can the have eternal happiness the deserve! Although it might be a long shot, I hope with all my heart that I can see them again. Wo ai ni beautiful kiddos!

Beijing

First order of business, Happy THANKSGIVING! a few days ago... :) Would you like to know what I was doing exactly on the day of Thanksgiving? Well, for our day of thanksgiving I was on a 21 hour train ride. for your day of thanksgiving I was standing on the great wall of china! Yes, you read that right. So that was definitely a new experience, if you ask me. Beijing was so cool! (and that can also be taken literally because it was freezing!) Before we left everyone told us, "Beijing is so cold! Bring a big coat." But seeing as they are all freezing here and it's abou 75 degrees made tha statement seem questionable. When we got off the train, he cold air hit like a ton of bricks! Maybe because it was such a fast transition from ho o cold. Anyways it felt like Idaho or something. Good thing I had my think little jacket to keep me warm! not. Anyways, I ended up buying a coat for a really good deal so I survived. 

We looked for our hostel and the whole way I was just looking all around me in awe at Beijing and all of its awesomeness! We found our hostel after some struggle. We finally came to this creepy, dark building with the name of our hostel and were very confused. We called them and they said just to walk in... except there wasn't realy anything to walk into! It was strange. Anyways, we walked in through some curtains and there it was! Our hostel. It was a really cool Mulan like place, but it was really freezing in there. 

We explored a litle bit that night and went to Tianmen square. The next day we took a little tour and went to the great wall! It was such a cool place. We also  went to the jade factory, and a little tea place, and tobagganed down the great wall. Not in that order. :) That night we went shopping at the Pearl Market where you make unreal bargains. Let's just say Christmas is gonna be pretty great! he next day Makenna and I went to the Summer Palace which was probably my favorite part! It was so beautiful and I can only imagine it in the summer. I wanted to be a princess and just go back in ime and live there. It was so gorgeous. I have so many pictures to show but I can't upload them becasue I didn't have my computer! Anyways, after that, we went to the forbidden ciy, which was cool, and very big, so we were kind of tired. I was also freezing. We alked around Beijng looking for the pealr market, to meet up wih the other girls, but we couldn't find it. We pretty muched walked around looking for a couple hours. I'm pretty sure kenna and I spent half the day on the subway transferring lines, looking for places, and walking around Beijing. Anyways, sorry his is prey boring but I have to rush becasue I feel guilty using my friends computer! So to sum up, it was a pretty cool trip, and now he rest of the time is going to fly by unbelievably fast. Its both happy and sad. 

I'm so graeful to be here, and I'm so grateful for my kids and the girls I'm with, and for my wonderful family who is so darn supportive! I love you guys and I can't wai to see you! 

A lot to say!

I've got a lot to say folks so fasten your seat belts and keep your eyes on the road! First of all, I won't be able to continue writing a lot becasue my computer has unfortunately crashed. Yes it is a very sad story, and I won't have it until I get home and get it fixed. Thus, my roommates will hate me for bumming off them when I need it. They were actually really sweet to offer it to me whenever I need it, but I hate asking. Anyways, that kind of butes. Oh well, I can do hard things. So I've been told..
Secondly, we went to district conference in Shenzen which was awesome! We rented a bus and all drove out there. It was cool seeing other members of the church. They fed us an awesome meal, and we came out very filled, both spiritually and physically.
Thirdly, We just had mid semester visits! That was kind of a scary thing or so we thought. But in reality, it wasn't that bad. It mostly went down like this: We cleaned a lot to give the impression that we weren't slobs, we spent hours preparing really good lessons, we stressed a bit, we stayed up and watched the Grinch and made christmas decorations, he came and watched us teach, it wasn't that bad, we went to lunch, He interviewed us about how things are, he talked with the group and gave us awesome advice about teaching. It made me feel like a terrible teacher for not thinking of it before, and a worse teacher when I tried it and it didn't actually work the way he said it would. Just kidding it actually helped a ton and it made a lot of sense. He makes it sound so easy. He talked a lot about routines and how important they are for children. It's what they lean on especially here where they don't understand what we say necessarily. He talked about getting their attention to stop them from being crazy. You just have to be super animated and make them forget what they were doing in the first place. It's actually genious and I wish I wwas that good. He also talked about tokening and how you token a few kids at a time instead of all of them . That way they're focusing and speak more because they won't know when they'll be tokened. He also mentioned a good way to squash the chinese speaking bug. The kids still speak chinese in class a lot and its detrimental to the learning! I tried it friday and it actually worked really well. Anyways, I'm not making much sense now, but it was really  awesome.
The next day my first class was soooooo fun. The kids seriously loved it and I had a blast and it was just really animated and they were so entertained. The only problem with always keeping them on their toes is that it's slightly draining... Our lesson was going to the moon. I showed them a picture of a rocket and told them we are all in the rocket. Who wants to go to the moon? Ok here we go put your seat belts on! Hold on tight!5 4 3 2 1 Blast off!!! I shook the table and chairs and broke through the atmosphere. In space we looked out the window and saw the planets and stars. We crash landed on the moon and took a space walk. It was a blast and they thought it was hilarious. The other classes got a little crazy with it, but hey I tried. A for effort, high five.
This weekend has been a good one for sure. Friday we got dresses! Only I will know what this is about. :) Then we got a smoothie, and stayed up watching movies. This morning we went to the park with some of the chinese teachers and some of our younger kids! I'll tell you it was such a blast. They are seriusly so adorable. We basically just played with themm sang with them, and ate snacks. We took a little boat ride and enjoyed each others company, all the while, precious little Aubrey and I bonded deeply. The whole time she just couldn't stay away from me and held my hand and just wanted to play. It melted my heart. She's just the sweetest girl in the world and I adore her. Here's a million pictures to prove it. :) Coming right up. She's always been a perfect child, but I'm so glad we got to have so much fun and get close! Ahh I want kids and can't wait for the day. Yeah that was a little weird to say... I was in the moment. Anyways, I seriously adore these kids with every fiber of my being. IT was so precious that she chose me over everyone to sit with at lunch ,(which was amazing by the way but might have given maddie and I food poisening) and ride in her car, and hold her hand. I love kids. I love my kids, I don't want to leave them and I dead that day. :( Anywho, it was a very lovely morning and made my day. We were exhausted so came home and napped for a minute, then went to Mikey's parents' store for dinner. It was soooo good! they were so sweet and it was a blast. He's seriously such a cute kid. The food was good except at one point the food poisening, or whatever it was hit me and Mikey showed me and maddie where the bathroom was. I was kind of overcome by nausea and just felt really sick. When I was chillin there for like 10 minutes, mikey said to maddie, "Is teacher Andrea ok?" Then he came in saying, "Andwea? Andwea? Are you ok?" It was adrable and I was really embarrassed. Good news is, I felt a little better after. I'm sorry for telling that awful story but I want to rmember it.
All in all, we had an awesome weekend and we get to go to church tomorrow, then beijing on thursday! And a shout out to Preston Stratford who comes home Friday! I'm so excited for him and his family! Love you guys!
There's exactly a month from today, we realized, until we go home. That blows my mind. It is going to flyyyy by and I don't like the sound of that. :( I lov china and I'm so blessed to be here!

Our new found friendship

She's seriously precious

A candid laughing moment with Habibi

Little Norah makes my heart melt. She Aubrey and Kaycee are besties, it's pretty cute.

Oscar has probably the cutest, most puppy like face I've seen. He's so adorable I  could just eat him up.

aubrey and megan!

London bridges falling down. Its pretty popular with the kids. 

The kids and teachers! You have Jessica, Gordan, Aubrey, Neville, Rabbit, Norah, John and oscar. I love these kids. 

Such a cool little park!

This is how is was the whole time. Tell me that's not adorable. 

We ran into Ava dear at dinner!

Love Maddie! 

Rabbit and Owen, Gordan's brother

Aubrey and I eating dinner!

Neville, Gordan, his brother Owen, and Habibi. Adorable little men.

The girls! Maddie/ Rabbit, Megan/Norah, Me/Aubrey

Habibi!

Two Wonderful People

Please let me introduce two of the most wonderful people in my life-

These people have many names which include the following: Best ever, #1, perfect examples, Angels, cooler than cool, greatest listeners, loving, caring, best support, Dee, Sharyn, etc. etc. The list goes on. Although all these names are 100% correct, I believe titles, Grandpa and Grandma, sum them all up. 

As this picture so perfectly portrays, my grandparents are so full of love and support. They are there for every occasion in our lives no matter how small. Just look at the adoration on their faces. I've seen these expressions throughout my whole life and I stand in awe at this because most of the time I don't deserve it. Through the selfish moments, the immature moments, the teenage girl cry for no reason moments, the run away from home moments, (I think that only happened once, mom and dad, I promise) and the fight with the sibling moments I still was privileged to receive this very look. 

These wonderful people don't get enough credit for all that they do; thus, here I am making sure they have it. :) 

My grandpa is probably the most amazing man in the world. Every one knows from his kids and grandkids down to the people who sit next to him at ball games. (If you haven't had that opportunity, I recommend it highly. It's the best way to watch a game.) He's clever and funny and all sorts of fun to be around. He always knows what to say and is the best friend anyone could have. He such a good teacher and is always there to help. My favorite thing is when I look over at him at him anywhere we are, he gives me a smile and a wink. It always makes my day and makes me feel ever so loved. He is so optimistic and I've never once seen him complain or get upset. It's always a good time when he's around. He's such a strong person and I'm grateful for his wise words and good example. Thanks grandpa!

My grandma is the sweetest, most loving person in the world and I'm so grateful for her. One time I was really upset about who knows what, and had to get away. The only place I could think of to go was Grandpa and Grandma's house. She sat there and listened to me vent and cry like a baby. (I would like to say that it was a long time ago but it might have only been within the last year..) She's so much fun to talk to and has the best relationship with everyone she meets. She is loved by all and makes everyone feel like they're her best friend. My favorite thing is when she calls me randomly just to say she's thinking about me and misses me. She'll also throw in how much she loves me and how great she thinks I am. I believe she is very deceived about the how great I am part, but nonetheless, I appreciate it so much. She thinks more of others than she ever does of herself and always drops everything to help me. I love you grandma!

I hope everyone has the opportunity to meet these two wonderful people, for it will change their lives. :)  I love you so much Grandpa and Grandma and I miss you so much! I can't wait to be able to drive over, or run over, or bike over at any time and expect lots of love, pampering, pleasant conversation and a nice meal. :) Grandma, although you want me to forget all about you and continue with my adventures, that is impossible! Thus, I'm writing this note. I wish you the best with your surgery, and with whatever happens after. You are so strong and I know everything will be ok! I know I don't need to tell you this, but it's comforting to say so I will anyways. I pray for you every day and hope you are safe and happy! Grandpa, I hope and pray you are comforted and not worried. I wish I could be there for you both! Unfortunately I can't, so just know that I'm thinking about you! I can't wait to see you both for Christmas! I love you with all my heart and will forever and ever!
I'm sending you giant hugs and kisses, which will make everything better. :)
Love you! 

Just the usual

In our little Xiaolan after teaching’s at bay, you 

might often wonder what we do here all day!

I would finish this post with all sorts of rhymes, 

but frankly I'm too lazy, and don't care to take the time...

Enjoy!

We get facials, as painful, and relaxing as they are. They spend some time picking your face which kills, then the rest is very relaxing. I'll regret posting this picture as will my friends because we look atrocious, but it was a fun memory. :)

Sometimes we get all dolled up and ready for no reason at all.  (Probably because it happens literally never. so we're deprived.)

And we go to our favorite mall (Da fu Yen) and have dinner at the new restaurants we find!

We eat our favorite peanut butter dumplings (steamed dumplings dipped in peanut butter sauce) for only 5 Yuan almost daily. So heavenly. 

We get full body massages. They're not the nice relaxing kind, oh no.. They're extremely painful and not relaxing in the slightest. Why do we do these things you ask? Well, because I never have and I never will again so why not now! 

We go to beautiful parks....

And swing on the cute decorations! :) 

And hang upside down of course. Until a man comes over and tells us not to....

We go to Zhu hai underground market and shop, buying tons of cheap DVD's we found at this one store with every movie around. Buy all disney movies for my future children? I think yes.  Oh and meanwhile we find tiny, fluffy bunnies on the way there. 

We sit at our favorite smoothie place, (which we go to a plethora of times) and decide whose hair color looks good on who. The consensus was, blonde looks good on me. Thus the blond highlights I so bravely got. 

And the brown hair Maddie is getting right now! 

We get washy washes (hour long hair washes/head, neck, arms, back massages/blow dry and style) all the time because they're so darn cheap, and make tons of friends in the process! 

We find strange little Asian characters and take pictures with them. 

We always manage to find cute babies and take pictures with them. Always. 

We come to this river across Fu Hua hotel on our way to church and take pictures! 

And we do each others hair in cool ways we find on pinterest. 

We get foot massages!

And dip our feet in steaming hot water and herbs....

While they massage our backs. Very painfully..  

We go to movies! Ok we only did this once and we saw the new Bourne movie. It was pretty fun. 

So basically it comes down to this: At least some of us go to Da fu Yen EVERY day. We eat smoothies all the time, we pamper ourselves very frequently, and we do our hair and eat food. :) Now you know the secret of our daily lives. 

Another first

Our days are full of random, exciting adventures. Some of recent ones have included: Movies, The Bourne Legacy, and foot messages for 20 Yuan. It was quite painful and an hour long, but still felt really great. The awesome part was that when it says foot massage, it doesn't ever mean just a foot massage. It usually included a full on shoulder, arm, leg, back and neck massage while our feet soaked in hot herbal water. New favorite chinese remedy? I think so!
The main attraction of this post today is the fact that I've completed another 'first' in my life that I would like to share with you. It started with our favorite smoothie place of course, that's where all the magic happens. Then we decided to compare hair, which resulted in the obvious and totally normal placing our hair on top of someone elses, and taking pictures to see how we would look with that color. I confessed that I've always wanted to be blonde, and that secretly I consider myself blonde, even though apparently I'm not. (so says everyone.) In the spur of the moment, I was convinced to get highlights. If you know me and my hair, you'll understand that this is kind of a big deal. I've always been pretty attached to it and have the hardest time doing something as simple as cutting it. Man, getting bangs was a whole other story. But eventually that's grown on me and I've grown attached to them. So there I was just highlighting the very top layer in the most blended, natural way I could manage. It turned out quite unnatural looking where the roots were very prominent, but Maddie fixed it with her extensive hair school knowledge. I also asked for a simple trim because I love my hair long and I"m still growing it. He agreed and the next thing I know there was a whole lot of hair chopping going on. Ok so it's not as bad as I just made it sound, but it is a lot shorter. It's definitely different, but I think I kinda like it. It will definitely take some getting used to. My only hope is that it's not a hideous mess before I have to go home and show the real world. China isn't the real world, of course. I could die my hair rainbow colors and the number of stares would probably increase by zero because everyone already stares. Don't worry, I won't die my hair rainbow colors. ;) Anyways, there's my little adventure for ya. I hope you've enjoyed this journey with me to the hair salon.

p.s. apparently you can see my pictures now so here you go! hope it works!

This is before, when things were normal.

And the CRAZINESS hits! 

Another hair sample with a cute little baby which can't hurt anything. 

On our way to Kayin before our Shenzen, district conference trip

Awesome hair wash, massage for super cheap. So much hair is gone! K fine it's not that noticeable, but I feel like it is.