4 Days in DC

So this post is a little behind but it will at least give you a glimpse into our trip back to America. We had our little journey across the Pacific back to DC, and we stayed there for 4 days. Long story short: we had to get new visas to actually stay and work in China. We also needed to unite our whole team. Dale and Alyssa, our team leaders, have 2 kids, Asher and Dasha. During our month of training, Ayssa and the kids stayed in the US. So we didn't meet them until DC.

On our way from Detroit to DC, our flight was pretty empty. The flight attendant was so sweet and let all of us "China teachers" (as she called us), move around and spread out. This is me trying to take a nap on the plane. 

I also got a couple sweet shots of the sunset as we flew out of Detroit. Here's my favorite one. 

We got to DC on a Saturday, and the next day the kids came. The moment I met the kids, I fell in love. They are the stinkin' cutest things ever! Dasha is so sweet and such a cuddle bug, and Asher is very smart and says the funniest things. I got to spend one whole day taking them around the National Mall. Asher was so excited to see the Capitol building. 

Me, Alyssa, and the kids at the Capitol

Our Capitol

Washington Monument from the Capitol

And when we went to the WWII memorial, a bunch of people were dipping their feet in the water. So we did too. Then Asher decided to just go ahead and sit right down in the water. I tried so hard not to laugh because he got in trouble, but it was so hilarious I couldn't help it.

WWII Memorial: my favorite one

While in DC, we got to eat and bunch of good American food. It made me a little sick while we were there, but I got over it. Like all good southerners, we went to Chick-fil-a. I drank an entire large sweet tea, which I have never done before. It made me so sick, but it was worth it. 

Our last night in DC we went to Cheesecake factory. And the next morning we had Godiva chocolate cheesecake for breakfast ... again, made us sick. But it was totally worth it. 

GODIVA CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also went to a grocery store and stocked up on stuff we realized we wanted. Anna and I shared a suitcase, and it ended up being 19 lbs over the weight limit for the plane. So yeah, we stocked up on a ton of stuff. Lugging that monstrosity around was a pain ... literally. 

And then we hopped on the plane to come back to China.

So yeah ... that was the DC trip. Lots of fun, but very exhausting. 

Wangfujing and Microteaching

So while I was computerless for about 10 days, alot of stuff happened. I'll just give you the highlights.

One of my favorite places we went in Beijing was Wangfujing street. It's crazy, loud, crowded, and way too much fun. Took us forever to get there. Basically wherever you're going in Beijing, you plan for it to take about 1-2 hours to get there. Even if it's just five miles away. 

While we were on the subway, we saw this group of four middle school girls. They were so cute-talking incessantly and giggling and watching us. It made me almost tear up because my Emmy is their age, and I was thinking how cool it would be for Emmy to be here with me. We got off the subway without talking to them, but then we ran into them outside Wangfujing and they asked to get their picture taken with us. One of them told us she had very good English. Hilarious.

So then we went onto Wangfujing street (sorry I keep repeating the name, but I love it). And of course we saw the famous scorpions on a stick. And no I did not eat any. They were still alive on the stick because they hadn't been fried yet. And their legs were still moving ... freaked me out. I hate bugs. Anyway, I did get my picture taken with them though.

They also had starfish on a stick and seahorse on a stick. I got sad when I saw the seahorse ... they were so tiny and cute. 

We walked around and looked at all the crazy stuff people were selling. I did haggle with one of the guys and got my sisters Christmas gifts there. Haggling is way too much fun for me. 

Crazy, crowded Wangfujing Street

Then we walked around the food section. And the guys at the food shops kept offering me beer. It was so funny. 

Oh yeah, saw this guy on one of the streets. Chinese people can sleep anywhere. 

Anyway, and then last Thursday we had microteaching in the morning. All the elementary school teachers got to teach a class of Chinese kids. We had 8 students that morning. They were wonderful. We had so much fun with them. Even taught them the cupid shuffle. So hilarious. 

Teaching these kids made me even more excited to get to Taiyuan and start teaching. Even though I only had them for one morning, they stole my heart-I don't think I'll ever forget their names. I'm pretty sure my kids in Taiyuan are going to have me completely wrapped around their fingers. 

And then there were the goodbyes. Last Friday we said goodbye to the other teachers and watched as they all left to go to their different schools. We also had to say goodbye to Joy and Katie, our teammates in Beijing who are teaching at a primary school there. 

Primary Teachers!!

Those 3 and a half weeks in Beijing were probably some of the best days I've had in my life. Granted, sometimes it was hard, but I learned so much about China, myself, my team, and Father in those short weeks. Father is teaching me so many lessons, and I don't think at the end of this year I'm going to be the same person. I can already tell I'm different after only being in China for 3 weeks. But it's a good thing. The Refiner's fire is burning away the impurities in my soul, and bringing me closer to Him. And for that I am grateful. 

Sit back and drink some tea

So I realize it has been over 2 weeks since my last post, and I'm sorry about that. It's been a crazy last couple weeks. And a bunch of crazy stuff has happened. First, the hard drive on my computer decided to crash while we were in Beijing. Thankfully, the wonderful people at the Apple store in Xidan spoke English and helped me get a new hard drive. And then at the end of training, instead of going to our city and getting settled in, our team had to travel back to America because we did not have our work visas. Fortunately we knew about this before we went to training. But, I can tell you, nothing prepares you for jet lag twice in one month. Actually, make that more like 3 times in one month because we're only in the States for 4 days. And then there's the people I love that I left behind in the US: my amazing family and friends that I miss. 

Yeah, so life has been insane lately. But the funny thing is, I'm loving this craziness. One of our teachers at training left us with a saying that I think pretty much sums up my outlook on life right now: "Just sit back and drink some tea." When stuff hits the fan, you just sit back and drink some tea and don't worry about it. When the system frustrates you, just sit back and drink some tea. When your computer hard drive crashes, just sit back and drink some tea. You get the idea. 

In China, nothing is ever as it seems, and often what works in America doesn't work there. So instead of trying to bring my Western ideas and procedures onto China, it's best to just go with the flow. 

Most of you who know me well, know that going with the flow is something I typically don't do well. What China is teaching me is flexibility: the ability to just release control and just roll with life as it comes. 

I'll update you guys on the last two weeks in another post. Time to sleep. This jet lag thing is terrible. I'm gonna go sit and drink some team before bed. 

Walls

So two days ago, we went to the Great Wall. I have no words to describe the beauty and the majesty I saw that day. And the pictures I took don’t do it any justice. 

As we walked the Wall … or more like climbed because it’s basically nothing but stairs … I kept feeling a pure sense of awe at the amazing new world I now call my home. This country is nothing short of breath-taking, confusing, and exciting. Nothing ever stays the same in China-it constantly changes. And I find myself falling more in love with it everyday. 

The Wall holds a profound significance for me because I have had/still have so many walls in my own life. This year has been about how He is breaking down my walls. As I stood looking up at the power and strength of this wall that has stood for hundreds of years, I couldn’t help but think: How much greater is His strength and power to break down the walls we put around ourselves? 

 

China is challenging me daily, and climbing the Wall was quite a challenge. But I know that all of this is worth it. Because sometimes we need our walls broken down to see truth and love. That is my hope for this year … that my students, my team, my family, my friends, and I will have our walls torn down … so we may see. 

Camping in the Ruyi

So nothing super interesting has happened over the last couple of days. Still rather jet-lagged. Around 2 in the afternoon, I always want to just curl up and sleep. We’ve just been in training, so I haven’t gotten to go out and see much. But tomorrow we go and visit the Great Wall of China!!!!! I’M SO EXCITED!!!! It’s hard to put into words how stoked I am about this.

So for this post, I thought I would talk a little bit about where I’m staying and entertain you with some pictures of some funny Chinese things. The hotel we are at is the Ruyi. Apparently it’s a 4 star hotel here in Beijing. Every morning we have breakfast here at the hotel, which is always an interesting experience. There are a few staples that are out every morning but sometimes some weird stuff comes up. Like two days ago, they had fried intestines in the shape of sausages out for us to eat. I don’t think I can ever eat sausage again after looking at that. And the fruit/veggies that are out … I just can’t even describe it to you. So I mainly stick with eating my watermelon, toast and strawberry jelly, and drinking my orange juice.

Here are a few pictures from my hotel room. I’m on the 9^th floor, so I have a decent view. 

 

This was on the wall in our bathroom. It made me happy.

 

My bed, messy as ever

 

For the first few days we were here, our shower basically flooded every time we used it. It took my roommate and I that amount of time to figure out we had to take this metal plate thingie off the drain so the water would go down. Yeah, we’re brilliant.

Oh and in China, inside, everyone wears house slippers. So when we are in our hotel room, we wear these on our feet. They are quite comfy. 

And we go to class in the hotel too. Our team always sits together and during breaks we often bring out the cards and play Uno. We become quite vicious when we play. It’s awesome. 

Here are a few of the funny things in China:

#1: Wu-Mart. Yes, it is literally called Wu-mart (pronounced Woo-mart). It’s the Chinese Walmart. And I basically go there every day. Sometimes twice a day.

#2: Different flavor Oreos. They have some weird flavors, like green tea Oreos. Guess what kind this is:

#3: Jackie Chan on my laundry soap. Kinda fuzzy pic, but I promise you it’s him. 

#4: Had this at dinner the other night. According to the menu, it was meatloaf. It was literally meat in a load of bread. 

Well, that’s all for now, folks. Will put up pics from my Great Wall trip asap.

Jet Lag and Massages

So yesterday was my first full day in Beijing. No one can quite prepare you for jet lag. People told me it would feel like a hang over. If this is what a hang over feels like, I will never drink. Basically my head felt like it was in a fog all morning, and I also felt really dizzy. Your body just feels completely out of it. Pretty sure I could not walk in a straight line.

It was amazing race day. We broke up into our teams and went traipsing around the city taking pictures and doing various strange activities. Our team had a blast! Here are a few of the things we did:

#1: Lunch

So we went to this Chinese restaurant right down the road for lunch. Chinese restaurants are all family style, so you order a few dishes and share. I love it. We had 3 treasures (potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers), sweet and sour chicken, kung pao chicken, spicy green beans, pork dumplings, and some cucumber in vinegar. My favorite was the sweet and sour chicken because they put sprinkles on it! Also, yes I can use chopsticks. My technique isn’t great, but I do well enough to be able to eat.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Sprinkles

 

My first Chinese meal

 #2: Tea Shop

We visited the neighborhood of Houhai. I have no clue where it is on the map but apparently that’s where we went. After walking around the lake there, we went into a tea shop to look at prices of teas. The lovely owner brought us to the back and made us tea for free. He gave us fruit tea (which apparently is good for the skin), some kind of black tea (good for the stomach, he informed us), and two different kinds of jasmine tea. The fruit tea was AMAZING!!!! I wasn’t that big of a fan of the jasmine tea, but it smelled wonderful.

Team at the Tea Shop

#3: Dalmatian Family

We were supposed to take a picture of the most “different” fashion we saw. We thought this qualified. Here is Chesney with the Dalmatian family.

#4: Massages

Another activity we had to do was get a massage by the lake. This old man grabbed me and asked me if I wanted one, so I said sure. He sat me down and gave me a fantastic shoulder massage. As a few of us were getting massaged, a large group of Chinese locals gathered round and started chatting animatedly about us. All I caught was the word “beautiful.” Then the old man kept patting my cheek and saying “Beautiful! Beautiful!” I guess maybe they don’t see that many super pale, blue-eyed American girls. J We had to kind of rush away because they wanted to give us leg massages, and we weren’t quite ready for that yet.

#5: I survived my first squatty potty. For some reason, this was a big deal for me. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but my thighs were killing me afterwards. Guess I need to do some squats for practice. J

There are a few things I’ve noticed about China that strike me as kind of funny. Overall I haven’t really experienced “culture shock” yet. While it is very different from America, it feels normal to be here. I do get stared at a lot, but it doesn’t bother me. There’s a sense of peace being here that I have never experienced before. I know that it is because I have a team of friends back home who are thinking of me often. And to those of you back home, thank you for that.

Just a couple random things I’ve noticed about China:

#1-there are lots of people. LOTS.

#2-there is no such thing as a line in China. I find this highly amusing.

#3-Traffic rules are basically nonexistent. And when walking around, the #1 rule is “don’t get hit.”

#4-People walk everywhere. My feet were killing me by the end of our day. Pretty sure I’m gonna lose weight this year.

#5-When someone honks at you, it means either “I’m coming” or “Get out of the way. Fast.”

#6-People go out of their way to help you. A few times we were unsure of where to go, so we asked some locals. They were extremely kind and gracious even if they didn’t understand us.

#7-Parking your car: park wherever you want. Even if it’s in the middle of the street. Lots of cars are also double parked. This cracks me up. 

If you made it through this post, I'm very surprised. Sorry it was so long. Will post more about Beijing later.