Friendship

My favorite moment that happened this week was with one of my co-teachers, Jenny. Just a quick note about Jenny-she's AWESOME! She's only a year older than me, and it's her first year teaching too, so we've bonded alot. And she's hilarious. At the beginning of the year, she asked me if I would help her with her English, and of course I told her yes. She said once it gets less busy after holiday, she would bring in topics and "phenomenon" (her word) for us to discuss in English. She also told me I had a "vivid personality." Never heard that one before. 

Anyway, back to the story. I came into the office after my last class on Thursday, and she asked me if I had class on Friday. I told her I only had class Friday morning, then I asked her if she had class on Friday. She said only in the morning and not afternoon. I kind of got this feeling that she wanted to know if I was doing anything Friday night, but because of Chinese indirect culture, she couldn't ask. So I went up to her and asked if she had plans Friday night. She said no with a funny grin on her face. I asked her if she would like to do something with me, and she almost jumped out of her chair in excitement and said "Oh YES! I would love this!" 

So yeah, Friday night we went out to a mall just to look around and hang out and talk. She told me alot of things about China and asked me alot of questions about America. It is her biggest dream to visit America, she says. She told me when she comes to America, she will find me. I told her she will always be welcome to come and stay with me. 

We nearly got hit several times crossing the street as we ran squealing and hanging on to each other for dear life. Just a note about crossing the street in China-there's only one rule: don't get hit. I made Jenny laugh because I started walking across the street even though the crosswalk sign wasn't green. "You have learned the Chinese way," she laughed. 

We had a blast wandering around the mall and just talking about all sorts of things. We compared notes on our college life and what teaching was like. 

We were in one store looking around when all of the sudden I heard a little Chinese voice yelling, "Meesa Lindsay! Meesa Lindsay!" I looked up to see one of my babies dragging her grandmother towards me. It was Kelsey from Class 3-she ran up and gave me a huge hug. I couldn't believe it! One of my kids recognized me outside of school!!!!!!! I was so excited, I was squealing. 

Jenny started conversing with the grandmother and then the mother who came up later. The grandmother started fussing at Kelsey, obviously telling her to say something to me in English. I asked Jenny what the grandmother wanted Kelsey to say, and she said, "She wants her to say I love you, but she is too shy." So I knelt down in front of Kelsey, smiled at her, and said, "I love you." She grinned for a moment, then replied in her sweet, angelic voice, "I love you." 

I about burst into tears right there in the store. She's my first baby to tell me "I love you."

Me and my beautiful Kelsey

We said goodbye to Kelsey, her grandmother, and her mom and continued our mall wandering and window-shopping. 

Oh yeah, and Jenny got hungry and took me to this little fast-food place in the mall. She ordered something for us to share, and when I looked at what she pointed to on the menu, it said "Octopus" in English and Chinese. My heart sank. (Note: I DO. NOT. EAT. SEAFOOD. EVER). What we got were these weird puff ball things with something very slimy inside of them. I ate one to be polite, and it was all I could do to keep from gagging. 

So yeah, I ate octopus. 

And I lived. 

Lindsay: 1 ... Gross Chinese food: 0

Fortunately we got ice cream afterwards, so that helped clear my mouth of the fishy taste. 

We talked alot about marriage and family. That's one thing I love about Chinese culture-they truly value the family. I think Americans could learn alot from the Chinese when it comes to valuing family. 

I'm so thankful for the good friends I have made here in China. Father has blessed me with an amazing team of friends. And now I have a new friend: Jenny, a wonderful, smart, sweet friend and co-worker. 

Me and Jenny 

Mouse and Booka

So this has been a very interesting week of teaching. Everything has gone topsy turvy. My naughty classes are now my angel classes, and my angel classes are now my naughty classes. Apparently this is what happens after a long holiday. Between the complete personality switch and the new uniforms, I'm utterly confused. 

This week the kids were learning about their abilities. The phrases they learned were "What can you do?" and "I can sing/dance/read/draw." The way they say dance cracks me up-it's the British way. The videos that the Chinese English teachers use were made by people with British accents, so the kids are learning how to speak English with a British accent. 

And then I come in to class. With my very American speech and mannerisms, and I completely throw them off. I say dance very differently from them, but they think it's hilarious. I tried to explain to them that in America (Mei guo) we say "I can dance." Not "I cahn dahnce." All I got was blank stares. And then I tried to get them to say dance the American way ... nope. So now everytime they say "I can dance," I feel like I'm in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice ... with my Chinese babies. It's ridiculous. 

Chinese kids also tend to add an "ah" on the end of any word ending with a hard consonant. So book is "booka" and read is "reada." No matter how hard I try to get them to say book and read, it still comes out "booka" and "reada." And don't even get me started on trying to teach them to say "mouth" instead of "mouse." The "th" sound is almost impossible for them. I even have them stick their tongues out between their teeth to say the "th" sound. It doesn't work. Mouth will forever be mouse. 

We had teacher observations/reviews this week. Which means my team leader came and watched me teach a class twice this week. She watched Class 7 .... and the first day she observed was AWFUL!!! I have no words to how bad it was. It was a combination of me being nervous and of my kids just completely misbehaving and not participating in the activities. It was the worst class I've had in China ... normally my kids are a little noisy but it's manageable ... not that day. It was chaos. 

And of course Class 1 (which I  taught right after Class 7) went perfectly. Go figure. 

Random side-note, class 5 isn't the only class that is now saying "Yes sir!" when I give a command. Three other classes have decided to follow suite. It's awesome. 

My babies drawing pictures of themselves singing, dancing, reading, or drawing

One of the best moments of this week was when I heard the new class song playing over the speakers. The kids are now learning to sing "I got no strings" from Pinnochio. I'm sitting in the office, and I start hearing Disney music, and I was like "What in the world?" Yeah, they're singing a song from Pinnochio. And my co-teachers told me I'm supposed to teach it to them. I was like "Um ..... ok?" I like the song, but the grammar in it is atrocious. So my kids are learning terrible grammar ... thanks Disney. 

I've discovered something ... Chinese kids are just like American kids. Granted there are some cultural differences, but I'm constantly amazed at how kid behavior is universal. I like to watch my kids in the hallway, interacting with each other. And even though I can't understand a thing they are saying, I can pick up on what's going on via body language and facial expressions. My kids laugh, they cry, they pout, they get angry, they scream, they fight, they hug, they smile, they frown, they play, they learn, they study, they race, they sing, and they love. 

Pat, Elaine, Shanae, and Katelyn visiting me in the office

That's one thing I'm always amazed at-how much love my kids have in their hearts, not just for me, but for each other. I watched with tears in my eyes as one little girl stood crying about something, and her little friends immediately swarmed her, comforting her, hugging her, wiping her tears. They walk down the hall to the bathroom holding hands or with their arms around each other's shoulders. It's the most precious, beautiful picture. 

This happened Thursday morning; about 18 little girls all swarmed into the office to say 'hi' to me.

This week in particular I've been very frustrated at the language barrier. I can tell my babies have so much they want to say to me and ask me. But they know I'm the stupid foreign teacher who only knows how to say "Ni hao," "Xie xie," and "Wu ting bu dong" (I don't understand). On Monday, Wilson came up to me after class, and I could see in his big, beautiful brown eyes that he had so much he wanted to say. He kept standing there saying forcefully, "Meesa Lindsay ... Meesa Lindsay." Almost crying, I told him, "I know baby. I know you have something very important to say, and I'm sorry I can't understand you." 

Although one redeeming thing about the language barrier is the kids roll their eyes at me when I say "wu ting bu dong." It's so stinking cute. I can tell in their minds they're thinking "stupid foreign teacher. She can't understand anything."

I had to say goodbye to my kids for the weekend on Friday. Their parents all came to get them, and it was the first time I got to watch my kids get picked up by their moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, etc. It was quite the event. 

My favorite moment happened when I went to say good-bye to class 4. Tanner (who by the way is named after Tanner Dean because the impish grin constantly on his face reminds me of Tanner) was in the classroom talking to his mom. I went up to say goodbye, and his mom immediately starts talking to me in Chinese. I was able to figure out she was asking me if I was his English teacher, to which I responded yes. Then she started pointing at Tanner and asking something in Chinese. My best guess was that she wanted to know if her son was behaving in class and if he was learning his English. I told her yes and gave him two thumbs up. She smiled and said something to her son, probably saying "good job" or something like that. I didn't have the heart to tell her he had gotten in trouble that day, and I certainly didn't want him getting in trouble with his rather fierce looking mother. 

My hilarious, cheeky Tanner

Uniforms

So one of the ways I would tell my kids apart was by what clothes they were wearing. In China people wear the same outfit several days in a row, so it was easy for me to remember which kid I was talking to by what outfit they had on that week. 

But then ... uniforms. My first graders got their uniforms this week. 

Pat, Sharon and Becca

Those blasted uniforms have messed up my system!!!! Granted the kids are so adorable in them, but that's no excuse! 

Me and Ashlin (right before she gave me a big kiss on the cheek)

And that brings up another point: Where is the individuality? Where is freedom of expression? I know China is a collectivist society, but seriously! I propose we get rid of the uniforms so these children can freely express their personalities through their clothing!

But that's not even the biggest issue.

HOW IN HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER WHO IS WHO NOW THAT THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME?!!!!!!! 

I honestly could care less about the whole freedom of expression junk-I was just saying that to make myself feel better and less self-absorbed. 

I even have twins in one class. Now I'll never be able to figure out which one is Toby and which one is Parker. 

Side note: I totally should've named the one twin Tony instead of Toby. Because then they would be named after my favorite point guard in the NBA. But alas, I'm not that smart. 

Back to the uniform thing: I'm severely annoyed by them. But my babies do look so stinkin' cute in their little blue and white track suits. 

Aubrey, Me, Ashlin, and Kelsey

Aren't my babies the cutest things ever?!

In other news, I got my first full body massage this week ... by a guy. Believe it or not, it wasn't as awkward as it sounds. And I discovered guys are much better at massages because they have stronger hands. My back feels fantastic! My favorite part of the whole experience was when he massaged my head. I almost fell asleep. The part where he massaged my gluteus maximus was a little strange, but I didn't feel violated or anything. But oh my word, when he got to my feet .... 

I'm extremely ticklish. And my feet are one of the worst places. So the dude drapes the cloth thing over my right foot and starts rubbing it. My whole body immediately tensed up, my foot curled, I started giggling uncontrollably, and it was all I could do to keep from kicking him, jumping off that table, and running out of the building. After 15 seconds of rubbing my foot, he stopped and moved on to my lower back and he never touched my feet again. 

See Mom, this is why I can't get a pedicure. And note to my future husband (if you even exist), I will never ask you for a foot rub because you'd lose all your teeth in about 30 seconds. 

And in other news, my kids are learning a new dance. During exercise time, they all go out and line up and dance. Their last dance was to some boring Chinese song. But the new dance .... it's to Psy's song "Gentleman."

IT'S AWESOME!!!!!! 

My co-teacher and I went out there and practiced it with them today. SO MUCH FUN!!! Videos will soon be coming.

Rockstars and Light

So this week was October Holiday. We had 9 days off because October 1 was National Day, which is basically the Chinese version of 4th of July. This day is celebrated as the day Mao founded the People's Republic of China, so it's kind of a big deal here. 

During our 9 days off, Anna and Chesney hopped on a train for 26 hours to Sichuan province. Craziness. Hailey, Sarah, and I stayed in Taiyuan to try and become more familiar with the city. 

Our first day out, we went to a park in the middle of the city. It was so cool! There was a lake, a ton of amusement rides, flowers, it was beautiful. And it was crazy crowded. My favorite thing I saw there was the double decker carousel. 

Double Decker Carousel

Lake at the Park

And we felt like rockstars. As we walked into the park, this group of teenage girls-at least I think they were teenagers-it's so hard for me to judge the age of Chinese people because they all look so dang young. Anyway, back to the story. As we walk into the park, these girls say hello to us. We turn and say hello back and wave-they freak out. Laughing quietly to ourselves, we keep walking and they follow us. They say hello again and we turn around and say hello back. More freaking out ensues. Then one of them has the courage to come up to me and asks to get her picture taken with me. I say yes, which inspires more freaking out and giggling. You would've thought we were One Direction or Justin Beiber. So yeah, here's me getting my picture taken with the one brave soul. 

Me and the cute Chinese girl

They then all wanted pictures with all of us. And yeah this happened multiple times this week. Almost everywhere we went we got lots of stares, pointing fingers, pictures taken, etc. Just standing at a bus stop, another group of teenage girls wanted our pictures. Craziness. My favorite episode of picture taking was when we went to one of the Buddhist temples in the center of town-we were just standing outside the temple and this old man just walks up with his smart phone and snaps a picture of us. We were all in shock-normally Chinese people try to be sneaky about their picture-taking, and when you catch them, they look really ashamed. Not this guy. And when we went to the south side of the city, oh my word. Pretty sure no one down there had seen foreigners up close before. So many stares-I thought we were going to cause an accident because so many people in cars and on bikes were turning around to look at us and didn't watch where they were going. 

So yeah, I felt like a rockstar wandering through Taiyuan this week. 

We went a couple of really interesting places. Our first day we just hopped on a bus to see where it took us-the more I travel around Taiyuan, the more I realize it's not as big as it seems. We went to that park I talked about, and we visited Chongshan temple and the twin Pagoda temples. We got "lost" trying to visit Jingci park, meaning we got about halfway there to the point where we were supposed to transfer buses, but couldn't find the bus we were supposed to get on. And Chinese people don't exactly give the best direction. So we gave up and just rode back into the city and messed around. 

We went to the Chongshan temple in the middle of the city. It's a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Mother Buddha with 10 thousand arms. Not gonna lie, it was strange going into a temple. We walk into one of the buildings and there right in front of us is a huge statue of Mother Buddha with all her arms, and there was incense burning, and pads where you knew people had been bowing down before the statue. And there were flower offerings and other statues all around with places where people could kneel and worship. I'd never seen an idol up close and personal like that before, and it overwhelmed me, just thinking about the bondage people here live in. 

As we walked around the temple and its courtyards, it was quiet-the most quiet I've ever experienced in China. It felt peaceful, but it was not peaceful. Only Father can provide true peace, not the statues. As I wept inside for the people, I looked up and saw the rays of the sun peaking out from behind the clouds, shining down on us. And that's when I remembered why I am here. I am here to be a light to the nations of Father's true love and peace. Looking at this picture of His light before me, I am hopeful that this nation will soon find the way, the truth, and the life. His light is shining down on China, and I am so blessed that I get to be a small part of that.  

Light of the World

And we went to the twin Pagodas in the middle of the city. They are each 13 levels, and were built in the early 1600s. We got to climb the west tower and look out at the city-it was AMAZING! Except for the part where my knees were sore because the stairs in that thing were so steep. 

The Pagodas!

Me at the Pagodas

Pagoda Gardens

I conquered the Pagoda

I live in a crazy city, a dirty, crowded, beautiful, amazing city. Every day I am here I fall more in love with this place-it's nothing that I ever would've imagined and it constantly surprises me. I never thought I would love a place like this-so dirty, strange, crazy, crowded. But I do. It's home for this year ... and who knows? Maybe some day I'll get to come back. 

City view from the Pagoda

Yes Sir

So something pretty hilarious happened the other day in class. Of course it happened in class 5. If anything ridiculous happens in my classes, it is almost always in class 5. Remember, they are my naughty class. Despite their naughtiness, they all have fantastic senses of humor and so I enjoy them very much. 

Anyway, to the story. We were practicing singing the "Five little monkeys song." We did so, and then I told the class to do something. And in response, one of my little girls, Janine, yells out "YES SIR!!"

I about fell over laughing, and so did my co-teacher. She said, "I swear I never teach them that." We've had several good laughs about it since. 

So yeah, never thought I would hear anyone call me sir. Well, it happened. I tried to correct her and said, "No yes sir. Yes ma'am." It didn't work. So apparently to class 5, I am sir. At least I got them to salute me when they say "Yes sir." 

Several other hilarious things happened in class this week. [Disclaimer: anything the students said was in Chinese and I either figured it out via hand motions or had my co-teacher translate]

In Class 3, we played hot potato so they could practice their vocabulary for that lesson. The song I played for the game was Gangnam Style. The moment the song came on, all the boys in my class immediately jumped to their feet and started doing the Gangnam Style dance. It completely disrupted the game.

BUT IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My co-teacher, however, was not too pleased. She came up to me and said, "Maybe you should play another song." So no more Gagnam Style. Sad face. 

So remember Josh? Well the kid continues to completely steal my heart. He has taken it upon himself to make sure I know when I'm supposed to come to Class 7 to teach. He told me so five times yesterday that I must come to Class 7 in 3rd period. And then, right before the end of class, he comes up to me, running his mouth in Chinese (as always). When it was obvious I didn't understand, he rolled his eyes, pointed to a kid at the back of the class, and made a tearing motion/sound. I got that part. So he led me back to the other kid and showed me that the kid had accidentally ripped his name card. It was a very slight rip, so trying hard not to laugh, I assured them both that it was ok. So yeah, Josh has assumed the role of class informer to me. It cracked me up how he made the tearing motion/sound. Guess he figured the stupid foreign teacher would at least understand that. 

Oh and I wore my hair down for the first time, since the weather was so nice and it didn't immediately turn into an afro when I stepped outside. Well, the girls found it fascinating. They all wanted to touch and smell my hair. It was a little weird. 

In Class 4, Stan lost his tooth. I was completely unaware of this fact and was blissfully moving on with the lesson when three little boys shot up out of their seats and rushed over to Stan, all talking in very concerned voices. The next think I know I have lost the entire class and they are shouting and talking excitedly. Stan held up his tooth in triumph. One very sweet little girl offered him a tissue to stop the blood. Seeing the concern my kids expressed for their comrade brought tears to my eyes. 

I still get mobbed every time I step out of the classroom/office. At one point I was trying to get to class, and about 12 little girls surrounded me and had me backed up against the wall. They were all hugging me and kissing me, and I couldn't move. One of my co-teachers had to yell at them to get off me so I could go to class. They all started whining but listened and let go. 

Shanae!!

I love my kids, my babies. They are the joy of my life right now. I'm sure y'all are so tired of hearing me say that, but it's the truth. I LOVE MY KIDS! I want to take them all home with me. ALL 288 OF THEM!!!! Not sure where I'd put them, but I could figure something out. 

My Babies!

My kids are teaching me a very important thing: unconditional love. No matter what I do or say, they still want to hold my hand, want to touch me, want to talk to me, want me to talk to them. They love me, even when I discipline them.

Remember Eli? Well, he's been in trouble alot lately, so he's had to stand in front of class for 2 minutes almost every time I teach. Even though I discipline him, he still loves me and always says "Hi" to me and wants me to talk to him. 

And Katelyn-Katelyn is the really naughty girl in class 5 who always mocks me. Even though I discipline her alot, I try to always praise her when she does something good. I go out of my way to make sure she knows she did well. And she loves me. The other day she ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and wouldn't let go. It almost made me cry. 

It's amazing to me that these kids love me even though we can hardly communicate and they only see me twice a week. While we were off for Mid Autumn Festival, they had class one day. And my co-teachers told me the kids were very sad because I was not there. They kept asking "Where's Meesa Lindsay? Where's Meesa Lindsay?" One co-teacher showed up in Class 4 during the time when I normally teach. The kids all looked at her and said "Why are you here? This is FOREIGN English class! Where is Meesa Lindsay?!"

Eli, Emmy, and Josh

I am amazed at the love these children show me-the unconditional love. And I'm amazed at my love for them. Y'all know how close I am with my family. Even though I don't always treat them well, I love them with all my heart and I would gladly lay down my life for them. And that's how I feel about my kids. I didn't think I could love anyone as much as I love my family, but I was wrong. These kids have completely stolen my heart. 

Ashlin!!

And when I think of my love for my kids, I realize Father loves me even more. He did lay down His life for me, wretched, twisted person I am. It brings tears to my eyes to think about it. He LOVES me with a love so deep I can't even begin to comprehend it. It is my hope that the love I show to my students is a reflection of His love for them and me. He is the reason I have so much love and joy in my heart, and I hope my students  and my co-teachers can see that. 

Me and Pat in the office

All Grown-Up

"We're big girls now!" my teammate Hailey exclaimed when we made it to Beijing on Friday. 

That's right, we're big girls. Hailey, Chesney, Anna, and I successfully planned and carried out a trip to Beijing for Mid Autumn Festival vacation. WITHOUT OUR TEAM LEADERS!!!!!!

Y'all are probably reading this thinking what's the big deal? It's a big deal because we did it ALL BY OURSELVES!!! It was our first venture away from the nest and security of our team leaders. And we didn't get lost or die! I did lose my wallet on the trip which has been the butt of many jokes now, but other than that fiasco nothing significantly bad happened. 

So what did we do in Beijing? LOTS. I was exhausted after our trip, but it was so worth it. 

We got to Beijing Friday around lunch time and we met up with our dearest Joy, our adopted Beijing teammate. After dumping all our gear at the hostel, we went to the Bird's Nest, which was where they held the 2008 summer Olympics. 

IT WAS EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the Olympics, particularly the summer Olympics. So getting to see the Bird's Nest was probably one of my favorite things we've done in China. And I'm a huge fan of Michael Phelps, and I got to see the Water Cube, where he made Olympic history in 2008. DAY MADE!

Me at the Bird's Nest!!!!

Me at the Water Cube!

We took lots of pictures, some serious, some silly. Actually mostly silly. So here's a few of them.

Me and Chesney trying to copy the statues

We asked this random foreign guy to take our pictures. He obviously was American, and he asked us where we were from. We responded, "America" and he said, in a "no duh" voice "I know that." Haha. We're so used to just saying America because most Chinese people have no idea where TN, AZ, or UT are. We felt a little stupid. 

Chinese people can sleep anywhere. And to prove my point:

Yeah. 

We found these sculptures of women running with torches, so we decided to take pictures in front of them. Hailey was the photographer. First we tried to copy the sculptures poses, which was an epic failure. Then we got a running start and Hailey tried to take pictures as we each got in front of our respective sculptures. Again, failure. But we got some hilarious pictures out of it.

Friday night we met up with Katie, Joy's team leader. We went to the fancy mall and ate dinner. And I had a salad. It was AMAZING! I hadn't had salad in forever. Then Katie took us to this little store that had a ton of imported food. 

I FOUND CHERRY COKE!!!!!!! IN CHINA!!!!! 

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE Cherry Coke. It's so bad for you, but it's so good. And I hadn't had any in a long time. 

And then Katie took us to Coldstone Creamery. That's right, you read that correctly. C-O-L-D-S-T-O-N-E C-R-E-A-M-E-R-Y. IN CHINA!!!! 

CHOCOLATE GOODNESS!!

So yeah, Friday was pretty awesome. 

On Saturday we met up with Joy again and went to Ikea. That's right, Ikea. I thought the Ikea's in America were huge and insane. The Chinese Ikea beats and American Ikea by a long shot. The insanity and hugeness of the place were almost overwhelming. After spending two hours in Ikea, I felt like I had run a marathon. The best part of Chinese Ikea is that people actually sleep in the beds. All of the beds looked very lived in. Remember how I said Chinese people can sleep anywhere? They do. 

I am so thankful for the amazing friends I have here in China, and I cannot imagine my life here without them. And I am so blessed that Father has provided these fantastic, encouraging women for such a time as this. It's astounding to me how so many different women with different personalities and interests can be such good friends. But that's the beauty of the bond we share as Father's daughters. There was so much laughter, silliness, and fun during our trip to Beijing-it will be one of my fondest memories of China. Thanks for Hailey, Anna, Chesney, Joy, and Katie for making it an awesome weekend!

Fie Woolly Monkeys

So my second week of teaching has ended! This week has been lots of fun but it's also been challenging.

I was told to teach the kids a song. I've spent all week teaching them the Five Little Monkeys song. They LOVE it. We dance to it too. Once they have the whole song down, I'll try to video it and post it for you guys. It's really funny listening to them sing it. Some of them get the words so wrong. Some of them sing "Fie woolly monkeys" instead of "Five little monkeys." Cracks me up. A few times I've even caught myself singing it that way. And don't get even me started on how they say jumping and bumped. It takes everything in my power not to die laughing every class period.

This week classroom management has been a little interesting. Class 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 are all perfect little angels. I have almost no trouble with them. Class 4 and 6 are a little rowdy but I can usually get them under control. It just takes time.

But class 5 ... oh class 5. They are my worst class. Only about a third of them actually pay attention. Even my Chinese co-teacher has given up on them. There's one girl in particular. She just does not listen. And she laughs at everything I say, mocking me. My Chinese co-teacher told me there is no controlling her. So I've got to get creative.

Despite the naughty ones, I have completely fallen in love with my kids. It took them a little while to warm up to me. They are finally starting to actually call me Miss Lindsay. It took two weeks but they've got it. And now every time I step out of my office, I am surrounded by them. I'll have like six or eight hugging and clinging to me as I try to walk down the hallway. Here are a few of my kids that like to swarm me.

This is Pat. She stops by my office at every break and stands by the door until I come out. And she loves to give hugs.

This is Ashlin. She's very smart and super sweet. Whenever she hugs me, she wraps her arms around my waist as far as she can and squeezes.

This is Becca. She likes to run right at me and almost knock me over with her hugs. Her pigtails are so cute.

And this is Shanae. I haven't quite gotten to know her yet, but she loves to come with the other three and always grabs my arm.

These two are Annie and Hannah. Today they almost made me cry because as I was walking down the road back to my apartment, they passed me and said "Hello Mees Lindsay!" THEY KNOW MY NAME!!! After two weeks of trying to get these kids to say my name, they finally did! Without me having to say it for them. They're very sweet and very smart.

And here are four of the boys that I love so dearly.

This is Eli. Named after Eli Manning. Don't judge me. He can be a little bit of a troublemaker. Yesterday I had to make him stand up in front of the class because he and another boy were fighting. Despite the fact that I punished him, he still loves me. He says Hello to me every time he sees me and he makes sure I say it back to him.

This is Wilson. He is SO smart. He has the Five Little Monkeys song down, and he usually says it correctly. And he was the first one to walk past me in the hallway and say "Hello Mees Lindsay!" Oh, the reason he has a sticker on his head is because for some odd reason the kids like to put their stickers on their forehead. I think it's adorable.

And this is Sheldon. Named after Sheldon Cooper from my favorite sitcom the Big Bang Theory. Again, don't judge me. He is scary smart. He gets what I teach faster than any of the other kids. And he's one of my best behaved boys.

And this is Josh. Josh has a very special place in my heart, and it's only been two weeks. He is an absolute delight, aside from being a bit of a troublemaker. He always raises his hand when I ask for volunteers to come to the front. And he makes sure that I say Hi to him in the hallway. And he always tries to talk to me in Chinese. It's hilarious.

So yeah, my kids are the best. I love them all, even when I can't remember their names. I'm getting better with their names. You would think that I would remember since I named them all. Nope. Still sorting out who is who. But they make all the hard things about China go away. Even when I'm having a bad day, when they smile at me and say "Hello Mees Lindsay!", all my worries and troubles are gone. They make it worth it. Every single one of them.