Wednesday, December 30, 2009

things that defined my time in china


trying to capture everything through pictures
waking up to the sound of a crane
sleeping on wood
cheap fruit
watching chick flicks with the girls :)
in-service meetings
tucking in the children
reading ksl.com
brushing my teeth with bottled water
dropping garbage in the 'rubbish house'
chairman mao
babies in spilt bottom pants
watching e.t. on halloween
humidity
the smell of stinky tofu
hearing my feet step 70 steps up to my dorm and 90 up to the computer lab
skype
watching all of my belongings gradually get dirty and dirtier
pollution
missing my family
attempting to speak some chinese
$5 massages
eating chow mein off the street
trains
learning the chinese hand signs for numbers
HUGE teddy bears
squatting to answer nature's calls
Shanghai
being with Abigail Barth each hour of the day :)
chopsticks
rice
rice
rice
going to church in a hotel
hang drying every piece of clothing
QQ
waking up to a cock crowing
KTV karioke
getting stared at EVERYWHERE we went
ni hao
hearing lots of honking
appreaciating simple things
letting go of germ consciousness
MSG
the Yellow Mountains
hard boiled eggs
"teacher whats eats?"
hearing loogis haucked left and right from people of all shapes and sizes
linda (foreign affairs coordinator)
dumplings
1 yuan bus trips
looking for a mcdonalds to use a restroom
being excited to see my students after a weekend
carrying t.p. in my purse
taking a train everywhere
seeing factories more often than not
sleeping with hot water bottles to keep warm
E.L.E.
getting my temperature checked everytime I entered qing ying
having thumb wars with the kids
Yangshuo
using a wristwatch
buying $1 movies
referring to the lonely planet quite frequently
savoring quaker oatmel
getting oh so excited over an email
wearing the same outfit for 3 days without changing (sleeping included. gross, i know)
sleeping on the fast train
seeing kids on rip sticks
constantly checking my purse to see my wallet sitting there
chicken feet
my china airlines blanket
bartering for everything
walking
muslim noodles
being on a chinese gameshow
sending postcards
unrefridgerated raw meat
hostels
microwave popcorn
trips to tesco
never seeing carpet
the great wall of china
staying the night at random mormon's homes
learning to be patient
packing and re-packing
sweet potatoes
having our pictures taken every day
bank of china
chinese pizza
teasing the school guards
weighing our baggage over and over and over and over
being called "teacher"
learning that i love hot bananas
feeling that a toilet seat was a luxury
leaving things behind
hacking into websites
eating in 'that alley' after church
never seeing a person pulled over
qq fruit snacks
wishing i could pull off a face mask

china was wonderful :)


Sunday, December 27, 2009

Lately.


Well. Got home from China. It was hard to say goodbye to the kids and leave what I had begun to believe was my life forever, but I am so happy to be home. After four flights, a bus ride, four security checks, and a car ride, I was home in 38 hours and ready to crash. I was exhausted and so tired, but jet lag is funny. Even after getting hardly any sleep my eyes were wide awake til 4:30 that first night. It gets a little better each day.

Christmas was just what I was looking forward to. Home-made food, snow, and lots of time with family.

Next thing on my list: wisdom teeth extractions. Yikes.


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