Hey Baby Hey Baby Hey.

Let me tell you a little bit about my babies. I've spent two weeks with them & I can't even express to you how much I love them. The thought of leaving them already breaks my heart. I can't even imagine how I am going to feel after another four months. They are not only the cutest & smartest things ever but they also love us to death. From day one I've had a child clinging to one of my arms. They love to snuggle & have your attention. Mostly they just love to be loved & so we do just that. Not only do we get to teach them in the mornings but we also get to come back and play with them for an hour or so in the afternoon. It's the best time. Let me introduce you to a  few of them... Also I swear they come out of the womb doing a peace sign or striking Kung Fu poses. Its simply the first thing they do when they see a camera. Enjoy!  

Catherine, Cindy & I. 

Leroy. 

Emily & Catherine. 

Our German babe Kevin. He is the only white kid in the school & such an angel. 

Oscar. 

Emily & Anna. 

Sam. 

Nathan's behind. He was wearing the funniest sweater one day. 

I really didn't intend to pick a favorite student but it happened. Meet my main man Tony. He is the sweetest boy in the world. He even made me a flower one day. We celebrated his sixth birthday on Friday. It was a delight!

Catherine. 

Emily. 

Adam. 

Daniel.

Emily, Tony & Jordan. 

Jacob. 

And if I haven't convinced you that they are the greatest yet, let me just tell you that they regularly do Kung Fu. 

Nanlang.

From the moment that I arrived in Nanlang I was absolutely in love. The busy streets and friendly people make for an amazing place to call home. Here are some things that I realized within the first few days. 

-Being a foreigner is insane. PEOPLE STARE & STARE & THEN STARE SOME MORE. You would think we are aliens or something. When we go anywhere every single person on the street, across the street, in their car or anywhere within a one mile radius is looking at us. Not only do they stare, they follow us and tell us how beautiful we are or say inappropriate things to us. 

-The weather over here is unreal. Much like California weather. Regardless of the amazing temperature the people wear winter coats? They think it's freezing. Our native coordinator once told us she was hot but didn't want to take off her coat in fear that she would get cold. Riddle me that? 

-They love to give gifts. This is one of the things that they gave me. 

-Everyone honks their horns here. If they change lanes, they honk. If they speed up, they honk. If they breathe, they honk. It's terrifying & quite frankly annoying. [Although I'm already getting used to it.]

-We live in a nice gated area and I was able to have my own room. Which is rare. I feel blessed! 

-This is a dirty, dirty country. There is trash everywhere.I'm constantly seeing people walk outside and throw their trash in the street.  The first thing I did when we got to our apartment was clean. I hope that doesn't make me high maintenance.  

-Red lights mean do whatever you want. I've almost been hit by a car more times than I can count. 

-Our school is absolutely darling. They even have itty bitty toilets for the kids. It wasn't long before it began to feel like home. 

-I'd say at least 90% of the people over here smoke. They also smoke wherever they want. It's not a rare thing to see a thirteen year old lighting one up in a restaurant or on a bus. 

-China is full of underwear ads. Its the weirdest thing. 

-There is this little Muslim noodle place down the road that quickly became my favorite. [They now know our orders] Their fried rice is my favorite. Puts Panda express to so much shame. 

-I think that places like the one pictured below are so beautiful & all the natives think I'm straight crazy. Last time I said I can't get over how lovely this is Anna [One of the Chinese teachers] said "Are you kidding me?"

-Ordering food is either a complete gamble or pointing to something someone else is eating that looks good. 

-I learned that people name their kids the weirdest of things. At my school we have a firecracker, source, tiger, stone, seven, gogo, miffy, hard, cookie, angle, & petter. 

-The police carry big guns but they also wear high heels. So I have a hard time taking any of them seriously. 

-Here are a few more random shots from around the city. 

So much more to come. Till then! 

Airports & Stuff.

Greetings my darlings! I am happy to announce that I am now living in China. Things have been nothing shy of unreal since I got here! For the sake of organization I will start by telling a little about my excursion over here. [Maddi if you are reading this you will notice that I copied and pasted some stuff from my email to you. It only seemed logical but I apologize for being redundant nonetheless.]

-Over 36  hours of straight traveling is hard on the body. But when I was been able to sleep it was wonderful.

-I love airports.

-My 13 hour flight ended up being pretty painless thanks to the AMAZING perks of Korean Airlines. The planes are so dang nice and massive. The flight attendants looked like the Beauxbatons from Harry Potter and they did nothing but feed us food the whole time. Also we each had our own TV. So I just watched a ton of movies, listened to Korean pop music, & played Tetris. I was also able to sit next to my friend Cinnamon [who has the coolest dreads in the world], so that helped too!

-The Korean city lights [at night] are the most amazing thing that I have ever seen in my life. They have legit light shows on some of the buildings. Everything there is so colorful and well lit.

-We stayed in the nicest hotel in Korea. They fed us like royalty & even had a couple of fancy Koreans perform for us while we ate. The shower and toilet were weird though.

-The airport in Seoul was crazy cool and apparently one of the biggest in the world. There was a full mall, movie theater and ice skating rink inside.

-They tried to give me wine on every flight. Although I kindly declined I kind of liked it because it made me feel old.

-Shortly after arriving in China we hoped on a bus. I literally thought we were going to die. They drive like mad men over here. I felt like we were constantly cheating death.

-We stopped a few times before we reached our city to drop other teachers off. At one of the stops we ate dinner & I was able to experience "peanut butter noodles" [that's just what I call them] for the first time. They are delicious! I also realized how poor I am at using chopsticks. I was only able to eat 1/4 of my meal as a result. I still have not been able to figure them out & I fear that I will starve if I don't get the hang of it soon. We joke that I should make a fork necklace so that I will have one with me at all times. If that doesn't scream foreigner I don't know what does.

 That's all for now.. peace playas!

Stranger Danger.

I was talking to my friend the other day about about her trip from Ogden to Provo on the Trax. She told me that all went well but as she sat there making her journey she couldn't get over the fact that no one was talking to each other. That everyone was just sitting there in their own world not paying any attention to anyone around them. This then brought on a conversation about how strange we are as humans. How odd it is that we will sit next to one another and not say a word. Regardless of the fact that we are all full of so much life and have so many stories that we could share. I saw this fun video shortly after & I couldn't help but relate it to what we had talked about. If only we could share conversations much like those in the ball pit every time we are placed in a situation that longs for a conversation. I started making an effort awhile ago to go out of my comfort zone in hopes to better understand other people. It usually happens at work or with the clerk who is checking me out at the grocery store. I've been teased for it and I've made a handful of people feel very uncomfortable but I will tell you what it has changed my life. People are cool and its always fun to find out why. 

Ten Random Things.

[One] I've been thinking about how grateful I am for glasses. As crazy as it sounds I don't know where I would be without them. I'm unsure how people did it back in the olden days. I sure don't think I would be able to function without them. Heck I can barely make it down the hall without corrective lenses on.

[Two] I finally made a perfect grilled cheese over an open fire. It's been a long time coming but I've finally mastered the art.

[Three] This song. I can't get enough of it.  

[Four] I found an old picture of my feet. The permanent dirt/tan line that forms from my Tevas in the summertime is something that makes me so happy. I was reminded that the winter will soon end & that is amazing. 

[Five] I once made a pact to never watch The Bachelor. Now it has become one of my favorite topics of conversation. What have I become? 

[Six] Climbing. It's all I ever want to do. I can't even sleep lately because I can't stop thinking about the hand holds of the technical climbs I've been working on. Is it bad that I'm a little bummed about going to China because I'm going to loose everything  I've worked so hard to gain when it comes to climbing? 

[Seven] My last day of work was yesterday. They spoiled me rotten. I was totally okay with everything until the guys from Subway [who I do deposits for] brought me my favorite cookies. Then I broke down. Fat girl problems. I spend more time with those people then I do with my family & friends. It was a hard day. 

[Eight] I'm convinced that running, climbing & yoga [with a  little bit of biking] are the perfect combination for fitness. 

[Nine] I'm addicted to chai fraps from The Coffee Pod. They might even have Jazzy's beat.

[Ten] I am one of the new record holders for wall sits at MACU. Holla! 

You Suddenly Complete Me.

Here are a few things that have happened in the last seven days.

-I went to the circus. I was on cloud nine the whole entire time.

-I RODE AN ELEPHANT!! It was even free because we managed to swindle the circus peeps. So sweet.

-I listened to nothing but the Yeah Yeah Yeah's old acoustic stuff.

-I made more origami.

-I found the time to go climbing on three different occasions. [Ignore me doing the most awkward stance ever.]

-I went up to Park City to check out the Sundance Film Festival and hung out with two of my best girls.

-Local Natives came out with their new album & it is pure gold.

-Missionary mail has become my favorite thing. This week I received some green gum, a chihuahua card that said "I've Been Thinkin Bout You" & five page letters. 

-I walked across Utah Lake and it was unbelievably beautiful.

-Jess & Nick finally kissed on New Girl. This is a big deal!!

-Mountain America gifted me seven tents & now I am going to start a tent village.

-I found out that Siri can still be worth my time.

-Rory made me another playlist. [Make me a good playlist & I will be your biggest fan. It's that simple]

-I found this cool video

Au Revoir.