PLEASE OBSERVE

So below is something that I reference a lot, so when you see it in my posts, you can laugh that much more with me :D Hahahaha. Just a friendly picture that Shelby and Marissa introduced me to. This is what Shelbs posted on Marissa’s facebook wall when she found out she couldn’t date in China. It’s pretty much a term you can just use for anything. And life is just that much funnier when everyone knows what you’re referencing. ;)

 

Also, please take a look at this lovely…pile. This, my friends, is after I swept my bedroom floor. Please note, this is only waiting 6 days. And that’s not just dirt because I’m careless, those are dust bunnies…snakes. Hahaha. So I don’t know if you know, but because pollution is so bad in china, you rarely see the sky here. I’m being completely honest when I tell you that I haven’t seen a blue sky in a really long time, and that’s not because of any clouds, the sky is just that gross. Would you like a picture in your mind? It’s so bad that people literally wear doctor masks when they walk around outside. WAT. Hahahaha. So this is how much dust accumulates on my floor after less than a week…yum. WELP! Guess that means I need to make my weekly clean….half weekly? If bi-weekly is every 2 weeks, and weekly is every week….what’s a cool word for every half week? Hmmmm.

Halloween Fun!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! So this week we were asked to dress up for two days, the 30^th and the 31^st. The first day I didn’t really know what to do. I thought about doing my zombie costume, but I was afraid I would scare the children (and I would have been sooo right….hahaha), so I went with the typical Steve Erkal look…the only problem was….nobody knows who steve erkal is….so they just kept saying I was “cute” and kept asking if I was Harry Potter….hahaha BUT it’s okay J I threw it together really fast the morning of, and it wasn’t too bad!

PANTS AND SHIRT: hand-me-downs. Courtesy of Monique Larkin

SUSPENDERS: ribbon. Courtesy of the school.

TIE: Shanghai market, a present for my brother (shhhh). $1.50

SOCKS: borrowed. Courtesy of Sabrina

SHOES: Supermarket. $8

GLASSES: foam and paper. Courtesy of the School.

BODY: God. Priceless.

Anyways, it was pretty successful. The next day, I had to be something different, so it was time to kick my creative juices into gear. I cannot tell you HOW I came up with this idea, because I honestly have no clue. But I wanted to be a princess! So I decided to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast! So I made a beautiful yellow dress….out of trash bags :D

It was great! The kids loved it, the parents loved, and so did all the teachers! I felt like I was at a tourist attraction, because people kept asking to take pictures of me. It was so funny to see people say“beautiful!” and then realize it was made out of trash bags and they immediately begin speaking in rapid Chinese getting really close scrutinizing the whole dress. And despite the 20+ 4 year olds that love to give me hugs all day, it stayed intact all 8 hours! I was pretty pumped at how well it turned out. AND! It’s super easy! It only took about an hour

DRESS: trash bags. Courtesy of the supermarket, $0.50

HAIR: yours truly JCourtesy of Google and Stephen (he would watch the YouTube tutorials and tell me what the girl was doing. And of course he was very helpful explaining how she could have made the video 10 minutes shorter by just giving a step by step instruction rather than showing how every step was made “if a man was making this movie….” Gotta love him J)

 

 

 

 

Any ways, we had a great week of Trick or treating between classes, halloween crafts, and of course lots of candy J Alltogether a very successful holiday!

Sunbeam meets Sun

A sunbeam. Most people think of a ray of light, but I think of a familiar primary song J Now of course I can’t teach that song to my kids, or I’ll risk getting sent home. SO! I changed the words, and it’s still they’re favorite song! J (Let’s all pretend we’re a sunbeam, and shine so bright each day. In every way let’s be happy, at home at work at play. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, let’s all pretend we’re a sunbeam. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, I’ll be a sunbeam today). A sun beam is just a small portion of a great light source; one that can warm the entire earth and provide nutrients for numberless life forms. A sunbeam is like an example of the sun. Since you can’t handle the full sun, you get to experience just a small portion that can warm your skin…or your heart! 

                 That brings me to my next point. I think I’ve been a rather dull sunbeam lately. When I came to China, I had expectations, and I have come to a novel conclusion (at least I think its novel haha).

If you spend all your time trying to make your situation match your expectation, you unavoidably prevent reality from influencing you positively, therefore robbing yourself of a situation that would surpass your expectations.

                The story behind it: Here I am, in freaking China, and all I can seem to get done is minimal because I keep trying to make my experience here what I expected it to be. I expected a third world experience, with dirt floors, walking a mile or two to school every day, and poor children starving for knowledge. Instead I live in a city, much like Seattle. They have AC, and life is normal. My children are 50million times more rich than my family (and that’s ALMOST not an exaggeration….), and I walk 8 minutes to get to school. I have a supermarket that’s like a walmart right down the road with everything I need, and I’m now a master at taxis and the subway. I am so busy, I haven’t seen much of China, and I keep trying to force myself to go without things so it will be more like what I imagined. 

                WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?!?! The world grew up and I stayed naïve….hahaha.

I have an amazing ward, and the sisters need to go back to the states and teach everyone how it’s done. I realized I need to be more proactive in accepting the modern changes that China has undergone, and start learning how to be better at taking advantage of opportunities. I keep beating myself up because I haven’t traveled very much, and I stay at home on weekends….but then I realize I never have an empty moment when I stay home. I’m always working on something, or attending ward activities, or helping someone. THAT’S OKAY! Yeah I still want to travel, and I have every intention of doing so, but beating myself up over not getting the experience I expected is…..preventing me from getting an experience worth getting! I have travel plans, yes. I have cooking plans, yes! (I’ve learned how to create some of the AMAZING vegetable dishes here!). And I have a new plan to delve myself into the language. I know enough to get me around, but I want to actually learn it. 

                My real goal is to enjoy what I have, and take advantage of what’s here. Everything is modern, so it’s really hard to really experience the culture like I wanted to, but I’m going to try, and enjoy what I get to. Time to be a brighter sunbeam J

Trunk or Treat!

So Halloween is almost here!! And this last weekend was the ward’s trunk-or-treat event. It was loads of fun, and the costumes people came up with were priceless!!! We all met at a giant golf course. They had a bunch of different “booths” set up. There was a cake walk, cookie decorating, bowling, water bottle “horse shoeing”, dancing, face painting, it was a blast! Seeing as how there are no Halloween places around here (most people in the ward had theirs taylor made because it’s so cheap here. So I took an ugly shirt and ugly skirt that someone gave me, wripped them, burned parts of them, and speared red lipstick and black eye shadow all over them. Then I did the same to my face, and vwala! I’m a zombie J Here are some fun pictures J

Cousins! Happy visit :)

This weekend Cousing Scotty and his wife Kailey (pronounced Kiley) came and visited me!!! Oh it was a blast and much needed! :D Friday after school I got on a motorbike taxi to the subway and took a train to the railway station to pick them up! They were 4 other people from their program.

Scott and Kailey knew this amazing Italian restaurant that was authentic and super cheap! So we headed there and had some AMAZING food J And of course I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera, so I didn’t get a picture.

After dinner we helped the other 4 people get to their hostel, and then we headed to my place! I filled Scott and Kailey in on all my crazy news with missions and marriage and they were excited for both.

We got back to my apartment and showered and FINALLY went to sleep around 1 J

Please examine this beautiful felt crock. Yes I said it, felt.

The next day Scott and Kailey slept in, and I got up early to go grocery shopping. I came back with breakfast and a surprise for later. By the time we had a plan, were dressed, and ready to go, it was about 11, so we stopped at a German bakery so Scott and Kailey could try their amazing sandwhiches!!!! (that’s pretty hard to come by here ;D) Then we hopped on a bus to head for the subway. When we got on the subway we headed to The Science and Technology stop to do lots of Christmas Shopping! Except it was then that I realized I didn’t know much of what anyone needed…..so I got stuff for me J Hahaha. I got a great winter dress coat (It’ll be great for the mission) as well as a good jacket (it’s starting to get cold here…and I don’t have one). You should also note that it’s a $100 Northface, and I bartered it for $20….and got it :D I got some cute really good polarized sunglasses for $6, and brand new large, sturdy, and durable suitcase (because I’m gonna need another one to bring stuff home) for $28, and a cute vintage mini suitcase for my photoshoots! I also got a bunch of things for my dad/brothers/boyfriend, and a few things for my sisters. All in all, it was a very successful shopping day!

We were going to go to an acrobat show that night, but all the cheap tickets were sold out L So, as we were exhausted from walking around ALL day, we headed home and finished the night with showers and a movie! Okay so the movie didn’t work…..but it was a relaxing thought! Haha. I skyped my parents to go over mission stuff, and then we went to bed.

Probably my favorite part of our time together were the pillow talks. When the lights were out and we were all snuggled in our beds just talking across the room to each other. I absolutely loved it, and it’s something I’ll treasure J I’m a nerd like that. Hahaha.

The next day was Sunday so we got ready to go and then one of my visiting teachers gave us a ride. It was the first time Scott and Kailey had had the opportunity to go to church since they got here, and they were sooo happy. Plus! The secretary in the Relief Society is from Argentina, and that’s where Scott served his mission, so they got to reminisce. She was so happy to have someone who talked her same espanol, and Scott was so happy to know he still had it ;) after we headed back with the Branch President’s wife, helped her get to a dinner thing, and went home and watched a movie.

We talked more, and then it was time for them to leave  to catch their train L But it was a wonderful weekend!!

Mission/Marriage Update

So I met with my Branch president, and it was great! We had a verrry long conversation about Stephen, marriage, missions, schooling, and all that good stuff. He gave very wise council as a realist (his motto is hope for the best but prepare for the worst). He read to me from the Bishop Handbook that if women are in a position to get married they should. But he also told me a story of an experience he had in which the moral of the story was, sometimes the Lord wants you to choose a specific decision that might not work out, so you can know for sure that the former was the right one. In addition, he said that they’re in great need of more missionaries, and I would make a great one, and I would never regret it. He also said it might be ideal for Stephen as well, to get more schooling out of the way (provided he’s still around). He made a point that he would not sway me either way, and that it definitely had to be my decision. I filled him in on how I viewed things.

I told him how I had felt the Lord confirm that both getting married to Stephen and going on a mission are both worthy experiences and that it was up to me to decide. I told him that since the Lord had already confirmed that marrying Stephen was a righteous decision, he would not tell me not to marry him, but if I chose to go on a mission, if he wanted me elsewhere, he would tell me. I also said that I felt it was too soon to back out because I know I would regret not knowing if I should have gone or not. Plus I WANT to serve! So badly! We decided (meaning I decided and he said it was a good idea) to continue with the process and submit my papers.
President Larkin had a similar experience with his wife to me and Stephen (like almost identical) and he said that things change when you’re in person. It either is confirmed that it’s definitely right, or it’s not, definitely not. I may go home and see Stephen and it doesn’t work at all, so I’ll continue with my mission. I may go home and see Stephen and it works out great, and I still decide to continue. Or I may go home and meet Stephen and decide that’s where I want to be, and that’s where I want to stay. With any of those possibilities I’m covering all my bases. I’m registering for classes in November (you can’t submit a missionary deferment until you have your call, and your report date has to be before the end of that semester date). But if I end up following through with a mission, then I can easily defer the next 18 months. When I register for school, I’m going to register for all online classes in case I do decide to stay home. I can look into the institute in Bellevue and get some roommates, a job, and do my schooling from there so we can be in the same city.
So what am I doing? I’m filling out my papers, seeing physicinas, going to the dentist, getting a picture taken, all the while getting a wedding dress made and buying bridesmaid dress fabric. Let me tell you, I have to be on two separate tracks to function….hahaha, but for right now, I’m just going to live in the now, and let the future take care of itself J

Snot-nosed Tykes and their Loving Parents

Yes in the literal meaning of the phrase….it’s cold season!!! And my lovely children, who have successfully deflected any means of sanitization, blowing their noses on something other than their hands, WASHING their hands, and covering their mouth, have graciously passed their delicious germs onto me, their loving teacher. We have a very close relationship you see…..

Hahaha but thankfully I’m doing well! I got a priesthood blessing last Sunday for my infection, and they threw in a nice piece for my cold :) That and my added amounts of sleep and eating oranges every day (AND THE SAVING REALIZATION THAT I HAD PACKED NASAL SPRAY), life has been a whole lot less miserable :)

**Side note super-fast!!! So things with my roommate have been going very well! If you didn’t hear,  the school rehired her, so I got to keep her :)She has come to church with me every time I’ve invited her, AND Last Saturday night, I needed to catch up on the afternoon session of conference that I had missed, she came in and asked if she could watch it with me! So of course I plugged in the ihome for a more in-your-face not-so-surround surround sound, and brought out the cookies! Hahaha. I invited her to come with me the next day to watch Sunday conference with the YSA’s (it may or may not have been the food in between sessions that lured her, but hey!), and she even brought a notebook and took notes!..you know…when she wasn’t dozing off ;) Hahaha. It’s been going very good though :)

ANYWAYS!(sorry, that was connected in my head, I promise). Back to what I was talking about :) So funny story about being sick:

I was walking down the hall, trailing my kids, when Phyllis, the western teacher coordinator, stopped me. She pointed to my water bottle and asked what it was for. I lifted it up and said, ‘oh, yeah, I’ve got a cold, so I’m drinking lots of water’. Apparently carrying around a water bottle is against the rules, and I quote: “this not allowed. If parents see you with water bottle they think, OH! Western teacher only think about themselves! Only take care of themselves and no one else, this not good. But I see you are clever! You use THIS kind of water bottle (you know, the recyclable ones you buy in a vending machine but twice the size) because parents not know who iss for. I think you are clever. Take care of health!” And she was on her way. This school cracks me up, let me tell ya.

 

ALSO the parents are a bit different too! At first, they seem like your typical parent who only has one child, so they see to their every needs, but when they come to pick them up, the school literally turns into a zoo....okay not literally, but I wanted emphasis....haha

 They put up a bar to block parents from coming in. Look at the picture. 1^st of all, notice the lovely Halloween Decorations I’ve put up J yes that is the Western Teacher’s handy work! 2^nd, that is the BEGINNING of what is to come. And that’s also 30 minutes before school gets out. They hoard by this rope until it’s lifted and then the RUN, I’m not kidding you. We actually have to lock our door to our classroom until it’s time for the kids to come home. At about 10 till, there are about 25 parents trying to press their noses on this tiny little window to see in, and then when it’s time to open the door, I turn the handle real quick and jump out of the way so I’m not stampeded. It’s great fun ;)