Chinese Paintings!

Wednesday

5- 15- 13

I woke up today pretty early and decided to head down to breakfast which was a brilliant idea since they were serving scones! I love scones! I got a few and headed back to my room so I could put some honey on them and heat them up. Oh man were they a pleasant surprise! They are so yummy even in China!

I got ready and headed to the gate to meet Lilly. We headed off to our school and got there just in time for classes to start. This school is still one of my favorites. The kids are really smart and catching on but today they were a little crazy! There are so many kids that I love in so many different ways. I pulled out my camera to get some videos of them because they are so cute and I know that I am going to miss them like no one’s business when I leave.

Lunch was alright; we fell back on the green beans and peanuts to fill us up and then headed out so we could make it to in-service on time.

We got to in-service and had a meeting about how we need to start organizing and doing inventory on everything. The signs of the last few weeks of the semester... AH! The head teachers have been pretty awesome this whole trip. They have had to work out some pretty heavy snags and deal with some over bearing people but it has worn on them and they have become pretty negative about being here in China which makes it hard for me to want to hang out with them. I still love it here. I love the friends I have made and the things I have been learning! I still want to love it here and I don't want to catch the negativity flowing from them and the other people who are ready to go home. We got cleaning assignments and got dismissed.

I was working on something’s for lessons etc. while I was waiting for a response from Lee about whether or not we can practice today. I got the message that we will practice so I asked him what time. I set my phone on my bed for maybe 2 seconds when I got the message “NOW” oh man! I jumped up and shut my computer running around to get changed into my uniform. Sam was lying on her bed watching this whole thing and couldn't help but laugh. As I was spinning in circles trying to get ready as fast as possible, she was telling me how funny it is that he says “jump” and I say “how high?”. I never really thought about it but. She is totally right. But what would you do if you had the chance to be taught by such a talented teacher?

I practiced and practiced. I finally got a good portion of my form down and just need to smooth out the edges and transitions but I am really missing Mr. Maxfield right now. I will forever and always consider him my forms coach. I do my form looking in the mirror and try my hardest to imagine what he would do so I can try to fix things and make it look the best that it can be but I am having a major struggle with watching my self and trying to spin and see if I look like I’m doing it right... struggles of having a teacher that doesn't speak your language.

My class is usually before the 1st graders come in and during their class I stay in the corner and try to be the least distracting as possible. I saw a little girl walk up to Lee and then walked over to the shoes and was struggling to open the door, I helped her get it open and saw her standing outside the class through the windows for a little bit and thought it was weird but didn't think much more about it. I kept practicing as Lee took his class back and I did my own thing, hitting myself in the face and/or knees etc. until the older class came in and told me class was going to be out on the track. I grabbed my shoes and headed down with one of the students names Tina, I looked over to my right in front of the windows as we were walking out of the room to find a poop pie on the ground.... no she didn't... Tina saw it and that caused a domino effect. Before I knew it we were crouched over laughing. There was a pile of poo in the middle of the cement! We cautiously headed down to the track to practice until Lee came. He came down and must have seen it himself after pointing up to the Kungfu room and laughing harder than I have ever seen before which Is really hard considering how many times I have done something stupid while trying to learn the techniques he was teaching me. I just can't believe it that would never happen in America! Who just goes outside their class and poops on the cement and then just comes back into class?! Chinese Children do, that’s who!

After Kungfu, I had a little extra time to head to dinner but was all for not because it was worse than yesterday’s dinner! It was some nasty fish soup . I still hate fish, just in case anyone was wondering.

I pulled out my handy dandy power bar on the way to Calligraphy and met Candice outside her room. I practiced my Flowers and when I passed off my first two, Candice let me learn how to make the leaves. It,s so funny how Chinese painting works. In America, everything is painted how it is seen exactly. But with these paintings, I have to work on the general shape and position my brush by the amount of water and color I need in each stroke. Luckily for me, the flowers were the hardest part and after paining about 50 or so clusters of leafs I got the general idea down. Naome came in and helped me by fixing my strokes which did the trick and I figured I might as well try to paint the rest of my flowers... I took a deep breath and went for it. Candice helped me do the first cluster and then made me take the leap and potentially ruin my painting with some gimpy leafs. I did my first group and then the second and before I knew it, I couldn't remember why I was possibly scared to paint silly leafs! It took me longer than it should have but I was very excited when I finished my leaves. That was until Candice looked over and gasped... ah man! What did I do?? Candice? My heart sunk and I was so nervous! She looked at me and back at my painting that I thought was decent enough to not gasp over. Candice, this is my first one! Tell me what’s wrong! Candice finally calmed my nerves when she said, “you scare me, your improve is so high so fast!” PHEW! Don't do that to me! I finished my leafs and worked on the stems and my buds until my painting was finally finished! Naome and Candice discussed my painting in Chinese, pointing to this and that for a while as I started to progressively grow less sure of myself as the conversation went on. Finally, Candice told me that everything was great, but the painting was a little unbalanced so I needed to add some Bee's. Wait a min, I have to paint bugs now? Well, here goes nothing! I practiced two bees on the scratch paper and then just decided to wing it. The Bee's later and writing my Chinese name on the side, my first Chinese painting is now finished! I really enjoyed painting the picture and I am really excited to paint some more! Candice said that she has some meetings tomorrow so she can't do calligraphy so I

have  the night off but I am excited to keep practicing.

I headed up to my room and walked into a dark room with a sleeping roommate. It was only 9:30 so I tip toed around and tried to clean up but felt like I was making too much noise so I just turned out the lights a little early. I can't complain with getting a few extra min of sleep!

Full Time Student

Tuesday 5-14-13

Today was a good day at Dani Kindergarten. We got to the school and headed up to teach our lessons. I brought colored paper to put on the floor to mark where the kids should sit and did my best to introduce

Musical Chairs. I don't think I got nearly any language in and can't wait for next week when I can go back to teaching drama. This school has great kids and fun teachers but lets face it, the highlight is definitely the food. Every morning Zoe, the teacher who can speak English, asks us what we want to eat for lunch and every day we get what we asked for! Today we got pork ribs and potatoes with our purple bean rice. MMMMM!! it was so good! I think it has to do with the fact that the cook cooks for two people and it’s not the general cafeteria food but either way, Rachelle and I love it.

Rachelle and I got back to the school as lunch was ending at Daguanghua, we saw Candice walking up to her room so we ran over to her and talked to her about extra calligraphy/ painting classes. She told me that I could come tonight at 6:00 which is perfect because I usually get done with kungfu around 5:45! I told her I would be there and ran up the steps to my room.

I made it upstairs and messaged Lee to confirm my 2:00 class. As I was waiting for his reply, I was cleaning my room up and trying to get ready for the transition between calligraphy and kungfu as well as tomorrows classes. During this process, I lost my water bottle... what the heck is wrong with me?! I am losing my mind over here, after 10 solid min walking up and down the hall with no real purpose because I knew that it was in my room somewhere, I realized that I had put it in the fridge... come on Dell, really? Whatever, who needs a brain anyways? I had about 5 min to lie down and then it was off to Kungfu practice!  

I wore my new uniform today and not gonna lie, I felt pretty cool :) but how could you not in such a legit uniform??

Practice went well! I learned a new technique that I call thumb spin since I have to make up the names to all of the techniques I learn so that I can sort them all out in my head. 3 hours went by, and I got my routine welts and bumps, but it’s all for a good cause... right? Haha

I headed to dinner to find out it was nasty and spent the next 10min of my “break” fishing out the pieces of corn out of the chunks of mystery meat and peas.. or I think that’s what they are. I ran out of time but more so just ran out of motivation and headed up to the Calligraphy room. It’s a good thing I grabbed a power bar on my way out because I was definitely still hungry.

I snacked on my power bar in the hallway outside Candice’s room until she and Penny showed up. Penny and Candice are both Chinese teachers here but attached at the hip. I always see them with each other. Rachelle has been taking Chinese classes from them so she came up and tried Calligraphy for a little bit but wasn't digging it so she just practiced her Chinese while I worked on my flowers and learning how to paint. Candice's sister came a little later and told me she has an English name now which is, Naome. Naome saw how I was struggling with the pedals of my flowers and told me that the flower that I was trying to do wasn't matching the stroke style that I have. I didn't even know I had a stroke style so you can imagine how well I did that smile and nod.

She opened her book and pointed to a flower and painted the flower step by step. I watched in awe at how easy she made it look. After she finished what looked like a master piece to me, she gave me the paper and let me free. I tried... and I really tried. If you saw my first attempt you never would have guessed it was supposed to be a flower. I took a deep breath and got a new paper, I got some ink and started painting away. The second flower amazingly came together stroke by stroke which gave me motivation for the third flower which turned out even better! This whole time Naome is pulling out this great work with flowers and leaves and the whole thing, but I was proud of myself. By the time I got those flowers painted, it was late and I was trying to keep my eyelids open. We cleaned up and headed back to our rooms.

When I got to my room Sam was all ready for bed so I had to tip toe but I got ready and made growling tummy some oatmeal. After 3 hours of Kungfu and 2 more of Calligraphy my brain is tired and my body is drained. I had an awesome day today but I’m ready to get to bed!

Picture Day!

Picture Day!

Monday 5- 12 – 13

Today was a pretty fun day! I got up and met everyone on the bus. I was a little later today because I remembered this morning that it was picture day and that’s just what happens on picture day! I don’t have a curling iron or blow dryer here so there wasn't much to do about the hair but I put make up. Once I took a step back to take a look at the finished product, had to play the reflection dance in the mirror. I didn't recognize myself! Thats going to be fun, going back to America and thinking I look great, looking like myself! I guess being here in China has helped all us girls lose sight of the unnecessary things in life, blow dryers, straighteners, makeup, plumbing, consistent hot water and full closets of cute clothes. I wonder if I will forget how minute these things are when I go back to America. I hope that I can keep the same perspective on life that I have developed now. “Whatever, it’s just a shirt no big deal if it gets dirty.” “Eh, shower fast and warm up after.” “Close your eyes and just chew, don't think too hard about it.”

I hurried down the steps in my sun dress and sweater and started to sweat. Am I really in Weihai? Its borderline hot! I hopped onto the bus and joined the crew. After about 5min I started to feel the back, sweats and any sort of sweat area you can imagine. We tried our hardest to get the windows to open to no avail. Whatever, we just had to deal with it. It wasn't so bad when we were driving down a road not directly in the sun but when we were, that bus was a hot box. We were enjoying the bus ride in our tiny seats laughing and joking when a song came on the bus and we heard all the little voices singing along to the song. It melted my heart. They are so cute!! Sometimes I have to remind myself that my students aren't at the same level as the students in Daguanghua and it’s not because of my teaching or their lack of intelligence. My kids are still learning how to speak Chinese for heaven’s sake! I wish I could see them more than just once a week, I bet that would help a ton.

We pulled up to Charlie's stop as he looked in the window at me, the big toothy grin crept on his face as he ran onto the bus and abandoned his dad on the side of the curb. He came right over and snuggled right up to me as we both waved back to his dad. Charlie felt like I did today, we had our runny noses and just had to deal with it only Charlie took the more convenient approach to the problem by wiping his arm across his nose leaving a nice long trail of snot on his sleeve. Man, I should a worn long sleeves! Any other kid would have done that, and I would be gagging. But with Charlie, I just had to roll my eyes and hope it didn't get on me. I know that whenever I am feeling under the weather my mom wouldn't care how crappy I was feeling or gross I looked, she always cuddled up with me and I bet all Charlie wanted was some loving. Yeah, I think I know why I have been sick 89% of the time I have been here but, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger right? I have no clue why, but these little boys are the ones that get me. They are so cute and so funny. If you haven't noticed already, I have grown very fond of this bugary bug named Charlie.

We got to the school and ate our yummy breakfast. We headed into the school and I went up the stairs waiting for my class. Today we are going to attempt musical

  

chairs. My SPE is Gym this week which is really hard to get language out with because the kids go so wild and don't want to speak they just want to play, but who can blame them? I sat up in my room for about 15min with no signs of life. I came back down and Rachelle told me that Equal wants to take pictures soon. oh. Well that’s cool. So we just sat there and talked. Susan came with us today to evaluate us but it looks like that isn't going to be happening!

We got summoned outside about 30min later and found ourselves standing in front of the school with a photographer and each of our classes, a sea of grey as they were all wearing the school's new uniform. Rachelle and I have two students who do not look Chinese. Austin and Matt. Austin is older and Matt is in our baby group.

  The first week we noticed that he didn't look very Chinese, but after the second week we noticed a red dot in the middle of his eyebrows. After my Humanities 1100 class in high school required me to do a 15min presentation on Hinduism and customs of the religion, I recognized that mark right away. Austin and Matt are definitely not Chinese, they are Indian. When we walked outside,

we were greeted by their parents. Their father and mother started talking to us and after they figured out that Rachelle and I were their son's teachers, they insisted on pictures with the family. I’m not surprised that Austin's parents speak English by how well Austin picks up on things. I couldn't tell with Matt because he hasn't even mastered his first language whatever it might be, although it’s most likely going to be Chinese.  

We took pictures with our classes and had one more left when I saw my stud of a bug Charlie walking over. Oh my gosh he is so cute! The class was all lined up for pictures and I took the liberty to go kneel down on the edge by my favorite bug. Charlie didn't seem to mind as he took my hand and leaned right into me like we were on the bus. He gave me a hug as they walked away

  

Equal, again, went above and beyond and gave us all the uniforms that the teachers and students were wearing! They are grey with stripes of green and white checkered pattern on the side of the arm and leg and of course, accompanied by the school logo.

We were sweating up a storm by then from being outside and taking pictures so we went back inside to have enough time to teach our last class which is our babies! I walked over to their room and the teacher lead me over so I could change into my sweats and teach! Rachelle followed and joined in while we were singing our songs. I pulled out the balls that were in my back pack that I was going to use as non-items for my lesson and taught them “Ball” and would only give it to them if they said it. Then we taught them “give me”. After a while the difficulty was heightened and our babies were saying “give me the ball” that class is so fun. The Chinese teachers are so nice and we just laugh at some of our little ones when they do something crazy like chuck the ball and hit themselves in the head.  

After we taught we waited for lunch in the “religion room” (the room that had a Jesus picture on it)

There are a bunch of computers there so we tried to hop on and found that the internet was good enough to chat on Gmail! I got to chat with Sister Paris for a little bit before, like always, the internet went wacky and it kicked me off.  

We wandered to the lunch room and ate our yummy food. Equal drove us home and we trucked up the stairs sweating like crazy. I asked Lee on QQ what time we should meet today. I got the quickest response saying 2:30. oh snap that’s in 20min. I wasn't able to practice this week with all my home visits and then feeling bleh on Sunday so I was going to hurry and try to practice before I went down to take class. I picked up my bag with a gut wrenching feeling when I felt how light it was.. shoot, they aren't in there! Where are my nanchaku?! Ah come on! Where did they go?! I looked everywhere; I searched frantically to come up with nothing.  

Sam said she hadn't seen them and I had no other place to look so I had to QQ Lee.. I told him to not be mad but I can't find my nanchaku... he didn't seem mad in the slightest when he told me that he found them in the classroom. PHEW!! I told him thank you and he replied by telling me that we were going to learn more actions today. I said I was excited and that I would be there soon! Right before I left, he told me that the conversation on QQ was all him and no Translation! What?! I remember the first time we met, he couldn't even say that he was the teacher! I was super excited that he was able to communicate so well!

I ran down to class and met Lee he pulled out my new uniform which made my day.  I now have a uniform from China and Korea. Im too legit to quit … jokes. Lee told me that he was looking at computer and learn new actions. Sweet! Lets go youtube! He taught me a move that I named windmill. Not only was it hard, but it made me very dizzy and was slightly out of my comfort zone. Lee looks awesome doing it but I feel like a goober trying to do it. Thank goodness I got a new uniform. Maybe that will help? Now, all I need is dark skin, darker hair and yes, squinty eyes and maybe I’ll look cool too! But I gotta do what I gotta do. I spent the next little while in the corner waving my arms around and getting tangled up with myself, one smack to the face and many failed attempts later, I finally got it down for Lee to give me the thumbs up! Finally! I practiced my other techniques and the part of the form that the has created for me all through the course of his two classes. I was there from 2:30 – 5:30 practicing and just having fun. I love this stuff. Everything about it. Well, I take it back... the extra knuckle bruised jaw and knee cap, I could go without but, its worth it.

During the last class, one of the students left. I don't know if you know this, but I don't know Chinese, but I would be willing to bet he was kicked out of class by the way he was behaving. After that class was done. Lee sat down and started to tell me in broken but good enough English for me to understand and wish I hadn't. Lee told me that his classes in the afternoon are not good because the students do not care and they don't practice. He showed me a video of his younger class in the mornings and told me that they are better and that I could go to that class. I told him I have to teach then so I can't and I am sorry. He told me that he is sad because his students don't care and he will maybe be leaving June 1st... WHAT?! Ugh! Don't leave!! please?? I knew that there was a possibility because the semester ends around that time but it really hit me when Lee told me in person. I felt a little bit of a knot build up in the back of my throat and the tears try to form when it meant I have only two more weeks to practice and teach Lee. I don't have long conversations and inside jokes, but I respect him and all the knowledge and passion he has for Kungfu. I look up to him like he is a celebrity. I know I have to go home some time and that I have things and people I miss back home but right now I love it here and a big part of it is because Lee has been kind enough to teach me and let me get a glimpse of Chinese Kungfu. I honestly have no idea what I would be doing or if I would be loving China as much as I do right now if Lee wouldn't have agreed to teach me or if Ben hadn't walked passed the Kunfu room and showed me where to start asking questions. My biggest regret is not finding Lee sooner.

I headed upstairs and showed the teachers my new uniform and got back to my room in time to catch Crista and Sam heading out for a run. I don't know if it was a pity invite but I took it and hurried out the door and down to the track. My feet let me do more than one lap around the track and I was happy to be able to keep a 10min pace for the next 3 miles! I ended with an ab work out and headed upstairs to a great warm shower! You know its been a great day when your shower is nice and warm!

I cut up an apple to make up for not eating dinner and am ready to turn out the lights. I don't feel 100% but I do feel a lot better than I did last night! Thank goodness!

Happy Mothers Day!

Sunday 5-11-13

I woke up today … you guessed it, with a stuffy nose. Fantastic! I think I have had a total of two days being healthy here. It’s not super bad so I took my vitamins, got some Airborn and Doterra going on. I hope it stops it because I need all the health and strength I can get to finish these last two months off strong!

I woke up at 5:00am ready to start the day so I set my alarm for 6:45 so I could go to breakfast and tried to get some more sleep. I dozed off here and there but not enough to feel like sleeping through breakfast. I think I was just mostly bored of lying there so I went to go eat. Breakfast was good. I filled my tummy up and headed back to my room. I have the whole bleh sick feeling throughout my body so I thought I would take a nap until church started.

Today us girls walked into the common room ready for church with the boys having made eggs, French toast and bananas for us wishing us a “happy future mother's day” it was very sweet of them to honor the girls in the group even though we aren't technically mothers, in fact, it was actually pretty fun. It was supposed to be district conference or something like that, but the sound was so bad we couldn't hear much of anything! It’s hard enough trying to focus without being able to see them let alone hear them, add a stuffy nose into the mixture and I only lasted an hour.

I headed back to my room to try and write in my journal but ended up wrestling with my computer instead. Today has been a pretty stressful day and I would have rather slept through it. If it weren’t for the boy’s breakfast, it would have been a total bust.

Sam came home and told me about her adventures and I just laid here wanting to die.... or maybe just go into a coma for a little bit. I’ve been sick here more than I have been sick in the last 5 years. And I’m sick of it! Guh!

I looked over on my shelf at the box of blueberry muffins I haven't made yet. I haven't been the best cook my whole life and to be frank have hardly any skills but after reading the back, decided I could add a cup of water and stir.. what’s the harm in that? The kitchen was pretty busy with a group of Teachers I don't know very well so I got my supplies and sat with Sarah in the Hall and mixed my muffin batter. We chatted until it was time for me to brave the crowded kitchen and use the little “oven” I found some small muffin tins and oil. I am just going to say everybody wanted my goods! Luke tried to stop me in the hallway and stop me from getting through “you can't leave, I want one of those.” that was until I looked straight at him “wanna bet?” he moved and said he forgot about my Kungfu skills... that’s right buddy leave me and my baby muffins alone!

      Earlier this week, we all drew names and had a secret service buddy. I know it wasn't very secret cuz everyone knew that I made the muffins but I left a few on Sams bed for my act of service. I wrote Sarah a note and felt pretty sneaky heading down to eat dinner. Dinner was pretty good. Chopped potatoes but I’m just not feeling very hungry right now.

I headed back up to my room and got some very important emails sent to a few very important people. I hope they got them and know that I wish them a very Happy Mother’s day! 

Home Visit it up!

Saturday 5-11-13

What a day! I woke up pretty early and thought that I would dedicate the morning to journaling. I’m super behind after such a great vacation! I spent the morning typing away until it was time to go. Crista came in at the last minute and told me that she didn't want to pay that much for dinner... well, that’s a little short notice... I told her that she was going to have to call and talk to Candice about it because I had to go. It’s a good thing that Zoe is going to be there so it can count as a home visit or I would have had to bail on Candice and I HATE it when people bail . But, I got in my swim suit and packed my towel and headed off. I waited at the gate for about 15min and started to think that maybe the parent and students weren't going to come pick me up! I sort a sort of relief and disappointment all at once. I have a hard time with new things. If I know what I am getting into or what to expect, I can deal with things way better than the unknown. I guess I am a bit of a paradox in these situations, I am always looking for adventure and trying new things but getting me to take the first step is always the hardest!

5min later a car pulled up and honked, that’s my Que! Here goes nothing! I ran over and hopped into the car. I opened the back door and sat in the back next to Diego and Dora. Diego is in 5th grade and Amanda's student. Dora is in 3rd Grade and is taught by Sam (boy). They were both very cute and had good enough English for us to have a conversation on the way to the pool. Their mom was driving and it took me a second to realize that it was Bruce in the passenger seat! This is definitely the dynamics of a home visit, I’m totally fine with this! We drove for about 15min into town and then pulled up through gates into a hotel looking parking lot. To my left I saw a driving range and immediately thought of Russ and Morgan. They would love that place. Dora tugged onto my arm and pulled me towards a building in the back corner. I strained to see if I really could read the words on the front or if I was just making it up, but nope it definitely said swimming pool in English under the Chinese sign. Sweet! I can do this. Dora and I walked hand in hand to the front door. We walked into the front doors to a nice wood receptionist desk. Just like any other hotel pool's front desk, there were swim suits hanging on a rack. Dora held one up so I told her it’s a “swim suit” she repeated me in an accomplished manner and came back to hold my hand. By then, Diego, his mom and Bruce had come up to the front desk and paid for us. The man at the front desk heard me telling Dora the English words for things and thought he would play along! He started holding things up and asking me for the English words. He was a little disappointed when he held up a women’s swimsuit and then a man’s swimsuit and I told him there isn't a difference in the name. I told him he could say “swim trunks” but he was holding up a sorry mix between a jammer and speedo. I tried to make sure I kept the words for things as general as possible and not pull out too much swimmer lingo.

After we got our keys to our lockers was girls went into our locker room. I walked in to a room of stark naked Chinese women. Yes, I am a swimmer and I realize that in the locker rooms, some people are comfortable standing there naked but I still to this day take pride in my ability to deck change without showing my goods to the world. Long story short, I’m glad that I changed into my suit before we got there. I put everything in my locker and got my key. Dora told me to keep the key on my wrist by using the bungee string attached by a key ring. My confidence level grew extravagantly at that point. Anyone who can swim at a decently fast pace knows that if something is close to being loose on your wrists, ankles or fingers, it will come off when you swim. I kept my key on my wrist the way Dora insisted it be and walked up the stairs. I walked up into a room with a 5 lane, 25meter pool. The pool was really nice. In fact for china, this was a 5 star facility without a doubt. Dora kept telling me it was very cold... she wasn't kidding. It took us a few tries to get into the water and ended up being the last two to get all the way in. Bruce jumped in and started swimming and right off the bat, I knew I had nothing to worry about. In fact, from looking around the pool, caps put on sideways, goggles you get from the dollar store, swimsuits faded from chlorine but only from the waist down... I’m golden. I was the best one there because I had a solid background in my strokes and good form set aside the speed!

I pushed off the wall and immediately got annoyed with this bungee bracelet after the first 26 meters I hooked it onto the strap of my suit like us swimmers do when we go lap swimming and need an annoying wrist band to say we paid to get in. I got to the end and adjusted my cap and then there was no stopping me. It felt so good to swim. The weightlessness, my muscles able to freely move and not feel the impact of the ground. My lungs were burning and my heart was racing but I couldn't stop it felt so good! My previously knotted muscles were loosening up and I felt free. Like usual, my once crowded lane was now cleared and I had it all to myself. When I stopped at the wall I looked up to a good ¾ of the pool staring at me. Then little Dora’s voice “teacher!! so good!!!” accompanied with her toothy grim surfacing under the oversized cap and goggles crowding her cute face and a thumbs up. I gave her thumbs up and made my way over to the other end of the pool to say hello. Bruce taught Dora and then moved to helping Diego and then their mom. When Dora was being taught,   

Diego asked me to teach him Freestyle. I had him show me his big arms and then we added side breathing. He tried it a few times and then popped up breathing hard and sputtering “teacher, it’s no easy!” I giggled a little and helped him a little more. By the end of the day we swam 50meters together! Diego used a water ring on his “pillow arm” (the arm he breathes on) so he wouldn't choke on water but for it being his first day, he caught on fast! Dora was content with a piggy back and yelling “faster faster!” we played around for a while. In between games I took a few laps and enjoyed being queen of the pool allowing our group to have a lane to ourselves. Every time a new swimmer would come over and look like they wanted to get in, I would take a lap to defend our territory and they would walk away. There are some perks to the whole “save face” society here. No one wants to paddle next to the American who can actually swim!

Bruce challenged me to a race so we took off. I beat him by a body’s length and he told me it was because he started late. I told him we could do a rematch if we could swim up and back. He finally said okay and I let him count off. I pushed off the wall from my flip turn and didn't see a bubble from him after that. When I touched the wall Bruce was sitting at the bottom of the pool on the other side. He popped up laughing at me and I just rolled my eyes. He gave me a high five and said good job “you are the winner!” after our race Diego, Dora and I played and messed around until it was almost time to go. I grabbed my phone and had their mom take some pictures and then we headed back to get changed.

I walked into the locker room and suspected that I was probably going to be drug into the showers of naked Chinese ladies but I used my whole “I don’t understand” and “that’s okay” to get out of it. I pulled out my deck change and waited for Dora and her mom to get done changing. After a little bit of waiting we were out and ready to head back home. When we got into the car, I remembered that I had pennies in my back pack so I pulled them out and gave one to Diego and Dora. Diego asked if I had a dollar that I could show him and it turns out I did! So I showed it to him and he told me that Dora had a dollar but he didn't so I let him keep it. He was very excited about that! Dora asked me if I could come again next week which I totally would but I already have plans with Equal, Kelly and us 4 kindergarten teachers. So I told her that if I have a free day I will tell Bruce and I can come with them. She seemed pretty content with that idea.

Bruce and I got dropped off next to a bus stop. Candice called Bruce and told him that she was running late but Bruce had to go teach a table tennis class... yes Table tennis. He waited with me for about ten min and then had to go. I was fine waiting so I had no problem with it. Less than two minutes late Candice came up and apologized for being late. Then we were off. We walked over by the beach and that’s when I saw the Pizza hut sign. That’s funny, that’s where the other ILP teachers were going for Cherishes birthday! Pretty sure we are going to see them. O well. No big deal. I walked in and saw Zoe sitting at the table.

 She was pretty surprised to see me but we spent the night eating pizza and coloring a picture. I ate more that I know I should have but I was surprised at how good the pizza tasted! It tasted like it was from America! The best part was when the other Chinese teachers there were struggling with picking up noodles with their forks and I was the champ. Finally today I am the winner! I have spent the last two months majorly struggling so I spent today really soaking it up because I know it won’t happen again until I am back! I don’t even have to win at things I just don't want to hard core struggle with everything! Welp, I guess that’s just how I learn though. The food was so good and I had fun with Zoe. After we were done eating we went outside and walked along the side of the beach at happy park. I loved being next to the beach and watching the little old guys fishing off the dock. Zoe and Jimmy, (another student that was there but he isn't my student) had so much energy it was unreal.

 They were running up and back and all around. I ran around with them a little bit until I was ready to pass out I was so tired and just talked with Candice and the other teachers while the kids ran circles around us. We were going to take the bus back but luckily Jimmy's mom offered to give us a ride. I would have hard core fallen asleep if I would have taken the bus so I am very thankful she offered to drive us. We got home and I hopped into the shower and now I’m ready to hit the hay. I did somewhat of a miniature abs work out but I’m so sore I didn't get very far. Sam and Rachelle are still camping so I’m sleeping with the window open with a cool breeze and planning on getting a good night’s sleep!

Got my Jackie Chan going

Friday 5-10 -13

This morning was a very productive one! I did sleep in a little which was really nice but was still up and ready by 8:00am. I wanted to go run or get some activity in but after looking at the empty water jug, I knew I needed to prioritize especially because the Water room isn't open Saturday – Sunday. Kelly QQed me and let me know that she was going to be in her office this morning so I wanted to make sure I head down there to say hello since I hardly ever get to see her because I am always at a different kindergarten. It was good to be able to talk to her thought because we got lots of things worked out. First off, the Bruce thing works out perfectly. A student and their parents will pick me up like a home visit. Teachers are allowed on home visits by themselves. And we will go to the pool and swim. It just so happens Bruce will be there and I can say hi to him and swim laps! It works out perfectly. Also, Kelly got me a full sports uniform (the jacket and pants) and told Lee that I wanted to get a legit China TKD uniform so he is going to get one for me this weekend!! YES!

After talking with Kelly, I walked back to my room and did some sweeping and got ready to do some journal writing when Bailey came in and asked if I knew how to make Jell-O so we could make a Jell-O cake for Cherish's birthday. I remember mom making Jell-O and from my kid brain, the worst part about it was having to wait so it shouldn't be too hard right? So I closed my lap top and off we went to our kitchen to try to figure this stuff out.

Bailey is a really cool girl. A breath of fresh air, and I’m so glad that she was able to come. We laughed pretty hard after we did stupid thing after stupid thing but made it through after we realized that the first cup of boiling water was safe to use but maybe we turned our first batch of Jell-O poisonous after putting 1 cup of cold tap water into the mix... oops. So now what? We poured the whole mixture back into the pan and boiled the whole thing and hoped that it gets Jello-e cuz it would be a shame to waste that! We made 3 other flavors in different sized bowls and stuck them in my fridge after spilling a good amount around the kitchen. O well, it’s all cleaned up now and we had fun.

We headed down to a delicious lunch that blew me away. It tasted almost like sweet and sour chicken from Panda express only the chicken was perfectly cooked potatoes! If it was basking in oil or not, I couldn't tell and that was probably the best part! Mmmm! So yummy!

I headed back upstairs to hear that we had a dance practice at 1:00... ugh!! we have our end of semester performance to practice for! Dang it. I wanted to practice my nanchaku, not happy feet it across campus. But, mandatory means mandatory so off we went. It actually wasn't so bad! Hannah was my partner and she is a goof ball so we fed off of each other and were crazy adding jazz hands and a little skip here and there just to spice things up ;) we danced around for an hour in the nice warm weather and actually worked up a little bit of a sweat!

After our dance party/practice, we all headed upstairs and heard talk of the Beach. I was cool with going but I had talked to Lee before about practicing and did NOT want to leave him hanging. This right here was a pivotal moment in the history of Dellany. For anyone who knows me, you will know just how much I love doing the nanchaku and practicing with Lee. I told the group I wasn't going to the beach just in case I got a QQ from Lee. I sat on my bed waiting and 5min later sure enough got one that said “where are you?” I was down at the class room in 10min. Lee still had classes going on so I just go in my little corner and practice away while he teaches. When he has a min he comes over and has me show him what I have been doing and either gives me thumbs up, laughs or tells me what I’m doing wrong and then I fix it and keep going. Usually when he laughs it’s because I almost hit myself in the face and can’t control the weird noises that come out of my mouth when I try to avoid a near life threatening encounter with flying metal. Especially because today I was working on over the head passes. This time I was able to practice for 3 hours and really got my Jackie Chan on! Especially after feeling so down and hopeless earlier this week, it really gave me a boost of self-confidence when he told me to get my phone and recorded me and then told me to watch and said “so cool!” after I was done watching he pulled out his phone and had me do my routine again and after watching it he gave me a thumbs up and said “learn more.” haha Yes Sir! Too bad I don’t have my ariel down because that’s what he wanted me to do in my next pass... yeah, Lee is a ninja. He settled for a one handed cartwheel lucky for me and I kept on practicing. Finally, classes were over and I was about to head on out when I remembered that I brought him an American dollar! I pulled it out and handed it to him when he said “dollar” yes, you know it all, there goes any English I was hoping to teach you when he knew “money” “I want to buy that” and all sorts of phrases. So finally I decided to pull out the face on the dollar, I told him “this is our first president.” and he said “Washington” freak man! You know everything! One day, I hope to be half as cool as Lee. I headed back to the apartments and realized I had practiced through dinner but it was definitely worth it. Everyone was back from the beach already because I guess it was pretty cold. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and talking. I got to know Bailey a little better and we had more fun with trying to get our Jell-O out of the bowls and to stay stacked up on top of each other... I really hope that Cherish is cool with the whole “it’s the thought that counts” thing.

I was chilling in my room alone as usual when Kristen came in and said “I’m going to do it Dellany! Cut my bangs!” she really wanted me to cut some Chinese bangs (straight across) I was a little nervous at first until she promised she won’t hate me after if she doesn't like it. Once I got her word, I was all for it! The best part about it was that she looks great! I really like them!

Candice came up to talk to me about tomorrow night with going out to eat Pizza with Penny and May. Here comes the problem again about going out with teachers and needing another teacher to come with. Candice asked Rachelle to come with but she never replied so I walked over to talk to her and turns out again, they have plans. Sam and Rachelle are going camping. Well, that’s cool too whatever. Tomorrow is also Cherishes birthday and she insists that we should have a party so Mark said he couldn't go and I was about to have to bail and then Candice told me that Zoe was going! May was going to bring her daughter Zoe! Dang it! Crista ended us saying that she would go cuz Sam and Rachelle was going camping. Sweet! I’m going to see one of my kids out of class! It’s one of the few things I hate about being a kindergarten teacher, outside of class, no students wandering campus saying hello or giving you hugs. And home visits are next to impossible to arrange since they don't exactly speak great English. But tomorrow is going to be awesome because I get to see Zoe.

Candice had to call Bruce to figure out what time I will be done and how I will meet up at the pizza place and figured out I will go to a bus stop and meet Candice and Crista there so I don't break any rules. Man, it’s tough getting everything worked out and making sure you aren't going to do something wrong and break ILP rules but I guess once someone messes up ... then we all have to adjust. After wandering the halls and talking to people, I am ready to call it a night. Sam isn't back yet so I am wondering if I am going to have a quiet night and early/loud morning! Who knows! Time will tell! My legs are starting to cramp up and my back is so sore from water carrying and 3 hours of nanchaku, I’m going to feel it tomorrow!

Goodnight!

Life is looking up

Life is looking up

Thursday 5-9-13

This morning was off to a great start when we actually had our driver show up! We taught our classes with smooth sailing and then got taken back home. I wasn't too bummed about missing the lunch today. I still have been feeling sluggish. I can't figure out what it is exactly that’s weighing me down but it’s hard to shake off.

We came back to the school and I just lay down in my bed. I was hoping to be able to sleep it off but I wasn’t able to get any sleep before lunch. Maybe lunch will be the thing to cheer me up? I got to the lunch room to find nasty slapped onto my tray.. shoulda stayed at the kindergarten! The worst part was that they didn't even serve a steamed roll so I couldn't go back to my room and make a peanut butter and honey sandwich... Grrrr.

I made my way back to my room and lay back down. I honestly thought about sending Lee a message saying that I was too under the weather to go practice but I didn't know how to tell him since he was teaching classes. Well, I guess it’s time to head down then. I rolled out of bed and changed into my uniform and drug myself to class. It’s a good thing that it’s all down stairs to get to class or that just might have stopped all forward progression! I walked in and sat down until it was my turn. I brought my uniform today to show Lee. He pointed to the door and said “good. Change” I pulled a “yes sir” and changed into my uniform. Today we had a break in between classes so I had a little more time to have Lee correct my technic and stances. He taught me a little “Chinese Kungfu” a part of a form which was killer on my legs with the deep stances my muscles have not seen in a few years but it was really fun because I felt like I had an actual class. He made me run up and down the room, kicks, and stretches etc. the basic warm up of a martial arts class. I was sweating bullets trying to keep up with him but I wasn't going to give up. Lee is like the Kungfu Michael Phelps in my book, he is a celebrity. I practiced and practiced and practiced but I had to cut it short so I could go to my room and change for calligraphy.

I ran upstairs feeling 100xs better. Oh my gosh I love Taekwondo. I love martial arts and I love what it does for me. I feel like a new person. I don't feel like crap anymore! In fact, I feel awesome! I am so thankful that I have an escape. I am so pumped about life and everything in it! Finally! I’m back! Muahahaha!!! I finally feel like me!!!

I headed to Calligraphy and got my stone! Candice gave us our stones from her Sister's husband and they are legit! Mark and I were pretty stoked about them! Mark and I were the only ones who came to calligraphy today so we got a little one on one time while we tried to paint our little chicks. Candice let me go free with my flower painting and I am starting to get the hang of it! Candice was impressed with my flower making abilities and said she would teach me how to paint open flowers next week! Wahoo! I’m graduating and moving on up in my calligraphy life!

I headed off to dinner which was way better than lunch

I spent the rest of the night hanging out in my room. I wrote in my journal and talked to Kelly on the phone for a while. Bruce, the P.E. Teacher invited me to go swimming with him and then next week, the principal, Equal, invited us kindergarten teachers and Kelly to go out and do something. We talked about that and all the crazy drama going on and she helped me feel a little better. Kelly is such a sweetheart. She is too silly to be my mom, but she is like the big sister I never had. I’m really going to miss that crazy lady when I go home.

I am feeling so much better tonight than I was this morning and I am SO stoked about it! Wahoo!! so much energy and so ready to go tomorrow!