Happy 1 Month anniversary

Tuesday 3-26 -13

Well I don’t know if anyone back home has noticed, but its been a month since I boarded that flight and said goodbye to my homeland! I cannot believe it. Time has FLOWN by in every sense of the word! Every one of us has felt like this month has been stolen from us and we are not quite sure how to get it back! Its weird that we now have to say “in the next 3 months I want to” instead of the next 4 but I really hope we can make it even better than the 1st!

This last month has been influential in so many ways have learned to:

Love the Gross slimy Chinese food that gave me the poops the first weekend here

Not expect to hear any of my native tongue while traveling about the city

time my bathroom shower and laundry schedule so that I can accomplish all three tasks in a day without flooding the bathroom and having hot water but also have dry clothes in the morning.

No longer get short of breath coming and going to the gate at the bottom of the campus or getting back to my room

Genuinely love kids that I have spent maybe an hour with int the last month with my whole heart and wish the very best for... most .. of them ;) no really, all of them.

Walk into a bathroom no longer expecting a toilet and without thinking, walk cautiously so I don't slip and fall into the pee on the floor.

Never expect plans to follow through.. they WILL change.

You are safe... just don't be surprised if the construction crew behind your building blows up the joint.

Chicken feet are Chewy

Just do it.. You’re in china, so why not!?

Today I taught at Dani Kindergarten My nose is so stuffy and I am so sick. My head hurts and I still can't breathe but I got up and went anyways. Its a good thing that today I only had to teach two classes. I have fun teaching at this school. After we were done teaching, Rachelle and I were going to ask to just go home after and not stay for lunch but then they told us that because it is so nice outside, we were going to go out and play with the kids! Dang Gina I wish I felt better but we went for it. I went outside and blew bubbles and it was fun I just really had to rely on the wind to blow the bubbles for me because I was working on breathing let alone blowing bubbles. We headed back inside and sat down and I have to mention. I have been downing water like its a hobby. Anything I can think of to get better. So my bladder is.. FULL. And I don’t know why but something inside of my still tries to fight the whole squatter thing... so I didn’t say anything until we got taken to lunch to our very full plates and then I knew I couldn't hold it and eat. There was no way I could fit everything inside my body. So I gave in and got taken to the restroom.

I went inside and found my stall with the hole in the ground and thought it was funny that a paper was taped so low on the door I locked the door... squatted and found my self at eye level with the paper that looked like a notice but in Chinese of course so I couldn't be sure... duh. Haha just one of those things you don’t think about until it happens!

I relieved my waters, opened the door, grabbed a bowl full of water and went back to my stall so I could pour the water and “flush” my hole. I replaced the bowl in its spot and “washed” my hands. You have to open a nozzle that releases frozen water onto your hands or into the drain on the floor directly below it. My personal routine continues with a squirt of hand sanitizer from my back pack and a quick little prayer that my hands really are clean.

Lunch is always fantastic at this school. And It especially was today because we didn’t have a shadow! Cute Zoe went to help put the kids to bed for nap time so Rachelle and I were able to devour and talk freely! After lunch we headed home and headed back to our rooms.

I still have been feeling crummy but I really needed to organize my name tags and things for the rest of the week. I did that and then tried to lay down in hopes that I might be able to get some sleep.. naw dinner time came.

While we were at dinner Rachelle and I were approached by our Chinese teacher... yikes. Remember how I hoped we weren't offensive and clear? I thought we were! But she came up and asked us why we didn’t come to our Chinese class today... WHAT?? its Tuesday! We planned M W F and cancelled em. Well turns out Rachelle told her Tuesdays and Thursdays after we got back teaching. Um no. I can't do that I need time to wind down sister so you are on your own. Well I told her I can’t do that early so she said how about Tuesday nights at 6:00... guh. Okay. So we decide we will start next week. I go back up to my room a little annoyed I almost got attacked for something I didn’t even know was going on. I sat down and started on my lesson plans and Rachelle came in saying she told our teacher when she was leaving that we will come tonight... Girl? You are killing me. We got there and I struggled through my first lesson. I actually got another Chinese name. Do I remember it? Um not exactly, and lets be honest, its sitting in the notebook across the room but I just don't want to go get it. But it means something like beautiful intuition. She says I have the ability to sense how people are without actually speaking and use it to help and not hurt others. We got out of class and headed up to our apartments but then I realized that it was almost “Tuck in time” so I sat and watched the teachers in my group jump rope because they have a jump rope competition at the school on Thursday while I am teaching at the Kindergarten. I was sort of bummed about it but my head is so clogged and my sinuses are less than agreeing with me … still. So I am okay to pass this one up.

I headed over to tuck Leslie in and I was a little early so I stood outside and waited and got greeted by all of Leslie’s roommates but no Leslie! I was a little worried wondering what could have happened. Why was she the only one not there?! I kept asking and the girls kept laughing and pointing at the ground and picking up rocks.. so I thought maybe she is like Brindy and picks up little random things of stuff and has some weird collection but that didn’t seem right so I kept walking up to their room so my jacket didn’t get pulled off and waited for Leslie. While I was sitting on her bed waiting. One of the Chinese teachers who can speak some English, came in and said hello and I asked her if she knew where Leslie was and after she conversed with the girls in Chinese she told me Leslie stayed after to help her teacher sweep the floors of the classroom... I should have known. She is the very definition of a sweetheart! I am trying to teach her “will you come tuck me in?” because every day at either lunch or dinner she comes up to me and points to me and holds up 8 cute fingers then two zeros to show me 8:00 you come to my room and then puts her hands like a pillow and a thumbs up ;) so I say you want me to tuck you in? And she says yes! Yes! And I come every night :) she asked me tonight where my book was... oops so I need to remember that for tomorrow!

Well I had to cut the Tuck in a little short because I scheduled a Skype date with Morgan so I sprinted back to my room to talk to moe and then realized that I was thinking it was an hour later at home.. dang it. But that’s okay Ben came in and told me they made Mac and Cheese as an experiment and wanted to know if I wanted some so I took advantage of my mac and cheese genius and did my lesson plan for tomorrow.