T-minus 15 hours

Where did the time go?! It seems like just yesterday I was unpacking this suitcase and now here i am packing it all back up. I'm gunna miss this place, that's for sure. Especially my kids. I wish I could see them again just one more time. It was heartbreaking to see their little faces in tears on monday when we left for the last time. I'm gunna miss my little chinese babies, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to come here and teach them. Its been an amazing experience. The food, the culture, the people, the places, the friends...there's been some great memories made here. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

But man am I excited to come home!! I've missed my family so much and I can't wait for some real food!! I'm tired of eating rice every single day. I'm ready for a big burrito or taco with a cold glass of milk...mmm. Its been a good four months. Thanks for the memories china.

More vacation pictures

The asians made them do push-ups after they lost haha They were actually really good at volleyball unlike most of.them we played with.

Me and hayden building sandcastles.

Hayden and brittany buried in the sand

the group

 Brittany when she woke up

This cool little thing we found on the side of the street ha

Brooke in her little hat. Brittany found it laying in the street one day so it was free haha

day two just hanging out

Some funny moments during volleyball

Tree on a car...after the typhoon

Some damage outside the hostel.

The hole we got buried in.

Hayden sleeping in the airport

hanging out in the airport

Hayden sleeping in the airport again.

Hayden sleeping.

Brittany sleeping in the airport.

Brookes asian squat.

Melissa and brooke sitting on their cardboard seats..haha

Hayden sleeping in the airport once again.

Brittany sleeping..you can tell who got all the rest during those 13 hours in the airport haha  

Brittany, brooke, me and candice.

Umbrellas on the beach

Checking out the storm damage.

Inside our hostel

Our typhoon food storage supply.

Home Alone

Tuesday
I got yesterday morning around 10:30. Gross, I know. But I didn't go to bed till about 4 the night before so it wasn't really that bad. Apparently nobody woke us up that morning, because when I got out of bed no one was home. So we didn't have to teach yesterday, which was fine by me. I was exhausted! Since it was already almost lunchtime, we got ready real quick and walked down to kaiyin for lunch. In the cafeteria, we met up with brooke and hayden and ben and kim and decided to go check out the vangarde shopping plaza. Its basically like a big Walmart. There's a ton of good food for cheap. We found all these delicious chocolates that were only like 1 yuan each so we bought a few of those. And there were fresh, warm donuts for only 1 yuan(which if you do the math is only about 17 cents). I also found some cold cows milk!! It didn't taste exactly like the milk back at home but its the best I've found anywhere so far. Normally its either warm or soy milk, so this was a pretty exciting find!
That night i was in the mood for a christmas movie so we went over to hayden and brookes and watched home alone. I can't wait till christmas!! I miss christmas lights and cold weather and all the treats and smells...mmm :)) I love christmas time!

Sanya

This vacation has been quite an adventure to say the least. It started out Thursday afternoon when we got to the airport. We were going through security and of course every single one of us ends up getting searched except for Brooke. Everything is clean up until they get to me and pull out a jar of peanut butter. They take it out and put it aside on their desk then send me through the rest of security. I was about to walk away when brooke runs over and grabs it back and asks the lady "Can I eat this all now??" She agreed and handed the jar to brooke in exchange for her plane ticket. Brooke ran over and we all started scraping peanut butter onto wherever we could find. Brittany had a jar of peanut butter that had a little room so we squished some in there. Then we remembered that melissa had a loaf of bread in her bag so everyone started piling peanut butter onto the pieces of bread. We ended up making three sandwiches out of an entire jar of peanut butter. Yes three sandwiches. They were about 3 inches thick...needless to say we had a hard time choking those things down.
The flight was awesome. It was so nice compared to all the long train rides we had on our other vacations. It was only about an hour long and I spent most of it reading on my phone.
We arrived to our hostel the first night around 8pm. After a little settling down in our hostel, we ate a late dinner at the dolphin bar. Real food. A spicy chicken wrap, french fries and ice water..mmm :) So good. Its funny how excited we get here over the simplest things like ice ha :) After dinner we went down and swam in the ocean for a bit..a little scary but so fun! The water is so nice. There aren't really any waves at the beach by our hostel because it's a bay, but there's supposed to be some on saturday and sunday because of the typhoon that's nearby. After our swim we decided to go back to the dolphin bar for a midnight snack(okay maybe it was a 1:30am snack haha) Then we headed back to our hostel and finally fell asleep around 3.
On Friday we went down to the beach and hung out there pretty much all day. It was the only day we were gunna get sun so we took advantage of it. We went swimming and built giant sand castles and played sand volleyball with a bunch of asians and russians and just relaxed. There's a lot of russians here in sanya, I didnt think that this was such a huge vacation spot for them. That night we had dinner at the dolphin bar again(last time I promise ha). Me and melissa split a burrito..a real mexican burrito. With cheese and salsa and beans and chicken and sour cream, all the good stuff. We ended the night with some 50cent ice cream cones from dicos. Not as good as mcdonalds ice cream cones but not bad.
Day 3 it was cloudy but gorgeous outside. Since there's a typhoon coming, we didn't get any sun all day, but it was still warm outside and the water was nice so it didn't make much of a difference. We played volleyball again and ate muslim noodles and these super yummy smoothies for lunch. (I guess the real name of the place is pulled noodles, but we just call it muslim because the people who own it wear little head wrap things and I'm pretty sure they're muslim ha) That night, we dug a huge hole in the sand and buried about 8 of us in it. A bunch of the chinese were crowding around us watching and then helping fill it in haha. It was so hard to get out of at the end but so fun :) We ate dinner that night at a super cheap dumpling place right next to our hostel. Cheap and delicious, always a good combination.
I know its probably weird, but I'm kind of excited for the typhoon haha! We got to experience the biggest typhoon to ever hit land!
Day 4: typhoon!!!!
We woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain and loud wind. The typhoon had begun. It wasn't too strong yet so we decided to venture out and get some breakfast. We all ran out of the hostel into the rain and down the street. When we got to the main road, almost every store had closed because of the typhoon. We ended up eating at the dumpling place right next to out hostel since it was like one of the three places open that morning. After breakfast we decided to go down to the beach and check out the waves. So me melissa hayden and brittany put on our swimsuits and booked it down to the beach. The waves were huge compared to the day before! In fact there were practically no waves yesterday because it's a bay. The beach was blocked off with tape so we starting walking along the boardwalk to see if there were any parts open. Near the end we saw a few people out on the sand so we ran down to check it out. The waves were.pretty big It was so windy and rain was pelting our faces ha. We didnt want to waste a day on the beach so we went out and body surfed them..it was awesome! There was a lot of debri in the water and the current was strong so we didnt stay out too long or go out very far, but we didnt need to because the waves were huge even up close to the shore. It was so much fun swimming in the rain and riding the waves. After our swim, we spent the majority of the day inside the hostel playing games, watching movies or just talking and watching the storm. Our hostel owner chris wouldnt let us leave to go outside because it was dangerous and we kept using all his towels ha. We started getting ancy late in the afternoon though and the storm had died down a little so we decided to go explore and see the storm. We ran through the streets looking for open stores and checking out some of the damage..the wind was still super strong, melissa candice and hayden got completely blown over by it!!! It was crazy! We finally found a little supermarket that was open and bought some snacks to hold us over a while longer. Then we headed home and watched movies and played card games by candlelight because the power had gone out early in the afternoon. By 10 everyone was sick of snacks and wanted some hot food. The storm had died down some so we went and ate at muslim noodles and then walked down and checked out the beach damage. It was crazy, so much destruction and so much water. There were street signs bent in half, motorcycles knocked over and blown into the road, roof and house shingles all over, trees ripped out of the ground and on top of cars and buildings, windows broken and glass everywhere. Its impossible to capture it all, even on film.
Last day: Our flight was scheduled to leave at seven Monday morning... but they emailed us the night before and told us that due to the typhoon, it was delayed till 10am. So we woke up and headed down to the bus stop around seven in order to get to the airport two hours early. Well, we waited for almost and hour and still no bus. Then a little van pulls up and offers us a ride to the airport for twenty yuan each so we said yes and hopped in. It was a good thing we did because the streets were way flooded, it would've taken forever to get all the way to the airport in a bus. The streets were awful to drive through and with a bunch of stops and all the debri in the road, a bus would've been so long. Anyways, we get to the airport just in time to check in, go through security and get to our gate. We waited for an hour at the gate and then our flight disappears from the board. So we start talking to these asian girls and they said our flight got delayed again. Joy. So we headed upstairs to where where it was cooler and there was more space. We hung out near the flight departure board so we could keep checking to see if our flight got changed or if it was still delayed. After we talked to some people who had been waiting for flights from 7am the previous day, we realized that our flight was probably not leaving anytime soon. So everyone found a spot on the airport floor or on a bench and took a nap. We had like no food either because the typhoon had prevented any food trucks from reaching the airport. There were already hardly any restaurants in the airport and since the storm hit, there was near to none. And we were stuck there all day. Good thing we had a few leftover packages of crackers to hold us over. After a little nap, I went to go check the board to see our flights status. It still said delayed with no new estimated time of departure so I went back to my spot on the ground. Not ten minutes after I checked the board, hayden comes running over saying that our flight departed. No! There's no way it could have departed, i just checked and it didn't even say boarding or anything. We were freaking out. We ran over to the airlines service desk and tried to explain but they didn't understand much.  We saw this guy right next to us with the same boarding pass, so we tried to talk to him but he spoke russian and very little so that was pretty much useless as well. Finally we saw the same chinese girls that were on our flight earlier..they had missed it too! So we went back out.to the check in counter with a group of 5 Russians, 3 asians, and 5 americans all trying to help each other (through some pretty broken english)and figure out what happened to our flight. Apparently it got canceled and no one even told us..the entire airport was in chaos so I guess its not that surprising. People were climbing all over the check in counters and behind the luggage conveyers..it was ridiculous. There were over two hundred flights cancelled the day before. Insane. We finally got new tickets for a sixoclock flight to guangzhou...and then it got delayed again. So sad. We found some cardboard boxes on the ground and spread them out to lay on. We're turning into real asians now. I honestly thought we werent gunna get out of the airport till 6am thr next morning. Everytime we got our hopes.up it just got delayed.and pushed back farther. Finally at 10pm the word boarding popped up on the screen. Ive never been so happy to.see that word in my life. We boarded the plane and made it to guangzhiu around 11pm. We were all starving when we landed so we ate at KFC and then caught the last bus at 11:40 to zhongshan. We didnt get home to our apartment until 3am. Longest day ever. It was fun but long vacation.

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Brittany's "no neck" face 

day one at the beach before volleyball

melissas first step into the ocean

train ride selfie

muslim noodles ♥♥

On our way to the beach day one

Muslim noodles again. They're soo delicious.

Buses and Hair Salons

So this sunday was Asia stake conference for church. We just had to download it off the church website to watch it. But apparently it didnt download completely because when we started it this morning, it only played 10 minutes of the conference and stopped. So we just had a little testimony meeting and took a lunch break while we downloaded it again. After our(mine melissa's and brooke's) delicious french toast and mashed potato lunch we finished the stake conference session. Following that, the girls stayed to watch the relief society broadcast. Then jessica's husband rex(the film crew guy) brought over a cheesecake for us to eat. Yummy :) It wasn't real cheesecake but it was still pretty dang good!

After all the conference watching was over, we ate dinnr and practiced our halloween dance a little. (We have to perform at our schools halloween party next week)

Then we spent the rest of the night just playing games over at anna and Brittany's apartment with a few people. Good day :)

This morning, we were waiting for the school bus and it finally came but anna and brittany weren't there. ..so we waited forever but finally bob our bus driver for impatient just left them. Carmen ran up to get them last minute but she took too long so she got left too. Bob was driving so fast and crazy it was a little bit scary! Karina stayed home cuz she didnt get any sleep so if they dont make it to school there's no one to teach for them... great. Hopefully they all make it on time cuz I don't wanna teach two classes!

We were supposed to have parent teacher conference today, but we were told the wrong time. We waited outside for the bus for an hour and it didnt come, so we just left cuz we thought they forgot. Fine with me, those things are pointless. We have them every week and the kids don't improve that much in only one week, so there's never much to say. Only like two of the 20 parents talk to me anyways so I don't know why we even have them. Our bus driver bob probably hates us even more now. Great. Me and melissa learned our halloween dance with karina after the parent conferences were over. It's pretty cool so I'm excited! :) Then we went to the store with james and noah to get some laundry detergent and conditioner. We were supposed to meet up in their apartment for games at 8 but brooke and hayden didnt show up till an hour later so we just hung out and played around on the guitar till curfew. 

Today we didn't have to teach at all! It was outside day!!! So we walked down to the park across the street from our school and just played games in the grass and ate a snack then headed back to the school when it was time. It was so much fun :) We just played tag and duck duck goose and some other running game ha. The kids are soo cute, I love them :))♥ 

After school we went to get our hair cut and washed...so nice! My hair is insanely soft and smells amazing. They washed it for like 30 minutes and then massaged my head and neck and back and arms. It was all included in the hair cut, And it was less than $10!! We also booked our sanya trip today! Woohoo!!!! We're flying there and back instead of taking a train because after everything it was only like $20 more to fly and it saved us 30+ hours of travel. Definitely worth it! I'm so excited for the beach! :)) 

We had cooking class today and made some delicious greenbeans and carrots with pork. Its funny, the cooks always use the same spices and ingredients in every single dish they make, yet it always tastes different. But im not complaining, the food is delicious. I never thought i'd say that ha! I used to hate chinese food :P We had a dress rehearsal today after school for the kindergarten's halloween party next week. So...we had to stay at school till 4:30. Lame, but the dances were so cute :)) Each class had to perform. Even us teachers performed a dance, and the kids loved it haha! Today was zachs birthday, so when we got home from school we went and ate dinner at gina's pizza with him and a few others. Then we played games at anna and brittanys for a while.

This is James playing his ocarina. And yes those are goggles on his eyes and underwear on his head ha.

Brittany fell asleep during church ha.

Cooking class...fried eggplant. It was alright but only because it was fried. Eggplant is nasty.

Holly eating her eggplant. It was hot haha 

Park Day!

So after an adventure to the park with our chinese kids this week, we decided to spend our saturday at the park too. It was one of my favorite days here so far. We brought food and had a picnic and played football and ultimate frisbee and slacklined a little until the security guard got mad and made us take the line down. We also made a bunch of asian friends and played games with them. We taught them how to do the macarena and tooty-ta haha. It was hilarious watching a bunch of asians hop around with their knees together and their eyes closed singing the tooty-ta song. There were so many people standing around us and dancing with us and watching us ha. It's like we're celebrities here! We were singing a song on the bus ride over and when we stopped everyone started clapping and told us to sing more haha. It was a very long but fun day :)

Me melissa and brooke have been practicing the piano almost everyday at the elementary school.  They have over 20 pianos up there for practicing. Each one is in its own little room so you can play by yourself..super nice. Hopefully I'll start improving again!

Its spirit week at school!! AKA: i get to wear sweats and flip flops instead of dresses if I want!! Haha just kidding, but it has been fun :) Monday was crazy hair day, tuesday was black and orange day, today was pajama day and tomorrow is irregular dress day (mismatched day ha). We've been staying late at school everday to decorate and make the haunted house...long days.

Some more pictures

Melissa making breakfast in her cute little robe.

Me and Brooke playing koolaid pong..we won of course :)

me in my little food mask with ann. They make us wear these every time the kids eat.

Our delicious breakfast french toast.

Hayden and melissa playing beer pong (with koolaid)

We Bribed our bus driver sparky with an ice cream cone to take us to mcdonalds. haha hes the best :) He speaks english pretty well but he couldn't understand everything so melissa and karina got out of the car and pointed to the menu in the drive thru while he translated haha, so funny! The sad part was the Ice cream cone machine was broken so we didn't even get Ice cream! :/

Dora..shes so cute :) She always wears a princess crown to class :)

Late night piano sesh. (pictured above is john pretending he knows what he's doing:P haha)

Make up Day and a Party

Today was quite the day! We had makeup lessons because of vacation last week, so we had to teach even though its saturday. It being saturday, our school bus driver didn't come to pick us up So we had to take the city bus. Long story short, we ended up going the opposite direction of where we were supposed to and got lost. By this time we were late for school and had already missed our first lesson, so we had to take a taxi to school. After school, we went to kaiyin and played around with a soccer ball and on the pull up bars. Me and nikki ran for a while around the track and then went home to get ready for a birthday party.
A little girl in one of my classes invited carmen and i to her bday party! We bought her a little present at the store yesterday and wrapped it up in one of the plastic bags I had laying in my room haha..we fixed it up with sparkly ribbon and tissue paper from the school to make it look cuter :)
The party was so fun! Ann's dad picked us up from school along with some of the other chinese teachers and drove us to the party. It was in this super gorgeous area with a lake and tons of trees. We got there and Ann(the bday girl) was out riding a horse along with a couple of other people! It was so cute, she's so tiny! Me and carmen walked down to the fence where they were riding and anns mom asked if I wanted to ride a horse...so of course I said yes! They gave me a little helmet and these leg protecter things and then put me on a horse, said a few words in chinese, and handed me the reins. I didn't really know what to do haha! I figured it out eventually but it was the first time i'd ever ridden a horse. Pretty exciting!! After a little while of riding, they fed us cake and dinner! The cake was amazing!!! We got a piece of cheesecake and a piece of chocolate fudge cake...soooo good :)) yum! For dinner we ate sheep, fish, chicken(as well as their feet), intestine soup, and wintermelon. Some interesting things tonight. The sheep was actually pretty good, I drowned it in spicy soy sauce so it tasted delicious :) The chicken was okay, I didn't eat the fish, and the chicken feet tasted like..well feet. I don't even understand how people eat them...its like all bone. Gross things. The intestine soup didn't taste bad, it just grossed me out knowing what it was. The wintermelon was good. It tasted kind of like a cucumber and squash mixed together. We rode home with yannis and his mom after the party. It was weird being in a car again..I'm so used to other forms of transportation like buses trains and subways. It was nice to be in a normal car again. We're making french toast and egg sandwiches tomorrow morning for breakfast! Yum!!! Im so excited :)) Should be delicious!

Pictures part 2

Melissa and hayden on the great wall of china!

Our friend cindy at the tea house.

The birds nest. Olympic stadium! It poured on us the whole way there.

These lanterns are everywhere for the holiday..and theres hayden.

Egg dumplings..most delicious breakfast ever!!

Tienamen square...sooo crowded. It took an hour just to get from one side to the other.

The bug i found on melissas eyelid..haha

The giant ice cream cones we got in beijing! They got a cone, put ice cream in it, stacked it. Got another cone, put ice cream in it, and stacked it again 10 times.

Standing on the wall!

Our giant ice cream cones :))

 Hayden licking a chinese mans elbow.

Inside the birds nest. Super exciting.

High pants party!

Tobagganing down the great wall..soomuch fun!

We took pictures with this guy at the top of the wall, we didnt know you had to pay.  So he was yelling at us
in chinese as we ran down..oops.

The great wall of china!! 

 Hayden and his Icecream goatee.

Llama temple..we just took a picture outside the gate so I don't really know what was inside :P But the gate looks cool ha!

 Sleepy faces..trying to get the train tickets switched early In the morning. No success.

Melissas friend

 Some creepy asians on the train with us. They wouldnt stop staring at us.

Our terra cotta warriors group. We met this guy named sawyer who helped us get in and showed us around.
Ali, courtney, holly, serena, nikki, me, melissa, saywer. (And andrew our film crew guy was there with us taking the picture)

 We found this puzzle shop in yangshuo one morning and spent a few hours just playing games and hanging out :)

Sneaking up on her...

Haydne giving brooke an ice cream kiss on the cheek haha :)

Playing ninja outside th hostel in beijing!

Ice cream after the mud caves!

Random pictures with asians off the street in yangshuo.