New name

This week has been a really good one. We've stayed busy doing lots of fun things. I'm getting use to pretty much doing whatever you want. If I want to learn guitar I can learn guitar, if I want to go play ping pong I can just go play ping pong. Its a good time just to get those things that you've always wanted to do done. There's lots of time here after teaching where you don't have to be constanting studying or working like at college. This week we have started taking Chinese lessons from a native named Vivi. She comes over like two to three times a week for like 1-2 hours for language lessons. This last time she gave us new Chinese names! My new name is Mao Yan Chun. Mao is for Amanda, and Yan Chun is for beautiful Spring. So kinda fun! Its really cool to learn the language. It is sooo intense. The same word can be spelled exactly the same but in Chinese they have four differen tones so if you say it slightly off then it has a whole new meaning. Oh! Annie also told us that we might get to have kung fu lessons on Saturday's too which would be so cool. Keep your fingers crossed that it will happen....

A bad day at the bakery

Hey all! Today was a great day off. Its nice for my voice to have a day off of screaming. We tried to sleep in but the sun comes up so much earlier here. Its broad daylight by 7:00 am in the morning here. Which is a good thing, we get a lot more cleaning done. We were suppose to get our apartment sparyed for bugs today and although we were all packed up (again) the guy didn't come. So I guess its been put off until Monday. Today we finally did what we've wanted to do since we got here... we got body massages. Pretty much amazing. I've never gotten one before so it was really interesting, the man who did it was blind. I guess that was better, still didn't take away the awkwardness when he was rubbing my butt though. After the massage we went to our favorite bakery. I grabbed two new things of bread to try and the were both pretty weird tasting. The first one had shredded meat on the sweet roll and the second sweet roll had red bean in the middle. It reminds me of refried beans...sad day at the bakery. Now we're going to watch "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" aren't you jealous? Don't you worry, we're still waiting anxiously for "Twilight"...

Another day

So today was pretty much a normal day. I've decided that teaching is just going to exhausing every day. But there is good that comes with the bad. Today Lucas came over to me and told me that he was "angry" with me. I wasn't sure why for a while until I finally was like "Lucas why are you angry with me?" His reply was "You are messy!" Nothing gets past these kids. We had a teachers meeting today and as we were walking down there we passed all of our kids waiting in line and they started screaming "Teachers!!!" They were sooo excited! When we got to them they all jumped onto us for lots of hugs. Pretty much my favorite moment ever. Here's some more pictures! I got a picture with my favorite little Jackey

Pictures with the kids!

Hey all I just thought I'd send you some pictures that Amy took of us teaching the kids today! The kids are absolutly the cutest little Chinese things ever!

Operation Evacuation

So Amy discovered that she had bed bugs yesterday. She even caught some, which were super gross. So they decided to throw away her matress and get some hard core chemicals to spray down their whole apartment. The three girls; Amy, Keegan, and Lindsey aren't allowed back into their apartment for 24 hrs. So we had one big slumber party last night! I guess tomorrow night their doing the same thing to our apartment. So we'll have a sleepover at their side. So pretty much we're all just super sick of bugs. Luckily I haven't had gotten any more bites, I haven't even had to take any of the pills the doctor gave me. Since the itch is gone and it is not for prevention then I don't really need it. The pus has gone away too, I actually got to expose my legs today without people running in horror :)
Everything has been going well with teaching. The last two days the kids have been sooo good! It makes it so fun to get to be around them. We've even noticed as we have our conversations to each other now days we start talking like the kids do. They're so cute! Anyway I better go, another class to prepare for... Much love

Motercycle Babe

So the last couple days have been ones of stress. Who knew that the kids were just easing us into teaching. They're actually poco diablos (little devils) that like to scream, yell, kick, hit each other, steal, and lots of other wonderful things. There are times though when its worth it. When they get so excited they just jump up and down squealing in delight or they're so tired they just lay their head in your lap. Those are the good days.
We started teaching a new class today. We team teach in groups of two for one hour with two classes (a half hour each). Its a group of kids of about 20-30 and we just go to their classroom and sing with them. Thats all. It was a little strange but its only for two days a week in the afternoon so we just have to learn a lot more songs.
So here their taxis are mostly motorcycles. Yesterday we traveled a far distance on foot to a store and really didn't want to walk back so Annie got us a taxi. A motorcycle! We each got our own little driver and got to sit on the back. As the kids say.... SOOO fun! You just have to keep your eyes shut the whole time because their driving scares you to death. Then today we got to ride on a motorcycle again but this time it was on the way to the hospital. My bites got worse so I had to go to the doctor. After much deliberation he decided that I had gotten an "insect bite". It was very profound. He gave me some pills to help with the itch so I hope they work. Oh, the wonders of China....
Anyway thanks for your love and prayers. I miss you all

A Good and Bad adventure

Hey all!! So how is everyone doing? The weekend has been a really good one mostly because it hasn't involved taking care of children. Teaching really isn't that bad but it is nice to have a break. Today we went to ShenZen to go to church. Instead of taking the bus we got a little 7 passanger van which was actually kind of fun. Although, we kept the windows down the whole time and by the time we got there we all had this think layer of pollution air stuck on our face. We had to scrub it off. The place that we went to was a little international branch in someone's house. The house was pretty big though so it could fit every different class. Right when we walked in we saw a ton of teachers from the other schools in our providence. We haven't seen them since our Hong Kong trip so it was really good to catch up! From what they tell us we really got the better end of the deal with our school. They get fed things like pig's blood and if you don't eat what's on your plate they charge you 50 yuan. Plus they don't get the week long vacation like we do so none of them get to go to the Great Wall. I am really sad for all of them but all the more grateful at where we are. Church was so cool. Everything felt like home. The church isn't anymore true here then it is at home. I mostly liked it because of the people that I got to meet. Everyone was so different, people from the states, people from China, several from Singapore, and lots more. Different colors, races, and all sorts of ages. I loved the classes because the people who would teach, and comment, have really lived a life. They have all had experiences that I only dream of having. I mean they must be adventurous if they are here in China. Plus after church they had a linger-longer and we got some homemade America food. Pretty much delightful. I'm so glad that we were able to go. It felt so good to be able to take the sacrament again.
So that was the good adventure. The bad adventure is that I've made some good friends with a bug. One of my students had a birthday the other night and when we were leaving his party I noticed several bites on my legs. We're all pretty use to mosquitoes by now so I didn't think anything of it. Now it is two days later, they have all swollen up to the size of a golf ball, have grown blisters on the top, and are oozing pus (I'm trying to give you a detailed description :)) It feels mostly like a horrible sunburn, that has flames shooting through them, that itches. So its not the best thing ever. I'll put some pictures on here so you can see it a little. I've always had ultra-sensitive skin but most people think I'm having a weird allergic reaction.... Mom, Dad, don't freak out. Its all apart of the China experience :) But I do hope they go away soon. Anyway thats all for now. I'll keep you updated when other stuff comes up, hopefully by then these little bites will have ceased to exist. Love you all! Thanks for you thoughts and prayers!