A couple of firsts

So.... For the past couple of weeks I've been traveling.... First India, Thailand, Vietnam, and then back to China:)

Here are a few first from our trip in Vietnam:

We had a ticket for an overnight bus from Siagon to Nah trang.... well at 1:30 am we were told to get off the bus and transfer to another bus. For the next five hours I sat in a little plastic seat in the middle of the isle becuase there weren't enough seats on the bus....

I ordered a smoothie to go and got a smoothie in a bag with a straw coming out:)

We took an overnight train on which we had to change our own sheets. We also had a little miss communication. Rather then arriving at 6am at our destination it only took us 6 hours to get there.

No one believes that we actually live in China:) hehe... maybe becasue we don't look very chinese.

While sitting on the beach some ladies came over and slapped one of my friends on the butt in order to get her to buy some fruit. Not really a good way to get customers.

That's really all that I can think of right now but I thought that I would give a little tid bit since it's been a while. Tomorrow hopefully we will get up and watch the sun rise over the ocean:)

My Birthday and The Warriors

 Well..... This month I turned 25! Yikes.... I'm now old. I was able to celebrate my birthday twice and even got two chocolate cakes:) One with a lovely picture of my future husband and another with the coolest fire shooting candle ever! YEAH!

This week we went our University visit and we were also able to do something that I've been waiting four years to do.... I finally got to see the Terra cotta warriors:)

XI'AN YEAH!!!!

Don't we look like real soldiers:) It's pretty amazing... 6,000 warriors and all made uniquely... and all to protect the emperiors dead body.... Plus it didn't work very well cuz.. his enemies came in and destroyed all the warriors. I guess that's what happens when your warriors are made of terra cotta.

A Costume party:)

   So.... Halloween has come and gone but I thought that I would share some pictures from our Halloween party. We had a somewhat small turnout but it was fun to hang out with those who came:)

Becca and I made these beautiful sequins outfits. We were thinking gypsy/pirtate..... Then people just kind of went crazy with the material:)

Everybody likes to sparkle!

We also had a set of markers come to the party:)

No party is complete without some sweets!

A bucket of water, some chopsticks, and some coins.... pretty entertaining!

We also played some lively card games:)

But no party is complete without some Tai Chi practice:) Maybe next time you can party with us!

A look into my life recently:)

   So, if you check this regularly you have probably stopped cuz I haven't written anything for months. I just haven't sat down to do it. I'm sorry... Since a picture is worth a thousand words here are a few thousand words for you:)

I am so very excited about the small amount of change that has happened in my life lately. I live in the same city, I am at the same school, and I have the same job. A lot of the people in my life have changed but it is so good to have so many familiar things around. At least to be in a familiar place. I love my school, my job, and my team! The Father has greatly blessed me where I am at!

So, a peak into my life....

This summer... what a blessing to see family and friends:) Unfortunately my life is characterized by a lack of photo's.

Me and Molly got to hang out a lot this summer:) YEAH!

Me and my brother near Seattle:) We took a road trip!

Then it was off to China. We had training and I got to meet my new team! Aren't we a cute bunch:) Seven cute gals!

Team! Each person always adds such a unique and different aspect to the group.

Then it was back to school!

Traffic.... is still a bit of a problem:)

We were able to sing in two opening ceremonies:) A test of our singing abilities:) These were the professional hosts of the ceremonies:)

So.... here are some random pictures:)

Did you know that this is the biggest gong in the world?

Happy birthday Becca! Do these hat's look familiar to anyone?

A trip to the Village!

I have finally seen real China. It's only taken me three years:) I recently was able to go with Courtney and a good friend to her village about 8 hours away from Taiyuan in a neighboring province. It was an eye opening experience. I learned a lot about where my friend is from and the pressures that she has in her life.

It was my first time going to the countryside or a village so I was preparing for the worst. No electricity, no running water, no shower, squatty potty out house, and lots of strange food. Well, it ended up being better then expected and so very interesting. There is no running water but there is electricity. I guess if it was my choice I might choose running water over electricity but then again, it would be a hard choice. Well, I would like to tell you some highlights cuz I don't want to bore you with the details so I'll try to be brief and concise.

We were the first foreigners to visit this village and therefore created quite the stir wherever we went. Our trip to the one vegetable store in the village caused a large following of people. When we visited relatives which was pretty much the whole village people would take turns coming in and chatting with our friend. They would ask the typical questions:

1. How much money do you make?

2. Do you have a boyfriend? Do you want a Chinese boyfriend?

3. Where are you from?

4. Is your hair natural?

5. Are you can Courtney sisters or twins? (you know how all Chinese people look alike apparently all foreigners look alike as well)

Those were the famous questions pretty much in that order. hehe.... People also asked if we missed our families.

The courtyard of there home.

One of my favorite parts of our visit was eating meals together. We became part of the family. It was neat and made me miss my family. I am lacking on the family aspect of life here at my school. Living around a lot of single people who are my own age. We ate all the time. If it wasn't a meal there would be food out for us to eat and the family was always telling us to eat more.

As a girl in a Chinese family when you get married you are not only marrying your husband but his whole family (at least his parents). My friends brothers wife daily makes meals at her husbands parents house. They eat together for at least one meal a day and sometimes more. I could see some problems with this. I would hope that when I got married that I would marry a man with a wonderful mother and father to adopt. Otherwise life could be a little miserable. I did enjoy that they would sit down and eat together. I think that is something that is lacking in America. Families who eat together.

Isn't her family cute!

It was also interesting to see how my friends family looked at her. She must have been very successful in their eyes. She had gone to university and works in another province. She isn't a farmer and probably makes as much in one month as they make in a year. She has gone far. However she has a lot of pressure on her. Specifically to get married. She is 25 and recently broke up with her boyfriend. In the village 20 to 23 is when a girl gets married. I mean that is kind of what a girl is suppose to do. 25 to 27 is the age when you are getting to old to get married or something. So, everyone asked her if she had a boyfriend and when she was going to get married. We met a few matchmakers that apparently match people up. The family again is very important in a match as well as the guys success in life. Kind of interesting.

I always have this feeling that random and unexpected things happen in China normally as regular occurrences which I suppose wouldn't really make them random but...... I'm not sure if this is just because I'm a foreigner or if it is really true. It might be a bit of both. On the morning that we were suppose to leave we were waiting for the bus and my friend got a call. Soon we were walking to a factory getting a tour of the seat belts that they make and sitting in on a three hour interview. The interview comprised of the boss (who had two cell phones which rang the whole time and he answered the whole time) my friends father, and the two foreigner. It was rather amusing. I got a bit board and started worrying about how late we were going to get home being as it took us 8 hours to get to the village. After the three hour interview we were whisked into a nice new Honda accord and driven to the closest town. Then we went to the nicest restaurant in town and met a former employee of the boss and ate with the drivers. It was a nice lunch my favorite dishes being donkey (it was really good, which means I must have been in China to long) and fried steamed bread with sweetened condensed milk:)

This is one of the first steps to making a seat belt:)

From the restaurant we took a comfortable ride all the way back to taiyuan. And it only took about 4 and a half hours. Our driver did drive a little fast on these back roads which were jam packed with large blue scary trucks. Luckily we made it with our lives! It was a great trip and fun to get to be part of my friends world.