It has been almost a month since I got back from Qujing where I worked at the Sunshine International Camp and I am excited to finally be telling you about my experience.
There are normally two camps (high school track and university track) being run simultaneously, but the numbers were lower this summer, so the two camps were combined into one. While the numbers were lower, there were still about 200 campers. My life group, as it is called, was made up of myself, a Chinese co-coach (English name: Champion), 5 Chinese girls (English names: Lucy, Candy, Shell, Rolina, and Alissa), 2 Chinese guys (English names: Bo and William), and 2 American guys (Blake and Carlton). The two American guys were 16 years old and the rest of the life group were between the ages of 20-23. I feel like we had a really great group that meshed really well together.
The days were long - starting at 8am and finishing at 10:30pm everyday, but it was so worth the long days for the experience I had as well as the experience the campers had too. Each morning included either a guest speaker or workshops with the topic focused on leadership and integrity followed by discussion in our life groups. The afternoons were either team building activities or the occasional lecture from a guest professional. And the evenings were more time spent in our life groups where some really exciting conversations would happen. I had three of my life group girls assigned to my room where some amazing conversations about my Friend took place. I had the ability to be open with them and really share my heart and help them in the process as they were trying to sort through some questions that they had and wanted to be answered. Another one of my life group girls, who was assigned to the room across the hall, also talked to me about wanting to know more about my Friend and how he was different from everybody else, so that was awesome.
I definitely loved working at this camp and am looking forward to working at the camp again next summer. I also enjoyed the mass amount of text messages I received the next few days after camp was over from my life group campers.
I have posted pictures from camp for you to look at. Hope you enjoy.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Leaving for Camp
Hey everyone! In about 3 1/2 hours I am headed out to Kunming to work at the Sunshine International Camp. As I mentioned in my previous blog, this is a brief description of the camp from their website: "Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China an opportunity to engage in a highly interactive, cross-cultural character and leadership development experience. This camp will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train students in excellence and integrity in every area of life."
While at camp I will be a coach of a small group of between 5-10 ladies (half foreigners and half Chinese), and I will also have a Chinese co-coach. The camp is all done in English, but there are Chinese coaches to do translation for those who have a low level understanding of English and need a little help. I am excited about the next 12 days, but to be honest don't really know what to expect other than I will be tired - I hear it's non-stop from 8am-11pm everyday. I am just being open to whatever lies in store for me, and for the opportunity to build some great relationships with these students.
As a side note, I will not have internet access for the next 12 days, so the next blog will not be until I get back and right before I head to the States.
Speaking of the States, I will be there in just a few weeks. My family has been blessed with some amazing friends who have been generous and given me a plane ticket to come home this summer. I will fly into Atlanta on July 30 and be in town for just 48 hours before driving to Florida with my parents. I will then be in Cape Coral for about 2 1/2 weeks before heading to Hawaii with my parents for 2 weeks (thanks to mom for getting us tickets with our skymiles). And then I will fly back to China from Hawaii on September 2. For those of you in Georgia, I am sorry that I will not see you on this trip, but am working on trying to come home again at Christmas, which will be spent in Georgia. I will also be sending you an email before I come home with some phone numbers that you can reach me at if you are interested in talking to me while I am stateside.
Well, I will close for now, but will be back with an update in 2 weeks. Hope each of you are doing well and enjoying the summer months. Grace to each of you.
While at camp I will be a coach of a small group of between 5-10 ladies (half foreigners and half Chinese), and I will also have a Chinese co-coach. The camp is all done in English, but there are Chinese coaches to do translation for those who have a low level understanding of English and need a little help. I am excited about the next 12 days, but to be honest don't really know what to expect other than I will be tired - I hear it's non-stop from 8am-11pm everyday. I am just being open to whatever lies in store for me, and for the opportunity to build some great relationships with these students.
As a side note, I will not have internet access for the next 12 days, so the next blog will not be until I get back and right before I head to the States.
Speaking of the States, I will be there in just a few weeks. My family has been blessed with some amazing friends who have been generous and given me a plane ticket to come home this summer. I will fly into Atlanta on July 30 and be in town for just 48 hours before driving to Florida with my parents. I will then be in Cape Coral for about 2 1/2 weeks before heading to Hawaii with my parents for 2 weeks (thanks to mom for getting us tickets with our skymiles). And then I will fly back to China from Hawaii on September 2. For those of you in Georgia, I am sorry that I will not see you on this trip, but am working on trying to come home again at Christmas, which will be spent in Georgia. I will also be sending you an email before I come home with some phone numbers that you can reach me at if you are interested in talking to me while I am stateside.
Well, I will close for now, but will be back with an update in 2 weeks. Hope each of you are doing well and enjoying the summer months. Grace to each of you.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Being a Tourist in The City I Live In
Often it is easy to distinguish when someone is a tourist in town because you see them with a camera taking pictures everywhere they go. Well, here in China, I feel like the Chinese are more tourists than even the foreigners. So, on days that I do actually take my camera out to take pictures in town, I feel like I fit right in.
Natasha has been here for a week now, and we have been busy doing a lot of things. We went to the police station to register her (which is required of any non-Chinese that stay with you in your home) and found it to be a much simpler process than when I registered the Manns - guess I got all the kinks out of the way the first time around. In the past week we have been to the Dayanta (also known as the Big Goose Pagoda), Castle Play Place, had a water fight with friends for the 4th of July, been to the Terracotta Warriors, Zhong Lou (aka the Bell Tower), Gu Lou (aka the Drum Tower), Hui Ming Jie (aka Muslim market), and biked 8.5 miles around the city wall. Biking on the city wall was an amazing thing - I just would not recommend doing it during a hot day in the summer.
So, next week I will be heading to Kunming to volunteer at a camp for High School and College students (Chinese and Other Nationalities) for 10 days. Here is a brief description of the camp from their website: "Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China an opportunity to engage in a highly interactive, cross-cultural character and leadership development experience. This camp will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train students in excellence and integrity in every area of life." I am pretty excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing with you in two weeks my experience at camp.
Also, for those of you who maybe have not heard yet, I will be stateside for a few weeks in August as well. I will be sending an email soon with more details, as well as including them in my next blog. I am looking forward to getting to see so many of you so soon.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Natasha has been here for a week now, and we have been busy doing a lot of things. We went to the police station to register her (which is required of any non-Chinese that stay with you in your home) and found it to be a much simpler process than when I registered the Manns - guess I got all the kinks out of the way the first time around. In the past week we have been to the Dayanta (also known as the Big Goose Pagoda), Castle Play Place, had a water fight with friends for the 4th of July, been to the Terracotta Warriors, Zhong Lou (aka the Bell Tower), Gu Lou (aka the Drum Tower), Hui Ming Jie (aka Muslim market), and biked 8.5 miles around the city wall. Biking on the city wall was an amazing thing - I just would not recommend doing it during a hot day in the summer.
So, next week I will be heading to Kunming to volunteer at a camp for High School and College students (Chinese and Other Nationalities) for 10 days. Here is a brief description of the camp from their website: "Sunshine International Camps provide students from the English speaking world and China an opportunity to engage in a highly interactive, cross-cultural character and leadership development experience. This camp will give students confidence and the skills to succeed as leaders of integrity in today’s globalized world. The world needs leaders of integrity! Sunshine International Camps provide an exciting, high impact learning experience that will train students in excellence and integrity in every area of life." I am pretty excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing with you in two weeks my experience at camp.
Also, for those of you who maybe have not heard yet, I will be stateside for a few weeks in August as well. I will be sending an email soon with more details, as well as including them in my next blog. I am looking forward to getting to see so many of you so soon.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
My Visitors
Hey! So, again I apologize for the delay between recent posts. I have allowed the past few weeks to get away from me. I am happy to be back with this blog, though.
So, like I mentioned in my last blog, I had some very special guests come visit me here in Xi'an, and who were so gracious and brought me some goodies from the States, including mac & cheese and toothpaste (toothpaste here is really gross and leaves an aftertaste).
The Manns, whom I have known my entire life, arrived on Tuesday, June 15 and stayed with me until their departure on the evening of Friday, June 18. They arrived in the middle of Dragon Boat Festival (would take too long to explain this festival, but you can google it and there are some great websites with information), so they were able to experience the mass of people out and about during that time. We spent the first day hanging out in my apartment catching up and then went out to dinner and to walk around the neighborhood. The next day we headed out early to register them at the police station (required of anyone that is not staying at a hotel - they do it for you at hotels) before heading to the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, and the Muslim market. After a day of exploring these places we met up with my China family and all went to a restaurant for Beijing Roast Duck, which is a special treat that we reserve for guests and celebrations. The following day I had arranged for a Chinese friend, who has a van, to take us to the Terracotta Warriors. I think the Manns enjoyed the time with my Chinese friend, and he even convinced us to go see the Banpo Museum on our way home. We concluded the evening at one of my favorite restaurants here, Colabos, and it was delicious. On the final day we went to the Big Goose Pagoda, also known as the Dayanta. The Dayanta is one of the oldest monuments in Xi'an and the courtyard surrounding it includes a temple and many classrooms for Buddhist children to study. We were also able to enjoy lunch together before the Manns had to leave for the airport. I definitely enjoyed their visit, and have posted some pictures of the places that we visited while they were here.
Well, to be honest I never thought I would have visitors here in China, as I realize that it is not an easy trip to make or feasible for many people for that matter, so to have my first set of visitors was awesome. And, as it turns out, I will have another visitor, who is arriving tomorrow! Natasha and I did two schools together in Denver and were also on the team that went to Colombia together during the first school. Natasha is going to be working with the same company that I am working with, but just in Hong Kong starting on July 14, so she is coming to visit and stay with me until that time. Her visit is perfect timing as my last day of class is tomorrow.
Speaking of class.....sometimes it is hard to believe that I have studied for two full semesters now. I definitely can see great improvement in some areas, and other areas that I still need to work on more this summer. I am pleased however with my progress and am happy to report that I have completed 2 full books and 1/3 of the 3rd book for Chinese Made Easier.
Well, I know this has become a long post, so I will close here for now. I will be back soon to fill you in on the camp that I will be working at for 10 days in July, as well as when I will be stateside later this summer.
Hoping you all are staying cool!
So, like I mentioned in my last blog, I had some very special guests come visit me here in Xi'an, and who were so gracious and brought me some goodies from the States, including mac & cheese and toothpaste (toothpaste here is really gross and leaves an aftertaste).
The Manns, whom I have known my entire life, arrived on Tuesday, June 15 and stayed with me until their departure on the evening of Friday, June 18. They arrived in the middle of Dragon Boat Festival (would take too long to explain this festival, but you can google it and there are some great websites with information), so they were able to experience the mass of people out and about during that time. We spent the first day hanging out in my apartment catching up and then went out to dinner and to walk around the neighborhood. The next day we headed out early to register them at the police station (required of anyone that is not staying at a hotel - they do it for you at hotels) before heading to the Bell Tower, Drum Tower, and the Muslim market. After a day of exploring these places we met up with my China family and all went to a restaurant for Beijing Roast Duck, which is a special treat that we reserve for guests and celebrations. The following day I had arranged for a Chinese friend, who has a van, to take us to the Terracotta Warriors. I think the Manns enjoyed the time with my Chinese friend, and he even convinced us to go see the Banpo Museum on our way home. We concluded the evening at one of my favorite restaurants here, Colabos, and it was delicious. On the final day we went to the Big Goose Pagoda, also known as the Dayanta. The Dayanta is one of the oldest monuments in Xi'an and the courtyard surrounding it includes a temple and many classrooms for Buddhist children to study. We were also able to enjoy lunch together before the Manns had to leave for the airport. I definitely enjoyed their visit, and have posted some pictures of the places that we visited while they were here.
Well, to be honest I never thought I would have visitors here in China, as I realize that it is not an easy trip to make or feasible for many people for that matter, so to have my first set of visitors was awesome. And, as it turns out, I will have another visitor, who is arriving tomorrow! Natasha and I did two schools together in Denver and were also on the team that went to Colombia together during the first school. Natasha is going to be working with the same company that I am working with, but just in Hong Kong starting on July 14, so she is coming to visit and stay with me until that time. Her visit is perfect timing as my last day of class is tomorrow.
Speaking of class.....sometimes it is hard to believe that I have studied for two full semesters now. I definitely can see great improvement in some areas, and other areas that I still need to work on more this summer. I am pleased however with my progress and am happy to report that I have completed 2 full books and 1/3 of the 3rd book for Chinese Made Easier.
Well, I know this has become a long post, so I will close here for now. I will be back soon to fill you in on the camp that I will be working at for 10 days in July, as well as when I will be stateside later this summer.
Hoping you all are staying cool!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
My 31st Birthday
Hey! Sorry for the absence of a blog last week - it seems like the past two weeks meshed together somewhere in my mind. I have provided you with plenty of pictures though, to make up for it. You will find three albums of pictures from these past two weeks - my University campus, a night at the Dayanta / park, and my birthday celebrations.
Well, this weekend, on June 12, I turned 31. Since my birthday and my sister-in-law's (Jennie) birthday are both in June, for many years I used to celebrate with my family when we were all together during the 4th of July holiday. Once my nephews entered the picture and we started spending Memorial Day weekend together as well, my mom posed the idea of two separate birthday celebrations for Jennie and I. Jennie and I did not care one way or another, but my nephew Ethan promptly told Grandma that we needed two parties and two cakes (smart kid since he wanted cake). So, the next year began the celebration of my birthday over Memorial Day weekend and Jennie's during the 4th of July. Well, this year I was not with my family to celebrate my birthday, but my mom has said that this summer when I am stateside that we will still have a cake (I know Ethan will be excited). Even though I was not with my stateside family and friends for my birthday, I still had a great two days of celebration with my family and friends here in China.
On Saturday, my teacher and two other teachers from school came over to my house where we had dinner, a Chinese cake, and watched some movies. And of course there was a dance party as well. It was a great night just hanging out with them.
On Sunday afternoon my friends took me to a new play place here in Xi'an, and it is amazing. This place has everything imaginable for kids and is even equipped for adults to play with the kids too. In my opinion it is better than Chuck E. Cheese! And of course any chance that I get to be a big kid makes me happy, so I loved the two hours we spent there. (I uploaded some pictures of the play place, with more to come later, but still feel like it doesn't do justice to this place). After the play place we went to Papa John's for dinner, and then to Baskin Robbins. I couldn't have asked for a better day!
Well, this week will be busy as well as I have some special guests here with me for the next few days. The Manns, who are like a second set of parents for me, are here for a few days. They have spent the past few days in Beijing, and arrived here in Xi'an this afternoon. I am having so much fun with them already and am looking forward to the next few days showing them my city. I will update you later this week about their visit.
Hope that you all are enjoying summer, but staying cool at the same time. Many blessings to each of you.
Well, this weekend, on June 12, I turned 31. Since my birthday and my sister-in-law's (Jennie) birthday are both in June, for many years I used to celebrate with my family when we were all together during the 4th of July holiday. Once my nephews entered the picture and we started spending Memorial Day weekend together as well, my mom posed the idea of two separate birthday celebrations for Jennie and I. Jennie and I did not care one way or another, but my nephew Ethan promptly told Grandma that we needed two parties and two cakes (smart kid since he wanted cake). So, the next year began the celebration of my birthday over Memorial Day weekend and Jennie's during the 4th of July. Well, this year I was not with my family to celebrate my birthday, but my mom has said that this summer when I am stateside that we will still have a cake (I know Ethan will be excited). Even though I was not with my stateside family and friends for my birthday, I still had a great two days of celebration with my family and friends here in China.
On Saturday, my teacher and two other teachers from school came over to my house where we had dinner, a Chinese cake, and watched some movies. And of course there was a dance party as well. It was a great night just hanging out with them.
On Sunday afternoon my friends took me to a new play place here in Xi'an, and it is amazing. This place has everything imaginable for kids and is even equipped for adults to play with the kids too. In my opinion it is better than Chuck E. Cheese! And of course any chance that I get to be a big kid makes me happy, so I loved the two hours we spent there. (I uploaded some pictures of the play place, with more to come later, but still feel like it doesn't do justice to this place). After the play place we went to Papa John's for dinner, and then to Baskin Robbins. I couldn't have asked for a better day!
Well, this week will be busy as well as I have some special guests here with me for the next few days. The Manns, who are like a second set of parents for me, are here for a few days. They have spent the past few days in Beijing, and arrived here in Xi'an this afternoon. I am having so much fun with them already and am looking forward to the next few days showing them my city. I will update you later this week about their visit.
Hope that you all are enjoying summer, but staying cool at the same time. Many blessings to each of you.
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