Plans for July

I hope you all are staying cool during these summer months.  It has begun to get really hot here.  Average temperatures have been in the 90's.  Sometimes I don't know how the Chinese people can stand it considering there are many places that do not have air conditioning or don't use it for fear that it uses too much electricity.  

A few days ago I made a 24 hour trip to Hong Kong for visa purposes.  Since I am on a tourist visa I have to leave every 90 days.  The 90th day was not until July 24, but I was going to be cutting it close since I am hoping to fly to the States on July 25, and I did not want to not make it out and pay the hefty fines, so I went early.  This time around it was cheaper for me to fly to Shenzhen (still mainland China) and to take a bus across the border into Hong Kong.  The journey went well, but definitely had some interesting moments too.  When I arrived in Shenzhen I bought my bus ticket to my stop in Hong Kong, and the ticketing agent then placed a sticker on me and told me to not take it off until my final destination.  I felt like an unaccompanied minor flying on a plane (though I did laugh about this), since I was then walked to my bus as well.  The 1st bus took about 20 minutes to go to the China customs stop, where the bus drops you off and you take all of your luggage with you into the building (the bus drivers have to go through customs too and may not be the ones to pick you up once you clear customs).  China customs took me about 10 minutes to clear, and as I was walking out to where you catch the bus on the other side, a man saw my sticker and grabbed my hand and led me directly to my next bus (again I laughed).  The 2nd bus took 5 minutes to go to the Hong Kong customs stop, which involved the same process.  This stop lasted an hour though due to so many people wanting to cross the border, and involved witnessing an altercation.  Two Chinese ladies, who initially had been in front of me in line, decided that they didn't want to wait and jumped into the Hong Kong resident line. The customs security guard sent them back to the end of my line, where they worked their way back up to in front of me again (not uncommon for people to "butt in line" here), and when the customs security guard caught them again they preceded to argue profusely with the guard.  After a few minutes of arguing one of the Chinese ladies swung at the security guard and would have hit her had her friend not grabbed her wrist at the last moment.  The lady who swung was taken into the back and was let go and sent through customs after 10 minutes.  Only in China!  I then left Hong Kong customs and was at my destination 25 minutes later.  This time I stayed at my Company's place in Hong Kong, and got to spend a few hours hanging out with my friend Natasha who is back doing another school there.  My trip back to Shenzhen involved the same process with the buses and customs, but this time did not include any interesting moments.  

So, a quick run down of my July plans.  I finish classes this week on July 5th and then I will be a coach again this summer for the Sunshine International camp from July 13-23.  This is a leadership camp for both Chinese and American high school and college students that takes place in a different city in China every year, and this year it happens to be taking place in Xi'an!  The day after camp ends I will be flying to Beijing to spend the night, as I am hoping to catch the 1st flight of the day early on July 25th to the States (I am flying on a buddy pass from some great friends).  My plans from there are to be in Georgia for a week, then Florida for 2 weeks, and then 2 weeks vacation with mom and dad.  Looking forward to seeing many of you this summer.  

        

Questions Asked

Well, it seems like the past 2 weeks since I have checked in have flown by.  Here is a quick recap before I get to the main part of the blog that I am most excited about.  Our friends from the States, whom I was hosting 5 of the 8 girls, left on June 10 and moved on to their next venture.  I loved the opportunities that I got to spend with the girls in my house and to pour into their lives during the short time that they were here.  And they definitely left an impact in my life as well.  Two days after they left I celebrated my 32nd birthday with the girls (the husbands stayed home with the kids) by eating pizza at Papa John's, ice cream at Dairy Queen, and walked around at the Big Goose Pagoda.  I also wore a new skirt that day that I bought myself a few days earlier at H&M that just opened here.  And the day after my birthday I celebrated again by having dinner with my Chinese friends at my favorite Chinese restaurant here - complete with sweet and sour chicken, rice, eggplant, and vegetables.

So, yesterday (Saturday), was my day to teach my once a week English class to 6-7 year olds.  After class my boss and I were talking about words that I was learning in Chinese, etc., when she asked if she could inquire about an English word (side note: my boss has an excellent grasp of the English language and has a college degree in English).  So, she writes the word "history" on the whiteboard and proceeds to ask if the word was really meant to be about "His story".  She told me she had been watching some movie and was thinking about the main character and how it really represented his account/story of history.  So, we had a chance to talk about it for a little bit and it was really good.  If you could just keep my boss, Jo, in your thoughts and that we would have more opportunities like this one, I would appreciate it.  Jo does not believe yet, but I can see a desire in her to know more and she is genuine is her questions.

Hope you are enjoying summer.

      

My Life Lately

It has been a busy month since my last post, so to catch you up on what I have been up to.  My laptop has crashed once again - actually the third time since I have been in China, but I am pretty sure that it has to do with this particular model of HP since my mom and brother have the same models, and the same problems too.  Thankfully I am still covered under warranty and can get it fixed while I am stateside this summer.  And I am also thankful for a friend who is loaning me his spare laptop to use in the meantime.

I have continued to stay busy with Chinese classes, mentoring, and teaching, and continue to love the opportunities that I get to spend with students.  At the Little Ants Learning Club where I teach English on Saturdays, we had a presentation day last week for half of the kids, who have completed this semester of classes (they are now focusing their time on preparing for upcoming school exams).  Four of the students are done until September, while I am still teaching five to six more students every week.  The students who finished last week did a great job and were really excited to show their parents what they have learned.  I hope to post a picture soon of me with the students - I am having problems uploading them tonight.

Last week my friends and I welcomed another group of friends from the company in the States, who will be here until June 10.  They are another great group of students who have really taken initiative already.  So far they have already been to an orphanage about an hour outside the city for three days this week to help with some Special Needs kids, and will be working with some other orphans here in the city in a few days.  I have five of the girls staying with me at my apartment and I have really enjoyed getting to know them.

Also in five weeks I will be working at the Sunshine International Camp again and this year it is being held in Xi'an.  And then hopefully the day after camp ends I am hoping to be headed stateside for a few weeks.  I will keep you posted on those events in future posts.

Hope you are having a splendid summer!

Time in Hong Kong

Well, I returned from a 4 day trip to Hong Kong last week (for visa purposes), so I thought I would share with you about my experience while I was there.

My time was pretty relaxing and included exploring the city and eating some great Western food.  My friend Erica and I got checked into our hostel Saturday afternoon and then went off to find Outback Steakhouse for dinner (which was great).  We walked down to Victoria Bay on our way back to the hostel and completed the evening with a stop at 7-Eleven.  Side note:  I have to say that my time in Hong Kong reminded me a lot of Florida with 7-Elevens and Circle K everywhere and the smell of the bay - it actually made me miss FL and want to go out on a boat this summer while I am home.

(Victoria Bay at night)

Sunday was another beautifully sunny and clear day (unlike most days in Xi'an) and we headed off to club at one of the tallest buildings in the financial district of Hong Kong.  We had a great experience there and enjoyed the Easter celebration of the risen One.  Afterwards we were invited to join everyone in an Italian themed pot luck lunch.  One of the club members is originally from Italy, so he actually made many of the dishes, which were excellent.  Afterwards Erica and I headed over to the Peak Tram, which takes you to the top of the highest peak on Hong Kong.  Since it was a holiday and everyone had the same idea, it would have been a 2 hour wait.  We decided that we would prefer to come back the next day and instead went to the Zoo and Botanical Gardens just up the road, and that was free admission.  And on that night we decided to eat at Burger King after failing to find a Mexican restaurant.

On Monday we headed back to the Peak Tram and were in line for only 10 minutes before getting on the tram to the top.  Once at the top we went out on the the observatory deck and looked at all of Hong Kong down below - it was a pretty cool sight.  Afterwards we headed inside to Pacific Coffee (ranked #1 in Hong Kong 7 years in a row) and had coffee and a great Greek salad for lunch.  After awhile we left there and headed back to walk around in the Central district of Hong Kong, where we found a park that we walked through and explored for a little bit. 

(Peak Tram)

(View from Peak Observatory)

And on Tuesday it was time to head back to the airport to fly back to Xi'an.  So, most of this day for me was spent checking out of the hostel and getting on a bus for an hour to the Hong Kong airport and then just hanging out at a Pacific Coffee before boarding my flight.

I definitely enjoyed my brief time in Hong Kong.  It is definitely an easy place to get around and things are in Chinese (mostly Cantonese, though many people speak Mandarin too) and English.  The subway system is amazing and the Star Ferry also makes it easy to get from the Kowloon region to Wan Chai or Central District region in 7 minutes or less.       

And Then There Were None

It is so weird to go from having lots of guests in your house for three weeks to complete silence again.  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each of the ladies that lived in my house while they were here, and the times that I was able to spend with the entire group at other functions too.  They are a great group of young adults with passion and determination, who are going to make a great impact in the world.

Well, life for me is back to normal for a little bit before my friends and I have the opportunity to host another group of friends from the States for twelve days starting the end of May.  I am looking forward to hosting another group and getting the chance to meet some more young adults with the same desire to make a change in this world.

This weekend my friend Erica and I will be traveling to Hong Kong for four days.  We both are on a year long, multiple entry, tourist visa, but we have to leave the country every ninety days.  And since Hong Kong is not mainland China, we can cross over the border to meet that requirement.  I found an amazing deal on a round trip airline ticket in and out of Hong Kong International Airport (most people fly into Shenzhen then take a bus over the border into Hong Kong since it is cheaper - not this time) and am staying at a really great hostel that several of my foreign friends have stayed at before.  I am pretty excited to go since I have never been to Hong Kong.  I hear there are multiple Outback Steakhouse's throughout the city, which I will definitely check out one day.  I am really excited as well as I will be there on Easter Sunday and will get the opportunity to go to a well known club (Sunday fellowship) in one of the highest buildings in Hong Kong. 

I will close for now, but hope that you all are doing well.  Will check in again upon my return from Hong Kong.