Da Dum Da Da...

I love that here in China, I have teaching days that are so much fun, they don't feel like teaching days at all. That happened in my two oral English classes last week, when I got to share a piece of American culture. That's right folks, here comes the bride! I taught them all about a traditional American wedding ceremony- everything from the people involved to the different elements. Now I had a good reason to do this, since one of the units in their book is all about weddings. So it was definitely educational. However, the real fun came when I told them that they were going to actually reenact an American wedding. Now we're talking!

We had a complete wedding party- including a flower girl, ring bearer, and official photographer. Assigning roles was an interesting adventure since there are only 2 guys in each class, and neither of them jumped at the chance to be the groom. So I had to choose, and the other one became father of the bride by default. But then, once the girls knew who the groom was, they were all too embarrassed to be the bride. Too cute. So I had to randomly choose one, and the "winners" were Jenny and Cherry. The announcement of the names brought on all kinds of ooohing and ahhing and giggles, of course. But the girls (and guys- Bob and Kevin) were really good sports. After the scariest roles were taken, everyone else fought for the chance to be the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and even the mothers. I even had some fun props/costumes, which got them even more excited. I of course was the officiant, and conducted the ceremony as follows:

Mothers light the candles:

Bridesmaids enter:

Flower girl and ring bearer:

Here comes the bride:
(from class 1- Jenny and her "dad", David)


Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today....
(from class 3- bride Cherry and groom Kevin)

...then I read some "words of love"- straight from 1 Corinthians 13!

Who gives this woman to be married??:
(this is me reminding the father what to say!)


Exchanging Vows:

Exchanging Rings:
(notice anything wrong?? oops!)


Lighting of the Unity Candle:

Jenny and Bob, I now pronounce you fake husband and wife!
You may High Five the Bride!

As you can see from all the smiles, everyone had a really good time. While in China, I've had to miss out on quite a few real-life weddings of some very dear friends. Sharing this time with my sweet students reminds me that it's all worth it. Congrats to all of you real life brides and grooms out there! Special congrats to Alyson & Dave, and Hannah & Corey!!! High Fives!! :)

Attack of the Snuggie!

These pictures are just too fun not to share:

It's a 2-headed Leopard-Print Snuggie Monster!

This would be me and my good friend Skye. She's just so fun, and up for anything, so when I said, "here, put your arm inside this crazy blanket-thing and say cheese", she was all smiles and ready to go! So grateful for friends like her that make life in China so grrrrrrr-eat!

PS- Thanks to Courtney for making this Snuggie moment possible :)

Thailand Wrap-Up n'at

First of all:
Now THIS is something that I'd never thought I'd see:

a picture of me, standing next to a giant picture of me and my teammates from my first year, inside of a giant flower, on display at the city park. The picture was from the Hot Air Balloon festival we attended that year, and the flower is a part of their Spring Festival decorations this year. Ohhh, China- you make me smile!

Anyway, the Spring Festival celebrations are now officially over, which means a few things:

1. I will not be woken up by firecrackers and cannon blast fireworks anymore!
2. Spring is on its way, and it looks like it will be on time this year!
3. Students are coming back to campus and classes start on Monday- eeek!

I'm actually excited about all of these things, even getting back into the classroom. Since I've returned from my travels, it's been a fairly quiet (figuratively, NOT literally) couple of weeks here in Langfang with no students around. I've realized that I really like being with them, in the classroom and out of it. And while my teaching schedule is extremely light due to some curriculum changes, I'm looking forward to the many lunch dates, game nights, training runs, cooking classes, movie nights, Book study times, and whatever other crazy activities we come up with. Bring it on, Spring 2011!

Now I know that I promised a more complete update on exactly what I did on my crazy 3-week trip around Thailand and South China. The thing is, I realized that there is no way I can ever type it all out- you'd be sitting here for quite a long time! But, I'd love to share some of the things that stand out the most.

Basically, as I think more and more about it, I just can't believe that I got to go to Thailand! Before the trip, it seems that I had gotten used to China and Chinese culture as my "default foreign culture", and since this is my third year, it's not really all that foreign anymore. But Thai culture woke me back up in a sense, and it was a really great adventure, being in a new land and discovering a different foreign culture. While it's also clearly Asian, the pace of life is different there (more relaxed and vibrant in a way), the architecture is different there (pointy edges and lots of gold), and even the rice is different there (longer grains and drier)! As tourists, we definitely did not get to immerse ourselves in the culture, but we did get to see a lot of it.

We spent the first two days in Bangkok, where the highlights were visiting the Grand Palace, the Flower Market, and eating some authentic Pad Thai. Then we ventured off in a double-decker VIP overnight bus down to the island of Phuket (pronounced poo-ket). It's very touristy, but for a good reason: it's beautiful!! If you know me, you know that I love the beach, love the water, and love the sunshine. Phuket had all of those things in abundance. We spent four very fast days there, going on two tours. The first was a boat/island/snorkeling adventure. Our boat took us about 20 miles off the coast to Phi Phi Island, where we swam and snorkeled. We got to see various parts of the island, including an area that was completely wiped out by the tsunami in 2004. Thankfully they have been able to rebuild and move on with life. All in all, it was so beautiful! The water was crystal clear, blue and green, warm and really salty. We saw rainbow fish, sea urchins, and even some tiny squids. We got to play on a tiny private island, collecting shells, jumping off of big rocks into the water, and soaking up the goodness of the creation around us. It's a day that I will probably never forget!
This is our group, all 12 of us, with our tour guide Alex. We are ready to snorkel!!

And our second tour was just as unforgettable, but for different reasons. It was basically a whirlwind land tour: we hiked up to a jungle waterfall, visited a gibbon rehabilitation center (they are commonly abused and mistreated at many clubs/restaurants/attractions in Phuket), got to take a short elephant ride, play with a baby elephant, and then take a boat ride to feed some candy bars to wild monkeys! This tour ended with a private, home-cooked Thai lunch served in the shade by the water. Chicken with cashews, shrimp and vegetables, and Thai curry- soooo good! I will definitely be eating more Thai food in the future!
Carly and I riding our elephant. We discovered the "captain's hats" at our conference in China, and decided that we needed them for our upcoming elephant ride. Turns out the guy in front was more like the captain- oh well!

On our last day there, we got an insider's look at life in Thailand when we visited an organization called S.H.E. It stands for Self-Help and Empowerment, and is run by believers who are dedicated to rescuing girls from the trap of prostitution, which is unfortunately very prominent in Phuket. They do this by building relationships with the girls, and as they get to know them, invite them to their place, where they can train them and pay them for other jobs. Currently they make jewelry and candy, but are also soon expanding into training the girls to work in hotels, instead of bars and nightclubs. We did get to see the dark side of this business when we would go out at night, so it's awesome to know that there are people fighting against it, who want these girls to know their worth, and to know the One who loves them perfectly. Check out their website if you're interested in knowing more: SheThailand.org


One last thing about Thailand: there are 7-Eleven's EVERYwhere! Seriously, you can find one about every 300 yards or so, on most major streets. Slurpees are a necessity in the Thai heat!!

So, there you have it- Thailand in a nutshell. And if any of you would ever like to go there, count me in! I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Pinch Me

Just got back from my whirlwind 3-week tour of Thailand and South China. I saw and did so many amazing things- sometimes it's hard to believe that this is actually my life! I'll try to get my thoughts together for a full blog sometime soon, but until then enjoy these highlight pictures That's really what you're here for anyway, isn't it? :)

The back of a tuk-tuk.
That's Thai for a 3-wheeled, open air taxi cab


Three of the temples at the Grand Palace in Bangkok


The street food in Bangkok seriously rocked!
Here I had some banana pancakes.


The sharp mountains and the color of the water in Phuket made for a stunning combination.
I could seriously look at this forever!


We rode elephants one day and then got to play with this little guy
(I'm wearing a captain's hat, backwards-more on that later)


Then we took a boat ride and got to throw candy bars to these monkeys. Who knew they loved chocolate too?


Guilin (China) was not as warm, but the jagged mountains there are just as amazing


Elephant Hill in Guilin


Yinz will be happy to know that Steeler Nation has made its way to Sanya, China! HERE WE GO!!!!!


Life is good, so I gotta jump!!

Heeeey Youuuu Guuuuys!!

It's true, I'm alive! And no, I did not remove you from my subscription list! Thanks for hanging in there with me. If you're reading this, it means that your persistence (or your subscription) has paid off. I feel like I say this almost every time, but I'm sorry for the lack of blogs. I gotta tell you, blogging is hard for me. I don't really know why, but I think it has something to do with the pressure I put on myself to create this amazingly awesome and witty blog. Deep down, I know that it doesn't matter, and that you guys just want to know what's going on over here.

So, what is going on over here? Lots of stuff!

The fall semester is officially over, and it was another good one! Classes were a challenge at times (what the heck do I know about Business English??), but lots of good times with good student friends means lots of good memories. Skye, Doria, Lindy, Morgan, Angie, Blanca, and Lucia all contributed to the good times. Most of the fun seems to revolve around food- me sharing American goodies and the girls teaching me about Chinese cooking. Fine with me!

Morgan loves cookies so much that we've dubbed her "Cookie Monster". So it only seemed right that she learn how to make chocolate chip cookies!

Lucia came over and taught me how to make Coca-Cola Chicken wings. Don't knock them 'til you try them- soooo yummy!!

Skye represented the English department in the girls' soccer tournament, and helped the team take 2nd place- a new record for our girls!


Besides time with girls, I've also had a really great time with my teammates this year- in Langfang and on the greater IECS team. We had our 3rd annual Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving, and a miracle occurred:
Steelers and Ravens fan put aside differences to play on the same team (victorious team, I might add), and even smiled for pictures together afterwards! That's Jake, Theresa, and me.

Christmas was also memorable, since this year we all decided to stage our very own Nativity play. We all chose roles out of a hat, and prepared costumes accordingly. Teammate Andy wrote a simple script, and on Christmas day we performed it- for no one! Only in China!
Can you guess who/what I was??


Yay Team Langfang!

Heather and I modeling our new Christmas aprons (hers came with protective sleeves as well- very handy!)

And here we are, almost mid-January. Classes don't resume until February 21st, so we're taking full advantage of the time off and we are outta here! We're all heading to Sanya (the southernmost city in China) for our annual winter staff conference, and then 12 of us are checking out Thailand! I'm super excited to see some beautiful beaches, eat some authentic Thai food, and ride on an elephant! After Thailand, Carly and I are stopping in Guilin- famous in China for its river and some really big mountains- which are technically called karsts, I think. Rocky and pointy. I think. I know more soon enough. Tell you all about it upon my return!