Pictures, as promised, from the awesome adventure trip! Enjoy!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mountainous Medicine
So, I know you haven't heard from me in a while and some of you probably think I've fallen off the grid---BUT, good news, I've been traveling and exploring A LOT! These are some pictures of this past week's 10th Grade Spring Trip to Yangshuo-the outdoor Mecca of China! I was SO HAPPY I was chosen to go on this trip out of all of the others because my soul was SO THIRSTY for some hiking, climbing, caving, and ANY ADVENTURE I CAN GET! It was also nice to be muddy 14 hours of each day-that's the state in which I prefer to exist-muddy but HAPPY! It rained everyday there so it made each activity that much more challenging (especially for those students who have never touched mud in their life-yes they DO exist!) I loved every minute of it-it was like I was a caged up bird set free in the mountains! Now, I do live in the mountains AND on the ocean but never do I get a chance-as my 'job'-to lead/guide these kids into doing my most favorite of things! Now THAT'S a job, right?! Anyway, we had a great time-check out the pics below-more to come!
A view from the top of the small town of Yangshuo
Everyone rides bamboo rafts up and down the river for transportation
These are cormorant birds-used for fishing. The fisherman tie a string around their neck (I KNOW, it seems harmful but really is not) and he takes the fish out when they are hungry and the birds dive/swoop down into the river and catch the fish and then swallow it half-way so they can 'spit it up' later when they come out of the water. This is how most villagers earn a living. The average income of this village is 2000 RMB a year which equals out to about $300 USD per year which actually-compared to the rest of the world (using globalrichlist.com) is one of the higher annual incomes throughout the world. CRAZY HUH??
Fisherman in action
Li River
Streets of Yangshuo-the red stuff on the ground is the results of fireworks-YEAR ROUND in China
During our caving/spelunking expedition (this is a pic of the brave kids and myself) there is a mud pit which is around 30 meters by 50 meters and about 5 feet deep in some areas that you can play ALL YOU WANT IN! Now, it was freezing, but who can resist this AWESOME experience to get dirty and enjoy mud?
After hiking out a river we came up out of the cave and this is where we ended up. Hiking out a river, I have to say, is one of the COOLEST things when you are a mile INSIDE of a 12,000 ft. high mountain! Looks like we are on the show "Land of the Lost"
In the airport in Shanghai, some of the students ran into "Noah" from the movie "The Notebook"-REALLY!
pic from our 30km hike
The start of our 30 km hike
We started our hike in a small fishing village called Xin Di. This is a picture of a SWEET old lady who was selling peanuts for 1kuai (about 13 cents)(This is how they make a living). I ONLY wanted a picture with her because she had smile lines like I had NEVER seen ANYONE have before. They set up camp at her eyes and cheeks and hiked all the way up her face-BEAUTIFUL LADY! When I asked to get a picture with her (in minimal Chinese because Chinese people over 50 different dialects of the spoken language) she acted sassy and said "You have to pay me 2 kuai if you want to have a picture with me!" I didn't have money so I asked a student to sneak in a picture :)
30 km bike ride through rice paddy fields. One time I toppled over into one because the mud was SO THICK and AWESOME!
Front door of a 300 year old village house
the downtown of Yangshuo
WE GOT TO EAT BURGER KING IN SHANGHAI!! WOO HOO!
What my feet/pants looked like EVERYDAY after our activites/adventures! YES!
This was the pond we got to jump in after the caving/mud pits! It was freezing but awesome!
Group 1 after rock climbing for the day! I topped out on a WICKED 5.10a
Group 1 girls rocked out!
Jin San and Yae Jin
Me and Amanda-one of my best friends here in Qingdao who also teaches at QMIS! Thank goodness I've found someone who loves to hike/climb/explore as much as I do :) She is a God-send!
Group 1 boys
Normal setting on a village road
Limestone Karsts are the mountainous-structures located in Yangshuo
This is where we got to hang out all the time, ChinaClimb, they are the group we came through to use their equipment, etc. They had a climbing wall IN their office/building. I salivated the whole time and got a quick fix for bouldering.
Out welcome sign
The ChinaClimb office-Lizard Lounge
Group 1 boy's breakfast
Leaving the hotel
A view from the top of the small town of Yangshuo
Everyone rides bamboo rafts up and down the river for transportation
These are cormorant birds-used for fishing. The fisherman tie a string around their neck (I KNOW, it seems harmful but really is not) and he takes the fish out when they are hungry and the birds dive/swoop down into the river and catch the fish and then swallow it half-way so they can 'spit it up' later when they come out of the water. This is how most villagers earn a living. The average income of this village is 2000 RMB a year which equals out to about $300 USD per year which actually-compared to the rest of the world (using globalrichlist.com) is one of the higher annual incomes throughout the world. CRAZY HUH??
Fisherman in action
Li River
Streets of Yangshuo-the red stuff on the ground is the results of fireworks-YEAR ROUND in China
During our caving/spelunking expedition (this is a pic of the brave kids and myself) there is a mud pit which is around 30 meters by 50 meters and about 5 feet deep in some areas that you can play ALL YOU WANT IN! Now, it was freezing, but who can resist this AWESOME experience to get dirty and enjoy mud?
After hiking out a river we came up out of the cave and this is where we ended up. Hiking out a river, I have to say, is one of the COOLEST things when you are a mile INSIDE of a 12,000 ft. high mountain! Looks like we are on the show "Land of the Lost"
In the airport in Shanghai, some of the students ran into "Noah" from the movie "The Notebook"-REALLY!
pic from our 30km hike
The start of our 30 km hike
We started our hike in a small fishing village called Xin Di. This is a picture of a SWEET old lady who was selling peanuts for 1kuai (about 13 cents)(This is how they make a living). I ONLY wanted a picture with her because she had smile lines like I had NEVER seen ANYONE have before. They set up camp at her eyes and cheeks and hiked all the way up her face-BEAUTIFUL LADY! When I asked to get a picture with her (in minimal Chinese because Chinese people over 50 different dialects of the spoken language) she acted sassy and said "You have to pay me 2 kuai if you want to have a picture with me!" I didn't have money so I asked a student to sneak in a picture :)
30 km bike ride through rice paddy fields. One time I toppled over into one because the mud was SO THICK and AWESOME!
Front door of a 300 year old village house
the downtown of Yangshuo
WE GOT TO EAT BURGER KING IN SHANGHAI!! WOO HOO!
What my feet/pants looked like EVERYDAY after our activites/adventures! YES!
This was the pond we got to jump in after the caving/mud pits! It was freezing but awesome!
Group 1 after rock climbing for the day! I topped out on a WICKED 5.10a
Group 1 girls rocked out!
Jin San and Yae Jin
Me and Amanda-one of my best friends here in Qingdao who also teaches at QMIS! Thank goodness I've found someone who loves to hike/climb/explore as much as I do :) She is a God-send!
Group 1 boys
Normal setting on a village road
Limestone Karsts are the mountainous-structures located in Yangshuo
This is where we got to hang out all the time, ChinaClimb, they are the group we came through to use their equipment, etc. They had a climbing wall IN their office/building. I salivated the whole time and got a quick fix for bouldering.
Out welcome sign
The ChinaClimb office-Lizard Lounge
Group 1 boy's breakfast
Leaving the hotel
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Chunjie Kuaile!
Chunjie Kauile!! Happy Chinese New Year! As you may or may not know, the Chinese go ALL out for Chinese New Year. This holiday is celebrated as if it were Christmas (from an American's point of view of what "Christmas" should look like). So with holidays comes time off, right? RIGHT!! So our school let out last Wednesday and will not resume school until fourteen days later, February 5, 2009. Being that when I have time off I usually have an 'itch' to go SOMEWHERE because c'mon, I'm in CHINA-I'm literally SO CLOSE to so many cool places on this side of the globe...so that's what I did, I went on a snowboarding adventure to the NanShan Quiksilver ski village right outside of Beijing/close to the Great Wall. As SOON as the bell rang on Wednesday, I hopped on a van with 8 other female teachers and 1 male teacher and we were on our way to take the 5 hour train to Beijing to then hit the slopes, literally, the next morning at 7 am. Boy was that the BEST TRIP EVER!! Not only was snowboarding awesome (you should really check out this park-its an awesome place to board, especially for not having real snow..shhh) but Beijing is just a really rad city anyway. It is FILLED with fun markets, Pete's TEX MEX (YUMM-which had DR. PEPPER-my first time since July 2008), an American hospital, and the list goes on. This trip was very fulfilling to say the least. Before coming to China, one of my 'sad moments' was the thought that I wouldn't be able to snowboard for TWO WHOLE YEARS because let's face it-China's not to 'hip' in some areas and I hadn't heard of any shredding going on on this side of the world. Well, I was wrong, and my heart was FULL of joy on January 22nd!! So here are a few pics of the trip. I taught 5 teachers how to snowboard on this trip (I would love to do this as a full-time seasonal job at some point on my life) and one of which is a proud 56 year old grandmaw! AWESOME, huh?
After we returned home we had big plans to re-do our living room/common area. It is STARK white and had this akward weird chinese-y wall and so we thought some paint and window treatments would do wonders...and we were RIGHT!! We headed straight for a store like Home Depot and also while we were in Beijing we picked up curtains from Ikea (the SECOND largest in the world) and a few other cool wall art pieces (see pics below of frames and flowers) that we thought might spice up the area. Below are pictures of the before/during/after our painting adventure. Enjoy!!
I hope you are all doing so very well. You can pr for our company as we are preparing to lose a few families which means we are in the process of recruiting (stateside) to fulfill SEVERAL teaching positions for the Fall of next year. If you are or anyone you know are interested, direct them to www.teachwithisc.com or send them my way via email or Facebook. Love you all so much!!! COME VISIT CHINA!!!
(weird chinese-y wall before)
(living room arrangement before)
(looking into the dining room before)
(and the painting begins...excuse our drying rack)
(Gloria comes to help us put on the first coat of paint)
(first coat drying for the night)
(our new curtains from Ikea to separate the dining room from the living room!!)
(new paint job and new lamps from Ikea)
(We covered the chinese-y wall with a few coats of paint and cool picture frames!)
(our new flower wall art and finished living room-well one wall at least!)
(NanShan Quiksilver ski village)
(Notice the TWO of MANY mountains covered in snow :) We take what we can get here!)
(maybe I was a little bit TOO excited to get back on a board!!)
(Gloria and Patti-the super buff grandmaw that learned to snowboard! Notice the ski lift goes over non snow-covered ground to take you to the top where there IS snow!!)
A few of the women on the trip!! It was -16 degrees here!!
Me, Gloria, Patti
After we returned home we had big plans to re-do our living room/common area. It is STARK white and had this akward weird chinese-y wall and so we thought some paint and window treatments would do wonders...and we were RIGHT!! We headed straight for a store like Home Depot and also while we were in Beijing we picked up curtains from Ikea (the SECOND largest in the world) and a few other cool wall art pieces (see pics below of frames and flowers) that we thought might spice up the area. Below are pictures of the before/during/after our painting adventure. Enjoy!!
I hope you are all doing so very well. You can pr for our company as we are preparing to lose a few families which means we are in the process of recruiting (stateside) to fulfill SEVERAL teaching positions for the Fall of next year. If you are or anyone you know are interested, direct them to www.teachwithisc.com or send them my way via email or Facebook. Love you all so much!!! COME VISIT CHINA!!!
(weird chinese-y wall before)
(living room arrangement before)
(looking into the dining room before)
(and the painting begins...excuse our drying rack)
(Gloria comes to help us put on the first coat of paint)
(first coat drying for the night)
(our new curtains from Ikea to separate the dining room from the living room!!)
(new paint job and new lamps from Ikea)
(We covered the chinese-y wall with a few coats of paint and cool picture frames!)
(our new flower wall art and finished living room-well one wall at least!)
(NanShan Quiksilver ski village)
(Notice the TWO of MANY mountains covered in snow :) We take what we can get here!)
(maybe I was a little bit TOO excited to get back on a board!!)
(Gloria and Patti-the super buff grandmaw that learned to snowboard! Notice the ski lift goes over non snow-covered ground to take you to the top where there IS snow!!)
A few of the women on the trip!! It was -16 degrees here!!
Me, Gloria, Patti
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Tag, I'm IT!
I just realized Steph tagged me on her blog. Sorry I'm just now noticing, I just got in from a WONDERFUL snowboarding trip in Beijing! (pics to come) So, to continue the trend...
8 Shows I'm Watching this Spring
1. Grey's Anatomy Season 5 (only when youku.com allows me-which is almost NEVER)
2. I think I will start Arrested Development (I've heard its funny)
3. We have no regular TV programs here...
8 Things That Happened to me Today
1. Navigated successfully (in Chinese) my way to the Beijing United Family Hospital (where thankfully they speak English!!)
2. Bought some great clothes in the LiDo Market
3. ate French Toast at Peter's Tex Mex (a 'have-to' in Beijing)
4. Bought DR. PEPPER AND STRAWBERRY POPTARTS! (Beijing has imports! pricy, but WORTHY!!!)
5. went to IKEA and bought fabulous new curtains for our apartment!
6. Somehow managed to pack EVERYTHING I brought/bought (including snowboard apparel) to Beijing for our Snowboaring adventure into ONE PACK weighing in less than 15 KILOS! WOO HOO!
7. ate BURGER KING for Dinner in the BJ airport!! Mouth-watering people, seriously, YOU take it for GRANTED!!!
8. Called it a night with installing our new curtains in the apartment and checking Beijing off the "to-do travel list"
8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Chun jie/Chinese New Year 2 week vacation
2. repainting the living room tomorrow!
3. NOLS Coming to CHINA and working alongside them in February!
4. School Spring Trips/Spring Break traveling etxtravaganza!! Where shall we go? India, Philippines, Europe?? The choices are endless
5. Backpacking in Mongolia for a month this summer
6. Also backpacking in Yunnan this summer!
7. Mom possibly coming to China in the summer!! (brings tears to my eyes and SO MUCH JOY TO MY HEART to even think about!)
8. Intensive language study this summer!
8 Things I Wish For: (I'm changing this to "8 Things I'm working towards to achieve" because I really think anyone can do ANYTHING they can put their mind too-oops, cheesy but TRUE!)...
1. My student loans could be paid for so that I would never have to be financially tied down again and I could have nothing binding me from where He moves me and where He will take me in this life!! (so FUN to think about, eh?!?!)
2. More hours in the day
3. A sea kayak
4. The endurance of Lance Armstrong while I'm training for the Great Wall Marathon
5. More lovers of the outdoors in QD (thankful for the few)
6. That I could teach snowboarding/outdoor education as a full time job
7. I could see my mommy and give her a giant hug. I want her to see my life here in China more than anything right now
8. To finish all my post-graduate work, obtain my PhD in Epidemiology, with NO STUDENT LOANS! (Barf!)
I TAG:
D.O., Karen
Ok, I miss you all!! Stay tuned for awesomeness regarding NOLS training/courses that are being offered here in China next month! Dreams come TRUE, people! And I promise, pics will come soon, especially as our remodeling projects progress...
8 Shows I'm Watching this Spring
1. Grey's Anatomy Season 5 (only when youku.com allows me-which is almost NEVER)
2. I think I will start Arrested Development (I've heard its funny)
3. We have no regular TV programs here...
8 Things That Happened to me Today
1. Navigated successfully (in Chinese) my way to the Beijing United Family Hospital (where thankfully they speak English!!)
2. Bought some great clothes in the LiDo Market
3. ate French Toast at Peter's Tex Mex (a 'have-to' in Beijing)
4. Bought DR. PEPPER AND STRAWBERRY POPTARTS! (Beijing has imports! pricy, but WORTHY!!!)
5. went to IKEA and bought fabulous new curtains for our apartment!
6. Somehow managed to pack EVERYTHING I brought/bought (including snowboard apparel) to Beijing for our Snowboaring adventure into ONE PACK weighing in less than 15 KILOS! WOO HOO!
7. ate BURGER KING for Dinner in the BJ airport!! Mouth-watering people, seriously, YOU take it for GRANTED!!!
8. Called it a night with installing our new curtains in the apartment and checking Beijing off the "to-do travel list"
8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Chun jie/Chinese New Year 2 week vacation
2. repainting the living room tomorrow!
3. NOLS Coming to CHINA and working alongside them in February!
4. School Spring Trips/Spring Break traveling etxtravaganza!! Where shall we go? India, Philippines, Europe?? The choices are endless
5. Backpacking in Mongolia for a month this summer
6. Also backpacking in Yunnan this summer!
7. Mom possibly coming to China in the summer!! (brings tears to my eyes and SO MUCH JOY TO MY HEART to even think about!)
8. Intensive language study this summer!
8 Things I Wish For: (I'm changing this to "8 Things I'm working towards to achieve" because I really think anyone can do ANYTHING they can put their mind too-oops, cheesy but TRUE!)...
1. My student loans could be paid for so that I would never have to be financially tied down again and I could have nothing binding me from where He moves me and where He will take me in this life!! (so FUN to think about, eh?!?!)
2. More hours in the day
3. A sea kayak
4. The endurance of Lance Armstrong while I'm training for the Great Wall Marathon
5. More lovers of the outdoors in QD (thankful for the few)
6. That I could teach snowboarding/outdoor education as a full time job
7. I could see my mommy and give her a giant hug. I want her to see my life here in China more than anything right now
8. To finish all my post-graduate work, obtain my PhD in Epidemiology, with NO STUDENT LOANS! (Barf!)
I TAG:
D.O., Karen
Ok, I miss you all!! Stay tuned for awesomeness regarding NOLS training/courses that are being offered here in China next month! Dreams come TRUE, people! And I promise, pics will come soon, especially as our remodeling projects progress...
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Bedroom Pics and Halloween
These first few pics are from the Halloween Party (thanks mom!) we hosted back in October (sorry its taken so long-I'm finally clearing out my memory card) and also pics of my room at my apartment PLUS a few pics of some things I received in the mail from Mom and Mamaw. Enjoy!
I got PB Captain Crunch and Strawberry Special K! Thank you Mom and Mamaw! I LOVE IT!
Also got the Grey's Trivia game in the mail! WOW! This is a chart-topper!
This is a touristy-y pic of a pic of the parasailing adventure
My NEW jersey-knit sheets Mamaw Marcy sent me for Christmas! THANK YOU!!
See the red flowers on the wall? LOVE THEM! Got them at IKEA in Hong Kong :)
Wall of fame. Click to see a close-up. I apologize if I do not have a picture of your pretty face up there.
New shoes I got in Bangkok. This is my FIRST pair of Nike Shocks. I think I'm a few years too late to still be apart of the fad :) And these shoes were less than twenty bucks-I don't mind waiting a few years!
My closet
My LOVELY bed. Now that it has 4 comforters (that I sleep on top of) plus an electric blanket and a matress pad from IKEA it is now comfy to sleep in. If you take away any of these components you will literally be sleeping on plywood.
New pillowcases I got in Bangkok-LOVE 'em!
View looking from the windows in my room
West side of the room
More westward...
My chest of drawers (with a scrap piece of material I got at IKEA for a dollar!)
If you know me at ALL, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE maps and you know that I would never go or move ANYWHERE without them. If you ever want to give me an amazing gift, get me a map (one that is not pictured here-plus the newly acquired Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam map I just got in Thailand)
Finally, my room. I'm not finished because I want fabric to be draping from every inch of my ceiling. I'm going for a Moroccan style-kind of like my apartment back in Dallas :)
Hope you enjoyed the tour of my room! You are ALWAYS welcome here!
I got PB Captain Crunch and Strawberry Special K! Thank you Mom and Mamaw! I LOVE IT!
Also got the Grey's Trivia game in the mail! WOW! This is a chart-topper!
This is a touristy-y pic of a pic of the parasailing adventure
My NEW jersey-knit sheets Mamaw Marcy sent me for Christmas! THANK YOU!!
See the red flowers on the wall? LOVE THEM! Got them at IKEA in Hong Kong :)
Wall of fame. Click to see a close-up. I apologize if I do not have a picture of your pretty face up there.
New shoes I got in Bangkok. This is my FIRST pair of Nike Shocks. I think I'm a few years too late to still be apart of the fad :) And these shoes were less than twenty bucks-I don't mind waiting a few years!
My closet
My LOVELY bed. Now that it has 4 comforters (that I sleep on top of) plus an electric blanket and a matress pad from IKEA it is now comfy to sleep in. If you take away any of these components you will literally be sleeping on plywood.
New pillowcases I got in Bangkok-LOVE 'em!
View looking from the windows in my room
West side of the room
More westward...
My chest of drawers (with a scrap piece of material I got at IKEA for a dollar!)
If you know me at ALL, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE maps and you know that I would never go or move ANYWHERE without them. If you ever want to give me an amazing gift, get me a map (one that is not pictured here-plus the newly acquired Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam map I just got in Thailand)
Finally, my room. I'm not finished because I want fabric to be draping from every inch of my ceiling. I'm going for a Moroccan style-kind of like my apartment back in Dallas :)
Hope you enjoyed the tour of my room! You are ALWAYS welcome here!
Sawadika!
Sawadika from Thailand, or more commonly said, "Hello! (to a female)"!
I wanted to give you a look at what Christmas looks like- S.E. Asia Style! Me, Karen, and a friend from The Village back in Dallas, Val, who also now lives in Wenzhou China, traveled south of the Border for Christmas. Last Tuesday we loaded our backpacks and were on our way to Thailand! Our first stop was the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and from there we had to catch a taxi two hours south to our first beach destination, Pattaya. We arrived there about 3:30 am and awoke to find our friend Val who had safely made it the night before! It was Christmas Eve our first full day and we decided that exploring our litte town and relaxing on the beach would suffice. The next day, Christmas Day, we decided to go out on the scuba diving boat for an all day adventure of diving and exploring 2 hours south off of the coast of Thailand. The diving company, Mermaids, took us to two private islands and we even had a chef on board to cook an authentic Thai Christmas lunch-it was AWESOME! The price for the boat all day, the equipment, food, and rentals was about thiry dollars! Can't beat that! For Christmas dinner we went out to a nice dinner and then proceeded to go to bed early-little did we know that the TV in our hostel had a few ENGLISH Channels and for the first time in six months I got to watch CNN-IN ENGLISH!! (This kept us up late many o' nights!) The next few days were spent Elephant Trekking, Para-sailing, getting henna tattoos, reading, reading, and more reading (excellent recommendation, The Shack, by William P. Young), relaxing, market shopping, and consuming tons of great street Thai food! Of course I got to work on my tan as well :) After 5 nights in Pattaya we headed north to Bangkok for 2 nights/ 3 days to explore and see what it had to offer. We stayed in the BEST hostel I've ever stayed in-in the entire world (HQ Hostel). It was so modern and urban and even offered free internet, CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST (that was the best part because in China we can't get cereal), DOWN COMFORTERS, and it was located in a great area of Bangkok. We spent the next few days going to markets, to the Grand Palace-where King of Thailand and all of the government officials reside, taking boat trips up the river, going to an English FILM, eating blizzards from Dairy Queen, going to bookstores (ANOTHER HUGE PLUS!), and buying groceries that we cant get here in China (see the picture below). We left Bangkok with a great tan and a heart full of joy-thankyou Thailand for a great Christmas! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! Love you all!
street food
Grand Palace
Monks in Training
Val and I
At HQ-sporting our new fisherman pants!
Being culturally sensitive with Ronald!
First A&W in SIX MONTHS!
Pink Taxis in Bangkok
Oh oreo blizzard, how I have missed you!
Goodies we can't get in China!
In our Dorm at HQ
Parasailing
The Parasailing team~
Back the basics while elephant trekking
Dive site #1
Christmas Day Diving
Wearing one of my favorite things, my pack, always means traveling is ahead :)
Henna
Weird picture of this baby in our room
Outside our hostel in Pattaya
Christmas Curry Dinner
HUGE strawberries at the airport!
Bangkok street food~
He/Shes always have the BEST FOOD to choose from!
saying goodbye to the King and his palace!
Centuries of stories painted on the walls of this palace!
Travel buddies :)
traveling is by way of Tuk-Tuk or Baht Bus
Sunset in Pattaya
Me and Val-Love her and am so thankful she lives in China!!
Street food in Pattaya!
Good Morning!
Disclaimer: all of these pictures would not be possible if it weren't for my awesome roommate, Karen or my amazing travel buddy, Valerie. They take all the pics and I'm using hopefully with their permission :)
I wanted to give you a look at what Christmas looks like- S.E. Asia Style! Me, Karen, and a friend from The Village back in Dallas, Val, who also now lives in Wenzhou China, traveled south of the Border for Christmas. Last Tuesday we loaded our backpacks and were on our way to Thailand! Our first stop was the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and from there we had to catch a taxi two hours south to our first beach destination, Pattaya. We arrived there about 3:30 am and awoke to find our friend Val who had safely made it the night before! It was Christmas Eve our first full day and we decided that exploring our litte town and relaxing on the beach would suffice. The next day, Christmas Day, we decided to go out on the scuba diving boat for an all day adventure of diving and exploring 2 hours south off of the coast of Thailand. The diving company, Mermaids, took us to two private islands and we even had a chef on board to cook an authentic Thai Christmas lunch-it was AWESOME! The price for the boat all day, the equipment, food, and rentals was about thiry dollars! Can't beat that! For Christmas dinner we went out to a nice dinner and then proceeded to go to bed early-little did we know that the TV in our hostel had a few ENGLISH Channels and for the first time in six months I got to watch CNN-IN ENGLISH!! (This kept us up late many o' nights!) The next few days were spent Elephant Trekking, Para-sailing, getting henna tattoos, reading, reading, and more reading (excellent recommendation, The Shack, by William P. Young), relaxing, market shopping, and consuming tons of great street Thai food! Of course I got to work on my tan as well :) After 5 nights in Pattaya we headed north to Bangkok for 2 nights/ 3 days to explore and see what it had to offer. We stayed in the BEST hostel I've ever stayed in-in the entire world (HQ Hostel). It was so modern and urban and even offered free internet, CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST (that was the best part because in China we can't get cereal), DOWN COMFORTERS, and it was located in a great area of Bangkok. We spent the next few days going to markets, to the Grand Palace-where King of Thailand and all of the government officials reside, taking boat trips up the river, going to an English FILM, eating blizzards from Dairy Queen, going to bookstores (ANOTHER HUGE PLUS!), and buying groceries that we cant get here in China (see the picture below). We left Bangkok with a great tan and a heart full of joy-thankyou Thailand for a great Christmas! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! Love you all!
street food
Grand Palace
Monks in Training
Val and I
At HQ-sporting our new fisherman pants!
Being culturally sensitive with Ronald!
First A&W in SIX MONTHS!
Pink Taxis in Bangkok
Oh oreo blizzard, how I have missed you!
Goodies we can't get in China!
In our Dorm at HQ
Parasailing
The Parasailing team~
Back the basics while elephant trekking
Dive site #1
Christmas Day Diving
Wearing one of my favorite things, my pack, always means traveling is ahead :)
Henna
Weird picture of this baby in our room
Outside our hostel in Pattaya
Christmas Curry Dinner
HUGE strawberries at the airport!
Bangkok street food~
He/Shes always have the BEST FOOD to choose from!
saying goodbye to the King and his palace!
Centuries of stories painted on the walls of this palace!
Travel buddies :)
traveling is by way of Tuk-Tuk or Baht Bus
Sunset in Pattaya
Me and Val-Love her and am so thankful she lives in China!!
Street food in Pattaya!
Good Morning!
Disclaimer: all of these pictures would not be possible if it weren't for my awesome roommate, Karen or my amazing travel buddy, Valerie. They take all the pics and I'm using hopefully with their permission :)
Monday, December 22, 2008
It's SNOWING in Qingdao!
Zhongshan Park fellowship
Joshua, from the Pre-K P.E. Class
Minchi and Emily from Pre-K
Mrs. B's Pre-K Class (MY FAVORITE!)
Qingdao's Hisense Shopping Mall
Wu Si Guang Chang, May 4th Square
The sidewalk outside of our apartment
The beach outside our apartment
A view of the coast looking West
Looking East
Looking outside an apartment window
Well Sunday morning was a little different for us here in Qingdao. Karen and I awoke VERY early because we were going to a Christmas performance that was put on by a few different fellowships. As we walked into the kitchen we saw blizzard-like conditions and we couldn't believe our eyes! Qingdao only gets "one day of snow each year and it isn't even enough to stick." Boy, are we lucky because we've had THREE snow days so far and this one wins by a stretch! Thankfully we bought jackets that were made to perform efficiently at these weather conditions (high wind, snow, below freezing temperatures, ice, etc) so we were able to put them to the test. The jackets were such a blessing! We blazed a trail up the sidewalk (pictured above) and hailed a taxi not knowing the next hour of our life would be slipping all over Qingdao's barren highways. The taxi's/cars/trucks are not made for these weather conditions AND there is no education on HOW to drive in these conditions so you can imagine the (X) # of car pile-ups along any given OVERPASS (aren't we supposed to stay OFF of bridges/overpasses when these conditions arise?) It was an adventure, nonetheless, and always is when Karen and I are traveling together. We arrived safely in Si Fang and found my friend, Paul, whom we came to support in the first place. We walked inside and were the only foreigners of course, but that is never a problem :) I was so excited for Paul because he's been practicing for this for months now! I went into the performance thinking it was going to be thirty minutes to an hour max, but BOY was I wrong. The production was WAY over THREE HOURS and I was stuck sitting in the middle of the crowd-unable to move the entire time. However, it was the best performance I've seen in a REALLY long time. It was beautiful because all ages were involved. There was dramas, a choir, children's program, youth, solos, and the "just older youth." After the performance was over I was so happy to see some familiar faces that work at our school who also happen to be some of my closest Chinese friends. After the production we prepared to go back out into the fronzen tundra-like weather conditions and decided to call it a day by grabbing lunch and going home and hibernating.
Tonight I'm helping with the first ever "English Service" at another fellowship. It's going to be grand. I'm in charge of singing and hand-motions (because we all know Chinese LOVE dancing and any hand motions). Please YARP for this time because the Good News will be shared for all to hear and there will be many many many people there who have never heard of Him. Then tomorrow we head off to Thailand! That is also another YARP-request. That we have SAFE and SMOOTH travels with no complications. We will be traveling for 8 days, Dec. 23-31. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. Even though I miss family traditions and dinners and time with friends there is comfort knowing that I'm here at this time for such a bigger purpose and reason and Christmas-time is a GREAT reminder of that. May His name ring louder than ever this Christmas.
With Love,
Tan Mei Shan 谭 美山
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