Just a boring week

Nothing really happened this past week. We taught our classes like normal. I write a budget for out up coming trip to Nanjing and Beijing. Its been cold this week. So we mostly a stayed indoors. Friday after we taught Sarah and I literally stayed in our room for almost the rest of the day. It was raining and windy and so cold outside. Miserable weather. I read and wrote. We both took naps. We made cookies out of a cookie mix using the microwave. Those actually turned out to be good.
We bought our train ticket to Nanjing on Saturday. We will be starting with members while we are there and going to the Nanjing branch for church. I'm excited for a normal three hour church! I'm so excited for this trip! Tony, I don't think I told you that we are going to be in Beijing at the same time as the young ambassadors which means I'll get to see Cayel.
I was talking with a couple of the girls here last night about how weird it was to be half way done. We have all finally found our groove here and we've gotten used to the "China way of things" that it will be weird going home. I almost wish I could stay longer but at the same time I miss everyone back home and I miss some American things as well. I am really going to muss my kids. I don't know how I'm going to leave them.
What's happening in America is awful. Too many shootings, bombs, and whatnot. All we have in China right now is the bird fly and dead, diseased pigs in the rivers. Ha ha
Life is good! The church is true! I actually love my wood bed with the little padding on top! Washer is fixed! Love you and miss you!

Conference and Birthdays! Two amazing things!

So I finally finished watching conference on Friday.  I had to give a talk on my favorite conference talk yesterday.  I decided to combine two of the talks.  One was Elder Cook's talk from Saturday afternoon and the other was President Uchtdolf's talk on Sunday morning.  They were both mostly about finding peace and God's light in difficult times.  I loved them!  Of course I loved Elder Holland's talk too! All the talks were so good!

Monday was normal.  Just hanging out and teaching.  Tuesday night Sarah and I had a roommate date.  We went out to Tianyi and shopped and it was fun.  Wednesday after we taught Sarah, Sasha and I went into town and shopped some more and had dinner.  Thursday is still our long teaching day so all we did was teach and nap.  Friday we taught in the morning and while we were teaching a bunch of Chinese teachers and parents and kids from other schools came and like bombarded our classes.  They just stared and watched us teach.  It was intimidating and crazy.  We all hung out and chilled till dinner time and we went to Babelas.  Saturday was my birthday!  I got sung to several times in the morning.  We went to lunch at the Irish pub in Lai Wei Tan.  Everything in Lai Wei Tan is for foreigners.  All the restaurants and shops and spas are mostly European and owned by Europeans.  We ate burgers and fries and it was so delicious! We were eating outside in this courtyard area and another group of all guys were there too.  It turns out that they were celebrating a birthday too.  They are all on the football (soccer) team at the Nottingham college in Ningbo.  They were all from different countries.  France, England, Italy, Brazil, Guatemala, and two from Russia.  After lunch we went shopping again.  We really like shopping.  We came back home and took showers since we only have certain times when we have hot water.  On the weekends its at 7pm, which is annoying.  I got a call from one of the other foreign teachers at our school, Silvia, and she told me to come down to the PYP building for a surprise.  I went down and they had made homemade pizza and made me my own for my birthday!  It was so sweet of them.  We went to their apartments a little while later and had ice cream and strawberries.  It was a good birthday!  I can't believe how old I am! Sunday I spoke in church and after church.  Silvia (who had come to our meeting just to hear me speak.  She isn't a member) took me to where she gets her hair cut and they washed, trimmed, and styled my hair for only 10 yuan!  So amazing.  Interesting thing about China, only men do hair here.  There are only men hairstylists.  That's not true I have seen one women.  But they men here are obessed with their hair.  The women will either have it down, in a bob, or in a ponytail.  The men go crazy and worry about their hair.  It's rather funny.  That's really everything that's going on.

The church is true!  Life is great! Love you!

Disney Moments in China

I've had a few Disney moments today. One while I was looking at the river. The rivers are green and it reminded me of the rivers of America. It also smelled like it. Kinda weird but fun. Another was while we were on the bus. We were sitting at the back which is elevated. Riding a bus in China is like riding Indiana Jones. Lots of bumps, drops, and sudden stops. But no safety straps. Ha ha those are my Disney moments.

Okay so I know this is late

Okay so I know this is late.
Last week not a lot happened till the weekend. Monday to Thursday we pretty much just hang out at the school or taught. The kids had an day day school week because if the holiday this week. On Friday we have our short teaching day. Friday we went out. Saturday I went out with some of the other foreign teachers to a sports store called decathlon and we went to dinner. After dinner Erica met us and we went to one if the Catholic churches to go to the Easter processional and night mass. It was pretty cool but all in Chinese. We got up early the next morning to all go to Easter mass. It was good. All about Christ saving us by resurrection and how we don't need to fear death etc. We went to an Irish pub after for lunch. They had hamburgers, pizza, Irish foods like bangers and mash, ice cream. It was so good! We had regular sacrament meeting after that. It was really good! Easter is awesome! The church is true!
Monday we had a Friday scheduling of class so we taught early. We did an Easter egg scavenger hunt. It was way fun!
We went to a shopping area that's super cheap by Tianyi. Afterwards we went to our favorite cheap noodle place that's like 5 minutes from the school. Its so so so very good! Tuesday we got up and left at 9 to go to the train station. We took the train to Hangzhou. Hangzhou is so beautiful! Its the home of the west lake. Its breath taking. Its both industrial and it has beautiful nature. We went to Indian food for dinner. It was good. The hostel was way nice! Wednesday we went to this gorgeous park. It had grass and tulips and bridges and rivers and ponds. So gorgeous! We went to a outdoor shopping center and because ours a huge holiday there were more stands with things to buy. It was so crowded and so fun! We had to be back at the hostel at 3:30 to check out and go to the bus station. The bus took us to Huangshan. We got there late and took some taxis to the hostel. It was not as nice as the one in Hangzhou. Its a cheap hostel. Thursday morning we got up and pushed out way onto a taxi bus to go to the actual yellow mountain. We had to take another bus to the entrance. We decided to take a carriage lift up to almost the top because of time. It was so awesome being in the clouds and fog. We hike around got a couple of hours, going to different peaks. They don't have ramps, holds, or trails; its all stairs. Don't worry I took tons of pictures on my camera. We hiked down instead of taking the lift and wow is that a workout! I really don't like stairs now. But we did get to see some monkeys and like always everyone wants our picture and to be in pictures with us. I'm actually starting to like it. Ha ha We got home from the mountain and had dinner. My feet killed! We all took turns taking a shower and went to bed. Friday we slept in and got fruit for breakfast. The of the girls decided to go back to Ningbo instead of going to Hangzhou. We went to a place called ancient street. Its a super old street that's been there since the qing dynasty (960ad). Tons of food and shopping. 6 of us met up with 5 guys that Erica met the day before and we went to dinner and to ktv (private room karaoke). Ktv is awesome, I had done it earlier with or group and it was way fun! We went back to our hostel. Sorry I forgot to take pictures. We got up in the morning and went to the bus station to go to Hangzhou. When we got to Hangzhou it was windy. We took taxis across town to the railway station and got tickets to go home to Ningbo. They only had tickets for 8 and so we split into groups. Some went to the lake, we went to the huge street market, and some went to the museum. I had McDonalds again. The meat and fries are not as greasy as back home. The fries don't have salt either. We met back at the train station at 7. We got onto the train and headed home.

P.S. The Church is True! -Shanghai Adventure

Sunday we went to dinner and afterwards when we were outside it was so warm and humid and it was sprinkling.  It felt so good!  It felt like night time in Florida.  I loved it so much!  Monday we have our Chinese class at 8:50am.  Sarah and I did not want to get up.  Class was good.  We learned how to say directions and how to ask for directions.  It was a helpful class for us.  We had a mini meeting about our upcoming trip to Shanghai.  It is to a district conference and some tours of different parts of the city.  I am so excited!  We are split between members houses for the weekend up there so we had to coordinate and stuff.  I have class at 1-3 with my basic reading class.  We have set up a routine for the week and it was the first day we were trying it.  It went pretty well for the first day.  Right after we have a kindergarden class for an hour.  They are still crazy but they are starting to understand out routine and more of them are speaking more English and less Chinese.  Monday night Sarah, Jessica, and I went to Wanda.  Wanda is a nice mall.  Underneath is a supermarket and there is an imax and ktv.  The top floor is all restaurants.  We went to a stationary and journal store.  Sarah had seen these super cute ear buds there and had to buy them.  Then we went down to Tesco, the supermarket, and bought some stuff we needed for the apartment.

Tuesday we didn't have anything till our meeting at noon but for some reason we got up at 7:30am.  The classes are the same as on Monday.  In the middle of our classes a thunderstorm started.  The thunder scared some of the students.  This was not normal thunder, it was awesome!  It shook our rooms and lasted forever.  So cool!  It started pouring just before went to dinner after class.  It didn't last very long.  Around 7pm a couple of us went on a walk/talk around the track at the school.  It was so nice.  I miss the walks I go on with people.  At 12:37am (according to Sarah) the loudest crack sound of thunder sounded.  It woke everyone up. That is when we noticed it was pouring.  The lightning was incredible.  It was like day time, that is how much lightning there was.  We had several strike around us. So super close.  You know when people describe thunder as rolling?  Ya I totally know what that means and sounds like now.  One thunder clap would go like 5 minutes.  So crazy fun to watch. I was talking to Sarah about the thunder. I don't remember anything about that. Apparently if you want me to talk in my sleep talk about thunder.  

Wednesday we have early classes.  The basic reading class is at 8am and kindergarden at 10.  It felt like the longest 3 hours ever.  It was windy and cloudy and rainy all day.  It doesn't get lighter, it looks dark all the time when we have this kind of weather.  It sucks.  

Thursday was kinda stressfull.  We were getting everything clean and ready for Casey.  Friday morning we got up and had our classes.  Casey watched and it went really well.  We had another nice lunch at the school which was delicious! Although you would have to like fish.  We had our interviews after and that was nice and short.  Casey is really easy to talk to. A couple of us went to the store and the bank to get last minute things for Shanghai.  When we got back we went to show Casey the area.  We got some more dvds.  I got Oz and Cirque du Solai.  We went to Lai Wei Tan to the Turkish restaurant and it was still so delicious.  When we got back we had a group meeting kind of thing with Casey and he gave us Reeses!  We packed and planned and mapped out Shanghai so that we would be ready.  

I went to sleep at 1am and got up at 4:30am.  Ya a nice 3 and a half hour nap.  The school had a van to take us to the bus station.    We waited for like 20 minutes for the bus.  It was assigned seating.  I sat next to this nice Chinese girl.  We didn't really talk, mostly just tried to sleep.  When we got to Shanghai we took Metro line 3. (Metro=Subway) to meet with line 2 so we could go to the members apartment that we were staying with.  It was pretty easy to find and the Griffiths have a nice big apartment.  We had our own room with nice beds and a bathroom with a shower that has hot water all the time!  Hot water is a blessing, especially when you get it all the time!  We went to Peoples Square, to peoples park.  It was so pretty and nice.  We met up with Brother and Sister Lindsey and they took us to East Nanging Road which is a major famous road in downtown Shanghai.  It was amazing.  Huge shopping centers and tall buildings.  So awesome!  They took us on the metro to the Science and Technology stop with has this huge underground cheap shopping area.  You haggle prices.  They always started with the most ridiculous prices.  This one lady wanted 188 yuan for a pair of fake Toms and they were so cheaply made. I told her no in Chinese and walked away and she tried to grab me and she said she would do 100 yuan.  At this point Brother Lindsey told her that it wasn't worth more than 20-25 yuan and she yelled at him and threw him out of her shop.  It was so funny.  But I did get some good deals on a scarf and a Buddha necklace.  Talked them down and it was great!  

We went to the Young Da tower for the adult session of District Conference.  It was such a great session!  I felt the spirit so much!  The district members here are incredible.  It is amazing to be in a country where we can't share anything and stay so strong.  If anything it makes it want to be stronger in the gospel.  Everyone is very close knit and wants to help everyone out as much as they can.  Lots of members told us we could stay with them anytime we want to come to Shanghai.  After the adult session all the YSA members went on a tour of the Bund which was awesome! I met so many fantastic people my age. They are here for all sorts of reasons; school, teaching, internships, work.  It is incredible.  It was rainy but it was still nice.  We went on a ferry and saw parks and shops and it was so beautiful.  Shanghai is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen, not really clean but still. We took the metro back to the Griffiths around 9.  We got up on Sunday for the general session and the ysa session.  Sister Griffith drove us which took us about 30 minutes instead of the hour metro.  I sat next to this mom and her three young kids during the general session.  I helped her keep the kids entertained and quiet for the two hour session.  Her husband couldn't come.  After the session the sisters had prepared all this food for the YSA members.  The YSA members were the largest group there.  The food was so good!!!  We had the YSA session after.  We had one speaker.  He used to be the District president for the Jerusalem District.  His talk was mostly on living the gospel in countries were you can't share anything with non members or members who are native to the country.  It was powerful.  He talked about being examples and being kind.  I loved all the sessions so much.  This gospel is so amazing!  I am so glad that I am a member and that I have my own testimony of its truth.  I can't imagine not having it in my life.  I am not just a member of a church, this church, this gospel is my life, is me.  Without this gospel I wouldn't be me.  

Afterwards we went to the underground shopping area for an hour and took the metro back to the train/bus station and came back to Ningbo.  It was too short of trip.  We have a week of teaching and then on Tuesday we have a 6 day vacation.  We are going to a bunch of close places.  At the end of April we are going to Beijing, Xi'an, and another day in Shanghai.  It's a 9 day trip.  

I am getting used to being here.  Things that were strange are becoming normal.  I love the people and the culture. I am definitely glad I decided to come here.  It has been a blessing and a test.  I love it!  Plus I'm picking up a lot of Mandarin!  

I love you and miss you so much!

Crazy Week!

This week was another busy week.  Monday we had classes and went out to dinner.  Tuesday we just had a long class day.  The kids are crazy.  Wednesday we have class really early so we have a nice long day to do things.  Sasha and I went down to Tianyi and looked around and got lunch and stuff.  That was a lot of fun.  Later we went back with everyone and found a dvd shop and bought some dvds. I got The Hobbit, the new Spiderman, Wreck it Ralph, and the second Sherlock homes. I am going back and getting Les Miserables.  I'm so excited! Thursday we had a very long teaching day.  Friday we have class early again.  We hung out our apartment.  Later we took Isha (the Chinese girl we met) to a Turkish restaurant in Lai Wei Tan.  It's so delicious!  I love it so much.  She liked it too.  We hung around Tianyi after and went into some stores.  We got home at like 10 and stayed up talking for a bit and then crashed.  Saturday was my lazy day.  I did go to an out door market in the middle of the day and bought some fruit and some street food.  I literally stayed in the rest of the night.  I really needed a me night.  Today is Sunday and right now I am writing you.  I skyped with mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and Neals family all at once.  That was exciting and fun! We have church at one and later Erica and I are going to go out to dinner.  They kinda serve us meals on weekends at the school, but they are mostly gross.  This week Casey (an ILP head guy) is coming to watch us and interview us, kinda nervous.  But on Saturday we are heading to Shanghai for a District Conference.  I am excited for that!  We get to have tour groups and I'm excited to be with a ton of members and stuff!

Have I Really Only Been Here For Two Weeks?

Okay so I think I'm just going to just send you my blog entries for you guys to put up.

This week was a really long.  It was the first full week of teaching.  We have a strange schedule.  Monday and Tuesday we teach from 1:15pm-4:25pm.  Wednesday we teach from 8:00am-10:55am.  Thursday is a very long day.  We have a at 10:30am-11:00am, 4:00pm-4:40pm, and 5:50pm-7:40pm.  Friday we teach 8:50am-11:10am.  We also have a Chinese class for us at 8:50am-9:30am on Mondays.

Monday night we had a special dinner.  It was so super nice.  I put up pictures up on Instagram and I hope my mom is sharing those to Facebook.    

Wednesday we went out to a Mexican restaurant in Lai Wei Tan, which is close to Tianyi Square.  It was good.  We took a taxi back which took like half the time of the bus.  It was nice. 

Thursday was so super busy.  Friday we have school early and the rest of the day we spent time in the sun.  We went to book city and by Tianyi.  It was a decent walk.  This city is so huge!  We have only seen such a small part of it.  We went to a Turkish restaurant which was so delicious!  Afterwards we got on a bus to go back.  They had taken it the night before and we quickly found out that it was a different route this time and we went way off course.  So we had to walk down a long street and take a bus towards a more busy street and flag down a taxi to get us back to the school.  It was an adventure and we were so tired.  

Yesterday a bunch of people went on a hike.  I didn't.  A couple of we went out and went shopping.  We went to eat again in Tianyi.  

Life is weird here but I love it.