Disney Voluntears

Today we volunteered for a local school in Nanjing.  It was an amazing experience and it really brought things back into perspective.  Today we walked into a regular elementary school in a poorer area and the kids went crazy.  They were running through the school following us around like we were famous people.

We went into the classroom and I was in a 3rd grade class.  The kids were so funny.  They were all wanting to know about me.  They wanted to know what kinds of things I liked.  If I could speak Chinese.  If I liked their work.  What kinda fruit I liked.   We just did simple craft projects with them and it just seemed to make their entire day.


I was nervous going into the school because I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do with the kids but       the kids were amazing.  They were just so excited to have foreigners in the building.  They tried to use all the English they knew and were so excited to make the crafts and play games.

I was reminded today of how lucky our kids in the states were when I walked into their school they have just basic desks with one computer.  They had no heat and have to wear jackets all day.  There were 32 kids in the class and one teacher.  That was  a lot of kids to have in one room.

At the end of the day the principal asked to take pictures with the classes and us.  The kids were so funny they were all trying to hold my hands.  And then at the end we took a picture with the staff and the kids were pulling out their phones to take pictures of us.

It was such a great Christmas reminder about how much we have and how little others have.  It was a great day for all of us and I think it just reminded us of how blessed we were.

7 months later

7 months in China...HOLY CRAP!  The time has flown by...This has been such an amazing experience thus far.  I have experienced so much in such a short period of time.  I have truly had to learn to stand on my own feet.  I have an amazing support group of friends over here that I am blessed with but it has still been a challenge at times.

When I left 7 months ago, I was lost and looking for something more.  China has def.  been something more.  I am amazed by it all the time.  I miss home more and more but  I know I am in the right place.  I could not have asked for a better experience.

I think back to my Gainesville days and I am just so happy that I got to experience something more.  I never felt like I ever really got to challenge myself in Gainesville.  I was looking to be independent and wanted a life of my own.
Boy did I get what I asked for.  In the past 7 months I have mimed to people in stores and restaurants more times than my ego would care to count.  I have subway surfed my way through Shanghai.  Learned a little Chinese.  Made new friends and  lived completely on my own for the first time.    I have plunged and scooped buckets of water from a toilet.  Flooded my bathroom more times than I can count.  
I learned to cook a little.  Burned the crap out of food and learned to eat it just because.

I have tasted grasshopper, intestines and lord knows what else.  I have played with chicken feet and had whole birds and fish laid in front of me.

I have been sooo lost in my town many times.  I learned to use the metro and hail taxis.  I have discovered the greatness of the high speed railway system.

The one thing I was thinking about tonight walking home is that in the states walking a mile or two home is just not really something people do but here I am to the point where asking a taxi driver to drive me two miles home just seems crazy.  I just walk home and never think twice about it.  

I have traveled a little and learned a lot.  I have had many massages and def not enough sunlight.  I have bought a winter coat and actually live in a place where it is necessary to use one.  I have boots and tights and leggings to layer.  I now have hats and scarves.  I have seen fall leaves and witness real seasons.

I have started a budget and failed at sending money home.  I am now used to not having a dishwasher or a dryer.  I can say small phrases and communicate with my kids better now.

Crazy things like children peeing everywhere and people spitting so close to you you almost have to dodge the spit.  seem normal to me now.  I have done KTV and seen the sunrise in china more times than ever in the states.

I am now learning the fun that comes with winter and a bad water heater and bad heaters in the house.  

Experiences are what you make of them.  I choose to look at everything I experience here as a blessing and an answer to many prayers that I have sent up.  Though I miss home often I am blessed by every adventure China has to offer me.

I can't wait to see what China has to offer me in the next 7 months!!

Winter Adventures

This winter I am very excited to be in what I would call a real winter.  However this is a learning process for me seeing as I have never really lived in a place that winter starts early and gets really cold.  I have learned that carpet floors make for a much warmer house.  I miss those because my floors are freezing.   

I have learned that slippers are a must in order to keep your feet from freezing every time you walk around your house.   I am learning that there is no such thing as too many sweaters or Jackets.

I am loving the fact that I get to wear scarves and gloves and most of all I love to wear hats.  they are so much fun!  I love them.  I love that I have found a million wonderful pairs of cheap leggings that go under pants to help make me stay warm or on warmer days they make for delightful pants to a longer sweater.  

I love that boots are acceptable here and needed because it is actually cold here.  I love that I have now seen more shorts on girls here than I did in the summer.  They wear the leggings underneath the shorts and then boots.  

I love that the leaves have changed colors and now are falling off the trees so on my walk to the metro I get to stomp on them the whole way.  Nothing better than crunching leaves and stomping through piles of leaves....never gets old hearing the sound of a crunching leaf.  

I love that even though we are in China Christmas trees are going up like crazy everywhere I look there is a giant beautiful Christmas tree.  

I don't love that every morning I have to coax my Gas into working because it apparently doesn't like the cold and so there for has to warm up before lighting and heating the water.  I also don't love that I can't sit in my living room because it is too darn cold cause the heater doesn't well enough in there to heat the room!  

I will be buying another heater for that room when I get paid again :) 

I love winter and I love the change.  I am excited for the potential snow and fun that is to be had with a real winter :) :) :) 

A wonderful night in Nanjing

Just another delightful night in Nanjing.  I went to the Confucius temple and night market it was so pretty and had neat little shops here are a few photos from it.   The tree photos are just photos I saw while I was walking around today.  I thought it was neat that this is just in an apartment complex growing randomly.   

Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving this year was very different for me.  I have to say it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever  had.   Our on boarding group got back together for Thanksgiving and it was just an amazing day.  Two friends from on boarding were gracious enough to host us at their house and we all gathered for a meal of duck, chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies and more...it was good times and good laughs.  It was interesting because it really felt like a Thanksgiving day back home.  While a few of us were on our way over there we all had a moment where we forgot the stores would be open because it just felt like we were back home and everything would be closed.

We made turkey hands and ate and drank wine together like it was old times.  We all laughed at the memories or our on boarding days and emails exchanged between all of us before we made it to China.  It just felt so nice to be around the people that started this adventure with me. They truly feel like family.  The people that you have shared the best of times and sometimes the worst of times.  They shared the beginning the craziness that was the flight to China, on boarding and figuring out China.
We went out later that night and just got to let loose and have fun it was great to have some down time with these people again.  I know I shared the photos on facebook but here are some of my favorites.

Fall in Nanjing!

 Hehehe China

 The buildings are the coolest...

 I love the random art on the walls...

 Little bit of fall....

 Random

 Fall....

 Yay! Fun Statue

 The Sweater Store that is my favorite place... The best and the worst thing in Nanjing :)

How a great day of wandering today.  I love the days where I just wander the city :)

November

Well winter is hitting here in Nanjing.  While it is not horribly cold yet it is getting colder as the days go by.  It is interesting because here in China after a certain point in November it is time to turn on the heater. It doesn't matter how cold or hot it is outside the heaters are on because that is what you do after a certain date.  The kids show up no matter what in at least four layers now because it is past October and that is what you do.  We are having the battle at work with the Local staff because they have turned on the heat which means we loose control of our air in our classrooms and now it is the heat air or nothing.  And when you have two projectors and 15 children with singing in dancing it very quickly heats up.  

I wish I could transfer some of that heat to my house.  It is obviously a challenge living in China with the language barrier and I knew that coming into coming to China but sometimes there still surprises...such as I forgot that the remotes to my ac would be in Chinese so now I can't figure out how to turn the heat on.   There for the house is freezing all the time.  I did by a space heater today though it is little but hopefully will be enough to heat my bathroom.  I am leaving it by my bed so it heats at least part of the room so it isn't sooo cold.   

I have talked before about China days.  The days that China seems to kick your butt.  Today was one of those days.  I am sick and I didn't sleep well last night so it didn't start my day off well then I have construction that is next to me that starts so early that I am always woken up by it.  

I got to work only to find out that there are changes coming my way that are not going to be fun.  While I am a very adventurous person and love to be spontaneous I am not always someone that loves change.  So needless to say that it didn't help the day.  On top of it all it has been cold and rainy so it makes for a down mood.   

The upside to China days is just when you think that China has almost won for the day something happens to make the day better.  Tonight it was fireworks right outside work.  When something happy happens in China people shoot off fireworks....often times they are just fire crackers but tonight they were the really pretty fire works that are set off on the Fourth of July. They were so pretty and just what I needed to end the day on good terms with China :) :)