Date Weekend 5.0

Stan and I have a date weekend every year the weekend he proposed to me! This year is no different! This is the 5th annual date weekend! We always stay somewhere other than our house and it's fun! This year we went to West Lake (famous in China) and it's right in our city! We have been there many times, but when you are staying in a hotel close by, it's more fun! So, here's what we did...


This is obviously a picture of the bed


They had laundry detergent beside the sink in the bathroom! haha!






Here's a pic with the curtain down...


And one with it up!


Just to give you a better idea of what's going on here...






After getting settled in, we went to a curry place called "The Banana Leaf".


Cool chairs! I promise, I told him to smile!


One thing I forgot about this place is that they make you get up and dance or sing with them. I mean it, they are relentless! They don't give up and it's embarrassing either way, if you deny or give in to the begging! She took my phone from me and took a picture of us! Haha!


Then we came back to the hotel and got a foot massage! Our people were cool!


Then one of them wanted to get pictures with us after!


Then it was his turn!


And we don't exactly know who this was, but he wanted a picture too...


After the massage, we went back to the room and decided to watch a movie. This is how we decided. Stan threw the movies in the air and I said head or tails.


This was the verdict...


We ended up not watching either because one of the stopped working and the other didn't seem like a good movie. We watched "The Princess and the Frog" instead. Cute movie!

Here we are on Sunday...good picture of the husband smiling...


And then...


It got a little crazy...


The end!


Thanks for reading! I love you all!

A Boring Post

I thought I should blog just so I don't forget I have one. Ha! But it's not very exciting because a lot of times when I Blog it's about whatever is on my mind. Well, not much has been on my mind this past week except school. Oh yeah, and I got sick two days before thanksgiving (stomach virus or something) and my stomach hasn't recovered 100%. In fact a little bug has been passed around a couple of us out here and has lingered just like mine has. We're all getting over it, slowly but surely! Anyway, we are giving finals in about 4 weeks. Everything is all planned out, but once something is planned, I still think about it. lol I know that's a bit far away to only be thinking about that, but this school is different from our school last year. They require a lot more paperwork for the end of the semester and we are meeting with our supervisor on Thursday to get the details and then we'll know exactly what we need to do. Not worried, just informing you because I have nothing else to say! haha!

Oh yeah, also we've been decorating our apartment with Christmas stuff! (I'll blog about it later!) I figured out how to do some really cool paper snow flakes, and I'm not gonna lie...it kinda looks like a kindergarten room threw up in here! But that's how we like it! It makes it more Christmas-y! To give you a reminder about what our tree looked like last year...




There's much more to see as soon as we finish it! Many more pictures! I just know you are on the edge of your seat! The anticipation is what keep you here!! :)

Anyway, that's all I have for today! I love you all and thanks for reading!!

Teaching Re-cap

I haven't even done one of these yet this year! I guess it's because I was too busy complaining about the class that hates me (just kiddin). Well anyway, I'm doing one this week because I felt like this week went really well. It sounds funny to say that because it's only Wednesday morning here as I am writing this, but my teaching days are Mondays and Tuesdays...and they are FULL! So this is the end of my week, technically. It's Thanksgiving week and it was a fun week to teach! I got to talk about what we do on Thanksgiving. Many of them know about the Holiday, but they haven't had a foreign teacher explain it to them with pictures and videos and such. (By the way, Stan made a really cool video about Thanksgiving...it's on Facebook. You should check it out!) So, I had a power point presentation with the history and pictures of food and I explained how to make some things. I explained we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Football. I also explained to them that it is called Football, not American Football in America. I just got a blank stare from that, because they were probably thinking, "Duh..." Then I showed the video and explained it as well! Then came the fun!

I showed the students some pictures of some "Turkey Hands" and they loved them! They thought they were so cute! I showed them some I found online that named things they were thankful for. And then I told them it was their turn to make them! They let out the normal "Whaaaa" when they are surprised and I passed out the papers. I played some Christmas music while they finished up their hands (and I finished mine.) Then they showed them to the class! (I feel like I've said "then" a thousand times!) I only did this with one class because most of my other classes are AV classes. Here are a few pictures from the day!


This was mine! It says toward the bottom that I am thankful for Class 10TFC2. That is this class.



This one was given to me at the end of class by a girl named Heroine. (Female Hero...not the drug) On the thumb part of the turkey she wrote she is thankful for Love and wrote the Chinese character for it above the English. I thought that was cool.



These are my Freshman! My only Freshman class and I love them!! They are so sweet and listen so well! One of the girls in the middle had a really good one. I commented on how artistic she was and she said, "My Turkey is so fashion! It has a handbag and scarf!" She was so proud! hehe!

As you might or might not be able to see, there are only three guys in the back. Sean, John, and Key. Yes, Key. They have to stick together!


Well, it was a fun day and I'm glad I got to do it with my students! Don't forget to think about me in China and I love you all!

Weather!!

I was looking back through some of my blog posts which I posted a year ago at this time. It's interesting to look back and be able to relive what I was feeling at the moment because this year has been so different for a number of reasons, but it all stems from one in my mind: Weather. I was blogging about this last year at this time. It was so ridiculously cold at this time last year...it just makes me cringe to think about it. I don't have to explain it all to you again, but I will remind you (or tell you for the first time if you have recently joined) that it was raining, hovering around freezing, it's really humid in Hangzhou, and you walk everywhere you go. SO...you wanna know how this year has been? FANTASTIC! Even though it has rained some this year, it's nothing compared to last year. Nothing. Also, the lowest the temperature has gotten was 45 degrees, and that was only two nights ago! I only had 3 layers on (counting my coat) and at this time last year I was wearing almost everything in my closet! I'm just so grateful the weather is more bearable. It seems silly to dwell on something like that, but the weather matters even more here. It matters more because you are out in the elements more.

One thing which stems from the weather change is the fact that our students are out and about more...and so are we. Students actually want to come to lunch with us, and not just run back to the dorm because of how miserable it is outside. We want to be outside and doing more things with students; taking opportunities to share Him with them! I'm grateful for last year, because it makes me appreciate this year so much more. It helps me to be more optimistic about why we are here. It gives me perspective, and I am grateful. So, for this Thanksgiving, this is what I am most thankful for. Yes, I am thankful for friends and family and for sure what He has done for me...but I like specifics. And I'm being specific! :) I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day!! I love you all!

Christina

Christina is one of the student workers at our hotel front desk. We live on the top floor of a hotel, it sounds really nice, but it's a Chinese hotel. We (Stan, Kevin and I) have been stopping to talk to her every night we come in. We will stop and talk to her for a while and just keep her company while she works at her boring job. She is just so cute and she tells Stan and Kevin they are "So Lovely". This is a common saying and it has more than one meaning to them. It can mean "cute" or "I love being around you" or "funny" or any others I don't know. A couple of weeks ago she asked Stan why he was so happy. He said, "I don't know....I just like being happy. Maybe it's because I am a "C". But he said it. He showed her the verse about "Counting it all joy" and she liked it. He told her where it was from and she said she knew what it was. She said she didn't think she would be able to understand it because it is too deep for her. We told her we don't even understand all of it, so we study it often to help each other understand. She seemed interested in that. Then Stan told her if she wanted to look at it some more we could do it together. Her face lit up and her reaction surprised me. Her reaction was so happy and she said, "Really?! You will do that?!" And then she just couldn't say anything else, and kept smiling. She seems really interested in it, but shy about it.

A couple of nights ago we told her we wanted to hang out with her sometime and decided to have dinner. After dinner we went to Starbucks (the new one out in our area that we are so excited about!) We sat and talked and just got to know each other a little better. An on-going theme I saw in her (and it may just be the Social Worker in me, but I saw it) was a lack of self-confidence. Sadly, you see this a lot in Chinese girls. Christina is different though, because she is confident around us. We told her one time that we noticed she does not run away or stop talking when she doesn't know the English word to something she is trying to describe. She is confident and waits until she finds the word. She said she thinks it is because we make her feel comfortable and confident and she can say whatever she wants. But while we were sitting there at Starbucks, she kept saying things like, "I don't think I am smart enough for that (topic of conversation)". I hope our being around her helps her to realize she is beautiful the way He made her. I hope we can be His hands to show her that. I think He has already done that and there's more to come! I ask you to think of her and help her to have an open heart and mind.

I have a picture of her, but I don't think that's a good idea. Just know she's as cute as a button! :) Thanks for reading and don't forget to think about us in China!! I love you all!

Chinglish Time (Part 2)

These are mainly of Yellow Mountain and a few other things around town! Enjoy!


Apparently, this is new slang Chinglish with my college students. They couldn't explain it, but I think it's funny! I had to write it on our dry erase board because it's not something I have seen.





I'm sure they meant "assorted" and I had to look up what "daggle" means.



Really? Abercrombie & Fitch rip-off?







If you can't see it, it says "Thanks for your care to the green."







Yup, I think you should choosing one.



















And it reads: "Fighting protection system far away from five meters"