Home!

I'm sitting in my living room on my couch with my computer and my roommate and i'm so happy! i'm even a tiny bit glad to see the cat (only because she happens to be in my house)...haha! It's great to be home! I do miss Becca, though...a lot. Tonight I ate dinner with my roommate, Shannon, Nan, and Kelly...we ate Chinese-ish food (go figure) complete with homemade egg rolls that Shannon learned how to make in Turkey..ha! they're GREAT!

Anyways, more pictures later...now, it's time for bed!

mcdonalds breakfast, foot massages, and movie marathons!

Yay for another day in China! Today was our day of "relaxation" but as you can see by our awesome photos, we did tons of fun things!

We had an early start with breakfast and time with Father at McDonalds! We experienced some interesting "only in China" moments such as the Ham and Egg McPuff pictured here. :) it was yummy! We also got these little sweepstakes cards and won free things! Becca won a cool coca-cola glass and I won a free Fanta!

We wandered around Nanchang yet again and found some cool shops and I bought this SWEET hairclip!

Today I got to meet Becca's best friend in China, Nancy! She works here with Becca and is really sweet...we ate lunch with her and her fiance (as of today!) and then went and got the most amazing foot massages ever! They gave us tea, then soaked our feet in tea while they massaged our shoulders and back and then they massaged our feet for 45 minutes! (all for only 4 dollars!!!!) I couldn't help but think of how much Alisa and Grandmommie would LOVE the foot massage the entire time they were rubbing my feet! :)

We concluded our day with some fruit shopping, some very American spaghetti for dinner, and a Jane Austen movie marathon during which we ate some yummy, but greasy popcorn with chopsticks...how very Chinese of us :)

no worries, more exciting Chinese adventures to come...

Korean food and candy strawberries!

Today, after sleeping in of course, we rode an empty bus downtown for another adventure! (This bus is usually packed out with standing room only in the morning, but all the students are home for the Spring festival so we got seats!) Our goals were: eat amazing Korean food and buy fruits and veggies. Anyone surprised that we did SO much more? :) Our first stop was the Korean restaurant as ordered by our growling stomachs...we went with our Indonesian sisters Gloria and Wendi...they were so fun! We had a great time hanging out and experiencing downtown Nanchang together!

After our delicious meal, we wandered around town, went to visit Gloria's fiance Michael, and ended up going to get donuts! They were actually semi-normal with REAL chocolate on them...yum!

We then met one of the other American teachers and his little boy for coffee...during this little coffee excursion at a really nice restaurant called "The Coffee Club", Anthony, the 13 month old managed to destroy nearly everything on the table...it was amusing, to say the least. After he warmed up to us, he loved the mango milkshake I got as well as the Banana split that Wendi got...it was quite the adventure!

After that, we went shopping at Wal-mart and bought some amazing fruits and veggies and some other random groceries...the grocery store in China is so interesting...there were a trillion people there today, i think...


I discovered some new favorites today...I don't know if i've mentioned this but the street food in China is incredible...we've bought tons of amazing things but today, we happened upon fresh strawberries dipped in candy (kinda like a candied apple, only better) on a spear...you get 6 strawberries for 5 yuan which is less than a dollar...it was maybe one of the best things i've ever tasted...i'll take a picture tomorrow when we get it again :)


I've gotten a lot of really cool souvenirs and can't wait to give them to everyone!


Anyways, things are going well...It's been so good to be with Becca here...and I've been learning a lot about the Father's love for me and how deep it is...I've had such sweet time with him here in China...This morning I was reading from james about our passions warring within us and how easy it is to be distracted by so many other things warring for our affections...my prayer today amidst the busy streets, the noise, the pollution, the overstimulation, and the chinese that I can't even begin to understand, has been "give me one pure and holy passion...to know and follow hard after you"...

the REAL China

What a fun day we had today! We went downtown with a student to shop and it was very cool...I feel like I really experienced China today in a way that I hadn't before. We went to a hole in the wall restaurant that Becca affectionately calls the "Point and Shoot" because there are just a bunch of plates sitting out and you just point to what you want...it's awesome. It was SO yummy, maybe my favorite meal yet in China...we got sauteed onions and egg with white rice and some other yummy stuff, too...and despite its awesomeness, it only cost 3 dollars for 3 of us to eat...that's right, a 1 dollar meal...if only that existed in America!

After lunch, we went shopping in a market-type place that was insane...Praise Father we had J there to bargain for us! I don't know what we would've done...but it was very "Chinese" :) and exciting, though simultaneously exhausting...I got some GREAT deals, though!

the marketplace--this picture does not do justice to the coolness of this experience by any means..

Becca and J on the walking street where we found the coolest earrings ever!

De-stimulating after an insane day of shopping!

and then we had the busiest day yet!

today was supposed to be our "downtime" day but we ended up packing it with time with students since they are all leaving tomorrow...it was so fun! We met a group of 9 girls this morning and received a bouquet of bears...yes, small teddy bears...interesting, no? Then we met a brother and sister for lunch at the Muslim noodle restaurant...yummy! I'm becoming rather adept at noodles with chopsticks, believe it or not. Then we went to visit the students dorms...It was not at all what I was expecting...they live 4 to a room smaller than our dorms at PC with no AC or heat, no matresses, no washer or dryer (they wash clothes by hand and hang them outside to dry)...but they welcomed us with great joy and gave us fresh tangerines and seaweed crackers...we were also presented with white Tibetan silky scarves that are given only to the most honored visitors. We looked at pictures of families and hometowns and Chinese tradition while hearing stories and songs of growing up in China. It is so encouraging to see the Father at work here in many of the same ways that He is working in the US...through beautiful, rich relationships and precious community..

We went to downtown Nanchang tonight with one of Becca's best Chinese friends...I feel like I've known her forever! It was so fun! We went to this restaurant for "hot pot" which is kind of like fondu but very different...it's basically a vat of seasoned oil that you cook vegetables and meat in and then eat them...I had things like Lotus root, glutinous rice, chinese potato, spinach, crinkly tofu, mutton, etc...lots of interesting yummy goodness! Also, I drank a pepsi, which was absolutely amazing :) After dinner, we headed to McDonalds for ice cream sundays and fountain drinks (with ICE!)...on the way across town, we stumbled upon fresh pineapple on a stick...apparently pineapple are crazy cheap here, half a huge pineapple for 1 yuan (1/6 of a dollar) yep, cheap and SOOO yummy!

We traversed the night life to make it to the huge square in the middle of town for the music, light, and fountain show where they play traditional Chinese songs and the fountain "dances"...we had fun making fools of ourselves in the middle of the square dancing around and singing...everyone already thinks we're crazy foreigners anyways, what do we have to lose?? :)

By the time we were ready to leave town, only one bus was running and everyone else was trying to leave too...in case you didn't know, there are a lot of people in China. This bus was the msot packed bus I've ever, ever seen...I taught our Chinese friend the meaning of "Sardines"...also, we almost died because our driver was insane...he took turns at full speed with a FULL bus...we literally tipped onto 2 wheels and thought we were going to fly off the road...thankfully, by the grace of Father, we made it back alive to tell the story..

it's cold and late so i think we're heading to bed...hope all is well in America!

and then we had a Chinese welcome party!

It is very Chinese to sing and dance for eachother at a party so Becca and I serenaded our guests with many songs on the guitar! We sang Starry Host, O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, Ice Ice Baby, Silent Night (they love Christmas music)...and lots of others. We also shagged for them to "Carolina Girls"! They LOVED it and a few of them were willing to learn afterwards...it was great fun!

These girls sang me a Chinese welcome song! They were so sweet! They also brought me gifts to welcome me to China...I felt so special, almost like a celebrity!

This is everyone that came and all of our refreshments. We made them Banana bread which they loved...it was gone in the first 5 minutes. Crystal light was also a big hit...powder that turns to a wonderful drink! :)

We've had many visitors since I got here because the students are getting ready to leave campus for their winter holiday. This morning we woke up early to meet some students who brought Becca presents and then we sang some songs and talked about many things...

The people here are precious and very sweet and considerate...all of them have just happened to notice that my favorite color is green! One girl met me one day and the next day I saw her she had knitted me a beautiful green scarf...amazing! I mentioned one day that I loved the gloves that have the fingers cut out but you can pull the cover over to make mittens and the next day a girl brought me some of my own! Talk about feeling special and humbled by people thinking for you and enjoying your company...

it's been amazing to be with Becca and to see her life here in China...what a gift that the Father would open doors to let me come halfway across the world!

sugar cookies and rickshaws!

Making sugar cookies in China!! They taste SO good!!

we rode with friends in the rickshaw to my first authentic Chinese lunch! yum!

China's great! more to come...

Travelling the World!

Becca and I holding our gifts of chocolate from our new Chinese friend!

Yay for travelling the World and see the Lord in so many new and different ways!

there's so much to say about the past 10 days that it overwhelms me to think about summing it up but slowly, i'll do it...

right now, i'm in China with Becca...We made it to Nanchang after 24 hours in Shanghai (the big city!). I spent one night in Shanghai by myself in a really fancy hotel near the airport...Becca and I got the dates mixed up so I was on my own for 24 hours..at first, i was scared but it ended up being really sweet time with the Lord and a great time of rest for me...such a great testimony of how well our God knows us and knows what we need...Our time in Shanghai was full of the fancy airport, the Maglev (a super fast train), the captain's hostel, dinner at Papa John's (ha!) with some Chinese friends, Cold stone ice cream!, a good night's sleep, lunch at a french baguette shop, a long crazy subway ride, a chaotic train station, and a long train ride on which we met two great Chinese girls who were so fun and sweet! I've learned so much about Chinese culture already and I've only been here 2 days! My favorite thing so far is that Chinese people love to share anything they have...we shared food with the two girls on the train even though we had just met them! I love that!!

It's cold here...a drastic contrast to India where it was 85 degrees or hotter the entire time...China and India are the same in a lot of ways and so very different in others...

more to come...