One time,

I was reading CNN and there was an opportunity to write something about China--like a submit your own story deal. So here it is. Feel free to share or do whatever! But no negative feedback, please. It is what it is. :)

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-884655

I'M ALIVE

Just in case you were wondering.

Kidddens

Here's the weird thing about life in China. There's so much to say, but I don't know how to adequately portray it, ya know? Actually, you do know. It's when you hit email time and you have so much to tell your family but it's almost a ridiculous thought to begin to say anything because you know that there's no way you could possibly go into every detail and every emotion withenough detail and emotion to give it justice. That was a long-winded sentence, but moral of the story is, I don't know what to say.

 

Let me talk about my students. Remember Titanic story?

Well one day I had this bizarre idea to turn on My Heart Will Go On from Titanic.

 

The music starts playing.

 

All the girls' faces lit up and they do their little happy clap and then all of a sudden this boy stands up and yells, "YOU JUMP I JUMP!"

 

It took me a second to register what he said, but as he stood with his arms outstretched ("I'm flying!") and said that in his adorable Chinese accent, I lost it.

 Yeah. I love them. The thing is, whenever I walk into the classroom, they freak out. They literally freak out. They do this adorable little thing where their hands are involuntarily gaoxing (happy) and they start flashing peace signs at me like their life depends on it. There's always the exuberant round of applause and a crescedo of screaming as they all begin to realize that I'll be teaching (more like performing for them) them for the next forty minutes. I'll be honest. I'm not a fantastic teacher, but we certainly have a fun time.

 

There's always the diminutive student that sits in the front and stares you down with wonder. They have their plethora of textbooks organized by height and beautifully arranged with their notebook and pencil bags. The whole class, they blurt out the answer and are rather put-out when you don't call on them for the eighth time in a row. Other students in the class look at them when they're saying something in English because they've been automatically deemed the unspoken translator.

 

Then there's the punk on the back row that mimics everything you say. I get a bit animated when I speak--as you very well know--and he's the one who responds to sound the most. If I say, "Okaaayyy??" He will say it in an equally feminine--though embarrassingly similar to my voice--and annoying way. The best part about him is that he doesn't mean any harm; it's almost involuntary.

 

But there's also the girl with the perfect hair and dimpled smile that everyone stops talking when you single her out. She's quietly brilliant and won't say a word unless you call on her, but her English is impeccable and all the students linger too long on her correct answers.

 

THEN there's the class clown. The one that says everything wrong but does it in style. I had one of these today and he was a pudgy, short little kid with an abnormally round face and bug eyes under his ultra-magnified glasses. When we were saying things we were grateful for, he expressed gratitude for things like monkeys, tigers, and ice cream--which is entirely valid, but he just got so excited he screamed them in his deep(ish) squeaky(ish) seventh grade voice until I wrote them on the chalk board.

 

So those are the iconic students. There's one in every class (I have over sixty students in each class). I love them, though. They are always so sweet and have no qualms at yelling at me across the hall, "LAOSHI! LAOSHI! MEES MAREESA!!! HALLO! HOW ARE YOU I'M FINE SANK YEW!" They give me little pieces of candy after class and ask me for my autograph in various places in their notebook, then come back for different sizes of my name.

 

I end the class with 'I love you!' and they never hesitate to scream 'I LOVE YOU TOO!' with all the energy their tiny voices can muster. There's no better feeling than having an entire class of the most adorable children telling you as genuinely as possible that they love you. It's amazing. I cannot wait to be a mother. I think it's so beautiful that I can create a human being within me. And that when that tiny person is born and they begin to cry, they can breathe. They can think. The best part is that they will be mine. But until then, I get to love my students like my children, even though their English is limited and they can barely say my name.

Today, I was doing a Thanksgiving lesson and the Spirit was in each class and I could see in the students' faces that they knew I loved them. It was beautiful. I wish I could go into detail but my computer is broken so I'm on borrowed time!

I love you all. Alsooooo, I'm serving my mission in Taiwan Taichung leaving January 23rd!!! Sooooo. Life is good. I am so happy.

I'm Sick AGAIN

 But not as bad this time. But I've missed class the past three days. But also, it's fine. But why do I feel the need to start every sentence with 'but'? But, life is good. But Happy Halloweeeeennnn!!!!!!

Today, I read this poem:

Where the Sidewalk Ends

by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

I cried. We all have our sidewalks. At times we walk with others, at times, we walk alone. A sidewalk ends and another begins. Some are rough cobblestone while others are precise granite. Many are worn and uneven while others are new and simple. 

The sidewalk I've been on for the past two months has been full of surprises. At times it's been steep and treacherous as the steps on the Great Wall. At at other times, it's been sandy and relaxed as the beaches in Hainan. 

No matter the path I've taken, though, no matter how many people I've walked with or how many have taken their own paths, no matter how many times I've stumbled or paused for breath or feared what lay ahead over the next hill, the sidewalk has continued on. 

And I will continue on, grateful for every hard blessing I've received, and grateful for every friend I've found, and especially grateful for the constant companionship of my Father in Heaven. 

I have less than two months left in China. I can't believe how quickly time has passed and how it continues to ebb away, unencumbered by any of my attempts to preserve it. I love this place. I love these people. I love Shelby. I love being here. But this sidewalk will end soon, and I am grateful for the moment when the Lord will tell me that He has work for me elsewhere. I'll be off on a new adventure, but forever grateful for what I have learned.

And maybe someday, if I continue to do my best on every sidewalk I encounter, I will "leave this place where the smoke blows back and the dark street winds and bends." And I will have rest and be reunited with those who I love. For because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I know where the sidewalk ends. 

Just give 'im a glass of MALK.

All I wanna do is blog about food. The great thing is that I'm skeenier. I just never wanna leave Chiners. Good thing I'm going on my mission here, or whatevs. When they open China. Next week.? PS. I definitely finished my papers and they are IN! I think. hahaa. Hopefully the stake pres submitted them! But I'm so thrilled. And I'm going to be the best missionary North Dakota has ever seen! I can't wait.

But foods.

Sunny (aptly named Sunny) just gave me some wheat milk. Wait, WAT?! Yes. Wheat milk. Wheat malk, wheat maalk, wheat milk. I was terrified. Room temperature wheat milk? Then she proceeds to tell me there's chunks of wheat in it?! What is she thinking???!!! But I can't reject her--

Hold up. Asian woman walks by to fill up her water bottle. Her body is incredible. I'm really proud of myself for maintaining a great self-esteem while I'm here, but I'll tell you what--it's definitely hard with these tiny-boned Asian women walking around in their skinnies. They have incredible bodies. End of that story.

But I can't reject her because she's so delightful. I actually taught her 'delightful' the other day. She was thrilled. :) But yeah. So I stick the straw in the milk like a Capri Sun (but who would ever think to put milk in one of those?? This ain't no soccer mom treat) and she watches me with this creepy smile on her face. I half expected it to be something I would do to her like, try these Vienna Sausages raw they're really good.... Hahhahaa .... But it turns out, the wheat milk is delicious. I don't even mind the wheat chunks chillin' in my milk! I actually LOVE the wheat chunks!

Man I love this place.

RESTAURANT!

And yes, I capitalize Restaurant because the sign is in Chinese and we, unfortunately, do not read Chinese. So. Restaurant. We love Restaurant. And it's definitely because the noodles are amazing (homemade right before your eyes), and also because a huge dish of noodles and whatever topping you want is like $1.50, but mostly because of the family that owns it. They LOVE us. And I'm pretty sure we've increased their revenue because we've popped up on QQ (Asian Facebook) four more times than a lot at Restaurant. So. Well. They feed us delicious foods, and we love them.

One time, I asked (with my incredible Chinese skills) if they have sweet potatoes (I'm literally obsessed with them now). They didn't, but they told us to come back the next day for them! So we went back, and they made us a legit new dish with sweet potatoes and normal potatoes and then gave us a huge bowl of egg and tomato soup and then wouldn't take our moneys. They do that a lot, actually. They keep charging us $1.50 for two huge meals instead of just one. I love Restaurant. Two times ago, they used the internets to translate into English to tell us to come the next day for sweet potatoes. We came, and they, once again, gave us a whole dish of sweet potatoes and a bunch more in a bag and sent us home charging us $1.50 TOTAL for two noodle dishes and two sweet potato dishes and little soups. She then pulled us in for the best Asian hug I've ever received and kissed us on the cheeks before she sent us on our way.

Here's the thing. Pooptown can get pretty awful. But when we found friends in Restaurant Family, that completely changed our outlook on this city. They truly love us. And it's definitely not because we keep going back so they make money off of us, it's because they truly love that we are here and they know that we love them--because we truly do, with the pure love of Christ. I want so badly to communicate with them and share the gospel.

Tonight at Restaurant, they internets translated for us and told us to come back because Restaurant Mom was going to make us some special dumplings. 

I feel so blessed to encounter such incredible people here. I love them with all my heart.