HELLO FROM CHINA!

I made it, yep I finally did! It felt like I had been talking about this trip since the beginning of time, and now it actually happened! I know I have been really bad about updating my blog, so I'll repent right now and try and catch up the best I can. Life has been crazy since getting off the plane in Hong Kong. I have decided I don't really love flying, and felt motion sick for the first few days. Whenever we meet someone from the States who are just visiting for a few weeks I give them kudos for making that flight for such a short visit. It was about a 24 hour trip, and so we lost February 24th, so next year when it comes around it will be a party.


On the plane

Hong Kong was so beautiful, but we were ready to unpack and anxious to get to our own city. Though it was fun to be there, we ran into both sets of missionaries there, the sisters and the elders. We also got the opportunity to do baptisms in the temple. The last chance to visit a temple for four months. It is so pretty right in the middle of a busy street, and it is the smallest baptistry I have EVER seen! But it was beautiful, of course, and so amazing to be able to visit.



We thought we knew what to expect after Hong Kong, but we were wrong. There are alot of white people in Hong Kong, having been in the nineties part of Great Britain. They still drive on the opposite side of the street, and alot of people understood English. Once we got into China we figured out that we are a sure minority. We get stares everywhere we go and the Chinese aren't bashful about staring. They are pretty blunt about actually everything, after a day of teaching 2nd graders one walked upto me and told me that I am fat and have a big nose. No shame.
Though it is so so beautiful here. The first week we got here was hot, and I was mad they told us to bring our winter clothes. Then that Sunday a cold front moved in and man it is no fun to be wet and cold. But there are palm trees everywhere, and parks that are kept at top condition. It really is so green here, especially coming from dry winter in Utah. The hills surrounding us are covered in trees, probably too thick to hike through. It really is such a pretty place.

There are eleven in this group here teaching in Kaiyin. Our head teacher and her husband, and then six girls and three boys. We live in dorms right across the street from the school, which feeds us three meals a day.

We live about 40 minutes from downtown, and the closest McDonalds. The food is alright, I actually do pretty good while eating it, but it is the after taste of having it in my mouth all the whole rest of the day that I don't like. Plus the cafeteria food here is pretty nasty. The breakfast is always breads which is alright except that the cafeteria itself stinks like the other food. We just grin and bear it for lunch and dinner because who knows what they are feeding us. It is alot of tofu, and then spicy spicy stuff. And we found out later that a few days ago they fed us pigs blood, and we did try some pig intestine (really salty). I just can't handle the spicy it makes me cough and just burns so i try and actually eat the bland stuff. Alot of stuff tastes a smidge different and I think that is because of the MSG which is illegal in America- (hopefully I don't die) ;) But they do say that this isn't actually one of the more spicy places. One of our friends here went home last weekend to a different province and brought us back spicy spicy tofu. They love to burn off their taste buds here.
The six of us girls teach kindergarten from eight-thirty till eleven-thirty Monday through Friday. The boys teach the older classes of 1st and 2nd graders. They teach weird hours throughout the day. The kids are still crazy since we have only been with them for about two weeks. I finally know all of their names and they are starting to feel like just normal little kids instead of these random Chinese kids I try to teach everyday. It is still like pulling out teeth some days but I'm trying my best to stay positive. :)

Last week the branch president out here came and set our group apart to hold church. There will be about 25-35 of us out here in the Zhongshan group. We are under the Beijing International district under the Shenzhen branch in the Zhongshan group. There are only two districts in China so it's all complicated, but anyhow we are supposed to just have a song, opening prayer, song, sacrament, song, and prayer for sacrament meeting. And then instead of having speakers there will be about 4 Sunday school classes and the teachers will be called each week to teach in place of giving a talk. There is our group of ILP teachers and down the street there are a group of about seven girls and then in the city there are 3 other groups of about 5-7 and they are supposed to come out here every week to church.
Did you know Chinese had about a billion characters. OK, that might be a little much, but I'm realizing how nice English is after being here. We only have 26 letters. TWENTY SIX! I was told the other day if I get 500 Chinese characters down I'll be in good shape. Not only that, but everything is tonal. You say it in the wrong way and it's a totally different word. I've kinda given up for this week after trying to say women I said beef. It's like singing all the time, and right now my mind doesn't even pick up the different tones yet. I think learning this language is going to be alot harder than I thought.
I am still trying to adjust to the new life of teaching, planning lessons, getting around a foreign country, and just adapting to it all. I have never lived in a humid place, and our first day here we bought new pillows because the other ones had black mold spots on them. Everything is always wet, and after killing my straightener in the outlet, my hair has no hope. It is really quite the adventure, but I'm loving it!