It's been awhile since I've last written a blog - - our internet is still flaky at home, and its hard to find a time to write, when the internet will let me post it!

(Students working together during the first lesson).

A few Saturday's ago, I was able to go into a small city in the countryside. The city was called Heishan, and it was about a 3 hour drive south of Shenyang. Shaun was asked to go teach, and I was asked to go as the photographer...in one day I took nearly 400 pictures!

(We saw many donkeys pulling carts all over the town, and when we were taking pictures, one passed in front of us).

It was a very fun and interesting day. We left really early in the morning, and since I never go outside of Shenyang unless by train, it was a cool drive to see the countryside and actually be on a highway. Shenyang is a HUGE city. When we got to Heishan, class started right away. The lesson that was prepared was way too hard for the students. We got to improvise and teach about time, making plans, what we do on the weekend, and other things like that. There were about 50 students in one classroom with rows of long desks and a chalkboard at the front. Overall, even though the students were shy, we think they enjoyed the day.

(Signing the notebooks for the students.)

After teaching, we went to lunch at a restaurant in the town and had a traditional northeastern Chinese meal. And then, we went into the countryside to teach a lesson at a school there. There were about 100 students in the second lesson, and Shaun taught simple phrases and greetings. The students were very eager to have us sign their papers...Wayne, the Chinese teacher that went with us, said it was the first time many of the students had ever seen a white person.
(A man walking in the countryside).
The students were very interested in why we came to China and if we like it or not, what our name is, and tried to ask us as much as they can with their English skills. They were all so cute, and I really enjoyed seeing the countryside, meeting the students and just getting to experience the whole day.

Since then, we have all been enjoying life in Shenyang and hanging out together. The weather is starting to get nicer and its been pretty warm on certain days. Josh, the newest intern, came about a month ago now, and he fits right in with all of us. We have been making a lot of American dinners as a group...tacos, grilled cheese and tomato soup, Shaun and Josh made us hamburgers and french fries...it's been fun to hang out, cook, play cards, and watch movies at night. Last week we had an intern breakfast at Eli and Mollie's apartment. Because they live in the same complex as us, our apartment was bragging that we got to sleep in the latest because we only had to walk ten steps to get to their apartment...So, the night before, we had an impromptu "sleep over" at our apartment. Shaun, Jensen and Josh decided to watch a movie and sleep over so that they too could just walk ten steps to get to Mollie and Eli's. It was fun, all 5 of us slept on the big rug and watched a movie..it felt like we were in the 5th grade all over again! Breakfast was really fun, it's always fun when the whole group is together...After breakfast we got to play a makeshift game of ultimate frisbee. It's been a busy but good week!

Hope everyone is doing well at home. Emily - Happy Birthday! I wish I was there to celebrate with you today! Much love.

Starting Over and Halfway..

..Starting Over..
One huge perk of my internship with Langston is that part of our contract is to attend language classes to learn Mandarin. Because of a few different factors, we had to switch up Mandarin classes, and as of yesterday, I have one hour a day of private Mandarin lessons with Mr. Zhang (Zhang laoshi) who only speaks Chinese. I walked out of class feeling really overwhelmed, and kind of like I am starting over. The board was covered in Chinese characters and I am not too sure what my homework assignment was…but, in the end, starting over or not, I think this is a great opportunity for me. I can’t use English as a crutch for explanations, I am forced to speak in Chinese and use the (few) words I know. I am getting an hour of only Chinese lessons every day I go into work, and even though these next few weeks will kick my butt, it will help me get closer and closer to the long term goal of becoming fluent.

..Halfway..
Today is exactly halfway from when I arrived in Shenyang to when I leave. Crazy. I can’t believe that I have been here for three months and that there are only three more months to go. On one hand, I don’t want to go at all, but on another, I am getting really excited to sit on my parents’ deck just talking with the whole family since we will finally all be in Portland again. I don’t want to leave Shenyang, and the roommates and close friends I have here, or the students/staff at the school, but I know that each adventure in life is just for a season. But, even with not wanting to leave, I am really starting to miss friends and family, and just being able to spend time with them talking and doing nothing, I miss eating dinner with my parents, Portland and sunny weather of Tempe, and of course being able to dry my clothes in a dryer. :)

When I sat down to write this blog, I thought it’d be fun to share some highlights of the last few months, but, it seems that it is so hard to describe, because really, it’s the little things…
I love going to the market down the street from my apartment and fumbling through communicating to try and order vegetables, fruit, eggs and meat.
I love learning Chinese, and being able to speak to people or understand what people are saying to me.
I love the students. Ok, to be perfectly honest, I love most of the students!
I love the train rides to different cities and getting to explore different cities.
I love that for the last few weeks Lindsey and I have slept on each end of the couch every night because the beds in our rooms are far too hard.
I love that I ordered water for our water cooler and the person actually understood me.
I love getting packages and little reminders of home, which also serve as reminders that I am getting to experience a totally different life and culture here.

I’m sure the list could go on and on and on…but, it is truly the little things and relationships that I have that make this such a once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s all for now, and hey, I’ll see you in three months. Much love.