I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world!

This is my last post and tribute to China.
February 23rd was a day that my life took a spin for the better and now I will never be the same. Going to China was something I had planned for and anticipated for almost 3 years. However, as the day got closer and closer the more and more I got scared, worried and nervous. In all the planning, preparing and anticipation I had almost overlooked the fact I was going half way across the world for almost 5 months without knowing anybody else. In all my fear I was given a wonderful opportunity of learning to trust and rely on the Lord, I knew that as long as I followed my Heavenly Fathers plan for me, he would lead me through this journey. As I went to the airport, said good-bye to my family and anxiously awaited the plane I was lucky enough to meet someone who I would come to know very well.

Amanda and I sat next to each other on every single flight all the way to Hong Kong, Heavenly Father knew I needed someone to give me the confidence and assurance that everything was going to be okay, and Amanda was the perfect person for that.
Along with my amazing friend Amanda I was luckily to cross paths with some of the most kind, wonderful and loving people. 5 months with the same 11 people is bound to bring trials, which we did face. However, we all were such wonderful friends who loved each other and were able to make this experience the best for each other!

China brought some wonderful experiences
I met two new friends who I will always love and hope to be with again some day

I learned to try new things, by the time I came home there was nothing I couldn't eat :)

I had the lucky opportunity to have a chinese stalker :)

I got to travel all over China and experience it's beauty

I was trained by a true Kung-Fu master

I was able to teach 25 of the most adorable children English

But most importantly I was able to spend 4 and a half months learning about who I truly am. Being away from my family and friends for the first time in another country was not always easy- I had to learn to trust in myself without having those I love to fall back on. I am thankful everyday for this opportunity I had and the person it helped me become.
I will never forget the friends I made, the children I taught or the Love I have for this country!





Thank You China!!
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child." - Kathy Davis

Last Day with my Children... Worst Day Ever.

The day I dreaded most came much too quickly... the day I said good-bye to 25 of the most adorable children I have ever met!

Don't get me wrong.. they were not perfect everyday or anything close to that. But everyday they made me smile, laugh and love them more and more! Each of them have their own fun loving personality that made everyday an adventure!

The last day was a really fun day even though we knew what was coming. We separated into our home room classes and played with BUBBLES!! :) And they kids absolutely loved it.




After playing with bubbles we spoiled them even more and let them watch Kung-Fu Panda while eating Ring Pops!! :)




At the end of class we had a photo-shoot with each of our children, it was really fun and they all loved taking pictures- Here are a few with my children!





I miss my kids so much!! This was the best 4 months of my life all because of them!

Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting...

While living in China, I had the amazing opportunity of being trained in Kung-fu by a real Chinese Kung-Fu Master... SPRING!! :)

and his cute side kick... who's name I can never remember!

Twice a week we took a short little trip to practice our skills. Tuesday nights we went to his studio, we had to take a bus about 20 minutes, then climb under a fence through a mossy field it was almost like part of our training. Then Fridays we took a half hour bus to another kindergarten to practice!
I loved Kung-Fu, it was a very big workout and always challenging! At the very end of the semester we put a show on for a kindergarten. We got to wear these beautiful yellow silk outfits ;) It was a lot of fun, afterwards we had fun doing our own photoshoot!



There were only 3 of us from my school who took Kung-Fu lessons, so we met with another ILP school for lessons and the performance, it was fun to socialize with other Americans a few times a week!



I know this picture is a little blurry, but I love it!! Spring was such an amazing teacher and made China so much fun... I really miss him and Kung-Fu!

Maybe if I would have stayed longer I could have gotten this good;)

Disappearing Ocean... Who Knew?!

A few weekends before coming home from China we decided to spend the day in Zhuhai- a city right on the beach :) We were all excited to play in the Ocean and have a fun weekend... we took a 2 hour bus ride to Zhuhai only to find that... the Ocean was missing?!?! Probably one of the strangest things I have ever seen!

What made it even more funny was that the grass above was covered with people staring out at the "ocean" almost like it was still there... or maybe they were waiting for it to come back?
Luckily we had another chance to go back and this time the ocean was back :)


We had actually gone down for the dragon boat festival to see if there were any races... unfortunately we were not able to find any- but we did get to celebrate by eating the traditional foods!! :)


These are rice dumplings, They are VERY delicious, especially hot and dipped in lots of sugar!!

My Kindgergarten/Home for 5 months!

Welcome to where I spent time teaching for almost 5 months! This is our cute kindergarten!

To the side of the school was an area full of random statues and animals... I am not sure what they were there for... but we enjoyed taking pictures by them!!


I think it was supposed to be educational... they had lots of different worlds-here I am with my hands on my two favorite places!! :)


The rest was pretty random, but cute!!




Our school had a whole courtyard of ping pong tables. It was amazing, after dinner they would fill up with all the students! I loved to go play with them, even though most of the students could usually take me!

If you have seen the Karate kid, you will have seen their playground/exercise equipment! It is exactly what they have at all the parks and schools :) It is really fun to play on!


I loved my school; the children were adorable, the teachers were amazing and it was always fun to be at!