Lions and Tigers and... Pandas?!

Guangzhou China is home to the most AMAZING Animal Park I have ever been to in my life!!! :) I Love animals, so I really enjoy zoo's... this one tops them all off!
One of the first things we see coming into the zoo are BABY TIGERS! Now I was pretty happy about this, they were so adorable, I wanted my own. Then we find out, not only did we get to see them but we could HOLD THEM!!! :) :)

We each got time to hold and pet the tiger while feeding it- it was so precious to have its little paws on my hand trying to get more milk! I fell in Love!

It is too bad they have to grow up and be scary... even though they are still gorgeous as they get bigger


Growing up, along with being obsessed with dolphins, I loved Monkeys- so I really enjoyed seeing all the different monkeys at the zoo. They had the cutest baby monkeys which had so much area and had fun running around everywhere!


Here is us joining in on all the monkey fun!



Our Head Teacher Tiffany LOVES Giraffes, so we had fun going to see them with her :) I think it made her whole trip to China!


Another amazing part of this zoo was the ELEPHANTS :) They actually had one elephant you could take a ride on!!! So yes, we did ride elephants!


Amanda and I took a nice little stroll on our elephant... actually it was pretty bumpy :) We went on a trail that eventually took us down into a little pool!


My favorite animals in this zoo were the white tigers! They are the most beautiful and graceful animals I have ever seen! I stayed watching them for a long time, completely content with life!


I got really lucky and was able to be at the very front when they started the feedings! They first would hang a piece of meat over a pool of water- as the tigers would jump for the meat they would grab it in mid air and go splashing into the water! It was so much fun to watch!


I also had fun watching when they put the meat at the top of the pole for the tigers to climb up to! It was so impressive! :) I was able to catch a piece of it on camera!



And of course... Last but not least :) We saw PANDAS!!! They are not the most exciting animals, but they are so cute and fluffy I just loved them. It was really fun to see them while living in China, that made it even more wonderful!!


This was a very happy day in my life!

Because I knew you... I have been changed for good!

—John 15:12-13 “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends..."
For most of my life I have been blessed with two best friends-Michelle and Kristal. Throughout Junior High and High School we were inseperable, we played every weekend, doubled on almost every single date, laughed together, cried together and were there for each other throughout everything. In January Kristal left to attend BYU Hawaii, this was the first time the three of us were apart and not much later it was my turn to leave. I have always had my friends with me, so there were times that were difficult with out them! Luckily while in China I made two friends, Tina and Mandy, who were the Best Friends anyone could ask for while living away in another country.
They also had left their families, moved into my same dorms to be English teachers at my school! We were able to make each other feel at home as best as possible! They helped me learn Chinese as I helped them improve their English, they fed me food all the time, and invited me over all the time to laugh and joke like I would with my friends at home!

I have never been more thankful for two people in my life! These two girls helped introduce me to the culture and made living away from home in another culture much easier than expected! I am thankful for these two everyday and for the friendship they gave me, the compassion they showed me and for how much they helped me grow!
It was difficult to watch them struggle in life and yearn for something more when I knew something they didn't- I had exactly what they were missing, i have the Gospel and I really hope to share it with them someday!

Chicken...Mmmmm Chicken Feet....Hmmm

School lunch was always an interesting experience in China! Every meal was served which rice... which I Loved along with what we called "mystery meat" We usually had no idea what we were eating and I was happy that way. When I did ask I usually got answers like intestines, pigs ear, skin... the good stuff :s

I usually had something I liked each day, the scary food days were when the chicken feet were pulled out! It wasn't until about half way through the semester we got brave enough to eat them!

It took a lot of preparation physically and mentally :)

They really weren't too bad... it was more the idea! I had a hard time realizing I was sucking on CHICKEN FEET :) I felt pretty proud of myself though, before coming to China i had a difficult time trying anything weird and by the time I left China I would eat anything!!

If was definitely something we had to try before leaving China and I am glad we did :)

"Those Who Teach Children, Learn More Than They Do"

Before leaving for China, during training, we were told "If you do not have a good teaching experience, you will not have a good foreign experience" This was completely true with every teacher. I LOVED my children, everyday I was happy to get up and see them- Children are always happy, loving and forgiving. The 3 hours I spent with them were the craziest, but happiest hours of my day! My class consisted of twenty five naughty, crazy, loud, amazing adorable 5 year olds!

“The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.”
Each child I taught had an impact on me and after 5 months with them everyday-they changed my life. I learned patience, a love for different cultures, how to just laugh and many more lessons. I tear up every time I look at pictures or watch videos of my kids- they are the loves of my life
I had a home room which consisted of 8 children!

James, Kitty, Minnie, LeBron, Charlie, Hall, Bella and George. They were all so intelligent- I could hold conversations with most of them and they LOVED to tease me! We gave strikes for naughty behavior and they loved to steal them and give them all to me :) We had fun in our class and several crazy moments!


Doesn't that just make you want to smile?!
Several of the students lived at the school all weekend long, it was fun for us, because we would see them during play time, at all the meals and around school. However, it was difficult on the children. There was one room off the class room full of beds. The children that stayed all week had a nice stable bed with a mosquito net and then there were beds for the other children during nap time. We were able to go over at night a few different times and put them to bed- it was difficult to see them acting so grown up, getting ready by themselves at a young age! I loved giving them goodnight kisses, it always made them so happy!!

Toward the end of the semester, our children picked up on something they thought was hilarious!! Anytime we asked them a question- no matter what we asked the answer was always "Eat The Teacher!!!!" I have no idea where this came from-but it made me giggle!

The little boy James on the right with Glasses was my absolute favorite!!! I love him so much!
One of my favorite things to do at the end of class was pull my camera out! These children are experts at silly faces- they make me laugh everytime!!






I love these children and will never forget them :) Their smiles will always make me smile!

I See You Like to Chew. Then Perhaps You Should Chew... On My Fist

One of the promises of going to teach through the ILP program is that you will be offered Chinese Nights... which can be anything from karaoke to calligraphy. One of my favorite "Chinese Nights" was Dumpling Night!
After coming back from Beijing several people started to get "trunky" it almost felt like it was time to go home even though we still had another month left! Dumpling Night came at a perfect time- we were able to get together with everyone and have our foreign coordinators Vivi and Gloria teach us their mad cooking skills :)


I love all my friends I spent 5 months with in China!! :) They all knew how to make every situation fun, we spent the rest of the night of course eating our creations and enjoying each others friendship! I love the quote "Every person is a new door to a different world" it definitely has a double meaning here! Each person in my group made my China experience, together we all had something to offer and we made a great team!



After we finished cooking and we were hanging around we had a bug attack!! The bugs in China were pretty big and scary! they also were good at attacking you, i had several dive bomb me! :) we were able to get on a camera a nice freak out by all of us over 1 nasty bug!!

I love looking back on all my experiences and remembering the fun times we had. There is something about being away from the world we know that really teaches you about yourself and draws you close to those around you.
"Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life."

Beijing Day 7 and 8

This was our last day we spent in Beijing, I really enjoyed Beijing- it is so big and exciting! We stayed in the cutest hostel and it was much nicer than our apartments so it was hard to leave!! I enjoyed hostels because you met some of the most random people at-it is amazing how many people come to China just to escape life!
This is our hallway :)

One of my favorite parts of this hostel was the laundry service. You took your dirty clothes to the front desk with some money at the beginning of the day and when you came back that night it was all clean and folded in your room! It was a happy feeling
We had a few more days to head back to the school, so before heading home we took a train ride over to Xian! We all went a little crazy and Beijing with our money... so to help save some we decided to buy hard seats for our over night train ride!! Definitely an experience... maybe not the best one we've had! Our train seats were basically like the seats in the chapel, except it they were perfect 45 degree angles- a little difficult to get comfortable on! We made the best of our 11 hour ride! We had a laptop to watch a movie- we put the Chinese subtitles on and let those around us watch with :) We also played some fun games with our i-pods! about 3 in the morning we attempted sleep, none of us got too much. Our neighbors figured out how to get comfortable :) When I saw them sleeping, I laughed so hard.

Hey, I guess whatever works right?
Xi'an was an amazing city and i wish we could have spent more time there! Xi'an is where the Terracotta Warriors are... which are incredible!!
On no sleep we went that day to see all the warriors!
There are three pits full of warriors, which got more impressive one after the other!

the first pit was full of warriors, but it also had a lot of excavating! It was neat to see them still digging and finding more warriors!
The second pit had a lot more warriors, several were still in pieces and digging was being done, you also were up above looking down into the pit so it was difficult to see much detail. However, they had several of the warriors in-cased around the pit!

the 3rd pit was my FAVORITE it was so incredible! There were so many warriors and you could get close enough to see all the detail put into each of them. Its true how each warrior is different!
Andrea took most of these pictures, she is an amazing photographer!



Of course we had to have some fun while we were there... so we decided to become the Terracotta Warriors!!

In the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics they had two giant marionettes come out and perform "warrior and little girl" They acted out a story of caring, friendship and peace fully illustrating the concept of the Peoples Olympics.

that night we had fun exploring the city! We tried new foods, did some more shopping and had fun out on the town ;)

We spent the rest of the night hanging out in our hostel with our new friend Tom and his dog Teddy!!
The next morning I walked into my room to find all the girls giggling and laughing!! Andrea had broken her glasses and this is the result of it :)




I LOVED BEIJING- this vacation was the most amazing thing I have ever done!! Everyday was full of new adventures and excitement!! I would go back in a heartbeat!

Beijing Day 6

Beijing Day 6
Today is the day we saw MAOS DEAD BODY!! At Tiananmen Square there is a memorial center for Mao and it cases his body which has been preserved for about 50 years!! There is always a line to see him and most people bring flowers to present to him.

It was really interesting to see how much the people respected and honored him, it was such an honor for them to have this opportunity to see Mao. It was definitely an experience for us to go in, but not the same as for them.
Afterwards, a few of us went to one of the cutest places in Beijing, the Temple of Heaven!! It is the most layback and relaxed historical parks we visited!

The park is full of elderly couples enjoying their days together. One part of the park music is playing and everyone is dancing!! Joey actually went out and danced with a few of the women who I am pretty sure were fighting over him! Here is a video of some of the cute women and couples having fun!!

There were men playing with the coolest hacky sacs and they were Amazing! I have never seen such skill!

I really am in love with this place! If I lived in Beijing I would spend all my time in the Temple of Heaven- there was such a happy and relaxed feeling- everyone was just enjoying life and appeared to have no worries!
The Temple of Heaven has some really interesting history, there is a lot of symbolism connecting the heaven and earth. We had some fun taking pictures- I really liked the whole setting of the temple.

They also had an echo wall and if you stood in the very middle everything you said echoed! Most people didn’t care about the echo, they just wanted the picture!! I made sure to jump up and down and yell so I could hear it echo!!

Can I retire to here someday?

This was our last full day in Beijing… which meant it was our last chance to see the Olympic Stadium up close! Andrea, Joey and I were very determined! We took the subway again, which was scary because we knew it was closing soon! Luckily we made it on the last subway. We were so happy getting off the subway- everything was decorated for the Olympics, we walk out and all the lights are on, the birds nest and the torch were lit up it was such an exciting moment! About 2 minutes later the lights shut off completely… everything was shut down…. We were so close and missed it by only minutes!!! So again we had to see everything from a distance!!
We decided to keep the determination of an Olympian in mind We were going to keep on going no matter what!!

We were a little sad and so to fill our sorrows we bought a sweet potato off the street… and surprisingly it was delicious!! I may have been because it was the only thing we had eaten the entire day

As we were walking down the street some girls came running past us- all three of us look at each other and we start running along with them, they just looked at us and laughed!! It was pretty silly!
Even though we never got to get up close and be in the Olympic Square we still had some amazing adventures trying to get there!!