SO much has happened that it has been hard to keep up my blog… honestly, it’s been hard to keep up with anything and everything. I have fallen [behind] and I can’t get up…but I’m working on it. Seriously, I’m REALLY behind. I mean, I’m living in China, and I found thank you cards that I wrote months ago from Antigua in my bag that I haven’t sent out yet. ugh. I’m so, so sorry to everyone that hasn’t received their proper thank you. You will get it one day!… I hope… I’m trying really hard..

ANYWAYS, NEWS FROM CHINA:

I have successfully completed 3 weeks of teaching 1,300 students each week. Ahhh! It’s been crazy, but fun.

I have done one private tutoring session and she just set up a second time to meet with me!! This is super exciting because one-on-one is where it’s at. In this setting, I actually get to hang out with the student and she gets to know me and my heart. This is something to chitchat about.* 🙂

I have successfully used the local busses to ride to the other side of town and back- all by myself! This means, I can go get yummy fresh noodles and groceries- even if no one else wants to join me!

There is a new Pizza Hut in Xiantao! You have know idea how excited I was about this discovery. For some reason, the Pizza Huts here will only make specialty pizzas and you can’t order a supreme and hold everything except the pepperonis- but I’m not complaining. I have pizza…

AND I have birthday cake oreos. I can’t believe this is real life.

Last week, the headmaster of our school, Mr. Fang, (and his posse) took the other three foreign teachers and I to a fancy Chinese lunch to thank us for being a part of Xiantao No.1 Middle School. The Chinese teachers have talked to our headmaster and they think we are doing an amazing job, so he wanted to formally thank us. (I was SO happy to hear that because this is my very first time teaching English.) The lunch was interesting and fun! Our headmaster and his friends do not speak any English so it could’ve been weird. Luckily, I sat right beside, Cassie, my boss’s assistant/my helper, and she made sure I knew what I was eating. Stephanie, my Canadian co-worker and best friend on campus, sat on my other side and we helped each other through the awkward moments when we had no idea what was happening.

Last weekend, I went with Stephanie and Stephen (two of my co-workers. Stephen is Stephanie’s dad) to Wuhan where they have an apartment!

In Wuhan, I was able to reunite with my old friend (and old co-worker), KP. He and I worked in Montgomery at a coffee shop together. It’s a small, small world. I was also able to meet his girlfriend, Anita. She was super, precious and she taught me so much! I loved hanging out with those two! We had a nice western burger for dinner, we walked around the night markets, Anita bought me a flag hair clip because we both thought they were cute and so funny, and then they bought me a Chinese lantern to light and release over the Yangtze River. It was picture perfect!

Then, KP, Anita and I went to the airport to pick up Austin and welcome him to China!

The past weekend was super great (even though I got sickly and had to stay in on Saturday night). It was short and sweet, but I’m thankful for the little bit of time I was able to spend with new friends and old friends!

That’s just a “quick” recap! Maybe I’ll have more time to go into detail about specific events, but this is all I have for now. If you’re interested in hearing more about any of these stories or would like to chitchat about specific things, please comment below and let me know.

Be blessed!

-xoxo-

rachel