mary

mary is the SWEETEST lady you’ll ever meet. she is our native coordinator here in china. basically she's our go to girl about everything. she takes us everywhere we need to go, makes sure we have food on the weekends, helps translate when needed and much, much more. this is what i love about her:

*she is about five inches shorter than me, wears three inch heels every day because she wants to be taller.

*she is 23 and in charge of helping us this semester.

*she is so concerned about our safety and our well being.
she had everything prepared for us when we arrived (new rooms, two beds softer then theirs with head rests and sheets and comforter and pillows, table with two chairs, computer on desk with shelves, water, tv on stand, bed stand, phone, internet (a few days later but in our rooms nonetheless) ac, new showers, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, face towels, body wash, shampoo, house slippers, new washer, hot plate, crock pot, microwave, fridge, our own canteen, table with 7 chairs,  plates, bowls, silverware, bathroom cleaner and probably a few more things if that’s even possible.

*her english is really good and she loves learning more. (she writes down all of the english words we teach her in an english notebook we bought for her)

*she's quite the jokester...but you wouldn't know after just meeting her. it takes a while for it to come out from hiding.

*her laugh would make me laugh even if i was seconds away from death.

*she has the cutest little haircut.

*she wears the matching pj's we all bought.

*she takes us everywhere we need to go. i'm so sure that she's sick of going to the market.

*she truly has such a sweet, sincere spirit and I love her so much already.

love you mary rachel ma. you will always have a place in my heart.

xīn péngyǒu...

this is a post dedicated to my new friends and i will attempt to remember their new chinese names. mary our native coordinator gave them to us the first week we arrived. spelling is guaranteed to not be correct and the actual pronounciation is probably way different than what i think it is. but it's fun to try to be a legit asian. my chinese name sounds an awful like what we would call a wee wee. i've realized that i shouldn't tell chinese people my chinese name. i don't want to be known as a wee wee here in china...

han nah (hannah): hannah is so sweet and so far has loved all of the same movies that i do. i already know we’re going to be friends.

shishou (hailee): hailee is very cute with her kids. she has great lesson ideas and is so on top of things. she is always so positive.

guoa guoa (brittney): britt is extremely outgoing, confident, gorgeous and has many talents. she has a missionary named tyson too. :) i love that we share that in common.

ee ling (rachel): rach is one of my best friends and i'm so glad she decided to come. she has a special gift of making everyone around her feel happy and included. she is real about things, tells you how it is, but is so considerate, thoughtful and genuine.

ephan (michelle): mich is one of my oldest and best friends. she is such a trooper for coming. this is pretty outside of mich’s comfort zone (it really is for all of us though) but she get things done, does it well and is still smiling and making me laugh at the end of the day. i’m so grateful we have decided to embark on this journey together. all we need is peace, faith and luck and we’ll get through it.

shoshong (victoria): tori is our head teacher and we couldn’t have asked for a better one! she is so prepared and knows how to help us. she is efficient yet flexible and chill, she is so nice, stylish, beautiful and friendly. without her we’d all be on a plane back home by now.

yours truly, si si (camille)

did you mean a van?

let me paint a picture for you.

seven 19-20 year old girls, four chinese adults, fourteen large 50 lb suitcases, seven small carry on roller suitcases, seven backpacks, a few pillows, blankets, gift bags, and some purses all in a 8 seater van.

it's usually only a six hour ride to our school but due to three “rests” along the way, (we were forced to get out, stretch our legs, and stand for a few minutes) unwanted traffic and rain it took us a little more than eight hours to arrive at our destination: may flora international school, bengbu china. as if the long ride wasn't fun enough we had the privilege of receiving lung cancer because the driver would smoke while driving at least 3 times an hour. in addition to that (yes folks, there's more) mich and i were lucky enough to sit in the corners with our feet on top of suitcases during the entire ride. if that doesn't sound as fun as a day in disneyland, i don't know what would.

we were told that we would be taking a six hour bus ride to the school from the airport after traveling for basically two days straight. when we found this out we tried to be optimistic about it and say we'd find a way to make it fun. after seeing the " bus" we were provided with my optimism left. we definitely got up close and personal with each other. after spending time like that, while being greasy and unshowered, close instant friendships are formed. gotta love it.

enough said...

i thought i liked traveling...

well friends i have some catching up to do. i haven't blogged for a while and i hate that i haven't. many of you know that i have been unable to blog because i am in china. blogger is still blocked here and it was a little tricky to find out how i could make it work. someone who knows their stuff helped me out and now i'm able to blog. i didn't just up and move to china. (although i've met a few people who have and i think they are absolutely crazy) i am here to teach little children the wonderful language of america-english. i am going to post a lot today to catch up and hopefully i can be fairly consistent from now on. enjoy!

Preparing to leave
i felt like i was ready to leave for china in june. i wanted to leave so bad but i wasn't leaving until the end of august and there was so much to do. of course i procrastinated it all and only started getting ready to go about a week before my date of departure. i was packing and repacking for three days. ashlee and my parents put up with me while i was going crazy and helped me so much while I was trying to situate my baggage. weighing my bags over and over again was a joke. my dad and i took turns weighing ourselves and then holding the bags and subtracting the difference to find out how much the bags weighed. we also tried to weigh them by themselves. eventually both bags were under 50 lbs at home. it was quite the process but we felt pretty good about it...until we got to the airport. they were still overweight when they weighed them and i about cried. oh well though. i rearranged, other girls took some of my stuff and we got them under the weight limit. it never really hit me that i was going to china for four months until i was on the plane from vegas to korea. it still felt like a dream and was so unreal. when it finally hit i went a little crazy but i was so excited that the craziness of it didn't affect me that much.  

rach mich and i at the slc airport about

to start our four month adventure

the plane ride
it all began with two days of traveling. along with the traveling came two days of not showering, two days of stuffing my face with american food thinking it would be the last time i'd have it for four months, two days of not sleeping as well as i wanted while on the plane, and last but not least two days of swollen feet. the food on the plane was horrible (see picture one a and one b), the only good thing about the plane ride was the free eye mask and slippers (see picture two a and two b), and i really could have gone without the swollen feet. (see picture three).

picture one (a)

picture one (b) 

picture two (a)

picture two (b)

picture three

that all was the negative side of my traveling experience...majority of it is negative but there were a few postive parts. one. two of my best friends were with me during it all and the other girls in our group were so cute and easy to get a long with. two. in the korean airport we were privileged to attend a little free show and paint a lotus flower on our own fan. it was such a neat experience and a great way to make a seven hour layover seem not so long. three. mary picked us up from the airport. i'll talk more about mary at a later time but basically she's my favorite asian. she is our native coordinator here which means she is from china but speaks english well enough to help us out. she works at the school where we teach. her whole job this semester is to take care of us and she puts her whole heart and soul into that. i love her. four. the traveling did eventually end. i like that even if getting to a certain place is miserable you always have the arrival to look forward to.

mich rach me and tori painting away

rach hannah mich tori hailee me britt

uno.dos.tres.

i haven't blogged for a while and because of that there is catching up to do. i would like to highlight three very special people in my life. all three have recently-meaning the last couple of months, gone through a slight change in their life. to my dear friends, i'm sorry this is late. but you know me...when do i ever do anything on time?

number one. my wonderful, talented, beautiful, self-motivated friend rebekah hafen. rebek turned the big 2-0 on june 22 this year. turning 20 is quite a scary thought i think. not just 20 in particular, but i guess from now on every birthday will be a little bit scary. no, the birthday's aren't scaring me because that means i'm becoming older than my vampire boyfriend, but they're scaring me because life is in the fast lane on i-15 for me and my friends right now. us girls recently got together for lunch at costa vida and it seriously felt like we were in high school, just grabbing a bite to eat before returning to our eighth period classes. almost four years have passed since we had lunch together at costa as juniors in high school. we are now heading into our junior year of college. life is moving fast. one thing that i love about bekah is that she has accomplished so much already. if all goes according to plan, she is planning on graduating next fall. i don't know if i can even estimate the year that i'll graduate from college. she has had her mind set on what she wants and she has worked so hard to get there. she has skipped out on summer breaks because she took more classes, she has worked her tail off helping hundreds of students figure out their life plans, she has given up opportunities to hang out because she was studying for hours and hours, she has researched and planned out exactly what she'll need to do to get what she wants and deserves. i admire that bek and i wish i could possess that same quality. i love you and know you'll do great things. happy late birthday rebek.

super old photo...still love it though. TWINS!!

number two. michelle maw-the best roommate i've ever had just turned twenty a month after rebekah. not only has she been my best roommate but she has been a member of the three musketeers and one of my best friends since sophomore year. we have built so many memories it's becoming hard to remember them all. but i want to remember them all so here i go, writing some down so i'll have them forever engraved in my mind. *cheer trip-florida-junior year. most of this trip is a slightly sour memory for my dear michy but one night in particular i'll never forget. we went crazy at the swap meet near our hotel and bought some see-through, old woman, semi-lingerie pj's to wear to bed that night. due to some drama, we were invited to our coaches room for some girl talk and comfort food. we headed over to our coaches room, stopped at what we thought was the right hotel room and knocked. as we waited we got anxious and started wondering if this was the right room. that question was soon answered when an old man (like 60 or 70 year old man) answered the door and just stared at the two 17 year olds wearing see-through pajama's that were standing in the doorway. we were shocked, entered into a giggle fit, and quickly ran to the right door and shared a fun night with our cheer coaches listening to stories about...well we'll just keep those to ourselves.* *countless bus rides to and from games were only ok because of mich. the whole bus singing "i'll make love to you" is almost just as good, but not quite. we watched movies, talked, slept, took pictures, stole rebekah's frozen peas and corn (best snack ever. thanks for being so brilliant bek), and just became closer friends. i'll treasure those hours we were able to spend together.* *lake powell senior trip. water skiing with michelle maw at the exact same time is probably one of my greatest accomplishments. both of us were on double ski's and we were out at the same time, doing syncronized movements and having a grand ol' time. that whole week was filled with deep conversations with mich and i loved every second of it. thanks for inviting me to be a part of the maw family.* *first day of college. moving down to cedar city was rough for michelle but she did it anyways. i am so grateful that she was with me to go through the anxiety of starting that new chapter of our lives. she is the truest of true friends because she put up with me not being as good of a friend as i should have been during our freshman year. she was always there for me; being my mom when i needed one still, helping me with homework, having movie marathons until the wee hours of the morning, etc. i couldn't have grown the way that i did that year without her example.* i could go on. michelle is amazing in every way possible. she is so beautiful inside and out, she is the most caring person i know, and she is always looking out for others needs before her own. each year brings new experiences and new growth and i only hope the best for you michy. i love you! happy late birthday.

best cheer camp. yeeeessss.

number three. my most recent friend to complete his first week in the mtc, elder tyson james jenkins. my strong, handsome, caring, best friend has made the decision to serve an lds mission for two years. he has been called to the stockholm sweden mission and reported to the mtc exactly one week ago on july 28th, 2010. i cannot comprehend what he will go through mentally, physically, and spiritually for the two years, but i do know that the outcome of it all will be fantastic. i can only hope that my self motivation will be bumped up a few notches so that i will be progressing at least a little, if not more during the next couple of years. i met elder jenkins at the end of september, 2009 in matt moody's dorm room at suu. he had the common teenage boy hair-do, aka long shaggy hair that is sometimes straightened with a flat iron, (he cut it shortly after we met, i had nothing to do with it though...), he wore an old jersey and longboarded everywhere, he gave me a cute nick name and told me he'd make me fall in love with him (i thought that was just crazy), but he had a little half way smile that i couldn't resist. he's been on my mind ever since. he is someone that i can be myself around. i can talk to him about anything. he knows me well enough to make predictions about me or call me out on something. he has made me laugh harder than anyone else has. he is the strongest guy i know, and i feel safest when his arms surround me. he has the making of an amazing, strong missionary and i know he is going to give it his all for the next two years. he never gives less than 100% and i admire that about him. 723 more days to go tys- keep on keeping on.

farewell time. hej do (goodbye in sweden).

summer fun.

this summer has definitely been filled with family time, parties, new friends, old friends, reunions, and laughter.

i have enjoyed having two jobs-magleby's fresh and la jolla groves. they keep me plenty busy and because of that i haven't seen everyone as much as i would have liked. but i've been very blessed to have the opportunity to work and make some money.

MEC had some fun on the lake about a month ago. i've been a slacker and haven't talked about it until now, but it's better late than never. i tried wake boarding again and got up after a few tries. i was a wimp and didn't stay up for too long each time because there were so many waves, but it was still way fun. i realized that i'm really not a huge fan of tubing. i think that i am and it is pretty fun but the feeling of almost getting my arms ripped off, constantly almost falling off and having to hold on so tight was only slightly enjoyable while actually tubing. of course if you were to ask me right now if i wanted to go tubing with my two best friends i'd say yes instantly. it's only during the "fun" ride that i might think twice about tubing.

i have LOVED having my sister melanie and her family stay at our house for part of the summer. my niece lucy and nephew owen have been my best friends the last few weeks and i am amazed at how small yet big they are. i will be very sad when they have to leave us in a couple weeks.

the fourth of july is always a treat for me. i have been in a play the last three years that really helps bring back the true spirit of the fourth. i love doing it with my little sister and newfound friends. i also enjoy all of the family bbq's, reuniting with family i haven't seen for months and months, and i love all of the fireworks. this fourth of july was indeed a success.

to my papa...

i felt it was appropriate to take the time to somewhat publically brag about my wonderful father. there is not enough time for me to say all i wish to or words to express exactly how i feel about my dad. but at least this is something.

my dad has always been there for me and i know he always will be. he has been there for me when i was hurt physically, when i needed questions answered, when i needed comfort (sometimes in the form of a backrub), when i was being a silly girl that cried for no reason, when i felt discouraged, when i felt lonely...i could go on and on. he is always mindful of each one of his kids.

when i was away at school i would love it when my dad would call me and we'd have a short two minute conversation but it was enough to remind me that he cared, enough for me to still feel his love for me even though i was 200+ miles away. i don't think he knows this, and i'd feel really guilty if he found out. but sometimes i wouldn't answer when he called because i knew that just hearing his voice would make me start crying. i always called him back later, but it was like he had an ability to call me right when i was missing home, or having a rough day. i love him for that though.

my sister gave a talk today in church and she touched on how my dad does small and simple things that mean more to us than great things would. he definitely surprises us and does the great things as well, but it's with the small and simple things he does each and every day that really make me look up to him. he really is one of the best examples that i have. i truly want to be just like my dad when i grow up. he's the best dad i know and i couldn't be more happy to be his daughter. i love you dad!