A few tidbits about what I’ve been learning while living in this wonderful, surprising, and sometimes downright different country.
- I am HORRIBLE at staying up to date with my blogging. Emma and I had pledged and planned to blog once a week… I think this is my second blog in two months. Whoops.
- I desire to be invisible. Blending in was never something that I thought I would desperately crave. Some days, the stares and the comments that we endure when we go out into public make a simple outing to the grocery store a lot more tolling. I just want to buy my fruit and soda in peace!
- McDonalds and Pizza Hut may not have ‘wonderful’ food but they are wonderful tastes of home, when in fact I am far far away from home.
- Riding in taxis is a valid reason to learn Chinese. During one taxi ride Emma began yelling Zuo Xia when trying to tell a driver to turn right, so I joined in. And despite his chuckles we made it and we were felt pretty proud of ourselves- we communicated in Chinese!! … until our Chinese family enjoyed informing us that we had been yelling “Sit Down!” at the driver. Whoops. Then this afternoon as we were getting into a taxi, I accidently told a driver that I was sorry instead of asking him if he understood where we were going. Double whoops.
- When touring around Beijing it is common to feel as if all 23 million residents decided to show up at the exact same attraction that you happen to be visiting.
- Nothing draws attention more than being blonde, white, and tripping over your own feet.
- Being American automatically makes the price of some things go up… funny how that works.
- In
Chinese aquariums you may be able to see animals that you have never seen
before… and experience a wide variety of animals… dead, alive, and cardboard.
This would be a dying frog. Literally taking his last few breaths.
Hey there.
One of those slanty houses in the aquarium.
- China’s
countryside is absolutely beautiful, as are its rivers.
We drove about an hour and a half one Sunday to hike down to the Yellow River!
Caves dot the mountains all throughout China. Some people still live in them! This one was empty.
See those people waaaaayyyy over there? Emma and I bushwhacked through the rocks from there to here...
It was a really hot day... - Starbucks
tastes way better after going without it for a month and a half.
We found one in Xi'an! - The terracotta
warriors are a really fun piece of history to experience and kind of mind
boggling to think about.
There are thousands of more... for miles.
What a wonderful crew! We missed you Vickie!
The weight of the earth above crushed many of the warriors... so archeologists have to piece them back together. I mean, I love puzzles... but dang. No thank you.
Horses were part of the army as well.
Some Mountains near the Warriors.
The torch that was carried during the Beijing Olympics - There
is in fact an art to taking jumping pictures…
We aren't always that good at it... - Duck
brain has the consistency of mashed potatoes but tastes like… well… duck brain…
so, gross.
Before...
Yeah, gross. - Celebrating
the Fourth of July in China means that you can afford a lot more fireworks and
that you can go to the grocery store the day before and not be overwhelmed with
last minute shoppers.
That would be me running after lighting a huge firework... - Sometimes you have to trade smog for blistering heat… but it is totally worth it
- Moms
are always a good remedy for home sickness. They came to China all by themselves! They spent a couple of days at Maria's Big House of Hope and then we all went to Beijing!
The Forbidden City
Found a place to eat all by ourselves!
The Renichs had us all over for dinner one night! :)
So so thankful that she came!
It was a beautiful day on the Great Wall!
She learns well- China pose! (And we did not match on purpose! :) )
Tienanmen square and the Forbidden City!
We took a tour through an area called the Hutong... how Chinese families used to live, kind of like in little compounds-- very cool!
We got to tour one of the homes!
The shopping area! - You
never know what you may be forced to see when skyping the family
Someone wanted me to exam their foot... 
Man, some days I miss her... like these days. - Preschoolers love dressing their teachers
up more than they like dressing themselves up
Um, can you say...embarrassing? I promise, the kids are WAY cuter in this stuff. - China does not know how to measure inches… I used a fabric measuring tape so that I could order some clothes… needless to say, I felt really good about my waist size until I realized that the inches were only slightly off…
- “If
you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.” –A random
Chinese postcard… such a good reminder for this summer.
And now for the part that I know you all have been waiting for... the SELFIES!
Day 18- Our snack bucket... just in case you were worried that we are starving over here.
Day 19- I repeat. We are not starving. Quite the opposite. Vickie makes sure to feed us well. She even shares her chocolate stash with us! :)
Day 20- Nate had us painting various places in Maria's... just to touch a few things up. No worries, we are leaving before he can make us paint the whole building. 
Day 21- We visited another unit and then went to lunch afterwards.
Day 22- We watched Lord of the Rings too late one night at the Renichs... so sleepover! 
Day 23- We've become Chinese and bought these travel mugs... but Americanized them by putting iced coffee in them! Dual-culturing it!
Day 24- So thankful for our Chinese mom- for our talks and for our laughs! We don't want to leave her in a few short weeks!
Day 25- The Show Hope material- we've been teaching some of it when the teams come!
Day 26- The day we became part of the duck brain club! :)
Day 27- Do you see the resemblance?
Day 28- Making some chicken for the team barbeque... the bowl was never ending... so why not have some fun with it?! 
Day 29- A fun park here in Luoyang! 
Day 30- We love pizza hut! And the strange decorations they have... we are trying to imitate the chef statue on the shelf.....
Day 31- Preparing the craft for preschool tomorrow! We over made... 
Day 32- Chinese Barbeque! Actually very delicious! One of our favorites- potatoes with their flavoring! 
Day 33- The aquarium! One of the many cool animals there! 
Day 34- Let's be honest... we forgot to take a selfie, until we were almost asleep... 
Day 35- Homemade pizzas with the Martins!
Day 36- In the taxi after grocery shopping! Lots to juggle! Always an adventure!
Day 37- Some pretty flowers to lighten our room up! Day 38- I was pretty sick... so no selfie that day... you should thank me for that...
Day 39- Throwing it back to the good ol' days- Spy Kids!
Day 40- Shopping can always bond some girls... and yes, Emma and I are actually wearing pants. 
Day 41- It was actually a very clear day... so we took some selfies on the roof of Maria's! Some days we can't even see those buildings behind us because of the smog!
Day 42- Xi'an! It was actually a very beautiful area!
Day 43- The Fourth of July! Yay for coordinating and new dresses! 
Day 44- The fifth of July when we actually set the fireworks off! Not our best selfie... 
Day 46- Noodles! Yummy! Although I feel like I have to be in the mood to eat long noodles... isn't that a thing?! 
Day 47- Our Moms made it and we took them out into town all by ourselves! :) 
Day 50- A fun night in Beijing where we met up with a good ol' friend-- Kelsi! 
Day 51- The Great Wall of China... it was a beautiful day!
Day 52- The Forbidden City, also a beautiful day... and a hot day!
Day 53- The PEARL market! Can you say scarves?! (It was a bright day)
Day 54- They had to leave us! :(
Day 55- A day out with hot noodles and then ice cream afterwards. Yum!
Day 56- Heading out for more Chinese barbeque! Yummy! 
Day 57- Bottle of Tears! So thankful that Lindsey was able to send us some, for ourselves and others! Check out her AMAZING ministry! www.bottleoftears.com
Day 58- We can't exactly keep our flowers alive.
Day 59- Sun bathing day on the roof! We are the only people in China doing so... Chinese people want to be white... we want the opposite! So needless to say, when nannies or the maintenance man come up to the roof we get quizzical and judgmental looks.
Day 60- Getting some work done! 
Day 61- One of our favorite isles in the grocery store... imported products! Woohoo!
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