Spring photo blur

Fun was had this semester! Every weekend, we found something rewarding to undertake whether it be with our students or sometimes, with each other. These are a few of the happenings that occurred since March of this year. I won't go into too much depth with these events, but I've been bad about blogging about them and I don't want to forget how much fun we had. 

Graffiti party for Lucas's 24th birthday

Nerds vs. Robots

Toga party

Post brewery tour kickball

The weekend where we played with too many birds

How we eat cake at Angelica's farewell party

Easter when John Kuo and I hang out together

God must have spent a little more time on you

About this time is the one year mark of me in China - and oddly I'm in Detroit. But that's neither here nor there. 

This year has been an incredible one - never in my imagination could I have predicted the ups and downs that we would share. The trouble that we would get in, the fun we would have and the memories that I'll cherish forever. I've not been as good about keeping track of everything online as I would like, but I do know that these four beautiful ladies have been my best (lady) friends this year. 

Phoebe, who I introduced to this blog last August as my post mate has been so much more! Not only has our hair gotten longer but our friendship is strangely close. I won't bother to explain but I will say that Phoebe loves the N'Sync song, God must have spent..... you know the deal - but surprisingly, she did not. She did not know that she was an N'Sync fan until this year on our mountain on Shaojie. Now, I've come to expect lyrics from that song at any given moment. ... and she's a great singer.

Actually, she's not but Rachel is. Rachel. Rachel. We met on the first day of coming to China - on the day that we all arrived in Kunming and it was Rachel's 21st birthday. My littlest babe and the person that I've probably racked up the most minutes on the phone with. I knew not to call on Monday but other than that - it was all fair game. I'll try to ride your bike at some point. 

Zu loves to ride bikes and is my Southern belle in crime. After spending New Year's day with Laura, I realized that this lady and I are cut from the same cloth. Yay for being dirty, sketchy, and really good at dancing (just you!). It's just too bad that I can do splits and you couldn't to get to the next level in gymnastics when you were 8. 

That leaves Monica. I've obviously not gone in order.... Monica, who I actually saw back in America - Monica who loves Taiwan and knows of the true awesomeness that Taiwan has and understands how awesome life will be when we have enough money to go to Taipei and just go crazy with bountiful amounts of delicious foodies! My love for Mo knows no boundaries. Literally. You can ask her. Apparently there's a line and I like to straddle it - and by it, I mean Monica. MWAHAHA. 

See you ladies soon, some sooner than later. This year in China with you has been marvelous, wonderful, and ridiculous. I'm confident in the good times that we're sure to have in the coming years.

Lindsey Parker is no longer my wife!

I'm on my sixth hour of my layover and my twelfth hour of being awake. I woke up at 4 am this morning so that I could catch the 7:25 am flight to Detroit from Atlanta, so that I can be in Detroit for my flight to Beijing at 9:25 pm. Yes. That's right, I said PM. Then, I'm on a plane for virtually 14 hours and I lose an additional 12 hours due to time difference and I arrive in Beijing at 11 pm on Monday. Then, I'm going to hang out at the Beijing Terminal 3 for about 6 hours and get on a plane to Kunming. My flight leaves at 7 with a layover for an hour - then I should arrive in Kunming by noon, and hopefully get on a fast bus by 2. Eight to nine hours later, I should be in Lincang. On Tuesday. So, by Tuesday at 10 pm, I should be closer to a bed than ever before. I feel like it's imminently within my grasp.

So.. before I leave the glorious country that is America, I thought I should probably share with you the original purpose of my coming back so briefly. My wife of almost 7 years on Facebook, Lindsey Parker got married. It started as a joke freshman year in college - ha. ha. two girls married on Facebook that actually like boys - that never ended until this year when Lindsey called me three times in a row, sending me into a panic until I realized that it could only be good news.

Lindsey was getting married and I would be going at any cost. 

Us, the summer before senior year in college in 2007, at the opening of H&M in Atlanta

Lindsey and I have been friends since middle school - better friends in high school, and best friends in college. We roomed together our senior year and it was the best year ever! So when my best friend calls me to tell me she's getting married to the boy that we've been waiting to propose to her for the past 5 years,  I ask - when is the wedding - and start making arrangements. Her wedding on July 9 meant that I was going to be leaving my Chinese class early, and flying a week before the end of school back to America. Meanwhile, I got a promotion at Teach for China and would need to be attending the Summer Institute Training - so I would need to go back to China soon after I returned to America. 

AHHH.

First things first, I bused from Shaojie to Yunxian, Yunxian to Lincang - then flew from Lincang to Kunming, Kunming to Beijing, Beijing to Detroit and Detroit to Atlanta. Then, I went home, freaked out when the bridesmaid dress DIDN'T FIT - spent the following day in alterations and flew to Charleston later that same night. 

Patrick, my amazing date and friend from college picked me up from the airport and kindly deposited me in a French cafe the next morning so that I could easily meet up with Linds. 

Hands and toes done and $50 later - our nails were done and I thought I was  ready for the wedding. There was a rehearsal dinner, plus a little down time where I got to hang out with Margaret, say mean things to her friends in my hazy exhaustion, and wake up on the beach. 

The beach was beautiful, so were these men. Yes, I'm a stalker. Then, I met up with Alex Connors, who I hadn't seen since 2007.

We look the same. 

After a quick meal, I ran over to the hotel where Lindsey was getting ready and did my own hair. Lindsey was so calm and I was freaking out partially out from her peace. I kept saying that I would be done with my hair any second, but really, there was no rush - I had over 2 hours to do something that normally took no more than 10 mins. But soon, the wedding was here! Lindsey's wedding was at Magnolia Plantation - everything was green and beautiful.

Here are some highlights: 

Date!

 

Bridesmaids!

The wedding party

As you can see, Lindsey had 5 bridesmaids. Two sisters, Susan and Katie, and two girls from school, me and Sydney and then another girl who she's also really good friends with - Leah. All of the groomsmen were married or otherwise involved. No wedding romances here! Our dresses were hunter green which brought out the brightness of the flowers splendidly. Everything worked out in the end and Patrick and I ushered Lindsey and Matt at the end of the night with sparklers. 

The end of the night culminated fantastically when one of the Lindsey's family members came up to Patrick and me to remark on our dancing: 

Her to Patrick: Can I just tell you, I've been admiring your dancing this entire night.

Her to me: ... and my husband has been admiring your dancing.

To Patrick: Tell me, how do you keep it so contained?

Oh the power of the Southern accent. No matter how many times I say it, it still sounds creepy but somehow when she said it - it sounded nothing but courteous and complimentary! Needless to say, you can bet money that we kept it classy, contained and were stars on the dance floor. 

Lindsey Pooks! Even though you're an Albertson now, you'll always be my Pooks!!

Now, it's a week later and I'm back at the airport and on my way back to China. I've eaten innumerable delicious coma-inducing Mexican meals that I'll not soon forget. 'Til 2012, America - I'll miss you!!!

Teach for China!

I actually don't think I say it enough, nor have I said it officially ever, but I work for Teach for China. It used to be called China Education Initiative, and it's still that, but now, as Teach for China, more people understand what we do - it's a movement to solve education inequity in rural China - which makes it that much more awesome. Teach for China is teaching in only rural China - I've told you many times, and I'll tell you again, I don't teach from a swank air conditioned building to kids who are dropped off from cars - I teach in a cement building with only a chalkboard and 54 kids staring at me who don't even speak Mandarin, who expect me to teach them English, given that I speak Mandarin and English.... It's not easy. Since coming home, I've realized that what I do is a feat in itself. There's no cable, I am not Chinese, there's no McDonald's, any TV at all or even a post office. 

It's as, all of my best friend's friends and family who are all teachers (her mom is a teacher, her aunt is teacher, her mom's friends are teachers, Lindsey is a teacher herself, Lindsey's friends are teachers, I subsitute taught... look in Georgia, I love teachers!) have said, A. LOT. OF. KIDS. .. and they ask - so you have no one to help you? 

I laugh and shake my head. I recently went to the School Box and bought $70 worth of school supplies that mostly consist of laminated posters and stickers so that this coming year, my classroom of 50+ kids will know exactly what I expect, the second they enter my class. I look forward to next year, which is actually in about 6 weeks!

But yes, Teach for China! If I met you in Charleston last weekend - this is where I work!

Yes, returns are possible.

I've been home for a week and I've already bought tickets back to Lincang. Lincang, which is the  biggest city with an airport to Kunming in Yunnan. I've actually only bought tix to Kunming from Beijing, which were CRAZY EXPENSIVE. Dear China, what up. I have to spend this month's salary just getting back to the place where I will work. Boo. 


Here's my itinerary: Monday - leave from Atlanta to Detroit, Detroit to Beijing, stay in Beijing for less than 6 hours, then check in for my flight to Kunming, fly to Kunming by the 19th, and be in Lincang, by the 19th, which is Wednesday. 


It is Tuesday, tomorrow will mark the first day of my return to the world of Starbucks and bountiful plenty. 

DID I MENTION MY BEST FRIEND GOT MARRIED LAST WEEKEND? This is us. 

Hello, America. I'm back.

Yes, I'm in Atlanta right now. Tonight I"m going to Charleston until Sunday and then I'm back for a week. Play with me. I miss you.