I'm Here!

Well, I’m here…and to set all of your minds at easy, I am well and safe and so happy to be back in China. I don’t even know where to begin to explain the last 2 weeks. I am in love…in a way that I have never loved before. After many adventures and about 30+ hours of flying, we finally got off the plane, through customs, and met representatives from our school. It was so good to see them. We were so incredibly tired…and then we stepped outside. I was so amazed…my new home is more humid than any place I ever remember being. (I know, I know, you were expecting…And it was so beautiful I couldn’t believe I was actually there…trust me, no airport is that beautiful…If you find one then let me know…I am perfectly happy to be proved wrong…) Thu humidity was so bad, in fact, that I immediately started sweating in the wonderful sweater that had kept me warm for the last 1½ days on the plane…needles to say, the sweater didn’t last long. From there we piled (and I do mean piled) the school bus full (and I do mean full) of all of our luggage. (By the way, moving to another country is hard…2 fifty pound bags? How about a large dump truck? I could fit all my stuff in there.)


So, our bus ended up being so full that we had to take several taxis back into town. I didn’t talk much on the ride because I was so tired, but instead I tried to absorb my new home. It was pretty, but nothing spectacular. The most incredible part came when we drove into our part of the city though. I suddenly sat up straighter and I was filled with a sense of anticipation that I hadn’t felt for hours. I suddenly felt like I had come home. If you ask me today, only two weeks later, I could not tell you where we were, but I suddenly new I was home and I was filled with so much peace I could hardly breathe. Have you ever felt that? You are so full of joy and peace that suddenly there isn’t room for air in your lungs anymore?

When we pulled up to our complex I received a few more surprises. First of all, I am literally living next door to the Olympic Village in my city. We are so close in fact, that only cars with a permit are allowed in. Luckily, we had switched our luggage to a smaller van with a permit when we dropped other members of our team off at their places. Secondly, I literally stopped breathing when we turned the corner to go the complex’s gate. There was the ocean. It was my next-door neighbor. I couldn’t tear me eyes away to see my new home.... What does a person do with that much water? Even now I often stand next to the ocean, or walk on the beach, or simply listen to the waves crash and all I can think is “Do I actually live here or are they going to make me go back to America soon?” My favorite thing about this place is the ocean…I still shocks me every time I see it.


Anyway, the next several days were a series of blurred activities. Dad was so good and I only had jet lag for about 12 hours. Even with a sleep clear brain I can’t tell you everything we did our first week. There was a lot of shopping…a whole lot of shopping. There was shopping for bedding and necessities for the apartment…which by the way is absolutely gorgeous! Don’t tell my parents, but my home is so better than theirs…See Facebook if you want proof…well at least my place is on there… There was also shopping for food and toiletries. I was so amazed to find that I could spend money so quickly just setting up a small portion of my apartment. By the way, I love my roommates! They are incredible!


So, this week we made it to the school. We had orientation from Tuesday through Friday. Talk about information overload. I’m really glad we had it though because there were a lot of things we needed to know. The rest of our time this week was spent setting up our classrooms. I have probably spent between 10-15 hours so far turning my room from something that looked like a prison into an exciting place to learn. ☺ It looks incredible now, just ask me and I will tell you so. I still have some work to do on it before school starts Wednesday, but it looks really good…again, see Facebook for pictures. (A little side note, I am planning on eventually putting my pictures on Picassa, but I don’t have internet in my apartment at this point so it is just too much of a hassle right now. When I get them up I will put the link on this site for you.)




If you wouldn’t mind talking to Dad for me, here are some specific requests. It seems that Dad has chosen my roommates and I for special gifts. Since we left the US we have run into hassles on the plane, a lost camera (I forgot it on the plane…how intelligent was that…but it came back to me…Thanks Dad!), no hot water for over 1 week, a broken air conditioner, sickness (we are having a lot of trouble acclimating our stomachs to Chinese food), and a minor injury (I fell…go figure…). Please ask for endurance and good spirits in these things. Next, please ask for a good school year. You all went to school and can imagine many of the preparations and bumps in the road you hit even before students arrive. I really don’t want to mess anyone’s child up…Lastly, the Olympics officially began last night. Please ask that everything will go very well and that things won’t be too chaotic for long. Anyway, I really need to go, especially since this blog is really, really long already.


I love you all! Thank you as always for thinking of me and talking about me.