HONG KONG

Hong Kong Temple

Jackie Chan

Shanghai and Hainan Island

SHANGHAI

Hainan Island!

Home Sweet Home!!

Adam and I are back home! Our time in China flew so fast! We loved every minute of it but are glad to be back home! In the last month we have traveled almost 20,000 miles and traveled 16 different ways. Walking, taxi, bus, train, airplane, longest escalator in the world, tuk tuk, elephant, scooter, bamboo raft, speed boat, ferry, ox cart, qiche (cart behind a bike or scooter) back of a truck, and subway. We have been on the beaches of Thailand and China and visited the minority villages and street markets of those countries. We have seen thriving cities and watched farmers work their land in the country side. Our hearts have been forever touched by the sweet people of China and especially by our wonderful students. We have loved traveling and are so happy that we had to spend an extra week in Thailand waiting for the Chinese embassy to open after the New Year. It was a great time to relax in the sun and go to the beaches of Thailand with white sand and warm ocean water. After we flew back to China we had one day to pack everything up and then we flew back to the states. Our total trip duration was over 36 hours long! Adam and I are on crazy sleeping schedules now where we end up staying up all night and then can't help but crashing during the day. I am in the process of getting our pictures loaded so you can see what we have done!

The watered down version of our travels!

It is always an adventure traveling! Adam and I had such a great time the one day we were in Shanghai. It was freezing cold but then we went to Hainan Island which is the Hawaiin Island of China. We had so much fun there laying on the beach, getting massages on the beach every day, and eating fruit icecream! We loved our group and had so much fun with them. We went to Monkey Island that has thousands of monkeys living there. We watched a goat walk on a tight rope and monkeys do tricks. Adam went scuba diving and we soaked up the sun. Next we hit up Hong Kong! Hong Kong is an amazing city with a lot to see and do! We walked on the boardwalk and went up to Victoria's peak that looks down on the city. We went to a market and had a blast walking around. It is a very international city and has Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior and all the top Fashion names on almost every corner! They have beautiful parks and American restaurants! Yay! We had to split up from our best friends and go to Thailand. Thailand has been so much fun! We love the heat! We have loved riding on elephants and going on boat rides. There is a temple to Buddah almost everywhere you look. They are exquisitely decorated. We visited some ethinc villages of the Hmong(Adam was so happy!!) Karen(long necks), and a few other tribes. It was really interesting to see. We went to the markets in Chang Mai and Adam found so many Hmong! It was fun to see him talk to them. We thought we were sad to leave until we realized we couldn't leave! Our Visa to China was only a single entry and we didn't realize that we couldn't get back into China. So we have to stay here in Thailand and we are currently figuring out what to do! Thank goodness for our group who gave us all their extra Baht and RMB so that we could stay in a hotel and eat since we have no credit card! Of course our timing is perfect!!! On the weekend and during the Chinese New Year means no chance of getting a Visa until the 2nd of February!! We are just going to chill and enjoy Thailand until we can get a Visa back into China so we can fly there and pack all our stuff up and then fly back to America. We might even come back to China to teach the next semester! We are just glad to be stuck in Thailand where it is hot and cheap!

~Making spirits bright~

~Holiday Cheer~

I feel like I just blogged but so many things have happened! Adam and I finished up our classes with plays. They were a lot of fun and our students did great. Adam made me, Vera, and May a shrimp dinner for Christmas Eve and it was amazing! I didn't have to help because he had to rip the heads off, take the shells off and rip the vein out of each one and he knew I pry wouldn't have been able to taste the goodness if I helped. We had a Christmas party with one of my classes on Christmas Eve and had so much fun. Our students had a New Years party with their classes and we got to be the only teachers that were invited. Adam and I felt very cool! We are around their ages so I am more like their sister and friend to them, actually some of them thought we were only 18 or 20!haha A Japanese class we have never met wanted us to come sing for them and it was funny. Adam has a good voice, me on the other hand can not sing! We both had colds and it was a sad version of Rudolph the Red nose reindeer! We had to stay for another 5 minutes while they all got out their phones and snapped photos. We went to Qingdao for our last Sunday with the Branch. It was very sad but we had a great afternoon visiting with all the BYU teachers. We are so happy that we will be with a few of them in Hainan, see them all in Hong Kong and end our trip with Victoria and Nona. I am so thankful for their love and support. China would not have been as wonderful without being able to attend church Sundays and to have their friendship. They have been our family away from family! We are now sadly cleaning and packing our apartment before we head off to travel around. I am happy that our Thailand trip is back on because it is HOT there!! Adam and I have loved being in China. We have been so lucky to enjoy being able to spend every waking moment together! We will miss it but I know that we will end up back here someday!

~First Wedding Anniversary~

Metro Cafe

Shopping shopping shopping!

And more shopping!

Rockin our new jeans!

TGIFridays!!

The Holiday Inn is the best!

Another Lady Gaga and Christina Aquilera look alike???

It was sad to leave Beijing!

~Happy one year wedding anniversary~

We can't believe that it has been a year since we knelt across the alter and were sealed for all time and eternity but it has! We are so happy and lucky in love! I feel like the luckiest girl to have married Adam. We had to teach on our anniversary but Adam made it special and I woke up to breakfast from McDonalds! It was a treat and then Adam and I exchanged gifts! I got him 2 shirts which of course he bargained for. He got me this fabulous white fur cropped jacket and some awesome purple and gray striped fleece thermals. He is the sweetest! Then we went out to a "western" style resturanut and had some good food. Then we went to Beijing for the weekend. Adam planned everything so I didn't have to worry about anything other than what I was going to pack! We took the fast train which was awesome and really nice(especially compared to the cockroach infested trains we usually ride!). We got off the train and Adam surprised me with a bouquet of lillies that our driver was holding. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was really nice and they made us feel extremely special. We stayed in an Executive room so we got all the benefits of that! The hotel staff knew our names everywhere we went and always wished a happy wedding anniversary. We recieved gifts almost every time we saw them. Adam did such a great job of planning everything and making me feel loved and special. We went out the first night to an Italian restaurant that was fantastic. You had to have reservations and the food was divine. It was the perfect intimate setting and romantic dinner. The next day we went to the Pearl market! It is always an experience there, but we had so much fun and came home with too many things! That night we went out to TGIFridays which of course was amazing! When we walked into the hotel after dinner they asked us to go to the Salt and Pepper restaurant inside the hotel. They had set up a table in the corner for us with candles and decorations and said, we figured that since you probably didn't get to really celebrate your wedding anniversary in Weifang you would like this. We loved it! They served us some cake and gave Adam a Chinese cut out and gave me 3 dozen roses. The next day we went shopping again and had to buy another suitcase to take it all back to Weifang! Who knows how we will get it back to the states! Adam planned massages but we had to skip that because we spent too long bargaining! We ate at Sizzler and watched the Chinese acrobatic show that night! It was amazing! Adams and I mouths were hanging open the whole time! We could not believe some of the things that they did! Sunday we checked out and the hotel gave us another gift for staying at their hotel. We went to church and braved the bitter cold wind and then got back on the train to come home to snow in Weifang! It was everything a wedding anniversary should be. Adam is so wonderful! We love being married and are so lucky to have eachother. He is my everything! Words can't express my love for him.

Fall 2008 ~Tailor made~ Look Book

Delicious Food!

The outside of our campus is filled with food vendors
This is one we usually go to! Each wrap with a

choice of a few vegetables and lamb meat is about $.25!

This is how we get to our most favorite restuarant!

You might be able to see a ball of white fur! It's a dog that is always on the roof!
Vera, Me, and May
We love this soup place!
You put all the vegetables or tofu in a tin can that you want
and then they boil it with some noodles and you get some
delicious soup! Yummy! Of course it has MSG so you know it is going to be good!
The best part is each bowl is about $.70!!!
We eat here atleast twice a week! Adam and I are going to miss this soup place!
But we are going to miss May and Vera so much more! I wish I could
put them in my suitcase and take them home with us!

The poultry is always fresh here in China!

Adam playing Santa! We are always together and so he
has to sneak away when May and Vera go out with us so that he can get me stuff!
Because my chinese is so great he gets to bargain for his gifts!
I wonder what that is under his sweater? Maybe this fur coat I have been begging for!??