Adventures in China

Helloooo from China! We have now been here for nearly 3 weeks. It's crazy to think it has only been 3 weeks. It feels like it's been 3 months. But that's ok. China is a nutty place at times but nonetheless, we are finding our way and enjoying it more and more! 

Pictures from our "going away" family get together the Saturday before leaving...

$1 Thrifty Ice Cream night with Family and Friends - - The night before we took off!

After a tearful (on my part) goodbye to family we boarded our flight to L.A. A short time later we arrived and waited the next 4 hours for our flight to South Korea. And only 13 and 1/2 (NOT ONLY. It was LONG!)hours later we arrived in Seoul Korea.The long flight was strange because we left at midnight in California and because of the time change, we flew the entire time in the dark. Luckily we slept, watched movies, and ate our first doses of white rice so it made time go by quickly for the most part. We had one more flight to Shanghai from Korea and it was only a few hours. We arrived in China, boarded our bus, and set out on a 3 hour bus ride to Changzhou where we would be teaching for the next 4 1/2 months! 

It was fascinating driving through the highways of China. Immediate things we noticed: the relentless honking by ALL drivers and never-ending high rise apartment buildings (they have to house their 1.3 billion population somewhere!). Cars are a relatively new addition in China, within the past 25 years or so, and they don’t really follow the same traffic rules as at home. They will cut off anyone who gets in their way while driving, including pedestrians, bikers, or little rickshaws. You have to develop 360 degree vision if you want to survive walking across the street here. 

Eventually we arrived at our school. It was cold! 

The backside of the school. This picture definitely looks cold, which it was(!), but the gray sky is also highly contributed to the smog, the smog is awful here!!)

So happy they have a track! 

The wonderful thing about cold areas in the U.S. is that when you walk into a building it is typically warm and a haven from the freezing weather outside... nope, not in China. The hallways in our dorm were frigid, to say the least, as well as our dorms. Luckily we were given the “go” to turn on heaters in our rooms, but even today the hallways of all buildings are freezing. You’ll look into classrooms and all of the kids are bundled in their snow gear as they are learning away from 6:45 am to 7:00pm!! Their schedule is so long and I feel so bad for them that they are stuck in school literally ALL day! 

Our first night, we got situated in our dorm, and enjoyed our first frightening dinner in the cafeteria.

 My entire life, I have despised cafeteria food, so you can imagine that when I was told we would be eating all of our meals from the school cafeteria I was less than thrilled. I just kept telling myself, it’s only 4 months, not a big deal, but based off of how long the first few days felt here at school it seemed I would be eating from the cafeteria for the rest of forever. I quickly gained an appreciation for the food though. While they eat a ton of meat they also eat a lot of vegetables alongside their white rice at every meal. We both avoid all forms of meat here and devour vegetables and rice. All vegetables are doused in some sort of sauce or broth that consists primarily of oil, which is unfortunate, but you deal with it and shake off what you can.

Joey found a China man to play a solid game of ping pong, he was lovin it! 

We were delighted when it came time for our first Sunday here. We thought we would be skyping into one of the China branches of church but we decided to venture to a city near here named Suzhou. After about 4 hours or so of buses, trains, and taxis, we arrived at church in time for Relief Society and Priesthood! We were bummed we were so late but so grateful we made it in time for some of it! Church is ran out of someones home here since there are such strict laws on practicing religion in China. An agreement with the Chinese government allows our church meetings to proceed as long as they do not include any native Chinese individuals. So the Church has assigned a family from Utah to come live in China for 3 years so LDS meetings could be held in Suzhou at their home. Let me tell you, I am unbelievably grateful for the gospel. Our first Sunday there they were so welcoming and immediately reached out to us. Of course, since it is such a small world, a family knew my family as soon as they heard my maiden name. Turns out one of the members used to work for my uncle! And this family used to live only a couple of miles from our parent's house AND used to be in our old Stake. I loved it! Then there was another guy who grew up less than a mile from Joey's parent's house. We were stunned and so grateful!! The family that know's my uncle offered for us to come stay with them at their home in Suzhou. They were probably thinking we might come in a few weeks or so, maybe longer, but nope - - that next weekend we boarded the train once again to Suzhou! 

High Speed trains are awesome here! I got the jacket for like $20 in Suzhou, which was essential because I didn't pack warm enough for the freezing weather that makes up China currently!

The family's home that we stayed with in Suzhou was amazing. It was the most beautiful home! We were in heaven in comparison to our dorm back at school! They spoiled us by feeding us great "american food", homemade whole wheat bread, and lots of yummy fruit! It was a much needed break after enduring our first week of teaching (which I will talk more about in another post). Our first morning there, we went for a lovely walk around a lake, then began our sightseeing. 

We went to a street market to buy a jacket for my cold self then headed to an area called “Walking Street” that cars aren’t allowed on and is lined with endless shopping - - both high-end shops and side streets made up of cheap bargain-friendly shopping. We had fun walking, browsing, buying a couple things (a hiking backpack for about $15 and my very first pair of Tom’s for less than $10!) We saw our first pagoda while being in China (which I was expecting to see everywhere but did not!) and finished a long day of walking with a heavenly serving of Cold Stone. Our wonderful family we stayed with took us there and we were so excited!!!!! It was ridiculously expensive, compared to everywhere else in China, and even compared to the U.S. but it tasted so wonderful! The next day, we enjoyed all 3 hours of church, a delicious Sunday dinner with our “China Family” and boarded our train back to our city. It was such a great weekend! I wish we could visit with their family and go to church every weekend because it felt like such a comforting and peaceful place to be. I’m so grateful for the family we visited with and their willingness to allow us to come!! Hopefully they will accept us back many more times! 

We finished up another week of teaching and headed to Beijing last Thursday night. It was such a fun adventure that it deserves a post of it’s own! 

(ps - now that we can use blogger here (we had to jump through a hoop to use it) I will update the blog much more regularly of our China adventures.)

 Hope all is well in your life!