a normal wednesday over seas:)

So as you know I am teaching at a pre-school...talk about hard work. But we have lots of fun and only learn a couple words each day! They learn so fast though it is amazing! 

Last month I taught them "I love you" so now every time I walk into teach they yell.... 

"I love you, MeiLi lao shi!" 

(MeiLi is my chinese name and lao shi means teacher)

It is seriously so cute! 

It is a challenging job but extremely rewarding. Not one teacher at the school speaks english so I play a lot of sharades and use my chinese dictionary a lot! We make it work though:)

The teachers are all really helpful and have been able to even teach me some chinese.

My chinese is coming a long. I now know over 40 characters! It is an extremely hard language to learn but I am trying. We'll see if I get any better next semester.

So back to the pre-school.... I teach there twice a week for just two hours. There are 4 different classes from ages 2-5, they are so little! Every time I have to say goodbye they all run to me and give me hugs and high fives. They are obsessed with my blue eyes and they always say "ni de wei shen me you lan se yan lian me? wo de yan lian hei se!" Which means "why do you have blue eyes? I have black eyes!"

How funny is that. Something so normal to us is un heard of over here! I'm the first American these kids have ever met so they are always asking funny questions. One of my older students asked me why I have such big eyes and I didn't know what to say so I just told her because my mom has big eyes! 

Being around these kids always makes me so happy we are living in China.

The 3 year olds!

K, this little girl is SO smart! She is three and the other day I said to her "Hello, how are you?" and she responded with "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" INSANE!

She always wants me to hold and she is a chunk! haha I love her so much:)

These little kiddos are the 2 year olds!

The 4 year olds!

The 5 year olds!

This little boy is my favorite, I want to take him home with me!

Everyday he tells me thank you for teaching him english and that he loves me! Makes me want to cry every time:)

Well that's enough from China for now!

Much love:)

-bb

China

Have you ever met a 9 year old that can speak two languages? It is the most incredible thing. These kids are so smart and so motivated. Their parents care so much about their education and how far they will go in life. Sometimes I feel bad because some of them miss out on being a kid. That is why we try to make our classes fun. We play games, talk a lot and eat lots of candy. I'm sure you are wondering if they are learning...let me tell you. They are! A lot! They are progressing so fast and we can have full conversations with them now:)
Living here has opened my eyes to how big the world is. It is so easy to just live in our own little bubbles and not realize how much more their is to life. Sure, I miss my family more than words can say and sometimes I feel lonely without my friends but this experience is going to shape our future. I know that when we look back on this time in our lives we will be grateful for the courage we had to do it!
It's crazy to think that I would have never met these kids if I would've said no to this opportunity. I'm so glad I said yes. They have made me so excited to one day start a family and to teach my own children. I hope to mix a little bit of China into the way we raise them... give them many opportunities to learn and give them so much love they won't even know what to do with it! I want them to learn more than one language from the beginning. Those immersion programs are awesome!
I'm writing all of this down so I can look back on this when i'm confused about why I am living in China. I want to remember this feeling, this feeling of love and thankfulness. I love our students and I know that we will stay in contact with many of them. Who knows maybe one of them will be an exchange student one day and we can meet again! Life is just that crazy!
From China with love,
-bb

Ni hao! Wo xiang ni!

well thanks to a great friend we finally got a vpn up and running...it's a little slow but it is great to connect with everyone back home again. As I got on facebook and read some of my friends blogs a strange feeling came over me. It was so weird to realize that my life back home was still moving forward but without me in it. I almost felt like I wasn't progressing anymore. It was so wonderful to look at pictures of everyone and to see the smiles on their faces. I loved more than anything seeing the pictures of the new babies that have entered my friends lives and to find out what they named each one of them. It is crazy how many things will change in just 4 months. To all of my wonderful friends back home congratulations on the extending of families and how happy life is! I have never seen more beautiful babies....you people know who you are! (Basically any of my dear friends that have had babies in the last 4 months haha!)
Life in China is still great! The language is coming so fast for Chance and a little slower for me! Since I'm not in a class I have to study and learn on my own and anyone that knows me knows i'm not the most motivated student. We have met many new friends and learned so much about a completely different culture. It has been a humbling experience and I wouldn't change it for the world. We are coming home on July 18th but we have actually decided to do one more semester so we will come back to China on September 10th and stay till December!
The country is bursting with kind and loving people. They have made us feel so welcome in their home and have taught us so much. Yes things are quite a bit different here and not all of the differences are ones that I love but we'll just leave it at that. Both Chance and I are teaching many english classes and we love it. It get's tiring but it is so amazing to watch some progress! Especially a child, their minds are incredible! We have made Changsha our second home and when it comes time to leave for good it will be a sad day.
Right now we are getting a little excited to come home though....getting on facebook and all the blogs makes us miss everyone so much! It's so easy to get caught up in life over here but when I remember all the little things about home I get sad. The biggest thing right now is i'm sick of chinese food haha! The food here really is great but 4 months of it is starting to get to me. I miss Wingers so much and movie theatre popcorn! Mexican is definitely a nightly crave for me....mmm chips and salsa! Okay that's enough.
Well everyone, what I really want to say is thank you. Thanks for being such wonderful friends and family. Love you all:)