Well I am finally getting around to writing about my trip this summer. It is hard to describe and put into words all the thoughts, feelings, emotions, sights, and sounds, but I will attempt to just for you all. A lot of the pictures are posted, but when you take over 1500 pictures in a month it is hard to post them all. :)
China July 25-August 9:
A team from the small town of Bonney Lake ventured into new territory this summer as we met up with some friends from China to teach at an English training for teachers. We met at Middle School #2 in Huangyuan, Qinghai, China for two weeks encouraging these English teachers to speak and practice their English with us. In the morning they had structured classes that inclueded The Building Blocks of Engish, Including Media and Literature in Teaching, and Teaching Methodology. In the afternoons they attended a small conversation group and a Culture Class. I was a Conversation group leader. So pretty much I had two groups each day for an hour and 2 minutes and my "job" was to get them to speak... in English. We had a book of activities and games that helped out a lot! We had fun! Obviously we couldn't say much about our beliefs, but you hoped and prayed that an opportunity would present itself in your conversations. My first class there were 4 students and in my second I had 6, but one of the Education Department heads joined my class so I ended up with 7 people. Their Enlish levels ranged from very low to pretty well. In the evenings, after dinner, we had activites that they could come and experience if they wanted. We taught them frisbee and baseball, had a sing-along, remarried Amy and Jesse in a mock wedding, watched "Amazing Grace," and had a basketball competition. As usual the food was amazing! :) I love Chinese food the bestest!!! Tried some new dishes, but all in all I still love it! I gotta learn how to make some things.
Bejing August 9-10:
Mom and I spent the night in Bejing before going on to Romania cause Mom didn't want to spend the night in the airport. Now drop a small town girl into a HUGE city and a five star hotel and she goes crazy! :) Mom was a little embarassed. Hehe.. First the guy who picked us up from the airport came in a shiny, black car. We pull up to the hotel and it is like brand spanking new. They come out and get our luggage for us, open the door, and the attendents stand up when you walk in. They were very helpful and showed us to our room. Wow! Our room was soo cool! Open and airy and sweet! Comfy beds, flat screen tv, nice carpet... it was just sweet! You'll have to check out the pics just to see how sweet. So we chilled for a bit after getting to the hotel then took a walk. We found a mall and looked for something to eat. I wanted Western food, so we went to KFC. We headed to the supermarket to get some water, walked around the mall for a bit, then headed back to the hotel for a rest. This was the only time I ever saw the Olympic Games in English. There was one channel that was showing them in English. Mom read a bit and took a nap. Then we headed out for a longer walk trying to find a park that we passed on the way in and we found it. We walked around that, looked at stuff, and found the Starbucks!!! :) We drank our first Starbucks made drink in two weeks. Aaah. Then we headed back to the supermarket to get some dinner and ice cream. We ate, watched some more Olympics, then went to bed. Got up early for breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and fruit. Yum! Then it was time to head back to the airport and get back to real life.
Romania August 10-25:
Mom and I got there a day and a half before the other team arrived so we spent it with Andreea who is one of the interpreters that goes with us. We walked around Bucharest, but mainly we spent time with her. We met part of the team at the train station on the 12th and made the 5 hour ride to Sighisoara to mee the rest of the team at Project House. The next morning we started the whole medical side of things by sorting and counting pills! Doc unpacked his medical supplies and got organized. To read about the trip visit http://2008romania.spaces.live.com/ The main reason I went this year was for the relationships that have already with the missionaries and interpreters. I love working with the people and helping fill thier needs don't get me wrong. Andreea has had a hard time this year... no her whole life pretty much has been hard. I mainly went to see her and encourage her.
