Happy New 牛(Niu) Year!

This Year is Year of the Bull in China. The Chinese pronunciation of bull sounds like "new". So Happy Bull Year.

We had a great Christmas last week, and we were extremely busy. We got together and ate breakfast and opened presents. Then we went to Aloha for an amazing Christmas meal. After that we went to Mr. Mai's for a Christmas performance. The party at Mai's was Christmas eve and Christmas day. The parties totaled about 250 people who heard the story of Christmas. It was great to tell others about the good news.

We just finished our last day of teaching on the 31st. It's been a long semester and we are ready for our long break. We are planning a short trip to the Chinese city of Guilin next week, and I am going to see my mom in Russia (burr) at the end of January. The rest of the time I have no major plans. I might take a couple small trips to see some friends around China.

We recently went to a Chinese performance with some great Kung Fu and Acrobatics! Here are some pictures from that night....And PLEASE DO TRY THIS AT HOME!!! Hahahaha





Here's a video of me singing at the New year's Eve Party for my school. I am singing 2 of the Chinese favorite songs "My Love" by Westlife and a Chinese Song! Enjoy!

First Semester Almost Finished

Well It's been a long time since my last blog. I apologize. My power chord for my laptop broke, but I finally got the replacement. Much has happened since last time.

It's getting much colder here. It's been averaging 40 at night and 50 during the day.
The students have also been restless. They are all stressed about finals. We have about 4 more weeks of school left. So we will finish right before Christmas. We will have 6 weeks off from school so we are still deciding where to go for a warm get away. I am planning to visit my mom in Russia during the Chinese New Year but that will not be until the end of January. And that will be a cold get away.

Things are going well. I play music at Mr. Mai's every Tuesday night and that has been a highlight of my week. I met some other foreigners who also play music. The last couple of weeks there were about 60 people! They all want to take pictures with me and be email pals with me. It's pretty funny. I feel like I have reached a semi-celebrity status out here. I will be out in the town and someone will stop me and tell me they saw my performance. It's quite hysterical.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We got together with our fellowship and ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and all of that good stuff. We played games with the kids and watched a download football game. It's nothing like the states but I will not forget days like that which make up my China Experience. But I could use prayer for this season. It is lonely sometimes when you can't see family and friends during the holidays. Yet I am surrounded by great friends who share the same feelings and experiences. It's easier when there are more people during those time.

I did not bring my camera for thanksgiving(of course I forget it during important times) but here are some pictures of a trip we took to a tourist farm.


An irrigation system in the ancient days. We would pedal like a bike and it brings up the water from the lake below! Pretty cool!



I don't know why they had these stilts here but it was fun.


My Boss Kai and another teacher Jessie at the farm. Haha

"Don't pick the plants" This sign was right in front of the next picture!


I don't think anyone wants to pick these plants!