It's starting to get cold!

Well I know that it's hard to believe, but it got cold over night here. One day it was hot and humid and the next it was windy and cold. This will be my first winter outside of southern California. Many people relate the winter here to the winter in Seattle. So it won't be too bad, but it will be a very wet and long winter. I have started to travel around the city on Monday's and Wednesday's because i have a break from 10:30 to 2:30. So it gives me enough time to hop on a bus and get off whatever area of town captures my interest.

I got a haircut today. Hahaha. I was a bit apprehensive at first but it turned out pretty well. The one thing that you must realize it that the barber shops and hair salons here are like night clubs. They pump loud music and they are open for long hours of the night. Before I went into the barber shop i learned the phrase "Just a trim" in Chinese. So I started to walk around downtown and find a shop that "looked" appealing. But there was one problem. All of the shops I was looking at had pictures of girls on the outside...so I think it was just for girls. So the 4th barber I found had a guy inside also getting his haircut. So now it was time to face my fears. I walked up to the barber shop and I was greeted by a boy with his hair sticking straight up and bangs that went half way down his face. Just my luck, right? So I said the Chinese phrase, "Just a trim", "Just a trim". He nodded and brought me back to the sinks to wash my hair. This is standard procedure for a haircut. He washed my hair...twice. Then he conditioned my hair and he started to give my head a massage. I couldn't help it, I started to laugh. Out loud. It was just too funny for me to keep it inside. I was thinking, "All this for a haircut!" hahaha it was too funny. After about 40 minutes of washing...rinsing, washing again, rinsing; and the conditioning massage...I was finally ready for the haircut. So he waved over the barber and I repeated the phrase that I had previously told him, and he started to cut my hair. He did a pretty good job...although at the end of the haircut he blow dried my hair straight up! I looked like Don King! It was quite the adventure.


Don King haircut!


They think being white is perfect. So they have this whitening cream that makes their skin whiter. Yeah, kinda like Michael Jackson!


Around Town.


I found this park/statue area...it was relaxing.


Some military recruitment poster.


Starbucks...coming soon. We are so excited. They are opening up three in the city!


Bamboo Scaffolding! It's pretty sturdy.


That's all. Thanks for reading and taking the time to look at pictures. And thanks for your comments. I always love reading them.

Break in Shanghai

Hello Everyone.
I'm sorry it's been awhile since my last post but I have been so busy. We just got a break from teaching because it is China's national Holiday. So it was the perfect opportunity to get out of Wuhan for a bit and see a little more of the Country. So we decided to travel to Shanghai. I had such a great time... it was the biggest city I have ever seen. There are more skyscrapers and buildings than any city in America. It was an amazing sight to see.

Stew and I went to the Women's World Cup Finals. We went to a few museums. We relaxed. We read. We went to Starbucks...Everyday. We ate some great food. We met some cool people. We saw some amazing things. We had a great time. Here are some pictures from our trip.

The beginning of our trip. A wonderful view.


Tea time! We Went to this teahouse. It was so good.


This place was near the teahouse. Yu Gardens. This place was beautiful.


Even though these buildings look new...they are actually ancient...They fooled me at first. They are preserved very well.


These lions are everywhere. They are usually in front of buildings. They symbolize wealth and good fortune. The bigger the lion the more prosperity they have.


Women's World Cup.
This was the final match to see who would get third place.
USA:4, Norway:1


Final Game.
Brazil vs. Germany.
These German Fans were Crazy!!! So funny! They were Yelling the entire night.


Brazil: 0, Germany: 2
Brazil put up a great fight. It was such a good game.


The winners. The best fire-works I have ever seen. They were going off all around us!


So Stew and I went to get some dinner after the game. Then we were walking back to the subway and we saw a small crowd and some media people. We decided to check it out and it was Germany who had just finished their press conference. They were singing and dancing with the World Cup in hand about ten feet away from us. Then the goalie (who was the MVP for the game) threw out here gloves and I caught one! It was a great night.


Since it was a "National Holiday" the entire country takes this day off. It was crowded many of the places we went. There probably a few hundred thousand people at this shopping mall!


Baby Chicks, Ducks, Bunnies, and Squirrels for Sale. Stasi almost bought the Squirrel. I convinced her not to, only because it was gnawing rabidly at it's cage.


These faucets are so crazy. They have no sink! The counter is slanted back, and it just flows back there!


From the top of one of the tallest buildings in the World! Great view.


Only 10,550 KM from Los Angeles. I was a little closer to you all this week.

Video

Hey everyone...here is the long awaited video I promised some of you...enjoy.

Pics from the World Cup

Wuhan Stadium at night.

Here are some pictures from the Women's World cup. We had an amazing time. This was the first time I felt famous here in China. We all started to paint our faces in support of China and everyone around us thought that was the greatest thing in the world. They all wanted to take two pictures. The first one was always just us, and the second one was with the Chinese person themself. We had a great time. We think the U.S.A. team is coming to our area sometime soon. We are going to see if we can get tickets for that game. I will let you know if we do.
Everything else is going great. I am going to make a video so I can put that online. So that is something you can look forward to in the next couple of days. But here are some pictures of last nights game.


Go China! They lost 4-0, but it was still fun.

I bought a flag for 20RMB...about $3.

Outside of the stadium. It was a mad-house.
Security wasn't that tough. Everyone went through a metal detector...It beeped on EVERYBODY...but they didn't care. They still let everyone inside.

This guy was funny. He was the chant leader.

Game 1. Denmark 3, New Zealand 0.


Flags everywhere.

Game 2. Brazil 4, China 0. I love the huge flag going across the fans in the upper deck. It's hard to see because the stadium was filled with smoke! Yuck.

Cute Kids :)

Random people. They just wanted their picture with a foreigner.

The end of the Third week

Well I just finished my last class for this week. Tomorrow we are going to the Women's World Cup here in Wuhan, China. I am finally getting into the groove of things. We have been to Mr. Mai's again this week. We met some really cool people. I really connected with this Chinese College student. His name is Shane and he is one of the, if not the most, fun Chinese people I have met. His face lit up as we walked into Mr. Mai's this past Wednesday. He loves to play tennis, and he is going to take me to get a racquet some time so we can play. I am starting to love the culture and the "way of life" here. Every taxi ride is a new adventure that brings me closer to father (Because they all drive Crazy here). Well I should go. We are going to our friends house for dinner tonight. Look for me at the Women's World Cup...I will be in the 4th row!!!

Me and some Chinese friends at Mr. Mai's coffee shop and foreign language club. They have great coffee...eat your heart out Starbucks! Sorry Mom.

This is gonna be a sweet round building when it's finished!

The entire school puts everything on hold and has morning exercises for 20 minutes a day.

This guy is selling sweet potatoes outside of school. I haven't tried them....yet!

Huge buildings are going up like crazy. And they are everywhere.

We decided to walk around after our Weekly trip to Mr. Mai's...but there wasn't that much to do! The nightlife was non-existent in this part of town. So Stew decided to take some pics.

More morning exercises...I can't get enough...it's really funny to watch.

Cool Chinese building...One of many like this.

Address in China

Hey everyone...here is my address and instructions if you want to send me something. Please know that the letters and packages will be opened. Copy and paste this address on the letter/package. Thanks.

School Address in China:

The No.1 Middle School Attached To Central China Normal University (华中师大一附中）

TAYLOR BARTLETT

No.1 North Road of Tangxun Lake, Wuhan East Lake Hi-tech Development Zone,

Hubei Province, PR.China （湖北省武汉市东湖高新技术开发区汤逊湖北路特1号) 430223




Instructions for Sending Packages/Letters:

1. Air mail takes about 12 days, the next option is by boat which takes 6 weeks. Air mail is a little pricey, but well worth it, right?! =]]

2. Mailing through the US post office is perfect (You do not need to go to a “special post office”).

3. Expect the packages and letters to be opened. Usually everything will make it to me in the end.

4. At the post office you will fill out a customs form that goes on the outside of the package stating what is in the package. The more vague you can be the better! For example, if you're mailing coffee, mac&cheese, and a brownie mix, write "dry food goods." For meds, etc. write "toiletries." Religious materials or reading materials write "books". If it's a cd, write "music." DO NOT send any religious materials that are in Chinese, it will not get to me.

5. Never send anything in wrapping paper because it will certainly be opened.

6. If you do send me something, it is best to let me know so that I can keep an eye out for it.

More Pics

So I finished my first week of classes.
Kinda Crazy but so much fun. The students love to hear about The United States and about my life. One student told me that The United States is like Paradise to him...He is studying to take the S.A.T's so that he can go to an American University. I recently found out that most of the students live on Campus due to the large amount of studying every day. It's very nice for me because it feels like a college campus. There is always a group of students who love to play soccer every day. So I am pretty sure I am going to play at least twice a week. And the students love when "The foreigners" play with them.

Yesterday we went to this coffee shop called "Mr. Mai's" And we decided that we are going to volunteer there once a week on Wednesdays. We hang out and talk with Chinese people and other foreigners. It's pretty fun. Every time I go, I forget to take a picture...but I will get one up soon.

We just came back from fellowship with our international friends. There were about 40 people. It was amazing. I lead worship and stew played the congas and the harmonica. It is great to get plugged in with people who also love to worship Father.

Here are some more pictures. Enjoy.

At a restaurant near our school.

Chicken...and yup...that's the Chicken's head!

One of my "small" classes of about 50 students.

In a taxi on our way to Aloha's for Stew's birthday.