Class Party!

Ivy, a native English teacher, and I

So, the school system's a little different here, the same 40 students take almost every class together! Then, to create BOnding TiMe, every month the classes meet for special performances.

3 or 4 "classes"had a PARTY Tonight, and my Violin Playing Friend, Carina, and I performed!

Then, they made me play a Chinese counting game. When I lost, I had to guzzle a bottle of water and SING while I SPRAYED the front row! ooooaaaaHHHH!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Wow, I feel so  loved!  Last week I received 3 care packages within 3 days! My sweet boyfriend Daniel sent a load of Starbucks goodies, vitamins, A SpICe RaCK, Index Cards (a delicacy here!), a Whole Lotta school supplies, hand sanitizer, TRAIL MIX, take out menus from Restaurants (for my English Classes to use), lotions, Laffy Taffy, an alarm clock, etc!
Thank you my sweet Youth Group from Highpointe for the thoughtful Cards- my fav surprise!

Yuminess!

Silly Bands!

 So getting packages are a pretty big deal here! Everyone gets involved! My teaching friends will come out of their offices to help me tear into them; my roommates and I share our stories behind each gift! 

And just when I thought it couldn't get better, I got 2 Packages from my sister Kirbe! Peanut butter, carob chocolate, almonds, violin music, my Sperrys, Hersheys (which my friends love here!) Clif Bars...mmMM!

So just one question for ya, What would you want in your CaRE PaCKaGE?

Care Packages!

3 weeks and several days later...two packages arrived in our International Office with my name on them from "Mom". I had the Best HELP ever TEARING into them! 

(left to right) Girls in the International office!
Bunny, Flying, Teresa, Me and Nancy

I passed out hand sanitizer, which the girls went crazy for when the cold liquid smeared on their palms and "ungermed" them! Then, we busted open the toostie roll Pops and Blow Pops.  Such beautiful, intelligent girl going Googly-eyed over Cheap Foreign Sugar, it was a sight! Not sure which was more fun, receiving a package all the way from the States, or hearing their laughter, oohs and aahs as Santa Claus came to East Asia!

Watch Out for This Food on Food Labels

Trusted Nutritionists and the FDA just uncovered a dirty secret in our foods! In the US, high fructose corn syrup (used HEAVILY in processed foods, beverages- even seemingly "health-conscious"drinks like Vitamin Water and Jamba Juice) is being petitioned by the Corn Refiner's Association (CRA) to let manufacturers use the name "Corn Sugar" on food labels instead of "High Fructose Corn Syrup".

High fructose corn syrup is a primary driving factor behind heart disease, obesity and diabetes in America. It is widely used by processors mainly because it is cheap to massively produce. "Part of what makes HFCS such an unhealthy product is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar." (Article)

Read More Here in Dr. Mercola's Article:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/10/01/new-high-fructose-corn-syrup-scam.aspx

We Performed "The Foreigner's Skit" at our University's Opening Ceremony!

Captivate Us- University's Opening Ceremony.MPG

Chinese Popstar?!!

Opening Ceremony, Wednesday, 7:30pm

Our Chinese Hosts for the Show!

A few weeks ago we were asked to perform a skit for a New Student Opening Ceremony.  At dress rehearsal this week, 2 days before the show, we performed our comedy skit...
no applause...no laughter...silence... they asked, "What the meaning of your skit?"

Well apparently, Humor, is the last thing to translate cross-culturally, even when English is kept to a minimum!

So we changed the skit, NO WORDS, just acting... still a comedy. 
Then they asked us to sing!