Way high in Weihai.

Once I got back from the Ukraine:

-I spent a wonderful Christmas with my family in Virginia. 

-We then drove cross country to Utah. Once in Utah, we picked up my older brother, Zach. Who had just finished serving an honorable 2 year mission for our church. We hadn't seen him in 2 years and boy was the reunion great! It was so wonderful to finally have my whole family back together again. Even if it was just for a few short days. 

-I started going to school again at BYU and got my on-campus job back. 

-By the end of a long stressful semester, I was spent. I felt like I was stuck in a rut and found myself really missing the Ukraine and the crazy adventures and stories that seemed to happen almost every day. I had gotten bit REAL REAL REAL bad by the travel bug. haha Seriously though, I was ready for something. anything. Then the Monday before finals, I received a phone call from ILP asking me if I would be willing to leave ASAP to replace a teacher that had dropped mid-semester in Weihai, China. By Tuesday, I had agreed to go and by the following Tuesday I had finished taking all my finals, packed my bags and was on a plane to Weihai, China. 

While in China I had the opportunity to visit:

Xi'an - The Terracotta Warriors

Guilin 

Xingping 

Shanghai

Jinan- Hiked Thousand Buddha Mountain

Taishan-- Hiked Mt. Tai, which is roughly 8,000 stairs

Liugong Island 

Weihai- Where I lived and taught English

Main differences between my time in the Ukraine and my time in China: 

-In China I taught 52 kids. It was a big change from teaching only at the max 10 kids in the Ukraine. However, I found that teaching this time around was way easier and it didn't matter that I taught 6 classes a day with about 8-9 kids in each class. My kids were the best. I love them all so much.
 -My group in China had about 24 people in it.. that's double the size of my group in the Ukraine.

-I didn't live with a host family. Instead I lived in the apartments at the school that I taught at, it made traveling and getting to class much easier everyday. ;) 

-A majority of my kids lived at the school during the week and I could go tuck them in. This made me bond with my kids on a level I never got to feel with my kids in the Ukraine. Don't get me wrong, I love my Ukraine kids but getting the extra time outside the classroom to see

my kids was AMAZING. There were a few days when I would feel down and just plain blek. But, as soon as I would walk into my kids building they would jump for joy and run and hug me and beg me to read them bed stories or get into a tickle war with me. I loved tucking in my kids, it always brightened my day and made me feel so loved. 

-There are many differences between China and Ukraine and the USA but that's all I will list, for now. 

-I made so many wonderful friends. I was really nervous about going to China mid-semester and having to try to fit in with a group of people who had already been together for 2 months before I even got there. But, my group never made me feel left out and I love love love all my friends that I made there. :) 

-Leaving China was hard, but I left knowing that I would be back in a few short months. This Fall I will be heading back to China to be a Head Teacher! I am super excited but also kinda nervous to Head Teach.  Although I am heading back to China at the end of August, I will be living in Zhongshan, China which is in southern China, and will not be going back to Weihai, which is in Northern China. I am super stoked to get to go to Zhongshan and I can't wait to be back in China again.

-The hardest part about leaving China was saying goodbye to my kids. On my final day teaching, I told all my kids that I was leaving that night to go back to America. After class, my kids hugged me and were pretty sad that I was leaving. Yet, I somehow managed to keep my eyes dry.However, nothing would prepare me for that night. My final time tucking in some of my kids. When I walked into their bedrooms that night, they leaped for joy and ran and hugged me and kept saying, "Teacher no go to America!!". Boy, did i feel like a heart breaker when i had to explain that I was leaving a couple of hours from then. They then latched onto me, hugging me. They cried, I cried, they cried some more, I cried some more. It was tough to finally let them go and say goodnight and leave. Even though I may never see any of those kids again, they will forever have a strong hold on my heart.

-Although I was in China for a short 2 months. I can honestly say that they were the most meaningful 2 months of my life and could not have come at a better time. I needed to get away and find myself. There is no better way to forget about my petty problems then while serving the Chinese people. While in China, I found out so much about myself and met so many people who have made such a powerful impact on my life. When I left, I balled my eyes out. I was sad to leave so quickly and sad to leave my friends, my kids and mostly I was pretty scared that I would come back to the USA and find myself stuck in a rut again. 

-However, since I've been home from China life has been nonstop busy. My brother, Zach got married to the wonderful and sweet, Megan. I started up with classes again for the summer semester and I am still working at my same on-campus job. Every weekend I have done something fun and I have been able to hang out with some of my friends from both my ILP adventures, along with some BYU friends, and of course, adding in a few sibling dinners here and there and boom, never a dull moment.

-Words cannot describe how blessed I feel. I just barely turned 20, yet I have had so many amazing opportunities to travel around the world and experience so many different things. Needless to say, although life has thrown many different curve balls my, I know I am blessed and I love my life.