pretty places

I'm reallllllly missing China today. So I went through all my pictures and found some of my favorite ones of the places I visited while there. Enjoy.

back to real life

Between having China withdrawals, Christmas, New Years, a break up, a new job, aaaand trying to figure out my plans for school, it has been kind of a rough transition getting back into real life. 

BUT I finally feel like I'm starting to get back on my feet, and that things are somewhat getting back to normal! 

First, let me just take a minute to tell you all how much I love and appreciate AMERICAN FOOD. cafe rio, texas roadhouse, panda express, zupa's, sushi monster, cutler's, in n out. You guys have no idea how good we've got it..

In case you didn't already know, it's 2 0 1 5. A new year. The past several New Years, I've come up with silly resolutions I never stuck to. So, this year I wanted to try something a little different. Instead of saying I will do this, this, and this, I'm going to work on doing more of the things I already do do. 

to love more, 

to laugh more,

to appreciate more,

to write more,

to forgive more,

to travel more,

and to BE more.

(oh, and the obvious - to blog more).

With that being said, there are also some things I would like to do less of, as well.

to judge less,

to gossip less,

to worry less,

and to procrastinate less. 

I'm sure I'll come up with more things to add to the list later on, but I thought this was a good start.

Well, that's all for now folks. 

xoxo

love,

tanner, william, and me.

fun in the sun

Shanghai > Seoul > LA > Salt Lake City > Atlanta > Cayman. 

I landed in slc at around 10 pm, put my China bags in the car, and then checked into Delta to head to Cayman! 

I traveled for a solid 38+ hours before finally making it to Grand Cayman (don't worry, I showered at the airport in Atlanta). 

I was dreading it, but it really wasn't so bad. There's something about planes that just puts me to sleep instantly. But if that doesn't happen, I just read a good book or watch a movie. 

We arrived to cayman mid-day, so we spent most of the day on the beach.

December 19, 2014 

We went to the turtle farm and played with some turtles for a bit, then went to a local food joint which was super good! 

December 21, 2014

We booked a tour through the hotel and spent the day out on the water on a private boat! We went to stingray city, which was kind of nerve-racking, but super cool! We got to swim with them and feed them! Then after that, we did some snorkeling and found some starfish!

That night we did a bioluminescent kayaking tour at Rum Point. It was by far my favorite part of the trip. It was a new moon, which made it even better than normal (the guy said). If you put your hand in the water and moved it around, it would glow. It was pretty cool, but we couldn't take cameras - not that they would've even been able to do it justice - so the picture is from Google :) 

December 22, 2014

We hung out at the beach for most of the day, then drove back up to Rum Point and went to starfish beach! It was a super fun trip, but I was ready to come back home after having been gone for so long!

the final chapter

The last week wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be. We stayed pretty busy practicing the songs & dances our kids performed at the end of the year for the school and their parents. As well as practicing the song and dance WE had to perform. Yikes.

The older kids sang Let It Go and danced to Santa Clause Is Coming To Town. And the younger ones sang Jingle Bells and danced to Justin Bieber's All I Want For Christmas. It was pretty freaking adorable. Our last day of teaching was Wednesday :( I didn't think I would ever miss preparing lesson plans, or trying to teach little Asian kids what glue is used for. But I do. I miss it so much.

On Thursday, we had a party with the kids. But it still didn't feel like we were saying goodbye.

We went to tuck in the kids that night, which was hard.

Then the next day was the final performance. We got up early so we could help the kids get ready.. i.e. do their make up (even the boys). It was super fun! We headed to the auditorium and I met some of the kids' parents. I hate performing in front of people, buuut I did it. Then our kids were up and they did SO good! It was weird seeing them go home with their parents after it was over. It wasn't goodbye yet, but it was pretty darn close. 

When the kids came back the next Monday - the last Monday - we went and hung out in their classrooms since we didn't have ILP anymore. The teachers were super nice about it, too. So that was good. We laughed, we cried, we took pictures and videos. I spent the majority of the time with Klan. He had been especially clingy the last couple of weeks, which only made it harder.

We got permission from Marine to tuck the kids in one last time that night to say goodbye.. since we would be leaving the next morning. :( It was rough. I was crying, the kids were crying.. it was super emotional to say the least.

I went to say bye to Klan first, because I knew it would be the longest and the hardest. Not to mention the lady in that apartment always kicked us out super early. I translated a note into Chinese so he could understand how much I loved him and would miss him, and of course I gave him some candy too, as well as a friendship bracelet I had made. He hugged me tighter than ever before and would not let go. It was heartbreaking. More painful than any heartbreak any boy had ever caused me. It was just too hard, so I promised him I would come find him in class the next morning before we left. 

The goodbyes didn't get any easier. Alan sat in my lap and just cried. The younger ones didn't seem to understand that we were leaving, and that we weren't coming back.
Then we went up to the girls. They handled it rather well. Instead of crying, they laughed with us and gave us gifts. Wendy gave me a pomegranate so that was neat. It made it a little easier knowing I would see most of them the next day.

...Until the next day. Me and kenna went down to the classrooms 15 or 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave. Part of me wishes we would've gone sooner, but at the same time it just would've made things even more difficult. As soon as the teachers saw us, they stopped mid-lesson, and invited us in. The kids swarmed us in one great big group hug. It was the best group hug I'd ever had.
There were three different classrooms, and Klan and Mike (our favorites) happened to be in the last one. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs. Just before we were about to leave, Klan stuck a piece of paper in my pocket and told me not to look at it yet, gave me one last hug, and told me he loved me. Then we left. I opened the paper to find that he had written me something back in Chinese. I had Marine translate it.. 

"Teacher Kaylie, I love you so much. I know you need to go back to America. I miss you so much. Could you stay here? Please remember me."

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I went to China to teach these kids, but I learned more from them than they did from me. They taught me to love deeper, laugh longer, and live better. I will be forever grateful for each and every one of them. 

two weeks

In two weeks I'll be on a plane headed back to America. In two weeks, I won't be living with my best friends anymore. Or sleeping on a really thin mattress in a room that's painted a bad shade of pink. I won't wake up every morning excited to go see my students, because I won't have any students. In two weeks.. I will be leaving my home for the very last time. And I don't know if I'm ready for that. But then again, are we ever truly ready for anything? 

I remember my first day in China like it was yesterday. The first thing I saw after getting off that wretched plane was a fight between two chinese guys near the baggage claim. I remember the first time I walked into the strange little apartment I now call home. And my first day of teaching. I remember the first time I tried the nasty cafeteria food. And the first time I smelled stinky tofu. I remember the first time one of my students, Alan, gave me a hug and told me he loved me. I remember the first time all ten of us american girls rode the city bus. And the time we walked around for 45 minutes at 4 am trying to find a taxi. The list goes on and on.

This past Sunday, we said our first goodbyes to the wonderful Nagy family. They're from Hungary, and have welcomed us into their home from day one. From feeding us spiritually to physically, they were so good to us. I truly believe that God puts certain people in our lives for a reason. 

All of the memories I've made, the experiences I've had, and all of the wonderful people I've met since I've been here, have changed me in one way or any other and I will be forever grateful for that. I love you China, and I'm going to miss you so much!

the parents come visit

November 07, 2014

My cousin Kenna and I went to meet my dad in Shanghai for the weekend. He had a conference in Hong Kong, and planned to stop to see us in Shanghai, which is about 2-3 hours away from where we are, in Ningbo. 

It was a bit nerve-racking traveling across China as two american teenage girls who didn't know a lick of Chinese, and one of which (me) being horrible with directions.

Needless to say, we made it to the JW Marriott in Shanghai with plenty of time to spare. The check in desk was on the 38th floor, where there was a live piano playing, and a beautiful view of Shanghai from the window. It was the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. Especially compared to our cute little apartment in Ningbo.  

After waiting for a few hours, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. It was my wonderful mother! What a great surprise that was! She came all the way to China for just the weekend. What a sweetie!

That night we had Pizza Hut for dinner. We left with a piece of pizza I planned to warm up and eat later. But... as we walked outside of the restaurant there was a homeless lady begging for money. Before I even realized what was happening, my mom took the pizza out of my bag and gave it to the lady, because that's just the type of person my mom is. 

The rest of the weekend was spent with yummy food, adorable puppies, lots of sight seeing, and lots of catching up. I loved being able to show them what life is like in China. I'm so blessed to have them. They really are the greatest parents.

Only 2 more weeks until I get to see them again and I can't wait!