First Relaxing Day

Thanks to everyone who is reading the blogs and making comments :) it makes me still feel connected to the world back home! Although I have to say i'm not as excited to come back as i thought i was going to be. I really do love China. It's such a different culture than any other I have experienced and im truly going to miss being here.

Lauren: We will for sure be taking that Taco Lita trip when I get back. Im working on the details with my mom now actually seeing if I could get it shipped here. Although, we did order some Mexican food here that is California owned and was AMAZING. It is the closest thing to California food I have had for a while. All the girls piled in mine and Kelsey's room, and while we were eating we were all like "californiaaaa." haha. It's not as good as home, but when you have been eating Chinese everyday its amazing!

Emerald: If you want to skype with me im usually on 3pm -3:30pm your time in the afternoon, and sometimes you can catch me on my lunch break at school around 9pm your time. Those are really the only times that I'm on because i'm really busy all of the time :(. The reason that I cant drink the water here but I cant when its boiled is because the bacteria dies in the water after it is boiled. The tap water is really nasty here. We filled up the sink to wash our clothes the other day and the water was literally yellow. The toliet water here doesnt flush all the way either so when you pee, half the pee goes down and the other half sits in the bowl. Or it could just be that the water is that yellow. Anyhow...its a negative on drinking it. A few people have gotten sick here and there, but so far i have been pretty lucky..."knock on wood."

So today at school we did this lesson plan that i learned in my creative dance class for kids at Fullerton. It was a lot of fun. We taught the kids about different landmarks in California and then they had to do a dance to it when we finished. I wish i could upload videos here for everyone to see. I will have them all when i get back tho! We taught them about Yosemite, Redwoods, Tar pits, Hollywood, Disneyland, and Seaworld. Everyone was really into it and loved the lesson which always makes the day go by faster because you feel accomplished. Towards the end of the day the kids were starting to get restless and not want to participate so it was entertaining for me to make up useless games and watch them have a blast doing them. A kid in class spanked me today because i had the ball and he wanted it. It was really hard not to laugh when it happened because he didnt know any better. Kids here just pull each other and yell at each other when they want something. Everything is very self centered. All of the people here in fact dont have that American concept of "treat others how you want to be treated" and they dont think about others feelings when they want something. They are very straight foward people but polite at the same time. its strange. While here i have learned to bargin, not stand in line, squat well, push my way through people, dodge spit, use sign language, speak some Chinese, shuffle my feet when i walk, hold my purse in the market so it doesnt get cut off, avoid being hit by cars while crossing the street, and walk so i dont slip on their marble flooring that is EVERYWHERE! It sounds bad but the bad doesnt over do all of the fun im having here. Then in my 6th period class today...some little boy pulled open his pants and started picking at something down there, another teacher was flipped off and got in big trouble, and another little girl likes to hump chairs and gets really, really mad when her boy classmates take it away. Interesting people we have everyday!

After class today we went to the market and bought tennis shoes for Beijing because we only brought flip-flops and i didn't think it was going to be fun climbing the great wall with blisters all over my feet. I started to get really grossed out by all the smells in the market. Its not like the asian smell at home its a completely different smell that I cant even describe. its a mixture of burnt rubber, cookies, and mildew or something like that. Whatever the smell is...i cant handle it. Anyway at the end of shopping today...we saw this little boy that had a slit in his pants. All of the little kids here (well most of the uncivilized)...their parents put them in these pants that have slits from the front to the back so when they need to pee the pee comes out of the pants and the poop without having to move your hands out of the way. I find it strange....i just want to sew these kids clothes back together. The first time i saw pants like these i was like "oh no, his pants ripped" but oh no...they were purchased like that!

Finally we got back to the hotel and while everyone else went to the fabric store to get clothes made a few of us stayed behind. We decided that we needed one day to rest or our bodies would give up on us. We ordered bomb Mexican food and I'm pretty sure its going to need to be ordered again before we leave. Then we went and got another...come on guess, guess, yes thats right!.....MASSAGE! It felt sooooo good. The girl played with my hair for like 5 minutes after the massage, and for anyone who knows me WELL...knows that i was in HEAVEN!

We just got back to the hotel now and showered. I have to go to sleep so I cant be ready for another day of teaching tomorrow. Our other professor is coming down tomorrow for the first time. It should be fun to see her. Im sad that this trip is almost over. Only like 1 week and a half left. Sad times :(. Its really nice knowing so many people who love here who make our reservations (and know good places), take us to massages, know the best clubs and kareoke, and find us the best deals. i wouldnt want to do this any other way. We dont even have to communicate because they take care of all the communication probelms for us. We also dont get taken advantage of with money because we have locals with us telling us whether things are priced to high or not. It almost caused a fight yesterday between to Chinese people because the shop lady was mad that our friend told us her stuff was overpriced and we could find it for cheaper. They take such good care of us here.

Fullerton might be doing this program again in Intersession to France...and I already want to go. im thinking long and hard about it. Studying abroad is literally the best experience of my life. I will never forget this trip or the times we have had together. I have built so many new friendships and its amazing that we got to experience this time together. We got these CRAZY looking hats at the market yesterday after we visited the temple. They are paper hats that change in all different shapes. We bought them for 10 yuen, which is only like 1 dollar our money. After we bought them all of the asians were asking us "oh, were did you get those?" After we showed them all of the asians ran over to buy them because Americans were buying them. Its not like they were amazing either. They are ridiculous BUT we had to buy them and wear them around for the day to embaress ourselves.

Another day of teaching tomorrow. Were hoping for a spa day soon where we can go get a 2 hour massage at our place and a washing the hair day. In china when you go to a salon and get your hair washed and blow dryed they massage your back, neck, and arms for like 30 mintues. Sometimes I wonder why the U.S. doesnt adpot some of the Chinese ways. Of course vis-versa as well, but some of the things over here are so smart.

Good night!
Kayla Ornelas