I'm back!

Back in China! I got in to my apartment at 11:45pm. Just in time to celebrate the new year in bed! I was so tired! But I'm so thankful there were no delays or missed flights this time:) The landing in Beijing was a major one though! It must have been terribly windy because I'm pretty sure about 50% of the Chinese people on the plane were throwing up and using all the little throw-up bags the airline gives you! I was passing around extra bags and gum for afterwards! I felt so bad for them!

I slept very well and got up at 7:30 rarin' to go!

Pics of my trip later.

Stateside

I'm in the States and lovin' it! I arrived late into RDU but my parents were there to greet me. I ran to them wanting a hug from them so badly! That's what I've been wanting these five months-a big hug! And I got so many that night. And I've gotten too many to count each day that I've been here!

It's been two fun-filled days. Yesterday was Christmas shopping and lunch with my mom. We had some friends over for dinner and dessert and some exchanging of gifts. And today we baked all day and went for Mexican food. Oh my goodness was it delicious! We also went to some friend's house for dessert and coffee.

I told everyone in China that I'd be eating dessert every night and what do you know! I'm eating dessert every night! It's a southern thing I tell ya!

My goodness did my southern accent come back on quickly! It's here and it's strong! I kind of missed it!

Merry Christmas and I hope I get to see as many of you as I can!

That Jet Plane

Oh yeah, leavin' on THAT jet plane TODAY! I'm going home to the States to the fam for Christmas! I am soooo excited! I leave Yinchuan at 10:00am and arrive in Beijing at 11:45. I leave Beijing at 5:25 and arrive into Raleigh/Durham at 9:00pm on Thursday, December 20th. This will definitely be a VERY long Thursday!

Merry Christmas!

Dusk in Yinchuan

Yesterday was such a clear day that I could see the mountains, which is a rarity. This is the main intersection in the part of town that I live in with a great view of the mountains!

Heater

I rode on a "mini-bus" today for the first time. I had lunch with my friend, Lily, in Old City. On the way home she suggested that we ride the "mini bus". There's a bench on the bus that sits on top of the heater. That bench is considered to be two seats. So there we sat. My goodness was it hot! I was sitting there with my legs in my lap as I'm being heated from the bottom up and thinking "only in China"!

Red Velvet Cake

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the masterpiece but it was beautiful and delicious! A three-layered red cake of glory with fabulous cream cheese frosting. I wanted to take a picture but it was consumed before I even remembered that I needed one! It was an experience for my friends here as only one other person out of eight had ever heard of a red velvet cake, much less eaten one! Always trying to bring southern culture to China! Thanks to all the care packages from the States-it was able to be made and eaten. We came, we saw, we conquered! Eat cake! Merry Christmas!

Oh, two days and I'll be in the States!

Morning

This is my English student, Morning. We meet in my home and talk English the whole time. It's great because she ends up sharing all about her life! She always brings me little gifts. She brings me chocolate, canned tofu, dried dates, decorative masks in a box, a decoration for my window, etc. She's also brought me a number of books. She's brought me a Chinese cookbook, a Chinese dictionary and her little cousin's first grade school book to help me learn how to read! Too cute! She's becoming a wonderful friend!

Me and my friend

This is my friend, Hediah, from Iran. I met her at school here. This is her second year studying Chinese and we're classmates. Wish you could meet her. She's hilarious and such a good friend!

Winter Wonderland

Okay so it's not snow. But it looked like it! All my friends thought it was. Even though it was only on the trees and it only "snowed" when the wind blew! :) But it's pretty and makes the cold a bit more nice!

Fun with the Aussies

We had some Aussie friends come visit and oh my goodness were they a huge encouragement! We had a blast! We hated to see them go and already miss them. But here are some pics from out last night with them. I arm-wrestled Erin and that one was tough. I think text-messaging on my cell phone helped! Tried to arm-wrestle a guy (not my idea-I knew I'd lose). But I put a fight. That's my trying my hardest while he's just sitting there acting like he's relaxing. He beat me in the end. It was another late night in the end. You'd think I'd be super exhausted after 6-7 nights of getting to bed by 1:00am or later every night and then waking up so early. But no, with all the excitement and encouragement, it didn't really matter!

First time for everything

Yesterday was the first day I went running in 20 degree weather! And actually, it wasn't that bad once I started going! It definitely motivated me to run faster so I could get home! I was really bundled up though!

And yesterday afternoon a foreign friend and myself baked ALL day as much of you are probably doing in prep for the Christmas season! My friend is having a Christmas party this Saturday night and I'm having one next Sunday night! So we are baking all sorts of Christmas cookies and desserts for our local friends to try for the first time!

I've got the Christmas candles burning, the Christmas music playing and my stocking up in my apartment! And hot chocolate and apple cider is in plenty between all of us foreigners!