Wow!!

So I just got back from Beijing. It was honestly a trip of a lifetime. So nuts!! It was a blast. I saw some pretty incredible things! Annnddd...we shopped till we dropped. It was all bargain shopping which made it so much more fun!

Woah, I am exhausted though.

I also hiked the Great Wall. That alone is probably one of the coolest things I have ever done. Out of control people. Was amazing!!

Enough said. Until next time <3

xoxo

..and so it continues

China Town. For reals. Ah!

Just kickin it in our room

My roomate Hollie and I, singin away!! :)

xoxo

My view on China.

So I have figured out that the reason why blogging has been so hard for me while I have been in China.

Time.

I just don't have enough of it. So I am making changes.

Most of the time I have very little time so I shy away from posting...

Well, I am stopping that.

I am going to post a few pictures every couple of days. It may not ever have words, just pictures.

If I get time to type I will definetly do so, but a picture speaks a thousand words.

Interpret it for yourself. See what I see. Live through my pictures. Let your imagination fall from these pictures.

They will describe my life and demonstrate what is in front of me..

xoxo

Goodmorning to me!

Sooo, i woke up today to bagpipes and chinese music radiating through the halls. I was laying in bed listening to the music thinking to myself, "welcome to China!" It is pretty funny not gunna lie, def a warm welcome to my morning.

Heat is still out but hopefully it will get fixed soon. I slept with a water bottle last night filled with boiling water to warm myself up. It helped a lot!! I slept through the whole night! I think i am starting to adjust to the time, i get so exhausted by the end of the day that i am out cold. It is so cold in my room that i have to stay in one position the whole night to try and keep warm! Hahah ohhh goodie!! I dont tell you this to make you think i am complaining. I think it makes this even more of an experience!! Not gunna lie i hope it gets fixed soon, but it makes it fun to talk about!! When i say it is cold, it doesnt even justify cold. I know i am from AZ where if it is 40 I am freezing my buns off, but when you never have relief and are in the cold constantly, thats when it gets bad!! It is good tho!! This is a blast!!

It is monday morning for me right now, and today we get to go check out where we will be teaching. We are then gunna go into town to see what this city is all about!! I am excited to start exploring!! I met one boy whose name is Brock who is seriously such a sweetheart! He brought me an orange and sat with us at lunch. I think he has a crush on us Americans!! He is adorable, such a sweet little heart!! Everyone is really kind, I seriously feel like royalty here. Everywhere I go people are saying hello and the kids point and wave at us. It is so funny!! We start teaching tomorrow so I think it will be good to start getting into a schedule and start teaching. I got my class and I think it will be a blast!! These sweet little kids melt my heart!

So it is so stinkin funny, the chinese try to translate things into English but it never seems to go as good as hoped. Most everything that is translated is incorrect. Check this out...

This is a poster in our classroom. A published poster...hahahahaah!! So priceless, the funny thing is that this is everywhere haha!! Love it.

I will keep you updated on everything!! As for now I am off to explore the city. Stay tuned for more pictures!! This is going to be one of the greatest experiences I have had, thank you again for all your support!!

xoxo Lex

Ni Hao- China Day 1

Ni Hao America!!

I am alive and am in Bengbu, China. Its whatever. Ha kidding, this place is insane!! It has been one LLLOOONNNGGG day but i am here and alive and living in China. Weird, I never knew i would be saying that!! This is crazier then I could have even begun to imagine. This is going to be an incredible experience I can already tell. So much has already happened!!

Lets start from the beginning.

On Feb. 9th I flew into LAX leaving behind my home, good o'le Mesa. (You will be greatly missed!!) From LA we flew into Korea which was about an 11 hour flight. I slept pretty much the whole time thanks to some good sleeping pills, thanks mama!! The food was terrible on the plane, but hey its an experience!! After landing in Korea we flew into Shanghai which was about another 2 hour flight. Our cute guide that will be with us the whole time during this trip was at the airport waiting for us. Her name is Mary, she is the bomb. SHe knows a lot of english so she is our translator. Idk what we would do without her!! She is adorable! After we met up with Mary we jumped onto a bus and started our 7 hour drive over to our city, Bengbu. We stopped in Shanghai and ate lunch, which was my first real Chinese meal. We had jiaozi (dumplings) which were really good. My chinese is staring out good already! It tasted a lot like pot stickers. The chinese people just kinda stared at us which was funny. They are all super nice tho so it is good! While on our drive over to Bengbu, we experienced a lot of honking. We soon caught on that Chinese people honk at everything. We were constantly switching lanes and honestly almost running over little cars. It was scary!! All the cars are a lot like ours at home, i see lots of VW vans and saw lots of Audi's... It is funny!! Our bus driving was hacking his brains out, it was a crack up! We were all so confused at what he was doing. He would hawk a loogie honestly every 5 mins ha!! It was nasty! But hey whatever works right?! Another one of our drivers was parked in the back just sleeping on a seat for most of the time!

Funny stuff! It was fun to get to know the girls tho, we will have a blast!!

We finally arrived to our city and pulled up to our school. There were about 10 chinese students waiting there for us to greet us and to help us take our luggage up to our rooms. We are on the 6th floor with no elevator...goodie. It is also FREEEZZIINNGG in our room, the Chinese dont exactly believe in indoor heating. I am typing right now with frozen fingers. I am freezing, but am bundled up in jackets and lots of socks so I will be ok! The room is a lot better then i had expected. I do have a bed and it isnt just cement floors. We are gunna decorate it cute so we will make it more homey. I share a room with a super fun girl named Holly who is from Vegas. We are def gunna party it up in here! The city is beautiful, i am excited to be able to see more! I am about 15 hours different in time compared to home (AZ) so time zones may be a bit of a challenge but I will figure something out. This is crazy stuff!!

This is going to be an amazing experience. I feel lucky that I have the opportunity to do this. It will def be a life changer! I will keep you posted on my life as I am embarking on this incredible journey. Who knew life existed outside of Mesa :). I miss home already but know this is what I am supposed to be doing right now. It will be good, oh so good. I love you friends and family, thank you so much for all your support!! Keep reading so I can continue to fill you in on my life and help you to feel a part of it!!

Have a wonderful Friday everyone :)

xoxo Lex

My Groupie

Bus ride to Bengbu

Shanghai

No dryers in China. Hang dry all the way. :)

Mm hmmm. Who knows.

First Chinese Meal. Dumplings.

Mary!!

My room!

Ps- Did i tell you it is freezing?! It is awful!!! My body is convulsing! hahahah!! Ahhhh!

Bring on the Holiday Spirit!

So I sit here and type to you while I eat a delicious teriyaki bowl in the freezing weather Mesa has suddenly decided to throw out.

I've got my blanket, my 4 peppermint oreos and my laptop sitting right next to me. Life is good right about now!

Teriyaki Bowl + Oreos = Deliciousness... Sike.

Well it's good right now but I'm sure the combination wont settle well.

It's about dang time it gets cold tho right?! But holy cow I don't know how I do it. I am such a sucker to the cold haha! Waking up in the 40's is plenty cold enough for me!!

On my way to school.

But mmm how I love it. It truly makes it feel like Christmas time and what is better then that?!

Well..My personal favorites for this winter season so far have been:

1. Peppermint Oreos and Milk! Mmm baby!

2. Cranking the heater in my car (which I swear to say, Chevys have some of the best AC/heat I have ever felt)and blasting it on my face to the point I almost wanna sweat. Then I blast the cold. I am weird I know.

3. Waking up and hating my life because it is freezing and wanting nothing else but to stay in bed and sleep. I then leap out of bed, run to the bathroom as fast as I can and turn on the bath and sit in there till I get warm and cant stand it any longer. At that moment in time I think my life is pretty dang good!

4. Rolling out of bed and throwing glasses on, no makeup, and a baggy sweatshirt and off to school I go. Converses and toms become my life and nothing else matters but feeling warm and looking like crap. I love it!!

5. Putting up my Christmas birthday tree in my room to bring in the holiday spirit. I happen to be a Christmas baby so I set up a tree in my room to get me in the birthday mode. My mom has been on a roll with getting me new ornaments for my birthday tree. I love it so much! I have the best mom in the world if you all didn't already know!!

6. Jamming out to the same Chrismas tunes on the radio every time I am in the car. I am sick of them already but still play them everytime I get in the car.

Alyssa and I at work bringin in the Christmas spirit!

7. Cuddling up in a nice warm blanket and letting the freezing cold hit the tip of my nose and ears. As long as my toes are warm I am good to go.

8. Using the greatest website ever made..PANDORA.

Dear Pandora,

You rock my world. Thank you for branching out my music likings. Who ever knew I could love oldies and rock so much. Thank you!

Sincerely Yours,

Me

New Finds: Jaymay- Gray and Blue

Molding Peaches- Anyone Else But You

Peter Bradley Adams- The Longer I Run

Bruno Mars- Marry You

John Mayer- Free Fallin'

9. Being with my family and watching my adorable babies run around, scream, and laugh! Life doesn't get much better when you are around the people you love.

Those are just a few of my favorites so far. Life is good. If the worst thing I am enduring is waking up early in the cold, life is pretty dang good :)

Oh how I love the HOLIDAY SEASON. I never want it to end!!

-------------

China is soon approaching. I am getting nervous but crazy excited. I have such a desire to travel and see the world. China first.

Next on my list is Africa.

Then Europe.

I will get there just watch me!!

CHINA.

Hope you are all enjoying your cold weather and holiday season where ever you may be. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season. I will tune in later this week to update you more on my crazy life. It is good. Oh so good.

xoxo