Turkey Day... Minus the Turkey!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I’ve had a lot of people ask me if they celebrate Thanksgiving here in China. Let me just answer all those questions from the get go. No, they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. No, there isn’t turkey here. Yes, it’s possible to get it, but not around Weihai. If we were in a big city like Beijing we could probably buy an imported Butterball or something, but they usually cost around $75 (USD, not Yuan). Yikes!

We taught like any other day on Thursday. I taught my kids all about family and Thanksgiving. I brought my computer so I could show my kids pictures of my family and Thanksgiving dinner. They LOVED that! :) And I loved teaching them about it! They kept calling my family beautiful and I’d have to say I agree! I love my family! When I showed them pictures of Thanksgiving dinner they went nuts! I think they would quite enjoy the holiday! Eating way too much delicious food... what’s not to love?! I also had the opportunity to introduce them to a great American tradition: handprint turkeys!!! :) It was quite a blast. My kids get so excited and it’s so fun to teach them! :)

My kids making turkeys!

That night our little group of Americans celebrated Thanksgiving. It definitely wasn’t a typical or traditional Thanksgiving Dinner! We went to a little nearby restaurant. We had a whole lot of stereotypical Chinese food. It wasn’t turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, pie, and all the other things you would normally associate with Thanksgiving, but it was still delicious. Emily’s parents recently moved to Beijing, so they joined us for the Holiday. It was so fun to have them with us. Emily was making us all a little jealous as she laid her head on her dad’s shoulder and her mom gave her a back scratch! We were all especially missing our families! Brother and Sister Latimer were awesome though! They brought us candy and oreos for dessert, so we did get a little taste of America on Thanksgiving! :) And then they went above and beyond and paid for all of our dinners! It was so kind of them! Thanks again, Brother and Sister Latimer! :D

The 3 of us at dinner!

Our table at dinner. This wasn't even all of us!

Even though the food itself wasn’t typical, the atmosphere was! We went around the dinner table and played the ABC game... the one where you say something you’re thankful for that starts with that letter of the alphabet. I love the way Thanksgiving makes you realize how very much we all have to be grateful for! We talked and laughed and though we’re not technically family it sure felt like it! These guys have all become like family to me!

On Friday morning (Thursday back at home) I got to talk to my family! Thanksgiving was at my house this year, so I got to see my mom, dad, brother, sister, brother in law, and all my extended family that lives in Utah (mom’s side). That was so nice!! :) I love my family so much! I’m really glad I could be able to talk to them. My cousin Annalise brought some friends with her who had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving. They are from China. So I was talking to these Chinese people at my house from China... It was pretty ironic!! :) It’s amazing how being away from my family has helped me realize how strong  and important family bonds and ties really are! On Saturday I got to talk to the Hilton’s- my cousins from Nevada. That was so fun as well! Even Maggie joined in the conversation! :) I love my family!!

On Sunday a group of us pulled our resources together and made our own little Thanksgiving dinner. We has stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, biscuits, cornbread, cranberry sauce, and Spam turkey (which surprisingly wasn’t that bad!) We even has a little spice cake for desert! :) It was delicious!! 

Here we are with our classy Thanksgiving dinner on our silver trays! Kayla decorated the table and everything!

Being in China has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is how blessed I am! I am so thankful for the many things I’ve been blessed with. I have been given so much. I know that where much is given much is required! I hope I can remember that and be a blessing to those around me. These are some of the things I’ve really come to appreciate while I’ve been in China:

-the technology that allows us to communicate and connect with one another

-washers and dryers

-soft beds and pillows

-heaters!!

-peanut butter. I would have  died without it here! I’ve discovered it goes good with ANYTHING! (...even rice. But ironically I learned that BEFORE coming to China!)

-dairy products

-my home (carpet, couches, tables, dishwashers, ovens... everything!)

-the bathrooms in the US!

-the US government and the freedoms we have

-religious freedom! 

-the beautiful smell of America

-the education I received and the wonderful teachers I had!

-traffic laws 

-the temple

-my membership in the church! The support I’ve had from the church has been so sustaining. And the gift of the Holy Ghost has been SO important in comforting, protecting, and guiding us!

-my amazing friends who are always there for me!

-my loving family that has supported me through everything!

-my Savior! He truly knows me, loves me, and blesses me!

I think this is the first Thanksgiving that I’ve TRULY caught the spirit of gratitude! I hope that I can remember how blessed I am and keep that spirit with me when I come home! I hope everyone had as happy a Thanksgiving as I did! :)

Hogwarts?! I thought we were going to China!!

It all started when we put our luggage on the luggage carts (see first blog for picture) and were walking around... wide eyed and completely lost. I felt like 11 year old Harry looking for platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross! That was when we realized there would be a lot of Harry Potter references this trip! Here’s a list of why China has reminded me of Harry Potter:

-We are living at a boarding school! And there are a lot of stairs and secret passageways. Admittedly it would be way cooler if Daguanghua was a castle (although it kind of is compared to the rest of the city) and the staircases moved unexpectedly!

-I feel like Harry... everyone stares, points, and whispers at us wherever we go! We’re celebrities for something we have no control over!

-Muggle money is useless here!

-For some reason we always speak in British accents! It doesn’t really make sense- we’re American... in China. Go figure!

-Everything is new and intriguing. Going from America to China is like going from the Muggle world to the Wizarding world!

-I see Cho Chang everywhere...

-There are a lot of cats around where we live. The orange one... that’s Crookshanks!

-There is a cupboard under the stairs!

Rumors that a small boy with untidy black hair and a lightening bolt scar is living there have neither been confirmed or denied!

-We have ridden multiple night busses... and just like THE Knight Bus, the busses here in China drive CRAZY and squeeze through impossibly small spaces!

-Half of the candies we’ve tried seem like they could be ear wax flavored Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.........

-I have a class full of Harry Potter names! :) My Arthur always wears a Harry Potter shirt!

He knows what’s up!!

-The lights in our hallway are sound sensors. How do we turn them on? Shouting “LUMOS”, of course!

-We have a common room!

-Somehow at the beginning of the trip Cierra and I were dubbed with the nickname “The Wizards”. I have no idea how we got it, but it has stuck! So being called and responding to “wizard” everyday has got to be affecting me!

Those are just some of the ways we feel like wizards! My group always makes Harry Potter references. If you know me, you know I love that! :) Haha! This past week we’ve been doing a Harry Potter marathon in honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 coming out. All of us were bummed to be missing the premier back home! I forget what a nerd I am until I am with a new group of people and they don’t know how much I know about Harry Potter. Ya, I shocked this group. 

 Due to a lucky coincidence we found a theater that shows english movies!!!! What a relief! There was no way I was going to be able to wait until I got home to see it! On Monday the group trekked downtown to see the movie! It was so much fun!! :) We wanted to dress up or something (too bad I left my radish earrings at home!), but we have very limited resources here in China! Kayla and I started the trend of drawing scars on our foreheads... even the Asians sitting in front of us joined in! Yes, I got made fun of once the movie started because I was so ridiculously excited. So sue me! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I laughed, cried, and screamed out loud. Ha! And I left more than satisfied. In my opinion this is the best movie by far!!!! :) I didn’t even notice the Chinese subtitles at the bottom!

Jenni and Kayla. Ready for Harry Potter!!! :) And standing in front of the Chinese sign! I was so glad Kayla was there! She was stand in for Madi... Madi and I usually end up holding onto each other the whole movie. Haha! Truth be told I probably would have died this trip without Kayla! She’s become one of my best friends!!! :)

Heather and me anxiously awaiting the movie!

My new friends! :) 

Long Live Harry Potter!

Sk8 or Die!!!!

One Saturday Kelly took us to this little arcade place to go roller skating. I hadn’t been roller skating for AGES. Come to find out, roller skating is way harder then rollerblading! Since it was a Saturday it was really busy. I had not idea roller skating was still so popular. They take it SERIOUSLY here in China! Just imagine us Americans struggling around the rink with all these Asians speeding around us doing all these crazy stunts. It was pretty epic! It was a ton of fun... even though I’m horrible! 

Cierra tried to help me skate. I was a little pathetic. Haha! 

I don’t know if you can tell, but there’s a guy in the very bottom right corner. Somehow they got in and out of this without missing a beat. Baffled!

The pictures don’t really capture the craziness of what they were doing on 4 wheels! Haha!

We played some arcade games after roller skating. I’m happy to report that there are normal games in a Chinese arcade. There are also some really weird ones! Sadly there is no ski ball! That was a big disappointment. My favorite game? Run around in the revolving door! Haha! Heather, Braden, and I had a jolly time!!

Braden trapped me!

Now moving on to a completely different subject: packages! Cierra and I both got packages from our dear mothers! THANKS MOM! :) We now have food to last us until the end! You know.... there’s just some days you can’t handle the cafeteria! (I know that we got them a little bit ago, but hey! I’m running on a better late then never policy here!)

My package! Thanks! :)

The inside! My mom definitely knows me. 2 bags of Reese’s! Only the best candy known to man! :) Don’t worry. Cierra asked for healthy stuff... Haha! You know me! :)

Dancing Through Life

A few weeks ago there was a talent show. Kelly informed us that they wanted the Americans to perform in it. No one in my group wanted to perform, but we needed 2 acts. Finally a few of us brave souls decided to volunteer... or Cierra volunteered us and Samantha. Haha! Cierra, Samantha, and I decided to do the Alumni dance we did at the Cardinelle Collage earlier this year. We worked on it for about an hour and adjusted it for three people. It really was not a big deal at all...

We showed up at the talent show. Oh my gosh. Sitting through that talent show was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I’ve been told by multiple people here that all Chinese people can sing. Apparently they’ve never been to Daguanghua! The screeching.... I think it will haunt me forever. The worst part of it was that the mic guys seemed to think that if it was SUPER loud you wouldn’t notice the quality. So pretty much my ears were harassed all night long!

This was one of the singing and dancing numbers we witnessed.

Cierra, Samantha, and I were one of the last performances. We did a pretty good job- for not having dance shoes or a proper dance room, not dancing for quite a while, and only working for an hour on it! Haha! But as soon as we pulled out that ariel... dang! Apparently that is quite impressive to them! 

Us dancing together again!

This is the only even semi-good picture we have of us dancing!

The next day Kelly came into our room and was like “Are you guys professional dancers?” We tried to explain to her that no, we are not... it’s just something we like to do. Shouldn’t have said that! Since then she’s been having us dance at everything! 

One weekend, while we were at our “family’s” house, Kelly called us and informed us {we never really have a choice in the matter...) we needed to hurry home because we would be dancing at the half time of the basketball game. Our group went to watch the basketball game... one of the funniest things of my life! There’s a reason Yao Ming is the only Chinese person to make it in the NBA! 

Just some Chinese kids ballin it up!

Our school wanted us there so we would do American cheers and pretty much just intimidate the other team. We get used for that type of thing a lot... but it ended up being hilarious! They gave Stuart a microphone. That was a mistake! Haha! Never give something like that to Stuart... Actually I’m glad they did because it was one of the most entertaining things of my life! He did a whole commentary of the game. The Chinese people were just eating it up even though they had no idea what was going on.

Stuart as the MC!

For half time they had Stuart and Braden introduce ILP (this was all in english. I don’t know why they wanted it... I don’t think anyone could understand). Then they wanted us to sing “We Will Rock You”. You just have to understand- here in China nothing makes sense. I have NO idea why they wanted us to do any of this, but they did. They just get these crazy ideas in their minds and then think Americans are shameless enough to do it... and this group is! Haha! They let Stuart keep his little microphone and then they gave Braden a headset. Another mistake. Stuart and Braden seriously just rocked out... air guitar madness! I wish it was recorded more than anything! That’s definitely the hardest I’ve laughed the whole time I’ve been here!

This is Braden’s back after rocking out. He did the whole air guitar/spin on the ground thing... The court turned his sweatshirt green. 

After that little jam session they had the three of us dance again, which went great. Jenny and Sophie came to watch us, so that was so much fun! :) Gotta love my little Chinese sisters!! 

Here we are with our little “family” after our performance.

Last week Kelly had us go perform at a special needs school. That was an awesome experience! The kids were SO sweet and excited we came! All of us who went were really touched by their spirits and innocence!  There was a little girl there who reminded me of my beautiful cousin Maggie and it made me a little homesick.. It was worth is to have Kelly drag us around to all these random places to dance just for this sweet experience.

:) With the kids! (They wanted us to do that heart thing with our arms... once again, nothing makes sense in China...)

A Different Kind of Halloween

I know this is late, but I’m still trying to catch up on my blogs! Haha! HALLOWEEN!! They don’t have Halloween here in China. Sad, but true! Since this is my kids’ first english class most of them had never even heard of the holiday. It was my privilege to introduce them to it! :)

On the Tuesday before Halloween we did a whole lesson on the holiday. I taught them about pumpkins, costumes, candy, trick or treating, ghosts, witches, monsters, etc. Most of the kids caught on... I’m sure the ones who didn’t thought I was CRAZY! Haha! :) 

Teaching my kids about costumes! :) Love them! 

That Thursday Cierra and I combined our classes and had a little party. We made sucker ghosts, painted pumpkins (well... a pumpkin), and played games with them. At the end they went “trick or treating”. They absolutely loved it! It was a blast! :D We “dressed up” as cats (we had to make do with what we had!) and the kids thought it was hysterical!

Creative, I know.

Playing the pumpkin toss!

This is Larry with his sucker ghost! Larry is my favorite kid.


I know I shouldn’t have favorites, but I do! He’s so funny and quirky! He always tilts his head when you talk to him. He doesn’t walk... he bounces around from place to place in the funniest ways! He just lives in his own little world! He’s so smart and well behaved on top of that. I just love him! I want to take him home! Haha!

On the 31st it was a typical day here in China. We had an awesome church meeting! Random side note: there were 5 Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays this October! Cool! Anyway... That night we passed candy out to the middle school students at their “Halloween Party”. It was a good attempt, but not much like a REAL Halloween party. Haha! Jenny and Sophie (my little Chinese sisters) were there, so I gave them all my candy. Oops! :) Haha!

Some of the middle schoolers having their Halloween party- China style!

Later that evening we were talking about how it really didn’t feel like Halloween. It had still been a way fun day and all, but something was missing! I suggested that since we didn’t have pumpkins we carve apples. Everyone laughed. I was serious! So Cierra, Braden, Aaron, and I decided to give it a try. It was awesome!!! And delicious. Soon most of the group had joined in the fun! It wasn’t a typical Halloween, but it was a blast!

Here we are... just carving apples!

Mine and Cierra’s finished products!

Kayla happened to have birthday candles (go figure! Kayla always has the randomest things. I love it!), so we stuck them in the apples and lit them up! :) 

I was unaware that the whole apple would glow! They were pretty sweet looking!

Everyone’s apples... all lined up and lit up!

Coming up: the Chinese are convinced Samantha, Cierra, and I are professional dancers. Find out more next time on Jenni’s Blog! :)

My Chinese Family

The past few weekends I’ve had the incredible opportunity to go on “home visits”. Cierra and I have been going to visit this lady (no english name... we’ll refer to her as “Penelope”) and her daughter Sophie. Their neighbor Bonnie and her daughter Jenny come over as well. Penelope is the middle school director here at Daguanghua, so we see her around here sometimes as well.

The first week it was a little awkward at the beginning... we didn’t know anything about them and it can be hard to get to know people through the language barrier. But as we got talking we got more and more comfortable. The little girls are so cute and they have become like little Chinese sisters to me. They love to dance, play piano, and draw. They love the American card games Cierra and I have taught them. And they LOVE chocolate... :)

Kelly set up these visits so we could have a more up close and personal experience of living in China. While we’re there learning about life in China we’re supposed to help Jenny and Sophie improve their english. I have learned so much from them and from these visits. There really are no houses here... just apartments! They don’t even have an oven, dishwasher, or freezer in their home! It’s so crazy to me the things that I never even thought of as luxuries. And they have no pictures on the walls, but there are “good fortune” trinkets everywhere. Chinese people are very superstitious.

Penelope, Bonnie, Sophie, and Jenny are always so hospitable! They have opened their home to complete strangers, and opened the door to a special friendship. I am thankful that they have been so giving and that I’ve had this opportunity to get to know them!

We have learned how to cook many different dishes at their house! This is the GOOD Chinese food... the kind that I like and I’ll miss! :)

The first Jao Zi I’ve ever made! :)

Learning to make Bao zi.

On one of the visits the family took us around parts of Weihai we’d never seen before! They took us to a park. Let me tell you, China has a lot to learn about fun park equipment! But we still had an awesome time!

Sophie and Jenny pushing me on a swing. ... Seems like it should be the other way around, but I swear they wanted to! haha!

They also took us on this amazing drive that seemed like it could be from the movies! It was one of those super windy roads where the mountains and trees are on one side of you and the ocean is on the other. It was gorgeous! Even though it was cold we still played at the beach!

This is Sophie!

This is Jenny. Ironically she reminds me a lot of myself!

Did I mention I love it here?! :)

One week as the family was dropping us off at Daguanghua after the visit they said they had something for us. They opened their trunk and pulled out a whole box of apples. We’d said earlier how we liked them, and they decided to give us a whole box. That type of thing actually happens all the time here. If you say you like something they’ll give it to you! They are a very giving and generous people!

Cierra and I lugged them all the way back to our apartment! And this is what our little fridge looked like after! HA!

We love going on these visits! We hope we continue getting invited back. It’s so much fun to see what life is REALLY like in China!

Half Way There?!

The first week back from vacation was crazy! We had to get back into the swing of teaching and the schedule. It took a bit of effort to get the kids back into the routine of our classes.

We work with a lady named Mrs. Tao. She is one of my favorite people I have met so far. She is immensely entertaining! One day after teaching our driver was in a meeting. The meeting ended up going SUPER long, so Mrs. Tao sat and talked to us. She told us all about her life and found out all about ours. It’s funny though because this conversation that would have normally taken half an hour in the States took nearly two hours! It’s a whole lot of repeating and charades. I’m thinking that I’m going to be a master of charades at the end of this!

This is Mrs. Tao in a wig we used for class! She’s a hoot!

Teaching was excellent though. One of my classes is pretty restless and stuff, but the rest of my classes are really good! A thousand little funny things happen every day- I wish you could all just sit in on my classes to see it! The whole language barrier thing can provide entertainment!

Moving on... On the 13th we had a birthday party for Samantha! We went out to our favorite noodle place, had an epic and never ending congo line, and sang a rousing chorus of happy birthday. Heather was able to round up the ingredients to make a cake. It was amazing! I have no idea how she was able to make a delicious home made cake with the chinese equivalents to ingredients and a microwave... Mad props!

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

The next week marked half way for us! CRAZY! I can’t even believe it! Time is going SO FAST! Casey, one of the head directors of ILP, came for a visit. He did interviews with each of us. It would remind you of a Bishop’s interview on your birthday... He just wanted to see how we were doing and if there was anything he could do to make our experience better. I really do love ILP. They take great care of us!

Our school took us out to dinner since Casey came. They took us the the “Pizza Buffet” It was wannabe western food... Some mediocre pizza, french fries, peaches, watermelon, onion rings, chicken nuggets... that’s about all the food that I knew what it was.... Now, had I gone to this restaurant a few months ago I would have thought it was absolutely deplorable! However, on this night it was a little taste of Heaven! :) Funny how situation changes perception!

We had a group meeting with Casey to discuss any problems with kids and teaching. At the end of the meeting a miraculous thing happened... Casey brought out the Reese’s! :) They were just the tiny ones, but he brought enough for us to each have 11. :) Reese’s are my favorite candy in the world, but apparently they haven’t made it to China yet... :( I was so excited I thought I was going to die! Ha! Who knew such a little thing could elicit such a reaction! :)

I LOVE REESE’S!!!!

Cierra, Samantha, Kayla, Anna, Lauren, and I decided to have a party that weekend to celebrate our half way mark! Lauren saved a cake mix and frosting for this occasion. We made a 6 layer chocolate cake and devoured it in mere minutes! It was DELICIOUS! We also listened to Bon Jovi a lot.... “OOOOOOOOHHHHH we’re halfway there!”

The epic cake of deliciousness! It may not look pretty, but that’s because we are super creative and have had to learn how to make things in a microwave. Improvisation... one of the things I’ve learned over and over again in China!

Kayla and Lauren couldn't eat it without getting it all over their faces! It was hilarious!

That night we also discovered room 504 (the one across from Cierra and me) is haunted. No one lives there, but it sounds like there’s something vicious trapped in there! The door rattles all the time and it emits the oddest noises. We asked Kelly to get the keys because we thought there must be windows open and the wind was causing it. Turns out all the windows are closed. We figure it must be ghosts then!

I know this blog post has a lot of cake references... haha! We like to find any excuse to celebrate with treats! :) I really can’t believe we’re halfway through this amazing experience! We are trying to make every day count... I think we’re doing a pretty good job! So much happens here and there’s no way I can blog it all! Between my blog, journal, and emails and letters to friends and family I hope I’m documenting it all! I’ve made so many great friends, learned amazing lessons, had once in a life time experiences, and loved every minute of it!

Half way through and still loving life! :)