Living in what I call the “desert city”, because of the lack of rain and abundant dusty layers, I have learned to live with trees, plants and, well, about everything, being covered in orange-ish dust.  However, this being my third spring here in China, I am amazed once again with the new life.  After a very long and cold winter, I walk outside one day greeted by warm weather and, to my great surprise, green leaves!  I am shocked by the delicate light green leaves on the bushes that slowly uncurl, fresh and clean.  Then around the corner I turn to find a little tree, no taller than 8 ft, that is bursting with little pink blossoms.  The whole winter I stared at the bare twigs of that tree, and today I find it  covered in the sweet little buds.  It absolutely astonishes me when I see the foliage all around me turn from orange-ish color to vibrant greens, white, and pinks!  Isn’t HE amazing, and so kind, to bless us with such unexpected surprises?!

Recently a few of my Mom's friends from America came to China to lead a woman's retreat and brought some special craft supplies to make journals.  They, generously, gave the left over supplies to my Mom when they were getting ready to return to America.  So, one night Rachel and decided that we'd try it out!  We had already previously received scrap booking paper from another friend that we also used to make these journals.  We bought small spiral notebooks to start out with.  Then we cut two pieced of paper to cover the front and the back covers.  Then we took a thin ribbon and tied it to the top ring of the spiral notebook, as a bookmark.  After that we used different paper, cut into a strip about 2 inches wide, and glued it so that it folded over the spiral part of the note book.   For a finishing touch we glued a ribbon over the line where the two papers overlapped.  This simple process turns a boring spiral notebook into a beautiful journal in just less than 30 minutes and costs a lot less then one you would buy at your local book store.  I had so much fun making them and I was so pleased with the end result!

On Friday night I was chatting with a friend talking about the weekend.  They were going to a soccer game in the morning.  They really wanted me to come and even though I wasn't keen on going to a soccer game early in the morning, I made a decision on a whim to go.  So I got up and stole Michael's Blue sweatshirt and put on some white jeans (Our school's colors).  I got a thermos of tea, Mom got a thermos of coffee, and we grabbed some granola and was out the door!  We took the bus at 9am to the field and watched the game.  Then others from our school came in a later bus to set up their bake sale.  Though TIS lost the boys JV and varsity boys games, the girls won their game.  I so enjoyed sitting on the bleachers cheering on our school in the cool morning with my breakfast then later eating Kim Bop (Korean Sushi) and Brownies from the bake sale!  All in all I really enjoyed my Saturday (and way prefer it to being asleep)!         

Recently a few of my Mom’s friends from America came to China to lead a woman’s retreat and brought some special craft supplies to make journals.  They, generously, gave the left over supplies to my Mom when they were getting ready to return to America.  So, one night Rachel and I decided that we’d try it out!  We had already previously received scrap booking paper from another friend that we also used to make these journals.  We bought small spiral notebooks to start out with.  Then we cut two pieces of paper to cover the front and the back covers.  Then we took a thin ribbon and tied it to the top ring of the spiral notebook, as a bookmark.  After that we used different paper, cut into a strip about 2 inches wide, and glued it so that it folded over the spiral part of the note book.   For a finishing touch we glued a ribbon over the line where the two papers overlapped.  This simple process turns a boring spiral notebook into a beautiful journal in just less than 30 minutes and costs a lot less then one you would buy at your local book store.  I had so much fun making them and I was so pleased with the end result!

On Friday night I was chatting with a friend talking about the weekend.  They were going to a soccer game in the morning.  They really wanted me to come and even though I wasn’t keen on going to a soccer game early in the morning, I made a decision on a whim to go.  So I got up and stole Michael’s Blue sweatshirt and put on some white jeans (Our school’s colors).  I got a thermos of tea, Mom got a thermos of coffee, and we grabbed some granola and were out the door!  We took the bus at 9am to the field and watched the game.  Then others from our school came in a later bus to set up their bake sale.  Though TIS lost the boys JV and varsity boys games, the girls won their game.  I so enjoyed sitting on the bleachers cheering on our school in the cool morning with my breakfast then later eating Kim Bop (Korean Sushi) and Brownies from the bake sale!  All in all I really enjoyed my Saturday (and way prefer it to being asleep)!         

Each year the student council in middle and high school hosts some sort of sleepover party.  For the Middle Schoolers it is named the Lip Sync Party because they have a Lip Sync competition the night of the sleep over.  For the High School they just name it the Lock In.  Because I am Freshmen Class President I am part of the planning for the High School event.  Even though I have been at this school for two years I have never participated in the sleepover part of the Middle School Lip Sync party, so this was my first year to sleep over in the school.  I was so nervous that some part of our planning would go wrong, however God really blessed our party!  Everything stayed on schedule and all of the activities we planned went smoothly.  I had a blast!  Every activity was a ton of fun; among the different activities, my favorite was the Student vs. Teacher Dodge ball, Dice Game called Screamo, and a game called assassins.  All the food, Korean, American and Chinese food, was fresh and hot when we ordered it; in one case a place delivered the food at midnight for our midnight snack!  Once it was about 3am, the activities were finished and we could either play ping pong or bad mitten, watch a movie, or play board games or cards.  I opted to watching the movie because I was too tired to do anything else, additionally there were cushions for you to lay on in the movie room, where as in the sleeping room it was only the hard floor.  I purposely fell asleep on the cushions to catch a few hours of comfortable sleep. I had a ton of fun and will always remember this Lock In!  It was everything I hoped it would be and more!

Each year the student council in middle and high school hosts some sort of sleepover party.  For the Middle Schoolers it is named the Lip Sync Party because they have a Lip Sync competition the night of the sleep over.  For the High School they just name it the Lock In.  Because I am Freshmen Class President I am part of the planning for the High School event.  Even though I have been at this school for two years I have never participated in the sleepover part of the Middle School Lip Sync party, so this was my first year to sleep over in the school.  I was so nervous that some part of our planning would go wrong, however God really blessed our party!  Everything stayed on schedule and all of the activities we planned went smoothly.  I had a blast!  Every activity was a ton of fun; among the different activities, my favorite was the Student vs. Teacher Dodge ball, Dice Game called Screamo, and a game called assassins.  All the food, Korean, American and Chinese food, was fresh and hot when we ordered it; in one case a place delivered the food at midnight for our midnight snack!  Once it was about 3am, the activities were finished and we could either play ping pong or bad mitten, watch a movie, or play board games or cards.  I opted to watching the movie because I was too tired to do anything else, additionally there were cushions for you to lay on in the movie room, where as in the sleeping room it was only the hard floor.  I purposely fell asleep on the cushions to catch a few hours of comfortable sleep. I had a ton of fun and will always remember this Lock In!  It was everything I hoped it would be and more!

Each year our school has a designated day for service.  We are grouped by grade and assigned to go to a certain place to lend our service.  This year most of my classmates and I went to the Adult Facility.  In a Chinese orphanage, if a child is mentally disabled and has not been adopted after the age of 14 they are sent to the Adult Facility where they will stay, sadly, for the rest of their life.  Many of the occupants there had down syndrome or were quadriplegic.  All of my classmates (excluding me and a few others) brought their instruments to play songs such as the Ode to Joy and the Minuet.  Then we all sang some interactive songs such as 'Hokey Poky' and 'Shake a Friends Hand'.  After we did that for about five different audiences we helped with their lunch.  My friend Tae  Eun and I helped feed one of the men that was quadriplegic and unable to feed himself.  At the end of our visit we did their daily stretches with them and then played on their playground with them.  Though a lot of the people there were unable to communicate effectively I learned that each one had their own way of expressing their feelings even though it is not in the way we do.  I was really encouraged to see them so excited to see us.  We are most likely the only outside group that comes to see them so it is special for them to play with us.   I think I learned more about people mentally disabled and I had a lot of fun serving them! 
*No pictures were allowed at the Adult Facility,  ;(    

This year Rachel, Michael, and I all participate in the MUN (Model United Nations) elective, which is also like a debate class.  We have two conferences we can attend a year: one international and national.  Last week all three of us chose to go the the conference in QingDao (Ch-ing Dow) China, Mom signed up as a chaperon and Maddie tagged along to watch (Yes, Megan and Dad stayed at home)!  I think it was my favorite conference experience!  In my comity of Disarmament, there were seven other TIS students, including Michael.  I was the delegate of the Russian Federation (and no, I didn't use a Russian accent).   During the lobbying day, a day designated to writing and sharing resolutions in the conference, all the TIS students broke off into groups and together wrote a resolution on each of the topics so we were fully prepared for the debates.  In the debates we consecutively followed each other up to the podium and supported and defended each other's resolutions.  It was really fun!  The conference was a small one, and few delegates were very active in debate other than the TIS students so to liven up the debate, because by definition debate is "… opposing arguments …" and we weren't really feeling "opposition", we split up 4 TIS students For and 4 students Against.  I really enjoyed it and learned so much!  After the conferences I would go with my friends to the pool and spa of the hotel because the conference was being held in the hotel we were staying in.  Then we would have dinner in the mall connected the hotel.  I was really blessed to be able to attend this conference with all my family there!  All in all it was an amazing trip full of hard debating, learning, playing, eating, relaxing and domination!      

This year Rachel, Michael, and I all participate in the MUN (Model United Nations) elective, which is also like a debate class.  We have two conferences we can attend a year: one international and national.  Last week all three of us chose to go the the conference in QingDao (Ch-ing Dow) China, Mom signed up as a chaperon and Maddie tagged along to watch (Yes, Megan and Dad stayed at home)!  I think it was my favorite conference experience!  In my committee of Disarmament, there were seven other TIS students, including Michael.  I was the delegate of the Russian Federation (and no, I didn’t use a Russian accent).   During the lobbying day, a day designated to writing and sharing resolutions in the conference, all the TIS students broke off into groups and together wrote a resolution on each of the topics so we were fully prepared for the debates.  In the debates we consecutively followed each other up to the podium and supported and defended each other’s resolutions.  It was really fun!  The conference was a small one, and few delegates were very active in debate other than the TIS students so to liven up the debate, because by definition debate is “… opposing arguments …” and we weren’t really feeling “opposition”, we split up 4 TIS students For and 4 students Against.  I really enjoyed it and learned so much!  After the conferences I would go with my friends to the pool and spa of the hotel because the conference was being held in the hotel we were staying in.  Then we would have dinner in the mall connected the hotel.  I was really blessed to be able to attend this conference with all my family there!  All in all it was an amazing trip full of hard debating, learning, playing, eating, relaxing and domination!