On our Guilin trip we went up to a small village in the mountains. The car drive there was bumpy and long! We had two vans to take us up the big hill/mountain. When it was time to leave, we got a call and heard that one of the vans broke down! So the van that was left would have to make two trips to get all 15 passengers down. It would take at least an hour for one trip down and back! So when the van came we didn’t want to wait so long, instead we tried to fit all of us in the one van. The van normally seats 8 people. We fit 15 people in it! (No seatbelt rules in China!!) We had three in the very front, four in the front bench seat, four in the back bench seat, and four in the very back, on the floorboard, behind the back bench seat! I was one in the very back! since the ride was bumpy you might imagine what it was like sitting on no seat! I think that was one of the worst but funniest car rides I have ever had!

At a place called culture street is this food called Dragon Porridge. It doesn’t sound or look good but it tastes very GOOD. To prepare the porridge first they put this sort of powder in a bowl then Then the worker pours hot water into the bowl. The reason we call it DRAGON porridge is because the worker pours the hot water out of a big dragon’s mouth. After the people put water in the bowl it becomes a sort of paste then they put toppings in it like raisins, peanut shavings, sunflower seeds, or brown sugar. After that they give it to you and then you dig in. It is yummy to eat when shopping in the morning, or any time!!

When we first came to China we were told of the two most popular stores near by. They were named E Mart, Good Friend store, and the Best store! E Mart is like a mall it has about 4-5 levels. The basement Is a place where you get mechanical things. The rest of the floors are filled with food, clothes, everyday cleaning stuff, and little stores. My mom goes there to get food and other things like toilet paper. The Good Friend Store is a store with mostly all imported foods from America. This store is a pretty small store. Me and my friend walks there to get candy from America a lot. A walk to the Good Friend Store isn’t more than 2 minutes. The Best Store is a also small store but a little bigger than the Good Friend Store. The Best Store carries all kinds of food. It sells milk, toiletries, ice cream, and much more. Normally we go there to get ice cream or snacks. It took us a while to get used to the wierd names of stores but now we think of them as any normal stores name.

On the last day of school before Spring Break my class went to an autism class of 23 children! I had so much fun playing with the little children. One little girl there I fell in love with! She was one of the two girls out of 23 children the rest were boys. We did some Easter things with the children like dying eggs and doing an Easter egg hunt!

It was one of the best days of my life.

For Spring Break my family decided to go to Guilin China. Guilin is a very pretty place in China it’s so green and nice. One of the things we did there was a big bike ride. The bike ride was around 1-2 hours! Also that day it was raining on and off. We went across dirt roads, paved roads, and little villages. By the end of that day everyone who went on the bike ride were so muddy and wet. It was really fun me and Micheal went on a Tandem bike! It was hard to ride at first but then we got the hang of it.

One of my worst fears of coming to china was friends. In Kansas I didn’t get much friends so I was scared it would be the same. Then when I came to TIS (Tianjin international school) I found a bunch of friends! It really relieved me to know that I had friends. I’ve gotten so many friends it’s really great. In this picture me and my friends were at the school!

On March 20th the Elementary school had a Crazy Hair Day.  Most of the kids in elementary had a weird hat or crazy hair.  Some had a lot of hair clips others had hair sticking up but they were all funny.  My friend brought hair gel so at recess we got people that didn’t have wacky hair put hair gel on to make it crazy. We had a great day!

My dad decided that we should get a membership at a pool a while ago.  We go at least once a week to go play and do some laps.  I think Megan has the most fun. She does all sorts of things in the baby pool.  She jumps, turns, and goes under.  I think she is like a little fish.  She never wants to leave when it’s time to go.  I like to play around with her.   She even likes to jump to me when I’m standing in the deep water.

In February of 2009 for a school project I had to do a Science Fair. Also I had a partner her name was Boyie. My project was Does Music Affect the Way Plants Grow. I think the science fair was good to learn about science but personally I didn’t love it.  I think next time I will do a project that only takes one day or less.

This Christmas my parents and grandparents bought us a Wii! Our dad also bought us a lot of games one of them was Ramen Raving Rabbids. This game is about very dumb rabbits that try to take over the world or do other wierd things. Some of these things are baking chickens by eating hot peppers, plunging a rabbid from a toilet, or having a rock band! Me, my friends, and siblings very much enjoyed this game it was fun and hilarious! Now when our friends come to play Wii Ramen Raving Rabbids is their favorite.