Oh, Taiyuan.

Some thoughts about Taiyuan. 

It's on the edge of the Gobi desert. 

I've never seen so much dust in my life. 

But the air is mercifully un-humid.

I have never seen so much smog in my whole entire life, either.

In Beijing, people stare silently.

In Taiyuan, people stare, smile, and yell, "HALLO?! Haha! BYEBYE!!"

There are so many trees around the sidewalks.

I don't know how they grow here, but I don't care.

They are NATURE. 

We went to a massage place and I didn't want a massage.

I fell asleep in the lobby. 

The lobby lady startled me awake and made me sleep on a massage table in the back. 

Just as I was falling asleep again, she shoved a pillow under my head. 

And because the masseurs were all blind, I think I startled the one who tried to take my pillow away to use for a customer.

Oops. 

I hear fireworks at least once a day. 

There are some currently going off behind the apartment. 

My favorite is when people set them off early in the morning. 

The road outside the school is the most dusty, potholed road in China. 

I LOVE IT. 

I feel like I've moved from New York to....some nicer city that isn't New York. 

A cross between Atlanta and Knoxville. 

But Chinese.

I don't have an oven. I have a toaster oven. 

It's not working right now, but our other teammates' is. 

Our dvd player and stovetop range aren't working. 

The toilet mostly works. 

The internet is moody. 

BUT THE AIR CONDITIONING WORKS HALLELUJAH.

There's a little store across from us where we buy produce. 

There's a little girl there who hugs us EVERY time we come in.

I seem to only crave the things I can't have, like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. 

Fireworks again! 

Number three today. 

The smog line receded enough today that I could see blue skies ANNND mountains. 

From a distance, they look like the Smokies. 

I count my little blessings.

And I love this place. 

Hello, Taiyuan!

Once upon a two mornings ago, I woke up to an empty hotel room. Why? Because my roommate was already gone to her new city and it was time for me to be leaving for mine as well. 

It's bizarre to be leaving a hotel and not going back to what you call home. 

Roundabouts noontime, we were being stared down by all the Chinese people in the Beijing train station, ready to be on our way to our new home: Taiyuan (REMEMBER: IT'S "TIE-YOO-IN" NOT "TIE-YOU-WAN")

Bethany.

Upon boarding this train, I thought, "Oh, what a great day to leave Beijing, when it's SO smoggy. Surely we will be able to get out of it and see some clear countryside!" False. We went through a 3 1/2 hour cloud of smog all the way there. I saw the outlines of some pretty funky mountains on the way there, but I can't tell you exactly what they looked like because I couldn't see them. 

We were also provided with the entertainment of soundless TV monitors playing a bizarre American version of Maybe-the-Nutcracker and a Chinese show called Mighty Baby that involved pregnant ladies and babies flying through the air. It's ok that they were soundless, though, because a man directly in front of us provided everyone with the harmonious sounds of phelgm-n-spit. I also decided to brave the bumping, bouncy squatty potty for the first and last time. After that, I needed a foot shower.

Thanks, man. 

Then it happened. 

WE WERE THERE. 

In dusty, smoggy, beautiful Taiyuan. 

We arrived at the school, dragged our things up to the sixth--yes, SIXTH floor--and opened the door to our empty apartment that, to me, resembled an abandoned basement. That's when I panicked. I realized that this is my home until next summer, whether or not I like it or think it's comfortable. And for the next two hours I was about three inches away from tossing my cookies. 

The "before" bedroom.

The porch attached to my room that we use for drying things. 

Furniture.

Big room.

Kitchen/laundry room.

I pleaded with the Father about it and after a time He reminded me that He'd brought me here and that this was my new home. He picked this place out for me before I was born. I'm meant to be here. 

Suddenly I was hungry for dinner again. 

Oh...and the toilet was broken. You can encounter that saga here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151014761226466

Today we walked through the school to visit the cafeteria and went to a wondrous place called "Carrefour" to stock up. And even though Taiyuan has enough dust and dirt to rival Uganda, I really enjoyed the laid-back-ness of the city.

Welcome to Carrefour!

Amazing. The sky looks kind of blue here. 

My suitcases are close to being unpacked. My air conditioning vent is now clean, the bathroom is scrubbed (no thanks to me!), and the toilet is fixed. I have come to terms with the perpetual layer of dust. My stomach is still doing backflips, but maybe as I settle, it will too. 

Welcome home, me!

View from my kitchen around 5 o'clock.

Goodbye, my Chinese maid.

This morning the maid decided to come in at nine o' clock. 

Usually she comes in around lunchtime, and most of the time I happen to be randomly there. 

She always comes to the door, knocks twice, and, no matter what I do, opens the door of her own accord. She then grins widely and says, "Ni hao blablablaChinesesomethingaboutcleaning."And I just nod, bewildered.

Then she moves around all my junk, makes my unusual bed, and probably inwardly thinks terrible thoughts about this messy blond America. 

Sometimes I'm in the bathroom.

Sometimes I'm not dressed. 

Sometimes I'm sleeping. 

AND YET she always comes. 

I guess it's good to have a clean room....even if I occasionally find a stranger's toenail on my comforter.

Don't laugh. It's happened twice.

(yeah, that's my bed. It's really hard.)

Tomorrow will be the last day I see the maid, as tomorrow is my last day. On Wednesday we had practice teaching, yesterday we finished our classes, today we get commissioned, and tomorrow I climb on a train to Taiyuan with my team. 

Beijing has had its good days and its bad days, mostly depending on my stomach and how much smog is in the sky. It will be nice to get out of a hotel, but not so nice to say goodbye to the people I've made friendships with this month who all are going to different cities far away. They've made life a little more normal and secure in this unfamiliar place, and this weekend I'll have to begin that process all over again. 

Two good things: 

Yesterday was the first time I went outside and walked to a restaurant with a group of people and didn't start daydreaming about somewhere I'd rather be. It was kind of weird.

Practice teaching on Wednesday reminded me of how much I love teaching. Yeah, the kids pretty much stared at me the whole time and didn't get everything I was saying, but I felt alive. This year will be hard and there will be a lot of days I don't feel great, but interacting with kids is something I'm passionate about. 

I think I forgot. 

Coping Mechanisms

Today was full of coping mechanisms. Everybody has those days, regardless of country or circumstances. Here were some of today's coping mechanisms/things that made the bad moments better:

A western toilet with toilet paper. 

Starbucks.

Getting a seat on the subway on the way to Starbucks. 

A salad. 

A bald Chinese baby. 

A bookstore. 

The man next to me on the awful, crowded bus singing falsetto and growling at the window during most of our ride. 

A day out in Beijing was a good idea.

But today was the very smoggiest day I have ever, ever seen--it wasn't sunny, it wasn't cloudy, it was just whit-gray nothing.

The transportation system was driving me crazy. 

I want my mountains a lot, lot, lot.  

(smogshine)

I crave the familiar. I crave it like a fat man craves an ice cream cone on the hottest day of summer. I want to know where I am, what I'm eating, where a bathroom is in case I need it, what time it is, who the people around me are, where I'm going, what time it is, what my friends are doing, what my family is doing, if I'm getting sick, and what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't want to learn, I don't want to grow, I don't want to taste the unfamiliar, I don't want to learn a new language, and I want to be around people I've known for more than three weeks. 

And my surroundings will change again in less than a week, so there will be even more unfamiliar. 

AND I'M SO MAD ABOUT BEING SENT HERE.

Then I get an email from my dear Chinese sister about how happy she is that the Father has changed her life. She is sharing His love because she wants others to know Him, too. 

Oh. 

That's why I'm here. 

Forbidden Food

Today I had two adventures, one with the Forbidden City and one with food. 

I will begin with the Forbidden City. 

 The thing about the Forbidden City is that it never ends. If you want to take a trip to the Forbidden City, leave first thing in the morning and plan to stay until closing time. We didn't, which means that we spent 3 1/2 hours there and didn't even get halfway through. 

There were a lot of huge, pointy buildings and different courtyards.

In the middle of it, we got to went to a really cool hall of clocks. Guess what they had there? THAT'S RIGHT--REALLY SWEET CLOCKS

After the clocks, it was time to go back. It was also roughly 4,000 million thousand degrees outside (meaning that I smelled like a month-old jackfruit) and there were some drinks for sale that looked like ice-cold sweet tea. (This is where the food adventures begin) 

Me: "Ni hao." *points at drink* "What is it?"

Saleslady: "LotsofconfusingChinesewordsandhandgestureforten."

Me: "Ok...I think I have ten..." 

I piad ten yuan. It did NOT taste like tea. It DID taste like barbecue sauce.

Later, I found out it was plum juice. What???

Then we ate dinner. Dinner was dumpling soup--harmless enough. UNTIL I FOUND THESE. 

Yes, it looks like mealworms. 

It's actually shrimp. 

And they were looking at me. 

After dinner, we went out for "ice cream". 

I'm renaming it "oreo-and-milk-slushie". Mmmmmm....not really. 

So, my new lesson is to go with the flow of food...but learn some Chinese symbols for different kinds of food and maybe stir all of my soup up to see what's in it before I put it in my mouth and find wormy shrimp stuck in my teeth. 

Out of the Fairytale

Friday morning, I woke up staring at the ceiling in bitterness, thinking, "WHY. WHY WHY WHY. THIS ISN'T FAIR." In other words, I had not slept well again, which is not conducive to adjusting to a new country. 

Walking out onto the streets of China has felt much like the scene from Enchanted where Gizelle falls out of the fairytale and into the real world. Everything is more difficult, more dirty, and smells weird. It's harder to get to Starbucks, get to sleep, get some dinner, and get a grip sometimes. I also can't speak to animals...but I could never do that in the first place.

And every once in a while, I look up at the ceiling and say, "You called me here! Why aren't you making the adjustment easier? Why does my stomach hurt all the time and why can't I stop sneezing? Why are you not letting me sleep?" 

WOW.

Did you hear all the ME in that?? 

Sometimes I forget that He is Master and I am not. In America, I lived in a land of illusion--the illusion of comfort and control. Here, the veil has slipped. I have lost the illusion of control over my life. I can't just jump in my car and drive ten minutes to Starbucks when I'm having a bad day. I am not adjusted to the food. I CAN'T speak Chinese. 

The Father is as in control as ever, it's just that now I actually have to recognize His control. I also have to rest in it, which is something I don't do well. 

In the midst of it, he uses small things to show me that He's taking care of me. 

On Friday, after my whine-fest as the ceiling, I somehow had the energy to make it through seven hours of classes cheerfully. I went out to dinner with two of my friends, Hilary and Andrew, and ate until I was full. 

Then we watched TANGLED and threw around my panda and ate Dove chocolate and laughedandlaughedandlaughed. Without having woken up frustrated and sick, this would not have been nearly as sweet.  

On Saturday, Hilary and I were headed home from the subway and no taxis would pick us up and we couldn't find a bus stop to save our lives. An hour into it we both had to pee and I let out a frustrated, "Where are the public restrooms? Or even a gas station???" I kid you NOT, less than two minutes later, we came across this sign:

Next to this: 

Neither of these things are common here. 

Then, this morning, after a bus ride and an hour of walking, I did make it to Starbucks. 

It's the little things that count. The Father has called me here and He is taking care of me, He's just doing it in a way that challenges me to grow rather than wallowing in convenience as I did in the fairytale of American life. 

Sweat and Ice Cream

I knew when I woke up this morning that today would be a day of adventure and sore, sore legs. How did I know this, friends? 

Today, I went here:

Yes, it is what you think it is. No, I never dreamed of going here before this year and I didn't do any backflips or breakdancing on it, but it was pretty cool. 

Right before we exited the bus to make our way to the wall, our leader asked, "Who wants to ride the cable lift?" I thought, oh I'll just climb up and take the scenic route. 

That was a bad life choice. 

Folks, I think the number of stairs I climbed today is equal to the number of stairs I've ever climbed in my entire life. Easily 2,000 stairs, maybe more. If my calf muscles aren't ballin' by tomorrow, I'm going to ask for a refund. 

An example of never-ending stairs leading TO the wall.

An example of never-ending stairs ON the wall.

I have also never been so wet in a situation that didn't involve putting myself in a body of water. See all that humidity? That + my extreme-stair-climbing sweat led to one hot, miserable, wet heap of Laura. By the time we actually got to the wall, I was ready for a shower and a nap. 

I really, really tried to think profound thoughts like, How amazing that we can still walk on this giant structure! and I'm standing on one of the wonders of the world! but I didn't get very far past the sound of my own panting and tropical insects buzzing in my soggy, wet ears. Oh, well. Maybe next time. 

Fortunately, I decided to take the cable back down the mountain....and, unfortunately, was joined by a hornet for the most of the ride. I'm pretty sure the Chinese people heading back up were wondering why the pale white foreign girl was crouching in the corner of her ski lift. 

Upon arrival back at the hotel, I DID get my shower and nap before heading out on the next order of business: my late birthday celebration. 

Our first stop? Pizza Hut, obviously. 

As you can see, it was more of a sit-down experience than your regular pizza buffet deal. I decided to be adventurous and order some...waxberry...juice. I'm not sure who decided to call it a waxberry. It didn't taste like wax. It tasted like purple and fruity and really, really, ridiculously sweet something. 

Our next stop? Cold Stone in the mall. 

It took us a million years to find and wasn't nearly as good as my Marble Slab, but it was worth it to even get that close. Cheesecake, oreos, and fudge. Yes, please. This means, of course, that I'm OFFICIALLY 22--fully celebrated and on my way. 

This week we also began TEFL classes (every day but today, obviously). OH MY WORD. Taking three courses of classes in three weeks is a feat comparable to climbing up to the Great Wall. By the time I meet my babies in September, I'm going to be one giant heap of brain-and-leg muscle-mush. 

And that actually sounds pretty gross. 

Traffic

Today is my birthday. Today is also the day that Vinny the stomach dragon decided to rear his ugly head, so I'm currently nibbling on the second of two pieces of white bread that make up my dinner because that's all he wants to eat right now. Maybe tomorrow we will get to do what we were actually PLANNING on doing for my birthday and I'll blog about that later. In the meantime, a word on Beijing traffic.

No, it's not a picture of traffic. My computer DELETED any pictures I could find of our excursion in Beijing. MEAN.

In Uganda, I experienced some crazy traffic. Like, psycho-the-drivers-don't-care-if-you-die traffic. That traffic was terrifying. 

Beijing traffic, while insane, is a bit different. 

It's not something you fight. 

Contradictory to crossing traffic in the West, here you don't run and dart around cars--because then, much like horses, they will smell your fear and try to kill you. Rather, you feel the traffic. You become one with the cars, motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, and other unidentifiable vehicles that are all crossing the road before you. 

After all, you are all bodies in motion, so you have some commonality. 

Before stepping into the road, you must first look around and check each of your senses, including the sometimes unrecognized eighteenth sense which hears the inner voices of vehicles. This sense reaches out to the souls of the vehicles and asks permission to cross the road. Once it has received the vehicles' blessing, it's time to put one foot in front of the other and begin your cross. 

DO NOT RUN--WALK WITH CONFIDENCE. 

Also, walk in a group, because the vehicles will then see you as one giant entity deserving of respect. As you cross, keep your eighteenth sense open for the cars crossing ahead and behind you. You are welcome to stop and wait for cars to pass while standing in the middle of road--it's a return of respect to their right to move and mutual respect will benefit both parties. Besides, standing in the middle of zipping taxis gives one a feeling of confidence and domination, much like adrenaline rush felt by lion trainers when their head rests within the mouth of the lion. 

If you tread with delicacy, your head will not be bitten off. Better yet, you won't turn into ground beef beneath the wheels of a tiny Asian vehicle--because, come on, that's one of the more humiliating ways to die. 

I'm in BEJING.

Once upon a time, I missed half a day and ended up miserably in China. Not that China was miserable. It's just that without the musical talents of Justin Bieber and my Disney Princess coloring books, I would never have survived the 15-hour flight from LA to Hong Kong, and then struggled on to Beijing. 

THAT'S RIGHT--I'M HERE. BOOYAH, BEIJING!

I still don't know what time or day it is, my body gets hungry around midnight, and my sinuses feel like they are chiseling straight out of my head, leaping out to fight the smog that is pressing down on them. But here we are. Until Monday, they are easing us into China and out of jetlag. Then the real classes begin.

I'm going to pretend that nothing happened between Monday and Thursday morning because most of that time I was completely useless. On Thursday, however, we got to take a look around the town we'll be living in until August 26th...and by town, I mean the capitol city of China. 

 No, I have no idea what those buildings are. I just took a picture because it looked cool.

 There is no way I can fully explain to you what it's like. I can't bottle up the smell and feel of the less-airconditioned, muggy city air filled with particles of something-or-another that American lungs are unfamiliar with. I can't place you among the constant chatter of strange sounds buzzing around your swollen ears. I can't bring to you the mindset required to live in a place where organization is different and much more every man for himself. 

I won't lie to you: there were moments, especially right at the beginning where I went "SHOOT. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO???" But the Father's peace is sustaining. And I kind of like not worrying about personal space and constantly saying "Excuse me" and having to wait for a sign to tell me to cross all the crazy traffic.

Remember that time I went to Uganda? This is actually a LOT like the cities in Uganda and I'm finally understanding more about why the Father sent me there. If I hadn't gone there first, there's no way I'd be as prepared for this.

Anywho, the fun stuff. So far I have: 

Used three squatty potties (One without doors!! I'M A BALLER.)

Nibbled some else's scorpion

Gotten a back massage from someone who didn't speak English

Bought "Pillows with rich cocoa filling" at Wu Mart

Acquired a transportation pass for the city of Beijing

Eaten lots of Asian style food

Gotten unknown bruises 

This would also be a really good time to have the gift of tongues....because....yeah. Trying to figure why the cashier at the supermarket is waving a dragonfruit around and chittering at you about it is a little bit daunting. 

These are the girls who will be on my team this year. Go Team Taiyuan!

STOP BEATING MY BACK.

Yum.

Kind of like hash browns...but stacky.

They were just mesmerized at Alex's beauty. Like, a lot. A crowd was gathering across the river to take pictures of people taking pictures with Alex. INTENSE.

More to come!