China Challenge Accepted : China Obsessed by day 3

I’m in China and I’m in love. In love with the city, in love with the food, in love with the people, in love with the children, in love with the nature and the houses and life style and the language and the vibes… I could go on and on!

At 2:30 AM on Wednesday the 27th my mom and I set off for the SLC airport. After meeting with lots of other ILP China members and getting all airport affairs in order, I said good bye to my mom and departed for my first stop in Los Angeles. We landed a quick hour later and boarded for our 13-hour flight to Beijing, China. At this point my carry-on was taken from me to be checked because it exceeded the weight limit. Who knew international flights had weight limits for the carry on?? Not me.

One of my worries with this trip was the flight. I get pretty anxious flying and my farthest plane ride up to this point had been Arizona to Florida. This long flight was definitely no cup of tea but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected. Prayer number one of many answered. I was able to knock out 2 movies, 1 book, 4-5 hours of sleep, a semi-decent scripture study, and some stretching in the back of the plane.

By the time we had landed in Beijing It was a nearly March 1st in China. We had one more 3-hour flight to Guangzhou and 2-hour bus ride to the apt we stayed at for the night. When we landed in Guangzhou, I found that my checked carryon never made the connecting flight. I still don’t have that bag so pray that I get it soon. Adventure around every corner.

Finally, after close to 20 hours of travel. We left whatever city we were in at 4:30 PM on March 1st (1:30AM in America) for our 4-hour train ride to Changsha. The whole experience getting to Changsha was definitely my favorite travel memory. First of all, the Chinese man that took us on a small bus to the train station was very excited to be chauffeuring a 7 crazy American girls so he blasted some American tunes for us. He giggled at us as we screamed the top of our lungs to the Spice Girls and Shakira. This was of course after we had relaxed a little from the shock of how they drive here. At the beginning or our excursion, the driver needed to talk to our coordinator who was half a block down the street on foot. He stopped the bus in an intersection and got out of the vehicle to go talk to her. Cars were zooming all around us. Left and right. I don’t know how we didn’t get in an accident. Upon learning we were going the wrong way, he reversed the car out of the extremely busy intersection to switch directions.

At the train station we were pretty unsure about where to get on. We weren’t sure if we were getting on the right train but after struggling to get our luggage on, the train took off. We prayed with all our might that it was correct. Turns out it was right but we got on about 8 carts to early so we accidently ended up on the first class station rather than economy seating! Oops. I think the people felt bad for us because of how confused and flustered we were so they just let us stay! They are all SO nice! People are always waving and taking pictures of us and sometimes slightly laughing. I’m not sure if they are making fun of us or admiring us, but either way, I really enjoy it. Half way through the train ride, a very giddy Chinese man came to our cart with a bag full of waters he bought for each of us. We thanked him in broken mandarin but he kept returning. First he came to get our contact information, and then to give us his business card, and then to invite us to a club he and his friend were attending that night. We couldn’t stop laughing! He got off the station before us and told us to call him. Hilarious.

When we arrived in Changsha life just went so uphill. I had already thoroughly enjoyed the things we saw in the city we were in previously, but Changsha is beautiful, amazing, spectacular to the extreme! It is one of the most ancient cities in China and even in the dark we were dumbfounded. We arrived at our apartment and I just wanted to cry. It is incredible! So nice and clean. We share the building with the Chinese teachers who teach at the same school as us. They are so sweet and cute.

Today, March 2nd was our first official full day in Changsha and I can’t wait for what the rest of these 4.5 months will bring. At 8AM we got to go to the school to see what it looks like. Walking onto campus was a dream that nearly had me in tears. All the Chinese kids were playing outside and they rushed to the gate when they saw us coming. The kids swarmed us, gave us hugs, told us their names and smiles and waived like we were superstars. They are the brightest lights I have ever seen and I don’t know how I can resist taking them all home with me! Our school is so nice! We have our own chef that makes us breakfast, lunch, and dinner on all the school days. Her name is Wendy and holy cow she is GOOD! My main motivation for learning the language now is just to know what the foods I try are called so I can remember them and get them later!

After touring the school with our coordinator, Tina, we went to run some errands in the city. While a couple of the girls in my group were buying phone plans, I spent about an hour playing with a little 2-year-old boy who was son of the phone shop owners. Soon after, a 4-year-old girl came and joined us. We laughed and through a ball around and played little games. I had a beautiful feeling of God’s love for sweet kids. I realized that kindness and human interaction is universal. Both of them kept repeating little phrases to me and I was talking to talk with them too. We couldn’t understand one another’s language but I think we still understood each other; just on a more spiritual level. I felt very full just being able to love on these cute kids and see their faces fill with smiles and light.

We had many more adventures jam packed into just these few short days here in China. We’ve explored tons. We’ve been forced into a parade photo op. We’ve seen the biggest fireworks I’ve ever seen in my life and so much more. I Feel so blessed to be here. I feel the spirit all around me all the time. I know God lives and loves everyone one all around the world.

All my besties the night before my departure. Love you all!

My mom was so sweet to stay a few extra days to be able to take me to the airport and send me off!

Our first stay in China after the LONG plane ride. My carry on didn' t make the connecting flight which is why I'm uncharacteristically wearing a t-shirt