Favorite Things and Not So Favorite Things...

Sanfu is one of my favorite places. It's just fun to go to. There's a lot of trendy stuff. But when Fall starts, my favorite accessory is ALL over the place. Scarves!!!

In Sanfu, there is a whole wall of scarves. I love to go browse in my free time or when I need a pick-me-up.

And here is one of my not so favorite things. My phone cost about $50. Which isn't that bad. However, it's not the best quality. One of the do-hickeys broke off within 6 months. And ANYTIME I drop it, the back falls off and the battery falls out. Without fail. Most of the time, I pick up the pieces and put it together again and reset the date and time.

HOWEVER, things had a different outcome this time. I have heard of stories about people's phone falling in the toilet and gruesome details about retrieving it. That never had happened to me. Until today. HOWEVER, Asian toilets are a bit different. Instead of a toilet bowl, you have kind of a slide and deep hole. Where, essentially, there is no retrieving.

So, as I fatefully, rose from my squatting position, I dropped my phone. It all happened in slow motion. I knew I had to some how stop my phone from falling into the dark, stinky, abyss. I also knew the back was going to fall off and the battery would skid off somewhere. HOWEVER, I didn't want to touch gross floor. So, I waited to see what would happen. And sure enough, the back of my phone slid right into the squattie. Now, my phone is super ghetto.

Shao Xin Cao

This is my all-time favorite drink! I remember having it for the first time with Lydia. It was soooooo strange. But now I love it!



Main ingredient: MILK TEA (What is this? Just that. A little milk. A little tea.)

Most Shao Xin Cao will have most or all of the following:

Peanuts
Raisins
Black Jell-O
Jellies (long, rectangular, firm, almost hard Jell-O)
Custard
Pineapple
Red Beans

You get a nice, fat straw to suck up the goodness and a spoon for when the straw just isn't cutting it :)

i know i'm not supposed to have favorites...but...

You may have heard this story already...

Monday morning is the hardest. Eight am is just so early. But that first class of the week is my favorite by far! They are so fun and talkative. I don't have to pull teeth like some of the other classes. They are so active.

Today we talked about holidays. Thanksgiving is my favorite to talk about. It's not only a great time with family, but it's fun to talk about turkeys when people have no idea what they are. There are no turkeys in this part of the world. They do import them and I can get one for Thanksgiving, but they are not in surplus. The students are curious about the taste and what exactly a turkey is. They keep comparing it to a chicken, I always reply with, "It's so much better than chicken!" "It's bigger than a chicken." "It's a bird, but not a chicken."

They said they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I said, "So sad." Apparently, I say this often while teaching. They asked if we had a festival for mid-autumn/full moon in America. I told them we didn't. And then they did the most amazing and wonderful thing...they said with all the mockery in the world, "So sad!" I burst into laughter. I wasn't completely sure they were mocking me at first, turns out there were. They asked if we had a day for single people, like the opposite of Valentine's Day. I told them we didn't. "So sad!" they jeered. Teasing is my one true love language.

I love my students and I really love teaching. The longer I am here and the more that time goes by, I'm certain this is exactly where I should be and this is exactly what I should be doing...Thanks Father