End of the School year!

Oh, how I cannot believe the end of my first year of teaching is coming to an end. Oh man, what a year it has been as well!  I am so glad I ended up teaching third grade. My students have kept me smiling this year. This past Monday, we had our 3rd grade Talent Show. We decided to do a talent show to wrap up our last unit on how artists express themselves using a variety of media.  Each class came up with a number to perform, and students from all the classes were able to perform their talents as well. It was a big success and we all had fun!  For the talent show, I decided to teach my class, "De Colores".  Sometimes I think I teach the students things to make myself laugh. This was probably one of those things.  I did not have a chance to record the actual performance from the talent show, but did have my students do it again for me today! I hope this makes you smile as much as it makes me! P.S. in the actual performance, I had the kids translate the song!

I just cannot believe Friday is my last day with these little guys! Time sure does fly.

About two weeks after Qingdao, I went to Hong Kong with some friends for the weekend! It was a great trip! Let's see as soon as we got off the plane, we rushed over to the temple, but it was close.  We still were able to spend some time on temple grounds and it was well needed!

 Hong Kong is beautiful, and has a tropical feel to it!  It is also very international and was nice to not stand out so much!

 While in Hong Kong, we went to visit the largest Buda!

 We also enjoyed some night markets!

The trip was short, and I know it is a place I would love to visit again!

Hello Family and Friends,

I realize it has been months since I have last posted anything, and believe me it is not because there is nothing to post. I have just been so busy! Life in Beijing never seems to be dull.  Let's see, the first weekend in April I went to Qingdao with my good friend Karin.  Qingdao is located in the eastern part of China in the Shandong province.  This city is right off the coast, and has a very German influence feel to it. It was such a wonderful trip.

 We did some great hiking and saw amazing views. The pictures do not do any justice!

 Aww beautiful Karin! She is getting married July 7th!

 Yup, here are some model pics!

 Below is the hotel we stayed in. The top is a rotating restaurant! We went twice and it was delicious! We feasted!

Let's see two weeks after Qingdao, I went with some friends to Hong Kong for the weekend!

My kids!

           Honestly I feel like the luckiest girl!  I really do have my dream job, teaching! Seriously it is one of the most fulfilling jobs.  I  love all of my kids. Haha and I do have my little trouble makers.  Luckily I only have 17 students, so I am able to have a little bit of one on one time with them.  

           Currently I am working on autobiographies with my students. I am thoroughly entertained in reading what they write. One of my students wrote about how I send home fun homework assignments except for the spelling, because it is boring. Another student wrote about how when I came into the classroom I taught them the ABC'S and gave them spelling tests. I laughed at this, because I modified President Monson's ABC's in abundant living, for our class. You know the have a positive Attitude, Believe in Yourself, and have the Courage to do what is right! I always bring up the ABC's in the classroom.  As a teacher, you do not just prepare your students to pass the grade, or graduate from school. You prepare your students to make it in the world.  That is why I thought President Monson's ABC's would be appropriate for my classroom. 

             Let's see what else. My school does a huge show once a year.  As soon as I got the job, my team leader informed me that I would have to prepare a number for my students to perform during the Spring Show.  Haha,  I love dancing, but in no way am I a dancer. Here is a little glimpse of what we are doing. Imagine these guys in tiger suits, in a giant theater, with lots of bubbles.  While you watch this video, remember I have no dance background. I did take a dance class my junior year of high school!

   

New Apartment!

So life these last couple of weeks has been pretty eventful! I feel like my life here in Beijing is finally starting to come together!
My new class:
I started work with the kids two weeks ago, as a 3rd grade teacher. I have 11 boys and 6 girls. 7 of my kids are from China, 6 from Korea, 1 from Turkey, 1 from U.S., and 1 from Taiwan.   These kids are so smart, and I feel like I will learn so much from them! I will have parent teacher conference this coming Tuesday, and Wednesday!
 Lets see what else, I moved into my new apartment and I love it. I live right next to the school, so commute is just a 5 minute walk. The subway is also not that far away from where I live as well.

Happy Chinese New Years!

Ok so I have so much to share that I thought I would do it in two posts! Mostly this post might be pictures! I think I will start with Christmas.  This was our Christmas YSA lunch!

 

 Samily was a Master Chef!  I helped wash and chop veggies! I spent the majority of the weekend with Samily to celebrate Christmas dinner! 

 Here, Vickie is showing how we decorated our Christmas cookies!

 Don't they look good!

Yum!

Let's see what else to share.  New Year's I ended up going to sleep early. It was pretty uneventful. Good thing there is something called Chinese New Years! Haha here I actually got to celebrate it.  After church we all went to Sabrina's apartment.  We ate, played games, and made dumplings and ate some more. As soon it was dark, it sounded like we were in a war zone.  We decided to join in the fun and light some fireworks. When we went outside, everywhere you turned families were setting off fireworks. Not the small ones, but the big ones. It was a crazy sight. It was so loud, and the sky was lit up with color.  I took pictures on my new phone, but I am a bit challenged and accidentally deleted them. So sad.  My friend drove a couple of us home that night. On the drive home, all along the freeway, fireworks were being set off. I felt like I was in a movie!

 

Ok random, but here is the picture of the squatter's.  These are what you find in the public bathrooms here. Haha I finally had my camera to take a picture! Well I think you all are basically updated with me now!

Big News!

I realized that I have not posted a blog in quite sometime, so here I am trying to update everyone. Well things are going pretty good! Well my good news I believe I have shared with most of my close friends and family, but it is so good I want to share it with everyone! Originally this was an email, but I thought why not share the goodness of the Lord with everyone!

(Written in beginning of January)
These first three and a half months, I have learned and grown so much. The most important growth, has been spiritually.  I have learned how to lean on the Lord, but more importantly how to seek revelation. For me it has been piece by piece. For the past three months I always asked the Lord if I should quit the company. Literally every time, I received peace and be patient.  So I would keep on keeping on.

Haha ok so to help make my New Year's Resolutions, I read the First Presidency's Message on the ABC (attitude, believe in yourself, and have courage). {I highly recommend reading it, here is the link http://lds.org/liahona/2012/01/living-the-abundant-life?lang=eng } One of my new Year's Resolution was to become a teacher. Work Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 5pm. Well things went the way things usually do at work. Which is not so great. I tried to continue to have a good attitude, and make sure I had a good relationship with everyone.    Well two weeks ago, I felt like I needed to quit. So I turned even more so to my Father in Heaven in prayer and fasting. Not really about quitting, but to make sure that the decisions I made and would be making would bring me closer to me eternal goals and dreams. On one of the Sundays I was fasting, I called as the Young Women's Secretary.  I felt so happy, it felt so right. I thought that was my  answer.  The following week, in talking to my boss, I realized that my Sundays would be taken away completely and that I would not have my Wednesdays evenings free to be with the Young Women. I was so confused and brought back to square one...so I thought. The Lord was really trying to send me a sign, and it was fluorescent. He helped me realize I needed to quit, but from there what? To top it all off, the electricity in my apartment went off, leaving me completely isolated from the world. Man I was so confused. The one thing that was clear was I needed to quit on Tuesday.

My friends here in Beijing know how I have felt about my job and more about what I go through on a weekly basis. My friend came to me on Friday and told me that she told two international schools about me and that they wanted to interview me. She told me it does not hurt to try. So I set up interviews on Monday, just to see what was out here. But I was not set on rushing into anything, unless I felt absolutely right about it. So yesterday I went to the interviews. The first one is connected to the top University here in Beijing.  But I did not think the interview went well and I did not feel comfortable at all. I was so confused, so I made the mistake to call my mom. In my confusion. She told me to come straight home. So I got off the phone and decided I would go straight home. I went and prayed and felt so sick. I honestly could not think. I tried to call and cancel the next interview, but was advised just to go. I did. I prayed the whole way there. I arrived a half hour early, so I walked around and sang hymns to calm my heart. I told the Lord I would listen. I walked into the school and peace filled me. The interview was incredible. The Principle (from Canada) read my resume and he looked at the H&R person and told her this is a high quality individual.  She graduated from Brigham Young and he turned to me and asked "Are you Mormon?" I replied, "Yes", and he turned back to his colleague and said and she is Mormon. Mormons are very good people. He then said, "I know Mormons go to different areas for two years....Where did you go?" I said "New York, New York." 

    He was impressed we talked about New York and China. He asked me about teaching. He started about the school and how in third grade I would have a good team and that the leader would be a great mentor for me. Honestly I could go on, but the interview went well. At the end they offered me the 3rd grade teaching position.

    More good news the school is near church and the Young Women's program.  It feels so right! My first official day is January 30th.  The Lord works in mysterious ways. Dreams do come true. The Lord listens always. Keep the commandments, and counsel with the Lord all of your dreams and desires. I know He will help you achieve them. I love you all so much.  Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Lots of Love,

Meli