Ten on Tuesday

1. Bribery is the best concept. Ever. I've started bribing my kids with marshmallows in order to keep them in line when we're walking to and from class. It works like a charm!

2. I don't know if it's terrifying or just plain fabulous how close Megan, Kate, and I have gotten over this experience so far. The things we talk about... Lord help us.

3. Last night, Kate and I watched UP!, made hot chocolate in our Disney villains cups, put chocolate-covered cookie dough bites in this hot chocolate, and dipped Oreos in it. Oh, and we sobbed just shy of hysterically while watching the movie. It's one of my favorites, but holy cow, Disney producers sure do know how to cause water main breaks.

4. Teaching today was cut short by an hour, so I only had two rotations.

5. We made octopuses out of bananas! It was ridiculously adorable.

Mike :)

Julius. She is such a doll!

Jason and Audrey :)

Admit it, you love him. He never follows directions. He does everything in his own way. I kind of secretly love him a lot for it.

Apple and Ronnie.

7. I had a really great night with Megan at the night market. Even though I ate way too much. It was still great. We decided that we won't be able to be away from each other when we get back to America, so I'm just going to stay with her all the time. Sorry, Lucas. Dolores might start charging me rent or something :) We have a lot of Pinterest tasks to accomplish between crafts and recipes.

8. I'm going to Beijing next weekend and I'm definitely going to the Great Wall. Are you super jealous? Yup, you should be.

9. I've noticed just how much I laugh while I'm here. Today in class, Ricky had me cracking up. I was laughing so hard and could not stop. He's just so weird, kooky, and amazing. Why do I have to love him so much? Oh, he also put a spider sticker on my butt and I didn't notice until I was walking back to my room after dropping them off.

You have to know Ricky to find this picture funny, but he was just rubbing Ronnie's head the entire class period while Ronnie was trying so hard to ignore him and pay attention. I couldn't stop cracking up at him. 

10. Tomorrow is the official halfway point in terms of days. What the heck. I'm not ready to be ready to go home. I still need to acquire a few more suitcases so that I can stow away a few Chinese children that must come home with me.


 I was thinking today about what it will be like to say goodbye to them, knowing that I will never see them again. Of course, I can't help but cry just thinking about it. When I came here, I truly had no idea what I was in for. I didn't know I would get so attached to these little people. I didn't know that I would wish for longer class periods, more days of teaching, and an overall longer stay in China. I didn't know that I would, indeed, be leaving a piece of my heart here in Changzhou. Why does such a sweet thing have to have such a bitter ending?

Excuse my lack of makeup today, but just look at how cute my babies are!