Yeah... neglect.... i know...

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't written an entry in a long time. I would say... oh I was super busy, or... oh I lost track of time with my blog; but that's not true. I've just been lazy that's all, and my head has been full with all the things happening here and thoughts of missing home so it was just hard to sit down and write something. But here I am, and I guess with no real purpose to this entry but to ramble about anything that comes to mind.

Well last I wrote about Hong Kong, so shortly after that was Halloween. That was interesting! Here in China unless you are a student who had a foreign teacher at some time you have no idea what Halloween is. So as I walked down the street in my oh so awesome zombie costume (courtesy of Rachel)... I basically scared most people who looked at me. And I'm sure it didn't help that I was not alone and it was not only a group of weigouren (foreigners) but scary dressed ones at that! We all took the metro to get to the Halloween party and i swear to you we never had so much space in the train car. No one would really stand any closer than 5 feet of us. I still think we should dress like that everyday to have ample metro space! The party was pretty cool too, though it was held in a mall and we were the main attraction for everyone. It was basically like being in a zoo exhibit!

Then after that I went on a small vacation. Students here all participate in military week. Boy do I love military week!!! Because I don't have to teach :) and the week before that I had Thursday and Friday off because of midterms. It was a sweet 10 days off. So i grabbed a bag and Rachel and took a bus to Guilin, to then head to Yangshuo. Now... the bus was something interesting, it was a sleeper bus. Now at first it's strange but I would SO ride one of these at home if we had them. I think I'm gonna write a letter to someone about that....

So we took this crazy bus for 15 hours to Guilin and then a 2 hour bus to Yangshuo. Now if you don't know this place you do, you just don't know it. Ever walk into fast food Chinese places and see a painting of some dude rafting down a river between really tall pretty mountains. Well basically that's where they got the idea from.

So yeah, it's by far one of the most beautiful places EVER!!! If you ever visit China go here, I totally loved it! I only stayed for a few days but it was well worth it. Also I basically went spelunking in a cave, that was fun and a whole other story O.o

Then came Thanksgiving which started me into missing home real bad. I've lived at home my whole life up until now, so yes that should make it easy for me to miss home quickly. But you must understand something... if you know anything about me you know i LOVE food!! So what is my favor tie holiday you ask.... Thanksgiving!!! So not only did I feel that I missed out on some essential food, but also helping my mom peel potatoes the day of, and the yams. And shucking the corn, and waiting and praying the food would be done faster. Then sitting to eat the best meal ever! Going back for seconds... and not for another full plate... just turkey and mash potatoes.... Oh how i love thee!!! And then taking a glorious food coma nap to only wake up and eat more mash potatoes. Yeah... I missed that terribly. Now don't get me wrong, we did have a dinner together here. Most of the teachers in my program got together and each brought something to the dinner. It was nice but it still wasn't what my Thanksgiving is.

Then after Thanksgiving I figured it was all down hill from there. Soon it would be Christmas, another holiday that I've always been home for and then the New Year... which made me miss my friends terribly. But after some thought and alone time I realize I can't have it all. I like it here and I'm having a great time! So being sad is just what it is, all the better for when I go home. I will go back with a new appreciation for everything... especially bathrooms O.o I'll take a pic of that soon so you can see what I mean. But for now all is well and I will keep on trucking and make this the best year ever!

P.S. - It's gonna be the year of the Ox, lucky me :)