The Family has come and gone...

My family (mom, dad, sister) came to visit the last week and a half. It was really exciting for me to have them here and have a chance to show them my life here. I surprised them at the Beijing airport and it was so great to see their surprised faces, and just see them! We stayed about 4 days in Beijing doing all the Beijing things-Tian'anmen, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Great Wall, Wangfujing, Silk Market, Pearl Market, etc. It was fun to see their reactions to things. After living in China for a while, things start becoming so normal and you forget that it is so different than in America. Things like the taxi drivers, crossing streets, and other everyday living things. It was also fun to revisit some of these places and be able to just walk around and enjoy and not worry about taking pictures as much. There is so much history in many of these places and they are so important to the Chinese people.

We took the night train (soft sleepers) from Beijing to Harbin last Wed. That was fun with the family-our own little sleeper room, watching Chinese tv, trying to fit all our bags in! It was nice to be back in Harbin where things are much more familiar to me than Beijing (and the weather is much cooler!) We did a few of the Harbin things too-Tiger Park, Center St., St. Sophia, Pizza Hut, shopping. They also were able to come with me to my classes and watch their dramas. I had some amazing dramas perform last week-they performed about the "Future in China." It was great to hear their ideas (See next post). They also came with me to the English center where i teach children and met all the kiddos. The kids loved my family and being able to meet new foreigners-as did the TAs. One of the most fun things we did was go to dinner with some of my Chinese friends. We ate and ate and then did karyoke (there was a machine in the room we ate in). It was so fun and my Chinese friends really loved my family. I have been so blessed to make such great Chinese friends and to be able to really invest in them and them teach us so much as well!

I was so happy my parents came and sad they had to go home. It was crazy sometimes having people always around and organizing things, but I loved it. I was able to really use my CHinese a lot as well, especially in Beijing so that was rewarding. I dont always get to use it a lot here because I am on campus a lot and I should be speaking English to my students so I love any chance to use it. I still have so far to go in it, but I am loving the journey! It is crazy to think that I will be home in about 3 weeks. I arrive back in AR on June 25. I have a lot to do before then so please be remembering me in that. I hope to see many people this summer, so keep your schedules open!!!