ding dong the mouse is DEAD.

Lemme tell you a story. It's a fine story and every detail is 100% true. So when we first moved in to our apartment in Tongcheng, Maddy and I noticed mouse droppings....and we were like GRRREAT. Let's hope they are old! We cleaned up and hoped for the best. But then, the next day there were more droppings!! Woooof. So we knew there was a mouse somewhere...hiding. Little piece of vermin.

But we had no idea where it could be. UNTIL. The repairmen came to fix our AC and when they popped open the vent, the mouse came flying out and scurried under a shelf thingy. And they men laughed and kept working and we were like "uh....are you gonna help us catch that?" After they finished working on the AC, they started banging on the shelf to get the mouse to come out. Which it did! And it scurried on over to our bathroom and disappeared through a pipe! So we were like hoping it was gone for good.

BUT THEN. Another repairman came to fix our washer (if you haven't noticed already, nothing was working when we first moved in haha!) and as he was fiddling around in the pipes, BAM! The mouse flew out. It literally was flying, there's no other way to describe it. So Maddy grabbed a bucket and I grabbed a broom and chased it but then it went into my room, behind my dresser into this dark and creepy alcove. Grrreat. I grabbed my boots and my head lamp and I ventured into the unknown and tried to find the mouse. I prodded around for a bit and found it hiding in a box. But it got away and climbed up my curtain and out a hole in my wall! It was so gross and terrifying and filled with lots of screaming and laughing. It was quite the sight.

So we thought the mouse was gone because we saw it run away. THOUGHT. We went to Huangshan for the weekend, right? And when we came back...there was this horrid smell. We had no idea what it was for a day or so until one night, I looked through the hole in my wall and lo and behold THERE WAS THE MOUSE! I saw it's little nose and whiskers. It was dead and we think it got stuck in there! Not sure how it got stuck...maybe it was too fat from mooching off our stuff? Who knows! But it was gross and I started laughing and making all sorts of high-pitched noises. We tried to push it out with a little stick...didn't work. We tried pushing it out with a water-bottle...didn't work (but it DID help keep the smell out because we left it there) We told our liaison, Annie, and today she had the repairman come and get the mouse out. He went outside on our balcony, took some pliers and yanked it out by the tail and let it fall five stories to the ground where it remains.

THE END.

Magnificent Mountains

After moving to Tongcheng and a tiring week of teaching, Maddy and I decided it was time to get outta there and see Huangshan. This is THE number one place I wanted to visit in China and how lucky that it's in my province! It was a little frustrating with the buses and communicating because...welp...my Chinese is practically nonexistent. But we finally we made it to our hostel and it was THE best thing that ever happened. We stayed in this place that was right on Lao Jie (which means Old Street) in this city, Huangshan. It was very cozy and very China. We went shopping and went to KFC (AMERICAN FOOOOOOD!!!!!! Kind of.) and found a bakery that was delicious and we went there every day...sometimes twice a day. Fat Americans. We're living up to our stereotype. ;) 

Lao Jie outside our hostel.

But then we felt fine about all the KFC and treats because we climbed 5 miles of stairs! Hardest work-out of my life. Imagine yourself on the stair stepper at the gym for 3 hours. YEAH. But it was gorgeous on the way up and we made some friends along the way! And the top was worth everything.Huangshan is like the Yosemite or Zions of China. Standing on top of that mountain was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. There really is no way for me to share what I felt or what I saw. So here's some pitchas!

It was AWESOME. To say the least. This Earth is pretty magnificent.

And this week we are back to teaching! One day I'll tell ya all about that because it deserves a post allllll on its own. :)

Oh. Just the GREAT WALL of China!

I really really love this. The food is AMAZING. We get cheated in America. American Chinese is sooooo nasty and greasy and probably full of preservatives. Here it's fresh and whole and just FREAKING delicious. The noodles. i can't even describe. Just amazing.

Yesterday we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which was pretty cool. It was just exciting to see all the people and happy they are. I couldn't stop smiling. Seriously. And it's like we're celebrities because people just come and ask to take pictures with you all the time. Or they'll just nonchalantly take pictures of you without asking. So. It's hilarious!!! Nice self esteem boost. 

And they get super excited whenever we talk in CHinese to them. Which is basically just "hello" or "thank you" But I've learned some other phrases! THe Great Wall was freaking awesome today too. The Chinese are so funny. I love them. I'll tell you stories later. But I have some pitchas for ya!

This is our street! It's so great. It's just so…chill. 

People are just doing whatever they please. 

Like, these two ladies that were probably mom's age were playing badminton together. It was cute. 

And cute dogs EVERYWHERE. They're just kinda dirty.

FOund this cute little donkey on the hike up to the Great Wall.

 (Twenty minutes of going up stairs. It. Was. TORTURE.) It was adorable and it was nibbling on my hand. 

DOn't worry, I kissed it. And I"m still alive. I was just so overcome with love for it.

Oh. Just the Great Wall of CHina. ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

There ya go. I have loads more pictures but. You can't see theeeeem. Yet....more later.

Beijing Arrival Tour 2012

Ni Hao! We've ARRIVED!

So we arrived in China…I don't even know when. A few hours ago? We had to get baggage and exchange our moneys and stuff. Seriously, you guys. I am loving this. I can't stop smiling. I'm not sure if it will ever hit me. When we got into China, we went through Beijing which is like any other city but just a little more colorful and more shiny and more diverse in architecture. Our hostel is in this thing (I can't remember what it's called in Chinese) but it's like cool because it has all the family shops and these tiny alley ways that we had to go through in order to get to our hostel. And our hostel is the bomb. A lot nicer than I was expecting. But now I know why they don't want us to drink the tap water. :/ I was brushing my teeth and halfway through the water turned yellow. Gaaaross. The Chinese have this light about them. I can already tell. Like our stewardesses were so sweet and accommodating. I'm just so happy! And I have some pretty funny stories already. Like when I couldn't understand the stewardess on the plane so I ended up eating this Korean dish. But it turned out to be quite yummy! Or. Get this. I'm scrunched up against this Chinese man writing this because our lobby is the only place with internet access. So we're all on the couch. Fun fun! 

I've flown a total of 16 hours today. Woof. I'm tired. But I had to email you before I went to bed in my rock of a mattress. Which is fine. This is amazing you guys, it still hasn't REALLY hit me that I'm in China. I just feel like I'm in any other place on earth. So far. Hahaha we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm just really tired. Cool story! So me and my new-found friend, Jennifer (who lives in DUBAI!!), we were sitting on the bus trying to say the Chinese phrases in our little hand book. We asked this Chinese guy if we were saying it right and he helped us and then he said he could understand us! I"m starting to pick up some words. And I think I finally understand how to read the tones. It's just the characters that will be hard. But I hope I can get it down! I can't really think because I'm so tired so .... more later! 

JOURNEY.

"I wish that was me."--Dad, as he proceeds to play his air-guitar. I wish to be just as well-versed in music as he is.  He's been to so many concerts, it's INSANE.

Journey started playing....and then it was pure MAGIC.

When the lights go down in the City
And the sun shines on the bay
Do I want to be there in my City
Ooh, ooh

THIS CONCERT. Was so awesome. Not only was the music phenomenal, the people were quite a site. Just picture a bunch of 40-50 year olds in various old band shirts from the good old days. And a lot of beer. My dad is the best for taking me. And despite his tone-deafness, he really belongs in a band.

my new dream?

TO BE A STORM CHASER. Actually....I'd probably scream and possibly pee. But it might be worth it. Especially after watching this.