chugging right along

This week has been pretty busy, but nothing out of the ordinary! I have tried to take more pictures because I know I will always cherish these special memories.

Best Buds! 

Sweet Elliot and I on the big bench swing! 

This picture is perfectly her. 

Pucker Up :) 

No words needed. Joel is pretty awesome. 

 I love these 2 black and white photos. One funny, the other serious. 

Until next time!

A peek inside!

Here is just a peek at our newest class, afternoon "Pre-Kindergarten!". This class has come SO far in just a matter of weeks :) I am so proud of them and all the hard work that they do.

A little bit of what we do: play games where you have to take turns, arts and crafts, interactive storytimes, PE, music, learning to introduce ourselves, handwriting using this awesome program (I used it in the states as well), and lots of fun! On this particular day we were finishing up our colors unit hence the rainbows and we are all learning to write our names! 

i love you!

Whether you are celebrating a birthday, working hard in school, goofing off, playing outside, or just being plain cute, I LOVE each and every one of you! 

xoxo, Ayi Catherine 

1 month...

I can't believe it, but I have hit the 1 month mark overseas! Time has gone by very quickly and it does not seem like I have been here long at all, until I take a look back.

I am going to bullet-point some things I have learned and gone through the past 30 days (feel free to skip over this as it may be boring).

1. I was COMPLETELY and UTTERLY naive about how homesick I would be when I moved. The first 2 weeks were absolutely brutal. I cried at least twice a day. Sobbed actually. During the work day, I was fine. But in the morning before work and after, I was an emotional basket-case and sunk very low. I just prayed I would get over it soon and tried to read my Bible as much as I could.

2. I am so thankful that the Lord carried me through that time as I could not have done it without Him.

3. The kids are even more wonderful than I remembered.

4. Teaching English is a lot harder that it seems.

5. Jet-lag is NOT your friend.

6. I have LOVED introducing new music to the preschool class. It reminds me of my class back home :) The kids sing their new songs all day long and every time I see them outside, they ask me to sing to them! It is really funny when you have 6 children shouting their requests at you! So precious...

7. I did not have an idea of what I would be doing during my time here, but I have to say that I really love my schedule. The new classes we have added have been very rewarding.

8. My 1:30 class has 5 students. 1 teacher, 3 assistants. And it takes all of us working the whole time with the kids. Haha! If that gives you any ideas...

9. I miss American food. Thanks Mom for sending me Cheez-its!

10. At the same time, I love Chinese food. Particularly cucumber dishes, noodles, these rice cracker snacks that are delicious, fresh fruit for low prices, and barbeque chicken on a stick.

11. My Mandarin language skills are going NOWHERE. I think I am worse than before. My goal is to study for 30 minutes during my lunch break, but usually I am busy socializing :)

12. When we are out in the backyard, you will often catch me on the big bench swing with 3 kids in my lap OR holding a sweet baby.

13. I really love the nannies and the preschool teachers. I want to be able to communicate with them badly. It's just more motivation.

14. The support system I have here I am so grateful for. Truly. My 5 roommates are a God-send. The people I knew before have welcomed me back with open arms.

15. Everyday I play volleyball and on the weekends we play soccer! In true Catherine-style, I hurt my knee the first week! It is still recovering.

16. Also, we had our first kitchen accident which left me with a second degree burn and a few other burned spots on my arm. And yes, it did hurt.

17. Our apartment lost our electricity in the middle of the night one day. I know this because I woke up sweating bullets. It did not come back on until 10 hours later. Life overseas I guess!

18. My favorite thing to teach right now is the letters of the alphabet. One week we did "W" and then we did "P" (see post below). Those seem random, but that was the theme! I love doing the letters because the kids then talk about them non-stop. They draw the letters, they look for them in books, on boxes, in puzzles, etc. They also make the cute sounds and signals with their bodies (thank you ZooPonics!). They will ask me to write them on magna-doodles so they can copy me or make the letters with play-doh. Often when I am in the playroom or outside a child will come up to me and shout, "Look, 'P'!" It always makes me smile.

19. This post is really long.

20. I am head over heels for the 3 baby girls that I visit daily. Totally smitten. Would adopt any of them in a heartbeat. I absolutely drool over them and cannot squeeze and kiss them enough. It hurts how much I love them. I could stare at their pretty faces all day long. I have no idea what I will do when I have asian children. Look at them in awe all day I guess.

21. I cannot imagine doing anything different and thank my Father above for calling me here. 

22. These children own a huge part of my heart! 

That's all for now. I never have a good ending to a post. One day I will actually write some deep thoughts when I have the time to do it!

it's not every day

that your friends stop by China!

On Monday I had the privilege of meeting up with a team from my hometown in the city :) This team had gone to a different province to volunteer and were in this city to do some sightseeing. I cannot say how much fun it was to meet up with someone from home. It truly was a comfort and gave me and extra boost to "keep going"--I felt very energized and encouraged after just being with them for a few hours. Although I love it here and have been doing wonderfully, it was still such a blessing.

It seems like yesterday that Carolyne was 4 and in my Mom's preschool class...now she is almost 16! And still mature and sweet with a great sense of humor. 

I love you Tina and Carolyne! It was such a blessing to see you both! 

The funniest thing was that I saw them on Sunday too! We were meeting up at a market in the city, but due to the rain and other circumstances, I only saw them for 10 minutes. Please imagine me screaming, "Tina, Carolyne!" at the top of my lungs trying to find them :) I am glad they like Americans here...

Oh, and there are more pictures, just not on my camera. There were more people on the team that I was excited to see as well :) See you all at Christmas! 

Lots going on...

I have to say that I really love morning preschool. Especially on the 2 days that I teach in English :) It is fun to show the class some new things and bring in ideas from my previous years of teaching. We are still learning about fruit and it was time we talked about Pineapple! I ended up teaching about the letter "P" as well. Last week we did "W" and it went over really well. The class LOVES the ABCs and they soak up new information extremely well.

So, what better to do than to make "P" with playdoh????

Okay, I realize those may not be the best pictures, but I had to be quick! Everyone wanted to show me their "P"s and I didn't have time to also be taking pictures :) 

After preschool we go outside and then I try and hold babies before lunch! 

LK has mastered riding a bike...with me pushing her from behind! 

E tried to exercise after watching me do it. 

Precious little S who is sponsored by my parents! 

Baby A is cute and cuddly ;) I really love her! 

Stay tuned for next week's lengthy post. I will be writing about my one month anniversary overseas! Next Thursday I will have hit that milestone. Until next time!

great weather!

The weather here is so opposite of my last summer in this country. It is not nearly as hot (though still humid) yet the sky has been clear and sunny! This is a rare occasion here as the smog usually covers the blue skies :) Needless to say, we have been spending lots of time outside!

My classes are going great! I am finding a rhythm and love teaching these precious kids...enjoy the pictures!