My China Adventure

Avatar Mountains

The second day of our vacation was a success! We were ready by 8:00 AM and there was a man in our lobby who works at our hostel who was there to help us find our way. He told us he would take us to the bus stop. He grabbed his bike, so he could bike back to the hostel, and we started walking. We only got a little ways and he said something about tickets. Apparently I was supposed to have my ticket from yesterday with me and I left it in the hostel. Whoops! yes... I was one of those people. He told me to take his bike and go get it. He said "quickly!" I was speedy. He then showed us the way to the bus and we parted ways. We had about a 45 minute ride to the mountain. This is what it looked like when we got there.

Once we got there we took a 5 minute ride (which was curvy and crazy!) We bought tickets for this big huge elevator that went all the way up to the top of the mountain. It was pretty dang cool. While we were buying tickets we saw this cute old lady

Once we got to the top we took some trails and hiked for a while. By hiking I mean a BUNCH of stairs. While we were hiking I saw a skinny little tree and I said "let's go coloradoing!" and I jumped on the tree. I immediately started slipping down, spinning all the way to the ground. It was pretty dang funny. When we got to an open area we took some group photos with a timer.

This picture is my favorite. It shows our personalities well.

Solo pics

The view... ahhh

After we took some pictures I climbed to the top of a rock and I found a little bottle of liquid that I figured was like alcohol or something. I picked it up and shouted to my roommates, "Who wants to join me?!" Jocelyn immediately yelled back "I'm pretty sure that's pee" I think she was right so I quickly dropped it. Four of us sat on the very back row and we played some seriously awesome jello! The road was so curvy that the game was epic and we would get thrown all over. People all took pictures with us. It was so fun! After we got off the bus we walked some more and found a McDonalds on the top of this mountain. McDonalds never fails! haha We ate lunch and drank some hot coco. yum! We hiked some more and did some shopping.

Pictures of the view

We found this little pond full of turtles and coins so I flipped a coin in.

We hiked some more then stopped for a rest at this little place. These lantern things are made our of people's business cards.

Also this baby was there. His parents helped us find our way.

We found this cool place where people would put locks on the rail and throw the keys in the valley.

Some more pictures of the view

We tried to find our way out but the fastest way out was forever away. We walked for like two hours of straight stairs. After a while of walking we came to these guys with chairs and poles attached to them. They wanted to carry us down on them. They were very persistent and pushed me into the chairs. I kept saying no and finally got away.

We FINALLY reahed the bottom and took a train for about 10 minutes. I sat next to this little old lady. She said something in Chinese to me and I said "Ting boo dong." (I don't understand) She then pulled out whistles and tried selling them to me. They take their work seriously. haha

We took a 45 minute bus ride home and went to McDonalds for some hot coco. We went to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant there. Dinner was so fun and the conversation was great! It was about our "rebel days" We showered and played cards again. I love this whole vacation thing!

Slapped by a Monkey

Today I got slapped by a monkey...twice! It's the first day of our vacation. We got here in Zhangjiajie at about in the morning. We checked into our hostel which is way nice and just like a hotel. We got ready, ate some lunch at a near by Chinese restaurant and headed to the National Park. Cynthia wasn't feeling well so she stayed at the hostel all day. The bus ride there took about 40 minutes. After we got there we bought tickets to get into the National forest. We got in and took some group pictures by the big opening rock.

We walked a little bit and had another shorter bus ride to the place we were touring. The bus was full of old cute people. They tried to talk to us but we couldn't understand... dang language barrier. But I told them "Wo ai jung gua!" which means I love China, minus the spelling. We then had to purchase tickets for the cable car. money money money!! The cable care was Awesome! It was about a 3 minute ride up to the top of the mountain. They were fancy and the floor was made out of glass so we could look down at the amazingly beautiful view.

When we got to the top there were these wild monkey just walking around on fence posts. It was so cool and of course we had to take pictures with them. A few girls took their pictures then it was my turn. I took a smiling picture then I said "okay Britta, take pictures!" I stayed looking at the camera and began moving my hand towards the monkey like I was about to touch it. As I was posing for the picture the monkey slapped me! I was so shocked! I just though to myself "what the heck" so I stuck out my hand again and it slapped me again. So then I ran away. Haha we got a good laugh out of it for sure. Sad thing is we didn't get a picture of his slapping me, but this is cool too.

We thought they were so cool but they were little devil monkeys.

This baby monkey was so stinken cute though.

We walked some more and some people asked to take pictures with us and stuff... you know, the usual. After hiking for a while we came to an open area where some older people were singing in Chinese. It was cool to watch. I sat there and listened to them with a huge smile on my face. One guy took off his hat and jokingly asked people for money. I laughed at him and he saw so he pointed at be and laughed too. A few minutes later all the people were telling me to come sing with them, so I did. I don't speak Chinese so I just sang "I don't know the words" and moved my hands all dramatically. They loved it. I sang with them until the end of the song. Afterwards they all hugged me and took pictures with me. It was definitely the highlight of the whole trip.

Just some pictures of the beautiful view and beautiful people hehe!

We headed down the mountain on foot; it was about an hour and a half of pure stairs! At least it was down hill! Once we got to the bottom we looked at some souvenirs. I bought a Buddha ring. We then took the bus back to the hostel. We got some food and then went to McDonalds for some hot coco. We went back to the hostel and took amazing hot showers. This was the best shower I have had for three months! It was warm, clean, and I didn't have to hold the shower head 24/7.

After our showers Cynthia and Miranda came into me and Amanda's room and played cards with us. It was lots of fun. After we played for a while I started a pillow fight with the girls. It was thee greatest thing, I like beating people up. I then braided their hair and we went to bed.

Sports competition

Friday, November 14th was the day all the kids had been preparing for. It was time for the big sports competition. All the kids at the school learned a dance and performed it on the track in front of the principal and other important people. We learned the dances with 1st and 2nd graders and danced with them as well. It was lots of fun and a cool experience. We had to be down at the track early, at about 7:30 AM. When we go there everyone was getting all situated so we had time to take some pictures of the kids just being kids.
Louis is a wild child.

Rocky is one of the best students we have. Very well behaved and great English! He is also so fun and so stinkin cute.

Hunter... or it might be Henry. haha I get those two mixed up all the time!

Michael. I actually do not teach him because he is in purple class and I never get that class rotated to me. He is a very loving, touchy kid though and still gives me hugs all the time.

Oh Leo, this defines him perfectly. And little Hazel in the background.

This is Gary, the trouble maker. And this picture is perfect for describing his personality.

Quinn, Sam, and Anna. Quinn is the sweetest little thing, I named her. Sam, I also named him, he is very quite but he is such a good student. And Anna, she's a little sassy but she does what she is told. I love them all!

Nate. He talks so loud and repeats EVERYTHING you say.

Andrew is everyone's favorite.

Michael!! Okay, Michael is seriously one of my favorite students ever! He is often loud and disruptive in class but he knows when he has gone too far and apologizes. He has the funnest personality and doesn't care what anyone thinks about him. I look up to him a lot actually. He's so fun and is always smiling.

Kaycee is the smartest first grader ever. She knows it but she's still pretty humble about it. She is so helpful all the time and I love her.

Nick, he is one of those trouble makers but he can be so good when he wants to be.

My little Morgan. I named her after one of my life long best friends, Morgan Heward. This little girl is the cutest little thing with the funnest personality ever. She likes to make silly faces.