We escaped the prison once again.

And so, this new extravaganza begins. We taught ILP classes early on 

Thursday, April 28th. Teaching began at 9 am and went until 11:30am. 

It was a pretty normal day of teaching other than that lasting push 

to get through and have a good time because vacation was just hours 

away. Snow White was the story of the day. When I tried to have 

parts acted out, it was difficult with only one girl per class and a 

need for a queen and snow white character. Most of the time I 

improvised. On occasion, that meant I had to be a character and at 

one point I had to use Kim for my Snow White.

Finding our way to lunch was easy but the food was not all that 

appetizing. We went back to the apartments to finish packing and 

last minute projects. Checking things off my list, I said my last 

few goodbyes and 'i love you's to my fiance before vacation. I never 

know what will happen or how much time I will have to message or 

talk with everyone while on vacation. Simple things sometimes become 

daunting tasks that I only think about doing. 
 
At 13:00, we signed ourselves out and sat in the office waiting for 

our driver. I had my towel separate from my other things so it could 

have a chance to completely dry. Eventually we were in the bus, on 

our way to Nanchang. We hit up Walmart when we arrived. Everyone 

told us, including Tim, that we had one hour. Well, Tim called while 

we were in the supermarket an tried telling Kim that the headmaster 

called him and said the driver was very busy today. So naturally Tim 

says, "Maybe you find your own way to the station?" (the punctuation 

may be incorrect because it usually was more than a question but a 

way of trying to avoid asking or telling us). Kim just said no. It 

was obvious that we would never make it to the train station without 

our driver in time. In spite of this, we tried to be quick and at 

least trimmed off 10 minutes of our hour. Which is really 20 minutes 

if you count the 10 minutes already taken up in our hour by traffic. 

No matter. We got what we needed and we got to the station in good 

time. 
 
We stood awkwardly in line for our train. Noticing once again the 

stares and our alien status. Ashley voiced what sounded like a 

forming thought, which is sometimes how she starts conversations. 

"I think I know how Harry Potter felt. When he had to go somewhere 

foreign and didn't know what he was doing at all." I let it sink in 

for a second before considering responding but she continued, "of 

course, he knew their language so that definitely helped." I 

explained that there were words he had to learn like muggle, 

non-magic humans. We thought of a few others but agreed that they 

still knew the same language and it would be easy to explain the 

unknown words with words he already knew. Yes, the whole time I 

realized we were talking about a fictional character of whom never 

really lived. We talked as if he did and if something made up and 

pretend can comfort you and bring a sense of not being alone, why 

not? We both know it was not real but the idea is the same. 
 
As soon as we stepped on the train, the air changed. It became hot 

and stuffy. I hoped it was just the in-between area but it was not 

so. The heat laid thickly through the whole cabin. The sweat came 

and so did the crowd of people. There were people leaning over each 

other, pushing through, and standing in the isles. No windows 

cracked. Our newspapers, notebooks, tickets, and papers became fans 

for our dripping sweaty bodies. My thoughts turned to the Holocaust 

and for at least the fourth time in my life, I felt a sympathy for 

the Jews and others that were squished in boxcars of trains, 

sometimes naked or in other horrible conditions being transferred to 

camps. The heat was overwhelming. The bodies were not even that close 

to me personally because I had the middle seat and not an edge, but  

it did not matter. We joked about dying this way or losing lots of 

carbs as we sat in our sweat. Only vaguely begging for relief. It 

only took 25 mins or so for the train to start moving. A ridiculous 

amount of time when you have to breathe in 100 people and swim in 

your sweat.

Lindey and I on the train ride.

The train had air conditioning that finally gave us the relief we 

sought after a while. I spent the first hour finishing a book I 

purchased for my kindle app early in my adventures to china. It was 

much shorter than I was hoping and 'Gossamar' was finished and done 

with before I felt the story had began to make interesting 

connections. It could have been so much more. I read a few chapters 

of The Book of Mormon and finished the book of Alma. 

Ashley and I

We wrestled with our bags overhead to get some food that definitely 

did not satisfy us in most means. We lucked out as usual to find 

that the girl facing us was majoring in English. She was freshman in 

college but her English was rather good. At one point, I noticed a 

guy standing by and watching us. He would sometimes make slight 

indications that he might know what we were saying. I guessed it 

right away and whispered to Ashley that I was certain he did. An 

opportunity arose for him to sit across from us, next to the nice 

English majoring girl. He began talking to us. It was a treat. He 

told us of his job as a seaman and told English-Chinese jokes that 

we found amusing. His English was difficult to understand at times 

but the pair made good efforts to fill in gaps and correct mistakes. 

It made for an entertaining ride. He got off sooner than we would 

have liked but it happens. It seems we can only meet these strangers 

and enjoy their company for a while, then there is just their small 

memory. A picture and a few written notes. Then they are gone. 

Without a way to connect again. In America we could exchange numbers, 

Facebook profiles, or other such connections but it usually is not 

the same here in China. We do not carry personal phones, QQ is their 

type of Facebook, and there are many barriers between that usually 

leave us all with just goodbyes. This may be the romance of 

traveling. A meeting of random strangers that can have impacts on 

ones life and the way they think. To have a brief moment and not 

exchange more.

English girl and Tong

It is a long train ride. 
 

Breaking Free!

Tim has become more and more...demanding and we have become more and 

more suspicious and cynical to all requests, words, and actions 

taken by the small Chinese man. He does make us laugh but most of 

the time, sarcastic or sympathy laughs/giggles. He expected us to 

paint in front of the whole school and we declined. He was a 'jerk' 

according to Kim. His quiet pretentious attitude does not mask his 

real intentions anymore. It is almost sad that he has pretended to 

take such good care of us when really he does it so that he has 

leverage for all of the things he wants in return. Sorry Tim, we 

know your generosity is not so generous. It continues to be our 

prison in Mayflora.

When Steve came from ILP, the weekend was wonderful. Tim and 

everyone else made special efforts. It did not last long. As in, 

Steve drove away, Tim went back to his quiet 'maybes' of seemingly 

never ending fake efforts. *sigh* Yet, we feel a real conquer in our 

new adventures outside of the school. The first time, Kim, Ashley, 

and I went on a little walk. We wanted to wander the hills and 

discover what was near us. When we signed out at the gate, Ashley 

put 'adventure' for where we were going and we would be back 'before 

dinner'. We found a road being constructed and walked. And walked. 

And walked. We passed by a few places of water. There was a paved 

path through some houses that lead to a beautiful lake. On the other 

side of the lake was a quaint town. The kind of town you could easily 

imagine when you think of china. There were several people working 

hard in their rice fields which were closest to the lake. We spent a 

good while there. We watched as the worked and cooled our burning 

feet in the clear 'Green' water. We were not completely prepared for 

the warm sun because when we returned, we realized we were sunburned. 

It was not bad though. Within a few days, my burn turned into tan.

The second time we took the same route but this time Nicole and 

Bryndi joined us. It took less time to get there but probably 

because we knew our destination and were not out for new discovery. 

I supplied myself with an umbrella this time and wore shorts to 

accommodate the heat and eventually the water I would indulge in. 

Bryndi wore her swimsuit but she did not get in. It was still 

questionable waters and there was no one to ask. I think we all just 

agreed silently that if we only stuck our legs in, we were safe 

enough. There were many small fish biting at our toes but we may 

have attracted them with some crumbs of food floating atop the 

water. Relaxation anywhere but our apartments is a treasured 

commodity. Most of the time it is too awkward with the people 

staring and interest in the foreigners. There are too many people or 

always someone where ever we go. This was a retreat. We spent hours 

just bathing our feet, soaking in the quiet, and some of us, the sun. 

This time the three returning venturers were smarter about the sun. 

Less time in the sun using umbrellas and sunscreen. Or maybe just 

Kim and I. Many of our books found companions on this excursion. 

This free Tuesday was lovely. We were exempt from teaching that day 

because the kids were taking exams. That did not hurt our feelings 

in the least. We found relief. 
 
My new area of teaching is drama. It has been quite interesting. My 

best friends have become books. The kids eat them up. Every picture 

brings about new things to talk about and experience. Sometimes I 

have to draw my own 'books' and I am always surprised at how well it 

comes together. 

                       Lesson plan for Drama-using a book with Winnie the pooh, 
                      then Kim looks over them and makes comments and what not. 
                                       Need to find joy in the work!!! ; ) 

My home class loves to talk about so many things and 

I have really enjoyed teaching them. Bill is one of my favorites. 

When he warms up to you, he is entertaining and fun. He and Lily 

have a special relationship. It always feels like a married couple. 

She gives him 'the look' sometimes and he knows it. They are in 

cahoots more than often. They are both fairly good with English. It 

makes for much better lessons and conversations. Bill has a unique 

rasp in his voice that makes him even more likable. A good example 

of their conspiring relations is when they convinced another of my 

home class students, Victor, to buy a small valentines bear that 

held a plastic rose for 100 tokens. He bought it and when I came 

over to them later, I saw Lily had the rose. Victor was excited to 

tell me in his broken English, "me" pointing to rose, "Lily". Lily 

tried her best to help explain after I gave all the words needed to 

complete a sentence, "He gave me rose." She was happy as can be as 

she scrapped the fake water drops off the petals. "What's this, 

teacher? Teacher Desi, what's this?" I had to choose my words wisely.

I simply told her it was suppose to be water. Then before I could 

ask what happened to the bear, Bill walked around me and grabbed into 

one of the open desks. He pulled out the bear and said, "He give me." 

Bill had a triumphant air about him, as he usually did when he got 

his point across or when he made a smart comment. Plus, he knew he 

and Lily had accomplished what they were after. Victor smiled and 

tokens. I figured out from all of their hand motions and English 

enthusiasm that he had traded it for that and Bill also pitched in 

5 quay. These children and their cunning understandings amaze me.

Charlie is my baby. I named him the day he joined our classes. I 

have to use patience and slowly show him that I mean nothing against 

him but adore when he tries. Charlie could easily convince me to let 

him splurge on more than what he had in tokens but at some point you 

have to teach them the right way. He would get angry when I did not 

let him take what he wanted. His little fists would usually find 

themselves in my back but I could only try to ignore it and show him 

we were just in misunderstanding. I wanted him to get what he wanted 

by participating and actually learning. I can tell it has helped. He 

is growing.

Colt

Lory is the prodigy child. I sometimes in the past have daydreamed 

about adopting him. I have learned since, that he is more demanding 

in attention than I thought and sometimes his temper spurts when we 

have misunderstandings. Why is he the prodigy child then and why 

would I think such silly thoughts in the first place? Lory is 

talented. He plays the piano well and we still watch in amazement 

when he plays. He is not a genius but  definitely better than most 8 

year olds. The things he does is adorable. He not only knows Chinese 

and knows more English than most, if not all, of our students but he 

also speaks Japanese. His parents live in Japan. They are both 

Chinese but technically Lory is of Japanese nationality because he 

was born there. I enjoy his spunky spirit and the way he randomly 

breaks out in song and dance. 
 
 
 

Oh Buddha....

Next stop, was the big buddha. He happens to be the biggest sitting buddha in the world. There were loads of stairs and a nice little hike/walk to get to him. It was green and lovely. We felt like we could actually Breathe! Which in most of China, it is polluted and people blowing their smoke all around you.

We had a few 'moments' while on this adventure. When we were taking pictures, we all looked very silly raising our arms and making different poses but we only stuck out as much as usually because other Asian people were doing the same kinds of silly things.

arms up

why

Asians silly too

Stairs, this wasn't even close to all of them

The one moment that stood out the most was when we were leaving and took a break at the top, Bryndi thought she had lost Lindey's chap-stick that she had borrowed (some of the girls have lost many things on this trip so it was almost not a surprise). She was feeling really bad and fairly confused. She had just had it on her way up. She looked all around. She raised her voice to ask Lindey, who was on the other side of this little bridge, if she had it by chance, and had to tell her that she lost it. We went on talking and relaxing. We had almost forgotten about the chap-stick when I look over at Bryndi, who is still silently searching, and she reaches where? Into her shirt and to her dismay, she had placed it promptly in her bra. Now, Bryndi is not a quiet person. In fact, when she feels a strong emotion, she usually yells. So she starts going on about how she didn't even remember putting it there and then she yells for the girls on the other side of the bridge to hear. She tells them she found it and then goes on to exclaim rather loudly, about how it was in her BRA. Well, the next thing we know, we see a white guy, turn the corner and obviously, we know he can understand English. Ashley was laughing so hard, her face was turning red and her eyes were tearing up. What a fine adventure we were having.

After a good day at the old buddha, we went back to our lovely Chengdu and Traffic Inn hostel.

It's the Place to Be!

Kangding. What a place. This was our Tibetan City.

We took an eight hour bus ride that lead into the night. About 45 minutes before we arrived, they put in an American movie. I believe it was rated R. They had it Chinese dubbed, except for...when they would say bad things, it would change to English. That was awesome. Imagine 6 LDS girls in a full bus (nice seats, video at the front, speakers all the way back). Suddenly we could understand a sentence. What was this phenomenon? Oh, it was there censorship. How wonderful for the six of us to hear. A few F words and a few of that and those. I realized that quickly and each time it went into English, I would plug my ears and sing to myself. = ) It was funny. That I cannot deny. What a horrible way to censor a movie! Who knows how many of those people know English or not?

That bus drove on some of the most windy and curvy roads I had ever been on. It also drove on dirt roads. That is right. For about 20 minutes or more, we drove on dirt roads with huge bumps and crazy construction. At night, it was not so bad. It was rather mystifying. You could see huge vehicles for construction and their lights would hit the mountains and you would realize how massive the valleys and river running near, under, and around you was. Yet, it was only a glimpse in the dark.

When we got to the little bus station, there were at least 10 people surrounding us. They were asking questions and trying to find out where we were headed. There were two women that were offering us rooms to stay in. At least, that is what we got out of their hand motions for sleeping and pointing across the street where they would come back and forth from. Then others were offering their driving services. We pulled out a couple of Chinese phrase books and tried our hardest to communicate. One guy had someone who spoke English on his cellphone. It was quite a mess but eventually, we had two men escort us by walking, to our hostel. Did I mention it was freezing? There was snow and ice on the ground. It was a good thing I wore my rain boots right? What a treat this would be.

When we found someone who actually worked at the hostel, she guided us down and behind another building. There was no way we would have found it on our own. It did not have a sign or hint of being a hostel. Apparently everything was quite new. Construction was going on almost 24/7 on the building. We had 4 rooms for us. We also had 3 different levels on which those rooms were located. To get to the 2nd and 3rd floor, we climbed these bare wood stairs and it just kept going. The nice thing about all the new wood and construction was that it did not smell like China. It had a delicious wooden smell.
But oh how the bitter cold winded us. Each bed had an electric 'blanket' or pad in the middle, under our sheets. It helped but it also helped us want to stay in bed when we needed to be out and about early the next morning.

We woke up early, and no one showered. Why, you might ask. Well, first of all, it was freezing so taking layers of clothes off seemed to be a terrible idea. Also, some of the girls did not bring towels because they hoped the hostels would provide them. Which some did and some did not. This one did not. Oh, and one last thing,  there was not a door on the shower. That is right. No door. This place really must have been brand new.

How am I doing so far? Are you enjoying this? Please Comment and let me know you read it!!


The craziest thing happened early in the morning. I heard crashing above me. I thought, well if something happens, it was meant to be, and promptly fell back asleep. Well, have I mentioned that the hostel was partially IN the mountain? By the shower, the mountain actually peaked in and the wall was built around the boulder jutting from the mountain. Awesome. When Bryndi and I talked to our head teacher, Kim, she had a much harder time 'going back to bed'. Apparently rocks had fallen INTO her window seal. She could have died!! Good thing there were bars on the window (now partially bent). The window seal did break though and it was coming into her room. The next night, she was rooming with Ashley. = )





So out the door at 6:45am. We followed the large raging river upstream for a while. Then headed down a small road. We found interesting shops and spotted places we may want to come back and eat at. We tried to find a trail up a mountain but instead we just found a very neat temple and some beautiful mountain views.

We walked around in this city all day. We found some nice shopping experiences. My favorite was near the end. A SCARF shop. There were scarves galore! It was also the cheapest price I had heard all day and then I regretted not finding this place first. It was funny though, I only got a couple of scarves here and the best thing of all was my HAND WARMERS! I plan on gifting some but they are adorable. For only 10 yuan each, I was thrilled!

For Lunch, we stopped at a little Tibetan restaurant. There was yak meat dumplings that each girl seemed to love, yak milk butter tea that tasted just like when you put everything except the cheese in your mac and cheese, yak meat with noodles, and yak meat in fried rice. I had some noodles and fried rice but I prefer to stay away from meat. = ) 

We found our way back to the hostel and Bryndi and I shared a room. I had bought some corn in a can to eat (easy to open lid, no can opener) because it was the best looking food around. I warmed it up in our little pot for hot water. Worked like a charm. Then I realized I had no fork but oh ho ho, I'm in China. I had meticulously placed chopsticks in my bag before I left. I pulled those out and ate my delicious corn right out of the pot!

It was colder inside the hostel than outside! It was a surprise for sure. We jumped in bed and did not want to get out! We sat and talked and read our books. The other girls dropped by to say they were going to the bakery for dinner and we could come. We decided against it. Afterward, I realized it would have been warmer to go and we missed out on seeing dancing in the square! Oh what a pity. The next day, we had to catch a bus early and head back to Chengdu. This time, I could see the whole canyon/valley. I got very carsick in the front seat, squished in with my backpack, and on those awful roads. Good thing I had motion sickness pills!! I slept a long time that day.

Some Pictures From Ashley's Camera

http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee489/ashbaby089/

There are some of the vacation and just China in general.....yeah....

VACATION!!!

To start a story of seemingly never ending proportions is an 

overwhelming task. That is why I have not even indulged  in my 

desire to write about my vacation.

We were finally free. As soon as dinner was finished, the six of us 

jumped into the van that would take us to Nanchang. We got at least 

30 mins away when both the driver and Mrs. Kim Schofield got a call 

on their cellular devices. Apparently we left too early and our 

coordinators both did not expect us to leave as early. Our driver 

turned around and we were all very confused and annoyed. This would 

add more time to our already disastrously long traveling time.  When 

we got back to the school, Angel and a friend of hers, got in the 

van with us and made us sign a paper since we did not sign out 

before we left. What a great start to our vacation.

After arriving in Nanchang, we went to the train station to wait for 

our 20 hour ride. We arrived at least an hour and a half early. 

There were so many people that we had to stand for the first 30 

minutes while we waited. We had people staring at us like never 

before. We humored ourselves by making the staring subjects feel very 

awkward. We would all turn towards one person who was obviously and 

rudely staring, and stare while talking. Most of the time they would 

get the hint or walk away for a while and come back. 
 
Boarding the train, there were 3 girls that got seats and 3 girls 

that got to have 'sleepers'. I was one of the girls to get the lucky 

top sleepers. The 3 of us had to deal with about 2 or 3 feet of 

space and climbing over the other 2 sleepers where people were 

already settled in and dozing. I am glad I am so small because it 

did not bother me to be squished in there. Although, 20 hours on a 

hard bed that I cannot sit up on, is still not comfortable and 

 blissful. 

Kim is taller than the rest of us and I have no idea how 

she fit on one of those beds. She said in the morning that she has 

never had claustrophobia except that night. Our saving grace was 

when people would leave, we could work our way to the bottom bunk 

with plenty of room and there were fold down seats by the windows 

that we could use when otherwise unoccupied.

Within the first few minutes we found out the great company we were 

in. Kim pointed out that across from her and on the bottom bunk, 

there was a man sleeping, his hands in cuffs around the stairs 

leading to the other sleepers above his. He moved from one bunk to 

another at some point and I am sure she got to be even closer to 

him. We now claim that Kim slept with a convict. It just makes for 

good conversation right?

Other than the convict, we had a little family that was very 

interested in the foreigners. Their baby was adorable! The man would 

try to talk to us in Chinese and we would tell him we did not 

understand. He laughed and would turn back to his family and talk 

about us to them. He stared continuously. It was strange but not as 

bad as the train station.

The train took us to Chengdu. We got there later in the day and 

after purchasing our ticket for our train out of Chengdu, we went 

straight to our hostel. The hostel was fantastic! I sometimes claim 

that I would come back to China just to stay in the Traffic Inn 

Hostel. It was clean, provided towels, had many showers to 

accommodate for more people staying there, had western toilets, had 

a nice little cafe where I ate a cheese sandwich one day and a 

banana split, and the people were entirely kind and trusting.

The hostel provided a van to get to the Sichuan opera. There was 

some singing but it was not like what most people would think of 

when they heard the word 'opera'. They did a few little skits, a 

puppet dance, quick clothes and mask changing, hand shadow show 

(probably my favorite part), and a man performing playing a Chinese 

instrument. We were all feeling exhausted when we went back to the 

hostel.

The next morning I woke up to find that the bus station next door 

would not give us tickets to our next destination, Kang Ding. We 

would have to find the other station after we attended sacrament 

meeting at one of the member's house.

Sacrament meeting was tremendous! 

I wrote this while I sat in their home listening to the 

teleconference from our branch, "couldn't fathom how I missed 

sacrament. How I missed being with the saints. I most of all, tried 

to block out those views because if I had thought too much about it, 

I would be more homesick, more sad, and more annoyed at our 

conditions. Here I am though, faced with the reality of how much it 

means. Here it is in front of me. All of us take upon ourselves a 

precious eternal name. Even the name of Jesus Christ do we take upon 

ourselves. The spirit is so strong. I am unworthy. I am a sinner and 

servant no better than the rest.

I don't want to leave. I want to mingle even after church meetings 

to see why they are here. How they do it. I want to know about the 

saints here. I want to feel of their beautiful spirits. Yet, we plan 

to leave early and my heart is torn. It's being pulled down and I 

don't want to say goodbye. This feels like a home. It is a home where 

the Spirit can dwell freely. Does that not make it a home for all? I 

want my home to always feel like that. If you walk in, my home is 

your home because of the Spirit. How can we leave our home so quickly 

and so bluntly? I do not want to. I cannot. I cannot without my heart 

being wretched out and a part of me left here. Even the children have 

a spirit about them that makes me miss my niece and nephews and soon 

to be nieces and nephews. It makes it even more like home for me.

The atonement is real! God loves us! Answers our prayers and blesses 

us for our faith. Always have faith. 

I knew we could not leave. Not so abruptly and for something where we 

are only taking a chance. We could have lost money and possibly had 

to find a way back at half way or more. We were going to go to a 

Tibet city (still in China) but a family tried to go only a couple of 

weeks ago and the bus got stopped by policemen. They had to get off 

and find a way back. Apparently it is easy to come back but a loss of 

money and time. We will probably stay in Chengdu and find things to 

do here. Our hostel is really nice and it is a big city. I am a 

little sad we could not fill our Tibet cultural experience as much 

but I think it will be worth it. It is just amazing to be in China!
 
Turns out, we just left later but we did take our chances and found 

ourselves on an 8 hour bus ride at about 3 pm. Let's just say, it 

was a whole new adventure and I'll write it as such [Soon ].