Venture to the East: First Times For Everything

I'm here! In china. I can't believe it. It a whole new world over here. I'll seperate a few of the places I've been so far...
So there's the night market. It's smokey, it's dirty, it's packed, but it's so much fun! There's dancing in the streets here, and everyone knows the moves. A few of us went and tried waltzing with them one night and it was so awesome. The food is unspeakable...duck brains really? But there's some good stuff too. A friend and I found some stuff that's basically icecream, and it was pretty good. The escalators are weird because they don't have steps..it's basically an incline. So if you're not careful you can slide down..haha. Everyone wants to take pictures with us! It's like we're celebrities. I feel so special. So anyways, at the market there's a grocery store on the third level of the building so we get most of our stuff from there. And then there's outside and tons of vendors and cheap things, it's so great! Pretty easy to get lost though so you have to stick with others.
We finally got to Walmart the other night, and it was awesome! I have snickers and goldfish now..I'm totally happy. Haha there's things you don't realize you want until all you have is rice, weird vegetables, and undercooked meat. (Don't worry I have jerky).
This past weekend we went to church in a few cities over, and boy was it an adventure! We took 4 buses, a train, and walked A LOT. but it was worth it. The spirit was so strong in the testimony meeting. It was crazy hearing from these people from all around the world..England, Russia, Australia...so interesting. And they're making us food next time so I can't wait for that!
The teaching is so insane. It's much more difficult than I expected for sure..lots of preparing and then a lot of times you don't even finish the lesson because you're talking with them so much. But that's actually the best! It means you did an awesome job. The kids are so adorable, especially my younger ones. They are still warming up to me since I had to be kindof mean in the beginning so they'd respect me..but we're already having fun :) I'm actually realizing the older kids are much easier and fun to teach! I love talking with them and learning about their lives. I'll definitely be putting pictures of them up soon.
The dorms are pretty great. I could definitely go for a regular toilet and easier ways to clean things...but it's all worth it. Because I'm here! And I'm with the most amazing people. My roommate Sam is seriously the sweetest thing. I love being around get and getting to know her. We get along really well. All the girls here are so funny and awesome to be around..and the guys are all so interesting and hilarious! I've been laughing so much while I've been here...we're all getting close really fast. Everyone keeps saying that they feel like it's been weeks or even a month since we've been here and it's barely been a week. It's crazy. But I can't wait for all of the adventures to come. We're already planning our vacations, and there's so many places to see! I can't wait to go hiking, kayaking, see the terra cotta warriors...it all going to be amazing.
But anyways! I'll tell you more about teaching and our trip to Suzhou this weekend next week! Love you all so much :)

THE NIGHT MARKET