3 Months! no way!

So I am sure you guys have been wondering what black hole I fell into... sorry. I'm not used to sending out weekly or bi-monthly letters yet.It has been 3 months! can you believe it has been that long?

We had a week off of school. I got to explore the city more and rest up a lot. Last monday (6th) was our first day back after an 8 day break. (pictures to come). Although I loved having time to explore an rest, i did miss my kids. I didn't realize how much i missed my kids til i walked in to the school monday morning to these wonderful little people screaming 'teacher krista!', smiling as they came running up to hug my knees. I am SO blessed to be here. I never knew how amazing living out a dream could be... I always thought the dreaming was the best part, but i have been proven wrong. Living out your dreams could be amazing. This adventure is the best part of my life thus far.

Don't get me wrong, it's not always roses and sunshine. I am definitly past the honeymoon stage. There are ups and down to any situation. There are changes happening everyday about scheduling and lesson planning and things going on in the city... People do not always get a long. Lonliness can take over and home sickness. I have never been more home sick in my life than i have been here. BUT at the same time I have an iverwheling feeling of belonging and home.

Qingdao is definitly full of life these days.... there is always some thing going on, but there is always somewhere to go to get away if need be.

Update on school:
My Xiao (SH-OW) Ban class is learning the ABC's. We went through the entire Alphabet and are now focusing on one letter at a time. Today we had A day. We marched like ants and ate apples.

My Zhong (J-ong) Ban class is learning senses. Today we did 'I taste with my mouth' and 'I hear with my ears'. We got to taste differnt foods and we also got to hear differnt sounds.

My Da Ban class has been learning action words. Today we learned 'jump'. We played leap frog and jump rope.

I have been given two more classes: xiao xiao (sh-ow sh-ow): these are the youngest students we have at our school. I teach these two year olds twice a week. I also have been asked to teach the chinese teachers english once a week. i am excited for this opportunity because it gives me an opening to get to know my co-workers better. It is really hard to talk to then, let alone try to hang out, when you don't know the language. I also was asked by the principal of the pre school to have private loessons. She has promised to work with me on my chinese if i wll help her with her english.

Things are going very well here. But it is definitly not home. No pumpkins or apple pies. no changing of the leaves, yet. No holidays, no halloween or thanksgiving on the horizon. It is a bit hard, not bad, just differnt.

I will try to get my pics up shortly. Please keep me updated on the happenings of home. I would love to hear the wonderful tales of home.