Beach babies

Babysitting on the beach!

We buried Salen in the sand...

He loved being under the sand... so cute.

Brit and Amy (her friend) running and playing on the beach

Kim-Marie also enjoyed playing in the sand
adorable

i love my kids... here are a few

I promised you pictures of my kids...

This is Thomas
He wears his Thomas the tank engine shirt often, that is how i remembered his name when i was learning all the kids names.

Min Zi (Phonics: Min Z-eye)

This is one of my Da (big/older) classes

Joni

David

Rico and one of my Xiao (small/young) classes

Genna
She came to the school without an English name,
So I named her Genna after my best friend and little sister

Ken
This little boy came to the school with out and English name,
So I named him after two men i highly respect and love dealy,
my Dad and little brother.

Adam
This little boy also needed and English name,
So i named him after some one who is always positive and encouraging,
someone i look up to very much
my cousin Adam

Jin

As time goes on I will take more pictures of my kids so you can see them all!
they are all so precious!

They are leaving us!

Our Friends are leaving the country and they will be greatly missed...

Elisabeth went back to Germany last weekend :o(

Paul goes back to the US this weekend

Grape Picking

We got to go grape picking with the school...

Brook is picking off the vine...
the white bags help keep bus off the grapes, but some of the bags were full of raisins

Kat is picking grapes

Jude wore the grapes

Purple Grapes and Green Grapes
Fat Grapes and Thin Grapes

Beautiful View

These are my favorite! Yum yum

We were able to eat them right off the vine

Me, Brooke, Kat, Mandy
Yum Yum

MY Birthday!!!!

Mandy and Brooke took me to club new york sat night to see tony play.
Tony and his wife Zoryah are in our fellowship.

Brooke and I

This is Zoryah, her and her husband are from the philipines.
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Monday on my birthday(and pauls bday), mandy was going to cook us all dinner. BUT the stove ran out of gas, and we were not able to fill it til wen. Something we were not warned about.
But it worked out, we ended up going to the market and getting food
us on the bus

the market to get food, they cook it and bag it there... it is some yummy food.


We made some good finds.

And when we got home we spred it all out and had a feast!



Then we got presents!!


Kat and brooke made our gifts... apparently i remind them of a sunbeam and paul a poo...lol.

We had some good cake.

And headed to the beach.

Some of them went int o the ocean, Regina and i decided to take pictures instead...

After they went swimming...

Birthday Buddies!

Reflecting on today...

I am really excited about teaching...

when i first came these kids were just a sea of Asian faces freckled with Caucasians every so often. At this point i have gotten to know them and they all have very different personalities and levels of energy.
They are all so different and all so amazing. I love these little people.

I feel like i still don't know what i am doing, but i don't think it matters. As long as i am doing what i can to get the curriculum across, which i am gaining confidence in doing. I enjoy having one on one time with them to hear each one speak. Some of them know their stuff, they just talk so softly I can not hear them in the group. Then others are so loud they drown out the whole class. When i need to get their attention i think knowing their names helps. I can direct a comment towards on student and they know exactly who I am talking to at that moment.

I think they are all so fantastic. I am so excited for this year... seriously contemplating staying here for a while longer. I guess only time will tell that though.

I am SO blessed. I took one step of faith and have been immersed in blessing. It is far from easy, but def. worth it.

Happy September!!!

I love September!!!!

Its my favorite month out of the whole year! And fall is my favorite season. I love cool weather, wearing sweaters and jackets and watching the leaves change colors (I hope they change here!). Sigh, i am very excited about the next few months. I feel like i have had a lot of time to get settled, but today I started the fall schedule! I am teaching little kids! It is a bit nerve wrecking for me because today we actually had to teach curriculum. It is the first day of the fall semester. And we still don't have a solid schedule one what classes when, it's a communication issue with the Chinese staff. My problem is that I am much better at encouraging others to follow their dreams, than i am following my own. But I took this step of faith and i am here. As unsure and nervous as i am, I am equally excited and persistent to do well.

I don't have any pictures of my kids yet, but I will try to have them for you next time I write. Now that the semester has started things will be more organized and all the kids should come to class. I am teacher Krista... who would have thought?

Two new teachers Kathrine and Brooke came last Thursday. They are a lot of fun! They are fresh out of high school and taking classes at Qingdao University, so they will only be teaching part time. Kathrine is very energetic and excited about life. Brooke is also excited to be here, but she is much more laid back. Brooke reminds me a lot of my little sister. I am excited to get to know them both. We are actually hanging out tonight after our weekly staff meeting. I will also have pictures of them next time I write.

I will keep you updated, but this week will be very busy, first week of classes and all. I am so glad I have people to write to and share my experiences with through this adventure.

Hope you have a fantastic September!!!!!!




(Even tho the blogger says it is August 31, it is Monday afternoon, September 1st, in china. Workin on getting that changed...)