News On China

Goddag min venner! (Hello, my friends)

I haven't been keeping my blog very updated lately, so I'm going to try and do better. The big news going on right now is that we are getting ready for our trip to China. We met with our contact person last night, who is actually a girl that went to school with Martin, so that was fun. She's a Danish girl who has been living in China for 5 years, but just recently moved back to DK. So, she will come with us and be our translator and tour guide. We'll be leaving the 23rd of November and returning the 4th of December.

We're going to a place called Chengdu. It's right near the center of China, they call it "The Gateway to the West" because you have to pass through it to get anywhere western. There are about 10 million people living in Chengdu (2ce the amount of people living in all of Denmark.) Here is a map, you can find it almost in the middle.

In May there was a really bad earthquake about 100 klm from where we are going to be staying, so for a couple of days, we will be up there helping out in the schools. A lot of our time in China will be teaching English. So, I'm the only native English speaker on the team, and actual English teacher, so I'm sure that will be mostly my responsibility. We will also be leading some sports camps and childrens programs in the area where the earthquake hit. This trip is what we are calling a "taste and see" trip. As a member of this kind of school, it's really important for us to learn how to organize and plan these trips as well as becoming more and more familiar with other cultures around the world. Our trip to Togo, Africa in the Spring will be almost 5 weeks and will involve much more.

So, please remember us in preparation for this trip and throughout our time there.

On another note, life at the school and with Martin has been going great! We had an amazing "Theme Week" last week that was so encouraging for both Martin and I because he got to come to some of the meetings with me. He is in the middle of a BIG project now building his brother's new house and he is loving it. It has just been Martin and Daniel building so far doing it all themselves, so he's quite busy, but it's been great experience for him. I need to get more updated pictures because they have come so far, but here are som just from the very beginning stages.

They now have the whole perimeter of the house done and the roof, so I'll get more pictures this weekend. Martin is loving it.

School has been great too. I'm developing some really good friendships with people from all over the world. I don't know what I'll do when I come back to a place where everybody speaks the same language. Of course, we all communicate in English here, but it's really fun to hear all the different languages all day long. I started Danish classes last week, FINALLY! So, hopefully it will come soon. I've learned all the basic sentences I need to know, like:

"Vi spise nu" (We're eating now) and

"Jeg vil gaerne ha nogle i drikker, ella spise" (I would like something to drink...or eat)

"Drengen er under bordet" (The boy is under the table)

Haha, just kidding, I know those are very random and all about food, but I'm getting the basics now and starting to understand a lot more!

I'm still loving Denmark...it's a bit cold, but I'm getting used to it. I've been wearing boots, scarves and gloves for a month now...ugh. But, overall de er rigtig godt! (It is really good!)