The Last Two Months In Pictures...well most of it

My last post (two months ago...sorry for the delay) I told you I was traveling...so let me put a few pictures on here of that trip.The last three pictures were taken by my friend Lindsay Bryant and she also gave me permission to use them.

 Me with the big picture of Chairman Mao at Tienanmen Square in Beijing.








Me sitting on some steps on The Great Wall. This is truly one of the greatest experiences of my life.

In one of the rooms sitting in front of an opening on The Great Wall.

We also went to Beijing to watch The China Open where I got to see my favorite tennis player, Rafael Nadal. We also so other tennis greats and I got a few autographs.

P.S. I was literally a good 6 inches from him at one point.

At The China Open I got to watch Serena Williams play. She really is as powerful as you see in T.V. And she also grunts really loud. And she is really tall. She won in straight sets.

After Beijing we took a train to Qingdao, where we took pictures of this thing. I'm not sure what this is but I think it's just a thing for people to take pictures of. Oh well. Qingdao is a city on the coast so it was cool to see the ocean in China. PS...we ate really good food here too.

Lindsay got a cool picture of me in the tunnel of the aquarium. I like this picture alot.

We took a picture with this seal. This was really cool because I got to pet the seal and as you can see Kat got kissed by it. Lindsay got kissed afterwards.

The group that went to Qingdao standing in front of the ocean outside the Polar World.








After we got back from our little trip we had to get ready for Culture Week. This year we did a three night program called The Global Squad of Superheroes aka G-SOS. In this program I was this tour guide named Jack from Europe who liked this girl (Rose) but was always to afraid to tell her. After something bad almost happens to Rose, Jack yells STOP!! and everything freezes. Jack realizes he has the power to stop time then moves Rose to safety. Throughout the program Jack uses this power. Here are a few pictures from Culture Week. The pictures you are about to see are from Rebecca Strayer and Aurora Aisenbrey. And yes...I got permission to use them...

Learning my lines...I also like this picture.

Jack and Rose were not in the first night so we did behind the scences stuff. Sound, Props, Lights...along with other people too.

Jack was too afraid to tell her he loved her so he stopped time and told her.

Some of the guys from our "study" were at the performance so we took a picture together.

During America Day I was Ron from Harry Potter.

Yes, Rose (Kat Thompson) is swinging fire and it's directed towards me. Her line here was "I'll kill you Jack, KILL YOU DEAD" or something like that.

Jack finally tells Rose he loves her.

Jack and Rose after the last nights performance.

The main characters.

Everyone involved.








So this past weekend was Thanksgiving weekend so we got to cancel our classes on Thursday, which was awesome cause I have three on Thursday.  But Wednesday night the Peter Hall kitchen staff had a big Thanksgiving feast for us then on Thursday morning we had an American Football tournament that I was asked to get together for everyone. It was a lot of fun but my team finished second. But hopefully soon I'll get some pictures on here for you guys to see. Then we had a big Thanksgiving lunch at one of the restaurants here on campus.

But that has been my last two months and now the next thing coming up is Christmas so I am still trying to decide what to do. I would love to come home for a couple of week but it's to expensive so I will probably travel around Southeast Asia again because I can travel for a couple months for the price it would take to fly home. But anyways...that is a little bit of my life over the last two months.

Blessings and Love to all of you guys...

Traveling for the next week or so...

So last Thursday Sias held it's annual Freshman Welcome/Candlelight Ceremony. This marks the end of freshman miliatary training and the beginning of classes for the freshman students. But classes don't start until the 9th. But during this ceremony I, along with many other foreign teachers, did a performance for the new freshman. I'm not much of a dancer to be honest with you...I just don't really enjoy it. But I think if I put a little time into it I could be a decent dancer. But we did a dance from High School Musical. Yes, you read that correctly...High School Musical. If you want to see the video then go see my friends blog at http://www.huxinchina.com/ and look under the entry titled High School Musical.

I still have two weeks until i actually begin classes because next week is Chinas National Holiday...kind of like our 4th of July. So during this holiday, I am flying to Beijing at 8:00 tuesday morning (7:00 pm in Texas) with my friend Joe and we are gonna spend a couple of days there going to The Great Wall and possibly bicycling around Beijing to places like Tiananmen Square and whatever else we feel like going to. Then a couple of days later a few other teachers are gonna be coming and we are going to the China Open. A few big names are going to be at this tennis tournament...such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova...so I am hoping to watch atleast two of these three play. Then on thursday (I think) we are taking a train to a city called Qingdao (Ching Dow). This place is halfway between Beijing and Shanghai and is on the coast. So going to a beach in China will be a first for me...hopefully the weather is great while we are there. Qingdao is also considered as Chinas Switzerland..so we were told we need to see the German spots of the city. Then we will stay there a few days then come back to Sias...

I also was giving my class schedule today...and boy am I happy about it. On mondays I have 3 classes (8-10 am, 10:10am-12pm, and 1:30-3:30 pm). On tuesdays I have no class (AWESOME!!!) On wednesdays I have three classes (10:10am-12pm, 1:30-3:20 pm and 3:30-5:20 pm) and on thursdays I have three classes (8-10 am, 1:30-3:20 pm and 3:30-5:20 pm)...so I teach only 18 hours through 3 fully days....I LOVE this schedule...

Anyways...I am gonna get off of here and get ready for my trip...

Blessings

2 Weeks Into Year 2...

So it has been two weeks since I have landed in China. Things, for me, are going a little slow. I don't start teaching for another week or so. So a typical day for me looks something like this. Wake up sometimes from 10-11, eat lunch at 12, chill (maybe play tennis, download music,read a little, read sports news hang out with people), eat dinner at 6, then hang out more until bed time. On the weekend if the weather permits we play volleyball. We have been playing some really good volleyball over the past few weeks. I have been working on my hitting and its starting to improve.

The first week I didn't really do much. But my second was a little more busy. I was asked to get a 12 man roster for a Faculty Basketball tournament. This is a tournament when we the foreign staff play against the Chinese faculty. Last year the foreign faculty won both the Men and Women tournaments. I have also gotten a couple of massages. One massage was pretty rough...but sometimes I like it when they beat me up a little bit...and the other was a foot massage. I personally love the foot massage because they have this little cut and they spray some stuff in it and light it on fire and stick it to your feet. When it got to your feet it stick and the fire then goes out...and they just roll it around on your feet. Oh it feels so awesome. I was scared the first time because fire was involved. But it'll change your life..

Yesterday I woke up to a text that said to get three foreign teachers to play basketball that night. So I thought it was three on three so I asked the new teachers to play (who will also be in our tournament so they can get a feel of how the Chinese play). So I told the the new guys I would go with them but I wasnt going to play. So we get there and they told us it was five on five Sias Faculty (both foreign and Chinese) against some team. They asked me to play as well...I didnt have my ankle brace or good shoes on but I played anyways...I had 2 points (free throws) and our team won 84-83...its was pretty cool...

But today is Kinahs (a girl here) 15th birthday...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kinah...

Blessings

I Made It Back...

Sooo....As you probably already know I, Kerry Bryan, have made it back to Sias International University. I took about 48 hours total to get here and walk into the door of Peter Hall. But I just wanted to share a few things about my trip.

First:
As we (Me, Mom, Aunt Priscilla and Grandma) walked into the airport in Houston I see soccer players and didn't think anything of it. Then my aunt said she thought that was the Spanish National team but I didn't recognize any of the players...then I read their suits and it was the El Salvador National Team. So my first thought was HAHA...cause the day before Team USA had defeated El Salvador...but it was cool to see a National Soccer Team.

Second:
Dubai...I really want to visit Dubai...it looks amazing and the things I have read make me want to visit it even more. But...I had a nine hour layover in Dubai...so since it was so long I was allowed to go into a VIP lounge. I was supposed to only get four hours but the lady gave me five but...she let me stay as long as I wanted...it was awesome because there was free internet and all you could eat and drink....the food wasn't great but it was pretty good...

Third:
From Dubai to Beijing I flew over possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen...The Himalayas. I had a window seat and I was curious where we were so I opened my shade. I could't believe it....About ten seconds later the captain of the plane came on the P.A. and told us where we were and how lucky our flight was because the weather was clear that day and it is really rare to have beautiful weather there. I was speechless...it took a while to fly over the entire mountain range but I kept the window shade up then entire time because I may never get a chance to see that again. I was a little sad cause I didn't have my camera on me to snap a few pictures so just look at pictures online...google it or something just to capture the beauty of The Himalayas.

But just wanted to let you know that I am back and thanks for all the pr@ ying...it's greatly appreciated and please continue to do that for me.

So I Made A List Of Firsts...

I know its been since April since I have posted on here for you guys...BUT...China blocked my blog site. I know I have been home and I have seen a lot of you during my brief time in America, but many of you I will not get to see. I did decide to go back to China for another year. Sooo...I only have three more weeks until I catch a flight from Houston to Dubai to Beijing to Zhengzhou. It's a brutal flight but I saved money doing it that way. That flight to Dubai is extremely long....but the airline I am using (Emirates) makes it much better with the media and technology stuff they have. But back to my post...I was traveling in Thailand and I begun to make a list of all the firsts I did since flying last September until my first year of teaching in China ended. Some you might find really funny, some you might find disturbing...but I am gonna be blunt with some of the things just because I think it is funny....and it could possibly be a conversation starter between us sometime in the future**wink wink**



Travel Related:
1. Get or even touch a passport
2. Ask for support
3. Book a flight
4. Be in another country ( I have been to the Mexico/Texas border but didn't cross)
5. Exchange Money
6. Speak Chinese (When people jokingly speaking the Chinese Language...they are way off)
7. Speak to a Chinese person (I never did in America or at ETBU)
8. See something we learned in a World History Class (Terra Cotta Warriors)
9. Eat with Chinese people (Students are shocked when I could use chop sticks)
10. Spend a holiday away from home (Thanksgiving, Christmas New Year...)
11. Go to a foreign theatre (The ones I went to in Hong Kong and Malaysia have assigned seating)
12. Go to an internet cafe
13. Stay in a hostel
14. Eat out Christmas Day (McDonalds for Brunch and a Place called Pothouse for dinner)
15. Travel on Christmas
16. See a lady boy (Everywhere in Thailand)
17. Snorkel
18. Bring New Years in on a bus (we were on an overnight bus to get to a boat to get to an island in thailand)
19. Pay to urinate
20. Make an internation call (I called mom cause I needed help getting a flight from Malaysia to China)
21. See the desert
22. See nearly 20 hours of straight sunlight (My flight from Dubai to Houston)


Transportation:
1. Fly
2. Ride in a taxi
3. Ride on the opposite side of a car (Cars of opposite in Hong Kong)
4. Get motion sickness (Riding in a speed boat with 3-4 meter waves...not good)
5. Ride on a raft...a bamboo raft
6. Ride an elephant (but i think i may have done this when i was really little...not real sure)
7. Ride on a train (the train at the zoo is not a means of transportation)
8. Ride a subway
9. Kayak in an ocean
10. Ride a monorail
11. Rent a bicycle


Food/Drink:
1. Eat authentic Chinese food (it's so much better in China)
2. Eat Eggplant
3. Eat Jello (believe it or not)
4. Drink Milk Tea
5. Eat Tofu
6. Drink Hot Tea (Did not like it at first but it grew on me)
7. Drink hot water with meals
8. Eat spam sushi (thanks to my friend Joe)
9. Eat sushi and actually like it
10. Eat Thai Food...and it was delicious
11. Eat cow tongue
12. Eat rabbit
13. Eat pineapple...true story
14. Eat a banana pancake
15. Eat food from a street vendor (we just call it street food)
16. Eat an Kabob...and I have had them this summer twice
17. Eat squid
18. Eat malaysian food...not my favorite
19. Eat caviar
20. Eat brocoli (another weird true one)
21. Drink milk straight from a cow
22. Eat pizza with pineapples on it
23. Eat Mangos
24. Eat bamboo
25. Eat lotus


Work Related:
1. Teach English (English was always one my if not THE worst subject for me)
2. Give an exam ( I student taught PE so I didn't have to do exams)
3. Do a performance/dance (Scottish and Filipino)
4. Wear something a little bit uncomfortable (OK I wore a kilt)
5. Be on a winning team in a football tournament
6. Be on a winning team in a basketball tournament
7. Give the whole Christmas story (I did it nine times to each of my classes)


Miscellaneous:
1. Get an ultrasound (sad..but true....and No I was not pregnant)
2. Watch television or a sporting event online
3. Give my testimony/life story
4. Get tested for STD's
5. Play international rules basketball
6. Play (or attempt to play) a Chinese instrument
7. Bargain
8. Play telephone pictionary
9. Use a squatty potty ( I have an embarrassing story about this)
10. Get a massage (I can't wait until I get back to get more of them....soooooo cheap)
11. Voice Chat/Video Chat....I love skype...if you have skype I would love to exchange my name with you)
12. Buy and use a scarf
13. Decorate a christmas tree by myself
14. Play a Chinese song on the bass guitar
15. See restaurants named after illegal drugs (Names were LSD and Pothouse...Pothouse was really good..i had pothouse on Christmas Day in Shenzhen).....oh...they were side by side too
16. Read a book in less than 24 hours (For One More Day by Mitch Albom)
17. Read a book with more than 300 pages (Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy)
18. Rock Climb (probably the dumbest I could have ever done)
19. See wild crab
20. Get solicited for sex.....yeah....that was not awkward at all
21. See a topless tanner...that was not a boy
22. Pet a monkey
23. See coral (snorkeling is freakin awesome)
24. Get a manicure
25. Watch the presidential inauguration (I was in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia)
26. See a Camel
27. Run a 5K
28. Have my *COUGHpenisCOUGH* get rubbed....i was getting a massage with a friend and it came out of nowhere...i hopped up like she was hurting my leg cause it was really really awkward
29. Win an NCAA bracket challenge (I won 3 of them....GO TAR HEELS)
30. Pick the National Champion in an NCAA Bracket Challenge
31. Climb a water fountain....
32. Wear a Jacket in may


This is a list that I began keeping in January so I think I may have forgotten a lot of things from the first few months...

Meet Kyle...this kid is one of my favorite people in Peter Hall (the name of my building). His mother is a Chinese lady and I have played ping pong with her numerous times. It took me like 25 games to finally beat her and when I did it felt really good...not gonna lie. But Kyle has a name for me every time he see me "gege" (pronounced Gugu). That is Chinese for older brother. Kyles mother has taught him to call me and a few other guys big brother when he see us. It is one of the coolest things ever. Even he calls my friend Becky big brother somtimes...and thats just really funny.



This is a picture that was taken while I was in Thailand with my friend Steve Collins. We were snorkeling here on the island of Koh Tao and Steve has a camera that can go underwater so we were checking it out. I like this picture a lot






So as I said in my last post (over a month ago) I had signed up for a 5K. So here is a picture of me running this thing. The guy with me there is Alan. He is a student here who is a pretty cool kid. He ran the whole thing with me. I completed this thing without stopping and without walking...ok I had to walk two steps once at the halfway mark cause so many people in front of me decided to freeze for a few seconds. But I ran the whole thing in a little over 39 minutes. I was really proud of myself. 3.2 miles is a long way...or so I think.
So since my last post I have had a birthday. In this pic is Me, Amanda and Joel Porter, Lindsay Bryant and Joe Aranas. Becky, who cooked the food (Italian...oh soo good)took the picture for us. So we had a small get together for my birthday with a few of my friends.




I have been trying to get more involved with my students. So here my students wanted to go see a student of mine in the hospital then go skating. It was a lot of fun hanging out with these students. They all have a great personality and are a joy to be around. Oh and yes it was mid-late march here and I am wearing a jacket...in case you were wondering..i hate cold weather.



I have been playing lots of badminton over the past few weeks. So here students wanted to go paddle boating then go play badminton. It was a lot of fun. We went boating first then went to the park to just chill for a while. There is an arcade basketball game and for some reason I always draw a crowd when I play. The joys of being a foreigner.



This is part of the group that went boating. My shy class so hopefully this day will loosen up their shyness.









Soooooooo...in about 40 minutes I am gonna be heading to Shanghai....so hopefully I will post about the trip within the next week and not the next month. Take care guys...

5K and Butt Grabbing

It's official...I have signed up for a 5K...am I stupid or what? I might be stupid but it is another things I can add to my list of firsts. (Yes, I am keeping a list of firsts that I have done since I have come to China.) But I mainly see this as another opportunity to connect with students and teachers here at SIAS. So how am I preparing for this? Well, some of us have bought a membership to the SIAS gym so I have been doing mostly endurance workouts and lots of lower body workouts. I have also been running from time to time to try and make the 5K a little easier. I will still be tough because I have never ran that far before nonstop. But I think I will be alright when it's all said and done.

So on friday afternoon one of my classes wanted to go Roller Skating. So I gladly said yes because this class is a lot of fun for me cause they like to joke around (a huge plus cause some students don't understand joking around). So I met one of the students, Jennifer, and we walked to the skating rink to meet the other class mates. What a great time it was. I had not skated since high school so when I first started a couple of my guy students tried to reteach me but all the did was pull me around but I quickly got the hang out of it. One bad part happened though, one of my girl students fell while skating and she hurt her leg and had to go to the hospital and was not in class this week. So lets hope she gets better very soon. But there was this boy and girl (not sure if they were dating or not) but they are students of mine from another class who just happened to be skating that day. So the girl was alone watching everyone skate so I rolled over to talk to her. So I tapped her on the opposite shoulder and she looked but realized noone was there and that I had done it. So she was holding onto the bar on the side of the skating rink then she leaned over touched my butt the squeezed it. WHAT THE CRAP??? She giggled about it...I said to her that I would see her later then slowed skated away. What was I supposed to do? It was really awkward oh well...its all good I guess...or is it?

But this past weekend I went to the birthplace of Kung Fu. This place is about two hours away from here in a town called DongFeng. The place in this city is called Shaolin Temple. It was a really unique trip cause we got to see some beautiful scenery and seem some really cool kung fu stuff. I saw a guy throw a needle through a piece of glass to pop a balloon and saw a guy to push ups AND a hand stand on TWO FINGERS...now that strength.

But it was a cool trip and the best part about it....it was F-R-E-E

But everything is going really well here with me but keeping pr@ying for me guys...

I love you guys and I miss you and I will see you sometime in June

Happy Birthday Mommy

So today is the anniversary of my mothers birth. She is now 43 years old and has a twin sister..here is a picture of her...

Mom,

Just wanted to say that I love you and I miss you very much. I hope 43 is a great year for you so go out and treat yourself to some awesome fun because you deserve it. Remember, if you start to feel old, my students would say "HUH...YOUR MOTHER IS YOUNG!!!"

See there you have it...I told you you were still young ;)

Love you,

Kerry

ps..thanks for the package too...the granola bars and honey buns are freakin awesome

Sooo...Update from ME!

So..things at Sias have been kind of hectic for many teachers here....but not me. If you are a fan of NCAA Basketball and March Madness in America..then let me tell you about CUBA. CUBA, said one letter at a time (C-U-B-A), is basically just like the NCAA Basketball tournament. So, Sias is hosting one of the regional tournaments. They had a new gymnasium built for this occasion and it actually looks pretty good. But they have asked us, the foreign teachers, to do a performance for the opening ceremony so some of the teachers helped out and did the performance. Me, I happily declined and I am really happy I did because some of the teachers were bitter and angry cause of the practice times and all the busy stuff that was crammed into the last week or so, along with teaching....so I am very happy I did not participate. But, along with bitterness, angryness, whatever you wanna call it, I do get angry but I try to stay away from getting angry cause I hate it...I hate the way people act when they are angry/bitter...so I avoid it as much as possible. But I have been playing games for the past 22...almost 23 years of my life...and game are extremely fun...I love games...but there is a line between fun and competitiveness. When competitiveness overpowers the fun..thats what I shut down from the game. Dont get me wrong, I wanna win, but I wanna have fun while trying to win. But all my life there is always someone/something who robs me, sometimes others, of that joy of having a good time. If you know me, then you know I love to smile, joke around and I enjoy making people laugh. So please...be considerate of others when you say things. In fact, when you are playing a meaningless game, dont get some serious. Anyways, sorry about that had to get that off my chest.
But, the past week I was invited to join a facebook group by a good buddy of mine, Andy Frazier. The group is reading three chapters of the GOOD BOOK ;) each day until we finish it. We are currently on the 28th chapter of the first book and I have read things I had never read before...strange things. Also, I have joined a study on the Song of Songs...so maybe I can actually make sense of the book...even thought most of it is talking about body parts and stuff like that. But I hope I will get a better understanding of what its about. But...I have finished two weeks of teaching so far...our lessons so far have been 1) Back from the holiday and 2) News and Issues....next week our lesson is I Love This Machine....and I have no idea what to teach...itll work out im sure...I just hope it doesnt suck.
But this weekend and next week I will hopefully get to watch some CUBA games during my free time and hang out with some students and get some reading done.

Just a little update on me....hope you enjoyed...

Happy Everyday (as my students say to me)

Love you guys

Welcome back Teacher

Meet George...George is a guy who I met last semester and taught him to say Homie. George is my homie. He is a great guy and full of humor. One of my favorite students at Sias.

But...the Spring Semester has officially begun. After nine weeks of having absolutely no responsibility it felt good to actually have something to do. Don't get me wrong, I love to sleep in but usually there isn't much today when ya wake up. But I had three classes today that went pretty well. I have one class that I have a hard time trying to get them to speak. But, hopefully I will be able to get them to do it soon..that way it helps their grade. This week our topic is "Back from the holiday" so I will basically spend nine classes talking about my vacation and listening to their holiday stories. But I am doing two truths and a lie, and they have to be about the vacation. So far they seem to enjoy it and hopefully the students will continue to enjoy it. But...just wanted to share with you guys about the semester...I have high expectations this semester...but I have some tough decisions to make very soon...hopefully the Father will show me what doors to walk through concerning next year...Do I come back to China? Do I go to another country? Do I find a job in America?

I have set a few goals for this semester and I will share:
1. Get more involved with Purpose (Bee eye bee L E studies and what not)
2. Build better relationships with other teachers and workers in Peter Hall
3. Build more relationships with my students (It opens opportunities and good friendships)
4. Drop some pounds...started running and soon will get a gym membership here..got a couple workout buddies so it helps..

Anyways...I love you guys...I miss you...and will see ya sometime in June...

Part Three of Three: Malaysia and back to Sias

So...welcome to part three of my vacation series...ok that sounds really lame...but I don't really care. Malaysia to me was the best part of the vacation but unfortunantly I only got to spend a week here. This country is just filled with beauty: mountains, waterfalls, oceans, islands and no telling what else. But, malay food was not very good to me...ah well...at least I tried it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the blog.

I left off on my last blog somewhere around Hat Yi (Southern Thailand). We (Steve, Racheal, Joel, Amanda and Myself) took a night train from Surathani, Thailand to Hat Yi, Thailand. Got to the train station in Hat Yi and found a bus from Hat Yi to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We (Joel, Amanda and myself) left Thailand on 9:30 am to take a nine or ten hour bus ride to the capital city of Malaysia. We arrived at the border around 10:30 or 11 am that day to get our passport stamped, I got my stamp to leave Thailand..then Amanda gets stamped..then Joel gets up there and the guy from Thailand is in a really bad mood and says to Joel "USA no good". Oh well...I guess he is entitled to his own opinion. Anyways..we get through and get stamped to enter Malaysia...we stop for a couple meals and for a couple restrooms stops and arrive in Kuala Lumpur around 7 or 8 pm. The ride to this city was awesome...in fact..if I get a chance to do that again I would do it in a heartbeat...Malaysia is so gorgeous.

We get off the bus...and we head to look for a hostel...we search but everything is too expensive or full...so we just end up staying in a nice hotel for a night. We decided to do a nice hotel and a cheap hostel the rest of the week. So we sleep...wake up check out a find a rice cheap hostel for 30 Ringit a night (little less that 10 US Dollars a night) then we go get lunch at Subway (oh sooooo good) then to AirAsia to get Joel and Amandas flight worked out. We finish that and then go on this free park with all sorts of stuff...all kinds of plants, geese, (they had a bird and butterfly park but they cost money). For dinner this night we had Pizza Hut...this was probably the worst Pizza Hut I have been to in Asia (only been to like three..but still)...this place had roaches crawling on the wall and floor but the food still was pretty good. But later on we went to sleep that night and woke up early to get in line to get tickets to go up the Petronas Twin Towers. Definatly a must if you go to Kuala Lumpur. We got tickets to go up at 10 am so we went to get some breakfast and chill at Burger King. Then up the Towers we went...it was really cool...got some cool pictures on facebook and myspace up here if you want to check em out. You get 10 minutes on the Skybridge which is plenty of time if you ask me. Then back down. Then the towers had a little exhibition play center were we played for a while...just like kids...its fun to be a kid right? I think so...then off to lunch and CHILIS....oh man I miss Chilis..it was so good. I had the Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers with bottomless chips and salsa for an appetizer...it was Hao Chur (thats how you say delicious or good food in Chinese). Then we went outside for a while to chill. Then there was an Aquarium next to the towers that we went too. I think it might be the largest aquarium in the world...but I am not one hundret percent on that. But that was cool, I got to pet a shark and hold a starfish and see huge shark and rays. Then for dinner tonight we went to eat some local Malay/Indian food....I tried Malay food and I just wasnt a big fan of it. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing...oh well...Then we were gonna try and get a massage but massage place was closed. So we went back to the hostel chilled/read then went to sleep. Wednesday morning we woke up and then went to the bus station. We were gonna try and get a bus to Port Dickson cause there was a beach there but all the trips were later in the day. We wanted to go early and stay the day then come back that night...but we decided not too. Instead we got a bus ticket to The Cameron Highlands for the next day instead. So...we were gonna try and go to these caves in Kuala Lumpur that afternoon from Central Market...but we ended up spending a lot of time in this Market. I got things for family members here and got a Malaysian flag. We then got a some good cheesecake and milkshakes a Secret Recipe and it was really good. We then went back to the hostel to take a shower...this shower at this hostel was amazing...just so ya know...then got ready to go to dinner. For dinner we went to Papa Johns....man I L-O-V-E Papa Johns Pizza...got full here then we looked at a couple stores before finding a Borders Bookstore with a Starbucks...man it was awesome...I love going to book stores...Not much of a reader but for some reason I love bookstores...odd? Anyways...we were here until it closed then went to the hostel to get ready for out small trip to Cameron Highlands. After getting things ready Joel and I went downstairs to watch the Presidential Inauguration. We woke up early to catch our bus to Cameron Highlands which took four hours to get too...bought a ticket to go back to Kuala Lumpur then found a room for the night. Then something extremely random happened...we met a couple who taught at Sias three years ago. They were really cool and we had lunch with them. They told us some cool places to do in a short time. Then we left the couple to go on a hike. Cameron Highlands is full of hiking trails and they are beautiful. We went down one to see a waterfall...it was really close so we kept walking. Then we left that trail and went to a trail with a big waterfall. This waterfall is really big...I really enjoyed seeing these trails with waterfalls...at the top of this waterfall there was a dry spot to kind of look and get close to the rushing water...it was really cool. But it was getting late so we went back to the guest house to get dinner then to kill a couple hours then sleep. We woke up the next morning kind of early cause we did a tour...got some breakfast then went on our tour. On this tour we went to a Rose Farm, Strawberry Farm, Tea Plantation (the best part), Butterfly/Insect Farm, Bee Farm, a small market (got to get some small oranges for free..only a few), then to a Chinese Buddhist Temple. I had no way to charge my camera in Malaysia so while I was taking pictures of roses my camera died on me...I was a little sad...cause I really wanted pictures of the Tea Plantation. We finish the tour around 2pm so we get a bite to eat back in town then get on a bus at 4:30 to go back to Kuala Lumpur...this trip took forever...this time took about 5 1/2 to 6 hours...oh well...we get back and eat some McDonalds for dinner...chilled for a while then slept. Woke up late Saturday morning..ate Subway then went to get my flight worked out. I had tried to book my flight online but my card kept being rejected so I thought that if i went to the AirAsia place I would be able to get my card to go through...NEGATIVE...I like flying AirAsia but its a pain booking flights. So I call home to try and get mom to get online but the internet at home was down...then Joel calls his mom to help me out but we werent able to get through...I tried having money drawn off my card but kept getting rejected. So finally..Joel and Amanda said they would pay for it with their card and I could pay for it when we first get paid...I agreed cause I was getting low on money. SOO we got that settle...that took up most of the day...we planned to go to the Bird Park...but it was took late and was about to close...instead we took a Monorail ride to The Twin Towers to hang out at the mall....we were metting Andy and Lacy for dinner at Chilis...we killed time by checking out different sports stores and things that were in the mall here...then dinner time came around and I told the guys we wanted to a table for five..Andy and Lacy got there and right behind them was Ole and Kat...so I changed the table seven. It was good to see all these good people...talked about the trip thus far...did I mention how I miss Chilis...cause I do...but after dinner we all went to see Bedtime Stories...new Adam Sandler Movie. It was a really good family movie. Adam Sandler is extremly funny and the place was laughing like crazy...then afterwards we all walked around and found a McDonalds get a latenight snack...said by the friends...then went back to the Hostel to pack things up cause we were flying out the next day...went to sleep...woke up...then checked out of the hostel...went to Subway for one last time...then off to get to the airport...We saved half of our subway sandwiches to eat before we boarded the plane...it was so good...we left Kuala Lumpur at 4:50 pm to fly back to China...

We land in Shenzhen, China about four hours later in hopes of finding a flight that night to go back to Zhengzhou (next big city to Sias). We met a girl, Serena, on the flight who is a teacher in Shenzhen and told us if we were unable to get a flight then we could stay at her Apartment. Soooo...we were unable to get a flight that night...Joel and Amanda call Serena to see if we can stay the night...she says yes...so we take a taxi to her place and stay the night. This night happended to be the night Chinese New Year started and while we were all talking in the living room....fireworks just starting blowing up everywhere....Shin Nian Kuai La (Happy New Year in Chinese)....it was pretty cool to be in China for this event...but I know Serena letting us stay at her place was a blessing but to this day I think that is one of my weirdest experiences...sleeping at a complete strangers place...oh well...it was pretty cool...and her futon was comfy...we then look online for flights but they are too expensive...we then look online for flight from Guangzhou (hour train ride from Shenzhen) and they have a flight for 590 Yuan...little less than a hundred bucks...so we take Serena to lunch thanking her for letting us stay...then to get a train ride to Guangzhou....the train at one time went 200 km/hour...which is fast...we arrive at the Guangzhou train station....and real closeby is a China Southern Airlines office...we go in to see if they have any cheap flights....and lucky us they still had the flight for 590 Yuan...we were excited cause we were gonna be sleeping the night in our own beds at Sias...so we pay for the flight...here I have no problem with my card...it accepts my card...then we took a bus ride to the airport...we eat at McDonalds on last time on our vacation. While eating we called Echo (front desk worker at Sias to get a taxi ride)....we wait for a little while...board the plane...and head to Zhengzhou. About two hours later we arrive in Zhengzhou....we get our bags...find our taxi and head back to Sias. Forty-five minutes later we are walking into our dorm at Sias...finally...we can sleep it...

I have now been back at Sias for about two weeks and I still have a little less that two weeks until classes start back up again...im looking forward to this semester. I am hoping this semester is much better than my last.

This vacation was a great experience to have....I may not get a chance to do something like this for a long time...so we made the most of it.

Bad thing about being back at Sias during the vacation is they only serve two meals a day. Brunch is at 10 am and dinner is at 5 pm. So I have to wake up every day to eat...or ill just be really hungry until dinner...but now restaurants are slowly opening back up...Chinese new year is about to be over in a couple of days so things should be back to normal real soon...

I hoped you enjoyed reading about my vacation adventures...

Part Two of Three: Thailand

So...now, if you are reading this, you can read a little about my journey in Thailand. I was in Thailand for three weeks and really enjoyed it. The first picture is at Kanchaniburi (Where the Bridge Over The River Kwai is at) and the second picture is on Koh Tao (an island on the east side of Thailand). And the third one is in Bangkok. I put the last one up just for kicks...cause I get a kick out of it when I see it. Anyways...now onto the adventure...enjoy.

So..December 27, 2008 I hopped on a flight at 1:30 am (China Time...which is 11:30 pm Texas Time) and headed for Bangkok...roughly two hours later our flight landed in Bangkok...so we had a hostel booked but it was a pretty good trip from the airport...so we took at taxi...I think its weird that taxis (and fake taxis) are out into the wee hours of the morning. Oh well...it was good for us...The first hostel we stayed at was really really nice...I can not remember the name of it but I really enjoyed it. But we only had one night booked and after that night it was booked...piss...sooooo we headed to Khaosan Road cause there are plenty of places to stay in that area. Khaosan Road is a busy street in Bangkok...its kind of like a flea market...cause you can buy all sorts of junk...and by junk...I mean junk. I did get some Havaianas Flip Flops for 150 Baht (Roughly 5 bucks...34 baht is about 1 dollar) cause I really needed some flip flops...especially since we were gonna be on a Island later in the trip. We stayed in Bangkok for two nights before heading down into Kanchaniburi. Kanchaniburi was a nice little trip, even though there was a lady who was really annoying and complained the whole time...we were on vacation so there was no need in that junk. Anyways...back to the trip...Kanchaniburi is the home to the Bridge On The River Kwai. If you have never heard of this, I encourage you to read the history behind this bridge (or watch the movie). It has some crazy history behind it from World War II. Also, this town is home to Hellfire Pass, another thing from World War II that has crazy history behind it that I encourage you to read about. I had the priviledge of seeing both of these sights and it was really cool. Hellfire pass was cooler to me cause it had some of the original stuff. The bridge though...wasn't the original since it was blown up in WWII. Still..read the history kids. Also...on our trip in Kanchaniburi..I got to ride a bamboo raft (a little lame to me), see a few waterfalls, pet the cutest monkey ever (his name was Todo), and ride and feed an elephant. The after this tour we headed back to Bangkok for a couple more days. Here we just chilled this time...but...it was late one afternoon and I was looking for a good book to read cause I had just finished Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper (good book) and I went down a dark alley thinking it was shorter to the hostel...nope...but...what happens is a lady is yelling at me but I keep walking...she finally catches up with me about 5 minutes later. Here is a little bit of our conversation:
Lady: Hello
Me: Hi
Lady: Want to have sex with me?
Me: Nah, im good
Lady: Ill make ya happy.
Me: Thats ok
Lady: Why you no have sex with me?
Me: Im saving it for my wife
Lady: Whatever, people like sex for fun.
Me: I know, but I am waiting for my wife
Lady: Ok, well I charge 3000 for all night and 1500 short time


Ok thats enough...it got awkward after that point but I did ask why does does what she does and stuff...just small talk trying to lead to a men as tree opportunity...but it died and she went looking for another man....but it was my first time to get solicited for sex...yay go me...anyways...So new years eve we got on a bus around 9:30 pm to go towards Koh Tao....around 11:59 pm..the bus stops for a few seconds to give us a little time to celebrate new year...Soooo...if you are wondering how I brought 2009 in....I was on a bus going to an island..then i went back to sleep at 12:01 new years day....Woke up around 5ish to get off the bus cause we were on the coast. We then waited a couple hours to take a speed boat to Koh Tao....speed boat was a bad idea...I got motion sickness and it wasnt pretty....But...when we got to Koh Tao it was raining. We got a bite to eat first then I went with Joel and Amanda to find a room...we walked around for over an hour in the rain looking for a freakin room...finally found one for 200 baht a night...thankfully...

I was on Koh Tao (which means Turtle Island) for about 2 weeks before going back to mainland Thailand. Our second day, more friends (Steve and Rachael Collins) joined us for the F-U-N. One day I got bored and walked around the island trying to find where my friends (The Collins an d The Porters) were staying...I ended up taking the wrong road so I ended up having to rock climb at the end...and I messed my shoes up pretty bad to so I need to get some new shoes real soon. Sooo...i stayed in the 200 baht rooms for three nights then went across the island to be with the Collins and the Porters. The place they stayed was quite and really pretty. We had some really good snorkeling on this part of the island too. Some some beautiful fish and some cool coral. One day for lunch, Steve and I snorkeled to the next beach over to eat lunch..then snorkeled back...it was a little tiring coming back cause of the waves. But, we stayed at this place four or five nights the went to another place...here The Collins were gonna get their divers certificate which The Porters and myself just chilled...it was a good chill time. Snorkel a few times here but never saw anything good. We rented Kayaks one day to hopefully enjoy some good snorkeling but it was a bust...but we did see some really cool things at the end...kind of hard to explain while typing. I suffered a really bad cut on my left foot one afternoon. Steve and I were snorkeling and we just got back on the beach...the water was high so we werent able to see much of the beach...there was a stump under the water and I stepped on it...it cut me kinda deep...and I had to walk on my toes for a few days...it was painful...but its better now...still not completely healed but better. So...we left the island after two weeks of being on it to head back to the mainland. We too a short speed boat to Koh Samui then a ferry boat to Surathani. Chilled in Surathani for the afternoon until around 1:00 am and took a sleeper train to Hat Yi...the train was awful...not much room to put luggage so I had my bag on my really tiny bed with me...not comfortable and the train was old and the ride was really bumpy...i slept maybe an hour. But we arrived in Hat Yi around 6 or so that morning and then found a bus ride from Hat Yi to Kuala Lumpur...the capital city of Malaysia....which is the last part of my vacation...

Thailand overall was a great trip...some of the most beautiful creation is in Thailand. Also, Thai food is really really good. I had never had it before and in love with it from the first bite. I read 4 books in Thailand...which is really odd for me cause I hate to read...but 4 books in 3 weeks...I think thats really good....anyways...right now its 2:42 am (12:42 pm Texas Time)...and I just got tired...I took at long nap today...but...I hope you enjoyed reading about Thailand...

Part One of Three of Vacation: Hong Kong

So...as I told you guys I would post things about the highlights of my vacation...so on December 20, 2008, I boarded a flight down to Shenzhen (South China) with Andy and Lacy Pfleger and Steve and Rachel Collins. Our flight boarded in the morning around 8:30 and soon left. About two hours later we landed in Shenzhen. Then, the Pflegers and myself got on a bus to cross the border into Hong Kong which the Collins stayed in Shenzhen because they had a flight that night to Bangkok. But we got into Hong Kong around 1ish that afternoon and found our hostel. Our hostel was a complete dump and I was eager to leave that place. Let me tell you a little bit about this place. The office was in a completely different part of this building. The whole ground level of this place was all restaurants and small stores run by Indian people and all other People from various parts of Asia. It was really weird walking into that place...anyways...it was a dump for lack of other words. The name of the place was Chungking Mansions...so if you are in Hong Kong and need a place to stay...avoid this place....now to tell you guys about things we did.

The first day we just basically walked around and chilled getting used to being away from Sias. We got to eat some western food which was great, cause in Xinzheng (where Sias is at) does not have western food. We went to see a movie that night, I think it was The Day The Earth Stood Still. I didn't really enjoy but it was something to do. This theatre was wierd..when you pay for your ticket you pick a seat you want and you are assigned that seat. It was wierd but I kind of like it. After the movie we went back towards our hostel to look across the bay. I took some pictures but they did not turn out so well. If I remember correctly, Andy took a couple of me that turned out pretty good. The next day (Sunday) Joel and Amanda Porter joined us. But before they arrived we got a quick snack at Starbucks and went to Chizzurch at the YMCA. We then went to eat lunch at Shakeys Pizza (so good). We then went around Hong Kong sightseeing and then went to dinner at a burger place called Shake Em Buns. The names of these burgers were a big sketchy (the name of my burger was Debbie Does Dallas...but it was so good). Then back to the hostel to catch up with The Porters then some good ol sleep.

While in Hong Kong we went to the Zoo, which is free, and got to see some of the most entertaining monkeys ever. Not really much else was going on there but we watched the monkeys for a while. Also, we went to Stanley Market. This is a small area to buy some things (mostly fake) and eat. There was a Starbucks and a McDonalds. This place was in a very beautiful area. We also saw a couple more movies. One was Four Christmasas which was alright I guess...some of the stuff was real funny and some was just not funny. The other was Madagascar 2, freakin hilarious...I laughted a lot during this movie.

So..if you have seen the newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, then you saw Batman just from a tall building. That building is in Hong Kong and I thought this building, IFC Building, was beautiful. I took a few pictures of this building but I didn't get any at night. I was usually too far away at night or forgot my camera in my room. But I really wanted to go up this building but never did it...oh well...maybe ill go back one day and get the chance.

I was in Hong Kong for Christmas. This was a very weird feeling for me, I was sad for most of the day. I just wanted to be home with the family. Instead I woke up in a nice hotel (which Joel and Amanda got that night) and went to McDonalds for breakfast. It was really tough. After breakfast was when we went to see Madagascar 2. Afterwards we went to check out and leave Hong Kong back to Shenzhen.

We spent a little over a day in Shenzhen before we left for Bangkok. During our time there we saw some funny stuff...For example, two restaurants named LSD and Pothouse side by side. It was some pretty funny stuff. But our full day we just chilled. I went out to walk around and just chill around the city. Went to a place called Window of the World which is just replicas of all kind of historical stuff from the world. I also went by an amusement part called Happy Valley, but just to get KFC and TCBY. I also went to Walmart...yes I said Walmart. I had been needing a bad to put my stuff in to keep it out of my pockets so I got one a walmart.

But that is all my highlights from this part of my vacation....

Next stop...Thailand...

Happy Chinese New Year

Right now I am currently in China during the middle of Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year). This holiday is the longest and most important event for the year. So, on January 26, 2009, this Chinese year 4707 began. But, since December 20th, I have been on vacation. One of the perks about working as a foreign teacher at Sias is the break. We are given Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. All this time together is roughly about eight weeks long.

So, what have I been doing with all this time. For those of you who do not know, I was traveling for a little over a month. For the first week of my break I went to Hong Kong. For three weeks after Hong Kong I was in Thailand. Then after Thailand I went do to Malaysia for a week. If you want to see pictures, they are all on Facebook and Myspace.

So for my next three posts, beginning tomorrow (or when I feel like it) I will blog about my adventures in these three different places.

Sawatdee Khrab (Hello in Thai)

Hey guys....

Hope you guys had a fantastic Christmas and New Years...Right now I am in Koh Tao, Thailand . Koh Tao is an island in Thailand and have been here for two weeks and am leaving soon(I hope). But I just wanted to say that I am still alive and have so many pictures. When I get back to China I will post them on Facebook and Myspace.

Love you guys,

Kerry