Was that a date?

So I’ve debated typing this post but I might as well get it out in the open, once I tell a few people its going to get out there anyway and blown out of proportion so I might as well get my side out…. Goodness knows I could count the dates I’ve been on, on one

Qingdao with Bonnie

My schedule has final began to open up! As I no longer have Monday classes I decided to take advantage and stay in Qingdao for an extended weekend. Bonnie works weekends and has never been able to join us in Qingdao for fun or shopping. So when my Monday’s opened up I promptly invited her

Trekking to Church

I’m so grateful we’ve been coming into Qingdao on Saturday rather than making the early morning journey on Sunday. As the blankets for the homeless have yet to be given out we continued to break them in. I’ve become quite adept at sleeping on hard surfaces, there is no way I could play the part

The real Qingdao

I’ve been to Qingdao countless times yet I always see the same thing: Train Station, Bus 304, University, Church, Bus 5, Jimo, Bus 202. Since we had arrived on Friday for Christmas we decided to take advantage of a full Saturday. After a restful night surprisingly at the Hostel, we took the bus to the

Christmas Day

Christmas Day…humm…lets just say it was an adventure. My first Christmas waking up to an empty house. I didn’t want to get out of bed as there just didn’t seem like any point. The usual hustle and bustle of Christmas morning was not there nor did I have the pleasure of looking forward to it.

Branch Christmas Party!

Keeping with tradition the Qingdao Branch had a Branch Christmas Party. Victoria planned it and it was spectacular.                   On to the White Elephant, I came prepared and was so excited. Victoria read a variation of the Night Before Christmas which added Left and Right all over

Jiao Zi every country has it!

For our Relief Society Enrichment (LDS women’s organization activity) Sister Shelly taught us to make Jiao Zi or Dumplings.     A recipe will be posted just as soon as I get the email.   When going to the south of China, south being a relative term, I learned I was a dumpling addict. In

The Train home…

We made the train in plenty of time this week! Jane was kind enough to make a pack dinner for us to take with us to the train station. Tuna sandwiches and Egg Salad sandwiches. Delicious! Egg Salad is my favorite, unfortunately I’ve never been able to make it. Go ahead, laugh, how hard can

Ji Mo Market!

I’m learning how to bargain. Katie is quite the teacher. Ji Mo is a permanent indoor swap-meet on serious steroids and in Qingdao the best place to buy knock-offs. Amazing knock-offs I might add. I’ve never been a shopper really and to be honest I can only take Ji Mo in small doses. I appriciate pricetags and

We almost didn’t make it!

I got up at my usual time for Sunday morning, 5:45am I was out the door at 6:05 and ready to begin the trek. We caught a ___ trap cab to the station and had 10min to spare before the train. I think that just might be a record for us. Usually the last few