Jiaozi Day

Well... today has been a MAJOR improvement.  Whatever conversations were had with the Father about me were absolutely answered and felt over here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Getting everything out was a good step but having my small group today and really focusing on why I'm here has made a huge difference.  I got a good night's sleep, woke up in pain from my 'ballet class' last night which was lovely, class went pretty well minus threatening to throw an eraser at one of my students.  Haha.  It wasn't out of anger.  It was just funny and helped me explain a word I taught them.  Then...

SMALL GROUP!

It was SOOOOOOOOO good.  I only had 4, but it was the 4 who are most interested and interactive with everything.  We talked about the garden and the serpent and the introduction of evil and then why things are the way they are now.  It was just so good.  I asked if they wanted to know what next week's lesson was on and they said yes.  It's about the Son.  Oh man, I am beyond anxious already!  Huge week.

Then they taught me how to make jiazi (potstickers) and wontons. I am still full from it and that was 4 hours ago.  It's really easy and I can't wait to make it on my own.  We had such a good time.  They taught me some more Chinese.  I taught them more English. We joked, we talked about random things, we skyped my sister so she could see the excitement and they were SO excited to see her!  Apparently, if your name is Evan, you're talented at cooking.  One of my girls, my strongest English speaker, is Evan and she's the one who loves to cook and taught us how today.  She grabbed the machete from one of the other girls and just chopped a head of cabbage like a pro.  She's adorable!

So we all ate together.  First meal at my table.  We had a toast and everything.  It was perfect.  Exactly what I needed.

The girls told me that their class was having a basketball game against some other department.  I decided I need to get more involved so I went for a bit before tutoring.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with my students and cheering for them.  They won 50-14.  Yeah. Get it girls!

Got some rotee on the way back from tutoring (that awesome condensed milk covered, egg filled, crepe thing) because I felt like I could keep piling on the goodness.  Now it's lesson planning time, hulu time, ballet class, shower, bed!  Tomorrow should be a good day too.

I've been talking with A about homesickness and just saying that I know it will probably hit again.  It could be tonight, tomorrow, next week, in a month or 2, who knows.  But I'll be ok.  I can handle it.  I've had a rough few days, but I've been able to get through it and get my focus back and I'll be able to do it again.