The following day we headed to the other National Park in Zhangjiajie to see the Avatar mountains. When we first entered into the park we saw a few monkeys and we all started freaking out! Next thing we knew we were constantly surrounded by monkeys. The monkeys were everywhere! We took pictures with them and tried feeding. They were very entertaining but some of them mean so we had to be careful. After playing with the monkeys we began to make our way to the hike that was supposed to take us to the top of the Avatar mountains. However it took us hours just to make it to the bottom of the hike. It was SO beautiful just walking around in the park though. Many parts of China look like a jungle and I love it! As we began this "Hike to Heaven" it was torturous! It took us about an hour and half to get to the "top" and the whole time we were climbing stairs. Once we got to the "top" we were confused because we weren't actually on top of the Avatar mountains and it wasn't the cool outlook we were expecting. We figured we had taken the wrong pathway and headed back down. Unfortunately it was getting late in the day and we didn't have time to find the other hike. Although, we didn't make it to the top it was an enjoyable day anyway. Afterwards we ate dinner at McDonald's because it is one of the few places we found to eat at. Immediately as I got home I went to bed because I was worn out from the hard day of hiking.

Last Thursday we left for vacation to Zhangjiajie! After school Ali, Nikki, Holly, Ashlee and I immediately headed to the train station even though our train didn't leave until 8pm. Due to the bad luck we have had on vacations in the past we wanted to make sure we wouldn't miss our train! We got to the train station successfully 5 hours before we were actually supposed to leave, so we chilled in a smelly, dirty and packed KFC. We talked for hours asking each other random questions. A few hours later the rest of our group meet up with us and we made it on the train. Thankfully I got a sleeper for the train ride. Immediately as I laid down on the hard bed that was to short for me I fell asleep! It was a 14 hour train ride that was exceptionally better than the previous train rides I have been on just because I was in the horizontal position. 

We arrived in Zhangjiajie around 9 in the morning and made our way to McDonald's for breakfast. After breakfast we found our hostel and rested for a few minutes. Ali and I got the "honeymoon suite" but it was an older version of one because it had two beds. We definetly had the most comfortable beds. We actually had a mattress...everyone else slept on a plank of wood with a sheet.

After we had rested for a little bit we made our way to the National Park in Zhangjiajie that has the walk of faith. It was the craziest thing because while we were in the city we couldn't even see any mountains around us. China is so hazy and when its rainy its even more foggy! We took the world's longest cable car ride from the middle of the city to top of these hidden mountains. It was a 35 minute ride and it was gorgeous. Along the way we saw the world's windiest rode! Once we made it to the top we began our hike to the walk of faith. It was a very pretty hike, but it was hard to capture the beauty with pictures because it was still very foggy at the top of the mountains. As I got closer to the walk of faith and saw the ledge of glass I got a little nervous. However, while I was walking on the glass I was fine. It was a pretty short walk but it was a fun experience! After the walk of faith there were a lot of red flags that were tied to the trees. We were a little concerned as we noticed all the red flags and made the joke that each flag represented someone who died on the walk of faith. A little later we read that each of the flags have prayers have blessings written on them. We bought a red flag and signed our names on it with a message. I wrote my quote "You think you love your life? I love my life!" Ever since I said that in Yangshou people always bring it up and say it needs to be my life quote. Afterwards we hiked for awhile until we found the perfect place for our flag! I want to back in a few years to see if it is still there. We continued hiking around the national park until we found some temples and decided to explore them. It was interesting to see all the different idols in each temple and the many inscents they would burn. We headed back and went exploring for food. Oddly enough the city had very little options for food, so we eat at a restaurant near our hostel and got some fried rice. Typical us. Later that night Ali and I had some deep conversations and I was able to really bond with her in our honeymoon suite :)

Halloween day was insane! It was mismatch day so I wore my hot pink tights and my elephant shirt with two different pairs of socks and shoes. Because the Halloween party was later that day all the classes needed to practice their performances, so we did not have to teach out kids a lesson. During lesson time I played duck, duck, goose with my kids and did a puzzle. At the end of the lesson I gave each kid a piece of a chocolate cracker. When they ate the crackers they acted as if they had never tasted anything so good! They all yelled "TEACHA! YUMMY!" with their thumbs up. They are the cutest :) After school we had to get real busy and finish the haunted house. Thankfully, we finished well before the party started. Our Chinese coordinators claim that our haunted house was the best they have had so far. At the start of the haunted house we had a scary person open the door for the kids and then the kids walked under a curtain. Then they walked into the polka dot room, which I was in! The room had polka dots all over the room, while I was dressed in all black with polka dots on me. As the kids walked in I would sneak up on the kids and scare the kids with my scary face paint. One kid I scared so badly he just started at me for a whole minute with his eyes wide open not saying a word. Once his heart started beating again he yelled "TEACHA! HI TEACHA!" It was the hardest not break character with hm yelling that at me. After the polka dot room Nikki popped out at them from inside a coffin and then Alison would run at them down the hallway. Then they walked into a room with a bunch of balloons on the wall and on the floor. Holly would pop the balloons as the kids walked in and freak the kids out. Then the kids walked into a room with a long table with zombies crawling around it. As they walked by the table Carmen would lift up a bowl and Brittney's bloody head looked like it was laying on a platter. After the kids were grossed out by Brittney's head the next room was Anna as a mad scientist cutting open Karina with a meat slicer. We really pulled off a cool haunted house considering how little time we had. Later that night we got ready for the performance. I dressed up as a zombie construction worker and I looked super scary! Our teachers first performance was Party in the USA, then I danced to This Is Halloween with my class and my last performance was Time Warp with all the teachers. Everyone loved the performances! It was a super fun night!

zhōngguó - china

Today was black and orange day at school it was also the day the board of education came! This was a big day because the board of education was watching everything we did. The Chinese coordinators were beyond stressed. They had everything planned to the T. They told us we could only sing 3 songs during opening and we could only sing Old McDonald, BINGO and Wheels on the Bus. We also had to play "What time is it Mr. Wolf?" with the kids during opening. We normally don't play a game with them during opening. I must say the school I go to is well known for being one of the best schools around, but it also really bugs me when my school acts hypocritical about certain things. Today was a perfect example. They made us plan every little detail out and add things to our routine which we normally don't do! Another hypocritical example is the way my Chinese teachers sometimes act. Every Wednesday we are videoed while we teach so the parents can see us teach their children. During the time we are being videoed the Chinese teachers are these super strict teachers that are on top of every misbehaving child. Once the camera isn't rolling though they are so much more relaxed about the kids misbehaving. I got on a big tangent about that, but it has been bugging me lately. Thankfully my lesson went quite well! I had to teach drama today about the book Dinofours. I had never heard of the book, but because it was the "special" day our Chinese coordinators practically gave us no choice for what we would teach. The kids loved all the funny props I brought and participated well in my lesson! After teaching was over we had Chinese class and had to start decorating the haunted house for the Halloween party on Thursday. We barely got anything completed before we had to leave, so tomorrow we will probably decorating all day long...

yi bei niu nai - a glass of milk

Today we had crazy hair at school! Because it is the week of Halloween everyday we get to dress up! When we first walked into school the Chinese teachers were blown away with our crazy hairstyles. I don't think the Chinese really know what the definition of "crazy" means, because putting a ponytail on the side of your head is not crazy. We helped them fully embrace crazy hair day by doing their hair for them. Once I walked into my classroom not only did my students go crazy but my Chinese teachers went crazy. They loved my hair. I had two cups on the top of my head with my hair pulled through them, two bows on either cup and a baby ponytail in the back and not to mention I was wearing glasses with the lenses poked out. My kids rushed up to me in amazement and said "Teacha! Beautiful!" I was laughing so hard. Only a few of the kids in my class had "crazy hair". The ones that had "crazy hair" were two guys who actually styled their hair with gel for the first time and a girl with her ponytail on the top of her head. Teaching was a little difficult because the kids kept getting distracted by my hair, but because they loved my lesson of making paper planes I was able to divert their attention. After school I rushed home to sign up for classes for BYU! Thankfully I was able to get all the classes I wanted!

niupai - steak

On Saturday we had a party at the park! Most of the people from the Kaiyin and the Shiqi group joined. We first started our party by singing in the shuttle while we were headed to the park. Taylor Swift was definitely a crowd-pleaser, so we continued singing after we got a big applause from singing Our Song. Once we got to the park and layed out our belongings we immediately had Asians on all sides of us watching our every move. Staring at white people seriously never gets old to the Chinese. We played football and ultimate Frisbee. During our Ultimate Frisbee game an Asian gym couch joined us. He was actually really good at playing and said "Let's go!" in his cute Asian accent every time it was kickoff. Then James, Noah and John set up their slack-line. They are really good at slack-lining so I was trying to learn, but it takes a lot of balance! Of course once the slack-line was setup the Asians turned it into a community slack-line. Once the slack-line got crowded with Asians we started having hand-stand competitions, playing ninja, building human pyramids, flying our kites and playing twisted twister. Pretty much anything you can think of, we did it at the park....it was a perfect day! A little later in the afternoon we started playing games with a big group of Asians students. The students were college aged so most of them could speak decent English. I played their version of hacky-sack with this weird weight thing with feathers attached to it. Some of my other friends were playing a card game with the Asains. The person with the lowest card had to sing a song, do a crazy dance, or kiss someone! Our visit with the Asians eventually turned into an awesome "talent battle". We first began by teaching them the macarena and the totty ta dance, then we gathered in a big circle as one of the Asians did a little dance for us. They also had a guy show us his kung-fu moves, so we obviously had to show off and do our kung fu moves for them. Then we performed a few of our dances we will be doing for our Halloween party at school. To add to our talent battle James did a handstand on his skate board while rolling down the sidewalk. We also built another human pyramid which really impressed them! After we had gone all out they pulled two girls from their group who were models and said they would show us a model walk. They did their sassy little number, so obviously Hayden and Noah had to mimic their sassy model walk. We eventually had to go our separate ways, but we all quickly became friends with them! It was an awesome day.

qu - go

Today I didn't have to teach! We went on a field trip with our kids to the park. After eating breakfast we all lined up and walked to the park that was across the street. At the park we played games with the kids, ate snacks and took lots of pictures. I am starting to really enjoy my class. I love that I am able to communicate with them more. The little things they do every day makes them even more adorable! I still love to visit and say hi to my old class though! After we spent a few hours in the park we headed back to school. We ate lunch, had Chinese class and worked on our dances for our Halloween party at school! After school Melissa, Alison, Karina and I all went to the hairdresser. We supposedly just went to the hair dresser, but I seemed as if we went to a massage therapist and a chiropractor as well. I got taken to the back to get my head washed, but instead of sitting in a chair they had me lay on a massage bed. They began by rubbing my head, then they washed my head and continued massaging my hair and upper back. After they had washed my hair 4 times they placed hot rags over my eyes and underneath my neck. Then they massaged my arms and hands. They had me flip onto my stomach and massaged my back and neck. I finally got seated for the lady to cut my hair. Due to the lack of English the lady spoke I just showed her with my fingers how much I wanted cut. I was nervous we didn't discuss anything.... Thankfully she did a good job on my hair! The best part of the whole experience is it only cost me 48 yuan. That's about 8 US dollars!!! It's insane how cheap things are here.