Happy Birthday to Everyone!

Wow I can't believe that March is almost over! It's seriously flown by.

We've had Matt's birthday, Garry's birthday is Friday, and our friend
Weiyi's birthday was last week. Then we have Philip and Chris's coming
up soon. So lots of spring birthday parties.

Weiyi had her party at a French bar, believe it or not. Four or five
real live French people work at this bar, owned by a French woman.
Weiyi is Matt's former Chinese teacher and briefly worked at the
school. She's actually learning French and her goal is to be a Chinese
teacher in French. It was a fun night.

Last night we went to Garry and Chris's apartment to celebrate Garry's
23rd. Matt and I managed to find champagne for Garry's birthday gift.

Otherwise I've been busy lesson planning and teaching. Actually
yesterday I went shopping at the mall near school where I often get
coffee. There are some really nice small boutique type shops there-
like an Anthropologie style of clothes. I also ate lunch at a cafe,
where I had a duck, egg, and cheese sandwich. It was fantastic!

My current favorite TV shows- Bones, Psych, and Glee, are all on some
kind of hiatus right now. I got into American Idol in the Philippines
when I had cable TV so I've been keeping up with that (at least going
with my musical theme from Glee).

Here in China the internet is censored, and I can't even read my own
blog. But one cool thing we do have is Google music China, which is a
website where you can download music legally for free. They don't have
a lot of the newest or less popular artists but they do have quite a
lot. It makes it easy to expand my musical horizons. It's great for
classical music as well. I tend to go through phases with music right
now and currently I'm in a powerful female singer mode, more on the
soul side, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm up for it (last week I
was in Rolling Stones mode so clearly this changes a lot).

Carpe Diem

When I was in Singapore, my random missionary/massage therapist friend
Bernie asked me, "What's your life goal? Do you want to climb Mount
Everest?" Now, see, the thing is, I have no desire to climb Mount
Everest. My friend Paige runs marathons. I admire her, but I have no
desire to run marathons either. Many of my friends are working toward
PhDs. I'd rather climb Mount Everest or run a marathon than go back to
school.

I gave the question some thought, but I think I already knew the
answer. I want to learn to surf. Now, this may come as a surprise
since I live nowhere near an ocean currently. Also because I grew up
in the desert. But if you've ever been with me to the ocean, you
probably aren't shocked at all because you know you can't get me out
of the waves. I usually body surf. Boogie boarding was fun when I was
little, but it's too easy. To body surf, you have to throw yourself
into the waves at exactly the right moment to catch a ride. Too big a
wave at the wrong moment and you're tumbling around feeling like
you'll never come up for air again. But I'll stay out there as long as
it takes to get a ride.

My goal now is to go to Indonesia after my contract is up here in
China. I've wanted to go to Indonesia for some time, and it's probably
one of the cheaper places to get surfing lessons in the world. This is
on my way to Australia, ideally, to see my friends there. Well, and
it's no coincidence that these two countries are known for gorgeous
beaches and great surfing.

Plus, this is probably the one life goal that I have that will inspire
me to get in shape (as the poster of inspirational quotes in our dorm
room said last year: don't be a fatty.) It will also be nice to have
something to look forward to, since there are no big vacations left.

Boracay Photos

Page 1:http://www.xoopit.com/s/2142bx0urqqive09s27t
Page 2:http://www.xoopit.com/s/2142bx0urqqiv3b2qhio
Page 3: http://www.xoopit.com/s/2142bx0urqqivx4bpk8z

Starting to get Photos up

Singapore:
http://www.xoopit.com/s/2142bx0urqqivogj1js4