Thai Cooking Class

Martha Stewart watch out! This girl just completed her first Thai cooking course. Yep you heard correctly...Becky Lovell...cooked. Wow! Shocker huh mom?!

I'm so glad Rachel persuaded the group to check out the cooking class because we really did have a fun time. We started by checking out the local market. (Sidenote: America needs to get with the program with fresh fruits and veggies.) Then headed to a local restaurant and got to crack-a-lackin' on cooking. Trust me, the food was AMAZING! My grandma(s) would be so proud!

Arrived in Thailand

I've arrived in Thailand. The more I travel in Southeast Asia....the more I fall in love with this part of the world.

At the Bangkok airport I met up with Rachel, Hum, and Alice, and immediatly got on a train to Auytthaya.
and spent the night at Lotus Guesthouse and went on a tour of the city. ahhh-mazing! My pictures won't do it justice.




Video of temples
Video of Elephants
Video of Ancient Ruins

Thailand here I come!

Thailand here I come! My flight leaves 3:30pm tomorrow (Wednesday) and I'll be meeting up with Korenza, Carolyn, and Rachel. First we'll head to N. Thailand and visit some Tibet hilltribes then head south towards the infamous beaches. Nothing really set in stone.

I'll think of you while I'm sipping on my fruit shake soaking in the beach front. Ahhh the life of a study abroad student.

Basketball

On Saturday I had my last Lingnan University basketball game. I can't believe the season is over. whaaa. I refuse to believe that I only have 2 months left here in Hong Kong. I'm going to leave here kicking-and-screaming.

The last picture is of Panny jumping up trying to reach my height. lol I'm really going to miss these gals.

One siiick box

Believe me, snail mail is priceless to a study abroad student. Thank you so much Pen Pal Kailee for hooking me up with the siiiick Easter/Birthday package. I'll forever cherish it!

Back to reality

The past week was a bit crazy due to culture shock from Vietnam, midterms, and visitors. Midterms hit the worst. See, when you're a study abroad student responsibility is cruel-and-unusual punishment. pure torture.

(In my hippie voice)
"Look Mr. Professor, I'm finding myself out here. Free bird. I need to just see new lands, learn from others, love, yeah....love. So look Mr. I have a doctorate, I'm not ready to be tied down by your judgemental grading system. No more judgement please. Just love. I'm a free bird."

I'll be emailing my teachers today and it will go something like this...
Dear Teachers,
Remember me, the horrible study abroad student who missed ALL of last week?! Well I'll be missing next week due to travel too. SURPRISE! Please just give me a "P" and we'll be friends.
Thanks,
-Becky

Last Day in the HK

The last day in HK with the Americans started with catching the last bit of the English Week concert.
Then we headed to the ober-fancy Pizza Hut. ('The Hut' is much more upscale here.) Caught the bus to Mong Kok and walked through the flower market and took pictures of the bird market.
We ended the evening watching The Pursuit of Happyness (I'll forever love Will Smith) and eating at Simply Thai (Thailand here I come!).

Being American

Michelle and Emily left this morning. *tear
I felt like such a 'helicopter' mother when they departed. "Ok, do you have enough money? Will you call me when you get in America? Do you know how to get to the airport? DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS!" lol jk

Funny story: Michelle has visited me at WVU AND Lingnan Uni. in Hong Kong, China. When we departed she looks at me and says, "Ok Becky I traveled half-way across the world I think you can take a 1 1/2 hour road trip to come and visit me in PA."
haha She's right. I need to visit her and experience life at her Uni.

I'm so thankful I had visitors while in HK. Previous study abroaders know what I'm talking about but it felt so good to be American again. Let me explain...
When they were here I laughed too loud, ate till it hurts, put my hair in a pony-tail, cursed, talked politics, and advocated women's' rights.

Heidi's Birthday Party

I've got great study abroad pals. Take Heidi for instance, she recently celebrated her 21st birthday and extended an invitation to her 'big day' party to Michelle and Emily. I'm so thankful that she let my visitors tag along because they were able to see a locals home and meet many Lingnan students.

Macau Tower Jump

I'm so glad I decided to head to Macau for my birthday.

The elevator ride up the tower was INSANE. I've never hit 'Floor 61' on a building. haha Emily was so scared when we reached the observation deck and checked out the view below. Funny story, Michelle and I were so entranced by the drop and great view that we didn't even notice we lost Emily. Come to find out, she was sitting on the floor of the bathroom feeling like she was going to throw up! LOL Thank goodness we were able to talk her into taking the jump.

After the observation deck we put on our ultra-cool space suits (or at least thats what we called them) and mimicked the walk in Armageddon.

Finally DUN DUN DUN we jumped!

21st Celebrations

5 bucks says that my 21st birthday was better then yours.
For starters, I'm in flippin' Hong Kong, China, which means that I automatically win. But tough guy if you still wanna rumble in the 'my 21st was better' competition eat this...

My 21st, which was on March 21st, started with meeting up with Michelle and Emily (who traveled halfway across the world to celebrate) had a traditional Chinese breakfast at a 'locals only' restaurant. After the delciious spicy noodles we caught a ferry ride to Macau and jumped off the Macau Tower. As if that wasn't enough, we then cruised around the city, hit-up historical landmarks, visited the Macau History Museum, and ate my birthday cake, infamous Macau egg tarts at this bakery that had Happy Birthday written all over the outside.







Then I came back to campus around 10ish and had pizza-movie night with my roomie and other study abroad students.

In the words of MC, Can't touch this.

The BIG 21

I turn 21 years old tomorrow.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I'm still in shock.

I want a cool story for the record books on what I did for the big 21st birthday so I've decided to do the sky jump off the Macau Tower with Michelle and Emily. So (get pumped) tomorrow in the AM I'm heading to Macau to jump off the Macau Tower.

Pretty cool, eh?! Click here to check out what I'm doing tomorrow.

But keep it on the hush hush. Michelle & I haven't told our parents yet. lol

Michelle is here!

Yesterday I picked up my Michelle Carrier, and her college classmate, Emily, from the airport. I loved showing them around the wonderful city of Hong Kong and taking them to the Victoria Harbour 'symphony of lights' show. Today they west-railed it into Lingnan University for lunch and now they're touring Central with Dan. I wish I could join but I've got TONS of catch-up in my classes. Tomorrow I've got a paper, project, and midterm test to complete. BLAH!

Jennie Chan

My high school classmate, Jennie Chan, came to Hong Kong to visit her family for spring break and we caught up for dinner at Outback Steakhouse. She brought me a HUGE bag filled with breakfast foods (Lucky Charms, poptarts, and oatmeal) from the US. Now, that's what I call love.

Check out the video...

Lessons Learned

On Thursday I decided to head back early to play-it-safe because I didn't want to chance missing my flight again. Ok ok so I played it REALLY safe since my flight doesn't leave till Saturday at 5am. lol But hey, it gave me extra time to blog.

This past week has taught me many lessons including:
1. Always leave early for your flights
2. Call your parents when stuck in a rut. My poor mom found out about my situation from my blog. She was (rightfully so) a bit upset.
3. Sometimes doors getting closed, like flight options out, are for a reason greater then your own understanding.
4. The importance of having an international mindset and being conscious of global issues.
5. Maybe America really doesn't have that great of food. lol Vietnam has by far the best (and cheapest) food I've ever tried.

Fun facts about my trip:
Angelina Jolie was actually in Ho Chi Minh, when I was in HCM, adopting her 4th child. Pretty cool, eh?!

Whats to come next week:
1. Jennie Chan and I are going to catch up for dinner on Saturday or breakfast on Sunday.
2. Michelle & Emily arrive on Sunday! woo-hoo
3. My 21st birthday is on Wednesday. Maybe bungee jumping?!
4. Checking my mailbox after 2 weeks of mail came through. YESSS!
5. Catch-up in the classroom. BLAH!

Visiting the villages

Day #2 highlight was visiting the village where Mary Jo & Lizzy (American names of the gals we met in class the previous day) lived. We never dreamed it would be a 1.5 hour bus ride, 15 minute boat ride, and 10 minute motor bike drive. But the trip was well worth the effort.

One thing I'll never forget is the Vietnamese hospitality. When we arrived, their entire family came out to greet us and they called the relatives that weren't there. "We have Americans in our home!" You could tell they put a lot of time into cleaning the home and cooking. Trust me, they served us SO MUCH FOOD! An inside joke is that as soon as we finished a bite to eat, someone was right over our shoulder to re-fill our plate with twice as much food as we started with. Trying not to be rude, we had about 4 servings.

After our late lunch we headed to Mary Jo's home where we went out back to meet her dad who was cutting up the coconuts for us to drink. I couldn't believe how HUGE the drinks were. It was hard to cross the bridge back to the main road with our drinks in our hand.

Once I get this You Tube thing figured out I'll post video.





Click here to check out video of some team members singing to the students.

Celebrity Status

By the way locals responded, you'd think they've never seen Americans before, and it's certainly possible. I wish you could have sen peoples faces turn or hear them shout eagerly, "HELLO," when we pass them on our bikes. Or the way mothers would bring up their children for us to hold and adore. Or the way people would see us in the supermarket run, get their friends, point, giggle, then wave and blush. Picture the Dream Team visiting Boone County, West Virginia. We tuned heads.

Bikes & Class

Our first day was a roller coaster. Prayer time was certainly needed in the AM (Lord, I have no idea why I'm here but please use me.) Then we headed to the school, Vietnamese American English Training College, where half went to teach and the others went outside to meet the director of the school. Lunch soon followed umm Vietnamese food. About 3pm we had fellowship and dove into scripture on spiritual warfare. "These people are surrounded by fear. We have news of something that can overpower it." After the lesson, songs of praise were belted out, and we dove into prayer. When Jay started praying for me I couldn't hold back the emotions any more. I was in awe.

Then we headed out to rent bikes, have dinner, and teach at the school.





Melissa and I accepted the offer to join 3 gals after class for dinner. After downing beef noodles from an outdoor vendor we had pineapple smoothies and bikes to their boarding house. Culture shock: She didn't even have a bed in the room. After 2 hours we decided to meet again the following day at 1pm.

Did I mention what an awesome God we have??? Ok, just making sure.

Bonds & T-shirts

It's neat to look back and remember how the girls and I bonded immediately at dinner. Snaps for sisterhood.

By the way, the cross on RJ's t-shirt had no deep meaning. It was a simple, red cross, looking design. But make no mistake, there was a reason I thought it was something else. John Aderholt, this strengthens my theory that God speaks through t-shirts. :)

The collision

Early Sunday morning I returned from my unintentional 26 hours stay at the HCMC Vietnam airport and check into my hostel. While they were getting the room ready I decided to turn to my blog to vent out the days frustrations that came along with missing my flight. I was re-reading my entry, taking out foul language, and then out of the corner of my eye I saw 3 Westerners, probably American, college aged students walk by. One of them had (what I thought) a cross on his shirt.
"Hey I see your t-shirt. Where are you from?"
"Oh, we're from Chicago, Illinois."
"Right on. I'm from West Virginia. What brings you to Vietnam? How long will you be here?"
"We're here in Ho Chi Minh for one more night then heading South to teach English at a local University. How about you?"
"Whoa, that's really cool. I'm on vacation and I'll be here till Saturday. (The words were piercing to have to admit.) I'm sure I'll see you around."

Who da' thought that "I'll see you around" turned into "I'll see you at dinner"
"I'll see you at dinner" turned into "I'll see you on the bus tomorrow for our trip."

Square One

Here is where it all began, in a simple internet cafe in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Right here is where two worlds collided on the timing of something greater than themselves. Who would have thought such miraculous things could come out of a girl missing a flight home and a group from America deciding to stay an extra night in the city. It's comforting to look back and clearly see God's presence through all the events.

Brace yourself for a personal account of experiencing God's mysterious ways...

Open doors

"I've found I'm moving to the rythm of Your grace."

Ok so that group I met up with for dinner from Chicago...yeah, they're going on a mission trip to Southern Vietnam to teach English at a nearby college...and they've invited me to come along...and I'm going.

Please blog readers, be encouraged. There are reasons doors (or flight home opportunities) get slammed shut.

Day #3

On my final day in Vietnam, I headed to the War Museum. It was deep. Seeing the pictures, visiting the torture chambers, and reading horror stories, overwhelmed me a bit and reminded me how much more I need to open my eyes in the hardships of war.

When I returned to my hostel, my front desk told me that Jeff called and was hoping to meet at 2pm insead of 6pm. Sweetness.

The trio showed up and took me first to their home in the villiages of Vietnam, about 20 minutes away. I met their family, took picturse of the garden, and ate fresh mango from the tree. Then they took me to fly kites, a Vietnam must. (Again, here is where I would have inserted a really cool video footage). I've never seen so many kites fly so high. ~sigh~ It was absolutely beautiful! After kites, we went to dinner and ordered the infamous beef noodles. I'm going to really miss the food when I return to America. Then they took me to the local stores in Vietnam where I got this beautiful picture for my Aunt Rhonda and a couple odds and in gifts for relatives.

I'm talkin' I TOTALLY lucked out meeting Jeff and his friends. On the way to the airport I thought, I'm the luckiest girl in the world. :) At that time, I was. But unfortunately it ran out as soon as I entered the airport. lol

Recap on the trip: It's sad to me that the only thing really knew about Vietnam is the war. This country indeed does remember their civil war...but it's moving on and has so much to offer. Economics majors watch out because South East Asia is about to boom. Vietnam shoulnd't be missed on the travel itentiary. I always felt safe, the people were so welcoming, and this city really is unique.

Off to get ready for dinner with Chicago crew.
God is so good. :)

Day #2

In the AM I headed out on a local tour (about $6 USD) to some local temples and the Cu Chi Tunnels. (Here is where I would have inserted my super cool video footage)

I've concluded that there is a HUGE difference between learning and living. Throughout my public school days, I heard all about the Vietnam War but I didn't quite grasp it as well as I have over here. See, when I crept through the tunnels pitched black or walked through the rubber jungle area, dripping in sweat from the humidity, shoes soaked, and hearing gun shots in the background (they have a optional shooting range as part of the tour) was I finally able to get a real life glimpse of what it must have been like. Power points can only go so far.

My new words of wisdom: Take learning OUTSIDE the classroom. Inspired by a past president??? Visit his hometown. Want to know about the Civil War??? Take part in a re-enactment. Enjoy geography??? Explore. Don't limit yourself by walls.

After the tour I met up with Jeff, a local Vietnamese who I met on my plane ride over. My good friend, Dan Harris, is probably rolling his eyes right now because I yet again lucked out on meeting up with locals. (In the Philippines I randomly met 3 gals. We bonded immediately and spent the 4 days together.)
Jeff is actually an Ohio State Pharmacy student who is taking a semester off school to take care of his grandmother. From the look in his eyes you could tell he was exhausted. Maybe it had to do with the past semesters 21 hour class load + 15 hours of overshadowing??? I can't even relate to the devotion he has had to have to his classes. Fun fact about Jeff, he's actually payed $40,000 bucks to get "married" in the states so the cost of his education will cut down dramatically. People, we're so blessed to be in the USA and have quality education at our doorstep.

Anyways, so Jeff brought along two of his close friends (one who he was obviously head-over-heals for) and we headed around the city for about an hour on motorbikes. haha Who'da thought I'd ride on a motorbike?! I've gotta admit- I loved it! Then all four of us went to dinner at a 'locals only' restaurant. To paint up a picture of how far away we were from commercial Ho Chi Minh, mothers pointed at me to show their children and the menu was in Vietnamese only. YES! I'm seeing this town through local hangouts! We set a time to meet the following day, 6pm.

Man- this is awesome!

Day #1

Now that you've heard about my sour end let me enlighten you on the sweet beginning starting with day #1....

I woke up aww the joys of not waking up to an alarm and immediately patrolled the city, just soaking everything in on the street corners and open markets. But before the sight seeing began, you bet I ordered myself the traditional banana-chocolate pancakes and mango fruit shake. yummm Walking around, I really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of this unique city. Dan was right, motorbikes are everywhere! After 4 hours of just walking aimlessly in awe of what the city has to offer, I was in love. Vietnam, you are indeed the "hidden charm" of Southeast Asia.

After a late lunch I headed to the Reunification Palace and learned all sorts of history fun facts. (Yep, I'm a dork)

In the evening I met up with a complete stranger from couch surfing.com Ok at this comment, you're thinking BECKY WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS??? Trust me, I was wondering myself. I did it because I wanted to meet locals and "Vietlolo"'s profile caught my eye
1. Because the guy had red hair
2. Because he had pictures of Morocco
But don't worry mom and dad, I was cautious.

It turned out to be a huge hit. Laurent was a really nice guy, TOTALLY French, and enjoyed telling me about what he enjoys about Vietnam. After chatting for over 3 hours, I was la tired.

Safe & Sound

Ok (sigh of relief) sorry about the venting session earlier. Please know that I'm safe, well fed, have more money in my account (thanks mom for the early b-day gift), and am thinking positively. Maybe I should just take this time to head to Cambodia? I've got a lot of possibilities and planning ahead of me. If indeed I do have to take the flight on March 17th (which right now looks like my only option) it means that I'll be missing an entire week of class. Go figure, this week I had a lot of responsibilities like a project due for CRE, paper due for China History, test in England History, and a presentation to prepare for History of Islam. I need to e-mail OIP and hopefully they can take pitty on me and send a legit e-mail to my professors asking them to be easy on me. Again, praise the Lord for pass/fail credits.

Good news is that in my hostel a college group from Chicago arrived and invited me to have dinner with them. See, things are on the up.

Oh, and after my long nap, the sun came out. :)
Life goes on.

Sometimes you have good days. Sometimes you have bad days.
Today was a bad day.

My Vietnam trip was a total high.
I met up with locals, flew kites, rode on a motorbike, and so much more. I was sad to have to leave on Saturday morning but I knew I needed to head back to Hong Kong. Plus, I was going to get to see my high school classmate, Jennie Chan, who was coming to visit that day. Everything seemed to be going right as planned on my way to the airport. I woke up on time, my motorbike was outside waiting for me, and my bags were packed. I thought I was smooth sailing because I had a 6:05am departure time which meant that the airport will practically be empty. Plus my flight over to Vietnam was not anywhere near full.

The airport was a total low.
I walk up to the boarding pass counter and hand over my passport. The United Airlines worker then starts to talk to her co-worker in Vietnamese. She then looks at me and says, "Miss sorry your flight is now closed. You must be here 45 min. prior to departure. WHAT?! I get out my cell phone and check out the time. 5:30am. Argh! I underestimated how long it takes to get to the airport. I'll openly admit it- I begged. Please I know there is a 45 min. policy but I'd really like to take this flight home. "Sorry miss, please go to counter two."

At this point I'm thinking, ok chill out you can catch the next flight out to Hong Kong. I mean it's Hong Kong surely they'll have flights to one of the biggest hubs in the world.

Counter #2:
After waiting about 20 minutes in Counter #2's line (which seemed like an eternity) I approach the desk, "Hello my name is Becky Lovell I just barely missed my flight.I was hoping I could catch the next flight out to Hong Kong."
No response, just typing.
"Miss, the next flight out available is on March 17th."
WHAT?!
"Oh my goodness, that is a week from now. Are there any other flights? I really can't miss a week of school. I'm flexible I can connect to other hubs then to HK or even fly into Maccau."
"Sorry Miss. The rest of the flights are booked full."
"Well could I squeeze on a flight with another airline?"
See Counter number 3 miss

Counter #3:
"Hi my name is Becky Lovell and I just missed my flight. Is there anyway I could catch a flight to Hong Kong?"
Typing...
"$375 US dollars."
WHAT?!
"Oh my. wow. And that's the cheapest??? There is no way I can pay for that. I've barely got enough to cover my $14 dollar departure tax. Plus, that is twice what I paid for my round trip ticket."
"Sorry miss."

Ok Becky just weight the possibilities. You made the mistake of misjudging time and you need to pay the price. Suck it up.
I was helpless. I decided that I'll have to wait around and standby for the next United flight that was going to head to Hong Kong and pray that someone will cancel or not show. The problem was...the next flight was Sunday at 5:05am.

Long story short, I spent the ENTIRE DAY IN THE VIETNAM AIRPORT. Mind you, I had sparse cash for food and was in no way prepared to do 'The Terminal' camp-out in the airport.

If the day didn't get any worse around 2:30 pm (after about 9 hrs. in the same location) I'm bored out of my mind and decide to play around on the special features of my camera. I then realized that I accidentally deleted ALL OF THE PHOTOS I TOOK OF MY TRIP ON MY MEMORY CARD. No words can describe that kind of anger. I had high hopes for my video footage too. People, I got video footage of the tunnels used in the Vietnam War, pictures with children flying kites, live tapes of my riding and then driving a motorbike. But go me- all gone.

Someone please just help me.

Then (oh it keeps getting better) I'm one hour away of finding out if I can take the next flight and I strike up a conversation with a United pilot who is also on standby. Nice guy, ok, way older, professional looking with business attire, and friendly. He told me about how he got into aviation, his travels, and his children ("I've got a son thats your age."). Good conversation, no flirting, no real heart-to-heart just casual 'I can't wait till they tell us we can get on the plane' filler talk.

Well this (insert insults) looks at me and says, "Well if we aren't allowed on this flight maybe we could book a hotel together."

By this point, I'm over the edge. GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE. Someone must have been praying for me because I held back on spitting in his face and destroying him with my "knuckle punch" THEN (he must have seen the shock on my face) he says, "Don't worry, I'm a gentlemen."

(Speechless) Is this guy serious??? Wait, he's old Western man and in Asia. Fits the profile. Don't know what I'm talking about, go to the Philippines for one day. You can visually see where all of Americas negative stereotypes come from.

After the way awkward conversation, we were both informed that Hey you're SOL because the flight is full.

Sorry miss.
Now I'm back in my original hostel (NOT with that creep-a-zoid) and wondering what to do next. In the wise words of my fellow red-head, "The sun will come out tomorrow."

I need sleep. I'll blog happy thoughts after I return from a much needed nap.

I've arrived safely in Vietnam and am really enjoying everything. This town's got soul. Today I just walked around for hours soaking in the sights. Tomorrow I'll do the war museums.
Off to meet Laurent, a fellow couch surfer.

Presidents Cup and spaghetti floor dinner

Today we had the inner hostel Presidents Cup
womens basketball competition.

It's very similiar to the Campus Cup at WVU-
except that people actually show up here.
ahh ignore me,I'm venting frustrations of my job last semester

Lam Woo Hall -aka Hall D- is pretty much the next Dream Team. We've got 5 players who have played or are currently playing on the Lingnan Basketball team and our bench could destroy anyone in a game of knock-out. Todays match was eaily won (by 30+ points) against Hall B. I couldn't get over how many people came to watch! It seems as though the students here have more pride for their hostel then the actual University. Check out the video for a clip of our energetic crowd cheering for Lam Woo Hall...
'>Click here
After the game I posed for many pictures taken by cell phones. Please, no one tell them I'm not that good at basketball. I want to soak in this celebrity status for as long as possible.

The night just kept getting better (a common occurance with being abroad). Kitty, an exchange student from Beijing invited me to her floor dinner after the game. How could I say no to free spaghetti with locals?! I brought along my photo book and showed off pictures of good ol' West Virginia University and my family. A picture of my younger brother, Stephen, was the selling point to visit America. "OHHHHH HE'S SO HANDSOME! INTRODUCE ME!" My reply, "You bet I will, he's single too!"

Note to Stephen:

Stephen, my bank account is almost dry. Do you mind if I start selling

DINNER WITH THE STEPHEN LOVELL

Only $100 HKD

Think about it. You might need to 'take one for the team' so I can afford my upcoming Vietnam trip. ;)

Off to pack. I head to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow (Tuesday) night- Saturday. War Museums and water puppet shows here I come!

Ask and you shall receive...

I'd been trying to get plugged into an English-speaking Bible study and finally got plugged in.
Here is what I sent out the my Young Life leaders back home:

God is good
All the time
All the time
God is good

Ladies and Gents be encouraged! This Sunday I went to Kowloon International Baptist Church and got plugged into not one...but two Bible studies. (Can I get an AMEN up in Morgantown?!) The church is about 1.5 hours away- but well worth the journey.

My first Bible study is set-up like a Sunday School class and is mostly attended by students at Hong Kong Baptist University. Our class was taught by a red-head from the US, so it was obviously fate. :) Today in class we talked about social justice and seeing it through the eyes of Christ. REALLY interesting topic. As if the discussion wasn't enough, after class we actually went out into Hong Kong and took pictures of places we felt were unjust. (Example, working conditions in factories or poor living establishments). Then tonight we'll journal about it and bring questions to discuss next week on how it relates to our calling in Christ. We read over the scripture "what you did for the least of these you did for me." Wow- God is so good! This class will challenge me to step out of my comfort zone and become aware of growing problems that are so easy to ignore. My teachers will be a good accountability group and (this is the part I love) will call me out on things I need to work on.

My second Bible study is a WOMEN'S ONLY study on the book of Daniel. Guess what?!?! We're learning it through Beth Moore's books and videos. haha who'da thought?! I'll keep you posted on how it goes. The fun starts tonight at 6pm. Snaps for women's' time!

~sigh~ I was in tears this morning blown away by Gods greatness. Thank you so much for the prayers and words of encouragement. Quoting Allevato, "GOD ROCKS!"

Basketball Jones

You know what I miss from the 'good ol days' of high school basketball??? Jock Jams warm-up tapes.

I had my first basketball game with Lingnan University last night vs. Hong Kong University. When I saw a girl on HKU's team come in with an orange sweat band I knew we were doomed. lol They were serious. Although we lost, I thought we played well as a team.

(As I brush off my shoulders) I was proud of my 8 points. It helps to be a foot taller then everyone on the court. haha But in the words of Toby Keith, "I ain't as good as I once was" and about had an asthma attack after playing 6 minutes straight. Also, I'm getting old and loosing my competitive side on sports. When we lost I thought, oh well we had a fun time. GASP! Had a fun time?!?! What's that about?!

Pig overdose

I'm starting to be not so daring with the food here.
My first dinner with my basketball team I would say things like, "Order me whatever you think is daring. I want to try it all!"

Then I started saying things like, "Order me whatever...except I don't really care that much for fish ball."

Now I find myself saying, "Order me whatever...just tell me what it is and I'll tell you if I want to try it or not."

I'm continually reminding myself, when in Rome do as the Romans. (Meaning...when I'm in Hong Kong- be daring!) But there is only so much pig I can handle. lol I think I've tried all possible parts of a pig. You name it- pig ear, pig nose, pig skin, pig feet, pig intestine, pig fat, pig tongue- I've tried it. (Surprisingly it's not that bad...just hard to get over what you're eating.) I've caught myself saying things like, do you have any vegetable dishes? lol I need to just suck it up and continually try new things.

Off to my very first BBALL game :)
Our uniforms are SICK! Purple and black- I've always wanted a jersey in those colors.

Box Contents

The HUGE box was filled with:

-My sisters pink jacket

(This is a big deal because Sarah wouldn't even let me borrow it back in the US. Yeah, she misses me tons.)

-The Daily Anthenaeum, WVU's newspaper

-Random things like Milk Duds and a frisbee

It was fun to teach my basketball team how to use a frisbee and introduce them to American candy. The politely refused a second helping on the candy. "Too sweet" haha It reminds me of when I tried the Sweeds candy on Summer Staff in Lake Champion.

-Gag gifts

Sarah gave me these ridiculous bright green stretch work-out pants. The challenge is that I need to wear them on a night-on-the-town and take pictures. lol I'll keep you posted....

Excuses for doing poorly in the classroom

I try. I really do try and pay attention in class but I've come to terms that it's impossible to sit and listen to a lecture. See, when you study abroad you want to learn outside of the classroom. You want to travel, meet people from all over the globe, and experience another culture. Basically, you want to go on field trips not sit through power points. During my two hour lecture today I was tempted to raise my hand and say, "Excuse me. I need to leave. You're taking away my travel time. Thanks."

Being 'bit by the travel bug' is taking it's toll on my study habits. Why spend excessive time on class readings or studying when you have pass/fail credits?! I vented to my sister about this. "Sarah, I'm worried because I've lost my desire to do well in the classroom. I'll survive this semester but AHHH what about my final year?"
Sarah, who studied abroad last year and is in her final year at WVU laughed and said, "Becky, BE AFRAID...BE VERY AFRAID!" (In her classes she's daydreaming about grad school overseas)

The bugs gotten so bad that I'm thinking about putting off grad school for a year and traveling the world. I just love experiencing other cultures. I don't want to have regrets when I 'grow up' and start getting tied down with a job and responsibilities. I don't want to say when I'm 70+ years old, "I really wish I would have traveled more when I was younger."

Yeah Snail Mail

Have I got the best friends in the world or have I got the best friends in the world?!

My mailbox in Hong Kong has overflowed with snail mail letters from loved ones back home. I proudly post them on my desk along with a quote from Charlotte's Web, It's not often that you have a true friend who is also a good writer. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I can't even tell you how great it is to see a note in my mailbox. Our mailboxes are in the main desk area so I have to pass my mailbox everyday, so when I see a letter in it, my day skyrockets. Since I'm keeping the Hong Kong postal service in business, I'm the talk of the dorm. In our floor meeting last week my RA said, "Becky, I saw that you had 3 letters in your mailbox!" I smiled and replied, "Yeah, I've got some awesome friends back home."

Last night my mailbox had a "nice hunk of mail" letter from my great friend, Trish Becker(Trish- you rock!) AND I a slip that said, "Please pick up your package in the administrator office." SICK! At the administrators office they looked through the envelope packages, small boxes, and big letters. Puzzled, they re-look through everything and then take a glance at the huge box at the end. Guess what?! It had my name on it! "Yea yeah mo money" (as Tucker would say) I got a box from my sister.

This is what I posted on my sisters facebook wall:

Dude- YOU ROCK! Thanks for the HUGE box! I'm flaunting it around like an A+ spelling test and randomly walking up to people, "Hey look I got a box from my sister. What...you didn't get a box from your sister?!?!? Gosh I'm sorry...your family must not love you." lol jk I don't say that but that is how big headed I am right now holding this box filled with greatness. I mean you even gave me your London Fog jacket...WOW....thats love right there.

Keep those letter ah comin'. Trust me, they're priceless to a study abroad student!

Becky Lovell

Room 502 Hall D

Lingnan University

Tuen Mun

Hong Kong