Donald RUMP

I'm so thankful on blogger you can now upload videos much easier. Check out this one from camp. It's of Kevin being Donald RUMP.

I've really enjoyed hanging out with the international students this semester. Here are some picture highlights:


Celebrating Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival


Showing the students around the DC area


Playing some sand volleyball with the dorm (we won first place!)

Dinner at Ogawa


I love these people!


Taking them out for Cold Stone Ice-Cream

Day 1 of welcoming in the Hong Kong students went terribly wrong.

For starters, my family is in Oklahoma due to the sudden loss of my grandfather which means that cleaning the house and odds-and-in jobs like getting groceries was up to me and my little 16-year-old brother. And lets get real, has anyone ever succeeded in motivating a teenager to clean the house for someone elses guests??? Heck no.

Then we get to throw into the mix that the house, for the first time since we moved in 15+ year ago, is getting the walls painted and our carpet taken out. Perfect timing, eh?! So if you were to walk into my home now, you'd see the no carpet, just stained green foam and some nails sticking up from the edges of the room. YUCK! If you didn't faint from that aweful sight you'd surly pass out from the fumes caused by the newly coated walls. Not to mention our furniture is moved to the center of the room and covered in clear plastic sheet protectors.
You won't here me say these phrases:
"Welcome, please make yourself feel right at home and take a seat on our furniture."
WAIT- we don't have furniture in our living room for them to sit on!

"Can I fix you something to eat?"
WAIT- we don't have an oven because the wall behind it is being painted and the kitchen table is covered in boxes!

Someone call the whaa bulance right?!
No help or a presentable house were things I couldn't control. I can accept that. But what I can't accept is my poor decision making. For example, my decision to print out directions to the airport at the last minute which caused me to be late for the grand arrival. Or my decision to not ask for help to pick up the students from the airport(Have you tried fitting 4 study abroad students luggage into one trunk???)
Really, what was I thinking???

If riding in a car for 2 hours with your luggage on your lap wasn't a 'Welcome to America' culture shock for the students then I defenitely won them over with they saw a cocroach run across the bathroom floor.

Wow. I tried...I mean I really tried to do a good job. My best does not even come close to doing the job.

Run-down of summa' time

Whew! Much to blog. Here is the run-down of my summer:
I've been working 8-5 at Eastern Division, a med school branch of WVU in Martinsburg. My job is basically office help but honestly, I love it! I work with great, I mean GREAT, women who have been such a positive role model for me and other co-workers.

After my job ended in early August I was a camp leader at Rockbridge for middle school students.




And I just got back from Oklahoma:

Top 10 fun facts about myself

1. I prefer my pancakes to be WAY undercooked. If no one is watching, I’ll top my pancakes with the batter and a little syrup. Scrumptious!

2. I secretly have always wanted to own and drive a motorcycle.

3. YOUR MOM jokes never, ever get old with me

4. I was the only one to get grounded in my family. I hated (hate is a strong word but it’s rightfully used in this context) middle school choir and tried to skip the concert…lied to my parents….and got caught.

5. I hope that someday I’ll have the courage to adopt international children and house exchange students to help break cultural barriers.

6. I don’t have the initiative to learn another language except I've always been fascinated with sign language. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to take come classes at WVU.

7. I wish I blogged more.

8. Red heads do have an immediate connection. Get over it.

9. I can’t just see a movie. I want to overanalyze it, debate it, and watch all of the special features.

10. I have a lot of pride of my roots and family. Don’t mess.

I'll be tagging my Uncle Jasen, my sister, and Stephanie shortly!

TAG

Guess what?! I've been tagged.
Top 10 in the making....

Last weekend Jamie and Lauren (two dear friends from my glory days of high school) attended our high school classmate, Shannon Boone’s wedding. We had high hopes of arriving early, getting a good seat, and taking tons of pictures for her ‘big day’. Due to not waking up to an alarm and having to purchase a last minute gift, we didn’t get around to leaving till 30 minutes before the wedding…AND (here's the clincher) without directions to the church. lol We thought we were covered because we knew the church was off of King Street, not a big deal right?! But do you have any idea how many flippin’ churches are off King Street??? You’d think the whole town would be converted. Seriously though we must have passed over 25 churches.
5 minutes till the wedding started we broke down and called Jamie’s dad for directions.
3 minutes past the hour we ran inside the church only to find the organist playing and EVERYONE LOOKING AT US WALK IN (our panting from running and heals we must have created quite a scene). Straight ahead we see the bridesmaids and Shannon in her dress waiting to walk down the aisle. OMG I can’t believe we walked in when the bridesmaids were about to walk! To make matters worse, we were stopped by the guestbook Nazi (I’m joking because I was one of them the week before). “Please sign the guestbook, name and address!” At first we laughed, you’re kidding right?! We can just sign it afterwards. But by her ‘you better sign that guestbook or I’ll tackle you’ look we could tell she was on a mission. After the three of us signed our name AND address we tried to sprint to the nearest open seat. But, we were stopped by the wedding escort who must have read up on wedding etiquette because he only walked forward using his right foot. Once the right footed trek ended the bridesmaids started walking down the aisle and the three of us couldn't stop laughing.

+1 for the 'remember when' stories.

Wedding Bells

One down-two to go for June weddings. Friends my age continue to 'tie the knot' left and right. (btw- where did that phrase originate anyway?) I guess it's a hazard of being in your 20's.

The Ely wedding (see picture above) was absolutely stunning. Perfect weather + great company + live jazz band = one fun evening. Props to Bari for planning the beautiful ceremony and classy reception.

I can't help but think I'm so far from being ready to 'settle down' and GASP get ma-ma-married. Sorry mom and dad but ugh...you're going to have to put those grandkid dreams aside for a looong time.

MOVIE TIME

No really...I've downed A LOT of movies over the past two weeks. It's quite sad actually. I knew the addiction was out of control when Adam at Video Warehouse greeted me when I walked in the door (and the fact that I knew Adam's name). But hey, the first step is recognizing the problem exists right?!

Let me suggest these movies to you:
Before Sunset

Primal Fear
(and anything with Edward Norton for that matter)

and (DUH) Pride & Prejudice

Pictures tell 1,000 words

I'm impressed that I remembered my password after not blogging for weeks.
Here is a quick run-down of what's happened so far in the USA:

My little brother graduated


All of my friends are getting married

Bari's bridal shower

Young Life Leadership Weekend in Rockbridge


MUCKFEST


Charleston ROADTRIP


Plus I've started my J-O-B at the WVU Med. Center and have downed hundreds of movies.

Day #1 back in USA

I got an early start to the day (joke) and woke up at 3pm. It's going to take me a bit to adjust to the Eastern Time Zone. Today's 'must-do' was to renew my drivers license that expired in March. My mom and I (yes she had to drive me) headed out around 4pm, and everything was smooth sailing till I realized that the wrong zip code was on my records which led to redoing the license all over again. Go me.
"Is anything else wrong on your information?" the woman asked.
"Well...the weight is wrong too. 150 was back in my prime." LOL We both had a good laugh over that.

When I returned home from the DMV I checked my e-mail and was 'shot to the heart' when I found out the intership I was banking on had already been filled. Ouch. I should have had a more solid "plan B". Anyone have any ideas on what I should do this summer? Better yet, what I should do with the rest of my life???

Around 6pm I couldn't fight it anymore, I had to catch the 'zzz's. I'm driving my poor mom crazy because she's trying to get me to adjust to the USA sleep schedule.
"Becky, you really just need to stay awake and go to bed at a normal time."
"Mom, my resistance ain't that strong."
Next thing you knew I was out for a good two hours.

On the up-side of things my cold is getting way better. Which is comforting to my brothers who were worried when I told them I got sick in mainland China. Red flag: bird flu. (btw- if it really is bird flu I'll feel horrible for those jokes for the rest of my life) I assured them, people get common colds in Asia too. lol

After my nap, I went walking with my dad and a good friend Sarah, at the high school track. Today's simple joy: People who listen.

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a highschool classmate and fellow Mountaineer so (dang it) I'll have to set an alarm. lol Also, SARAH COMES HOME tomorrow night. Woot-woot.

ps- Culture shock: seeing an abundance of clothes. lol I didn't know what to do with myself when I saw all of my sisters clothes in our room. I've been living off the same 3 outfits for 5 months.

Coming back to the USA

It's nearly 4am and I'm not a bit tired. Gotta love time differences. I need to take my moms advice and "go to bed on the locals time clock" but I want to blog a bit about returning to the USA and culture shocks.

My flight left HK at 8:15am which meant that I had to catch the 5:30am bus at Fu Tai. Since I didn't get back from Beijing till 10ish the night before I had to pull an all-nighter to pack up the room. I HATE packing! At 5am Dan and Carolyn met at Hostel D's entrance to help take my bags down. Again- I've made some really great friends here at Lingnan. I slept the entire bus ride and had to be woken up by the driver. My brain was everywhere but the airport. For example, as soon as I walked into the airport I regrouped my bags and upon walking up the the NWA ticket counter I realized I left my travel bag that held my passport, camera, and credit card on the chair where I was reorganizing. LOL Praise God no one stole that thing or else I'd still be in China (wait a second...maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.)

Once I snag my bag on the chair and walk up the NWA conter again I'm hit with the reality that I didn't even bring my online ticket confirmation number. Wow. I played it cool and just handed my passport and prayed that they'd let me through.

Luck was on my side because they let me get on AND didn't say a word about my oh-so-stuffed-to-the-max suitcases. Score.

I thought I was winning the days battles but I'm afraid the flight defeated me. I caught a cold in Beijing (grr) so a stuffy head, swollen eyes, and cough, made the people sitting beside me want to secretly ask the stewardess for a seat change. Call the whaaa bulance but the flight was just was really, really, long.

But seeing my mom at the main gates made it all worth it. Ahhhh family. I love how some things never change...like the fact my mom got lost on the way home from the airport. LOL It's the small things.

For my first dinner back in the USA I got a DQ blizzard. nice. The best part of it all was that I didn't have to pay.

Maybe the 'summer at home' thing won't be that bad :)
I'm excited for the QT with the fam'

The Great Wall

THE Great Wall of China. I was there. What a great way to top the study abroad experience. I feel like I've done it all now.

In the pictures do you see the green pants?! Well it was a double-dare from my older sister. She sent me a box with the pants and a note saying that I have to wear the pants and take pictures. lol So why not go above-and-beyond and wear them on The Great Wall?! I hope I'm never to old to complete double-dog-dares.

Alex, Heidi, Elizabeth and I (all Lingnan students) went out to dinner at this REALLY good restaurant that Heidi's parents suggested we go to. They also paid for the feast=double great. The food consisted of lamb kabab, lemon chicken, fresh fruit and vegetables, seafood, and bread. Then they brought all sorts of performs from kungfu demonstrations to hip-hop dance. The night ended with a dance party. Elizabeth summed it up perfectly, "You know in movies sometimess everyone breaks into a musical or dance at the same time?! I can't believe that actually happens in real life too."

Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

Once we found our hostel (it was a relief after walking around an hour+ with our bags) we showered and met up with my friend Jessica Li's cousin for Beijing's finest, PeKing duck. Wow. It was SO good!


The following day I cruised around the city and toured the Forbidden City (which btw goes on and on and on...)
and Tiananmen Square. AHH words can't describe how it felt to 'walk the walk' where the 1989 protestors stood. Chills just thinking about it! As much as I hate admitting this, I couldn't stop thinking, "I can't wait to show these pictures and tell these stories to my class." DANG IT! I try so hard to dodge being a teacher (change major, refuse to buy teachery clothes,...) but sometimes I just can't help it!

Beijing...oh Beijing.

Going into China's capital I had the preconceived notion that, "Oh Beijing will be soooo much like Hong Kong because *flick hair* like they're like both big cities in China." Umm no.

Sometimes I wonder about myself. DUH BECKY being under British rule for 90+ years changes a LOT of things. For starters, they drive on the right side of the road, have religious freedom, and the food is much spicier (yes!).

But I also noticed other little things that were much different then Hong Kong like seeing trash on the ground or (gasp!) homeless people sleeping in the subway station. What is this?! Can it be, a normal mega-metropolitan city?! (Ok you won't get these notions till you've lived in Utopia (aka Hong Kong) where you find no trash on the ground and it's a rare site to see homeless people anywhere.

Arrival:
My flight landed in Beijing about 3pm and after getting my very last travel passport stamp for this semesters study abroad experience (sad face), checked out my bags, and headed for the doors, I suddenly heard out of no where, "Becky!" God?! "Becky!" I look around and then see Alex and Heidi waiting for me. LOL Their flight arrived at 10ish and the 'took one for the team' and waited on me so I wouldn't get lost. Thank goodness they did because Heidi, a Mandarin speaker, was able to get us around the city with ease. We caught bus #2 and had a map of our hostel that was "Just a six minute walk from The Tien. Square". Riiiight The 6 minutes turned into an hour hunt.

First night:
Ok there are some things you just shouldn't do traveling on your own. One of them is staying in a dorm room in a hostel by yourself. Usually it's a safe and fun bet to save money. As Michelle Carrier says, "The shadier the hostel the better the stories."
Anyways, so I think I'm staying in a 8 person dorm room with bunk beds. I was shocked to walk into a room with three beds and two of them taken up by men (28+ year olds). It gets better. "So how did you two meet?" "The internet." "Well what brought you to Asia?" "The beautiful girls."
ugh. WHY??? I thought I saw the last of you creepy Western men.
Dear Asia,
I promise we do have solid men somewhere.
But mom don't worry because if I really didn't feel safe I would have spent the extra $4 bucks to get a double room by myself.

Other random things: I wish I spoke the language. It's much harder to get around and (obviously) communicate with locals. Also, people weren't kidding about the spitting problem. yuck. Construction is everywhere and they're pumped for the Olympics.

Minute update

Ugh I hate when I slack on blogging. Where do I begin on updating you on the last 2 weeks?!
Here is the 4-1-1 in a second: I finished my exams. I headed to Beijing. I packed up my room and headed on a jet plane. I'm back in the USA.

Exam Time -huh-

9:30am I had my very first final examination and was shocked to walk into the test area filled with 150+ chairs with assigned seats. “Please put your student ID in the right corner of your desk and place your personal items under your desk.” Whoa they’re serious. “It’s 9:30 you may now begin.” Oh great, the ACT all over again.

Surprisingly Exam 1, England History, went pretty well. We’ve already established that I’m a nerd so I have no shame in telling you that I enjoyed answering the final essay. I went to town on the sucker! Henry VII, Mary I, Elizabeth I, Charles I & II ain't got nothin’ on me. Shooooot.

I actually finished the exam one hour before the time was up which is huge in Becky Lovell world because I’m usually one of the last ones out due to my dad drilling me to double check my tests when I was younger.

I left the exam room thinking, you know I actually enjoyed this class and I learned a lot.
I wish I could have said the same for Exam #2 of the day, History of Islamic Society, at 6:30. I was doomed from the beginning, poor studying, and lack of concern, had me in. But I was also frustrated over the exam questions, especially the final essay worth 51% of the grade. Riddle me this: How has the West changed its viewpoint on Islam since World War I. (Ok those weren’t the exact words, yada yada, but it was something very close) It angered me because:
1. How can you answer that sort of 'since World War I' question in 5-7 paragraphs?
2. How can you generalize the “West” and “Islam” in such broad terms?

I left the exam room nearly shaking in anger. Relax Becky. About to explode, I took out my frustration on the school’s swimming pool till it closed.

Exam numero 3 is manana then I'm heading off to have a farewell dinner with the gals I went to Thailand with.

Rummikub

This past weekend I went to the KIBC youth retreat. The original plan was to go camping outside but due to the rain we rerouted plans and ended up camping out in the church. Bring on the board games ladies and gentlemen! When I opened up the games cabinet and saw the game Rummikub I screamed SWEET! You've gotta be a Tate (my mom's side of the family) to understand this excitement because my Great Grandmother is a Rummikub fanatic and every time we get together we play rounds of really competitive Rummikub.

But playing with the teens made me realize just how competitive I was. I said things like, “Oh no you can’t go down with a wild.” “Actually do you mind color coding that please?” “Well once you draw you can’t play it.” These are legit rules but they DIDN’T CARE AT ALL! lol I wasn’t used to this let’s just play for fun mindset.

I was so competitive and strict on the rules that by the end of the night no one wanted to play with me. Ouch.

Pimpin' my passport

HUM HA HA I finally got pages added onto my passport. woot woot

More to write- the library staff is lovingly kicking me out.