Week 6

Well hello again!

The time seems to be flying by. I can’t believe I’ve been here over a month and half already. Part of me feels like I’ve only been here a week or so, and another part of me feels like I’ve been here for forever because I feel so comfortable here in Shanghai. Yes, it smells bad, I get stared at all the time, and people often try to rip me off because I’m foreign, but I really love being here.

As of right now, my consistent schedule allows me to go to all three meetings of church every week, which is just awesome. Christine says it might change in about a month, but hopefully I will continue to have Sunday mornings off. So, I’ve been teaching Music this past week. It’s been going...well it’s hard to say. Some classes have been great, really successful, and everyone enjoys them. Others though, haven’t gone as well. Not horrible, they were ok, just not great. It really depends on the kids in the class, the parents, and even which level I’m teaching. Christine will be observing some of my classes this week so she can give me feedback on how to improve, so that will be good. As for Play, Christine really wants me to be trying on Lead parts in a week and be full-on leading in two. It’s sort of frustrating because I haven’t been teaching Play much at all lately as I’m busy with Music and I’ve also been busy with this Yoga Fun class (I’ll explain later). This week I will be especially busy because Leona went out of town so I’m covering almost all of her Music classes, and she teaches Music quite a bit. We will also be opening up the new Music room this weekend so I’ll have some brand new classes. It’s exciting, but stressful still. Hopefully Christine will be understanding, she usually is.

Oh, so this Yoga Fun class! We’re having some Summer Camp classes during the month of August and so we’ll be having a Yoga Fun class. Christine paired Sara and me up and also put Jessie and Sherry together to design a class format and lesson plan for the class. We worked on them for two weeks and then presented/taught the classes to the instructors and the consultants. Christine really liked ours, and parts of Jessie and Sherry’s; we got some great feedback. Apparently there are already some Yoga Fun lesson plans but Christine wanted to see our ideas before she gave them to us. So now, she wants to put me sort of in charge of combining the new ideas with the original class format and put together the Yoga Fun class for the Summer Camp. It will be fun, but I don’t have much time and am feeling overwhelmed with this, combined with pressure to be a Lead and also taking so many Music classes. I think Christine forgets I’m still pretty new and pretty young and inexperienced. Although, it’s cool to know that she trusts me enough to give me so much.

Christine is so funny; when she suggests something or has an idea, she doesn’t just say “Hey, that would be cool if you did this...” She just tells you that it’s better if you do it her way. For example, this week she turned to me and said, “Alyssa, I think it’s better if you stay one year. Six months is too short. Yeah. It’s better you stay one year.” So yeah, I’ve been discussing with her and will be discussing with Paulina about the possibility of staying a whole year. I would still want to come home for Christmas though. I would go home as if my contract were over, renew my Visa, and then go out again for another six months as if I were the new intern. Gymboree wouldn’t be paying any more money to send me home and send me back, but actually saving money because they wouldn’t have to send me to training at Home Office like they would a new intern. No details have been worked out and I haven’t even decided if I want to for sure or not, but it’s definitely a possibility. Thankfully I don’t have to decide until September, so I have time.

I got to meet my new, beautiful niece this week! Skype is a wonderful thing. I was able to meet Vanessa Nicole Escalante via video chat when she was only 3 hours old. I had to wake up at Midnight to do so, but it was so wonderful. Most of the family was at the Hospital so I got to chat with them as well so it was way fun. She is such a beautiful baby! I can’t wait to meet her in person and hold her in December! She’ll be so big by then! Skype is so great! I’ve been able to see and say hello to Grandma and Grandpa, siblings, and friends this week. My mother and I Skype pretty much every day, just so she knows I’m safe and well :)

Chris, Nate, and I went to see Transformers 3 last week. It was in English with Chinese subtitles, and in 3-D. It was pretty good; I’m a fan of Transformers. Nate bought the wrong time though so we didn’t get to go in until super late. The movie theater was in a mall so we had dinner, window shopped, and bought ice cream to kill time. That meant we didn’t get home until really late though, so I was really tired the next day. I don’t know what it is about living abroad but I hate staying up late when I’m out of the country. When I live at home, it’s hard to go to bed before midnight, but here I hate staying up past 10. It’s great actually. Oh, the mall we went to is near my apartment, just one subway stop away. IT IS HUGE! We’re talking 11 floors, and each floor is plenty big. It has everything from restaurants, to Cold stone, to Nike, and even grocery stores. I went there on my off day just to eat and look for some new pants, but I had no idea it was so big. I was there for 3 hours and didn’t see even half of the mall, it’s ridiculous.

The weather here is so funny. It has been so hot this past week, just killer. It’s been about 35 degrees which is about 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and so very humid. Sunday I was running a little late in the morning and didn’t grab my umbrella. I actually didn’t grab it on purpose because my bag on Sunday is so heavy with scriptures and books and things for work. Also, I looked out the window before I left and there were almost no clouds and it was extremely sunny and hot. When I left church and got on the subway it was also still very hot and sunny, with just a few clouds, but that’s common as we live by the sea. By the time I got off the subway near my work, it was definitely raining. There were no taxis, no umbrella stands, and I was already going to be late. It wasn’t raining too hard, so I got out my little plastic fan, covered my hair, and started running to work in my Sunday clothes. Not even half a block on my way, it started to downpour! By the time I got halfway, I literally looked as if I had jumped into a swimming pool. When I got to work I had to ring out my dress and my co-workers had to bring me towels. I had dry clothes to change into and they put my clothes in the dryer but my hair and underwear were still pretty wet. I had to teach a class at 2:00 and by the time it was over, my underwear had soaked through my uniform and I had some pretty awkward wet spots on my clothes. It was pretty embarrassing. I think the parents knew what it was though, as my hair was still very wet and they knew how hard it was raining. By the time I got off work it has stopped raining and was extremely hot again. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this weather.

Oh, one other fun note. Sara and I were walking home from work the other day when she wanted to stop by a little noodle stand and get a snack. Next to it were some guys with a cooler selling drinks. I wanted to buy a juice so I asked how much it cost in Chinese. He told me, and I paid him. He then tried to talk to me in Chinese but I had to tell him that I didn’t understand. Sara translated for me and he said that I had a very good Chinese accent so he thought I spoke it fluently. He also thought I was from Russia and when Sara told him I was from the states, he continued to insist I look Russian. I was very flattered that he thought my Chinese is so excellent, and I’m continuing to work hard to learn more Mandarin! It’s hard, but a way cool language. So yeah, the drink guy was very nice, but some men are not so nice. I went to buy some cherries another day and the guy totally ripped me off because I’m foreign. He was trying to take basically all the money in my wallet, about 80 RBM for a stupid bag of cherries. Thankfully Sara was there and I called her over to help me figure out what was going on. He still ended up charging me too much and I should’ve just walked away without the cherries, but I’ll be honest, they were some pretty fantastic cherries. Another benefit of possibly staying a year here in Shanghai would be that my Mandarin would get pretty good and hopefully things like that wouldn’t happen anymore.

I’m so excited to hear that Trent and Noel and family are back in the states safely! I’m excited to see them in December! I’m also excited for Mike and Jodi as they take off on their way to Connecticut today! I’ve been able to Skype with them a couple times this past week before they left, which is great because it might be a while before I see them again. I’m so excited for this new opportunity for them and I hope all goes well.
Living in China is wonderful but definitely has its challenges. I miss you all and want to thank you for your love, prayers, and support. May God be with you.

Love,
Alyssa
...or Gah Liu Liu ;)

Week 5

Dear Wonderful People Who Read My Blog,

I feel like I just wrote a blog, but my mother insisted it’s time to write again, so here I go. Music training went well, I really learned a lot. Over the weekend I tried on most of the class for Music, but didn’t teach them completely by myself. Christine wanted to give me a few more practice times with another teacher, which I was totally OK with. Tomorrow I will be teaching my first Music class on my own, and there won’t be anyone observing or anything ... which really means, no translator...so I’m a little nervous about that, but hopefully it goes well. I’ll be teaching Music 2 which is ages 16 to 28 months. The theme this week is Caribbean, so it’s some really fun music. Besides no translator, my voice hasn’t been so great this week. I’ve half lost it so I can’t speak very loud and my singing is only so-so. The parents in this class are really nice though and I’m sure it will be OK.

Peace!

Me and the boys (at training)

Me and JJ! She's such a doll :)

All official and stuff

Gymbo and Me!

Last weekend I hung out with the interns in my Branch (Nate, Austin, and Chris) and it was super fun! We just met up in People’s Square and had dinner and talked, but it was so nice to socialize with Americans, Utahns even. We ate at Pizza Hut, which is actually like a really nice restaurant here in China, even though it’s kind of ghetto in America. We’re planning on hanging out again this week, and probably every week, which is great.

I got to go to all three meetings of church again on Sunday, which is always wonderful. I will no longer be sitting by Chris in sacrament meeting though. Not that he’s irreverent or anything, and I actually enjoy sitting next to him because our singing voices sound good together, but every time we sit together someone comes up and asks us if we’re married or dating. Nate came into sacrament meeting late and decided not to sit by us just because we looked like a “cute couple” and he thought it was funny. So yeah, I won’t be sitting by him anymore. I had to break the Sabbath and buy lunch before I headed into work, but so did Chris and Nate so we all went to McDonalds. I’m going to have to figure out how to prepare a lunch that doesn’t need to be refrigerated or heated up and that I can eat on the subway from church to work so I don’t have to buy lunch every Sunday. I think Christine is going to start letting me come in half day every Sunday so I can always go to all the meetings...I hope.

Actually with the schedule, it’s more convenient for her to just give me two half days and then one other day off instead of two whole days off. What a blessing. The new girls at my work are really great and progressing fast. With new instructors becoming assistants, that puts more pressure on me to become a Lead Instructor for Play. Hopefully Christine will give me time to get comfortable with Music first though. We are probably going to hire a guy next week, which is really exciting for the office because we only have girl instructors and they say we need more testosterone around. Christine wants to have 13 or 14 instructors by the end of the year, which will be great, except that our office is getting crowded with only the 9 that we have.

Today was prep day so there were no classes. We had another Show & Do meeting with the consultants, which is always fun. We were teaching them about the equipment in the play room and as I got inside the Rainbow Barrel they started rolling me around and tipping me upside-down! So, as you can tell, it’s very hard work that we take very seriously ;) We were supposed to have team building tonight but half of the instructors couldn’t come and I was feeling tired so I just went home after dinner, and the others went to an arcade place. Before I left, I got to meet Yo yo’s boyfriend. I was so surprised when I saw a white guy coming up the escalator! He’s Scottish I think, so he has a pretty cool accent. Oh, my co-workers are helping me find a Chinese name. They all have English and Chinese names, so I figured I should too. I don’t remember exactly, but I think we decided on Gah Liu Liu. Gah being my surname, and Liu Liu being my first name. My Chinese is coming along ok, I hope to be able to hold a simple conversation by the time I come home.

I’m so excited that my niece might be born this week! I look forward to meeting her via Skype soon and then in person come December. I appreciate the emails and comments that you guys send and the family newsletter too, it’s wonderful to hear that you are all doing well. I love you all and will write again next week.
Love,
Alyssa

Week 4

Hello all you lovely people in America! I hope you are doing well. I am doing pretty great. I have been pretty stressed lately with work, but all in good cause. Last week I went through and finished training for Play and Art.

Playing games at training

All official with my certificate!

At training graduation

Sara and I after the training graduation

Christine (Head Instructor) wants me to be trying on the Leading part of Play soon so I can take over some classes. I passed the Music test (sort of) and am now going through Music training, so I’ll be at the home office of Gymboree for the next few days and then I will teach some Music classes by myself this Friday, and Christine will just observe. I was really nervous and not looking forward to teaching Music, but I’m feeling a little more comfortable after my first day of Music training. I’m learning so much and it’s such fun.

Lovely shot, just walking home from work.



Today in training, we were all up dancing in a circle and singing together and I almost started crying. I wasn’t sure why at first, but then I realized because I knew that was exactly where I was supposed to be. I couldn’t imagine a better opportunity for me right now in my life than to be here in China teaching at Gymboree. I’m learning so much that I could never learn if I were still at home. I miss home and all of you, I do, but I’m so grateful to be here. It’s pretty tiring though because I didn’t get an off day last week, nor will I get one this week. The only good thing about that is that with no official off days, I can usually convince Christine to let me come in around 1 o’clock on Sundays, which means I get to go to all of church.

Last Sunday I wasn’t able to go to church since I had to take over Jo Jo’s classes while she was gone. I had such a hard week last week. I was learning so much and enjoying training, but I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t being my normal, happy self. I was quiet and not talking much to others, and when I would get home at night, I would just go to bed without any dinner, feeling unmotivated to do much. But then this past Sunday, after church, I felt so rejuvenated! I then realized, that’s why I was having such a crummy week. Church does so much for me! Don’t ever forget to take advantage of your Sabbath day and the opportunity that you have to go to church; it’s wonderful. Also, I talked in church on Sunday. I talked on Personal Sacrifice. Everyone really enjoyed it and I got a lot of positive feedback. I shared a wonderful story of my ancestors who joined the church years ago (the Stewart family I believe) and what they had to sacrifice for the Gospel. I also shared a great story of a wonderful single mother who sacrificed so much to take care of her five children while working and going to school to get her Ph.D. so she could give them a better future. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, that’s the story of my wonderful mother. Everyone really liked the talk - it was great.

There are some BYU students staying in Shanghai right now, a group of 8 biology majors (all attractive young men!) and they came to our meeting. They were late though so they stayed for the 10:30 meeting to take the sacrament. I hope they come to our meeting on time next week. Chris, Austin, Nate (the other interns in the ward), and I are all planning hanging out this weekend. It should be great fun! Sadly, Wesley moved suddenly so he’s now in Hong Kong continuing his internship work.

Hmmm ... what else happened this week? Sara and I got off training a little bit early on Saturday so we went shopping in People’s Square. It has fantastic shopping where you can barter and get really great deals. I bought a few new things and they’re so beautiful! I really like the styles here in China, and I’m pretty good at bartering (with the help of Sara translating a little) so I can get great deals. We then met up with Lincoln and Michael for dinner. Sara’s birthday is next week so hopefully we’ll do something fun to celebrate it!

Yesterday (Monday) we had a lot of meetings, but it was a fun day.

Changing the setups on Monday. Before ...

...and after!

After changing all the setups, we did a “Show & Do” training of Art for the consultants so they can better understand our art program so they can sell it better. This was an Art 2 class so we got to do the dress up! It was so fun running around in little kid dress up clothes, acting like toddlers! My co-workers are really great!

Christine dressed up as ... a horse? Not sure exactly

Some of the consultants and instructors playing dress up.

Jessie and Sherry!

Yoyo!

Jojo!

We also had a meeting in the morning and some awards were given, as it was the big semi-annual meeting. Yo yo got an award for the Instructor department so she treated us all for Milk tea! I, of course, don’t drink tea so she got me a mango smoothie instead. Yum! We also celebrated some people’s birthdays so we had cake too. It was a great day!

Oh, I almost forgot. On Saturday, before Sara and I went shopping, we stopped by my apartment so I could get some more money. She saw my picture of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and immediately said “OH! That is a holy place!” She then was staring at the picture of Jesus Christ on the wall before we left and said, “He looks so.... (she paused as she tried to find the words in English)...so...full of love!” All I could do was smile and say, “Yes!”, but nothing more. I sort of hate the law about not active or passive proselytizing. Sara has an amazing spirit, and is so sensitive and can feel the light of Christ through my lifestyle and example; I know she can. It’s so frustrating to not be able to share the Gospel with her. I even have a Book of Mormon in Chinese, but I can’t give it away. Hopefully someday I can share the truth with her. I am looking forward to my mission so much! I hope to put in my papers next summer!

Oh, another thing I forgot. We just hired two new girls and they’re going through pre-training. I haven’t talked with them much since I’ve been busy with training, but so far they seem to be great girls! Their names are Jessie and Sherry.

Well, that’s life in China as of late. Hasn’t been too exciting with all the training, but still fun. I love you all so much!
Thanks for reading!

Yes. That is a man on a bicycle carrying a massive amount of styrofoam.