MARSHALL HAS ARRIVED!

Yup. He is here. In China. WITH ME!! Can a girl be any happier than this? We spent 2 days running around Beijing, freezing, laughing a lot, smiling a lot , and enjoying each other... a lot.

I have been telling Marshall about the beer in China for the past 4 months. He was pretty excited to drink some. It cost about $0.28.... he loves it here.

After a goods night sleep in the hostel it was time to hit the town...

First things first. We needed Starbucks. We were in Beijing. I needed America and Marshall needed coffee.

We found "Ley Mo Coffee". Compared to the 'bucks, they really are LeyMo

Of course we had to hit up the tourist locations while in Beijing.

We visited the Temple of Heaven..

While there, Marshall was introduced to the "Old People exercise Parks" in China. They are everywhere. Tons of work out equipment with old people everywhere. It was about 2 degrees and old people were dominated everything.

Marshall is obsessed.

I know Marshall flew across the world to be with me and eat real Chinese food...

but we were in Beijing, and they have Mexican. And Heidi needs enchiladas. He will have plenty of chances to eat Chinese food. He can sacrifice one Chinese meal for me...

The next day was full of more walking, and freezing, and self-timered pictures!

Self-timered picture at the Forbidden City. I need to learn to say in Chinese, "Will you take our picture, and you have to hold down on the button, oh and and make sure to take a few just in case I blinked or I look fat?"

We found Santa! "I know him. I know him" I didn't know Santa visited China.

When we got to Tiananmen Square Marshall was a celebrity.

Everyone wanted their picture with him. Why wouldn't they? He is so cute!

I love China. But I really love China with him here.

This is going to be ZZZzzzZZZ best 2 weeks!

kisses

It Feels Like Christmas!!!

MARSHALL IS COMING TODAY!!! AHHHH!!!

It's FINALLY HERE!!!! It's CHRISTMAS!!

After class I am off to Beijing to pick him up!!! I am pretty excited if you couldn't tell...

kisses.

A little piece of America.

Adam, an American teacher at our school not with our team but still our friend, celebrated a birthday. And we love birthday celebrations here.

So Robin and I waited while the troops gathered.

Adam wanted Korena BBQ. We felt total Asian at this joint.

We got to take our shoes off. It got kind of stinky and cold, but worth it for the feel of Asia..

We ordered lots of food

It did not last long...

And the fuwuyuan (waitress) had to creep over kylie to keep fixing our burner.

But she just laughed.

Birthday dinners are always fun.

There were birthday presents!

Pictures with Kevin because he looks like Dennis The Menace with his hair growing out.

And Robin. He is like my Gram, when she drinks like 3 sips of wine she is tipsy. Robin is like Grammie.

We had great company, delicious food, and Robin (not pictured, he wanted to take our picture)

All through dinner I kept talking about this new place that I have seen but yet to go in, "Beer Coffee Tea" the name just is enticing isn't it? I finally convinced everyone to go, and we hit the gold mine with this place. It feels like America, except for the entire Chinese staff and Chinese menu. It is close to our school, clean, hip, trendy, and you don't feel like you are in China. You feel kind of... cool there.

Beer decorated Christmas tree.... classy China.

Crazy slanted glasses. That is my fancy glass of orange juice. Best OJ in China.

Reminds me of my sweet momma!

They have a small stage with microphones for singing. And you better believe we sang all night. We were the only ones there except the workers, but they enjoyed it.

And at one point in the evening I looked over and saw this....

Robin massaging Kevin. And Kevin enjoying every minute of it. It was beautiful.

I love how I keep finding things that I love about my city.

and p.s. I am currently watching New Moon, yup it's still in theaters. I bought it for $1 downtown. I love my city.

kisses

Thank You for calling Whitney English...

This week in class our topic is "Interviews". Real exciting I know. But my kids are graduating and I felt we needed some real life applications for once... And since I have had so many jobs in my time I thought they could learn from me and all my experience... haha! I have gotten to reflect this week about my interview with Mrs. Whitney Kolb. First, I cant believe she ever hired me. And second. I miss that lady and that place. A Lot. A lot more than I ever imagined I would miss a "job". But it wasn't just a job. We were the definition of the mullet. Business in the front, party in the back. But with a lot of still professional business likeness...?

Every good office needs a PPC (Party Planning Committee)

And we were just the ones to plan and party! And I must say Chelsea and I had some pretty excellent office parties.

Pedro the Pinata lives on in our hearts forever.

We love holiday parties!

Spidey and The Bee sold more this day than any other day.

And every office needs a challenge to keep their staff motivated...

A Water Drinking Challenge.

Every office has departments. And some of those departments just dominate.

Team Customer Service dominated the world!

And every office needs an office romance. A Jim & Pam, a Kelly & Ryan, a Dwight & Angela. Take your pick of which office romance you prefer. But remember to keep it classy..

I prefer Jim & Pam. (No pictures of the 2 of us in the office together. We had to work in between falling in love :) haha!)

What is really great about that place are the relationships.

We heart ketchup.

The last supper.

Going Away BBQ Party!

Office Christmas Party Party Pic!

And when I decided that I was going to leave everything I have ever known and go to China for a year to teach English, they didn't fire me. They supported and encouraged me every step of the way. They continued to love me and let me be apart of their team. They didn't get mad that I wasn't going to be there for the insane holiday season, or for Fridays when the real crazies start calling, or even when their babies are going to be born. They just loved.

And when it was time to say good-bye, they drove to Stillwater for my going away party, and hung out with my friends and family. And they showed how much they care.

So I think I have a lot of experience to share with my students. I may not be an A+ interviewee, but I have more to talk about than just that. I have definitely told them how important finding a job is that you love. That you can find true friends in the office. It is simply amazing to me see how He has guided this crazy journey every step of the way. Just think, if I would have never taken the job right out of college with the big scary mean man, I would have never wanted to quit, and would have never stumbled upon Craigslist and applied for some random job. I would have never met these people and my life would not be the same. He is so good to us.

As the great Michael Scott has said,

"I think the main difference between me and Donald Trump is that I get no pleasure out of saying the words: you're fired. "You're fired." Oh, "you're fired." He just makes people sad. And an office can't function that way. No way. "You're fired." I think if I had a catchphrase it would be "you're hired, and you can work here as long as you want." But that's unrealistic, so."

kisses