China Trip 2017!

Hello, friend!

I just got back from China, and am writing this at 7:33 am because of some SERIOUS jet lag(Beijing is 13 hours ahead of Madison, WI). My whole family and I just got back from our trip to China, and we visited Beijing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou in approximately 11 days if you include the two delays we had due to two of our planes being cancelled. We didn't mind, however, because we got to stay in one of the nicest hotels ever!

Our trip began in Beijing, where I was born and adopted from. We had hired tour guides for when our family was in both Beijing and Chengdu, and they told us all about China and the sights we were seeing. On our first full day we visited the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs, which is where a bunch of emperors from the Ming Dynasty are buried. The Great Wall was FANTASTIC to see in real life. I had seen many pictures of it before this trip, but seeing it up close and personal was a whole different experience. The temperature in Beijing was crazy hot. It was like 99 degrees Fahrenheit every day, and the humidity was also really high. Being hot and sweaty is just a way of living in Beijing. My mom and I had our umbrellas out, and I was so glad that I brought mine because I used it all day when we were visiting the Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square.

The Great Wall goes on for so long!

I was so surprised to see cats all the way up the wall!

The Ming Tombs

A Ming Dynasty Emperor with cash on the floor.

The next day, we visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven. It was another blazing hot sunny day, so as you will see in the following pictures, there are so many umbrellas out! The Forbidden City is so large,  and beautifully decorated. I literally could not imagine building it or the Great Wall without the modern technologies we have now. We ate at this poppin' restaurant for lunch, and got some fantastic noodles and taro balls for desert. I was glad that we got to eat one of the best meals on Father's Day! We also went to a tea house and I got a cool mug that changes from saying China Panda into a picture of a two pandas! We bought some tea as well and my mom bought a tea set.

In the Forbidden City, there are "Foo dogs," to protect from evil spirits.

Mao outside of the Forbidden City.

Inside the Forbidden City!

Inside the gardens in the Forbidden City. Finally, some shade! :)

I found this in the Temple of Heaven park.

The Temple of Heaven!

After we went to the tea house, we visited the Temple of Heaven. Our tour guide told us that the emperor would go inside the Temple of Heaven and pray for good harvests that year and worship heaven. I also found out that yellow is a royal color in China, and if you wore yellow in the Forbidden City and were not royal, you would be put to death! Pretty strict penalty for a certain color.

That night, we met with some disciples from the Beijing Church, and had communion together. I got to meet Jacob, a son of one of the disciples, and he was a 10 year old lil' kid who spoke English! He was adorable and asked me what my favorite color was. There were little Chinese babies EVERYWHERE, and my mom and I enjoyed pointing them out when we passed them. A lot of people and kids also would come up to us and look at my mom. They would stare as she walked by, and it was funny because she would say, "Ni hao," (hello) to them, and the they would say, "Hallo!" in English back to her!

On our last day in Beijing, we visited the place that I was abandoned and then found, my orphanage, and the Summer Palace. My parents had kept the information that the orphanage received from the Police about where I was found, and so we visited the little community where I was found and I got to take some pictures of the area.

It was outside of this building where I was found, and God changed my whole life!

 We had a little hiccup with the orphanage visit, and therefore we couldn't see any of the kids or see too much, but we did get to go inside briefly and see how the buildings looked from the inside. It looked like a nice place, and it was crazy to imagine that I spent a small piece of my life here.

"Providing children with a sound environment for their development, encouraging them to be open-minded and clever."

 I'm definitely adopting a child when I'm older. My reasoning is this- why have your own child when there are so many other children who already exist, and don't have good homes or a family?

After the orphanage, we visited the Summer Palace, which was a great place to end the Beijing part of our trip. The Summer Palace was gorgeous, and I certainly wasn't expecting Beijing to be so lush and green(even though there is so much pollution). Apparently, the emperor would spend his "get-away," at the Summer Palace, which made sense considering how beautiful it was.

A group of boys came running up to my mom at the Summer Palace, and asked if they could take a picture with her because they were making an "America's Got Talent," show(?). They got their selfie and quickly ran away! My brother and I were laughing so hard. I guess my mom's a celebrity in China!

Mom and her fans.

Still inside the Summer Palace!

A cement boat! Wowza!

Many people would also come up to me and speak Chinese to me, and I would just stand there and feel quite stupid, even though I've been taking Chinese for three years in high school and know how to say, "I'm from America," or, "I don't know." It felt so weird being in a place where everyone expected me to know how to speak Chinese since I looked the part, but I couldn't. I definitely want to continue to learn Chinese in college though, and then go back to China again. :)

Our next stop in China was visiting Chengdu, which is where the pandas are!! The panda breeding center was so large, and I was glad to know that the pandas there have a lot of room to live and have fun and aren't showing weird psychotic behavior like most polar bears do at zoos. 

Taking a bath!

Found a panda holding ice cream!

Eating.

This panda was playing with a toy!

There are two pandas here, trying to fight for a spot in the tree!

A baby panda born in April!

A whole gathering of pandas doing what they do best- eating bamboo!

They are seriously the cutest animals on Earth. 

We also met with some disciples in the Chengdu church, which was really cool. The day that we arrived in Chengdu we met Rita, Sophie,  and Cindy and her husband who lead the church in Chengdu and ate some dinner with them. Then the next day after visiting the pandas we ate at a hot pot restaurant with another disciple named Lily. Hot pot is where you have a pot of boiling broth veggies and you throw anything you want into it, let it cook, and then you eat it! Definitely one of my favorite meals. 

It was really cool having all these connections to disciples in the China churches. We stayed in Chengdu only for one whole day to see the pandas, and then flew to Guangzhou. Guangzhou was sososo beautiful, and we met so many more disciples and spent lots of time with them. We didn't have an official tour guide in Guangzhou, but we had a friend named Jason from church who my mom actually met at a campus conference two years ago. He kindly gave up his time to tour us around and introduce us to many other disciples there! He took us on the metro, which was a fun experience, and taught us how to navigate on the metro(it wasn't that bad!). When we weren't taking the metro, we would wander around our hotel. It was on Shamian island, a beautiful, expensive place, where many people came to take pictures. Guangzhou felt like a tropical almost jungle? It rained at least once every day, or at night, and it was really humid but so green everywhere!

A bougie Starbucks, with an upstairs!

Down a cute alleyway with some lanterns. 

A park close to our hotel. Everyone's out and enjoying their Saturday!

View from the park!

People are taking pictures, and kids are painting.

So many children rode on the bikes with their parents like this! 

One of the entrances to our island!

After Guangzhou, we stayed near the airport for a couple of days waiting for a new plane to get home on since the first one was cancelled, and we eventually made it home safe and sound. This trip was a trip that I will never forget! It was so packed with Chinese culture, and I'm so grateful that I was able to go to China.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Joy :) 

May Favorites

Hello, friend!

Today is the first day of June! Woohoo! We are almost halfway through the year. This month has been a great month full of new music, adventures with friends, and exceptional weather. Here are some of my faves from this month!

Watch/Listen

Basically my favorite song this month has been "Malibu" by Miley Cyrus. This song gives you such happy summer vibes, and I know that I will be listening to this song all summer, especially as I travel! Another artist that I've been listening to this month is Jasmine Thompson. She became big on Youtube from her music covers and released an album this month! I specifically like the songs "Old Friends" and "Wonderland." I've also discovered that Ruth B, the girl who sings "Lost Boys," actually has an entire album and it is so magical and her voice is so pure. She has such a beautiful sound in all of her songs that is unique and her ability to tell a story through her music is unreal!! "If This is Love," is an amazing song by Ruth.

I definitely suggest that you watch travel vlogs(if you have time)! My brother and I both really like watching FunForLouis on Youtube, and right now he is in the Dominican Republic living in a tree house in a jungle. I'm basically living vicariously through his vlogs! Adelaine Morin, who really is apart of the makeup community on Youtube, has been vlogging her trip to Greece. She's almost done with the vlogs, but they are so cool to watch. She has such a positive and bubbly personality that is nice to watch if you need a pick-me-up! :)

This is a picture from Adelaine's vlog to Greece! *heart-eye emoji*

Apps

One app that I've been using this month is Plant Nanny! It's so cool because basically you choose a plant and then you get to "water" it when you drink a glass of water! It sends you reminders to drink water everyday. I have been using it here and there, it's sometimes hard to remember to fill up your plant even if you have been drinking water! It's really cute though and and is a good reward for drinking lots of water which makes you healthier.

Food

Hmm so for food this is so random but I've been loving pad thai. I went out to dinner with my family and some friends last week and we went to a thai place, and the thai food was so good! My mom and I also make pad thai at home and we made pad thai like two weeks ago as well, and the trick is to get the special sauce from the asian market! Pad thai is a noodle dish with your choice of meat and cabbage, carrots(sometimes), peanuts, green onions, and the sauce! 10/10 highly recommend if you haven't ever tried pad thai and you love noodles/asian food!

Fashion

Me, Jess & Jess at Six Flags

I've been wearing stripes. A lot. It's my lazy t-shirt no effort style that I love. Also, I've been wearing my white sneakers from Asos.com that have a little pink/peach splash of color on the backs of them. I wore them to Six Flags Great America actually, and they held up so well! Oh and I also wore my new fanny pack from Forever21 there and it was PERFECT for holding my phone and money. I definitely suggest fanny packs 25/7 they are so comfortable and then your hands are so free.

Well that's the end of my favorites for the month of May! I can't wait to see what June will bring.
Have a great rest of your week!
Joy :)

Seven Tips to Conquer Finals!

Hello, friend!

I know that finals season is going to be upon many of us very soon, so I decided that I'd share with you guys some of the things that I do to study for high school finals. Okay, let's get staaaaarted!

1. Make a study schedule.
This has been one of THE most valuable things that I have ever done in my high school career. I find my bullet journal(which I can make a more in-depth blog post about later if you want), and then write  down the dates of all of my finals. Then I figure I should start studying for my more difficult finals in a week in advance, so that I don't feel stressed the weekend of. You can go more thorough with your schedule and plan out what exactly you're going to study on which days, or not, if you feel pretty confident at your pace. Reviewing over a longer period of time is way more useful than cramming! Your brain has a longer time to process and remember the information, and you will have a higher chance at succeeding! You will probably be surprised at how much time you actually have to study when you sort it all out. My finals schedule normally looks something like this:

2.  Review with groups AFTER you have studied by yourself.
The emphasis on AFTER can not be stressed enough! When I hear people talk about concepts that I haven't reviewed in a while, I get overwhelmed with all that I don't know, and this can be avoided! Studying at your own pace beforehand and then going over some practice problems, vocab words, etc with other people will be much more beneficial for you and your friend's time.

3. Study in a nice place that's not your room.
I definitely recommend going into a room that is quite boring and doesn't have a lot of things that can distract you(your phone lol 10/10 throw it away that week). OR, if you can, go out of the house and to  a library or Barnes and Noble and treat yourself to a coffee study date by yourself! Those atmospheres can be really perfect because you are stuck with nothing to do BUT study.

4. Put on classical music.
This is so weird, but it is actually so calming and you will just feel more intellectual listening to it. When I was studying for AP U.S. History, I would listen to classical music along with this "rainy mood," website playing in the background(it's basically the sound of rain, link here), and it helped me to block out all of the other noises in my house and focus more on what I was studying. Even if it doesn't work, it's great to be more well-rounded in your music taste!

5. Try to get a good night's sleep the week leading up to finals too!
I know that many people suggest getting a good nights sleep the night before your finals, but even while you're studying, if you get a good night of sleep you will be able to focus way better and take in information easier than if you are staying up every night to cram all the information in your head. The study schedule should help you to manage your time wisely if you follow it, so that you WON'T have to stay up all night cramming.

6. Use online resources.
There are so many great websites out there to help you do well at finals! One cool website that I've used multiple times before is quizlet, and online flash card website. You can make your own flashcrd sets, search for others' sets, and put the app on your phone so you can study on the go! Also, there are study bloggers (studyblrs for short) on tumblr.com and websites like that that will get you inspired to study and make cute notes and be organized. Here is one studyblr that I get a lot of great ideas from: Hermione 2.0,  Just make sure not to spend too much time on their blogs! ;)

7. Don't forget to reward yourself/Take breaks!1
Very important! Even if you call a friend up for an hour in between your studying, I find that it's super helpful and refreshing to do that instead of spending time on my phone for breaks. After I take AP tests even, I will most likely go out to eat with my friends and celebrate that the long haul of studying is finally over! Rejoice that you're done testing, and don't talk too much about the final with your friends. This can stress you out more than you know, and you can't go back and change the past. No regrets!! :)

Remember, finals aren't the end of the world as well. There's more to life after your final and school, even! You will do an amazing job.

Best of luck!
Joy :)

Moving: A Reflection

Hello, friend!

For this week's blog post, I'm just gonna talk about moving and why it's crazy and fun but overall a good thing.

(picture from @drawings_for_my_grandchildren in insta)

At my new school, I meet lots of new people every week who ask me the same questions about moving:

What's different about your new town from your old one?

Do you like Ann Arbor or Madison better?

How does your new school compare to your old one?

 My answers to these questions are, "Well, Madison is 2x the size of Ann Arbor, I like them both(and I can't really compare four years in Ann Arbor to 9 months in Madison), and my new high school is smaller in building size but bigger in population by adding 200 more students than my last school." These answers are short and sweet, and if I am feeling more comfortable with the person or we have enough time, I can go more in depth about what moving is really like. For my readers who have never moved, I will explain what my experiences with moving have been like, and if you have moved, maybe you will be able to compare them to mine and see if we have any similarities. :)

Moving is strange because you are simply stopping your life in one place that you have become familiar with, and beginning it in another. You have to start over with friends, school, street names, landmarks.. even the culture of the new place. For example: I had never heard of cheese curds before moving to Madison. They sound absolutely revolting, but are actually really delicious fried curdled milk. If you have a party in Wisco and didn't have cheese curds, was it really a party?.

There are also some lingering internal questions up in the air, about moving, like, "Who will I ACTUALLY keep in touch with when I move," and, "Is the new city that I'm moving to as great as the place I'm in now?". Moving is just as frightening as it is exciting, because you're going on an adventure outside of your comfort zone(in my opinion, the best stories come from these adventures).

Once you get to your new home, it just takes time to become familiar with it. All your furniture in your old house is in the new one and it seems awkward at first until you make memories in your house like celebrating Christmas, and Halloween. It also takes time to get to know the streets and you celebrate each new place that you can get to without using your GPS. You go to school and realize that there are so many people in the hallways that you see that you will never meet, because you'll only be at this school for a year before college. Navigating the new school can be difficult at first, because you were just in a school that you had known and could have navigated with your eyes closed and now are in a whole new school building where everything is foreign and you don't know how it flows.

Moving can be lonely at times because it is one thing to move away for college as a freshman when everyone else is moving with you, but it is another thing when you are the only one doing it. Even if you have you whole family by your side moving with you, YOU are the only one who can feel YOUR experiences.

It's exciting when you meet new people who resemble other friends you had in your old town, or completely new people who you are grateful for the opportunity to have met them. The biggest benefit of moving are the people. You will have a more diverse knowledge of human beings from different places and backgrounds, and then make some best lifelong friends who you wouldn't have ever met had you not moved. Your familiarity levels just drop a whole lot when you move and can't recognize people everywhere you go, though. Sometimes, it's surprising when you randomly think of people from your old town who you weren't even close friends with, and you wonder how they are doing and what ever happened to so-and-so.

Now that I've moved twice, and visited Ann Arbor after being in Madison for nine months, I can genuinely say that moving to Ann Arbor was a great thing. It was extremely hard at first, but during that trip back, I spent some time thinking about how much I'd learned and how many people I'd met while moving. The friendships that I made in only four years there have changed my life, and they help me to I realize that moving is a literal blessing and  that it is a huge chunk of my story that I am proud of. I definitely believe that it will be the same here in Madison, especially as I transition into college here over the next several months!

Being able to go back to Ann Arbor last month was amazing, and here are some pictures from when I hung out with my friends:

 

Maybe this blog post was long overdue, but I'm just glad that I could put this into words!
Thanks for reading!
Joy :)