Brief Update

I know I haven't update in a while, so for whoever reads this, a brief synopsis of what's up:

The last month has brought a LOT of change....good change, but I have been incredibly busy. Schedule changes were part of all this change. Suffice it to say, I have a 9-5....except in China it is more like an 8-7. I am busy, but really enjoying it and finding that I have a lot of sweet opportunities and relationships as a result.

Other things that people want updates on:

-my Mongolian learning has slowed down, but Mandarin is still progressing well. I still have weekly Chinese lessons and of course, at work I communicate with coworkers and clients in Mandarin a lot of times. Always mindful of how much further I have to go with language learning, but it is a really good opportunity to practice.

-I have a studio apartment, a dog, and life feels way too grown-up for me sometimes. Yes, I realize I am almost a quarter-century old, but I still feel like a wide-eyed teenager some days.

Things that I have done that felt old this week:

-bought an oven (and was extremely excited about it)

-got a VIP card for buying dog food (woohoo! haha). You can get VIP cards for anything here.

-got flowers from a boy

-kissed that boy on the cheek (just to clarify, in the context that was entirely appropriate, but it still felt like an old lady/European thing to do)

Other things....cute barista.

Well, shockingly,......we have a fairly normal relationship now. He taught a friend and I to play mahjong the other night. While he started by dramatically declaring that it was too hard a task to teach a foreigner mahjong, he changed his tune and was impressed that we were able to catch on (and subsequently beat him).

Overall, life is busy...but good. I don't have a lot of downtime, but the bit that I do have is sweet and fruitful. I'm enjoying my life here in China and thankful for all God's blessings in my current stage of life. 天天快乐！