Happy Chinese New Year!

Hey Everyone!!

So I'm back from China, but I just wanted to wish everyone Happy Chinese New Year!!

I received an e-mail from Amanda, the woman who runs the Orphanage in Xi'an, and she had all the babies dressed up soo cute for the new year! I've posted a picture so you can see Heather. Hope everyone is doing well.

Love,

Brooke

P.S. Chech out Amanda's blog at http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com/.

Hey Guys!

So life is pretty chill, it rains a lot now. Still not you would call cold weather, but definitely getting cooling down a bit. School is a bit boring, but ok. I don't think I've told you guys about the schooling sitution here! I am in the Intermediate B class (which is really just the middle class, one higher--full of RM's--and one lower). There are eight people total in my class, six are fellow BYU students, one is from West Point. We start class everyone morning at 8am, except on Wednesdays and Fridays. We go from 8 until 12, have a lunch break until 2, and then have classes until 4pm. On Mondays and Wednesdays we have a Taichi class from 4:15 until 5pm. There are little breaks in between as well. We have a speaking class (eight hours a week), a writing/reading class (eight hours a week), a culture class (four hours a week), a history class (two hours a week) and a tai chi (hour and a half every week). It is kinda tiring, but good for the Chinese!! Well, I have to get going, more later!
Love,
Brooke

Its Me, I'm alive, and doing great!

Hey Guys!

So I just got back from a trip to LouYang, Xi'an and Beijing with my BYU group! It was pretty fun.. Beijing has changed soo much since we were there! I was able to o into the Olympic Area and see the Water Cube! I also went to a different section of the Great Wall and the leaves were all changing colors, it was very beautiful. But it was fun telling my friends about how my awesome and adventurous grandma had taken me around China last year! They all think you must be one tough Grandma! I would like to learn more about your previous adventures in China, there is still so much I don't know! I met a girl from Harbin last week, she was very sweet. You lived there before right? I remember you sending me those beautiful pictures of the ice sculptures they do in Harbin. China is so amazing and beautiful, I'm so grateful I've been able to incorporate it into my life.

I watched a movie last night, The Last Emperor, that movie about Pu Yi. We visited the Forbidden City when we were in Beijing, and I've started to learn about Pu Yi in the culture class Professor Lefgren teaches.(she came from BYU with my group). The movie was pretty intense, well, Pu Yi's life was pretty intense! He was chosen to be emperor at the age of three and was abdicated when he was six. But eventhough he was technically the emperor anymore, the government allowed him to still live in the Forbidden City as an emperor until he was placed under house arrest at the age of 21. And actually, he wasn't allowed out of the Forbidden City until that time as well. So all this life he has been allowed to do whatever he wanted, and never had to do anything for himself (including things like brushing his teeth and dressing himself). Anyway, it just continues in so many crazy ways until he ends up dying in an alley way at the age of 60ish, having become a poor gardener for the Communists. It is pretty insane! Good movie, Pu Yi is an interesting guy to learn about.

Well, I have to start working on my final project for my culture class, which is some type of study on the China. I'm going to do mine using the question, "What are girls my age doing in China?". So I will be interviewing 19- 25 year old girls, seeing where they live (at home, dorms, own apartments etc.), what their occupation is, their level of education, etc. And then when I find certian patterns (like poorly educated girls live in their factory's dorms, working six days a week and making five USD a week, etc) I'll use China's history to explain why they are like they are as best as I am able to...or something like that.

Well, gotta go,

later,
Brooke

Orphanage in Xi'an

So I was wanting to write about this earlier, but hadn't gotten around to it! On my recent trip to Xi'an, my whole BYU group was fortunate enough to be able to visit an orphanage. We meet the founder of this orphanage at church in Xi'an, and she invited us to come see it. Amanda de Lange is the angel from South Africa who decided that her mission in life is to help save abandoned children in China. China has a high rate of abandonment (especially in rural areas) of baby girls and babies with birth defects. Because of the one child policy here in China, families want male babies who will take care of them in their old age. Women are not seen (traditionally) to be part of their parent's family anymore after they are married. And farmers do not have enough money to pay for surgeries, so they tend to abandon children born with problems. Many are left on the sides of roads, thrown away, or even killed. As China continues to develop these old ideas about women are starting to fade, but not as much as it needs to. So many of the children at Amanda's House (the name of her orphanage) are females with serious health issues. Some were born with spina bifida, cleft palates, or just red birthmarks. When we went, there was a twenty five day old baby who had been abandoned because of a large red birthmark covering one side of her face. Amanda says that this kind of mark is easily removed through a simple laser procedure, which the baby will get when it is a bit older. Amanda has been able to pay (because of donations for many generous people) for all the babies to get the medical attention they need, and it is soo great!! The night we were there, Amanda had to leave early because of the girls was being adopted that night by a Danish couple (if I remember right). The girl in red I'm playing with in the pictures is Erica, and she is headed to New York pretty soon! Amanda has a blogsite where people can donate to, but I haven't got the address right now. I do have an e-mail if anyone is interested in e-mailing her some questions. My BYU group was very touched by this experience, and we have decided help out Amanda's House by donating supplies and some money. It was an amazing experience to see how one person can make such a big difference in lives of others, and I'm so grateful to have been able to meet Amanda and to see the beautiful children she helps with.

Da Jia Hao!

Hey Everyone!
Just thought I'd say hi real quick before I set out to Tai chi class! We are getting ready for our midterms here, but right after (and I mean like that night) we will be going on a ten day tour! We will be setting out for Beijing, Xi'an, and a few other cool places! I'm super excited and can't wait for the adventures to come! I hope everyone is doing well and that this blog is helpful for those of you that want to see pictures or just check on me :). If you know of anyone who would like to see this, feel free to just pass the address on! Love you all and hope life is good!
Love,
Brooke

September 30th

So I'm in a place called Yang Shuo, an hour and a half from Gui Ling. We arrived late Monday night. Yesterday was soo much fun! We biked all around the city and took a little bamboo raft down the Li River (after we swam in it). The mountains are soo pretty here, the Karst topography is really breathtaking. Then we biked for another twenty minutes and hiked this really cool mountain called Moon Hill. After that came the best part of the day--mud caving!! We hiked through this really huge cavern and there were two mud pits which we jumped into!! It was the craziest feeling to be floating in mud! We were all totally covered!! It was pretty awesome! Then we swam in a pond to clean off before biking back to our hostel. One of the best days of my life. Today we all woke up really early (5:20 am) and went on a river cruise along another river and it was gorgeous! All for now!
Love,
Brooke