Welcome Back!

Yay im very excited to be beginning this blog again after such a long time =)

I promise to take more photos and write more in the future at least till i leave on my mission.

I am doing a mission for my church for the next year and a half. I am not yet sure where I will be called to serve but I am anxiously checking the letterbox every five seconds =S

Can't wait to serve the Lord.

Till then, saving saving saving....

oh and the wedding (Cara and Jims) and Surfest woohoo!

Yes this is Cara and the future brother-in-law

Beautiful People, Amazing Day.

Ronnie's Birthday was amazing, We had a surprise high tea party and then strolled along the beach taking amazing and fun photos.

 

I love these people.

 

The Graduate

I have finally graduated from Macquarie University, finishing my degree in International Studies majoring in Chinese Language. Yay! Now What?????

Dad got me this cute Graduation bear! Thanks Dad!!

My favourite Chinese teacher and Uni friends were all in attendance. 

It was a good day =)

Happy Birthday Emma!

This is Emma. My best friend from my high school. Isn't she gorgeous?

Last week was her 21st birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA DEAR!

Thanks for all the fun times =)

Downpour

As I left work last Saturday and walked the few meters to my car I got absolutely sodden! As it seems I am always without an umbrella when it rains, this is a common occurrence. However, every time there is a downpour for a day, or even a week I never bring an umbrella! I think its because I secretly enjoy the rain.

 

I love the sound of rain when I'm inside snuggled  with Jonah. He also loves to feel the crazy storm wind that blows through my wide open balcony doors into my bedroom as he gazes outside appreciating being inside (against mums wishes) during the rain.

I like the rain because it is an excuse to 

stay in, relax. and think.

A Very Special Day...

A few months ago was a very special day. Yes it was Christmas, but exactly one week before we celebrated the birth of our beloved saviour, another special boy....was baptised!

(We love Elder and Sister Smith)

Congratulations Jun!

The gospel brings so much joy and fulfillment to my life and I know it will to yours as well. Share your strong testimony with others and always remember you are a child of our Heavenly Father who loves each and every one of us. Always treasure this special day celebrated by all the missionaries and friends who love you.

(These are some of the lovely sister missionaries who helped to teach Jun.)

Chinese New Year!!!

During February I decided to go to China to visit Jun and his family for a few weeks. I was nervous to meet the family as i knew it would be difficult to communicate as they don't even speak proper chinese! They speak their own dialect which is Wuhanese. 

Anyway so I got the  plane to Wuhan which is in the centre of China, stopping in Seoul over night as it was cheaper. And i thoroughly enjoyed the stay at the Hilton in Seoul which the airline payed for!! took a bath and enjoyed the korean food in the buffet. Unfortunatly thats all i really got to see of Korea. It was freezing and snowing which was exciting though. During my time in Wuhan I met almost every member of Jun's family as there were family events everyday and an incredible amount of food.

I managed to put on 4kg in 3 weeks and tried many interesting things like dog, turtle, frog, eel etc. as well as many insides of animals eg. stomach, intestines, gizzards. Yum! lol actually some of them were ok. My motto is try everything once! at least then i can say ive done it.

We went to Karaoke with friends and family and even went fishing in Jun's uncles lake. This is his amazing PINK house with a lake around it.

We also went on a couple of day trips once to the snow which was a beautiful area even though there was not much snow left! but we had fun skiing and mucking around.

We then went to a hot spring for the day. It was great! So beautiful and there were 30 different ones to try. We most enjoyed the one that had smalll fish inside called kissing fish that sucked at your skin all over your body. It tickled a lot!

Before long it was time to go home. On the 2nd last day it started snowing in the city of Wuhan. Lovely! Jonah missed me at least =)

The Chin!

Its always sad to come home from a long holiday, back to reality!After a great time in China I suppose its time to go back. Dad and I had a great time over there. I was excited at the opportunity to do an internship for dad's company in China. This is pretty much work experience. So After spending a couple of days at dad's apartment in Shanghai we headed up north to Qingdao to do some work at the office and factory.

Qingdao was soooo beautiful! It reminded me a bit of sydney. It's city is right on a harbour and has a very relaxed atmosphere compared to other cities in China. I hope I can live there one day. Dad and I holidayed here for a few days, as well as did a bit of work in the office. The seafood in Qingdao is amazing!!! and of course very cheap. They also have the best band playing at a New York bar. Dad and I like watching bands together.

After a few days together, Dad went back to Shanghai leaving me at the factory by myself for about 6 days. Firstly, this factory is in the middle of no where! I mean there is no shops, petrol stations nothing! in a 15min drive radius. And I didnt have a car. Well Dad made sure i was stocked up on 2 minute noodles and told me "its just like camping!" haha. Luckily I made friends with the factory owner who took me out for food everyday. Thank goodness for him! Working at the factory was probably one of my favourite parts of the trip, I made friends with all the cute girls who worked in the office with me and some of the other workers too. Work was tough tho! I never stressed so much about work before. I realised that doing work in another country with a completely different culture sure is trying!! The factory workers are so lazy and slow, and need to be pushed and pushed and pushed!!!! There are 80 male workers working inside the factory and boy do they hate being bossed around by a young girl! In the end, after several days, and lots of arguements msot of them finally began to cooperate. My job was to make sure all the products were perfect as we took photos in a beautiful park of all the fences and other products. To organize all the products we needed to be made, checked,  taken to the park, take photos, took 5 days. Crazy! But what a good experience it was for me. The photos I took are now on several websites and brochures for the company.

After the factory experience I went back to Shanghai for couple of days where we went to the World Expo. It was quite crowded, so Dad and I decided to go to the ones with no lines, which included all the Middle Eastern countries with names like Khajdhettjeyglavia. We then headed up to Nanjing, stopping at a little village on the way to visit an old emloyee of dads. A cute girl called Julley and her family. They cooked soooo much food. 15 dishes to be exact. It was crazy! It was great walking around the tiny village, apparently we were the first foreigners to ever visit the village. No wonder they cooked so much!
Nanjing was great too, very sad at the museum though showing the terrible things Japan did to the Chinese. There were some really cute areas of Nanjing too. Very Chinesey!

As it was holidays, it was too busy to go to other tourist places and also too expensive. So the last few days Dad and I just relaxed around Shanghai, which allowed me to do some last minute shopping, foot massages and get my hair done. I loved getting my hair done every few days, costing just about $3.50 for wash and blowdry. Heaven! (oh no im starting to sound like Mother!)

It was the best spending so much time with Dad. I realised how similar our personalities are, and how we love to do the same things! (mostly eat and relax) I went to Karaoke on my last night in China and loved singing along with the girls from work.

But.....Its always good to come home.

Ps. This is the view from dad's apartment building nice!

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

And This I Leave With You....

CONCEPTION DAY

On Friday, The Missionaries questioned us after Jun's discussion......What is Conception Day? They were concerned about the number of police around campus and thought the name was legit! This made me remember another thing that happened last sunday when I told Jun i was going to a Baby Shower (he nodded as if he knew what i was talking about as usual). When I asked him if he knew what A Baby Shower was he replied, is it when everyone washes the stomach? haha i had to have a laugh at this. I can totally understand why people who are not from Australia get the wrong idea about these kind of things. This is just one of Jun's so many funny moments!

 Anyway so we went to conception day on Friday. It was impossible to find Alex, my good friend from school, there were people everywhere. Jun and I ate some Chinese at a stall, and then me (being the fatty that i am) decided a hot dog was in order! Well when we ran into our chinese friends at the front of the ride line and was pushed onto the spinning ride, I was definatly regretting the hotdog! Jun hadn't been on a ride in over 10 yrs. I told him to put his arms in the air, but he clung to the rail like a scared kid! Wish i could have brought my camera.

And so the end of the term is here, assessments are over, and my trip to China is just a few days away. I'll try keep my blog updated of my adventures in Shanghai, Qingdao and Cambodia.

With Love,

Brianna.

AHHH!

Uni is sooo stressful right now! I wish i even had time for play.

I can't wait for holidays!

SHANGHAI HERE I COME!

This Boy...

Believe it or not i like this strange boy.....

He is always embarrassing me =S

But Great for a laugh =)

Where art thou?

Earth to Ez Dog.....I Miss Thee!

Good Talk...