dazzled and overwhelmed.

I love my new school. (Literally across the street from my old one.) It's actually on of the top fine arts schools in our region and in the country! And it's gorgeous! Here's a little pictorial tour of the campus...from pictures taken throughout last year.

(me and Sara Beth last march!)

I also love text messages from friends. They can be so hilarious. This is one I got this week:


Hey meg. How are you! Today I went to your classroom. We were dazzled and overwhelmed by the endless array of beautiful flowers. And climbing plant with dark green shiny leaves. They are Boston ivies on the wall. You and your classmates are warm-heart. Wish you have a good time. 


So, with no further ado, here are a couple of pictures of my dazzling classroom!

lauren, anna, and scott

(notice the window on the left! the wall is entirely glass)

happy fall, y'all!

i am thankful that september is here. in august, i felt like i had one foot in america and one foot in asia, and it's just a weird feeling. september marks the start of a new month. a new season. a new school year.

while many of you spent your labor day weekend tailgating at a college football game or jet-skiing on the lake...my weekend consisted of these things:

dinner at a "western" restaurant with other friends from our city

a midnight viewing of the defending national champions' first game!

(i stayed mostly awake until 3:30 in the morning. so i am especially glad we won! war eagle!)

a trip to the junk market to search for some "treasures."

(i bought an old, wooden trunk for storage in my room. the lady i bought it from said it was from an old dynasty...hmmm...mulan, anyone??)

a visit to the hair salon to get our hair washed!

this country does this funny thing where they turn off the water without warning. 

(read my post about it here.)

total cost of a hair wash and style: $2.35

a trip to the meat and produce market on monday morning.

 it was bustling! and always a sight to see!

so, even if it is still 100 degrees here and the leaves are still as green as they can be...

happy fall, y'all!

a little sun, sand, and sunflowers!

less than a week after we got in country, we got to go to a little conference in one of the prettiest provinces in our region! it was such a treat to get out of the 100 degree heat of our city, and hang out in a little beach town. but i must warn you, it was not your run-of-the-mill beach town like we are use to in the panhandle. maybe it was more like asia meets jersey shore? you can make the call from this photo evidence...

the man-made beach with spider island across the lake

this guy was pushing his girlfriend in an inner tube and carrying her purse! hahah!

we bought sunflowers and ate the seeds right off of the plant!

ready to raft!

(me, sam, kelsey, and anna)

the lake was a really popular place for wedding pictures...we saw so many brides and grooms, and also models for bridal magazines!

 floaties for ALL ages!!

a different way to eat crab...

i'll just take a maryland crab cake. thank you very much.

"Hi Meg. Are you come back?"

(Yes, little Blanche! I have come back!) 


It was so nice to walk into an apartment already set up. It is really cozy and really cute. Lauren and I are just tickled we get to live in such a great apartment. We still have a little more decorating to do, but it's totally livable and we are thankful. Looking forward to all the events and people and memories this place will hold throughout the year.

Oh, and we are armed with lots of goodies from Mei Guo (America)! You better believe I used every pound of my 100 lb. limit to bring back cake mixes, icing, cooking spray, etc. with me! American comfort food does wonders for us throughout the year, and especially on birthdays and holidays!

With a new year comes a lot of new people, places, and things...it's been a strange transition without some of my besties. But I am so glad that this little guy came back with his wonderful parents! (See his mama's blog here!) Just like I am learning how to deal with the changes I am facing here, Maddox is also learning to adapt to new things! Like how to eat with chopsticks! :)

I don't want to jinx anything, but my internet has been AWESOME here, so far! I hope to blog a lot more this year...and if I don't, I want y'all to keep me accountable! :)