Chicken feet, Squatters, Asians OH MY!

The past couple days have been hectic to say the least, but my adventure has begun and I could not be happier about it. 

Tuesday evening my mom and sister dropped me off at the Phoenix airport where I met up with Darby and we began our journey. We flew to LAX and met up with the rest of the ILP group going to the same place we are. We then boarded Korean Air (a double decker plane might I add)and started our 13 hour flight to Seoul, Korea. My family likes to call me a druggie, however I thought taking four sleeping pills was completely necessary. 

This is the first meal we were fed which looks pretty tasty right? It was. Then they fed us breakfast which consisted of a fake omelet with questionable tater-tots, all covered in tomato sauce. The other option was "porridge" aka rice in a goupy plato-like substance. 

Not so yummy. 

We then arrived at the Incheon Airport in Seoul where they were equipped with a Charlie Brown Cafe and also a Hello Kitty cafe (two characters which are all the rage here). 

(This one is for you mom)

Watching the sunrise in Korea was one of the most incredible experiences. It's comforting to have something so constant when you are so far away from home. 

After a four hour layover and a beautiful nap, we boarded a plane to the Pudong airport in Shanghai. We got a trolley for our luggage and I totally felt like a character in Harry Potter!!

Drum roll please! .......

I then experienced my first Chinese meal. What greater way to welcome me to their country than with a nice, juicy CHICKEN FOOT.

Nails and bones were included, yay! I was the first of the group to try it. It wasn't horrible, although it was just chicken fat. 

You see that bowl on the bottom right? ALL CHICKEN FAT. 

A five hour bus ride to reach Nanjing was next. This was actually exciting for me because I got to see many areas of china as we drove by. Things ranging from thousands upon thousands of apartment complexes to a little river with a typical old Chinese man on his fishing boat could be seen on the way. 

Then tragedy truck. I had to go to the bathroom. I was greeted by this. 

This my friends, is a squatter. They can be seen all over china and do not come with toilet paper. (If you can't tell, it's at the same level as my feet). 

Just in case you were worried, everything went as smoothly as possible. 

Then we reached the school I will be living and teaching at. 

There are no trumpets allowed. 

My school is amazing but more on that later. 

Although the total 36 hours of traveling was brutal, I have already met so many people that I know will be life long friends. 

It has been an insane past couple days, but I am so grateful for this experience and the joy and happiness it is already bringing into my life. 

More info on my school and nights out on the town coming soon!

-Taylor Janae

Reasons Why

Tomorrow, my best friend Darby Maloney and I will embark on the adventure of a lifetime. For the next four months, we will be teaching English to the children of Nanjing, China while exploring the amazing country and learning as much about their ancient culture as possible. Although the decision to join the International Language Program and set out on this trip was spur of the moment, I know that Heavenly Father had this in store for me long before 8 months ago. 

October 6, 2012 was an extremely historic day. At the LDS General Conference, the age for full-time missionaries was changed from 19 for boys and 21 for girls to 18 and 19. Through much excitement, I failed to recognize how much this would really affect my life. 

The summer after high school rolled around and my friends began to leave for all different parts of the world to serve the Lord. It was such a bittersweet time. Not only had the boys begun to disperse, but girls were turning in mission papers left and right. I was happy for them and started to question whether I should join them. 

Being at Brigham Young University for summer semester, I met many people.  And only at BYU would a “get to know you” question inquire about whether I would be serving a mission or not. It was a new question to which I did not know the answer. For a large portion of the semester, I answered with a simple “I don’t know”, which was the truth. I had no idea. Not liking being unsure, I began to seek out the Lord. I prayed, I fasted, and I got my answer. I was not supposed to go on a mission. 

I found joy in the fact that my search was complete and couldn’t wait for the next time I was asked the mission question- however, my experience was not so joyous. A boy in my geography class popped the question and I proudly responded “no”. His response was “why not”, accompanied with a face that resembled disgust and confusion. I could not fathom why he seemed so disappointed in me, but I moved on. In the next couple weeks, I received more confused faces, more questions of why not, and the good ole “oh” accompanied by an awkward silence, as if I was unworthy to serve and that was the only explanation to my decision. From that point on, I responded,  “I don’t know” in order to avoid the varied yet similar reactions. 

I felt the pressure more than ever, but never changed my decision. I was told I would be a better mother, a better wife, and an altogether better person if I went, making me feel I could not be those things if I didn’t. 

I stayed strong and followed the will of the Lord. It was hard having my best friends and my cousins (all girls) leave. In all honesty, I felt really alone. 

Things all changed when my good friend, Sam Oslund, returned home from the same trip I will be going on. I immediately felt a want and a need to follow in her footsteps. 

Maybe it was the adventure and travel aspect that caught my interest. Maybe the idea of not having to go back to school is what really enticed me. I believe that although those did contribute, it was so much more than that. 

Now, I knew that I was not meant to go on a mission, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have the desire to serve. China offered me a chance to do just that. Being the restricting country that it is, I cannot proselyte. I can’t share the wonderful gospel with these people that I will come to love. I can’t influence their lives for the better with anything but my example, and I plan to do just that. I will share the light of Christ through my demeanor, attitude, and passion to do what’s right. 

I am so eager to set foot in this foreign land and explore the world and I hope that you will follow along with my blog and explore right along with me!

-Taylor Janae