Today is December 14 and day 27 of Microcampus. Today we had to take all of the books and board games that we borrowed from the Linden Centre Library. In the morning we had to get all of the books that we had from the centre. When all were gathered all of us, but two students took a walk down the Library to place the books neatly on the shelves. On our walk there we talked and sang old songs that we all remembered. When we got there we I placed the board game Settlers of Catan back on top of the shelf after two immensely fun nights of play.

Today is December 12 and day 25 of Microcampus. Today we have to get all of our service learning videos finished and given the ok by Mr. Tafel. We will also need to have our subtitles corrected by a native Chinese speaking adult. In the morning after breakfast, it was my turn to do the dishes, when I had all plates and utensils washed and dried, I went up to help my group with editing. We had worked until we had to go down to eat lunch. After I was done with the dishes for the last time this trip I went back to help my group do some more work. This is nearly as easy as it sounds.

Today is December 10 and day 23 of Microcampus. I am done. I am done with what you might ask. Inquiry work. I have done Phase 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and I have just ask for my final teacher review on my final product. I am so proud of myself that I was able to sit down for many hours a day and finish all of my work. I wonder what I am going to do instead of my two hours a day for inquiry project. I think that I am going to spend the two hours as service learning. I am very proud of myself that I was able to get all of my work done and try my best.

Today is December 9 and day 22 of Microcampus. Today I went to church to find service learning partners. I knew how to get there because I followed a group of students that had a partner and were as well going to the Church. When I first heard about this I was very surprised, I have never seen or have been told about Chinese Christianity. When I got there I was a little skeptical because it looked as though we were going to the back of someone's house. We had to go to the second floor of a building that looked like the back of someone's house.

Today is December 7 and day 20 of Microcampus, yesterday I was picked with three other students that have joined us on the Microcampus trip to go on one of the two trips to go to Dali Old Town. This was the same day that we need to finish all of our Phase 4 work. This was very well deserved due to all of the hard work that was put into this process to make sure that I got all of my work finished. 

Today is December 5 and day 18 of Microcampus. Yesterday I ate something that I have not had in my whole life. I had ma la tang, this is a type of noodles. You get your noodles in this small plastic strainer and the things that you want in your noodles. The people that work at the restaurant then cook everything that is in your strainer. When it is finished cooking they add spice if you want and you can enjoy your food. When I was finished with my bowl Mr. Tafel took only me for a walk. We talked along the way, I did not know where we were going.

Today is December 3 and day 16 of Microcampus. Today me and my group for service learning, Henin and Holly went out to make more connections with the locals and come back to talk with past people that we have made connections with. We went to see some new person that we have not seen before, we talked to her for a while and learned that she was into embroidery and that she is 62. Unfortunately, she is not eligible to be a part of our service learning project, but I am glad that we were able to talk and connect with her.

Our hiking trip was amazing with so many views. We all loaded up all of the food, water, and tents into the four vans before we drove to the mountain. When we got there Mr. Tafel picked three people to go first and set the pace of the hike, these people were called the first group. Then I was the leader of the second group, we needed to be five meters away from the first three people. As we got further into the hike it was challenging to keep a steady pace and not stop. When we were about one hour into the hike we stopped and took in the view from between two mountains.

Today on November 28 day 11 Mrs. Linden one of the owners of the Linden Centre came by with her dog Nala and a boy Mathew to return books to our library upstairs in Yan Zhuo Ran. Mathew is a tall 15-year-old with long curly brown hair that has been living in Xizhou for two months and is homeschooled. I went got out of my beanbag in the TV room to see what was going on in the main courtyard. The first thing I see is a golden retriever in the laps of two students and two other people petting her. I went down and petted her until Mr.

Today November 26 day 9, I'm getting my hair cut with Chris L. and Mr. Tafel. I have made time to do this because over the weekend our schedule is more laid back and we have more time to recharge. I have a time period of 2 hours and 45 minutes for recharge, that is the time when we recharge. Instead of that, I am using it to trim off my hair. I am also going on a run with Saleem E. and Chris when I finish this very journal entry. We are going to run from Zhuo Ran to the Linden Centre there back and there back again.

Yesterday was November 23 or also known as Thanksgiving. I forgot all about it until our 5:45 daily meeting before dinner. I was so excited that I got to have Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day. This was the first time in three years due to activities and conflicts. There was also another first yesterday for me, it was the first time for me that the head if the turkey's head was on the plat. After a meal of french fries, turkey, and broccoli, there was apple pie for dessert.

Today on your fith day on Microcamous I did the laundry for the first time here. My two roomates and I had to wake up early before breakfast to put in the blacks. When the first load was washing we had to wash our underwear and socks by hand and leave them out to dry. Right now some of our cloths still need to dry, but are close to being done. All of our laundry is done except for the colors. I'm excited to get all of my cloths clean and smelling good again.  

Today November 20, we put our normal schedules into our day today for the first time. I got to be very independent with how I did my work and how I plan jobs for others. I got to go out to dinner with four other classmates to then go to the Linden Center to watch the sunset from a terrace. The view was incredible, the red sun in the background of two mountains with the beautiful village in front of it all. I have had a great day today and can't wait for tomorrow.