the roomies

this whole experience in china has been what is has been 95% 

because of the people i have been living with! 

this experience would have been drastically different if just one of

 the people in my group were replaced with someone else.

 it is a weird thing to think about! 

i realized i haven't made a blog post about them yet, 

so i am going to do that now.

 i won't tell any embarrassing stories though.. 

because i love them.  

and because they have too much dirt on me...what? what.

anyways, without further introduction: 

meet, my china roommates.

april

april is 19 years old and from a super small town in washington. she grew up on a farm, but you wouldn't ever think that getting to know her. even now i have a hard time believing that she grew up on a farm! it definitely comes out at times when she starts talking about cows, talking in her farmer voice, or her being shocked we've never heard of the FFA..i still don't even know what that is. april is very shy at first or in large groups, but when you get her in a personal setting.....she goes insane. she loves to blast music and sing it in weird voices while flailing her arms all around. she calls everyone around her weird...but i think we all know who the weirdie is :) our group would have been so much more dull if she wasn't here! she loves adventures and is always down to go out on the town. i can always count on her if i need to go on an ice-cream or chocolate run. her kwirkiness has been fun to see. it's  interesting how used to her i've got! pretty great if you ask me. she makes some of the craziest faces/noises i have heard in my entire life. i could make a whole blog post with pictures of her making weird faces...but that would just be cruel. her laugh is epic. one of a kind. seriously. never heard anything like it in my life! she has been a nice addition to the group for sure. what would we do without her random screaming?

mandy

mandy is 22 years old and has lived in ohio since she was 18. she lived in utah before that. her dad is one of the big guys that works for wendys... and that is super awesome. mandy is the oldest in our group, but she is definitely the little girl of the group :) she is the smallest, her voice is the highest, and she is the most picky eater. i absolutely love having her here. she is always down for a good laugh and she never makes anyone feel weird! she has a great sense of humor. we laugh about the most ridiculous things...but it's what makes each day fun! i love that she is always laughing, because that makes me laugh. i also like when she laughs at me when i am being dumb... because then i don't feel so dumb... hehe. mandy has a huge, beautiful, and white smile. she loves the little kiddos here. she is a nanny, so of course she has to love kids! and our kids love her soo so much as well. she might not be the best singer in the world, but she listens to good music, and i like that. she has a serious snickers problem, but i like that as well... hehe. she has definitely been the only one here who has fully understood my super weird sense of humor.
cat butt ho...creeper low voice...jumping boofs...and so on.
 it's been nice to let that side of me out in her company:)

bridget (only one 't') 

bridget is 19 years old and is from colorado. she loves colorado, and metro, and that's cool. she seems to consider herself an outsider to the other three of us, but i don't view her that way at all. she has some different interests than the rest of us, but each of us do. who said that your close friends are supposed to be clones of you? not me! i love the differences in others, i think it is what keeps things interesting, while similarities keep people connected. her favorite book is enders game, as is mine! she LOVES the movie crazystupidlove, and so did mandy. she LOVES foood, and so do i. she really loves the chinese food here especially. we can always count on her to eat the gross stuff we all won't dare to eat. she tells the most random and sometimes confusing stories, but nonetheless she is always excited to tell them, and in return i am excited to hear them! she wants to write a short story, and i hope she follows through with it... because i need to know the ending!!!! we probably won't end up being best friends forever after this trip, but she is definitely someone i would try to get to know back home. she is kind, thoughtful, giving, works hard, puts up with my weirdness and she has good intentions. and by golly i like having her around! i hope she knows that she isn't quite the outkast as she paints herself to be :)