A little bit of Ma Fan

I'm gonna teach you guys a new word. 

It's probably one of my favorite Chinese words. 

And not because I like to complain or something. 

But just because it sounds good. 

And it's so easy to incorporate into daily English. 

In the States, before we moved to China, Zachary already knew this Chinese word, because I would use it all the time. 

 Standing on a frozen lake. 

Zachary was too chicken to come out but Chara and I enjoyed being daredevils. 

Ma Fan.

Pronounced= Maw. Fawn. 

Ma Fan.

It means much trouble. 

Like, "Oh man. I have like ten billion bags of groceries and can't find a taxi. Arrrggghhhh. Ma Fan!" 

Or, "I have to mail like ten packages tomorrow and carry each box from my car to the office. It's going to be such ma fan."
Or "If this ice breaks and I fall into the lake it will be ma fan!"

Do you get it? 

Do you get the usefulness of this word? :)

There you go. 

There's your Chinese lesson for the day. Or week. Or month. Or life. 

{But hopefully not life, because if you keep reading this lil ole' blog, 

I'm going to teach you some more fun words!}

And so. 

I give you some Ma Fan.

Remember those oh so cute glasses I got like a month ago?? 

Ya, these.

Guess what. 

Ya. Broken. So lame. 

And then, I thought, "Well it's okay. I still have my back up glasses. That aren't cute but hey! at least I can see past 8 pm." And then 2 days later...

Ya. Stepped on. 

And now I have to go about explaining to our Chinese friend, who owns the eye glass store we go to, that I don't need new lenses but need new frames.
And ask if he could pretty please give me an awesome discount? Ma fan.


Also, a small 'ma fan' reminder... We can always choose joy in the midst of ma fan.
Saying the word 'ma fan' actually helps a lot, too! Every time I say it, I smile a little.
It helps expressing things in a language other than your own & helps make situations lighter.


Have you had any 'ma fan' this week? 

A Year Ago Today

One year ago today my best friend Juliette married her love, Adam! 

Happy 1 year anniversary

you two!
We pray for many more anniversaries to come!We love you guys so much! 

Ryan Price Photography

Canon Creek Photography

When they got engaged 2 or so years ago, we were in Korea, which, of course, was very sad for me since I couldn't be there!

Surprise!!

Juliette hid behind bushes taking pictures of me on my engagement day and I wished I could be a part of her special day in the same way. But the Pacific ocean is a huge barrier.

 Instead, Z and I, opened a bottle of champagne in celebration of their engagement and took silly pictures!

    

 

 J&A<3 4 Ever

We were so blessed to be able to come home last year and be apart of their wedding! 

Juliette was my made of honor and 3 years and 32 days later, I was hers. 

Canon Creek Photography

I am so thankful for this woman and so freaking excited that she has been married 1 year now! 

And to add to that excitement, Adam and Juliette, are pregnant!! 

Can't wait to go home this summer and see her glowing, pregnant face!

Congratulations you two! 

We love you both so much!

Salsa in China

Not the dip.

The dance. 

The chip dip would be ten times better. 

Okay. Let's be real, twenty times better. 

But the dance is okay, too.

Last week my awesome coworkers took Zachary and I out for dinner at an all you can order Korean and Japanese restaurant. Hello sushi.

\

My coworkers. Daisy. Alice and Crystal.

We enjoyed every bite. 

Daisy enjoyed her shrimp on a stick. :) 

Zachary left us ladies to ourselves and so we headed to a local hang out, Carnegie's.
We happened to get there right when Salsa night was starting.
Perfect timing.

Perfect timing for us to park ourselves in seats facing the dance floor so we could check out this salsa business. 

I chatted with a lady, who had the best hair in China, who owned a local a salsa school in Qingdao.
A salsa school in China. Awesome.

What's a salsa night without a sombrero?

I told her to open her eyes when she smiled. And this is what she gave me. :) 

Bad picture but if it was clear you'd see my coworkers salsa-ing it up.

I was definatey missing Zachary. You can bet, if he was there, I would have dragged him out there and foced us to try some hip sways ourselves. 

Word is they meet every Wednesday night for this Salsa shaz. :) 

I am pretty sure I have a future date night in mind.
Z will be so thrilled. ;)