A Little Life Update

Hello lovely friends and a blessed new year to you...

This past week my sister and I were in Cape Town submitting our visa applications.
We are so excited and thankful that the time has finally come for us to make preparations for visiting our family in China.

We are also so grateful to have been granted 120 day visas for China, so we will be flying out February 19th and only coming home on the 13th of June...

We are counting down the weeks till we are reunited with our family...

It has been a long six months indeed, and the thought that soon we will be able to embrace our loved ones again and enjoy hours of talking and catching up, fills us with overwhelming joy.

And I am excited to have the opportunity to travel to China for the second time and have hopes of exploring a bit more this time around... 

This time I will be taking my laptop along, so I will be sure to keep you all up to date.  Otherwise you can find The Diary of a Country Girl on Facebook.

^ This picture was taken the day my dad and I went exploring Hefei.  We visited the local zoo that morning and afterwards I wanted to see if I could find the park we had driven past a few times.  After walking much further than we planned to, we came to the entrance of this park where we walked for about half an hour.  
We thought that we would come out on the other side and be able to get a cab back to our apartment.  However, all we found was a dead end!  And it was about then that it began to pour with rain...and of course we had left our umbrellas behind!  
I would say that this was one of our favourite days together...we got soaked and eaten alive by mosquitoes on the long walk back....but it was so special! 

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for our trip - there is a lot we need to organise this side before going away for almost four months...

May the Lord bless and keep each one of you - continue serving Him with joy!

In Christ,
Kelly-Anne

A Month in China ~ Part Two

Hello sweet friends...
As promised, here is part two...
 I am delighted to be writing about the day we spent in Nanjing.

This was probably my favourite part of the month I spent in China...

Nanjing, formerly known as Nanking and once the capital of China, is 143 km from Hefei which is where my dad lives and works.
 It is the capital of the Jiangsu province and is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China...

The delightful thing about Nanjing is that there are many beautiful ancient heritage sites to visit...

We were able to visit Nanjing's City Wall and gardens (One of China's other 'great walls') as well as the Confucius Temple.

Nanjing is a beautiful city and I would definitely go back to continue exploring should I have the opportunity of traveling to China again!

We left our apartment in Hefei early Sunday morning and arrived at the train station half an hour before our train was scheduled to depart...
After queuing for our tickets, going through security and finding the correct gate, we made it to our train with about three minutes to spare.
High speed trains wait for no man...we made a mental note to give ourselves more time in the future!

I loved the train ride to Nanjing; I found it so smooth and comfortable and being able to watch the gorgeous countryside go by was an absolute treat!

It was also thrilling to go over the Yangtze River bridge - I learnt about the Yangtze River years ago and never thought I'd have the opportunity to see it with my own eyes!


^Nanjing South Railway Station

After about an hour we arrived at Nanjing South Railway Station.

We were overwhelmed at the size and grandeur of this railway station...

^Riding the underground was fantastic!

After coffee at Starbucks we made our way to the underground subway and caught the metro to Fuzimao Station which is quite near the Confucius Temple.
I must just add that I loved riding the metro and the fact that it is such a cheap means of travel made the experience all the more enjoyable!

It took us awhile to make our way out of the subway and to find the correct route to the temple, but on the way we did some shopping.

I found some beautiful scarves for my sisters and a silk scarf for myself.

I also bought a set of porcelain chopsticks and various other treasures such as postcards...

^There are so many beautiful old trees in Nanjing!

We enjoyed visiting the temple even though it didn't hold any special meaning for us considering we are Christians.
I briefly studied Confucius several years ago, so it was quite exciting to visit this temple for that reason.

We enjoyed exploring the area around the temple for an hour or so, then we took the subway again to find a place to eat....

After lunch we took the subway to a station close to the Nanjing City Wall...

We walked a fair distance once leaving the station, but this was a treat as Nanjing is a beautiful city and has a great many amazing sights to enjoy!

^View of the lake from the one part of the city wall...


^View from the other side of the city wall...



I was delighted to have the opportunity to walk on the city wall - it was the one thing I really wanted to do whilst I was in China!

^There is a small shop on the wall...I found some gorgeous washi tape (for my travel journal) and postcards there...

^The Jinming temple can be seen from the city wall.


^Look at that tall building in the distance!  It is called the Zifeng Tower and is the tallest building in Nanjing at 450 m in height.


^Oh, hello!

It was really hot that day, so we only walked on the wall for about half an hour before going down to the gardens for an ice cream.
We enjoyed sitting at the water's edge and taking in the scenery...

^Taking a well-earned rest!

Should you ever go to Nanjing, I would highly recommend taking the time to enjoy the gardens surrounding the wall!  

We would have loved to have stayed longer and walked around a bit...

We had actually hoped to stay in Nanjing overnight so as to continue exploring the following day, but our accommodation didn't work out (long story), so we ended up changing our tickets and catching the late train home...
It was just as well - we were absolutely exhausted after a whole day of sunshine and sightseeing!
{{smiles}}

And thus ended a truly wonderful, memorable day in Nanjing...
I am hoping to stop in with part three next week...until then, blessings to you, dear readers!

Oh and a warm welcome to my new followers...it is a joy to have you along for this journey!

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A Month in China ~ Part One

I cannot describe how wonderful China was and how thoroughly I enjoyed the month I spent with my dad...
I came home with so many precious memories...stories to share and treasures to keep, that I honestly don't know where to begin...

I loved every minute of my trip and hope to convey these feelings of awe and delight in the next few posts...
Thus...how about you pop the kettle on to boil and make yourself a steaming mug of tea before you settle down to this, the first part of my Month in China series...
{{smiles}}

~

I flew out from George on Thursday June 7.  (Thank you all for your prayers for my safety!)

How strange to embrace to my mom, sisters and Caleb in a big hug one last time before walking out of sight and onto the airplane, bound for China...

I landed in Johannesburg later that evening, picked up my suitcase and headed to the arrival area where I met the person the lodge had sent to pick me up.

For me, this was the most daunting part of my trip as it was my first time in Johannesburg, first time to book a lodge and to stay overnight in a strange place all alone.

The Lord was merciful and the lodge I had booked turned out to be the perfect place for me to catch a few hours of sleep before I headed to the airport again early the next morning.

I was pleasantly surprised at how little time it took for me to check in and go through security - I think it helped that I arrived early. 
I was able get some coffee and breakfast and enjoy some plane spotting before waiting at the allocated gate for my flight...

At this stage an overwhelming sense of excitement began to well up in me!

Once I had boarded the airplane, I was delighted to see that I had an entire row to myself which meant I could lie down during the flight. 
There were no good movies on the plane and my eyes burned terribly anyway, so I ended up listening to music for the duration of the flight...

14 hours later, we landed in Beijing and about 40 minutes after that, we were inside Beijing airport where the fun and games really began!

I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the world's second largest airport!

I know that it is only by God's grace that I managed to catch my connecting domestic flight to Hefei.  Beijing airport was something of a nightmare - no one spoke English for starters and then finding where to go to collect my luggage (which involved a train ride to the correct terminal), where to check in for my domestic flight to Hefei, etc. was extremely exhausting and stressful. 
However, I don't remember feeling at all panicky, even when my phone didn't work so I couldn't contact my dad (I had signal for about five minutes shortly before boarding which meant I could at least let me dad know I had arrived safely in China)! 

Eventually I found my way to the right gate. 
I felt a huge sense of achievement when I boarded the next and final flight to Hefei!

It was pouring with rain when we arrived in Hefei which delayed our disembarking of the aircraft by about twenty minutes...

What joy to collect my bag for the last time and make my way to where my dad was waiting for me - it all felt so surreal... 
I couldn't believe that I was finally with my dad in China after such a long, grueling journey!

I actually recovered fairly well from my trip, only I had the strange sensation of being on an airplane for a few days afterwards...

The first week I spent recovering and enjoying a walk once, sometimes twice day...
We also went into the city for coffee one morning which was thrilling!
I didn't take as many pictures as I had hoped in that first week as I found myself simply wanting to take everything in without having to worry about getting a good shot...
Here are the few pictures that I did take...and perhaps I should warn you now that part two more than makes up for the lack of photographs in this post!
{{smiles}}

^Coffee at Starbucks on my first Saturday in China

^Area surrounding the lake...
I walked here quite often as it is relatively close to the school my dad teaches at.

^This track goes around the lake  

^I loved this place!  We stopped in here several times over the course of the month...

And thus concludes this first part of this little series...do stop by next week for part two on Nanjing!

Have you been to China?  Have you ever traveled overseas alone?  

It is always a joy having you stop by, sweet friends...

I truly appreciate your kind notes!

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A Little Note...and a Prayer Request

Hello sweet friends...happy Thursday!

Just popping in to say that I am leaving for China today...{{smiles}}

I would truly appreciate your prayers for strength and safety for my trip.

I am incredibly excited about this opportunity to travel to a different country and spend quality time with my dad.

I am hoping I will be able to stop by every now and again to share an update with you...

With love and blessings,

Kelly-Anne