HOLY TIRED

Hey! okay I am making this very brief because I have never felt so tired in my entire life. We got to Hong Kong safely after 15 hours on a plane. Everyone was very swollen. The city is AMAZING! I've never really been in a city so being in the like #2 city of the world.. WOW. They have the oldest suspension bridge in the world so that was awesome. Anyway.. we went to our school and met the officials and I'll report more about that later. Everything is awesome we just haven't slept in literally 40 hours. I love yall and I promise you more later. Oh, Happy Fourth of July. WE also had a big banquet tonight to celebrate. ok I'm falling asleep. LOve

It's midnight so I'm going to try to pick up and update. I'm so sorry I can't write much. I have met a whole new extreme of exhaustion. Last night was really fun. There was a big party for us at the Yacht Club. All the supporters of ELIC from Hong Kong came and ate dinner/fellowshipped with us. We sang some Chris Tomlin songs and had a wonderful time. Some people swam, but I would have drown because I was so tired. The next morning (today-Saturday), we had breakfast in the school cantine. It's not so good. I am trying really hard to adjust to the food here but McDonalds is really screaming my name. The whole group (80) walked to the Festival Walk. This is a huge mall and bus station. My group got to chill for about 2 hours in a coffee shop and have a quiet time and go over some things. We went grocery shopping which took a while and then came back to the University. From lunch till 7 we lesson planned for classes beginning on Monday. We have ALOT to do still! However, we went downtown tonight to the Hong Kong Square. I am so culture shocked. I never reall ythought of myself as a country girl but.. oh I am! I have actually never been in a "city" before and this is one of the largest in the WORLD. There are so many huge buildings, lights, people, food, and it is SO hott. Also, if you are in a bus's way.. ha see ya! It's CRAZY! I was a little nauseous because of all the panic but it's okay I'll survive. Dinner was different. I stuck with rice, diet cola (Coca-Light or Coke Zero). The rest of my team ate some crazy stuff. I'm not so adventurous with the food. I'm not sure if I will be or not but I'm not much of a variety eater anyhow. It's hott here-many Asians-ridiculous buildings-buses-lights-werid food-strange things but it's an adventure and a new culture. I can't wait to start class on Monday! Tomorrow should be a good day of rest so maybe I'll get some time to put up pics! I am so glad I got a few min. to talk to mom and Ann Morgan today!! I love my cousin~! Other than that, the phone has been difficult to get to so be patient! I love yall and keep up the prayers! Hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend! I wish I could have seen those fireworks! Let me know how it went!! :-)
Seeking Daily...
Brandy

Holy Departure..!

Hey!!

Okay so I'm sitting in the lobby of the dorms because we are checking out!! Our flight isn't until late tonight but we have to have our luggage weighed/checked out. I'm so excited I can't stand it! I want to meet by students TODAY! :)   Today has been so relaxing. We still got up early because two of our team members were on an earlier flight so we had to say bye to them. After breakfast, we got to RELAX! We laid by the pool and got some sun! Oh yes, in our one pieces! However, it was nice because we are one of the last groups to leave. We ate lunch and then took long showers and blowed our hair for the last times! Packing is quite stressful because they are so picky on weight but it's all good! We have a couple more times where I will be able to write so I'll report back from the airport!!! Have an awesome day!! xoxo!

Brandy

Hey Again! So I haven't had the chance to write as much but I'm going to try to update you on the activities here! Sunday was a pretty busy day. We mainly focused on cultural relations and sat in gym bleachers in a classroom atmosphere. They are teaching us the same things we will be teaching or Asian students. However, my favorite part was when we split up into guy/girl rooms and a great speaker talked about friendship and team building and I learned alot about people and their "love languages." Sunday was mainly filled with learning and team building.

Monday was a new experience! After breakfast we worked on curriculum stuff... (boring) and then went to lunch. The meals are so fun because I get to sit and hang out with my group. Let me stop here and tell you a little about us that I have grown to learn. We are NEVER on time. Out of the 8 of us, there are 2 people that are planners and like to be punctual. It has become a camp joke but we honestly are trying harder. We only have one guy but he's awesome! I love him ! He has a great personality but definitely puts up with 7 girls all day every day. Which leads me to this.. We are extremely cliquey but not within our group. Collectively as a whole, we are always together. We are team Pui Ying because that is the name of the school we will be teaching at in Hong Kong.

HOLY busy!!

HEY! 

ok so.. I'll sorta picked up where I left off as I'm sleep typing in my other teammates room! After the classes this afternoon, we went to dinner around 5pm. Dinner was well satisfying and then I actually had thirty minutes which is when I wrote the last post. I was also able to call Mom, one good friend, and well that's about it. Oh, I also FINALLY used the bathroom :-)  lol. So...we went to games and dancing which is where we learned the electric slide, the cotton eyed joe, the grease type dance, and ohh a few more. The dances we learned are the ones we will be teaching our students in Asia. It was fun! If you are familiar with me or the Brendles in general you will know that I sweated BIG time at this point in the evening! I mean.. sweat pits, wet hair, and smelly feet for sure! :-0   SO MUCH FUN THOUGH!! After games concluded, my team went off to have some alone time. We sat for about 2 hours talking and getting to know each other and our backgrounds. I love my team so much!! I can't wait to get to Asia!! All of this is so fun, tiring, but overall an amazing furthering of the kingdom and I cannot wait to see what is in store for the next few days left in training! Please feel free to comment on the blogs! Share the address with others and thanks again for all the support! My support group is AWESOME and I love each and every one of you!! Goodnight!!

Trusting in Him,

Brandy

HOLY fun !!!

Hellooooo!!!!!! 

Even though I only have a few minutes to write because I'm at the craziest training EVER with the busiest schedule...I LOVE CAMP CHINA!!!! So the flight to L.A. was four hours long but due to sleep depravity I slept some!  AND... When I was eating breakfast in the Atl airport.. SHANE B. AND HIS WIFE, BETHANY DILLON were eating next to me so I got to meet them! ( Shane and Shane) When I landed in Cali, I found my fellow teachers at the baggage claim! We rode a bus for about an hour to a city called Riverside, California! I honestly didn't see much scenery because I was laughing so hard at my first fri

end, Christi Wilson (student at Auburn). When we arrived, we were greeted with very friendly leaders. We went to three stations to check in, get our dorm assignments/name tags, and our notebooks. My roommate isn't one of my teammates but oh is she just as CRAZY as me! In fact, today as my team and I were walking back to the dorms I was randomly (imagine that) singing "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." and from about 4 feet in front of me, my roomie joined along loudly which caused a group of ladies singing Aretha Franklin. 

Anyway... yesterday we got to know our teams, the organization history, the leaders, and then had a banquet dinner. Each group had to do a skit. So... we did a communication skit. Our theme was... we know in Hong Kong there will be communication barrier, but we have already developed that in the States. There are about 6 of us from the South East and to our Northern teammates we sound quite interesting! So, as one of the leads, I exaggerated my accent and went along with it. People laughed and told me I did a great job with the accent and I thought it was humorous considering the fact, I was just talking normal! LOL. At camp we represent almost ever state and Canada and Hong Kong. (teachers). Alabama wins with having 17 teachers!! YEA!! Alot of us are Frazer alums. After watching an informative video, we had a big WELCOME party with ice cream, popcorn, karaoke. So team bonding was the theme for the first night. Our team is AMAZING! There's now 8 of us and our leader. We get along so well and literally live in laughter! I love them already!! I was SO tired when we were finished due to the time difference (we are 2 hours behind AL time). So.. to bed I went.

This morning (Sat.), we woke up very early to dine for breakfast from 7am to 7:45. Around

 8:15 we began our day. We did team skill games like untie the not, and a few more games. Then, we sat until noon listening to curriculum instructions etc. Our team is so SOLID. It's so reassuring to know that people my age are in love with the same being that I have grown to love. After lunch, we had the boring stuff. We sat and listened in a classroom for 5 hours! Yes, my page looked like a doodle pad! We learned much about our country, the language.. etc. Well I'm late.. I'll update you in a little bit! Stay TUNED!!!!!!!!! Just wanted to add this pic in of some of my teammates!! From left to right.. Liz, Hannah, Christi, and Emily!

I LOVE THEM! 

* upDATES *

Greetings from Atlanta, GA!
I am sitting here anxiously awaiting the morning so I can FINALLY depart for LA! Today has been quite stressful! I never knew packing 5 weeks of clothes, teaching supplies, gifts, and everything I need in a foreign country in ONE 40 lb. suit case could be SO difficult! Plus the relocation can be quite frustrating as well! However...He is so faithful to me as He swarms me with PEACE and comfort and prepares me to do His will. I am so so excited!! I just can't wait to get going. I have no clue what all training has in store for us! I'm so ready to meet my group though! I am leaving you with some important dates so you can be up to speed as well and can be lifting me up with specification:

* June 27 - Arrive at LAX
* June 28- July 1 - Training at CBU in Riverside, CA
* July 2 - leave for Hong Kong
* July 4 - arrive in Hong Kong
* July 4 - Aug 2 - Camp Hong Kong
* Aug 3 - fly into LAX
* Aug 4 - fly into Atlanta

Thanks so much for all of you who have helped physically, financially, and spiritually! I love y'all and will be in touch!! PEACE!

Bran

Team and Location~!

• Team Members

Katie Bartlett (leader), Brandy Brendle, Hannah Dulaney, Mike Shows, Liz Walker, Rebecca Washburn, and Christi Wilson

MORE COMING SOON DUE TO RELOCATION!