Wow, I haven't written in such a long time! I missed a week and then went on an unexpected vacation but I got back on Saturday night.

My boyfriend Simon had some friends visiting China and he went to meet up with them for a week. He invited me to go along and Shifu said ok but at first I declined, thinking I'd already gone on a trip this year and didn't want to spend too much, but then I found out that his family had a timeshare they could use on an island in the south China sea (Hainan) so the accommodations would be free. How could I say no? The summer here is always so miserable and plus my birthday was coming up so I went along with them and had an awesome time. The hotel we stayed at was outside the city so there were lots of stars at night and it had amazing gardens and swimming pools. I went swimming at least twice every day, usually 3 times. It was wonderful. There was also a beach nearby that we could catch a taxi to so we went to the beach a few times too. Hainan is a very laid back place (for China that is) and although there's not a ton of stuff to see/do it was so nice to just relax. A great birthday present for me. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in it.

I also got some really nice gifts and birthday wishes on my actual birthday. I knew there was a reason I was still on facebook! haha. Thanks everyone!

The view from our window

The main pool

One of the other pools, there were so many!

drinking a coconut with Simon's friend James

Simon kickin' it at the beach bar

The beach in Sanya.

Training has been less that pleasant but I don't want to dwell on it, I'll use the memory of my trip and the knowledge that summer is finite to get me through it.