Introducing...Shi Yi!

Hey! Let me introduce to you the ERAP team at Shi Yi!  They are my family away from family—the people I work with, eat with, hang with, and think with.  It’s a pretty cool set-up.  J

Liz: Roommate and fellow fan of Father, smoothies, chocolate men and talking in the Err.  I got lucky.  Together, we make up the loudest apartment where dance parties and belting are totes allowed.

James: Our fearless team leader and liaison between Madam Wu, Dulaoshi and every other Chinese dignitary.  He wins the award for “Most Likely to Make an Appearance in My Inbox,” but he’s competing with Niall for the “most cleanly male.” 

Niall: A truly old soul with a love for travel and coffee…too bad we never get up early enough to drink it with him.  Our goal is to one day keep him up past midnight.  Don’t think we’re gonna make it.

Abby: Going on four years at Shi Yi, she’s the matron, tech support, and founder of muffin Mondays.  Our goal is to get her up before 8am, but no one wants to risk his life and volunteer for the job.

Jared: Aka: J-Rod or Xiao Jared.  Ultimate master, BF of one of my best friends, and one of the chilliest guys you will ever meet.  Jared and I bond over sushi and generally cheap, unidentifiable food that we find at street vendors.

Barkas:  Team mom, GPS and baker extraordinaire.  She feeds us with goodies and random knowledge: hence #barkasknows. Also #sheseriouslybroughmecookiesasIwrotethis

The Pi’s: One of the coolest couples in ERAP if I do say so myself.   Andrew’s pretty much played every sport with every student and Jess has pretty fed them all, so they’re a killer combo.    Fun fact: I lived with Andrew’s sister senior year, and I had SpiFo with Jess Freshman year. #cedarville.

Ariella:  Piñata artisan and head of the food committee.  We bonded making snarky comments while creating a Pirate Pinata for Liz’s birthday.  She helped me get over my I’m-intimitdated-by-you-cuz-you’re-a-female-athlete-who-walks-into-Chucks-with-ice-packs-saranwrapped-to-her-body phobia.  She’s pretty cool.

Robbie: Founder of “Out-of-the-Rut Thursdays,” Mr. Carter is known for his epic performance of “Candy Eyes” and Beyonce’s “Love on Top” at KTV.  One of the tough Advanced Writing teachers.  He encourages us to love Father more, and it’s always good to see him. ;)

Meagan Ray: A cool cat and an old friend.  We bonded over our mutual love for Joy McBride, but now we’re friends for real.  I can always count on her to dance with me to “Gunman Style, ” give me her life story, and catch me up on Glee (warning: synopsis is longer than actual show but SO much better).

Jarrod:  Meagan’s BF.  He ditched ERAP to be awesome, wear a tie, and teach Math in the AP department at Shi Yi this year, but he still lets us use his Wii for Mario Kart, so that’s cool.  The kids ask about him all the time, the popular stud.

Liz K: She left ERAP a year ago to teach choir and be the white face of Shi Yi, but she remains the honorary resident of our apartment.  We bonded over obscure musical theatre, Ellen DeGeneres, dorky dancing and—you guessed it—potty humor. 

That’s all on the Shi Yi team!   Feel free to use this as a cheat-sheet in the future as these peeps sneak into my posts.  ;)