Last Friday we went to a party for the foreign English teachers. There was us, Howie, Staci and their 3 kids, Jeanne and Nelson and their two grown kids who are visiting and about 50 student ambassadors. I don't know where the student ambassadors came from, but there was one from my class who I didn't recognize.
The tables were laden with snacks and soda pop. We played games - picking up beans with chopsticks and running to a relay with it (Dad's team won) A word description game, like password, that Jeanne and I won!! They also had entertainment - a group that did hip hop dance - a guy that did tai chee and a singer. After two hours of this they took us for dinner at the cafeteria. We had 10 to a table and 4 tables. They served about 16 different dishes! including the whole fish, lamb, a vinegar salad, butter beans,two soups, rice ,mushrooms, etc.
We were well fed and well entertained.
Friday, we also went to Ancient Culture Street. It's supposed to be old stuff but not quite. It was still pretty touristy, but they had beautiful kite shops. Dad wants to go back when it's warmer. Me too. We went with a guy and his girlfriend who Dad met on the street near our house last Sept. David spent 7 yrs. in Canada and returned to China 3 yrs. ago. His English is great. Claire, his girlfriend, works for Korean Air and speaks English but she's intimidated by it. They were wonderful hosts!
When David parked his car on the street, next to a parking meter, a guy came up and he paid the guy to watch his car for 2 hours. That was the parking arrangement. No meter.
They also took us out to lunch for dumplings. It's not Dad's favorite dish, but these were VERY good! Not as doughy as others we've had. David did the ordering. We had corn soup that was very watery and the corn was ground up:( Three kinds of dumplings and then pork knuckles. The pork knuckles are served with a plastic glove and a straw so you can pick it up and gnaw on it and then you stick the straw in the bone and suck out the marrow.( we didn't do that part) But the knuckles were OK.
The restaurant wasn't too far from our apt. so we want to take Nelson and Jeanne because they like dumplings, but the restaurant didn't serve rice. They have pictures of their dishes on the wall and they had a lot of weird stuff.
Speaking off... I was looking at Lay's Potato chips yesterday in the store and they have several flavors that we don't have in the states. Fried Chicken Flavor - Mexican Tomato Chicken Flavor - Italian Red Meat Flavor - Cucumber Flavor - and Original. Any of those sound good??
Saturday was just a regular day, cleaning and laundry and singing carols and reading the Christmas story with our neighbors.
Sunday we had church at 9:00 for an hour. Then came home and Dad made brunch. Jeanne had given us home made bread for a Christmas present so that was a wonderful addition! And then we opened our presents. It took about 5 min.! Our stockings had candy and mandarin oranges! I gave Dad a belt and a DVD of Wind in the Willows and he gave me slippers and a table cloth. We gave ourselves a hand carved Nativity set that we will keep forever.
For Christmas dinner we had the Johnson's over, who teach at Nankai University, Aaron and Elisha Mower, a young couple who work here. They're members of our ward. She writes the stories for video games and he teaches at an elementary school, but he's an engineer. And Joseph who is also a young member of our ward. He'll be living in our apt. bldg. and teaching here next year.
We had a wonderful ham and all the trimmings and apple crisp for dessert that Becca made. The apples here are delicious. Then we played Phase 10 and snacked. After everyone went home I did the dishes and we relaxed! The end of a near perfect Christmas. Next year will be more perfect! Apparently we have to be home!
Love to all! just 2 more days of finals!! Mom XXOO
Come one, Come All! Welcome to our family blog. Here we can stay in touch, keep tabs, add your 2 cents, or just laugh at us. I don't know why we didn't do this a long time ago...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Dec 19th
Thursday night we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant again. Jeanne and Nelson went with us and a Samoan girl from our ward, Taumaia. We have our own waitress. I think she's the only one who will put up with us. But we save the receipt from the time before so we just point to it and tell her we want the same. It's all in Chinese. The meal was great. It was about $15.00 for the 5 of us.
Friday night our university liaison gave us tickets to a program at the Tianjin Concert Hall. We went with the Boren's. It was the Tianjin Symphonic Orchestra. Fantastic! It was just wonderful. Of course, all the music was in Chinese :) But music is universal. All the instruments were Chinese. They were so interesting. We really wanted to go look at them, but that wouldn't have been proper. We were all amazed at the beauty of the music and the concert hall and all the pomp. And the girl in the front row of the orchestra who reminded us of Nickki Gabel, especially when she rolled her eyes and mimicked the announcer!
Saturday was our Branch Christmas party at the Presidents' house. Huge house,68 people, adults and kids. It was great! Turkey and all the trimmings and even Santa Claus showed up! We took our family from upstairs. Their three kids are wild and crazy, but there were others like them so it was OK!
We even had a program- a Viola duet, a Chinese harp solo, a speech by a 7 yr. old girl, and I read the Christmas story and we sang songs with it. It was just right! Plus we brought left-overs home!
The family upstairs, with the 3 kids, has now moved from the 5th floor to the second floor. Right above us. But it's alright. The 5th floor doesn't have bars on the windows and their kids were always opening the windows. The second story apt.has bars to keep the kids in. This China experience with 3 kids is really draining Staci. I feel so sorry for her. They have hired a nanny, but she doesn't speak English and I think the kids just run over her!
I'm finding I feel less stressed since Ernie's kidney stone has been taken care of, and I didn't even know I was stressed. But I do feel better.
Finals are this week and next and I'm on top of them so I feel confident that I can get that taken care of easily. Then we have time off and start preparing for next semester.Our students have their big finals after they have the English finals. They are studying so hard. They even have a final on Christmas, not that they celebrate Christmas, but they know a little about it.
Our other China teachers were saying how they talk so much about Christmas with their students so I thought I would to. That would take up some class time. No. They all looked at me with blank expressions;like they had no idea or interest in what I was talking about. So much for Christmas.
All of the stores are decorated. Not like the U.S. But they have decorations in the windows and there are some magnificent Christmas trees in the upper class shopping areas! Near the concert hall.
It's time to get to class. Love you all! Can't wait for Christi to get home!! Mom XXOO
Friday night our university liaison gave us tickets to a program at the Tianjin Concert Hall. We went with the Boren's. It was the Tianjin Symphonic Orchestra. Fantastic! It was just wonderful. Of course, all the music was in Chinese :) But music is universal. All the instruments were Chinese. They were so interesting. We really wanted to go look at them, but that wouldn't have been proper. We were all amazed at the beauty of the music and the concert hall and all the pomp. And the girl in the front row of the orchestra who reminded us of Nickki Gabel, especially when she rolled her eyes and mimicked the announcer!
Saturday was our Branch Christmas party at the Presidents' house. Huge house,68 people, adults and kids. It was great! Turkey and all the trimmings and even Santa Claus showed up! We took our family from upstairs. Their three kids are wild and crazy, but there were others like them so it was OK!
We even had a program- a Viola duet, a Chinese harp solo, a speech by a 7 yr. old girl, and I read the Christmas story and we sang songs with it. It was just right! Plus we brought left-overs home!
The family upstairs, with the 3 kids, has now moved from the 5th floor to the second floor. Right above us. But it's alright. The 5th floor doesn't have bars on the windows and their kids were always opening the windows. The second story apt.has bars to keep the kids in. This China experience with 3 kids is really draining Staci. I feel so sorry for her. They have hired a nanny, but she doesn't speak English and I think the kids just run over her!
I'm finding I feel less stressed since Ernie's kidney stone has been taken care of, and I didn't even know I was stressed. But I do feel better.
Finals are this week and next and I'm on top of them so I feel confident that I can get that taken care of easily. Then we have time off and start preparing for next semester.Our students have their big finals after they have the English finals. They are studying so hard. They even have a final on Christmas, not that they celebrate Christmas, but they know a little about it.
Our other China teachers were saying how they talk so much about Christmas with their students so I thought I would to. That would take up some class time. No. They all looked at me with blank expressions;like they had no idea or interest in what I was talking about. So much for Christmas.
All of the stores are decorated. Not like the U.S. But they have decorations in the windows and there are some magnificent Christmas trees in the upper class shopping areas! Near the concert hall.
It's time to get to class. Love you all! Can't wait for Christi to get home!! Mom XXOO
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Dec 11th
We went to Beijing yesterday, Saturday, and Dad had the stint removed. The nurse said it took 5 min. but we were there 5 hrs.! He had to have all the before and after stuff done. I went shopping for about an hour. I had so much stuff in my plastic basket at the American grocery store that I couldn't carry it to the cash register downstairs, so I had to put stuff back and then come back later for it!
I also visited our little mall of stalls. I took Dad back later and he bought a nice North Face coat , with a liner, that he can wear over his suit if it really gets nasty.
Today has been beautiful! Not too cold and no wind. We had sacrament meeting at the Bishop/Presidents house. All 35 of us in his living room. Then we had a special conference by phone with our Regional District. They made three districts out of two districts. There are over 2000 foreigners in branches here in China. Twenty five years ago there was only one family. As China grows so does the Church.Even though we can't talk to the Chinese population the foreigners who come here are becoming more and more. They didn't tell us how many Chinese nationals are members, but it's growing too. Afterward we had a potluck lunch. That was yummy! I made enchilada casserole, but I didn't get to eat any.It was gone too fast.
Love you all. Help each other. Stay strong! Mom XXOO
I also visited our little mall of stalls. I took Dad back later and he bought a nice North Face coat , with a liner, that he can wear over his suit if it really gets nasty.
Today has been beautiful! Not too cold and no wind. We had sacrament meeting at the Bishop/Presidents house. All 35 of us in his living room. Then we had a special conference by phone with our Regional District. They made three districts out of two districts. There are over 2000 foreigners in branches here in China. Twenty five years ago there was only one family. As China grows so does the Church.Even though we can't talk to the Chinese population the foreigners who come here are becoming more and more. They didn't tell us how many Chinese nationals are members, but it's growing too. Afterward we had a potluck lunch. That was yummy! I made enchilada casserole, but I didn't get to eat any.It was gone too fast.
Love you all. Help each other. Stay strong! Mom XXOO
Friday, December 9, 2011
Dec 9th
We go to Beijing tomorrow to have dad's stint taken out and then we shouldn't have to go back for a few months for just a check up. So I can shop while he's at the hospital. I'll go to the American store and probably the little mall of stalls. :) Love you all . Say a prayer that all will be well!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Dec 6th
Our neighbor, Howie, told us about a new marke tplacce he found. Every time you venture down a strange street you can usually find a new marketplace. This one has clothes, flowers, pets, and vegetables and fruits! So we had to go take a look with Jeanne and Nelson and then go back by ourselves too. I found a candy here that I really like. It's peanuts in a hard sugar base. There's something like it in the US, but I can't remember the name. Here it comes in a slab, about 2"x6". A lady had some at this market place and I asked her how much it was. She said, I think, 14 yuan for one. That's about $2.00 and a little steep, but it's so good I told her I wanted two. She put 6 in a bag and charged me 27 yuan.I didn't question her. It's almost addicting!
Dad found a little shop that had a variety of old Chinese stuff. The guy kept showing him old boxes, Dad's downfall. And he wanted 2000 yuan for all 3 of them - about $300.00 US. At the time I was with dad and convinced him that he only needed a different box for 50 yuan. It's very nice - leather and wood - but not as old as the other ones he saw. Dad just went back to this market place with Nelson. I'm a little worried!
Nelson wants to buy a hat like Dad bought last week. It's fleece lined, like a baseball cap but with ear flaps that snap under your chin. It looks OK and it keeps him very warm. Nelson's head is shaved so he needs a good hat like that. I'd buy one for me, but I look pretty dorky in it, like I do in any hat! I just wear my scarf and hood.
I bought a poinsettia at the market place for 5 yuan - about $.75. It's looking a little lame now. Oh, do you have to water it!? We put up our Christmas tree and decorations. They came with the apartment. Dad's excited. It looks festive! I bought us a Christmas decoration that I'm going to safe and open on Christmas, so we'll have something under the tree.
We had a nice anniversary - Dinner at TGI Friday's. American food. A little pricey, but we're worth it after 45 years. Maybe we'll go back when we get a desire for a good hamburger.
It rained last night and we had a bit of snow flurry yesterday morning. It's getting colder, but we still haven't turned on the heat, unless I want to dry the clothes.
Love you and miss you all! Mom XXOO
Dad found a little shop that had a variety of old Chinese stuff. The guy kept showing him old boxes, Dad's downfall. And he wanted 2000 yuan for all 3 of them - about $300.00 US. At the time I was with dad and convinced him that he only needed a different box for 50 yuan. It's very nice - leather and wood - but not as old as the other ones he saw. Dad just went back to this market place with Nelson. I'm a little worried!
Nelson wants to buy a hat like Dad bought last week. It's fleece lined, like a baseball cap but with ear flaps that snap under your chin. It looks OK and it keeps him very warm. Nelson's head is shaved so he needs a good hat like that. I'd buy one for me, but I look pretty dorky in it, like I do in any hat! I just wear my scarf and hood.
I bought a poinsettia at the market place for 5 yuan - about $.75. It's looking a little lame now. Oh, do you have to water it!? We put up our Christmas tree and decorations. They came with the apartment. Dad's excited. It looks festive! I bought us a Christmas decoration that I'm going to safe and open on Christmas, so we'll have something under the tree.
We had a nice anniversary - Dinner at TGI Friday's. American food. A little pricey, but we're worth it after 45 years. Maybe we'll go back when we get a desire for a good hamburger.
It rained last night and we had a bit of snow flurry yesterday morning. It's getting colder, but we still haven't turned on the heat, unless I want to dry the clothes.
Love you and miss you all! Mom XXOO
Friday, December 2, 2011
Dec 2nd
I'm fighting a cold and probably shouldn't write, but I'll try.
Monday after class two girls came to my room and invited me to be a judge at a drama competition the following night. There are things like this that you do not refuse to do in China. So ,of course, I agreed to do it.
The next night I took Ernie with me and Jeanne was going to it too. There were 5 judges we were introduced and applauded. Ernie and Jeanne were also introduced as special guests. They both saw kids from their classes. I saw one of mine. The short plays were put on by various clubs. It was very hard to judge (they were in English) because I don't know what to judge them by. The costumes and such were scarce. The English was not perfect, but they were cute and the kids did a good job. The one that won (there were 8) was a compilation of bits of The Sound of Music. One of the judging points was originality, of which there was none for this play! But I was chosen to present the grand prize . There were 7 prizes given, that the other judges handed out. They are so gracious. I was given a throw pillow for being a judge, none of the other judges got anything. And I got to pose with the winning group for pictures. It was fun and the kids worked hard on their plays.They don't realize that cussing and body gestures are not appropriate on stage, but TIC TIC TIC !
Love you all !
Monday after class two girls came to my room and invited me to be a judge at a drama competition the following night. There are things like this that you do not refuse to do in China. So ,of course, I agreed to do it.
The next night I took Ernie with me and Jeanne was going to it too. There were 5 judges we were introduced and applauded. Ernie and Jeanne were also introduced as special guests. They both saw kids from their classes. I saw one of mine. The short plays were put on by various clubs. It was very hard to judge (they were in English) because I don't know what to judge them by. The costumes and such were scarce. The English was not perfect, but they were cute and the kids did a good job. The one that won (there were 8) was a compilation of bits of The Sound of Music. One of the judging points was originality, of which there was none for this play! But I was chosen to present the grand prize . There were 7 prizes given, that the other judges handed out. They are so gracious. I was given a throw pillow for being a judge, none of the other judges got anything. And I got to pose with the winning group for pictures. It was fun and the kids worked hard on their plays.They don't realize that cussing and body gestures are not appropriate on stage, but TIC TIC TIC !
Love you all !
Monday, November 28, 2011
Nov 20th (forgot to post this one...)
Today was our Primary program. We have 3 children in Primary and 2 in nursery. They are all Korean. The primary children gave talks and sang and recited scriptures...in Korean and English. Our Church is made up of the English expatriates (us) and Taiwanese and Koreans. The Koreans don't speak English, but because they are also expatriates(hold passports) they have to come to our branch, as the Taiwanese do. But the Taiwanese also speak Chinese or English and the Koreans can understand Chinese. So the Taiwanese can speak Chinese and the Koreans can understand them. There is always somebody translating in the background during the meetings. It's sort'a confusing.
The Primary has their sharetime as the first part of Primary and it's led my the Primary president and her first counselor (both English,but one speaks Chinese)) and then they have their lesson by Korean teachers, mostly their mothers.And there is a Korean mother in the nursery. The kids are a regular wild bunch.
The Young Women's program only has a president and she also teaches the three girls in Y.M.. They're all 14-16 years old.
The Young Men have a president (Ernie) and one counselor. They have two priests in Y.M. The sacrament prayers are said in Chinese and English. Since our ward is only about 35 people the sacrament is passed really fast!
There is also a Chinese Branch that meets in our building after us. These are native Chinese and we are not allowed to associate with them. It's the rules of the government.
Although there are no missionaries here they have probably been baptized while they were out of the country either U.S. or Hong Kong.
The Church is true , even in China!!
Love Mom
The Primary has their sharetime as the first part of Primary and it's led my the Primary president and her first counselor (both English,but one speaks Chinese)) and then they have their lesson by Korean teachers, mostly their mothers.And there is a Korean mother in the nursery. The kids are a regular wild bunch.
The Young Women's program only has a president and she also teaches the three girls in Y.M.. They're all 14-16 years old.
The Young Men have a president (Ernie) and one counselor. They have two priests in Y.M. The sacrament prayers are said in Chinese and English. Since our ward is only about 35 people the sacrament is passed really fast!
There is also a Chinese Branch that meets in our building after us. These are native Chinese and we are not allowed to associate with them. It's the rules of the government.
Although there are no missionaries here they have probably been baptized while they were out of the country either U.S. or Hong Kong.
The Church is true , even in China!!
Love Mom
Nov 27th
I got my hair cut last week. Jeanne thinks I'm so brave because I went by myself. Dad left me at the door as the doorman opened it for me. Then a young girl in a black blazer welcomed me. Of course, no one spoke English. So I just smiled and pantomimed a haircut! She took me to the lockers and put away my coat and purse and gave me a key. She was looking very worried and she kept speaking Chinese (sort'a like Dad. He keeps speaking English to people who obviously have no idea what he's saying, but he just keeps on talking) She motioned me to the shampoo room and I nodded. A nice young man shampooed my hair and wrapped it in a towel and led me out to the shop. I was directed to a booth where another young man with scissors and comb started combing my hair. Another guy wrote something in English on his phone, but I have no idea what it said. Then he wrote something about haircut books and I shook my head and pantomimed cutting 1/2 in off of my hair. the guy with the scissors got to work and 20 min. later I was happy. I'll probably go back in a few months. It cost me 30 yuan which is about $4.00
Thursday,Thanksgiving,we spent at the hospital. Dad had to fast all day. His procedure was at 6:30 pm. Both the surgeon and his assistant ( the specialist from out of town) came in and explained everything to us.And afterwards everything was great! They were able to get the stone and blast it without any problems. For my dinner I went to an Italian restaurant across the street from the hospital and ordered take-out pasta with pesto sauce. It was good but not as good as stuffing and cranberry sauce! I get to stay in the room with Dad. There is a love seat with a hide-a-bed. It's twin sized and not long enough, but OK. His meals are enough for both of us to eat off of. We came home Sat. about 3:30pm.
Today was our District Conference at Church. We had representatives from Beijing come down. The Beijing branch has about 250 members.They also have a "Virtual" Branch of about 230 people who live all over China. There might only be one person in a remote city but they all connect by phone to hold their meetings.Our branch has about 35 people in it.
It was a good weekend and now to get ready for my crazy Monday! I have to walk a lot on Mondays. My tailbone still hurts from my fall, but that could last for a couple of weeks.
Love you all !! So glad you could be together for Thanksgiving!! Next year you can cook too!! XXOO
Thursday,Thanksgiving,we spent at the hospital. Dad had to fast all day. His procedure was at 6:30 pm. Both the surgeon and his assistant ( the specialist from out of town) came in and explained everything to us.And afterwards everything was great! They were able to get the stone and blast it without any problems. For my dinner I went to an Italian restaurant across the street from the hospital and ordered take-out pasta with pesto sauce. It was good but not as good as stuffing and cranberry sauce! I get to stay in the room with Dad. There is a love seat with a hide-a-bed. It's twin sized and not long enough, but OK. His meals are enough for both of us to eat off of. We came home Sat. about 3:30pm.
Today was our District Conference at Church. We had representatives from Beijing come down. The Beijing branch has about 250 members.They also have a "Virtual" Branch of about 230 people who live all over China. There might only be one person in a remote city but they all connect by phone to hold their meetings.Our branch has about 35 people in it.
It was a good weekend and now to get ready for my crazy Monday! I have to walk a lot on Mondays. My tailbone still hurts from my fall, but that could last for a couple of weeks.
Love you all !! So glad you could be together for Thanksgiving!! Next year you can cook too!! XXOO
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Dad's out of surgery. It was successful !!! They took out a big stone with more small ones to follow by themselves. Thanks for all of your prayers!!
He'll probably be released Sat. a.m.
Happy Thanksgiving! Love Mom XXOO
He'll probably be released Sat. a.m.
Happy Thanksgiving! Love Mom XXOO
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Nov. 19th
So it's Saturday. We can sleep in... No, the door bell rings at 8:30. It's the gas man to collect our payment for the last two months. It's 6.60 yuan...$1.04 U.S. Of course, all the gas we use is our two-burner cook stove. Not too bad.
Then we got to Skype with Grandpa and Anna and Zack. That was nice.
We then went to a new market place with Jeanne and Nelson. The had everything! I bought a sweatshirt that fits me for $3.00 US. I bought one a few weeks ago, but Dad keeps wearing it. That one cost $9.00 US.
Our apartment isn't cold at all. The government pays for our radiant heat. We have to pay if we turn on the forced air things in the living room and the bedroom. But it was chilly out today. And windy.
I went to the student store around the corner to buy some things.While I was walking over there I was kicking a soccer ball around with some students ( I know I'm too old to do that) And I fell on my backside and hit my head on the pavement! I also bruised my pride:( My tail bone hurts but I think I'll survive. Yeah for Ibuprofin!
After lunch we went to our local market to buy some meat. Where you shop depends on how far you have to walk with your purchases.We discovered that the market stalls are closed after lunch! We went back at dinner time and bought some meat to last us a few days.
We'll leave Thurs. morning for Beijing and hopefully a successful procedure to "Blast" the wretched kidney stones.!
Love you all!! Mom XXOO
I honestly don't think I've EVER seen mom "kick around a soccer ball"! That China, I think it's changing them. -Melanie
Then we got to Skype with Grandpa and Anna and Zack. That was nice.
We then went to a new market place with Jeanne and Nelson. The had everything! I bought a sweatshirt that fits me for $3.00 US. I bought one a few weeks ago, but Dad keeps wearing it. That one cost $9.00 US.
Our apartment isn't cold at all. The government pays for our radiant heat. We have to pay if we turn on the forced air things in the living room and the bedroom. But it was chilly out today. And windy.
I went to the student store around the corner to buy some things.While I was walking over there I was kicking a soccer ball around with some students ( I know I'm too old to do that) And I fell on my backside and hit my head on the pavement! I also bruised my pride:( My tail bone hurts but I think I'll survive. Yeah for Ibuprofin!
After lunch we went to our local market to buy some meat. Where you shop depends on how far you have to walk with your purchases.We discovered that the market stalls are closed after lunch! We went back at dinner time and bought some meat to last us a few days.
We'll leave Thurs. morning for Beijing and hopefully a successful procedure to "Blast" the wretched kidney stones.!
Love you all!! Mom XXOO
I honestly don't think I've EVER seen mom "kick around a soccer ball"! That China, I think it's changing them. -Melanie
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Nov 16th
As it stands now, we get to stay home in Tianjin this weekend!! But next Thursday, Thanksgiving, Dad will have his procedure done in Beijing. They said the surgeon is the best in China, so I hope that's true. The only drawback is that we both work on Thurs. (China does not celebrate our Thanksgiving) So our classes will have to have substitutes. Dad has to be there at 11:00am and the procedure is at 6:00. He said I could teach and then come up later, but I'm not going to do that. I don't want to travel by myself all that way. And I don't trust him to travel by himself. :)
He might have to spend 2-3 days in the hospital to make sure there's no infection, that means I'll be shopping a lot or else be very bored. Maybe I'll take the computer this time.
I do want to shop at the American market again. It's so expensive, but necessary. Today I ordered some things from an American market here. They're also expensive plus they charge a delivery fee, but they do deliver and that was nice. They even brought a hot pizza that wasn't too bad.I just can't eat like a Chinese all the time!
Last night we had burritos. Dad cooked and I did everything else. We invited Nelson & Jeanne down and they were thrilled! Tonight Dad & I went out to eat at our favorite little Chinese restaurant where no English is spoken. We always get the same waitress and we take our receipt that says what we had last time. Dad loves their sweet and sour shrimp, but tonight we had sweet and sour pork. It wasn't very saucy nor sweet but it was all right. I'm still losing weight .Dad isn't.
Last Saturday we explored a new market place with Nelson and we bought some DVDs. Dad bought the Narnia series,Indiana Jones Series,Madigasgar,Ice Age and High School Musical. They were about $17.00 total,U.S.
This Sat. we're going to explore another local market place with them Shopping shopping shopping!
It's late. We're off Fri. so we can sleep in!! Love you all !! XXOO Mom
He might have to spend 2-3 days in the hospital to make sure there's no infection, that means I'll be shopping a lot or else be very bored. Maybe I'll take the computer this time.
I do want to shop at the American market again. It's so expensive, but necessary. Today I ordered some things from an American market here. They're also expensive plus they charge a delivery fee, but they do deliver and that was nice. They even brought a hot pizza that wasn't too bad.I just can't eat like a Chinese all the time!
Last night we had burritos. Dad cooked and I did everything else. We invited Nelson & Jeanne down and they were thrilled! Tonight Dad & I went out to eat at our favorite little Chinese restaurant where no English is spoken. We always get the same waitress and we take our receipt that says what we had last time. Dad loves their sweet and sour shrimp, but tonight we had sweet and sour pork. It wasn't very saucy nor sweet but it was all right. I'm still losing weight .Dad isn't.
Last Saturday we explored a new market place with Nelson and we bought some DVDs. Dad bought the Narnia series,Indiana Jones Series,Madigasgar,Ice Age and High School Musical. They were about $17.00 total,U.S.
This Sat. we're going to explore another local market place with them Shopping shopping shopping!
It's late. We're off Fri. so we can sleep in!! Love you all !! XXOO Mom
Friday, November 11, 2011
Nov 11th
It's 10;00 pm - we just got back from Beijing. We had to wait for 2 hrs. to get a train home. It was busy. We left at 8:00 this morning, got to the hospital about 10:30. they did an x-ray then an ultra sound. no kidney stones showed up.
They let us go for a few hours. We had lunch - pizza (Yum!) and ceasar salad for $8.00 US. Then we went shopping. It was productive, but Dad gets really carried away! Then back to the hospital so that they could take us to another hospital 1/2 hr. away to get blasted. That Dr. did an ultra sound and couldn't find a kidney stone, so he ordered a CAT scan. Oh, there it is! But it's in the urether, where they can't blast it! Before it had been in the urether and then the next time it was in the kidney and now it's moved back down! So back to the first hospital to consult with the urologist. He wants to do a scope and blast the stone from the inside (ouch) , but he doesn't do that another Dr. does and he is only at the hosp. on Wed. and Sat. Can we stay overnight and consult with him No! We're not going to spend money on a hotel to talk to him for 10 min. We told him to have the Dr. look at the CAT scan and call us! Then we went shopping again, got a few more bargins and headed home.
What a day! I did get a nice sweatshirt for $9.00 US. I need something to wear around the house that I can just relax in and stay warm.And of course, Dad bought more things for the boys. If Lori & Kari come to China they'll each have to bring an empty suitcase here!
So Sat. we can rest and clean house. Yipe-e-e-e
Love you all ! Mom XXOO
They let us go for a few hours. We had lunch - pizza (Yum!) and ceasar salad for $8.00 US. Then we went shopping. It was productive, but Dad gets really carried away! Then back to the hospital so that they could take us to another hospital 1/2 hr. away to get blasted. That Dr. did an ultra sound and couldn't find a kidney stone, so he ordered a CAT scan. Oh, there it is! But it's in the urether, where they can't blast it! Before it had been in the urether and then the next time it was in the kidney and now it's moved back down! So back to the first hospital to consult with the urologist. He wants to do a scope and blast the stone from the inside (ouch) , but he doesn't do that another Dr. does and he is only at the hosp. on Wed. and Sat. Can we stay overnight and consult with him No! We're not going to spend money on a hotel to talk to him for 10 min. We told him to have the Dr. look at the CAT scan and call us! Then we went shopping again, got a few more bargins and headed home.
What a day! I did get a nice sweatshirt for $9.00 US. I need something to wear around the house that I can just relax in and stay warm.And of course, Dad bought more things for the boys. If Lori & Kari come to China they'll each have to bring an empty suitcase here!
So Sat. we can rest and clean house. Yipe-e-e-e
Love you all ! Mom XXOO
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Nov 9th
Just up sitting and so i thought I would say hi.
I lost contact with a friend from college. I knew he was in Singapore but could not find any e-mail. BYU did not have his correct e-mail. I was looking at our BYU China teachers book and saw that the Palmers spent time in Singapore as
employment missioners. I e-mailed them and they worked with him and gave me his e-mail. He wrote back and we hope to get together in Hong Kong sometime.
If we can afford it, we might go to Singapore and see him and his family.
We went to a student concert last night with our fellow teachers. It was interesting. Was suppose to start at 7pm, did not start till 7:30. Looked and went like a high school program. It was called College musical. First song was Don't Stop Believing, which was the first song I played for my students, so at least 500+ have heard the Journey version of it. It was an interesting show with singers, different types of musical instruments. Relay races with hula hoops and eating dumplings. There were these 2 guys dressed in red and blue type robes. They were very funny as the kids laughed and laughed. It reminded me of 'Who's on First'. These guys were very good and their timing was great. Even though we did not understand anything they said. It was how they acted that was neat. If you have
not seen 'Who's on First' you can watch it on YouTube. I recommend it for anyone who has played softball.
We are off to Beijing, for the last time I hope, they are going to blast the kidney stone. With a little luck we hope to be back the same day. Thought and prayers are always welcomed. It helped with my kidney and light handedness. Everything seems to be back to normal.
Have a good weekend.
Love to you all,
Dad
I lost contact with a friend from college. I knew he was in Singapore but could not find any e-mail. BYU did not have his correct e-mail. I was looking at our BYU China teachers book and saw that the Palmers spent time in Singapore as
employment missioners. I e-mailed them and they worked with him and gave me his e-mail. He wrote back and we hope to get together in Hong Kong sometime.
If we can afford it, we might go to Singapore and see him and his family.
We went to a student concert last night with our fellow teachers. It was interesting. Was suppose to start at 7pm, did not start till 7:30. Looked and went like a high school program. It was called College musical. First song was Don't Stop Believing, which was the first song I played for my students, so at least 500+ have heard the Journey version of it. It was an interesting show with singers, different types of musical instruments. Relay races with hula hoops and eating dumplings. There were these 2 guys dressed in red and blue type robes. They were very funny as the kids laughed and laughed. It reminded me of 'Who's on First'. These guys were very good and their timing was great. Even though we did not understand anything they said. It was how they acted that was neat. If you have
not seen 'Who's on First' you can watch it on YouTube. I recommend it for anyone who has played softball.
We are off to Beijing, for the last time I hope, they are going to blast the kidney stone. With a little luck we hope to be back the same day. Thought and prayers are always welcomed. It helped with my kidney and light handedness. Everything seems to be back to normal.
Have a good weekend.
Love to you all,
Dad
Monday, November 7, 2011
Nov 6th
Our friend, Jeanne, loves raisin bread. So being the wonderful husband that he is Nelson bought a loaf when he saw some at a bakery. Having things that remind us of home is very comforting. She was excited about his thoughtfulness and decided to make french toast the next morning. She cooked it up and they sat down to eat. It wasn't raisin bread...it was bean bread! But she said, with lots of syrup on it , it wasn't too bad! It was a nice thought! Their bread is good if you get the right kind. I bought some delicious looking dinner rolls that had bean curd in them. It looks like poop, and has a nasty texture. Then I bought some other rolls that looked good and they were already sliced. They had pineapple jam(?) inside. The next day I stuck a piece of ham in one and had it for lunch.
If we buy Chinese items the prices are very cheap..watermelon for $.16 ...fruit and vegetables for under ad dollar. But when you buy American food at the American market you pay through the nose! A bag of
Fritos $5.46
Honey roasted peanuts $4.73
butter $3.56
syrup $3.99
Golden Crisp cereal $3.99
Popcorn 3 pack $5.32
shredded wheat $6.65
Bunches of Oats $6.65
When we go to Beijing we always try to stock up on important things, like Fritos and cereal. But I just found a place in Tianjin that will deliver, and the prices are comparable. That would be better than hauling our suitcase all over Beijing full off food!
Have a good Sunday. We're thinking about you all !! Love Mom
If we buy Chinese items the prices are very cheap..watermelon for $.16 ...fruit and vegetables for under ad dollar. But when you buy American food at the American market you pay through the nose! A bag of
Fritos $5.46
Honey roasted peanuts $4.73
butter $3.56
syrup $3.99
Golden Crisp cereal $3.99
Popcorn 3 pack $5.32
shredded wheat $6.65
Bunches of Oats $6.65
When we go to Beijing we always try to stock up on important things, like Fritos and cereal. But I just found a place in Tianjin that will deliver, and the prices are comparable. That would be better than hauling our suitcase all over Beijing full off food!
Have a good Sunday. We're thinking about you all !! Love Mom
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Nov 5th
So we went to Beijing on Friday to see 2 kidney doctors. We left home at 9:00am and got to the hospital at 11:50am The bullet train ride is 30 min., but the traffic in Beijing was Horrible! Plus the taxi driver didn't know where the hospital was. Now I have a map of Beijing with the hospital marked. We'll see if that helps next time. When we came home the Tianjin taxi driver didn't know where the University was either! We just have an address and a little map and we don't speak Chinese! When the taxi picks us up at the station there is a guard there that can direct them, but it's such a hassel. They never take us or bring us back the same way so the cost is always different!
When we got to the hospital - there are three buildings together - we first got an ultra sound that showed that the right stone had grown and there were 2 stones on the left side. Then Dad had blood drawn and then we saw the urologist at 2:00, who sent us to have a CAT scan 'cause that shows a better image than the ultra sound. Then we saw the kidney specialist who said the creatinine test looked good, the kidneys were functioning OK Check back again in a few months Then back to the urologist..The CAT scan showed no stones on the left and just the bigger one on the right. We will go back next Friday and have it blasted!
By this time, 4:30, the traffic is busy so we got to the train station eventually and got a 7:00 train ride home. It's always an exhausting day and it's hard to find food to eat at a reasonable price. I think I'll pack a picnic next Friday.! We also had some time to go to the American mkt. Dad's never been there so he made me go over-budget. Again we came back with our "carry-on" suitcase full and 3 other bags. I feel like a Gypsy, but not as bad as some of the locals look. You can't believe the things they carry on the train!
My last load of laundry is washed so I think I'll hang it up and take a nap. love you !! Mom
P.S. Has anyone read The Shack for their book club? I'm reading it now.
When we got to the hospital - there are three buildings together - we first got an ultra sound that showed that the right stone had grown and there were 2 stones on the left side. Then Dad had blood drawn and then we saw the urologist at 2:00, who sent us to have a CAT scan 'cause that shows a better image than the ultra sound. Then we saw the kidney specialist who said the creatinine test looked good, the kidneys were functioning OK Check back again in a few months Then back to the urologist..The CAT scan showed no stones on the left and just the bigger one on the right. We will go back next Friday and have it blasted!
By this time, 4:30, the traffic is busy so we got to the train station eventually and got a 7:00 train ride home. It's always an exhausting day and it's hard to find food to eat at a reasonable price. I think I'll pack a picnic next Friday.! We also had some time to go to the American mkt. Dad's never been there so he made me go over-budget. Again we came back with our "carry-on" suitcase full and 3 other bags. I feel like a Gypsy, but not as bad as some of the locals look. You can't believe the things they carry on the train!
My last load of laundry is washed so I think I'll hang it up and take a nap. love you !! Mom
P.S. Has anyone read The Shack for their book club? I'm reading it now.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Nov 3rd
Off to Beijing for the day and final trip to the doctors for awhile. I hope.
Thanks for all the thoughts & prayers, they helped.
Dad
Thanks for all the thoughts & prayers, they helped.
Dad
Monday, October 31, 2011
10/30
Dad has treated me to dinner Thurs. and Fri. Thursday we ate at the "dumpling house" . Dad wanted fried shrimp but she indicated that they didn't have any.
So we ordered sweet and sour shrimp - which was fried shrimp with sauce over it. Then we ordered fried rice with chicken. We've ordered rice 4 times and it is always different. This wasn't exactly fried but OK. Then we had pork dumplings. they weren't as good as last time. Maybe we were more hungry last time.
In a restaurant they serve one part of the meal at a time. You'll get the rice and 5 min. later the shrimp, and 5 min. later the dumplings. But it was good.
Friday is our day off so we went to a huge marketplace. It covers blocks and is 3 stories high. We just wandered around looking at everything and bought a few things - like the cutest China girl outfit in the world for Samantha. She'll wear it in a few years.
Our friend (he reminds me of Mason Smith) told us about an inexpensive restaurant near us that has American food, so we decided to try that. It's called the Cat Palace. We had to wait about 45 min. to get in. You write down your food order and then go downstairs and pay for it before they make it. I
wanted pizza.(it was Fri.) So I ordered a ham and pineapple pizza.Dad ordered Teriaki Chicken and french fries.When he went downstairs to pay he was told they didn't have pineapple pizza and he could choose another pizza. His options were - Tuna pizza - Intestinal Pizza - or fruit pizza. He ordered me fruit pizza! not that I would have wanted the other options! I was served my pizza about 10 min. before he was served. It had a hard crust and then a tomato based spread with apple slices ,cinnamon and white cheese. I ate the apple slices . Dad's chicken was not the way that I make Teriaki chicken and the fries were very greasy and limp. So much for the Cat Palace.
We had our Halloween Party Saturday afternoon at our Branch President's house. We couldn't find a taxi driver who knew where it was. It took us 4 tries/taxis. We finally got there. He is employed by Boeing and they supply his house. It was huge! On a lake,, with an outside club house with a pool table. Very nice. We probably had about 50 people there and a dozen kids. When we have a ward activity everyone invites their friends.The friends are supposed to be foreigners, but that's not always the case. We had a good time. They served pizza and we all brought treats. Their pizza was pretty good.
Our ward consists of foreigners, mostly teachers, and Koreans and Taiwanese. The local Chinese have to meet by themselves. They meet in the same building after us, but we are not alllowed to mingle together.
I had the pleasure of speaking today. They say we'll get to speak alot because there are so few of us in the branch. One family has two teenage girls (our YW Program) who play they violas. they played today too. They are so good! It's wonderful to have that talent.
We heard a neat story - During the Depression there was a very poor family. The children got one joint present for Christmas, a big jigsaw puzzle. It was of a ship on the ocean with a blue sky.The puzzle would take a lot of work to put together, but pretty soon, as they all worked on it, they had the outline of the puzzle done.
The father picked up a piece of the puzzle and asked his young son,"Do you know where this goes?" "No", said the son. Suddenly the father threw it in the fireplace! The little boy was outraged! "Daddy, why did you do that? How can we complete the puzzle with a piece missing?" The father said,"Well, you don't know where it goes or what to do with it." "But," said the boy,when we're done with the puzzle we'll know where it goes." The father explained," That puzzle piece is like the Gospel. If you don't understand some part of it, just put it aside and later you will know what to do with it, and it will all fit into place." He rescued the puzzle piece from the fire and the young boy learned a valuable lesson. We don't always understand all that we should do. Maybe it isn't our time to understand, but we shouldn't worry too much. When it is all put together we will know where all the pieces should go.
One more thought...Follow the Prophet,,you want to go where he's going.
Love you!!! Mom XXOO
So we ordered sweet and sour shrimp - which was fried shrimp with sauce over it. Then we ordered fried rice with chicken. We've ordered rice 4 times and it is always different. This wasn't exactly fried but OK. Then we had pork dumplings. they weren't as good as last time. Maybe we were more hungry last time.
In a restaurant they serve one part of the meal at a time. You'll get the rice and 5 min. later the shrimp, and 5 min. later the dumplings. But it was good.
Friday is our day off so we went to a huge marketplace. It covers blocks and is 3 stories high. We just wandered around looking at everything and bought a few things - like the cutest China girl outfit in the world for Samantha. She'll wear it in a few years.
Our friend (he reminds me of Mason Smith) told us about an inexpensive restaurant near us that has American food, so we decided to try that. It's called the Cat Palace. We had to wait about 45 min. to get in. You write down your food order and then go downstairs and pay for it before they make it. I
wanted pizza.(it was Fri.) So I ordered a ham and pineapple pizza.Dad ordered Teriaki Chicken and french fries.When he went downstairs to pay he was told they didn't have pineapple pizza and he could choose another pizza. His options were - Tuna pizza - Intestinal Pizza - or fruit pizza. He ordered me fruit pizza! not that I would have wanted the other options! I was served my pizza about 10 min. before he was served. It had a hard crust and then a tomato based spread with apple slices ,cinnamon and white cheese. I ate the apple slices . Dad's chicken was not the way that I make Teriaki chicken and the fries were very greasy and limp. So much for the Cat Palace.
We had our Halloween Party Saturday afternoon at our Branch President's house. We couldn't find a taxi driver who knew where it was. It took us 4 tries/taxis. We finally got there. He is employed by Boeing and they supply his house. It was huge! On a lake,, with an outside club house with a pool table. Very nice. We probably had about 50 people there and a dozen kids. When we have a ward activity everyone invites their friends.The friends are supposed to be foreigners, but that's not always the case. We had a good time. They served pizza and we all brought treats. Their pizza was pretty good.
Our ward consists of foreigners, mostly teachers, and Koreans and Taiwanese. The local Chinese have to meet by themselves. They meet in the same building after us, but we are not alllowed to mingle together.
I had the pleasure of speaking today. They say we'll get to speak alot because there are so few of us in the branch. One family has two teenage girls (our YW Program) who play they violas. they played today too. They are so good! It's wonderful to have that talent.
We heard a neat story - During the Depression there was a very poor family. The children got one joint present for Christmas, a big jigsaw puzzle. It was of a ship on the ocean with a blue sky.The puzzle would take a lot of work to put together, but pretty soon, as they all worked on it, they had the outline of the puzzle done.
The father picked up a piece of the puzzle and asked his young son,"Do you know where this goes?" "No", said the son. Suddenly the father threw it in the fireplace! The little boy was outraged! "Daddy, why did you do that? How can we complete the puzzle with a piece missing?" The father said,"Well, you don't know where it goes or what to do with it." "But," said the boy,when we're done with the puzzle we'll know where it goes." The father explained," That puzzle piece is like the Gospel. If you don't understand some part of it, just put it aside and later you will know what to do with it, and it will all fit into place." He rescued the puzzle piece from the fire and the young boy learned a valuable lesson. We don't always understand all that we should do. Maybe it isn't our time to understand, but we shouldn't worry too much. When it is all put together we will know where all the pieces should go.
One more thought...Follow the Prophet,,you want to go where he's going.
Love you!!! Mom XXOO
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Oct 25th
Tues. I was in my afternoon class and before class a young man came up to me and said,"Horsbun in hospito. He come here wheen done." I had him repeat it, and I thought,.. Great,Ernie's gone to the hospital ! Did his blood pressure drop?? So I continued with my class and I called roll..Albert, "here"...Frank.."Here"
Horsebender? Horsebender? "No, No He in hospito" He come here wheen he done." Good, so it wasn't Dad. It's Horsebender who's in the hospital!!!
Cookies are different here,besides a lot of other things. Dad bought some Cheetos today. They weren't like American Cheetoos. They were sorta spicy and little shriveled things.
I was so happy to find my favorite Chips Ahoy cookies, but they're different too. Some are normal, but they're not made with as much sugar.They also come in different flavors! We've had some that are orange flavored. And some that were coffee flavored. There is a small picture of oranges or a coffee cup on the package, not that the normal person would see that. Believe me I will look closer next time.
Our bosses from BYU came today and observed our class. They didn't say anything so I guess we're OK.
As we were walking with them to class I pointed out the one thing I won't miss about China, and that's the sewer smell. You always smell it somewhere, outside or inside. My classroom is across the hall from the bathroom with squat toilets,and it always smells BAD! Sometimes it just smells like that on the street too. Their plumping -when they have western toilets - don't have the "U" shaped trap in the sewer line - so all the methane gas just comes right up through the drain. Our bathroom sink and shower don't have a trap so our bathroom in our apartment smells like methane gas always. It's horrible. Their plumping fixtures are American Standard or other name brands. The Chinese just don't install them correctly. There's been a lot of articles in the newspapers lately about their shoddy workmanship on big construction projects.
We bought some DVD's in Beijing, among them CARS 2. It 's in English with subtitles in English. The subtitles make no sense at all! The subtitles will say
" When come and" It was so weird. Then you can hear children laughing and see someone get up and walk past the screen. Apparently the film was made by someone sitting in the audience and filming it! It wasn't even that good of a movie. I was disappointed.
Dad's feeling better. No drops in his blood pressure. Blood sugar is 106 in the morning. He looks better too. But haven't heard from the Beijing Dr. yet.
Love you all.
Mom XXOO
Horsebender? Horsebender? "No, No He in hospito" He come here wheen he done." Good, so it wasn't Dad. It's Horsebender who's in the hospital!!!
Cookies are different here,besides a lot of other things. Dad bought some Cheetos today. They weren't like American Cheetoos. They were sorta spicy and little shriveled things.
I was so happy to find my favorite Chips Ahoy cookies, but they're different too. Some are normal, but they're not made with as much sugar.They also come in different flavors! We've had some that are orange flavored. And some that were coffee flavored. There is a small picture of oranges or a coffee cup on the package, not that the normal person would see that. Believe me I will look closer next time.
Our bosses from BYU came today and observed our class. They didn't say anything so I guess we're OK.
As we were walking with them to class I pointed out the one thing I won't miss about China, and that's the sewer smell. You always smell it somewhere, outside or inside. My classroom is across the hall from the bathroom with squat toilets,and it always smells BAD! Sometimes it just smells like that on the street too. Their plumping -when they have western toilets - don't have the "U" shaped trap in the sewer line - so all the methane gas just comes right up through the drain. Our bathroom sink and shower don't have a trap so our bathroom in our apartment smells like methane gas always. It's horrible. Their plumping fixtures are American Standard or other name brands. The Chinese just don't install them correctly. There's been a lot of articles in the newspapers lately about their shoddy workmanship on big construction projects.
We bought some DVD's in Beijing, among them CARS 2. It 's in English with subtitles in English. The subtitles make no sense at all! The subtitles will say
" When come and" It was so weird. Then you can hear children laughing and see someone get up and walk past the screen. Apparently the film was made by someone sitting in the audience and filming it! It wasn't even that good of a movie. I was disappointed.
Dad's feeling better. No drops in his blood pressure. Blood sugar is 106 in the morning. He looks better too. But haven't heard from the Beijing Dr. yet.
Love you all.
Mom XXOO
Monday, October 24, 2011
Oct 23rd
Another week end in Beijing! We had a Dr. appointment Fri. at 12:00 so I was hoping we could come back the same day, but the Dr. wanted a 24 hr. urine test. So, we had to stay in a cheap ($30.00 a night) motel again for 2 nights.
The motel is clean enough. It's just small and boring. The hospital suggested a hotel for $120.00 a night, but that was a bit above us. At our "regular" hotel is a nearby restaurant that has the best fried shrimp. So that's what we ate Fri. night with garlic snow peas and fried rice. They have pictures of the meals, but not the rice. We had the hardest time ordering the rice! And last time we got just white rice. This time we had fried rice, and Sat., at the same restaurant, we got sorta white/fried rice? It was good . We also had sweet & sour pork and a vegetable spring roll thing. The pork was good, but not the spring roll. I think they had fried it in some well-used oil.
Now that only leaves breakfast and lunch to figure out! Ernie wanted IHOP or cereal and milk. We are in China remember!! So he settled for a banana and a sponge cake and then a 1/2 sandwich from Starbucks for lunch. There is a western market near the hospital so I always make a trip there for American food. This time we took our carry-on suitcase with wheels so we didn't have to carry so much. But, I only bought a few canned goods and some butter and powered sugar and Fritos and other stuff. I give myself a limit of 200 yuan. That's about $30.00. There is a western mkt. here in Tianjin, but it's quite a hike away. I haven't even been to it yet. Ernie went with Wynn on his 3 wheeled scooter and they had a few near misses. Apparently Wynn drives like the locals!
Back to the hospital on Sunday morning for a blood test and then we came home. Pretty boring weekend, but maybe they'll figure out what's really wrong. Ernie's been having episodes of lightheadedness in the afternoons. The Dr, said that when he stand up his blood pressure drops considerably. I bought a blood pressure monitor in Beijing also. I almost brought one from home; I had it in my hands and then I put it back! Of course, sitting on a hotel bed for two days didn't raise his blood pressure. The Dr. also changed some of his medication, so we'll see what they say in a few days and if a change in medication helps. The kidney stones are still there as far as we know. They think the kidney stones are a secondary problem-that something else may be causing some real (kidney) malfunction. We'll keep you posted, as soon as we hear.
Dad thinks it's so funny that all the little kids wear the split crotch pants! Sat. we were sitting on a bench eating our breakfast and a lady came out of the store with a little boy, about 18 months, and he had on split crotch pants. She went over to use the ATM machine. He started to pee on the ATM machine so she just bent over and let him pee on the sidewalk. Dad wanted me to take a picture. I didn't. It will be in my mind for quite a while!
Love you all. XXOO Mom
The motel is clean enough. It's just small and boring. The hospital suggested a hotel for $120.00 a night, but that was a bit above us. At our "regular" hotel is a nearby restaurant that has the best fried shrimp. So that's what we ate Fri. night with garlic snow peas and fried rice. They have pictures of the meals, but not the rice. We had the hardest time ordering the rice! And last time we got just white rice. This time we had fried rice, and Sat., at the same restaurant, we got sorta white/fried rice? It was good . We also had sweet & sour pork and a vegetable spring roll thing. The pork was good, but not the spring roll. I think they had fried it in some well-used oil.
Now that only leaves breakfast and lunch to figure out! Ernie wanted IHOP or cereal and milk. We are in China remember!! So he settled for a banana and a sponge cake and then a 1/2 sandwich from Starbucks for lunch. There is a western market near the hospital so I always make a trip there for American food. This time we took our carry-on suitcase with wheels so we didn't have to carry so much. But, I only bought a few canned goods and some butter and powered sugar and Fritos and other stuff. I give myself a limit of 200 yuan. That's about $30.00. There is a western mkt. here in Tianjin, but it's quite a hike away. I haven't even been to it yet. Ernie went with Wynn on his 3 wheeled scooter and they had a few near misses. Apparently Wynn drives like the locals!
Back to the hospital on Sunday morning for a blood test and then we came home. Pretty boring weekend, but maybe they'll figure out what's really wrong. Ernie's been having episodes of lightheadedness in the afternoons. The Dr, said that when he stand up his blood pressure drops considerably. I bought a blood pressure monitor in Beijing also. I almost brought one from home; I had it in my hands and then I put it back! Of course, sitting on a hotel bed for two days didn't raise his blood pressure. The Dr. also changed some of his medication, so we'll see what they say in a few days and if a change in medication helps. The kidney stones are still there as far as we know. They think the kidney stones are a secondary problem-that something else may be causing some real (kidney) malfunction. We'll keep you posted, as soon as we hear.
Dad thinks it's so funny that all the little kids wear the split crotch pants! Sat. we were sitting on a bench eating our breakfast and a lady came out of the store with a little boy, about 18 months, and he had on split crotch pants. She went over to use the ATM machine. He started to pee on the ATM machine so she just bent over and let him pee on the sidewalk. Dad wanted me to take a picture. I didn't. It will be in my mind for quite a while!
Love you all. XXOO Mom
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Oct 19th
I just spent an hour at the local post office mailing 2 packages. They
both cost more to mail than their value! Oh well, Traci, Jodi, Sam, Nick
and Robert will have fun. We were told to take our own boxes to the
post office so we picked up a wine box this morning. No, they didn't
like that. Apparently there can be no writing on the box so this poor
guy completely covered the box with white computer paper and tape.
At least it's reinforced will with all the tape he used. He charged us
$.80 to wrap it. For Sam's package we got a box from him. It was
easier. Nobody spoke English so we wrote things down or asked around
the office,"Anyone speak English?"
I love these experiences. I took Dad with me, but that wasn't much of
a help. He was getting lightheaded so he left. It might be the RX
he's taking for his kidney stones. Pray HARDER!!! Love you. Mom
XXOO
both cost more to mail than their value! Oh well, Traci, Jodi, Sam, Nick
and Robert will have fun. We were told to take our own boxes to the
post office so we picked up a wine box this morning. No, they didn't
like that. Apparently there can be no writing on the box so this poor
guy completely covered the box with white computer paper and tape.
At least it's reinforced will with all the tape he used. He charged us
$.80 to wrap it. For Sam's package we got a box from him. It was
easier. Nobody spoke English so we wrote things down or asked around
the office,"Anyone speak English?"
I love these experiences. I took Dad with me, but that wasn't much of
a help. He was getting lightheaded so he left. It might be the RX
he's taking for his kidney stones. Pray HARDER!!! Love you. Mom
XXOO
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Oct 18th
We got a letter from Melanie & Damen yesterday. It took 20 days to get her and cost her $.99. It was well worth it!
They each drew us a picture.
I was going to tell you some of the crazy names these kids come up with for themselves. The deal is - you're in English, you have to have an English name. Here's some:
ABC Satan Bruto Crazy Echo Jobs Lee T-Bag Elso Holy Nazi Elephant Golden Gen
Glorious Week Green Leaf Sonic White Cloud Sky Light
And that's only from 3 classes!
I forgot that Halloween is just around the corner and if I'm going to teach about it I need to start this week, so I've spent all morning making Halloween Bingo. Now I have to leave early and get it run off. We have to pay for all of our copies.
Love you all !! Mom
They each drew us a picture.
I was going to tell you some of the crazy names these kids come up with for themselves. The deal is - you're in English, you have to have an English name. Here's some:
ABC Satan Bruto Crazy Echo Jobs Lee T-Bag Elso Holy Nazi Elephant Golden Gen
Glorious Week Green Leaf Sonic White Cloud Sky Light
And that's only from 3 classes!
I forgot that Halloween is just around the corner and if I'm going to teach about it I need to start this week, so I've spent all morning making Halloween Bingo. Now I have to leave early and get it run off. We have to pay for all of our copies.
Love you all !! Mom
Monday, October 17, 2011
Oct 17th
just checking in! It's kind'a boring when we're not working. Saturday night we went out to dinner at KFC with our neighbors, Nelson and Jeanne. KFC has fish that's good. And then we had ice cream for dessert! Sunday I was called as 1st counselor in Rel.Soc. The new pres. is Chinese but her Eng. is pretty good. She's very apprehensive about her calling but I know she'll do fine. It costs us $3.00 US to take the taxi to church . It's about 20 min. away. The hardest part is finding a taxi, especially after church. We usually have to walk a few blocks to find one. Our old R.S pres is moving back to the states. We're going to miss her . She is sl kind and loving. She's 1/2 mexican, the branch pres. is mexican and his wife is 1/2 mexican. We should be eating better! Actually, Dad found a LOCAL VENDOR WHO SELLS SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR TO TORTILLAS. He bought 2 and made a quesadilla that he thought was wonderful.
Gotta goo eat and go to school. Love You and Miss you. Mom XXOO
Gotta goo eat and go to school. Love You and Miss you. Mom XXOO
Ok, so we mailed mom and dad a letter on Sept. 27th and they got it today, Oct. 17th. So three weeks, not too bad I guess:)
Friday, October 14, 2011
Oct 14th
We spent the night in Beijing and then spent the day at the hospital ,and IKEA. Dad doesn't have a single kidney stone. He has 2 kidney stones!! ONE IN EACH KIDNEY!! Way to go Dad!! Thursday night it took us 3 hrs. to get from our apartment to Beijing . The cab driver didn't know how to get us to the hotel. That was a mess. We finally got there and we were starving to death so we ate at a Chinese restaurant next to the hotel. The menu had pictures of the dishes so we had fried shrimp( it was delicious, and they gave us about 20) and garlic pea pods and rice. It was good and I was really hungry.
Then we went to our room. It cost us $32.00U.S. It was a little iffy, but clean enough. The beds were just as hard there as they are here. It's like sleeping on the box spring.
We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 for an x-ray. It showed no stone. But maybe it was still there and just not visible, so then he had an ultrasound and we had 4 hours to kill before he could see the Dr..
I knew IKEA was inBeijing , but it is 20 million people. The nurse said it was near, so we went there and shopped and had lunch and bought some stuff for the apt. Most importantly a drying rack for the laundry. I'm really concerned about how we'll dry our clothes in the winter. As we were leaving we saw a lady with an ice cream cone. That sounded good so Dad went one way to buy ice cream and I went the other way to get our things out of the locker. And I waited and waited and waited for him. I finally went back in and I couldn't find him. How hard could it be to buy 2 ice creams and turn around and walk to the exit! Unfortunately he asked someone where the lockers were and they sent him in another direction. We finally found each other. The ice cream was melting as he wandered around so he ate both of them and then bought me another one.
Back to the hospital to discover that he has 2 kidney stones. He had been complaining that his left side hurt too. that's why. So they gave him a RX and told him to drink lots of water and we get to go back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound!
There's a western market a block from the hospital so I hit that too and bought some pickle relish and chili and corn and a few other things. We were really loaded down on the way home , with 3 heavy bags and a laundry rack.
We had to wait at the train station for 1 1/2 hrs. to get on a train and when we got toTianjin we waited for an hour to get a taxi. Everyone who wants a taxi lines up and just waits for the taxis to come and the taxis get in a line too. Then a guard tells you to go to a taxi. There's no place like home, even with a hard bed.
Lori, I was going to buy you a Coach bag (fake) but I decided you can buy your own if you come. :)
Love you all. Keep praying for Dad and me.
Then we went to our room. It cost us $32.00
We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 for an x-ray. It showed no stone. But maybe it was still there and just not visible, so then he had an ultrasound and we had 4 hours to kill before he could see the Dr..
I knew IKEA was in
Back to the hospital to discover that he has 2 kidney stones. He had been complaining that his left side hurt too. that's why. So they gave him a RX and told him to drink lots of water and we get to go back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound!
There's a western market a block from the hospital so I hit that too and bought some pickle relish and chili and corn and a few other things. We were really loaded down on the way home , with 3 heavy bags and a laundry rack.
We had to wait at the train station for 1 1/2 hrs. to get on a train and when we got to
Lori, I was going to buy you a Coach bag (fake) but I decided you can buy your own if you come. :)
Love you all. Keep praying for Dad and me.
Mom
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Oct 11th
I need to write about the food that we've been eating. One of my biggest concerns is what to make for dinner and how will I cook it. I need to do what Tracey Adams does and plan a menu and buy food for it and then decide each night what we're going to have. We don't get home until 5:45 and then it's almost dark.
We do have a small refrigerator with a small freezer, a rice cooker (with no instructions) , a new toaster oven with nothing to bake with (no pans yet) and a two burner stove that has to be lit before each use and only cooks on high.
We also have the ever-ready wok and some stainless steel pans that are not very thick. Our water is in 5 gallon bottles on a stand like we have in the states. We buy tickets to pay for the water and pay a deposit on the bottles.
The water that comes out of the tap we were told not to drink. We rinse all of our clean dishes in Clorox water and all of our fruits and vegetables also.
Our electricity is "pay forward". You have a card that you have to take somewhere and pay to put time on it. We haven't had to do that yet. You can tell by the meter outside when you're getting low.
The gas man came to our house the first Sunday night we were here and wanted payment for the 2 months that no one lived here. We made a phone call and were told to pay him a few yuan. What if he comes and we don't have enough money to pay him?
We buy our food locally at an open air bazaar place. There are lots of booths that sell everything you need from food to household goods to clothes. Each vendor has their own stall. We don't bargin with them.Yesterday I bought a nightlight. I was so excited! It cost 5 yuan or about $.80.
We haven't tried the food that's sold on the street. It might be OK if they fry it or boil it,but I'm out of Imodean AD so I'll be very careful. There's one vendor that pops and sells sugared popcorn. Yesterday a man was selling whole walnuts.
There's also a small market about 3 blocks away that we go to. You always have to take your own bags so you can't buy more than you can carry! No one speaks English at this market but you can sort'a figure out what's in the packages by their labels. They have a bakery too with the most wonderful looking cakes, but I don't know how long they've been there. Their bread looks good too but it might have bean curd inside. Yuck!
We do buy meat around the corner. There is a place with a freezer that seems to be safe. Dad's new favorite food is fried chicken wings. We have that at least once a week. There are lots of fresh fruits and melons. Watermelon! Dad bought one for $.16. For many of the items we don't have a clue what they are. I thought I was buying squash and it was a cucumber. Dragon fruit is a beautiful pink and green fruit on the outside and the inside is white with little black seeds - like a kiwi.
Our milk comes in little packages that are sold off the shelf. They don't need refrigeration until you open them. They're probably heated so high in processing that there's no nutrition in them. We only use them on our cereal. I don't drink milk anymore, but lots of water.
That's one of my greatest worries. Are we getting enough nutrition? I try to keep our diet varied and always have fruits and vegetables available. As I said - cooking is my biggest trial. Love you . Mom XXOO
We do have a small refrigerator with a small freezer, a rice cooker (with no instructions) , a new toaster oven with nothing to bake with (no pans yet) and a two burner stove that has to be lit before each use and only cooks on high.
We also have the ever-ready wok and some stainless steel pans that are not very thick. Our water is in 5 gallon bottles on a stand like we have in the states. We buy tickets to pay for the water and pay a deposit on the bottles.
The water that comes out of the tap we were told not to drink. We rinse all of our clean dishes in Clorox water and all of our fruits and vegetables also.
Our electricity is "pay forward". You have a card that you have to take somewhere and pay to put time on it. We haven't had to do that yet. You can tell by the meter outside when you're getting low.
The gas man came to our house the first Sunday night we were here and wanted payment for the 2 months that no one lived here. We made a phone call and were told to pay him a few yuan. What if he comes and we don't have enough money to pay him?
We buy our food locally at an open air bazaar place. There are lots of booths that sell everything you need from food to household goods to clothes. Each vendor has their own stall. We don't bargin with them.Yesterday I bought a nightlight. I was so excited! It cost 5 yuan or about $.80.
We haven't tried the food that's sold on the street. It might be OK if they fry it or boil it,but I'm out of Imodean AD so I'll be very careful. There's one vendor that pops and sells sugared popcorn. Yesterday a man was selling whole walnuts.
There's also a small market about 3 blocks away that we go to. You always have to take your own bags so you can't buy more than you can carry! No one speaks English at this market but you can sort'a figure out what's in the packages by their labels. They have a bakery too with the most wonderful looking cakes, but I don't know how long they've been there. Their bread looks good too but it might have bean curd inside. Yuck!
We do buy meat around the corner. There is a place with a freezer that seems to be safe. Dad's new favorite food is fried chicken wings. We have that at least once a week. There are lots of fresh fruits and melons. Watermelon! Dad bought one for $.16. For many of the items we don't have a clue what they are. I thought I was buying squash and it was a cucumber. Dragon fruit is a beautiful pink and green fruit on the outside and the inside is white with little black seeds - like a kiwi.
Our milk comes in little packages that are sold off the shelf. They don't need refrigeration until you open them. They're probably heated so high in processing that there's no nutrition in them. We only use them on our cereal. I don't drink milk anymore, but lots of water.
That's one of my greatest worries. Are we getting enough nutrition? I try to keep our diet varied and always have fruits and vegetables available. As I said - cooking is my biggest trial. Love you . Mom XXOO
Oct 6th
Well we spent the last three days in Beijing, at the hospital! This is a big holiday week, but that's definitely not what we were doing, in fact we had to time our trip to the E.R. around the holiday! There are 530 million people traveling this week. As teachers here with the Church we have a special medical service called SOS out of Beijing. We had been talking to them every day last week because Ernie has a kidney stone. We went to the local hospital here in Tianjin and that was scary. It was like L.A. General. So SOS wanted us to go to Beijing on Fri. the start of the holiday, and we felt we could wait longer.. Sunday night Ernie had a fever and chills so we decided we should probably go on Mon.
Hospitals here have a "Pay as you go" policy and SOS told us to bring 10,000 yuan with us, that's about $650. U.S, of which we didn't have on hand and the ATM won't give out to you. While I was at the ATM getting a measly 3,000. yuan Ernie was home having a quick talk with the Lord.."We can't do this." Just then SOS called and said our insurance through the Church would cover everything. What a blessing. A member of our Church here offered their driver and we were off before we even had time to think about it!
I just thought we'd go..have a CAT scan and come home. I don't really know what I was thinking because of course they kept us after the CAT scan! For 4 days I've worn/slept in the same clothes. My travel pants that don't wrinkle, but my blouse is sure wrinkled!! At least Ernie had hospital PJ's. The Beijing hospital was like being in Cedars of Lebanon in Beverly Hills! Everyone spoke English! The E.R. doctor was from the states and has been here 10 years. So the CAT scan showed a big stone ,1cm, with an infection behind it. They admitted Ernie Mon. evening. The room had a pull out hide-a-bed for me,nice bathroom and shower and the food is catered by Aramack a U.S. company, so it was good and a good quantity. Ernie shared. Although they also had bread,cheese,butter and jam available in the patient pantry down the hall. Apparently this is the hospital where the high class people go!, but not in our wing.
Because the right kidney is enlarged they put a stint in Wed. between the kidney and bladder, a 10 min. procedure. Tuesday we just hung out all day waiting for the urologist to come see us. (the hospital had 3 cases of DVD's we could watch) Of course, they had an emergency surgery on someone when Ernie was scheduled for his procedure so it put him back a few hours. But he finally got that done and had a good nights sleep and he was discharged today. He was on morphine a lot of the time and that made him a little more loopier than usual. But the stone is still there. We have to go back to another hospital in Beijing next Fri, I think, to have the stone "exploded". They sent him home with percocet and antibiotics. He's so worried because we have to teach this Sat. and Sun. and he doesn't want to miss it!
Everyone has been wonderful! The Church has an area president in Beijing,who was in the states this week, but his wife is here and she called us everyday and she also called the girls and e-mailed them for us. Her driver came to the hospital and took us to the train station so we could get home. We took the Bullet train to and from Beijing. That's an experience all by itself! So MANY people!
Anyway, we're home and home never smelled so good! (we have a constant sewer smell) Love you all !!! Pat/Mom
Hospitals here have a "Pay as you go" policy and SOS told us to bring 10,000 yuan with us, that's about $650. U.S, of which we didn't have on hand and the ATM won't give out to you. While I was at the ATM getting a measly 3,000. yuan Ernie was home having a quick talk with the Lord.."We can't do this." Just then SOS called and said our insurance through the Church would cover everything. What a blessing. A member of our Church here offered their driver and we were off before we even had time to think about it!
I just thought we'd go..have a CAT scan and come home. I don't really know what I was thinking because of course they kept us after the CAT scan! For 4 days I've worn/slept in the same clothes. My travel pants that don't wrinkle, but my blouse is sure wrinkled!! At least Ernie had hospital PJ's. The Beijing hospital was like being in Cedars of Lebanon in Beverly Hills! Everyone spoke English! The E.R. doctor was from the states and has been here 10 years. So the CAT scan showed a big stone ,1cm, with an infection behind it. They admitted Ernie Mon. evening. The room had a pull out hide-a-bed for me,nice bathroom and shower and the food is catered by Aramack a U.S. company, so it was good and a good quantity. Ernie shared. Although they also had bread,cheese,butter and jam available in the patient pantry down the hall. Apparently this is the hospital where the high class people go!, but not in our wing.
Because the right kidney is enlarged they put a stint in Wed. between the kidney and bladder, a 10 min. procedure. Tuesday we just hung out all day waiting for the urologist to come see us. (the hospital had 3 cases of DVD's we could watch) Of course, they had an emergency surgery on someone when Ernie was scheduled for his procedure so it put him back a few hours. But he finally got that done and had a good nights sleep and he was discharged today. He was on morphine a lot of the time and that made him a little more loopier than usual. But the stone is still there. We have to go back to another hospital in Beijing next Fri, I think, to have the stone "exploded". They sent him home with percocet and antibiotics. He's so worried because we have to teach this Sat. and Sun. and he doesn't want to miss it!
Everyone has been wonderful! The Church has an area president in Beijing,who was in the states this week, but his wife is here and she called us everyday and she also called the girls and e-mailed them for us. Her driver came to the hospital and took us to the train station so we could get home. We took the Bullet train to and from Beijing. That's an experience all by itself! So MANY people!
Anyway, we're home and home never smelled so good! (we have a constant sewer smell) Love you all !!! Pat/Mom
Monday, October 3, 2011
Oct 2nd
We went to church today. We meet about 15 min. from our house. We have to take a taxi and it costs about $3.00 each way. Our building is a 3 story home in a gated community that's rented by the Church. there are about 37 members in our ward. The sacrament is blessed by our 2 YM , both priests. Today there was no bread to begin with and then a young man walked in with bread!They got the bread ready and then another family came in so they had to add more bread. Then they blessed it and began to pass it and they ran out, so they had to get more and bless it again. Sometimes the blessing is said in Chinese and sometimes in English. One boy blesses it and the other boy passes it. Luckily we have a very talented musical family that moved in 2 months ago. They have two daughters, Elli 17 and Alice 15. Both of the girls play the violin,piano and viola. The mother plays the piano for us in sacrament and the dad plays the piano too. They'll be here for 3 years. He works for John Deer. They are still waiting for their household goods to arrive from Iowa. The girls go to an International christian school. They like it better than their school in Iowa.
I taught YM today, all three of them. The other girl is a 17 yr. old Korean girl. Her English is good.
We also have 5 Young adults. They all are here teaching English, but not through the BYU Program.
All of the BYU teachers from our University and our neighboring University are on a tour of the Silk Road this week.
We couldn't afford to go on this trip and with Ernie's kidney stone it's a good thing we didn't have reservations. Also we haven't had our interview with the police dept yet. In fact some of our paperwork isn't even here yet. You're supposed to do the police interview within a month of arriving with all of your paperwork. We might have a slight problem there.
Oh well. We have a saying,"This is China." We've shortened it to TIC. So we often say TIC,TIC,TIC.
And life goes on. Love you all!! Mom
I taught YM today, all three of them. The other girl is a 17 yr. old Korean girl. Her English is good.
We also have 5 Young adults. They all are here teaching English, but not through the BYU Program.
All of the BYU teachers from our University and our neighboring University are on a tour of the Silk Road this week.
We couldn't afford to go on this trip and with Ernie's kidney stone it's a good thing we didn't have reservations. Also we haven't had our interview with the police dept yet. In fact some of our paperwork isn't even here yet. You're supposed to do the police interview within a month of arriving with all of your paperwork. We might have a slight problem there.
Oh well. We have a saying,"This is China." We've shortened it to TIC. So we often say TIC,TIC,TIC.
And life goes on. Love you all!! Mom
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Mailings
We mailed a letter to mom and dad today and a standard size envelope costs .98 cents! The postman said with the right postage you can just stick it in the mailbox, no need to go to the postoffice.
China Address
Here is the address to mom and dad if you ever want to mail them something.
Ernie and Pat Suggs
Ernie and Pat Suggs
International Cooperation Office
Tianjin University
#92 Weijin Road, Nankai District
Tianjin 300072
P.R. China
Monday, September 26, 2011
Skyped!
Yay, we finally got to SEE and TALK with Mom and Dad this morning!! Me, Jodi, and Traci, plus the kids of course, got to conference for a while, then we had separate calls with them. It was so great to see them and hear their voices!!
Mom clarified what Dad emailed earlier about coming home to see grandparents with grandchildren. Where they live is all employee housing for the university. Many of the Chinese professors have their parents live with them and they help care for their kids. Every evening when the professors are coming home, the kids and grandparents wait outside. The toddlers wears squeakers in their shoes, it's VERY common and makes a cute sound when they walk. The babies all have open/split pants so when they go to the bathroom, they just "go" where ever!
It was really fun to get to talk with them and we've scheduled another time later this week, can't wait!!
Mom clarified what Dad emailed earlier about coming home to see grandparents with grandchildren. Where they live is all employee housing for the university. Many of the Chinese professors have their parents live with them and they help care for their kids. Every evening when the professors are coming home, the kids and grandparents wait outside. The toddlers wears squeakers in their shoes, it's VERY common and makes a cute sound when they walk. The babies all have open/split pants so when they go to the bathroom, they just "go" where ever!
It was really fun to get to talk with them and we've scheduled another time later this week, can't wait!!
Sept. 26th, from Mom
Hi girls! ( I hate this computer. I write and then it deletes!) We had lunch at the Rel. Soc Pres. house. There were 13 of us. She made lasagne and salad and bread and ice cream and gingerbread cookies for dessert. It was wonderful! Her husband works for a solar co. here and they have a big house and a maid. Their house was built by the Honeywell co, in the 80's and then China asked Honeywell to leave so the houses are mostly rentals now. They rent theirs, but her husbands co. is closing down here and they are going back to the states, the end of Oct. I'll be sorry to see'em leave. She is a most wonderful person!
So yesterday we took the Bullet Train to Beijing. It's 55 mi. away ,but took us 30 min. on the train. Eight of us went - The Boren's who live on the third floor and the Farrell's and Johnson's who live about 20 min. away. We took 2 taxis to the train station. The other taxi got lost so we took awhile to all get together again. The train travels at 180 mph by magnetic track. It travels about 1/4 in. above the tracks. It's about as noisy as an airplane. We were in first class!
It cost about $10.00 US. But well worth it!
On the way home Nelson Boren and Dad counted about 150 construction cranes between Beijing and Tianjin! Construction is crazy here. Most of the new buildinds are at least 30 stories high and there's 10 in a group. Nelson said that China has half the cranes in the world.
We went to the Silk Market. It's a 6 story bldg.full of vendors selling everything imaginable in little cubicles. The salespeople are very enthusiastic. Dad tried on a coat and first they quote you an outrageous price. Then you haggle. She wouldn't come down to Dad's price and she was pulling on his shirt to keep him in the store. She pulled his shirt out of shape! He didn't buy the coat either. Later he bought a sweater to wear under his black coat. He also bought a new D&G suit for $60.00.( it might be a knockoff but it looks nice)
I bought two Pashmina shawls for $9.50 each. Shall I buy more? We are definately going back!
We ate lunch at O'briens gourmet sandwiches. The pizza they made was better than the sandwiches.
We got home at 5:00 exhausted. The taxi ride from the Tianjin train station to our apt. took longer than the bullet train home!
Tijuana taxi drivers have nothing on the chinese! Mr. Toad's wild ride is like a stroll in the park these guys are CRAZY! There are no rules. They honk their horns and move to the next lane, not even a lane mostly they drive down the white line. Surprizingly, there are very few accidents and the cars aren't dented! I'm amazed that there aren't a million people killed each day, especially the bicyclists and pedestrians.They're all over the streets and pedestrians have no right of way at all. Everyone tries to run them down.
We haven't seen any bugs. Just mosquitoes.We had one the other night that kept us awake and under the covers for a long time. Every night I make a mosquito sweep to look for any before we go to bed. One of the couples has mosquito netting over their bed. But they don't make me itch like the ones at home.
Our ward building is a 20min. taxi drive away. Some members travel for an hour. We have about 35 members and we meet in a house that the church rents. The house is in a big compound of houses. We've gotten lost both times we've gone. There are 4 kids in Primary, 3 from the same family.
The ward is English and Korean. So there is always someone speaking in Korean to translate,and they sing in Korean too. Same hymns just a jumble of English and Korean. Dad was made the Young Mens Pres. today. He has 2 Priests. That's the total Young Men. I'm going to substitute in YW next week, for all 3 of them. There's about 9 in Relief Society. I lead the music.
We had a new girl come today,Tuamyah. She goes to our university. She's from Samoa and is here on a scholarship to study for a year, and then she'll study Chemistry in Beijing. So all of her classes are in Chinese, which she is learning. She joined the church in June and her family has shunned her for doing so. She's 20 years old.
I'm watching the trash-picker outside. At least 3 have come by since I started this e-mail. All day they come by and pick through the trash cans to gather plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Then the Cardboard collectors come by on their bikes and holler out as they go through to collect cardboard and packing material. It's as an interesting economy.
The little babies really do wear split pants. Can you imagine disposal diapers around here? Whew! The children are potty trained by the time they're 2 so that they can go to pre-school, if the parents can afford it. Preschool goes from 8-5 every week day.
They don't have ovens or clothes dryers because it wold be a national waste of energy.
OK, this is long enough. I love you all so much. Say your prayers! XXOO Mom
So yesterday we took the Bullet Train to Beijing. It's 55 mi. away ,but took us 30 min. on the train. Eight of us went - The Boren's who live on the third floor and the Farrell's and Johnson's who live about 20 min. away. We took 2 taxis to the train station. The other taxi got lost so we took awhile to all get together again. The train travels at 180 mph by magnetic track. It travels about 1/4 in. above the tracks. It's about as noisy as an airplane. We were in first class!
It cost about $10.00 US. But well worth it!
On the way home Nelson Boren and Dad counted about 150 construction cranes between Beijing and Tianjin! Construction is crazy here. Most of the new buildinds are at least 30 stories high and there's 10 in a group. Nelson said that China has half the cranes in the world.
We went to the Silk Market. It's a 6 story bldg.full of vendors selling everything imaginable in little cubicles. The salespeople are very enthusiastic. Dad tried on a coat and first they quote you an outrageous price. Then you haggle. She wouldn't come down to Dad's price and she was pulling on his shirt to keep him in the store. She pulled his shirt out of shape! He didn't buy the coat either. Later he bought a sweater to wear under his black coat. He also bought a new D&G suit for $60.00.( it might be a knockoff but it looks nice)
I bought two Pashmina shawls for $9.50 each. Shall I buy more? We are definately going back!
We ate lunch at O'briens gourmet sandwiches. The pizza they made was better than the sandwiches.
We got home at 5:00 exhausted. The taxi ride from the Tianjin train station to our apt. took longer than the bullet train home!
Tijuana taxi drivers have nothing on the chinese! Mr. Toad's wild ride is like a stroll in the park these guys are CRAZY! There are no rules. They honk their horns and move to the next lane, not even a lane mostly they drive down the white line. Surprizingly, there are very few accidents and the cars aren't dented! I'm amazed that there aren't a million people killed each day, especially the bicyclists and pedestrians.They're all over the streets and pedestrians have no right of way at all. Everyone tries to run them down.
We haven't seen any bugs. Just mosquitoes.We had one the other night that kept us awake and under the covers for a long time. Every night I make a mosquito sweep to look for any before we go to bed. One of the couples has mosquito netting over their bed. But they don't make me itch like the ones at home.
Our ward building is a 20min. taxi drive away. Some members travel for an hour. We have about 35 members and we meet in a house that the church rents. The house is in a big compound of houses. We've gotten lost both times we've gone. There are 4 kids in Primary, 3 from the same family.
The ward is English and Korean. So there is always someone speaking in Korean to translate,and they sing in Korean too. Same hymns just a jumble of English and Korean. Dad was made the Young Mens Pres. today. He has 2 Priests. That's the total Young Men. I'm going to substitute in YW next week, for all 3 of them. There's about 9 in Relief Society. I lead the music.
We had a new girl come today,Tuamyah. She goes to our university. She's from Samoa and is here on a scholarship to study for a year, and then she'll study Chemistry in Beijing. So all of her classes are in Chinese, which she is learning. She joined the church in June and her family has shunned her for doing so. She's 20 years old.
I'm watching the trash-picker outside. At least 3 have come by since I started this e-mail. All day they come by and pick through the trash cans to gather plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Then the Cardboard collectors come by on their bikes and holler out as they go through to collect cardboard and packing material. It's as an interesting economy.
The little babies really do wear split pants. Can you imagine disposal diapers around here? Whew! The children are potty trained by the time they're 2 so that they can go to pre-school, if the parents can afford it. Preschool goes from 8-5 every week day.
They don't have ovens or clothes dryers because it wold be a national waste of energy.
OK, this is long enough. I love you all so much. Say your prayers! XXOO Mom
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sept 21st From Dad
Things are settling down a bit. We have our 15 & 16 classes today.
The kids have all been great, but the differences in their ability to speak English are vast.
What is funny is that I ask them what kind of music they like and it is pop to country to rock to soft to classical. One kid said they really like pop and I asked what singer or group but she could not name one, so I saidLady Ga Ga, and all the kids laughed. So at least they know who she is but do not like her music.
Every day we come home 5:30pm the street where we live is full of grand parents holding their little grand children. It is so neat and they let us talk with them and they waive to us and they have the neatest shows. Some even make noise when they walk..
The kids have all been great, but the differences in their ability to speak English are vast.
What is funny is that I ask them what kind of music they like and it is pop to country to rock to soft to classical. One kid said they really like pop and I asked what singer or group but she could not name one, so I said
Every day we come home 5:30pm the street where we live is full of grand parents holding their little grand children. It is so neat and they let us talk with them and they waive to us and they have the neatest shows. Some even make noise when they walk..
We as a group are going to take the Bullet train to Beijing on Sat. Should be a fun time as we have a guide.
Love, Mom & dad
Love, Mom & dad
Monday, September 19, 2011
From Mom 9/18
I've been awake for hours!! I have a cold and I can't breathe. My computer has skype but no internet, we're fixing that today. Life has been a llittle hard here. We're so busy, my schedule is twice what it should be. I have 16 classes, over 500 students. And food is a constant..what are we going to eat and where are we going to get it and how are we going to cook it..oh my. love you all!!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
From Dad July 16, 2011
We just had our first homemade meal. Not to shabby.
Just read our scriptures.
Make sure you finish the old testament by Christmas.
You cannot believe all the cars, bikes,trikes, scooters, other weird road vechicels, & people using the roads.
No one stops. Lots of horns but no squealing tires, no road rage. People just
keep walking, bikes keep going, keep going and people keep
walking. It is something you have never see. It is bizarre and different.
Win Farrell and Marv Johnson both bought 3 wheel electric scooters, $400.
They are really nice and can seat 2 of us plus storage in the back.
Anyway, away we went. It was wild. Mom won't ride in one.
Wish we had a little more money, I would get one and sup it up.
They have to take in the battery in every night or it will get stolen.
They have a big U lock for it.
By the way, to give you and idea of how small the apt is. Our walk in closet at home is larger than our
bathroom The shower includes the toilet.
There is a nice outside enclosed room next to our bedroom that we can use for drying our clothes.
Our kitchen is about the same size as the bathroom. We cannot both be in there. The 2 burner stove top is
actually outside in a screened in area. it has large windows on all 3 sides and a nice big lighted vent over the
stove.
Off to church tomorrow to meet everyone.
Love to all.
Dad
Just read our scriptures.
Make sure you finish the old testament by Christmas.
You cannot believe all the cars, bikes,trikes, scooters, other weird road vechicels, & people using the roads.
No one stops. Lots of horns but no squealing tires, no road rage. People just
keep walking, bikes keep going, keep going and people keep
walking. It is something you have never see. It is bizarre and different.
Win Farrell and Marv Johnson both bought 3 wheel electric scooters, $400.
They are really nice and can seat 2 of us plus storage in the back.
Anyway, away we went. It was wild. Mom won't ride in one.
Wish we had a little more money, I would get one and sup it up.
They have to take in the battery in every night or it will get stolen.
They have a big U lock for it.
By the way, to give you and idea of how small the apt is. Our walk in closet at home is larger than our
bathroom The shower includes the toilet.
There is a nice outside enclosed room next to our bedroom that we can use for drying our clothes.
Our kitchen is about the same size as the bathroom. We cannot both be in there. The 2 burner stove top is
actually outside in a screened in area. it has large windows on all 3 sides and a nice big lighted vent over the
stove.
Off to church tomorrow to meet everyone.
Love to all.
Dad
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sept. 15th, 2011
Hi Beautiful Daughters!! Today is Fri. so we don't have classes. We went to bed early last night and tried to sleep in this morning. We were invited to dinner last night at Howie and Stacy's . they live on the 5th floor with their 3 children - Sam is 7, Mary is 5 and Jake is 18 months.Just think of those logistics...five flights of stairs (there are no elevators) with kids and groceries and everything else. They also can't get their kids in school, like they were told. the children need to know Chinese to go to school/.They came with a different company than BYU. There are lots of ways to get to a foreign country to teach English. They're from Kentucky and Howie made a stir fry with vegetables over rice. It was good.I took pictures to e-mail to you , but I can't get an internet connection on my computer yet. The outside of our apt. looks like a N.Y. tenement! Tapie came to visit yesterday. He said our apt. is fantastic! We had lunch at KFC
again. Wed. I had aPBJ for lunch and dinner. Shopping is really hard. Everything is written in Chinese. You should have seen me trying to buy bleach! I opened every bottle to smell it.
Dad finally got the TV to work today. There is actually an English channel. We also watched the Chinese version of the game show where the contestants go through an obstacle course over water and jump on things. The Borens are here we're going shopping!!
LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU ALL !!!!!! XXOO
again. Wed. I had aPBJ for lunch and dinner. Shopping is really hard. Everything is written in Chinese. You should have seen me trying to buy bleach! I opened every bottle to smell it.
Dad finally got the TV to work today. There is actually an English channel. We also watched the Chinese version of the game show where the contestants go through an obstacle course over water and jump on things. The Borens are here we're going shopping!!
LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU ALL !!!!!! XXOO
Thursday, September 15, 2011
1st day in China
We're not in Kansas anymore!!!We arrived Tues at 11:00 am and started teaching on Wed.(today) at 2:00to 5:30, two classes. I have 8 classes of freshmen and 8 classes of sophomores,but they alternate each week. So the classes I had today I won't have for another 2 weeks, but next week I will have another 2 classes. We only havea class every other week.It's very confusing, to us and the students!I'm beat! I ache all over. HAve pity on us Melanie. We finally got drinking water tonight. They deliver it in 5 gal. bottles , but you have to be home to get it. We were gone all morning talking to our English advisor over the English Dept. and going to a print shop and finding our classrooms! Then we walked home and had pbj's and walked back to class. We have to walk everywhere and the pedestrian has no right of way! There are bikes and cars going in every direction and the cars honk and just change lanes. It's crazy! We walked to a store ,like wal-mart yesterday and today, but whatever you buy you have to haul home. I had a pbj for dinner tonight and for lunch too. Dad had a banana for dinner. It's horrible, ALL of the writing is in Chinese, so you have no idea what to buy! Our friends, the Borens, ate out the other night and Jeanne was picking up a piece of meat with her chopstick, and it was a chicken head! She screamed! The weather is very humid, I"'m sweatin' like a dog! But we're so tired. Dad already went to bed and I'm going too. Love you all!! XXOO Mom
Greetings from China!
Here is the first email sent be mom and dad....
Well, the eagle has landed. We are here in our apt. The whole apt is about the size of our bedroom.
The shower and toilet share the same space.
The Borens made dinner for us. We ate about 6:30pm but is it is really like 3:30am for us.
We also found out that we have to teach tomorrow and that mom has 2 extra classes to teach.
We both teach 2pm-5:30pm M-Thur and now she has to teach in the morning as well a few days a week.
All is well.
Mom will write more later. Let everyone know we got here and are eager to meet our students.
I have all freshman and your mom has both freshman and sophomores.
Love, dad
Well, the eagle has landed. We are here in our apt. The whole apt is about the size of our bedroom.
The shower and toilet share the same space.
The Borens made dinner for us. We ate about 6:30pm but is it is really like 3:30am for us.
We also found out that we have to teach tomorrow and that mom has 2 extra classes to teach.
We both teach 2pm-5:30pm M-Thur and now she has to teach in the morning as well a few days a week.
All is well.
Mom will write more later. Let everyone know we got here and are eager to meet our students.
I have all freshman and your mom has both freshman and sophomores.
Love, dad
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