New Pics!

Looks can be deceiving!  Mom said they don't add SUGAR to their baked goods so even though it looks fantastic, the taste is a little disappointing:(

This is a local meat market, they don't buy their meat from this place, just wanted to show everyone what it looks like.  Yum?

And this is Dad on the back of Wynn's scooter, going to the market.  They call Wynn the "Terror of Tianjin!"

March 28th

We've been thinking about how we're going to exchange our Chinese money for U.S. money. When we came to China our credit union exchanged U.S. money for Chinese. No problem. But they won't exchange it back when we go home.
A local bank, The Bank of China, will exchange it for a fee, and only $500.00 per person per day. We don't have millions, but that will be a pain. So today we decided to try it. We went to the Bank of China to exchange our Chinese money for U.S. Oh, guess what! No one speaks English! We were actually doing quite well, filling out forms, getting our passport copied and getting a number to wait in line when along comes a Chinese man,casually dressed, and asks us if we our exchanging currency. We said Yes. He said he would do it for us. We had heard of him. He is distinguished by his gold necklace.
We stepped over to the side, in the bank lobby, and told him what we were doing. He whipped out the U.S. currency and we exchanged our Chinese currency! Just like that!
The couple who were here before us had left some information about him, and his business card, but Dad wanted to try the bank first. I guess Jason's exchange rate is better than the banks. He charged us $15.00.
I don't know what the bank charges. We never got that far. This is China!

Love you all Mom XXOO

March 25th

Saturday we celebrated Relief Society's 170th birthday! We had a luncheon at our branch building. Our Relief Society president made lasagna and I made "Banana Jell-o" and we had relish trays and Cake for dessert. Nothing fancy, but not bad for China.
Then we did a craft: vinyl lettering on a tile "Families Are Forever". Melanie made the lettering and mailed them to me. Jennifer Lee and I found the tiles for 1 yuan each $.16 and I bought easels to put them on for 10 yuan each $1.56. They turned out very nice and everyone was pleased with them. We had 11 sisters present, out of 17.
At the same time Dad and the Priests, two of them, cleaned out the garage at our building. We meet in a house. As they hauled junk out to the sidewalk the neighbors came to investigate. They were told that they could take whatever they wanted. They took it all! Even a portable baptismal font that had holes in it. Later we noticed some of the Christmas decorations that had been thrown out on the fence of the house across the street! And this is in a well-to-do gated community. Now you can park 2 cars in the garage!
Here when you rent a house the landlord doesn't fix anything. It's the renters responsibility if they want anything fixed, like the plaster that's falling off the wall, or the gap in the skylight that doesn't close tightly. TIC TIC TIC! Looking forward to a good week! Love you !! Mom XXOO

March 23rd

Today Jeanne and I went to the tailors. We took Venus with us, a local young woman from our church who speaks Chinese. What a God-send! The taxi couldn't drive us to the door of the tailor shop because the street was too narrow so we got out and walked. We had a business card from the tailors but there's no address just the street name and the name of the tailor shop. We walked down the street and didn't see anything that looked like a tailor shop. Venus asked someone on the street - narrow residential street 3 blocks long - and this lady said that the tailor was eating lunch so she took us to his apartment. He came out and told Venus where the shop was. We found the shop - no name on it- and walked right into the workroom. The woman was very nice - no English- Venus helped all of us understand each other and in about 20 days we'll go back and see how everything turns out! I'm having 4 skirts made and 5 blouses. Nothing fantastic but it will be nice. She had some beautiful coats there in the shop. They cost about 700 yuan to make, U.S. $110.00. While we were there a girl came in to pick up two coats and they looked great on her.
Dad walked over to a new DVD store with Nelson. They're not back yet. I hope I am spending more money than he will. :)
Love you girls...and boys! Mom XXOO

March 19th

Every morning I peek through the curtains, as soon as I get out of bed, to check out the weather. Yesterday there was snow on the ground! About 2 inches! The streets were clear so it wasn't too hard to walk to the taxi, but we weren't sure how warm the church building would be so we bundled up. The building was OK. And the snow melted away. Today is clear and crisp! Nelson keeps saying that Spring is just around the corner. I think that corner is a long ways off.
Saturday Dad and Nelson and Joseph (YM Counselor) had to go to Beijing for training. So Jeanne and I had a free day to ourselves! We made arrangements with Paula to go to the Fabric Mart. She's been there a few times before. For some reason I was expecting a large warehouse-type place. No, it was a large, 2-story warehouse-type place with about 200 separate vendors! And no one spoke English! They had lots of beautiful material, but there were no prices or fabric content on anything. We both took blouses and skirts that we wanted to have copied so a tailor told us how many meters we needed to get. Then when I finally found some fabric that I liked we haggled on the price and she was insistent that it cost more than I wanted to pay. Then she spelt out "silk". I don't want silk. So the search continued.
As we plodded on we came to a stall that had a lot of very acceptable fabric. It was 20 yuan a meter, about $3.50. So I bought enough for 4 skirts and 5 blouses. Now we have to go to the tailors on Friday to discuss what we'll have made and that price. We're taking someone with us who speaks Chinese and English!
Dad had fun on Saturday too. They met in the home of the Stake YM pres. in Beijing. Dad said it was a fabulous house! It was in a compound that was well guarded by the Chinese. His wife fixed them a great buffet for lunch. When they returned that evening to Tianjin the taxi line was too long so they took a bus home. Nelson is very adventurous. I have taken a bus once and that was with a group of 5 of us and Joseph led the way. He takes the bus a lot. It's cheap. Nelson said he will take the bus to and from the train station from now on. It's only 2 yuan as compared to 20 yuan for a taxi. $16. compared to $3.50.
A new week has begun! Dad, Jeanne, Paula and I have all said, independently of each other, that we're ready to be done. less than 90 days now!
Love you ALL. and miss you too. Make good choices. Do a random act of kindness. Mom XXOO

Funny stuff!

One of the first things I do in my classes is have my students write a question to me,anonymously.  I was reading them just now.  One of them is addressed," Hello my grandmother"!!!!! LOL
They are so funny!
Mom/Pat

March 12th

Dad and Nelson had an early meeting this morning so they went to church at 7:30. Then Dad called to say there was no electricity at the building. That means...no heat. Which means...wear long johns!
The other branch (Chinese) that meets in our building is responsible for the electricity. And they don't really understand why we want heat when it's cold and cold when it's warm. Anyway, one of the men came with the card (like a credit card that you pay forward on) about 8:45 and they got the electricity on. And about two hours later it was warmer. I think it was warmer outside than inside. This morning it said it was -6 C. outside, 22 F. I don't think that's right though.
Love you !! Mom

March 11th

Saturday,we took a long walk around campus and town. While we were out (it was cold & windy) we got invited to lunch at 3:00 by Becca & Marv from Nankai University. They were going to a new Western Cafe they'd discovered near them. We had previously been invited by our neighbors to meet at a new Burger King at 5:00.
So we went to lunch at 3:00. The food was OK. Marv and Becca said it had been very good the first time that they were there. Then we dinked around in a mall. It was expensive and all the clothes were size small. Then we took a taxi to Burger King and met our neighbors and had dessert. It was located in a VERY expensive mall; every famous name brand had a store there! There was a western grocery store also so we had to buy a few things there. They were expensive too!
We took a taxi home and watched a DVD in the evening. Today is Church and then our week end will be over.
Love you all and miss you too!!!! Mom XXOO

March 6th

It snowed yesterday for about a half hour. It didn't stick and it was mixed with rain, but at least the dirt got wet.
Tonight we ate waetrmelon for dinner! What season is this??
Dad XXOO