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
Monday, October 31, 2011
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
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