August 31-September 25, 2009

Note: As you can see we did not get any postings done while we were here this trip. We are sorry for that but are trying to catch us once again.

August 31, 2009 – we are back again in Beijing. Our plane ride over this time seemed quite a bit shorter as we slept quite well on the plane. We stayed up the night before leaving and helped Rhiannon (our daughter-in-law) can 17 quarts of pears and 36 quarts of peaches. That was so rewarding but also tiring since we had to get up at 3 AM to get ready and catch our 5:30 AM flight out of Boise.
I mentioned to Floyd on the way over here that it seems strange, when we are flying this way it seems like we are going home and then when we fly back to the US it seems like we are flying home. We are starting to feel like we have 2 homes. It sure makes it nice though.

September 1, 2009 – I finished unpacking and started with some of the computer work I put off just before we left from Idaho. It is good to have the time to get things done over here!

September 2, 2009 – I got to get my computer work finished up today that needed to be done for my church calling and everything emailed out. What a relief!

September 3, 2009 – today I stayed in apartment, did computer work and watched TV. Just a relaxing, no pressure day.

September 4, 2009 – rained all morning. I stayed in apartment most of the day doing computer work then walked to the store to buy some dinner and groceries. I walked the long way around the block to avoid the beggars that are usually by the store. They know just enough English to say “Hey” if you try to get away from them and then when you say “No” to their request for money they sometimes ask “why not?” I will sometimes buy them some rolls or fruit but I will not give them money.

September 5, 2009 – it rained again today a bit, not enough to keep us indoors but the humidity did. It was 77 degrees outside with a relative humidity of 78% which makes it feel like it was 89. That is certainly enough to make you stay indoors with the air conditioning on. We did odds and ends of computer work and laundry.

September 21, 2009 – there have not been a lot of thing happening this trip so I have been somewhat lax in writing. I will try to fill in a few highlights of this trip with no exact dates.

I have felt a great urgency to do several things with my time while I am in China with fewer interruptions than I have back in the U.S. I will try to address each of these as best I can.

Chinese language – this is one of the most taxing things I have undertaken in a very long, long time! I have finally gotten to the point that I have a lot of aha moments which something will become clearer but I am nowhere near being able to even understand the conversations being held around me or to be able to speak it outside the apartment other than just general greetings. I know it is good to work out some of the “cobwebs” in my mind but it is also very frustrating at time. I sit working on the Rosetta Stone website until sometimes my head just feels like it is going to explode. Then I walk away for a little while and then come back and resume. The more I learn, the more I find that I still need to learn. I can see where this could be a full time (many hours every day) thing for many months to get to where you can speak or understand some conversations. I am determined though and will keep working on it.

Camera – a few years ago Floyd bought me a very nice camera, a Canon Rebel XT, so I could adventure into something I really enjoyed which is photography. I have taken many very good pictures but have not really ventured into seeing what my camera can really do. He challenged me lately to learn more about it and how to make my good pictures into great pictures. That too has taken quite a bit of my time over here. The more I learn about it also, the more I see I still need to learn!

Genealogy – I have always had some interest in Genealogy and have done some research but I have always been kind of hot and cold on it. In the past we have made a trip back to Arkansas, where my Dad’s side of the family comes from, and gathered a great deal of information. After that trip, my daughter Terri put most of that information into the computer and helped me organize it. Unfortunately, I haven’t done very much since then. Recently, my daughter Lacee called me and asked me if I could help her mother-in-law work on some of her genealogy that she has been researching and has hit a dead end. I told her I would do what I could. Well, I guess she opened up the floodgates as it goes. I asked a friend over here to help me put a few things together that I had found on the Internet that I could not directly link to her. She showed me places I did not know existed and has me totally hooked again. I have found a great deal of information for her, which I hope will enable her to research differently and be able to find her own ancestors. I also started back up on my family to see what I can find. WOW, I have found all sorts of ancestors that I had no idea how to search for them. I am afraid that this too will take a great deal of my time.

All in all, with the 3 previous things I just wrote about I am talking about things that could take my every waking hour so now my job is to budget my time and be able to do all of them and still be able to do the things that are needed to be done, i.e. housework, cooking, canning, helping with grandkids, etc.

Great Wall Trip – we had the greatest opportunity this trip to go to the Great Wall of China on Saturday and Sunday, the 12th & 13th of September. I have heard of it many times before but until you actually stand there face to face with it, it is truly unimaginable! Of course we actually only got to visit one very small portion of the wall but as you can tell when you see the pictures of it behind us, it goes on as far as the eye can see. What a blessing this trip was for us, it was not just your ordinary mundane tourist trip…it was actually an annual trip which was called “BYU Alumni, and Friends, annual Great Wall Excursion”. It included about 170 members of the church over here at this time. We left from our church building, in 2 tour buses, at around 9:30 AM for about a 2 hour drive up to the wall. There was also another 2 buses coming from another location where many members live. We left the trip up to the drivers, not always a good thing as we found out. It seems that one of the drivers called the Inn where we were to stay and asked for and wrote down directions there. The other driver said he has been there many times so we took off following that bus. After about an hour and 45 minutes the lead bus stopped. They had encountered a steel beam across the road between 2 trees saying anything that could not go under it could not go on. Apparently there must be a bridge or tunnel with a height restriction ahead. Unfortunately, the buses were a few inches too tall so we had to back up a ways and turn around in the road to go back. This was no easy task; you remember the 3 point turns you had to make in Driver’s Ed.? Well this was probably at least a 6 point turn, in a big bus (that probably held about 40 passengers). Wouldn’t want to be them! So, then we had to backtrack quite a way back and then go the right way. Our 2 hour trip actually turned into a 3 hour trip. Ugh, the hard part was that the leg room was non-existent! My knees were smashed into the seat in front of me! By the time we got there, my knees were really hurting!

We got to the Wall at about lunch time, checked into our rooms and ate the sack lunches we brought with us. We then had free time until 6:30 PM, dinner time, to rest or explore the Wall. We opted to explore the Wall. WOW, wow, wow is all I can say. We did not make it all the way to the top before I had to stop and come back down. We rested many times on the way but it was still more than I could handle. It was hot and a very steep climb. Actually, it was very different in different areas, some areas were level, some had steps that were probably equal to about 2 to 2 ½ steps and other areas it was on an incline and still other areas had steps that were only less than half of a normal step. This really taxed your muscles! The view was breathtaking though!

That evening dinner was furnished as part of the trip. We ate at the dining hall at the Inn we stayed at. Chinese Cuisine (American Friendly kind) was served. It was very good and enjoyed by all. It was served the typical Chinese way. Plates of food were brought out and placed on a large glass lazy suzan in the middle of the table so all could have access to them to dish up onto their own plates. Most of us ate with chopsticks. I did notice a few of the new people, ones that have just gotten here to start teaching English in the universities, had a few problems with their chopsticks but they had the determination to stick with it and learn!
After dinner, we met in the large open air Amphitheater for fun and games. After the games they shot off fireworks, and then had a bonfire and dancing. It was great fun, everyone enjoyed themselves! Then off we went to go to bed for the night. Our room consisted of twin beds, TV and dress with a small bathroom, with a western toilet! Their showers were a bit different up here. The shower head was open to the middle of the room, the floor and walls were all tile so you shower in the middle of the room. There were no shower enclosures or shower curtains. Really different! Floyd tells me it is this way in many of the hotels he has stayed in as he travels over here.

The next morning we met for a light breakfast at the dining hall. Their breakfast was different than Western breakfasts. It consisted of meat, fried eggs, fried bread, tomatoes, cucumbers and bread slices.

breakfast we had our Church meetings in one of the courtyards between the rooms. There were about 150 in attendance (apparently some of the people who came up for Saturday and Saturday evening when home after the program). It was a great meeting and you could really feel the Lord’s presence out in the middle of China with just the natural outdoors all around us. We then hopped back on the buses and headed back to Beijing. This time it took only 2 hours on the bus. I was apparently tired so I slept most of the way back so the trip seemed even shorter.

We felt so blessed to be able to go on this trip and not just go on an ordinary tourist sight-seeing tour up there where you don’t know anyone. We were surrounded with friends and others of our same faith!

Renovations for 60th Anniversary of China – the week after we leave, the country will be celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Revolution. All around us they have been readying the city. They have been painting, cleaning, hanging out flags, hanging banners and lanterns and planting flowers. Apparently they will be celebrating it in a really big day. In fact, everything shuts down and everyone has a mandatory 8 day holiday. (I am sure some things will be open still like hotels, grocery stores, etc. but it will be a national holiday like we have in the US where government things shut down).

We had the opportunity to go out to dinner with Floyd’s boss over here. He is from Korea, so he, his wife and son and Floyd and I went to a Korean restaurant close to our apartment. They asked us what we liked so we told them we were open to most things so they ordered food kind of family style. This was quite a unique experience! I found that my taste pallet is not used to the unique fermented vegetables that are part of the Korean foods! They are not something I would want to try again. Many of the regular meats and vegetables were very good though. All in all it was an enjoyable evening to try yet another culture over here.

We also went out to dinner with Wilson (Floyd’s co-worker and interpreter) and his wife. They took us to a very lovely restaurant in downtown Beijing. This was a dinner show with Chinese opera, magic and some other forms of Chinese entertainment. The food was fabulous and the entertainment was lovely, quite different than in the US but still enjoyable!

Once again we leave September 25th to head back to the US. We do so with mixed feelings. We are anxious to get back home but sorry to leave this home each time. It is bitter sweet! We are growing to love the country more and more each time we come over here.

July 27-31, 2009

July 27, 2009 – today was full of the mundane everyday things I do here… I took a walk, finished the blog for last week and posted it, worked on my Chinese (which can really takes hours EVERY day!), doing laundry, and then we spent a lovely evening together here at the apartment.

July 28, 2009 – I spent quite a bit of time on my Chinese really trying to figure out what sentences are asking or saying. I also finished up my laundry.

July 29, 2009 – I researched more Chinese to learn more why’s of how their sentences are structured to try to understand the language better. Things like I went for a walk, she went for a walk, he went for a walk or they went for a walk come up of course different but on Rosetta Stone it does not give the English translation. I needed to know what the difference was between the sentences. I guess it is just the way I learn or something. I took a nice walk this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful scenery at the park. As the close of this visit comes near I get kind of sad as I walk through the park knowing I will be missing it for another month.

July 30, 2009 – Packing, packing, packing…that seems like the subject of the day as I get ready for our trip home. Floyd is away on a business trip so I need to get everything done and ready when he gets home.

July 31, 2009 – today we headed back home to Idaho. It is great to be able to see the grandchildren again. We also have Molly fly in to see everyone tomorrow. Then Jen (Matt’s wife) and their 2 boys are going to drive up from Salt Lake City (where they have been visiting her parents) on Sunday to spend a couple days visiting. We are looking forward to that also. Until next month when we head back to China Aug. 31st, 再见 --- zai jian (goodbye).

July 20-26, 2009

July 20, 2009 – today I had to get caught up and ready for the end of the month bill paying. I have to do everything online so it takes a bit of time to get prepared and everything set for bill pay through our bank. In today’s newspaper I saw a very unique article, it goes as follows: She says sorry to stranger who called her wife – A woman has sought media help to apologize to a stranger she cursed for calling her his wife on a street in Wachang, Hubei province on Tuesday.
The woman was talking on her cell phone in the city’s Zhongnan Road area when a strange man shouted out to her: “Hey wife, who’re you talking to? You’ll get a thrashing when we get home.”
She got into a fierce argument with the stranger, who quietly walked away from the spot.
Later, the woman was told a thief was trying to steal something from her bag while she was talking on the phone and the man said what he did only to scare away the thief. Chutian Metropolis Daily
Now wouldn’t that make you feel a little small???
July 21, 2009 – Today was the first day of training for Floyd on the software deployment. It is really challenging due to the language difference as well as all of the trainees are first time users. They have never used software like this before. They know just enough to be dangerous as Floyd would say. He said they would not wait for instructions, but start clicking etc. They spent a lot of extra time getting everyone back on track after they would get it fouled up. He said he felt like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
July 22, 2009 – today was the solar eclipse in Asia. Beijing had about a 60% eclipse, but we weren’t able to see it due to clouds and haze. This was very disappointing to be in an area where one can be seen but not be able to enjoy it! Later in the afternoon, it got dark due to a severe summer monsoon. It rained really hard for about an hour. The streets were running water like rivers. Floyd got soaked just catching a taxi. He said on the way home that every overpass they went under was crowded full of pedestrians, bicyclists and people riding scooters trying to get out of the rain. Soon it passed and started clearing off and we had a nice evening. Floyd finished up the first round of training. He said it was very challenging. When we get back in September, he will help conduct a second round of training. This training will go on for quite a while.
I would like to share some of the superstitions that were written about in the newspapers about the solar eclipse. In India, people were told by their elders that this is the best time to improve our after-life so they went to their temples to pray. Pregnant women are advised to stay indoors to prevent their babies developing birth defects, while prayers, fasting and ritual bathing, particularly in holy rivers, is encouraged. One lady was quoted as saying “I was advised not to leave the house as the eclipse brings bad luck to you and your family.
In China some feel “The sun got bitten” or that “The heavenly dog ate the sun”. Some say “Traditionally, both praying and having vegetarian food can help us avoid misfortune and bring about peace to families after the eclipse”. Also talked about in the China Daily News is the witnessing of a tidal bore. It apparently was 2nd only to the Solar Eclipse in its intrigue. Apparently these tidal bores occur around the world, but the only known place in China is the Qiantang River, where the peculiar bottleneck shape of Hangzhou Bay creates the world’s tallest tidal bore – up to 9 m in height (29.5 feet). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_bore)
July 23, 2009 – Floyd went to Langfang today to visit a large dairy farm. They are hoping to get a good relationship established and to be able to secure them as a client. On the way home in the afternoon, Floyd said it got really dark, just like at night and the monsoons hit again with rain I think you could drown in. He said it was raining so hard that cars were pulled over on the freeway as they could not see to drive. We had very severe storms here in Beijing as well. It looked like midnight about 4 in the afternoon. The street lights turned on, all the outside building lights turned on and all the cars had to turn their headlights on. I have never seen such a thing before. I tried to take pictures but the camera did not do it justice. Floyd had a dinner meeting tonight with the people from the farm. He had a post-it type note with some Chinese writing on it and that is all he had to get to the restaurant. He said it was an adventure, but he made it.
July 24, 2009 – Floyd was in the office today following up on the meetings with the dairy farm and the training. Tonight we met some friends from church for dinner. They actually live not far from us back in Meridian, Idaho. There is a little Tex-Mex place close to our apartment that we both like so we met them there for dinner and an enjoyable evening of sitting and talking for over 2 hours in the restaurant.
July 25, 2009 – today was shopping day. We did literally shop until we dropped. We started out this morning with two Skype video calls to friends in the U.S. Then we went shopping to get some items for friends at home. Our group that goes on a motorcycle ride on our Harley-Davidsons each summer collect Harley shirts from wherever we can. These shirts have a graphic on them that tells where the shirt came from. We thought it would be fun to have one from Beijing so we wanted to go to the Harley dealer and get some shirts. The taxi driver thought he knew where it was but could never find it. Finally, after some backtracking and searching, we got out of the taxi to do some foot exploration in the area but we too did not find it. The maps available like Map Quest do not have as much detail in China as in America or are in Chinese. We gave up and went shopping at Pearl Market again to get the other items we wanted to purchase. On the way back to the apartment, Floyd noticed something on one of the maps for the Harley place that he hadn’t seen before. He thought he may know where it was. We went back to the apartment and Floyd looked on Google Maps and did indeed find a better explanation of where it was. It is between 2 and 3 miles from the apartment. Since we hadn’t walked much this week, we decided to walk there. Sure enough, after a little more than an hour Floyd took us right to the dealer. We were able to get the shirts we were looking for, as the dealership is much smaller than what we are used to in the states. The internet had more to offer, but we were limited for time for delivery since we leave on the ride on the 10th of August. Floyd asked them how many motorcycles they sell in Beijing each year. The lady waiting on us told us about 100. It appears that the Harleys are $5,000 to $8,000 more than the same motorcycle in the states. We then walked back to the apartment. The temperature was in the 90’s and it was plenty warm! We were both soaking from sweat when we got back to our nice cool apartment. We were also very tired!!!
July 26, 2009 – it is Sunday again. It seems like this week went really fast. Today in church we had more talks about the pioneers since July 24 is called Pioneer Day in the church. It was this day in 1848 that the pioneers first reached the Salt Lake Valley. It was interesting that parallels were drawn to us in China. Many of us are like pioneers in what we are doing over here. It is also challenging to give up the comforts of a life we know so well to go to a country where life is much different – the language, the food, the culture and living conditions. With all of that said we are thoroughly enjoying this experience. It is not always easy and is sometimes very challenging. But, it is also very rewarding.

July 13-19, 2009

July 13, 2009 – Another hot, muggy day today. I lucked out though, I checked the weather on accuweather and it said it was supposed be in the high 90’s so I decided to go for an earlier walk than usual. It was still quite hot and was foggy. I could hear thunder in the distance during the last lap of the park so I decided to head back for the apartment even though I always take my umbrella. Within a half an hour it began to rain, I mean REALLY rain. I was sure glad I wasn’t out in it! After a short while the rain stopped and I went out for another walk after lunch. Again I could hear the thunder in the distance so I headed back to the apartment and in a while it began to rain again, this time it did not stop for a few hours…kind of reminded me of Seattle…lol. I also spent considerable time on Rosetta Stone learning Chinese, some of it is actually starting to make sense to me very slowly. It could be years before I understand a conversation or can hold a conversation though.
July 14, 2009 – It is again hot and muggy so I went for my walk early. Today it was not foggy but I took my umbrella for sun protection. I had a wonderful walk and got a little sun on my legs, my tan marks are bazaar though because of capris and flip flops. I also was working on Rosetta Stone again today.
I would like to share some articles again from our China Daily News English News we get here. Gotta love this one! Wine-gulping burglars get 4 months each in jail – Two burglars who were arrested after they got drunk and dozed off in the house they broke into in April were each sentenced to four months in prison last week.
In the wee hours of April 6, Zeng and Lia, both in their 20’s broke into a house in Yongjia, Zhenjiang province, and wer only too happy to find some American dollars and an expensive bottle of red wine. They pocked the foreign currency and then sat down to finish the bottle of wine.
At sunrise, a neighbor saw the house door wide open and called the police, who caught the burglars snoring away under a thick quilt. www.chinanews.com.cn
July 15, 2009 – today is laundry day again. I can’t let my laundry get too far ahead of me because of my small washing machine. We also have a work trip this Friday and Saturday for Floyd which I was invited to attend so we need clean clothes for that also. This trip is a recreation trip with Floyd’s office and is going to the Grasslands about 6 hours bus ride from here.
People would not stand for this in the US, but in China it really happened! Fatigued driver falls asleep at traffic junction – Tired after a long journey, a driver fell asleep in his car at a crossroad in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, for almost two hours, disrupting traffic movement in the wee hours of last Monday.
Police hurried to the scene as many vehicles were forced to take a detour around the intersection, choked with honking traffic.
Police woke the man who explained he had driven for several hours from a neighboring province and ay have fallen asleep waiting at the traffic signal. Inner Mongolia Morning Post
July 16, 2009 –Unfortunately Floyd’s computer decided to take a major dive and quit doing some of the things it is supposed to do for their major deployment of the dairy ration program they are supposed to have happen next week. Because of the time wasted with the computer and trying to get ready for next week we opted to not go on the recreation trip with his office. I am sure we will go on other sight-seeing trips some time.
There were two articles in the newspaper today that interested me, so I will share them both: 2-year-old falls from 21st floor, escapes with bruises - A 2-year-old girl miraculously survived after falling from the 21st floor of an under-construction building in Jiangyang, Sichuan province, last Wednesday.
The toddler suffered only minor injuries, and is said to be in stable condition.
Zhu Tianjun, 31, a migrant worker, said his wife brought their daughter to the 21st floor of the construction site, where he was working, to pay him a short visit.
Minutes later, his wife raised an alarm, saying the girl had fallen off the building.
The girl was rushed to the hospital where doctors were surprised to detect only a broken left femur and some minor injuries on her liver and spleen.
They said the soft soil on the ground may have broken the girl’s fall. Tianfu Morning News
Yikes, that was scary! This next one is definitely for the records… Bibliophile on trial for stealing 1,697 books – A man stood trial in a Chongqing municipality court last Wednesday for stealing more than 1,500 books from various bookstores in the municipality over a period of three years.
A staff of a bookstore in the municipality first caught Liu with books he had not paid for and handed him over to police in March.
Lie then confessed to often taking away books from various stores without paying, maintaining he did not think it should be considered stealing.
Police searched his house and found 1,697 unbilled books, valued at some 36,000 yuan ($5,271).
The court will pronounce its judgment soon. Chongqing Commercial Daily
July 17, 2009 – we had a very rain day today so I did not venture out of the apartment until late afternoon when I had to go to the store to buy some groceries. I was trying to wait for the rain to stop but finally had to give up and just go with an umbrella up. It was still warm so I wore capris and sandals so my feet and legs got kind of wet. It wasn’t too bad though, it was only raining slightly instead of the downpours we had in the morning. It was very muggy though. After dinner the showers had stopped so we ventured over to the park for a walk. The humidity was so high that I only lasted 2 laps before I felt like I was drowning…actually it was really very hard to breathe! Floyd promised me dinner out tonight or Saturday since we did not go on the trip, but with the rain I opted for Saturday night.
Here is a another news article for the records: Wearing a T-shirt? Beware of the black birds – Two black birds in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, have attacked more than 50 man sporting T-shirts on the city’s Funiu Road in the past 20 days.
Three of the victims have even bled as a result of the pecking.
Seemingly, the two birds never attack women, children and senior citizens, and incidentally, all their victims are young men walking around in T-shirts.
Zoologists believe the two birds are avenging their baby’s death 20 days ago.
The baby bird was killed after it fell to the ground from their nest. A man, wearing a T-shirt, picked up the dead bird and chucked it into a roadside dustbin. Zhengzhou Evening News
July 18, 2009 - Floyd is still trying to play catch up with his work on the computer so we have spent most of the day in the apartment. There was an interesting article in the newspaper today…I think someone is going to have some explaining to do (I don’t think he can talk his way out of this one!). Wife bumps into husband and pregnant mistress – A woman got into a major fight with her husband and his mistress in a hospital in Wuchang, Hubei province, on Tuesday after she realized he had made the other woman pregnant.
The 35-year-old wife was at the hospital to see a gynecologist when she accidentally bumped into her husband and his mistress.
The suspicious wife snatched away the woman’s medical records only to learn she was there to get her pregnancy aborted and that her husband was the father.
The fierce fight ended only an hour later after hospital staff intervened. Changjiang Commercial News
July 19, 2009 – we had a slight adventure today, we left our apartment a little late but got a taxi right away. This driver seemed to know where he was going, he went a slightly different way but passed many of the regular landmarks we are used to but then went in a direction we had never been before...we thought for sure we were lost but then he took us right to the building, and the fare was the same as usual. You never know here, we were a little late for the meetings though, we walked in during the opening song. After wonderful talks on Pioneers today, we came home and just relaxed. Unfortunately, Floyd is still preparing for his meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday so he spent most of the afternoon on the computer.