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World Travel Update #3 {Abby}

China Trip No. 3: Part I of Email #3.

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EMAIL #3:
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(Note: Email #3 was written over several days.)


     I've been doing my emailing during nap time. :) Nap time begins around 12:30 (or 1:00 for the older kids) and lasts till 3:00. Right now Chuckles (2 yo (for those of you who don't know :)) is dealing out the Uno cards for the two of us to play a second game. (He isn't napping right now because he had a three hour nap this morning.)
     It's hilarious...
              

…commercial break during which 

I play a second game with Chuckles. :) ... 

                                                                                            …Uno (Chuckles's style) is played by dealing out the entire deck of cards. When it is your turn, you just play the one on the top of your stack. To play, you place your card in one of the four piles of cards in front of you depending on what color of card you have.
     So there's a red pile, a green pile, a yellow pile, and a blue pile. I love to hear him whisper (we were whispering so we didn’t wake anyone up), in his often-hard-to understand language,
     "'Or (your) 'urn ou (to) deal!" Or, now that Mrs. A brought Baby down, he plays a card, waits to see that I play, and then runs to play a wee bit with Baby. :) Now he comes running back. And in a moment he'll disappear to climb in Baby's playpen and play with her for half a minute.
     On our third game, we had just started when he says,
     "A'mos done." Another thing that cracks me up is how he almost always says z instead y. So "yes" is always "Zes!" (accompanied by a emphatic nod of the head). :)  :)
 

 CHUCKLES PLAYING UNO. :)

 BABY LOVES IT WHEN THE KIDS CLIMB IN AND PLAY WITH HER. :) 

     Yesterday after nap time we went to the school that Mr. A teaches at. We played ball, and then Mr. A, Dad, and the boss went on a tour. They didn't see even half the school. :) The boss is really big into the history and meaning of things. Around the grounds you’ll see huge sculptures, either of wood or stone, that have some meaning. There was a series of rooms that were created for when parents come to visit or when the school has some distinguished visitor. They must've spent close to an hour in those rooms. I think they saw the greenhouse, the gardens/organic farm (they have really yummy grapes that I learned to eat the Chinese way!), and that series of rooms specially decorated. They had a good conversation with him about spiritual things.

THE BOSS & HIS WIFE AND DAD & ME (AND BABY :))

THE BOSS SERVING TEA. 

 
     One Chinese custom I've struggled with is not saying "thank-you." The reasoning behind this custom is that the deeper the friendship, the less need to say thank-you. So if you say "thank you" you are basically telling the person that your friendship isn't very deep. The Chinese people are shocked when Mr. A or Mrs. A say thank-you to their kids.

     Friday night it rained, so Saturday morning we took the kids out to play in the puddles. The streets don't have good drainage systems so the streets fill with water. The kids had a fun time. :) Unfortunately, Mr. A decided there must've been sewage in those puddles too. :-/

     Before we took them out though, the police came. Coming in on the airplane, you are to write down where you’ll be staying at. If you’re going out into the country, you are to register your presence with the police of the town when you get there. We were going to go to the police station Saturday morning at 9:00, but Mr. A got a phone call saying that the police were going to come to the house instead! I don't remember what I was doing, but all of a sudden Mr. A calls out, "Hurry, Abby!! Grab your camera!! They're comin' down the street! Get a picture!" (Or something like that. :)) So I ran to the window, but I couldn't see a single person. I'm looking all over the place when I finally look straight down in front of the stairway door. There's a big group of people walking towards the staircase entrance. A couple of people are hauling cameras out of their car. I started thinking "What!!!! Reporters!!!??? Please NO!!"
     They all trouped up the stairs and into the house. There was half a dozen police besides the TV reporter, a lady with a still camera, and a boy maybe Cattleman’s age or younger. The reporters took pictures of everything - even our passports! Everyone was very friendly and enjoyed looking at the pictures we brought.
     When the police were ready to give our passports back, I had to stand up with a policewoman. She handed my passport back to me with a formal gesture. I felt extremely silly.:)  Then the camera guy who was filming everything said I had taken it too fast. So we repeated the gesture.. slower. They not only gave Dad his passport back like they had done with me, but they said “You’re going to say this and this and this.” (Or something like that. :))
     Well… as you can imagine, that was not too appealing to Dad. But he didn’t want to mess up the good relationship Mr. A had with the police department, so he thought of something else to say that was still complimentary but also truthful. :) He said something about how convenient to was for us to have the police come to the house. They had Mr. A sit beside him on the couch and translate. Sherrie's mom said that we were on the city news.

     Sunday morning Mr. A preached a sermon on the last four verses of Ephesians. Then we had a song service. We sang "The B-I-B-L-E," the growing song ("...read your Bible, pray every day.."), and "Dig, Dig, Dig." Right before bedtime we had a time of thanksgiving where we all praised God for things we were thankful for.
     Sunday afternoon the boss's sister-in-law and wife came over with their oldest boys. Some other girls, Megan, Susan, and Hannah came over as well. I think Sherrie came too. Sherrie is very sweet. :)

     Sunday night we went to a restaurant called Hot Pot. Everyone has a pot of water at their place that sits right on the table cloth. There must be some sort of heater under the table. I'm not sure how it works. You have a control attached to whatever heats it so you can turn it off or change the temperature.
     Then in the middle of the circular table is a big circle of glass that is like those spinning things (they look like mini lazy susans) you put in cupboards to hold spices or whatever. (I'm sorry, but I forgot what they're called.) The sauces and raw veggies and meats are put on the piece of glass. If you want something, you spin the piece of glass until what you want comes around to you. You put whatever you want to eat into your pot to cook. When you think it is done you fish it out with your chopsticks, add sauce if you want, and enjoy! :) There's a lot of tofu in China. I liked the tofu noodles we had at Hot Pot, but I haven't cared too much for every other form of tofu I've tried. :) You'll find about every form of peanuts here as well. Sesame seed sauces are very common too.

 

 THE WAITRESSES ENJOYED PLAYING WITH BABY. :)

 THE TALLER GLASSES WERE THE TEA CUPS! 

 THIS WAS MUCH FULLER BY THE TIME THEY STOPPED PUTTING THINGS ON. 

     On the way home from Hot Pot we stopped at the bakery and got a cake. 

THIS LADY WAS INCREDIBLY FAST!! 

SHE HAD OUR CAKE DECORATED AND READY TO GO IN LESS THAN TEN MINUTES! 

 THE KIDS REALLY ENJOYED WATCHING HER. :)

(Sorry that the picture is blurry!) 

 CAKE AND OTHER GOODIES! YUM-YUM!!

THE CHINESE WRITING SAYS "WELCOME"

World Tavel Update #2 {Abby}

China Trip No. 2

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EMAIL #2:
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     There's so much I didn't say last night in my first email!!
   
     Cattleman, Mr. Gap wanted me to tell you especially that he pulled his own tooth (and thus the nickname of Mr. Gap). He sat at the table -this was after lunch yesterday- and Dad and Mr. A sat on either side telling him what to do. It had to go because he had an adult tooth coming in. "Twist and pull! Twist and pull!" Voila! We were so proud of him!

GRAPE SKIN NOSES. :)

 

(NOTICE MR. GAP’S NEW SMILE. :))

     Today for lunch we made tacos. We made the tortillas and fresh salsa. It's unsafe to eat lettuce raw so we used shredded cucumbers instead. It was all very tasty, and I really liked putting cucs on the taco. The cheese that we shredded had a somewhat sour flavor that I didn't like as much. Mr. Gap fried the tortillas until he burned himself. I fried the rest. (And don't worry. I fixed up his burn (not that it was a bad one)! I have all the kids converted. :) The green slime (Eden Salve) is what they call it. They have been putting it on all their 'owies'.)

     This afternoon we're going to the school. The founder & 'boss' is going to give us a tour. We'll take the t-ball set along to use on the school's big grassy area. BTW mom, Mr. A was excited about the bases. He said that he had wanted some, but didn't want to ask for too much. :)

     Their dinner bell is a fish skeleton. The head is the bell, and the fins are the rope part.
     They have tons of windows.. their floor is all big white glossy tile so everything is very light, bright, and fresh.
     Coach has 6 fish that he got for his bday. He had 9, but 3 died.
     Mrs. A and I might tackle washing the windows.

     I can't think of anything else besides more extremely random stuff. Plus, I'm tired because right now is nap time (about a hour left), but I felt like I was keeping Princess awake (we share a room) so I came down to email. There were some funny things the kids said that I wanted to tell you, but I can't think of any of them. Chuckles loves my flashlight. He calls it the "light shine.":)

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More to come! ;-)

world travel {Abby}

China Trip No.1



As most of you know, my daddy took me to China for my senior trip, July 17-31. As requested, I am now publishing my emails. :-)
 

We were with family friends, the A family.

For those of you who don't know them they are as follows:

Mr. A & Mrs. A;

Coach, 9 yo;
Mr. Gap, 7 yo;
Goofy, 5 yo;
Princess, 4 yo;
Chuckles, 2 yo; and
Baby, almost 1 yo.


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EMAIL #1:
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     Random fact: It is July 19th, 9:35 PM right now here.:-)


      In Denver I walked past this oriental family. The 'caboose' was a little girl pulling her carry-on. I thought they were all together, but when the grandparents, dad, and mom turned off at a gate and the little girl kept walking I figured she must be with someone else. She followed, her eyes on the ground. As I was watching, she looked up just a short while after the family turned off and instantly panicked. "MOOMMMY!!!???" She started running forward to try and find them in the crowd. I ran after her, caught her by the arm, and turned her toward her family. She started running towards them just as the mom looked around and realized she was missing. They started freaking out just as the little girl ran up. They grabbed her, and it sounded like they were giving her a scolding for the heart attack they just had. But I don't know Chinese. :-)


     On the plane ride over, I had chicken and rice for supper. The first piece/bite of chicken had somewhat of a rubbery texture to it. I instantly wondered if it was a part of the chicken that wasn't supposed to be there. But it was okay, and I ate it. Then throughout the ride I had bouts of queasiness until I finally threw up just was we were descending (not that you all wanted to know that :-/) and felt better immediately! I think it was a combination of motion sickness and the supper. Dad has decided that we'll skip the supper going back and just live on snacks. :-) :-) When we met up with Mr. A and Goofy, Goofy enjoyed telling me about the times when he has puked :-D.





OUR FLIGHT TO CHINA



     After a discussion, we all voted that western food for supper (our first meal in China) might be a good idea. We headed to a mall close by that had a Papa John's. We walked there and back from our hotel and I almost got run over 8-). We were crossing 2 busy streets, and to get across you just have to run for it. So we started over the first one and then cars went in behind and in front of us so we had to stand there in the street with cars zooming around us before we could continue. On the 2nd street we had a good gap. There was a three wheeler (electric bike) coming, but I thought by the time we got to where they were headed they would be past so I wasn't really looking. Besides! I was worried about getting out of that street before any other cars came. We just missed each other. Mr. A told me "I said go fast, Abby, but not too fast! You probably about gave that driver a heart attack!" On the way back to the hotel we went over the bridge instead of through the street. :-)

     I was surprised at how American the pizza was :-). (You know how things taste different in another country.) And thankfully it settled well! We stayed at the Beijing Friendship Hotel building 3 room 3033something-something. I fell asleep as soon as I crawled in bed :-).





PAPA JOHN’S! :-)


      This morning we were up at 5:00 because we had to be checked out by 6:30. We had yogurt (I had kiwi & aloe) and fruit juice for 'breakfast' before we headed out. Then as we were leaving, Mr. A asked me if I was ready for some breakfast. "No... I thought we just ate breakfast!" He laughed, and after we rode the subway to the train station, we stopped at a McDonalds for egg McMuffin and coffee. Only, I finished my yogurt. :-)




 

KIWI AND ALOE YOGURT!



     Then I had a real train ride (a bullet train) for the first time in my life. The seats were in little rooms with a sliding door. When you stand in the doorway, there's a bench to your left, then a window in front of you with a table in front of the window, and another bench to your right. Above each bench there is a shelf of sorts to put luggage on. Goofy and I played fruit ninja for awhile on Mr. A's phone after which Goofy climbed up to sit on the shelf :-).

     When we finished our train ride (about 1 1/2 hrs), a guy met us at the train station to take us the rest of the way. It was hilarious!! The guy Mr. A had hired sent his brother. We finally connected with him, and he went to get the vehicle. The vehicle was supposed to be a mini-van of sorts. We are waiting there in the parking lot when Mr. A puts his hands on his head and starts saying, "Oh, no! Oh, no!!!" Not only did a different guy show up, but he pulled up in front of us in the ‘wrong’ vehicle: a little white car. Mr. A is asking him in a tone of disbelief, "What is going on here!?!!?" Mr. A told us later that he was thinking, "Let's hope this guy can at least get us to the bus station." He's talking to the guy, and the guy is saying "Put in the suitcases! Put in the suitcases!" The guy is grabbing luggage and stacking them in the trunk. Then he grabs a long strip of sheet and ties it down tight. We get in and off we go!






WAITING FOR OUR RIDE OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION







TYING DOWN THE LUGGAGE



  
     After about 5 minutes we realized that the lane markings on the road meant absolutely nothing. Most of the time he was driving down the middle of the road taking up two lanes. And the rest of the time he was driving on the wrong side of the road! There were a couple of times when I was expecting a head on collision to happen right then. It was kinda fun though ;-). One time there were two fire engines putting out a fire alongside the road. The rest of the traffic was going around, but our guy squeezed right through them! (You would’ve been in BIG trouble if you did that in America!) And "squeezed" is a good word for it! There couldn't have been more than a couple of inches on each side! He didn't go slowly either! He blew a couple of red lights too. Including the intersection that had a camera. (He pretended to make a right turn, but it was really a sort of U-turn. That way the camera couldn't catch him blowing the red light.)






THIS IS A GOOD PICTURE OF THE DRIVING STYLE.
IF YOU CAN SEE IT, THERE’S A CAR COMING TOWARDS THE TWO BLACK CARS… AND IT ISN’T THAT FAR AWAY!! MAKES FOR AN EXCITING DRIVE :-)


      We got 'home' in time for a late lunch. We had chicken noodle soup, pickled cucumbers, tomatoes, and fresh rolls. We also had Chinese fruit and chocolate chip cookies. It was just the right thing and very tasty.


     Then it was nap time! After naps we opened the suitcase of surprises. Mrs. A kept exclaiming, "It's just like Christmas!" From then till we left for supper we were putting stuff away and getting ready for an 'adventure ride' (is what they call it). We got out the three-wheeler and bikes. Mr. A, Dad (with Goofy behind), and Coach rode bikes; the rest of us rode the three-wheeler. Supper was at an open air restaurant that served mutton or chicken all meat kabobs. They were delicious! We sat at tiny, short, circular tables on red or hot pink plastic stools. Afterwards, we went on an adventure ride (which is riding around town). Then we came home, got ready for bed, and had Bible time.

READY FOR AN ADVENTURE RIDE! :-)

THEY COOK THE KABOBS OVER WOOD COALS...

…AND THEN, AFTER SHOVELING SOME COALS INTO THE METAL BOX ON YOUR TABLE,
THEY LAY A PILE OF KABOBS ACROSS THE BOX..
ENJOY! :-)

 

DAD LEARNING TO EAT WITH CHOPSTICKS :-)

ICE CREAM AFTER THE ADVENTURE  RIDE

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More to come!! ;-)

technical difficulties...

... but we're working on it.

Moving Abby's posts from her computer to mine  :p  And the pictures?!  Trying to post from her computer?!  Her laptop can't think that fast.

Patience...

hello from Beijing

 

Y was kind enough to send a few pictures of Tim & Abby ~  In a couple hours they will be checking in at the airport!

 

 

We are SO looking forward to SEEing them HERE…in less than 24 hours, Lord willing!

a few more words from Tim {China}

I guess I skipped this news on my last post ~

Monday 23 July

We went to a Chinese supermarket - it had some great big frogs and a purple skinned chicken.

Yesterday we ate at a place called Hot Pot. Each person gets a pot that sits on the table and when you turn it on the water in it starts to boil, Then you take meat, vegetables, potatoes, shrimp and noodles  and cook them in your boiling pot. When it is cooked, top the stuff with a variety of sauces and eat. This chop stick thing could certainly keep a person from overeating-- at least it slows down the eating process. 

And this is probably all we'll hear until they reach Seattle on Tuesday ~

Friday 27 July

Tomorrow is our last full day {with the A family}. Will probably do some shopping around town in the am, then maybe do some games at the apartment. Y will try to get a copy of the TV episode but don't know how that will turn out. Sunday morning we plan to do morning at the house then head to Beijing. We will do some looking around there on Monday maybe the Great Wall and Forbidden City. Tuesday some looking around in the morning and to the airport by 1:30. 



We are looking forward to having them both HOME again  : )

what's up in China?

For those who have had no clue what's going on here or why I posted the Beijing clock, this is Abby's senior trip with her dad.  They are staying with friends {abbreviated as Y & R} in China for two weeks.  They are just halfway through their visit. 

I've been reluctant to try to share here what's going on in China via the emails from Tim & Abby.  For one thing, Conny thinks Abby should write her own posts  ;-)  And for another, there are the bzillion pictures they have been accumulating on their cameras.  Sooo, my posting before they return will be a bit boring without any pictures...

Today, I came up with an idea {well, just now...} Maybe I should post Tim's emails but not Abby's?  That would give you all a tiny taste of what they're doing, but save all the elaborate and colorful descriptions and narrations for Abby to relate, complete with pictures.  : )  We don't call her Miss Artist for nothing, ya know.  And if you can imagine a paragraph for every sentence from Tim, you'll have a good idea of what you have to look forward to!

Now, without further ado - and before I think of something else I should be doing instead - here are a few comments from Tim.

Thursday 19 July

Well, China is an interesting place when you get outside the image zone and get to realville. We rode a high speed train to a town about 2 hours drive from Y and R’s, he called someone he knows to drive us the rest of the way. Y thought he had a small van, but the guy shows up in a compact car. Y says, “What’s this? this will never work,” the guy jumps out starts shoving bags in the trunk, gets out a piece of bed sheet, ties the bags down and away we go, couldn’t close the trunk. Needless to say he drove like you would expect. We made it without incident. Proof that miracles are real. 

Abby got motion sickness just as we were taxiing to the airport in Beijing, she fought it for a long way.

R had some good chicken noodle soup for lunch, that was the right thing for us.

Tonight we went out to a street restaurant I think Abby got some good pictures, you will love it. Had some lamb kabobs, they were pretty good.



Saturday 21 July

I think my system got a little overwhelmed with new things, feeling a little better today. Maybe you remember their presentation with the fried flour tortilla kind of thing. That was breakfast this morning. For lunch we had blueberry pancakes and some bacon that Y picked up in Beijing. 

I can sleep till about 1am then tend to lay in bed for a couple hours. 

Y's boss showed us the correct way to make tea, you only steep it for about 20 seconds then pour it into a different pot for serving. 

Did some minor house repairs and got to see the China version of Lowes.

I think Abby is really tired, she has been a blessing.

I will let her tell the police and propaganda story, ended up with a TV camera at the house. Nothing serious, we were supposed to register with the local police station. Y called them and they told us to come over this morning. This morning they called up and said they would just come over we did not need to come to the station. We look out the window and see a half dozen police, a TV person and somebody else with a still camera. Everybody was very friendly, I guess that is why R keeps her house so clean. You never know when someone is going to show up.

Tuesday 24 July

We went about 2 miles south today to do an English class with the elementary superintendent at Y's school. Crossed the Yellow River and a dairy farm and saw a lot of China that most would not see.

We went to a Brazilian style buffet for lunch. They would come around to each table with skewers of different things duck, chicken, shrimp, chicken heart, I will tell more later.

What time is it in Beijing?