Don't get the wrong idea with this post. We really are doing some important things, but I just want to focus for a moment on a few of the things that I am really enjoying here.
1. The food is incredible. I don't know how we manage to screw it up in the states, but Chinese food rocks. Last night we had amazing dumplings (the only downside was when I dropped my dumpling into the dipping sauce and it splashed all over me- I can hear Aggie now, "messer, messer, messer, that's all there is to you Cleaveland girls.") and today for lunch, eggs and tomatoes. Yum. Throw in that an average meal cost less than a dollar and you will understand why I am beginning to think that it is going to be difficult for me to lose the 10 pounds I am suppose to lose this summer.
2. After dinner last night, we went to the massage place. For right at $3 we had an hour foot and back massage. How can you beat that. It would cost me far more to get Rebecca to massage my feet for an hour.
3. Fresh flowers. In my bedroom, I have 2 dozen pink roses. The cost- a buck.
4. We just discovered that the internet bar has Coke in the bottle.
I could go on, but I don't want you to think that this is just some luxury vacation.
And besides, we still have to deal with squatty potties.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Monday, May 30, 2005
Getting down to Business
Until this morning, I forgot that yesterday was Memorial Day. I hope that all of you had a wonderful day relaxing with family and friends, but that you also had took time to remember all of thosewho have fought and are fighting for the freedoms we have. I am certainly more thankful now than ever before.
And on with my post of the day..
We survived lunch. We went to this little store and Rachel asked for some dish that I didn't know. The look on the woman's face told me that she didn't so much know either. She just motioned for us to sit and she would bring something. She brought out some sort of spicy beef noodles with cilantro in it. It was Awesome. Rachel is still minding her stomach and she is one of those odd people who don't really like spicy food, so she didn't eat much of hers, but mine was gone in a few minutes.
Last night, we made our way downtown to The Walking Street. It is definatly a place I will have to revisit before we leave. Billy picked up a pair of really nice looking leather shoes for 114 quai whish is about $13-$14 dollars. He then took us to the top of the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza (quite possibly the nicest Holiday Inn anywhere) so that we could see the city. The day kind of cleared up and we could see a distant amount of teh city. It is definatlly a huge place.
On the way back, I thought that we were going to die. Our taxi driver apparently thought that we were on the Amazing Race becasue he managed to run no less than 3 red lights with traffic coming. My assessment of Chinese drivers ed is that they must only master the use of the horn. After that nothing else matters. Any paved surface is fair game for driving, including sidewalks. And traffic lights are merely suggestions.
This morning, I cold called a couple of girls that I have been told might be interested in meeting with us. It was a sucess and in an hour I am meeting two girls to practice their English. It is nice to feel like I am finally doing something and not just suffering from sensory overload.
And on with my post of the day..
We survived lunch. We went to this little store and Rachel asked for some dish that I didn't know. The look on the woman's face told me that she didn't so much know either. She just motioned for us to sit and she would bring something. She brought out some sort of spicy beef noodles with cilantro in it. It was Awesome. Rachel is still minding her stomach and she is one of those odd people who don't really like spicy food, so she didn't eat much of hers, but mine was gone in a few minutes.
Last night, we made our way downtown to The Walking Street. It is definatly a place I will have to revisit before we leave. Billy picked up a pair of really nice looking leather shoes for 114 quai whish is about $13-$14 dollars. He then took us to the top of the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza (quite possibly the nicest Holiday Inn anywhere) so that we could see the city. The day kind of cleared up and we could see a distant amount of teh city. It is definatlly a huge place.
On the way back, I thought that we were going to die. Our taxi driver apparently thought that we were on the Amazing Race becasue he managed to run no less than 3 red lights with traffic coming. My assessment of Chinese drivers ed is that they must only master the use of the horn. After that nothing else matters. Any paved surface is fair game for driving, including sidewalks. And traffic lights are merely suggestions.
This morning, I cold called a couple of girls that I have been told might be interested in meeting with us. It was a sucess and in an hour I am meeting two girls to practice their English. It is nice to feel like I am finally doing something and not just suffering from sensory overload.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Second Language Learner
We just finished our first morning of classes and I think that it is safe to say that I am not meant to speak Chinese. I even have trouble saying the Chinese name that they have given me (Ke YiLe, which means beautiful waters). Rachel lived for six years in Taiwan and so it is not surprising that she knows a little language. And yet, we have been placed in the same class. Not only do I get to feel dumb because I just don't understand, but I am also getting shown up by Rachel who is just spitting the words out. Not so much fun. I wonder what our teacher would say if I tried to tell him that I have performance anxiety and so he shouldn't call on me in class. It's what my students would try to do, but I don't think that it would work here.
There is a college guy who was here a few weeks ago from NP. He has the summer free and so he decided that he would love to come back. With a very quick turn around, they were able to work everything out and so Alex will be joining us next Sunday. I am hoping that I will be able to at least say my name before then.
We are at some internet bar right outside the campus and we really didn't understand what we were buying. (It cost 40 quai (sp?) for both of us, which is $5, but how much time does that get you?) In addition, this text box is the only thing showing up on my computer in English. Consequently, I am just writing train of thought until it kicks me off. You will also have to forgive me for not running spell check.
Today, Billy has some meetings and so we are on our own for most of the day. We are going to go down to the freshman campus and walk around. Heather, who has been here for a year, took me over there yesterday afternoon. Rachel and I are going to get lunch and then just hang out. Then we are suppose to find a bus or taxi to take us downtown. I think that Billy wants to give us mini challenges so that we will have to try things on our own. I am not so nervous about getting around, but the finding lunch on our own bit has me a bit scared.
I haven't taken many pictures and even if I had, I think that uploading them might prove to be difficult so you might just have to wait. But here's a mental image for you. Smog. Lots of smog. and dust.
I am already missing blue skies and stars at night.
Really I think that is about all I've got for now. I have talked to momma and daddy twice (long story- they are working on getting the unlock code for my cell phone so that I can put in a Chinese SIM card and have a Chinese number), and so if you want more of an update you can talk to them.
There is a college guy who was here a few weeks ago from NP. He has the summer free and so he decided that he would love to come back. With a very quick turn around, they were able to work everything out and so Alex will be joining us next Sunday. I am hoping that I will be able to at least say my name before then.
We are at some internet bar right outside the campus and we really didn't understand what we were buying. (It cost 40 quai (sp?) for both of us, which is $5, but how much time does that get you?) In addition, this text box is the only thing showing up on my computer in English. Consequently, I am just writing train of thought until it kicks me off. You will also have to forgive me for not running spell check.
Today, Billy has some meetings and so we are on our own for most of the day. We are going to go down to the freshman campus and walk around. Heather, who has been here for a year, took me over there yesterday afternoon. Rachel and I are going to get lunch and then just hang out. Then we are suppose to find a bus or taxi to take us downtown. I think that Billy wants to give us mini challenges so that we will have to try things on our own. I am not so nervous about getting around, but the finding lunch on our own bit has me a bit scared.
I haven't taken many pictures and even if I had, I think that uploading them might prove to be difficult so you might just have to wait. But here's a mental image for you. Smog. Lots of smog. and dust.
I am already missing blue skies and stars at night.
Really I think that is about all I've got for now. I have talked to momma and daddy twice (long story- they are working on getting the unlock code for my cell phone so that I can put in a Chinese SIM card and have a Chinese number), and so if you want more of an update you can talk to them.
Post One
I don't have a lot of time, so this is going to be short and sweet. I am borrowing email access from one of the American girls who live in our apartment complex (which, by the way, at 33,000 people and growing could be called a small city instead of a complex) and we need to leave in about 15 minutes to go somewhere.
It is about 3 PM on Sunday afternoon and my second full day in China. Things are going well, but it is probably good that I waited to write my first post. The first 24 hours or so were super hard and I kept wondering if I had completely lost my mind in deciding to come over here. Now, as I am getting more sleep and getting use to not understanding much, I like it better.
We have had two great Chinese meals so far including spicy beef noodles for breakfast yesterday. For lunch today, we had western food.
The trip over wasn't so bad. Actually it was pretty awesome. As we were getting on the plane in San Francisco, the woman at the desk called our name and it turns out that we were bumped to business class for the 12 hour flight. Champange as you board, choice of meals, personal video screens, and fully reclining seats. I even managed to sleep and I NEVER sleep on a plane. I think that the extra rest that I got is helping with the jet lag since I seem to be doing okay now.
Rachel is not feeling so great. Right before we left, she found out that she has a stomach virus. It has not gotten better. She is taking it easy today in hope that she will start to feel better soon.
I know that this has not been very funny, nor long, but I am pressed for time. I will try to write more later this week.
Emily Hill- I read your first card yesterday and nearly cried. I do feel a bit like the girl on the front, but your reminders helped a ton.
Thank you to all of you who have provided those moments of encouragment when I feel like wussing out.
It is about 3 PM on Sunday afternoon and my second full day in China. Things are going well, but it is probably good that I waited to write my first post. The first 24 hours or so were super hard and I kept wondering if I had completely lost my mind in deciding to come over here. Now, as I am getting more sleep and getting use to not understanding much, I like it better.
We have had two great Chinese meals so far including spicy beef noodles for breakfast yesterday. For lunch today, we had western food.
The trip over wasn't so bad. Actually it was pretty awesome. As we were getting on the plane in San Francisco, the woman at the desk called our name and it turns out that we were bumped to business class for the 12 hour flight. Champange as you board, choice of meals, personal video screens, and fully reclining seats. I even managed to sleep and I NEVER sleep on a plane. I think that the extra rest that I got is helping with the jet lag since I seem to be doing okay now.
Rachel is not feeling so great. Right before we left, she found out that she has a stomach virus. It has not gotten better. She is taking it easy today in hope that she will start to feel better soon.
I know that this has not been very funny, nor long, but I am pressed for time. I will try to write more later this week.
Emily Hill- I read your first card yesterday and nearly cried. I do feel a bit like the girl on the front, but your reminders helped a ton.
Thank you to all of you who have provided those moments of encouragment when I feel like wussing out.
Friday, May 20, 2005
A lot to Live Up To
Most of you know that I believe that I have the greatest parents ever. Furthermore, you probably know that I think they have the greatest marriage ever. This is the latest example of why I feel that way.
Momma has been a little sick with a sinus infection, but when I talked to her yesterday afternoon, I could just hear in her voice that she wasn't feeling good at all. When I asked how she was feeling, I got the following story.
Yesterday, she got up and did her morning thing, ate a banana (which is personally where I think she went wrong), and went for a walk.
When she got back home, she still wasn't feeling so good, but she needed to go into town and run a few errands. So she got ready, got in the car and made it 500 feet down the road before she knew that she just wasn't going to make it and that this week's grocery shopping would have to wait. Thank goodness that she made it home before losing the banana. (Banana’s are bad enough by themselves; I can't imagine how awful a thrown up banana in a hot car would be.)
Momma never gets sick to her stomach. This was probably the first time she has thrown up since the time she and I had the flu together when I was 12. But, as it always does when you are feeling queasy, throwing up made her feel better. And nothing sounded better than a Coke over crushed ice (we just call it Sonic's good ice, since that is the only place in LaGrange you can get it), so back into the car.
This time, she made it all the way in to town. But while she was waiting on her Coke with good ice, the wave of nausea hit again. At the same time, daddy called because they were suppose to meet for lunch and she should have made it to the car lot already. She told him that she thought that she was about to throw up and faint.
He was there in less than a minute.
I know that since daddy owns his own business, that it isn't that hard to rearrange his schedule, but it is hard for him just to drop everything at the spur of the moment. But drop everything he did. They sat in the doctor's office for a little over an hour; the doctor diagnosed momma's problems, after she threw up another two times in his office.
Then the doctor asked if she needed a work excuse. (Honestly, I didn’t even know that doctors gave work excuses.) But momma said no, because she just couldn't miss work today; there are only three pharmacists at her store and missing work is just not an option because there would be no one to cover for her.
Daddy drove her back to the house and took Melissa (who is doing nothing better on her summer break) back into town to get momma's car.
Then daddy took it upon himself to find the number and call the pharmacy scheduler to let her know that he didn't know what she was going to do, but that momma would not be able to work today.
Sometimes, I don't find it so hard to believe that my sisters and I haven't found the right guy. It's going to be hard to live up to the example that daddy has been.
Momma has been a little sick with a sinus infection, but when I talked to her yesterday afternoon, I could just hear in her voice that she wasn't feeling good at all. When I asked how she was feeling, I got the following story.
Yesterday, she got up and did her morning thing, ate a banana (which is personally where I think she went wrong), and went for a walk.
When she got back home, she still wasn't feeling so good, but she needed to go into town and run a few errands. So she got ready, got in the car and made it 500 feet down the road before she knew that she just wasn't going to make it and that this week's grocery shopping would have to wait. Thank goodness that she made it home before losing the banana. (Banana’s are bad enough by themselves; I can't imagine how awful a thrown up banana in a hot car would be.)
Momma never gets sick to her stomach. This was probably the first time she has thrown up since the time she and I had the flu together when I was 12. But, as it always does when you are feeling queasy, throwing up made her feel better. And nothing sounded better than a Coke over crushed ice (we just call it Sonic's good ice, since that is the only place in LaGrange you can get it), so back into the car.
This time, she made it all the way in to town. But while she was waiting on her Coke with good ice, the wave of nausea hit again. At the same time, daddy called because they were suppose to meet for lunch and she should have made it to the car lot already. She told him that she thought that she was about to throw up and faint.
He was there in less than a minute.
I know that since daddy owns his own business, that it isn't that hard to rearrange his schedule, but it is hard for him just to drop everything at the spur of the moment. But drop everything he did. They sat in the doctor's office for a little over an hour; the doctor diagnosed momma's problems, after she threw up another two times in his office.
Then the doctor asked if she needed a work excuse. (Honestly, I didn’t even know that doctors gave work excuses.) But momma said no, because she just couldn't miss work today; there are only three pharmacists at her store and missing work is just not an option because there would be no one to cover for her.
Daddy drove her back to the house and took Melissa (who is doing nothing better on her summer break) back into town to get momma's car.
Then daddy took it upon himself to find the number and call the pharmacy scheduler to let her know that he didn't know what she was going to do, but that momma would not be able to work today.
Sometimes, I don't find it so hard to believe that my sisters and I haven't found the right guy. It's going to be hard to live up to the example that daddy has been.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
My Doctor's Visit
Yesterday afternoon, I went to the doctor. In preparing to leave the country, I needed a tetanus booster. You are supposed to have one every ten years and I think that I had one right before I went to college. (But it seems that maybe I didn't have one then because I had to have one when I was 13, the year of my illustrious career running track. The coach moved me to throwing the shot-put after I fell twice while running. What a joke. The second fall was bad enough to send me to the emergency room for possible stitches. The scars on my knees are still visible.) The point is that I was due for a shot.
Because momma is a pharmacist, when I am starting to feel under the weather; I usually just call home and ask her what I should take. (For some reason, I have a mental block in remembering which symptoms necessitate an antihistamine and which ones mean I need a decongestant, which ones make me sleepy and which ones give me bad dreams and keep me up at night. I always have to call home. But I digress. Again.) It has been 3 years since I have been so sick that I couldn't avoid the doctor. So, I just haven't gone.
Within the past 3 years, my insurance changed and so I had to get a new doctor. Since they didn't have a file on me, he didn't want to give me my tetanus booster without an appointment. At first, I was a little annoyed because I knew that this meant squeezing an hour of waiting room waiting into my already busy schedule.
But I was wrong. The visit was helpful on several accounts.
- I found out that I have a faint heart murmur. Nothing really to worry about, but something he said I should know, especially in light of my inherited super-slow heart rate. (Thanks, daddy.)
- Tetanus booster taken care of.
- And, the one I am most excited about: I mentioned that I really hate flying. The good old doctor whipped out his pad and wrote me a prescription for Xanax. Nice. Flight anxiety be gone.
Maybe I will go see the doctor more often.
Because momma is a pharmacist, when I am starting to feel under the weather; I usually just call home and ask her what I should take. (For some reason, I have a mental block in remembering which symptoms necessitate an antihistamine and which ones mean I need a decongestant, which ones make me sleepy and which ones give me bad dreams and keep me up at night. I always have to call home. But I digress. Again.) It has been 3 years since I have been so sick that I couldn't avoid the doctor. So, I just haven't gone.
Within the past 3 years, my insurance changed and so I had to get a new doctor. Since they didn't have a file on me, he didn't want to give me my tetanus booster without an appointment. At first, I was a little annoyed because I knew that this meant squeezing an hour of waiting room waiting into my already busy schedule.
But I was wrong. The visit was helpful on several accounts.
- I found out that I have a faint heart murmur. Nothing really to worry about, but something he said I should know, especially in light of my inherited super-slow heart rate. (Thanks, daddy.)
- Tetanus booster taken care of.
- And, the one I am most excited about: I mentioned that I really hate flying. The good old doctor whipped out his pad and wrote me a prescription for Xanax. Nice. Flight anxiety be gone.
Maybe I will go see the doctor more often.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Sibling Generosity
Momma is an identical twin. She and my aunt have nearly identical families. Momma and Daddy will be celebrating their 32nd anniversary this year, Aunt Pat and Uncle Jack, their 33rd. Emily is 4 months older than I, Michael is 4 months younger than Rebecca and Carolyn is a year and a half older than Melissa.
On Wednesday, Michael is taking his sisters on a two week trip to Italy. Yeah, super nice.
A couple of months ago, when we found out about this trip, Rebecca and I were talking about how nice it was and about how great it would be if the three of us could take a similar trip. We started daydreaming about where we would go and settled on Greece.
I pointed out that Michael, the middle sibling was being the generous. (In both families, the middle sibling is the one with the lucrative profession.) I implied that she should step up and be just as generous. That pretty much ended the conversation.
A few weeks later, I asked Rebecca if she was planning on running the Chicago marathon again this year. She said no because it was too close to the Athens marathon. Not Athens, Georgia, mind you. No. Athens, Greece.
My punk sister is going to Greece. Is she taking Melissa and I with her? No.
So much for sisterly love.
On Wednesday, Michael is taking his sisters on a two week trip to Italy. Yeah, super nice.
A couple of months ago, when we found out about this trip, Rebecca and I were talking about how nice it was and about how great it would be if the three of us could take a similar trip. We started daydreaming about where we would go and settled on Greece.
I pointed out that Michael, the middle sibling was being the generous. (In both families, the middle sibling is the one with the lucrative profession.) I implied that she should step up and be just as generous. That pretty much ended the conversation.
A few weeks later, I asked Rebecca if she was planning on running the Chicago marathon again this year. She said no because it was too close to the Athens marathon. Not Athens, Georgia, mind you. No. Athens, Greece.
My punk sister is going to Greece. Is she taking Melissa and I with her? No.
So much for sisterly love.
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