Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I think I'm turning Chinese!
Tonight we went over to our old neighbors house to watch the season finale of American Idol. We drove our whole family (all 4 of us) on our moped. So Chinese.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Cute Haley
Last night Haley was building a fort for her dolls. She called me in to see it and she announced excitedly, "I built the Great Wall of Utah!"
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Good Sundays and Randomness
Today was such a fun day. I really do enjoy Sundays. We were really busy at church today, but we were prepared, so it wasn't stressful. Amazing how that works out. Jason had to give a talk and I had to teach Relief Society and Britton also had to give a talk in Primary. Yesterday I took the kids to Waterworld in the afternoon/evening, so Jason could just get his talk finished. He had been working on it all week and just needed to put it all together. So, he was prepared and ready to go which made everything go smoother this morning.
The last time Britton had to give a talk (a few weeks ago), he got really shy and refused to do it, so I ended up saying it for him. This week we had helped him more and prepared him for it, so it turned out a lot better. I think everyone was amazed that he actually did it.
Jason even ended up having to teach Elder's Quorum because the guy he asked to do it just didn't show up. But, that didn't even seem to stress him out. We both came away from church saying how much fun it was and how much we love this branch. I really enjoy the days that I have to teach because I feel like I learn so much preparing my lesson and then hearing all the comments from everyone else. Today I really felt like we all bonded even more. There were only about 5 or 6 woman in R.S., so it just felt like more of me leading a good discussion. I was a lot more relaxed and just told a lot of stories and personal experiences than I normally would. It was nice. I felt a lot more myself.
After church, we had the Chow family over for dinner. They are the family that Jason and I visit every month. The parents work in Hong Kong during the week and then come here on the weekends. Their two boys stay with their grandma here during the week and go to Clifford school. My kids were so excited all week long knowing that they were going to be able to come over. Their boys are older (11 and 14), but they are really good about playing with my kids. And my kids love the attention. We had tacos for dinner which I was a little worried about whether or not they would like it. It was the first time their kids had tried tacos and they loved them! So, that was good. Afterwards we just chatted and the kids played. We set up a new game thing that we got called the MiWi2. It's a cheap Chinese knock off of the Nintendo Wii. It's not nearly as good as the Wii, but it was still quite entertaining. The kids tried out ping pong and baseball and boxing then some of the arcade games. I showed Sis. Chow some of our vacation pictures and we just talked for a long time. They ended up staying for about 3 hours. It was so much fun just having people to hang out with. Haley even gave them all hugs as they were leaving (and several other times throughout the evening). That's really saying something because she's normally quite standoffish towards people.
After they left, we watched the season finale of the Office. It had finally finished downloading. It was hilarious. I loved every bit of it. I have to say that my favorite part was when Dwight told the new girl that Kevin was "special". Genius. So funny.
I am really going to miss this branch so much. I have liked it since the very first day, but it always takes me about a year to really get to know people and feel at home. Today I realized how much I am actually going to miss some of the people. I wish it didn't take me so long to get to know people. I feel like I am at the brink of some friendships right when I am about to leave and go home. There are some days when I really wish we were coming back next year.
It's been a while since I have had to time to just sit down and write about nothing and everything. So, here is some randomness.
*I really love hearing my students pronounce certain words in English. R's and L's are really hard for them to say, so I love it when I have vocabulary words with lots of R's and L's. At the beginning of each period, we have pronunciation practice. Lately, some of their vocabulary words are "parallelogram" and "quadrilateral". I love hearing them try to pronounce them. It brings back memories of geometry with Dr. N and the way she would pronounce "parallelogram".
*My 7th graders are doing a project where they are designing their own dreamhouses. It's so much fun to watch them and see all the things they come up with. It's quite an elaborate project so they have spent a lot of time in class on it which leaves me just to wander and observe their work or sit there and design my own dreamhouse. Lately, I've been drawing the floorplan of my house in Utah trying to figure out how I will arrange everything when I get home. I've been thinking about what I would include in my dreamhouse. I'm really not someone who needs or wants a huge, elaborate house. But, I guess if I really could have ANYTHING I wanted, I might NEED a rollercoaster in my backyard. :)
*Our weekends are already pretty much packed until we leave. So little time, so much to do.
*Our pool has been open since the beginning of May. It's nice to have a free activity that is fun for our family that we can do everyday if we want. My kids love going to the pool. Most of our evenings/lunch breaks are spent there.
*I wish the Jazz would have beaten the Lakers. I don't like the Lakers. But, I did draw them in our office pool, so I guess I'll have start cheering for them to win it all so that I can win the 200 RMB. Go Lakers!
*I really like the people that I work with. At the beginning of the year, I thought our office was such a funny bunch of people. I found our office dynamics very amusing, but didn't really feel too friendly with anyone. But, now, I have to say that I am good friends with all of them. I will miss being around these people everyday. I will miss our inside jokes, hating Fridays with Ginger, top 10 lists, talking sports with the guys, doing contests, googling everything, our awkward team meetings, trying to avoid monthly staff lunches, the airconditioner wars, working in the dark, and all the other funny things that make our office so quirky.
*We got a scooter a few weeks ago from my friend Nancy. Jason loves having it and I love that he has it. Now, he doesn't mind going shopping or picking up Britton or all the other things he has to do everyday. Everything's so much easier when you have a vehicle. I also finally got my bike tire fixed. It's had a flat for the last 2 weeks or so. I really don't mind walking to school, but I like my bike a lot too.
*Our neighbors are moving today. They have to move out of our building and into a town house because they have a dog. They're making everyone get rid of their pets or move because of the lice incident. Even though pets don't have lice. It's ridiculous. At least they aren't making everyone get rid of their kids (who are the real lice carriers). Anyway, we will miss them. I'm sure we'll still see them a lot, but it just won't be the same as having them right next door. It'll be a lot quieter and lonelier around here, that's for sure.
*I really will finish posting our pictures of Yangshuo one day.
The last time Britton had to give a talk (a few weeks ago), he got really shy and refused to do it, so I ended up saying it for him. This week we had helped him more and prepared him for it, so it turned out a lot better. I think everyone was amazed that he actually did it.
Jason even ended up having to teach Elder's Quorum because the guy he asked to do it just didn't show up. But, that didn't even seem to stress him out. We both came away from church saying how much fun it was and how much we love this branch. I really enjoy the days that I have to teach because I feel like I learn so much preparing my lesson and then hearing all the comments from everyone else. Today I really felt like we all bonded even more. There were only about 5 or 6 woman in R.S., so it just felt like more of me leading a good discussion. I was a lot more relaxed and just told a lot of stories and personal experiences than I normally would. It was nice. I felt a lot more myself.
After church, we had the Chow family over for dinner. They are the family that Jason and I visit every month. The parents work in Hong Kong during the week and then come here on the weekends. Their two boys stay with their grandma here during the week and go to Clifford school. My kids were so excited all week long knowing that they were going to be able to come over. Their boys are older (11 and 14), but they are really good about playing with my kids. And my kids love the attention. We had tacos for dinner which I was a little worried about whether or not they would like it. It was the first time their kids had tried tacos and they loved them! So, that was good. Afterwards we just chatted and the kids played. We set up a new game thing that we got called the MiWi2. It's a cheap Chinese knock off of the Nintendo Wii. It's not nearly as good as the Wii, but it was still quite entertaining. The kids tried out ping pong and baseball and boxing then some of the arcade games. I showed Sis. Chow some of our vacation pictures and we just talked for a long time. They ended up staying for about 3 hours. It was so much fun just having people to hang out with. Haley even gave them all hugs as they were leaving (and several other times throughout the evening). That's really saying something because she's normally quite standoffish towards people.
After they left, we watched the season finale of the Office. It had finally finished downloading. It was hilarious. I loved every bit of it. I have to say that my favorite part was when Dwight told the new girl that Kevin was "special". Genius. So funny.
I am really going to miss this branch so much. I have liked it since the very first day, but it always takes me about a year to really get to know people and feel at home. Today I realized how much I am actually going to miss some of the people. I wish it didn't take me so long to get to know people. I feel like I am at the brink of some friendships right when I am about to leave and go home. There are some days when I really wish we were coming back next year.
It's been a while since I have had to time to just sit down and write about nothing and everything. So, here is some randomness.
*I really love hearing my students pronounce certain words in English. R's and L's are really hard for them to say, so I love it when I have vocabulary words with lots of R's and L's. At the beginning of each period, we have pronunciation practice. Lately, some of their vocabulary words are "parallelogram" and "quadrilateral". I love hearing them try to pronounce them. It brings back memories of geometry with Dr. N and the way she would pronounce "parallelogram".
*My 7th graders are doing a project where they are designing their own dreamhouses. It's so much fun to watch them and see all the things they come up with. It's quite an elaborate project so they have spent a lot of time in class on it which leaves me just to wander and observe their work or sit there and design my own dreamhouse. Lately, I've been drawing the floorplan of my house in Utah trying to figure out how I will arrange everything when I get home. I've been thinking about what I would include in my dreamhouse. I'm really not someone who needs or wants a huge, elaborate house. But, I guess if I really could have ANYTHING I wanted, I might NEED a rollercoaster in my backyard. :)
*Our weekends are already pretty much packed until we leave. So little time, so much to do.
*Our pool has been open since the beginning of May. It's nice to have a free activity that is fun for our family that we can do everyday if we want. My kids love going to the pool. Most of our evenings/lunch breaks are spent there.
*I wish the Jazz would have beaten the Lakers. I don't like the Lakers. But, I did draw them in our office pool, so I guess I'll have start cheering for them to win it all so that I can win the 200 RMB. Go Lakers!
*I really like the people that I work with. At the beginning of the year, I thought our office was such a funny bunch of people. I found our office dynamics very amusing, but didn't really feel too friendly with anyone. But, now, I have to say that I am good friends with all of them. I will miss being around these people everyday. I will miss our inside jokes, hating Fridays with Ginger, top 10 lists, talking sports with the guys, doing contests, googling everything, our awkward team meetings, trying to avoid monthly staff lunches, the airconditioner wars, working in the dark, and all the other funny things that make our office so quirky.
*We got a scooter a few weeks ago from my friend Nancy. Jason loves having it and I love that he has it. Now, he doesn't mind going shopping or picking up Britton or all the other things he has to do everyday. Everything's so much easier when you have a vehicle. I also finally got my bike tire fixed. It's had a flat for the last 2 weeks or so. I really don't mind walking to school, but I like my bike a lot too.
*Our neighbors are moving today. They have to move out of our building and into a town house because they have a dog. They're making everyone get rid of their pets or move because of the lice incident. Even though pets don't have lice. It's ridiculous. At least they aren't making everyone get rid of their kids (who are the real lice carriers). Anyway, we will miss them. I'm sure we'll still see them a lot, but it just won't be the same as having them right next door. It'll be a lot quieter and lonelier around here, that's for sure.
*I really will finish posting our pictures of Yangshuo one day.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Yangshuo: In Search of a Western Toilet
I totally forgot to write about our adventure trying to find a sit-down toilet for Britton. So, here goes.
After hiking Moon Hill, we had about 1 1/2 hours before our driver was picking us up to take us to the balloon ride. We were just hanging out, having a snack, and trying to occupy ourselves. Britton and Haley both had to go to the bathroom. We went over to the public restrooms and both of them refused to go. The public restrooms here are always squatters. If you don't know what a squatter is, it's basically just a hole in the ground. You squat over it and do your business. They do flush, so that's good, but they are always wet all over the ground and wreak of urine because people are bad aims. I really don't blame my kids for not wanting to use them. I don't even want to use them. They are getting better about, but these ones were particularly stinky. Haley will only use them if I hold her over them basically making a toilet seat with my arms. Britton will use them for #1 but not #2.
Anyway, they both really needed to go, but refused to go in them or out in the wild. They both wanted to try to hold it, but we knew we were going to the balloon ride, then the Light Show and we wouldn't be home for at least 7 or 8 hours. So, we started asking around to see where the closest sit down toilet was. We had time to kill anyway. It was hilarious trying to communicate with people. Everyone gathered around us, wanting to be the one to help us. We kept asking for a toilet and then they would just point to the public restroom. Then we tried to say "Western toilet" or "sit down toilet". Then we tried acting it out. But, it still just looked like squatting. So, they just kept trying to point to the restroom. Finally we started asking for the nearest hotel because we knew that the hotels all have rooms with sit down toilets. So, then everyone thought we needed a hotel room for the night. They started quoting prices and trying to give us a better deal than the person before on a room that we didn't even need. Some of them even said we could stay at there house for the night. They all wanted us to go with them to see their accomodations. It was both frustrating and amusing. They all spoke just enough English to totally misinterpret what we were needing. I think a lot of the confusion was just because they can't even fathom someone not wanting to use a squatter. They prefer them. In fact, when there are sit down toilets in a public place, they still climb up on the seat and squat down to use them. Anyway, after about a half an hour, there was a man that finally understood what we were asking for. He found us a truck that would drive us to a nearby hotel and then he went with us. All the other people were mad because they really thought he was stealing us away from possibly booking a hotel or something with them. Luckily, he did go with us to the hotel because he had to negotiate with the hotel owner and convince him to open up a room and let us use a bathroom. The man really didn't want to let us. We had to pay him 40 Rmb (about $6) just to use the bathroom for less than 5 minutes. He probably only charges 100 rmb a night for his hotel, but whatever, we were desperate. After all this trouble, of course, Haley said she didn't have to go anymore and refused to even go in. Aaaargh, kids! Britton did go though and then we rode back just to wait a few more minutes for our driver. After paying the taxi and the guy that helped us, we probably paid about $15 just for Britton to go to the bathroom. What an adventure!
After hiking Moon Hill, we had about 1 1/2 hours before our driver was picking us up to take us to the balloon ride. We were just hanging out, having a snack, and trying to occupy ourselves. Britton and Haley both had to go to the bathroom. We went over to the public restrooms and both of them refused to go. The public restrooms here are always squatters. If you don't know what a squatter is, it's basically just a hole in the ground. You squat over it and do your business. They do flush, so that's good, but they are always wet all over the ground and wreak of urine because people are bad aims. I really don't blame my kids for not wanting to use them. I don't even want to use them. They are getting better about, but these ones were particularly stinky. Haley will only use them if I hold her over them basically making a toilet seat with my arms. Britton will use them for #1 but not #2.
Anyway, they both really needed to go, but refused to go in them or out in the wild. They both wanted to try to hold it, but we knew we were going to the balloon ride, then the Light Show and we wouldn't be home for at least 7 or 8 hours. So, we started asking around to see where the closest sit down toilet was. We had time to kill anyway. It was hilarious trying to communicate with people. Everyone gathered around us, wanting to be the one to help us. We kept asking for a toilet and then they would just point to the public restroom. Then we tried to say "Western toilet" or "sit down toilet". Then we tried acting it out. But, it still just looked like squatting. So, they just kept trying to point to the restroom. Finally we started asking for the nearest hotel because we knew that the hotels all have rooms with sit down toilets. So, then everyone thought we needed a hotel room for the night. They started quoting prices and trying to give us a better deal than the person before on a room that we didn't even need. Some of them even said we could stay at there house for the night. They all wanted us to go with them to see their accomodations. It was both frustrating and amusing. They all spoke just enough English to totally misinterpret what we were needing. I think a lot of the confusion was just because they can't even fathom someone not wanting to use a squatter. They prefer them. In fact, when there are sit down toilets in a public place, they still climb up on the seat and squat down to use them. Anyway, after about a half an hour, there was a man that finally understood what we were asking for. He found us a truck that would drive us to a nearby hotel and then he went with us. All the other people were mad because they really thought he was stealing us away from possibly booking a hotel or something with them. Luckily, he did go with us to the hotel because he had to negotiate with the hotel owner and convince him to open up a room and let us use a bathroom. The man really didn't want to let us. We had to pay him 40 Rmb (about $6) just to use the bathroom for less than 5 minutes. He probably only charges 100 rmb a night for his hotel, but whatever, we were desperate. After all this trouble, of course, Haley said she didn't have to go anymore and refused to even go in. Aaaargh, kids! Britton did go though and then we rode back just to wait a few more minutes for our driver. After paying the taxi and the guy that helped us, we probably paid about $15 just for Britton to go to the bathroom. What an adventure!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Landing
Landing the balloon was a lot of fun too. We had to bend our knees when we hit the ground. So, I held Haley and Jason held Britton just so it wouldn't hurt their knees. When the balloon hit, it kind of bounced a few times while the guys on the ground held on to pull it down. It was really fun. The whole thing was definitely an experience of a lifetime.
Up, up, and Away
After Moon Hill, we went on a balloon ride--our very favorite thing of our whole trip. It was incredible! I can't imagine a more beautiful place to fly over. Seriously, breathtaking. It was the first time any of us had ever been up in a balloon. I was actually a bit more nervous than I expected to be once we were in the air. I felt a little uneasy being so high up with my kids in nothing but a basket connected to a balloon. Luckily, the nerves went away quickly and I was able to relax and enjoy the view. We were up there for over an hour and covered a pretty good distance. We went along the prettiest part of the river, or so they say. Everywhere is pretty though.
The fire from the balloon was a lot hotter than I expected too. And it was loud. Haley was afraid of it so she crouched down in the bottom of the basket. Poor kid. She fell asleep at one point even. She did get to enjoy herself towards the end though.
The fire from the balloon was a lot hotter than I expected too. And it was loud. Haley was afraid of it so she crouched down in the bottom of the basket. Poor kid. She fell asleep at one point even. She did get to enjoy herself towards the end though.
Moon Hill Pics
View from the top
We made it!The "moon" in the background
The nice ladies who fanned us the whole way up. We were quite good friends by the end of the hike. More Moon Hill Pics
Britton ate some blue laffy taffy right before the hike so everyone was fascinated by his blue tongue and lips. He LOVED all the attention. He kept sticking out his tongue and everyone would laugh and clap. Then he would touch his tongue to his nose and everyone was really amazed. He loved it. He was quite the entertainer.
Blue tongue boy surrounded by some fans!Moon Hill Hike
The first thing we did Thursday morning was rent bikes from our hotel and ride into downtown Yangshuo. We found walked around all of the souvenir shops and tried to figure out all the things there are to do. We decided to go to Moon Hill first. This was quite an experience. As soon as our car pulled up in the parking lot, there were about 20 ladies chasing it, banging on the windows, and trying to look in. They all wanted to see our kids and touch their hair. As we started hiking, some of them just followed us. I thought that as we kept walking, they would turn around and go back when they realized we weren't going to buy anything. They were each carrying a small cooler strapped to their back with cold drinks in it. But, we brought our own water and I kept telling them that. Anyway, they just kept hiking with us. Each time we stopped to rest, they would stop and pull out a fan and start fanning us. It was so awkward. About 15 minutes into the hike, we ran into a group of college kids hiking. They all wanted to take pictures with Britton and Haley. They ended up hiking the rest of the way with us too. So, we had a group of about 15 people following us everywhere we went. Not quite the quiet family hike that I pictured, but fun in it's own way, I guess. Haley was not being very cooperative about taking pictures with everyone (can you blame her?), so most pictures she is covering her face or looking away. But, that didn't stop anyone from trying. They just don't take hints very well. We were able to get a few good pictures though.
One of the times we stopped to rest.
One of the times we stopped to rest.
Haley hiding from the picture-takers.
Up at the top!
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