Thoughts: First Day
-I miss my mom.
-Noodles are eaten for every meal.
-People here are so polite.
-You can get a nice, juicy pomegranate for a fraction of the cost you'd find in the U.S. Awesome!
Tay's thought:
-"Why do I bother getting dressed when everyone stays in their pajamas all day?" (It's true, I can't tell you how many people we saw on our first day who were in their matching pajama set and sandals in the store, at breakfast, walking down the street in the middle of the day...
Thoughts: Second Day (Looking out my balcony at 5:30 AM)
-It's so light at this early hour.
-I sure hope that's humidity hanging thick in the air and not smog.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Fun Run
I had to do a posting on this small Payson Day 5k fun run on Labor Day because it was my very first race ever with my sister. I don't know of anyone who has a cooler sister. I always wanted to get her to run back in the day but she never got into it. One day, years later, she started running and is as hooked as me! She's more dedicated than me that's for sure. With three busy girls, she dutifully gets up way too early every morning and runs. This is our first race together. I hoped with it being so small I could win the race but then a really fast girl showed up, and knocked me to second. Seth won his race of course! For our prizes they gave out minted silver dollars. Awesome!
Jaime did really well and took second out of her running groupies of which there are five or six. Way to go!!! The best part about the whole day was spending the rest of the afternoon with my parents, my sister, and her cute, fun daughters.
Where's Taylor you ask? ... sleeping in.
Where's Megan you ask? ...sleeping in.
We had spent the previous night at Seth's parents and had stayed up way too late watching movies and chatting.
Jaime did really well and took second out of her running groupies of which there are five or six. Way to go!!! The best part about the whole day was spending the rest of the afternoon with my parents, my sister, and her cute, fun daughters.Where's Taylor you ask? ... sleeping in.
Where's Megan you ask? ...sleeping in.
We had spent the previous night at Seth's parents and had stayed up way too late watching movies and chatting.
Labor Day
Over Labor Day weekend our best hang out friends Seth and Megan took us camping in American Fork Canyon. We four wheeled for hours over rivers, rocks, and mud. That night when we got rained out we were glad Seth's parents live right out of the canyon so we could be saved. We lasted till 6 A.M.!
At one point we went exploring over a marshy area and found moose and deer beds, dams that little beavers had built, and little fishes that were scared into hiding by our shadows. Crossing a very long log, Taylor realized it was unstable so as I come to cross unaware, Tay, at the other end, starts bouncing hard and says, "Just checking your stability." And to check out just how well my stability was, I started bouncing. Dumb, I know. Tay sees my test and starts jumping with the purpose of making me fall, and continues to do so even when I yell for him to stop. What a great guy:) That was a hard fall. Meanwhile Seth is warned of a beehive, and is chased by a mob of angry bees. The only thing that was going through my head at that moment was the bee sting scene in the forest from the movie, "My Girl" and I'm yelling, "Run!!!"...
Megan, witnessing this all with wide eyes from behind says, "I think I'll take another way."
Seth and Megan have become like family here in Logan. We run together, play games and cards, share family home evenings, get ice-cream, share recipes, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, long car drives up the beautiful mountains, camp, eat dutch oven food in the mountains, knock trees over in the mountains, throw rocks down steep canyon ravines (not recommended), share our innermost fears and excitements, build gingerbread houses, carve pumpkins, watch movies, go to movies, eat candy, laugh, and run some more. We've shared each others heartaches, and successes. They're the greatest friends ever and we will really miss them.
At one point we went exploring over a marshy area and found moose and deer beds, dams that little beavers had built, and little fishes that were scared into hiding by our shadows. Crossing a very long log, Taylor realized it was unstable so as I come to cross unaware, Tay, at the other end, starts bouncing hard and says, "Just checking your stability." And to check out just how well my stability was, I started bouncing. Dumb, I know. Tay sees my test and starts jumping with the purpose of making me fall, and continues to do so even when I yell for him to stop. What a great guy:) That was a hard fall. Meanwhile Seth is warned of a beehive, and is chased by a mob of angry bees. The only thing that was going through my head at that moment was the bee sting scene in the forest from the movie, "My Girl" and I'm yelling, "Run!!!"...
Megan, witnessing this all with wide eyes from behind says, "I think I'll take another way."
Seth and Megan have become like family here in Logan. We run together, play games and cards, share family home evenings, get ice-cream, share recipes, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, long car drives up the beautiful mountains, camp, eat dutch oven food in the mountains, knock trees over in the mountains, throw rocks down steep canyon ravines (not recommended), share our innermost fears and excitements, build gingerbread houses, carve pumpkins, watch movies, go to movies, eat candy, laugh, and run some more. We've shared each others heartaches, and successes. They're the greatest friends ever and we will really miss them.
Lotoja Bike Race
Congrats Tay and cousin T.J. for completing the 206 mile bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They rode for team Barbacoa, and finished in 10 hours 26 minutes. They climbed three major mountain passes, and something like 3000 feet, and biked through three states. At the second feed station they made, their support crew failed them with much needed water, food, and salt tablets and made for a very rough first 100 miles. What wife would ever do that to her husband??? Apparently last year Jill, T.J.'s wife, witnessed this very same thing and thought, "What stupid wife would ever make that mistake?" And then we did that very same thing this year and had a chuckle. Oops!! Sorry boys!
Congrats Tay! You rode like a champ, and never gave up, even when your legs cramped up and caused you to lie by the side of the road and recover for a moment. You wanted to quit, but you got back on your bike and fought hard! You are one tough fighter! Thanks T.J. for helping him out!
Congrats Tay! You rode like a champ, and never gave up, even when your legs cramped up and caused you to lie by the side of the road and recover for a moment. You wanted to quit, but you got back on your bike and fought hard! You are one tough fighter! Thanks T.J. for helping him out!China home
Our apartment. Check out that Chinese furniture!
Awesome architecture.
The 1000 year old fishing village. Yes, those homes you see behind the Chinese man rowing are 1000 years old, and are still occupied and lived in. Not too clean.
For show they had these men in costume sailing by with their gongs sounding and drums beating in rhythm with the row.
Nanjing Lu.
One Lotus Flower in full bloom. Men playing chess in parks is something found in every park, every day. Women walk around doing Tai-Chi, and games of Badminton are also common.
East and West sides of the Huangpu River. Pudong and Puxi. Pudong is the newer, architectually innovative side; while Puxi (where we'll be living) has new architectually advanced buildings as well, but also boasts of old Shanghai.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Popcorn
The good news is that we have found an apartment. It's quite lovely and fits us perfectly. Our family and friends who come and visit will enjoy a nice private place to stay--(we encourage all to come and visit!) It's close to Taylor's work, downtown, shopping, and entertainment.
With that out of the way, we were able to take a couple of days to enjoy China. We visited a tourist town close by called YuYuan. We took lots of pictures of ancient Chinese architecture, and visited a nearby park. This being a tourist site because of the awesome buildings and temples, there were many small souvenir shops with people trying to get you to buy their little souvenirs. You can find those same souvenirs anywhere in Shanghai: Terra-cotta warrior replicas, small chess sets, chinese chops (a little stamp with your name on it), sets of chinese chopsticks, decorated tea cups, jewelry, etc.)
We took a day tour of the water village Zhouzhuang. Our tour guide was able to show us this small secret of a town an hour and a half from Shanghai. As we toured this small fishing town that is nearly 1000 years old, we were able to learn about ancient Chinese housing, customs, and culture. This small town has waterways instead of roadways, and is lined with houses, beautiful arched bridges, canals, and narrow streets. It used to be a fishing village until the 1400's when it became a trade route, and today, people still live there in those same 1000 year old houses!
We were able to board a small fishing boat and travel through the town. We were also able to have lunch in one of the small restaurants overlooking the waterway. Our lunch consisted of: a green vegetable, scrambled eggs with small little white fishes (I avoided the fish), pigs feet (one bite was enough), and oysters (bearable), over rice. Yum.
Close to Shanghai we toured the silk factory and they were able to take us through the process of how we get silk today, and Tay and I were able to help some worker ladies pull a small amount of silk into the size of a queen bed (I felt like Libby touring through places like this in her new town).
We also toured a small Confucious temple that is two minutes walk from where we will be living.
And today we attended church at one of the three branches they have here in Shanghai. This will be our ward, so it was nice to be able to meet the people (all foreigners of course due to government regulations stating we can't have church with the local people) and I was comforted to know what I already know: that the church is constant wherever you go in the world. Their big focus in Relief Society was 72 hr. kits and emergency preparedness along with the same lesson they are having in the U.S. It's comforting to know that the Church is the same worldwide. We were warmly welcomed and even found some instant friends who will be living 5 minutes walk away from us.
A funny story:
The other night we bought a bag of sweet microwave popcorn which I had been craving. Our hotel doesn't have a microwave so we took it to a small convenience store that had one and thankfully Taylor speaks Chinese and was able to communicate. And this is the conversation they had: (He had to replay this for me after the conversation since I don't speak Chinese of course).
Taylor: handing him the popcorn. Could you pop this in your microwave?
Old man: What is this? accompanied by a very strange look
Taylor: It's popcorn.
Old man: What do you want me to do with this?
Taylor: Put it in the microwave for 3 min.
Old man: Why?
Taylor: Uh...to pop it.
So the old man and old woman puts it in the microwave with looks of intrigue, worry, and curiosity.
After the timer rings, he pulls it out and it hasn't popped even halfway and he says, "Ha. Here you go." I'm telling Taylor to tell him to quickly put it back in the microwave and hurry and pop it, it can't stay out too long or it won't work! And the old man won't let us because he doesn't understand, and to make the story short: I didn't get my popcorn:((
Thankfully we'll have a microwave in our apartment!
With that out of the way, we were able to take a couple of days to enjoy China. We visited a tourist town close by called YuYuan. We took lots of pictures of ancient Chinese architecture, and visited a nearby park. This being a tourist site because of the awesome buildings and temples, there were many small souvenir shops with people trying to get you to buy their little souvenirs. You can find those same souvenirs anywhere in Shanghai: Terra-cotta warrior replicas, small chess sets, chinese chops (a little stamp with your name on it), sets of chinese chopsticks, decorated tea cups, jewelry, etc.)
We took a day tour of the water village Zhouzhuang. Our tour guide was able to show us this small secret of a town an hour and a half from Shanghai. As we toured this small fishing town that is nearly 1000 years old, we were able to learn about ancient Chinese housing, customs, and culture. This small town has waterways instead of roadways, and is lined with houses, beautiful arched bridges, canals, and narrow streets. It used to be a fishing village until the 1400's when it became a trade route, and today, people still live there in those same 1000 year old houses!
We were able to board a small fishing boat and travel through the town. We were also able to have lunch in one of the small restaurants overlooking the waterway. Our lunch consisted of: a green vegetable, scrambled eggs with small little white fishes (I avoided the fish), pigs feet (one bite was enough), and oysters (bearable), over rice. Yum.
Close to Shanghai we toured the silk factory and they were able to take us through the process of how we get silk today, and Tay and I were able to help some worker ladies pull a small amount of silk into the size of a queen bed (I felt like Libby touring through places like this in her new town).
We also toured a small Confucious temple that is two minutes walk from where we will be living.
And today we attended church at one of the three branches they have here in Shanghai. This will be our ward, so it was nice to be able to meet the people (all foreigners of course due to government regulations stating we can't have church with the local people) and I was comforted to know what I already know: that the church is constant wherever you go in the world. Their big focus in Relief Society was 72 hr. kits and emergency preparedness along with the same lesson they are having in the U.S. It's comforting to know that the Church is the same worldwide. We were warmly welcomed and even found some instant friends who will be living 5 minutes walk away from us.
A funny story:
The other night we bought a bag of sweet microwave popcorn which I had been craving. Our hotel doesn't have a microwave so we took it to a small convenience store that had one and thankfully Taylor speaks Chinese and was able to communicate. And this is the conversation they had: (He had to replay this for me after the conversation since I don't speak Chinese of course).
Taylor: handing him the popcorn. Could you pop this in your microwave?
Old man: What is this? accompanied by a very strange look
Taylor: It's popcorn.
Old man: What do you want me to do with this?
Taylor: Put it in the microwave for 3 min.
Old man: Why?
Taylor: Uh...to pop it.
So the old man and old woman puts it in the microwave with looks of intrigue, worry, and curiosity.
After the timer rings, he pulls it out and it hasn't popped even halfway and he says, "Ha. Here you go." I'm telling Taylor to tell him to quickly put it back in the microwave and hurry and pop it, it can't stay out too long or it won't work! And the old man won't let us because he doesn't understand, and to make the story short: I didn't get my popcorn:((
Thankfully we'll have a microwave in our apartment!
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