Christmas in Tianjin- From Dad

Dear Family:

We have enjoyed Christmas in China. It was different without any of the family being with us. None the less, we enjoyed ourselves. We opened presents, went to the market and picked up my new suit I had made. It fits and looks great. My $50.00 was well spent, and I also received two pair of pants with it.

Today, we took a Korean family to dinner. They are a family that we home teach. Tyler knows the lady. She taught him Korean at the MTC. She said that Tyler was always the life of the class. She remembered him and his humor. Well, we took them to a Korean restaurant here in Tianjin. (first mistake) They are Bing and Uno Kim. Uno ordered our food. (2nd mistake) Here comes the food. (third mistake) Kim Chee,al a mode. Doesn't look all that appetizing. I taste it. (4th mistake) I was right. Here come some more stuff. (5th mistake) More of the same. Oh, by the way, we are sitting on the floor. Some one says that it is sea weed. I try it. It is sea weed al a squid. Complete with the squid. Yuck! Next comes 5 little plates of more Kim Chee al a mode and sea weed. I get the idea now. If you don't eat the stuff, they won't bring you anymore. I was right. Well, pretty soon they bring some raw meat and fry it at your table. That part was OK. I give it a two or a three. Nothing to have sweet dreams about, It was the kind of stuff that if you were starving on the Gobee Desert, you might eat it after the third day. Well, all in all, I give the meal about a two. I can honestly say that I am so proud of Tyler for sticking it out in Korea, and eating that stuff. Or, maybe he didn't eat the stuff. Perhaps he went to McDonalds. That must have been why I sent him a little extra money from time to time. I don't blame you Tyler, I would have gone to McDonalds also. If I had known how nasty it was, I would have sent you more extra money to go to Mc Donalds, or even somewhere else Western.

Well, I can count my home teaching complete. (complete with kim chee) The Kims left happy, and I left sick. Well, next time we are taking them to TGIF. They already know it, and have agreed to it. They will find out what some good food tastes like. They may never go back to kim chee again. And by the way, TGIF is not a great restaurant here in China. Well, perhaps it's great here in China, because that may be the closest you get to good American food. Even the McDonalds hamburger tastes yucky here. I give McDonalds about a three.

Our first semister is over. It has been a good experience. I love my kids. They are just "good kids." They have a real desire to learn. Since I teach Oral English, all of my finals consisted of a five minute conversation with each student individually. We talked about what we did in class. My freshman had to write a dialogue. Then they read it to me. They were graded on the content, (did it make sense?) their pronunciation, and how well their dialogue flowed. All in all they did quite well.

Next week, mother and I are traveling to Harbin. It is very cold. the daytime high is about 14 degrees. It is where all of the ice sculpturing takes place here in China. It is north of us, up by Mongolia somewhere, but still in China. It is about a two or three hour plane ride. We stay there two days, then back to Tianjin to un thaw.

It snowed last Sunday. I think I told you, we had eleven of us to church. It has been cold all week. Mother and I still get on the three wheeler and away we go. Mother actually likes this thing. I would never have believed it. I am going to sell the Lexus before we get home and bring the three wheeler back with me. I think that mother will be happy with the three wheeler when we get back to Arizona. She will so happy not to have to walk, that the three wheeler will be a real treat. If she comes home to the Lexus, our time here in China will have been a complete waste. This is just like being back on the ranch in Burlington, complete with the three seat out house. (with no curtains between the seats.) I wonder if they ever had three sitting there at the same time?

We went to Beijing yesterday. Left about 9 and returned at about 7. All in all, a great day. More shopping, more stuff. Went to the pearl market and to the silk market. More peals and more ties and magic tricks. I bought a few more magic tricks. While there, the guy gave me a rubber mask of Barrack Obama. What am I going to do with that? He and I have gotten to be good buddies. I think that I now own his store. I have every magic trick known to man. Well, now I have to figure out how to work them, so they will really be magic.

The toy store is something to behold, as is the Silk and Pearl markets. You can't imagine it without seeing it. The Silk market has hundreds of little shops, aisle after aisle and row after row. Each booth has a person trying to get you to stop and buy something. If you don't stop, they often times grab your arm and pull you inside. Yesterday, I was looking at booth after booth of watches. I begin to negotiate with them. She said, "just for you, I give you a special deal." I say, "I want your cheapest special deal." She says, "OK 600 Yuan." About $40.00. I say, "What." She says, "OK, last special deal, just for you because you are so handsome. 5oo Yuan." I say, "no way" and start to walk off. She says, "OK special deal, just for you, 300 yuan." About $20.00. There are Rolex watches. I ask her if these watches are genuine. She assures me they are. Not a bad deal. A real Rolex for $20.00. A Rolex in the States sells for several hundred, or even several thousand dollars. Well, I tell her she is still charging me to much for this genune Rolex. "OK" she says. last beto deal, just for you, 250 Yuan." I say, "well, it sounds like a pretty good deal, but I want to look at the other booths to see what kind of deal they will make me." She assures me that no one can even come close to her deal. I leave anyway. At each booth we go through the same adventure. I am assured that the Rolex watches are all genuine, and their price is the very best. Well, it is time to go meet up with mother. I have to walk over to the pearl market. About a half block away. On the way over, a street vendor (lady) asks if I want to buy a genuine Rolex. She shows them to me. She has a whole case of genuine Rolex watches. She pulls the case out. She asks which one I want to buy. I say "none." She says, "Make me an offer." I say, "OK." I offer her 100 yuan for 5 watches. ($2.50 per watch) She says "OK." Well, I buy 5 genuine Rolex watches for $12.00. The lady assures me they are genuine. Well, I looked at them again this morning and they are still running.

Mother buys some more pearls, I buy some more ties and magic tricks, On the way to hail a cab, a poor lady (she looks poor) approaches me and pleads for some money . I give her 10 Yuan. A buck sixty. She thanks me and another street person approaches me. I give him ten yuan. About that time another lady approaches me, now I see a line up, all waiting in line wanting money. I could go broke being a Good Samaratan. They got a good thing going. One person gets a hand out, and the whole tribe joins in. I have no idea where they came from, but they all came out of the work from somewhere.

Well, anyway we hail a cab and off we go to the train station. The train is wonderful. We ride first class for 69 Yuan about ten bucks. It is the bullet train, takes exactly 30 minutes to get to Tianjin. 80 miles. We arrivee home about 7:00 P. M. Exhausted, but a great day.

This past week, mother and I were riding the three wheeler going to a small market. Going the opposite direction, I see a car come by and hits a pedestrian with her passenger side mirror. The pedestrian (an older man) yells at the driver, she honks her horn and both keep going. I guess no harm, no foul. Well, I'n not so sure about the no harm part. I suspect the old boy has a sore arm.

On Christmas afternoon, we went to an Italian restaurant. It was very good. That was our Christmas dinner. We went home and considered that we had had a great Christmas. When we come home, we will look back on this experience with fondness.

Well, each of you are still sleeping. It will be your sabbeth when you wake up. We have had ours. While you are in church. I will be sleeping. Well, I suspect there will be a few in your church doing what I am doing. I, however will rest better. Like my dad used to say, "If everyone who slept in church was lined up end to end, they would all sleep better." Have a great day.

I love you all.

Dad

Better late than never!

This is Wynn and I helping with a REAL thanksgiving dinner in a REAL kitchen! It was fantastic and fun, and the company was great!

Santa came to town--

Our students at Nankai University met Santa last week. It was the first sighting for most of them. They were delighted and made the week full of happiness and joy!

Almost the season--pictures!!

I didn't get it quite right last time, but these pictures go with the post below!!

Almost the season--

China seems to celebrate on Christmas eve, but does little for Christmas day. On the 25th, they work and go to class and everything is "normal." There are decorations everywhere, but not one of my students had ever seen a candy cane or knew what gingerbread was--we did a word game and other words they didn't recognize were Rudoph & mittens. They call everything for hands--gloves. They don't know it, but Terol sent me candy canes and I will give them all one next week. The next week is finals. That will end our first semester in China and we will train and travel with the China teachers until next semester.

cold, cold, cold!!!

It has suddenly turned cold here and the temp fell 20 degrees (C) and we are now enjoying our winter clothes and staying out of the wind. Here are a few more pictures from our adventures around this amazing country.

The great wall and great students!

We invited 10 students over for thanksgiving evening, but a few brought friends (very common in China) and so we had a houseful. Then we went to Beijing and had Peking duck for thanksgiving. It was such fun to go to the water cube, bird's nest, tianneman square, forbidden city, summer palace and great wall. It was a great holiday--

New Market--

New Market!

Here are some pictures from the market we found on Friday, quite by accident, looking for a sweater warehouse. We forgot to take pictures of our students this week. We had quite a houseful again and it was fun as ever.

Fish flopping at my feet- Wynn

Today I went to the market to purchase a few items for our meals next week. I was walking through the meat, and fish department. They have live fish, frogs, shrimp, crab etc in tanks of water. The tanks are about six (6) feet long, about two (2) feet wide and about three (3) feet deep. They are full of fish. Each tank holds it's separate types of live fish. The tanks are set up so that there is a large tank which stands about 4 feet high, then in front of the large tank, there is another large tank that stands about two feet high. As I was walking past the tanks of fish, I got splashed by a large amount of water. I heard a noise, but didn't see what had happened. I stopped to watch. Pretty soon, I see a fish jump up and out of his tank of water, and land in the tank of water below him, in the tank of frogs. The frogs scramble. I finish my shopping, and pass by the fish tanks again. I stop and watch for a minute. This time I see a larger fish, about 16 inches long, jump out of his tank, miss the frog tank, and land on my foot. He flops around on the floor for a minute, an employee picks him up and tosses him back in his own fish tank. It was really surprising to me to see it. No body else in the area seemed to concerned. They just walked around the flopping fish. I wish my grand children could have seen it. They could have petted the fish legally/ I wouldn't even have had to take it out of the tank at Red Lobster. Well, T I C This is China. Just thought I would share it with you. Have a wonderful day. I love you all. Dad

Dad's tender heart

Dear Family:
Tonight mother and I attended an on campus movie for those learning English. Robinhood. It was a fun movie and the kids loved it. I drove mother to the movie. When the movie was over, we went out to get on our bike and go home. All the kids were walking out of the movie. They watched with amazement. Mother was in the back seat, (behind me) and I was driving. (or steering) They loved seeing me care for her, helping her into the cart, etc. We drove off. Some of the young men were riding their bicycles. They rode along side of us and wanted to be part of the fun. A song came to my mind as I was driving mother home. It was called, "we will have these moments to remember." I think the song came from an old movie. I sang it to mother on the way home. I thought to myself, China is really getting into my blood. The memories that we are creating here will last a life time. We've only been here for 2 1/2 months and I know I am going to have great sadness when we leave this university and our beautiful China. So many kids wanted to visit with us tonight. Some were our students and some were not. We are starting to realize, they are all our kids. This is their first time to be away from their homes. Most have never traveled any other places, even in China. A whole new experience for them also.
They have so little, yet they have so much. They are so happy to be able to get an education. they had to earn their place here at Nankai University. It wasn't easy for them to get it and they value their very existence here. In America, we take so much for granted. When I ask these kids if they plan to ever come to America, they all give the same answer, "that is my dream". Well, I just wanted to share that with you. The whole experience really got to me.

You should all be about ready to get up for the day. Mother and I are getting ready to go to bed. Good night, and good morning. Take special care of my grand children. I love you all. Dad

Darn that Mosquito! -Wynn

Dear Family and Friends:
It is Thursday evening here. Thursday is my favorite day of the week. We finish school for the week on Wednesday at 6:00 P. M. and we have the rest of the week off to prepare for next week, shop, tour, or do what ever we desire. Last evening after class we had twelve of my juniors over to our apartment to teach them how to cook some American food. Again, we made hamburger vegetable soup and mashed potatoes and gravy. The kids loved the food and were very delightful.

last evening, we left the outside door open for a short time to get our apartment to cool down. Little did we realize that so many cold mosquitos would want to join us. When I realized they were coming in, I shut the door, but not before the damage was done. I started killing mosquitos. There were a bunch of them. Finally at about midnight I went to bed. Those pesky little critters were dive bombing me all night. By morning, I was on the war path. I got up early and found a few to kill. They are faster than an Etheopian (spelling) jack rabbit. I, however have a secret weapon I use against them. It is a very large pillow. I pull the pillow behind my head, and then with all my might swing the pillow at the mosquito. Darn few get away. The ones that get away are scared to death. Because my pillow is so large, I really don't have to aim much because the pillow covers a lot of territory. Well, this morning I was laying in the bath tub and I saw one of those pesky critters on the wall. I knew he was just waiting to get me. I jumped out of the tub, grabbed my pillow and went after him. He landed near some of mothers clothes that she had washed last evening and were hanging on the shower curtain rod to dry. I sized up the situation, deciding whether to chance missing the mosquito and hitting moms clothes, thus they would fall into the bath tub. It didn't take long for me to make my decision. I swung my pillow back behind my head and with all my might I let the mosquito have it. Well, the mosquito saw the pillow coming so he (or she) took off for safer territory. It landed on mothers clothes that were hanging on the curtain rod. My pillow changed directions a little and I let the mosquito have it. Well, the clothes all fell into the bath tub and I missed the pesky little feller. I retrieved mother's wet clothes, rung them out and re hung them up, hoping mother would not notice. Well, when mother gets into the bath tub, she notices her clothes were dripping water. She tells me that her clothes that she hung up last night are still wet. I say, "well it was pretty damp last night, so I guess they are still drying." She feels my clothes that are hanging up and she says, "how come your clothes are dry and mine are still wet?" "I say, your clothes must be made of different material and doesn't dry as fast as mine." Well, mother doesn't but that story. So I tell her that I am on the war path and I am going to kill every last mosquito in the apartment, I keep after them. I think that I am now down to one known live mosquito. I will terminate his life prior to going bed this evening. Mom has had to wash my pillow case several times to get rid of the mosquito evidence. I don't think that our maid would appreciate mosquito juice on her pillow case. Ahh, good news, I just got the last one. At least that is the last one that I know about. They don't sell fly swatters here, so you just have to make do. The pillow is the best defense I have. The pillow works especially well when you are terminating one which has landed on the ceiling. Our ceilings are about 10 feet high, so I usually have to stand on a chair or the bed to kill them. I don't give up, but neither do they.

Yesterday during my Adult Education class, an older lady walked into my class. She walked back to one of my students. grabbed him by the ear and proceeded to come to the front of the class and was going to take him outside of the class room. When she got to the front of the class, she yelled something, and three other students came to the front of the class room on the run. They had fear in their eyes. I still don't know what is going on. I don't know who this lady is, but she sure has their attention. The four students that she has in the front of my class have just transferred into my class. It seems as though these students have recently changed their major to English and they are the ones that I allowed to come into my Adult Education class, instead of the Freshman Oral English class. Well, since they had changed their major, they were required to take Freshman Oral English, even though they were now sophomores. They were in my Sophomore Adult Education Oral English class, which I had allowed them to do because the department scheduled them to be in two classes at the same time. I just said, "well come to my Sophomore Oral English class, and I will give you credit for Freshman Oral English. Well, somehow the English Department gets word of this and they won't allow it. Well, back to the story. She is standing in front of my class, yelling at these four students and they are trying to explain to me what is going on. Meanwhile this lady is trying to pull the four students out the door. I still don't know what is going on. At first, I thought that it was the boys mother coming to get him, but when she yelled at the other three to come with her I figured it must be someone else. Well, she tries to pull these four kids out of the class room. I'm now not sure but what she is kidnapping four of my students. I stand in front of the door and won't let her out. Now, she is yelling at me and the kids. From the sound of her voice, I don't think that she was telling me what a fine addition that I was making to the English department Now, she is really mad, and I still don't know what is going on, so I won't let anyone out of the classroom. I look at the rest of the students in my class room and I can tell that they have the fear of God in their eyes. Well, she is yelling, the four kids are trying to tell me what is going on, and I can't understand any of them. Finally, I look at the lady and say shhh. Now, she is really angry. She tells me to shhh. Now I am angry, and tell her back to keep quite. She doesn't understand. (thank goodness) I tell her again to shhh. Now she just yells at the top of her lungs at me. She reaches out to me to tell me something in Chinese. I think that she is now going for my ear. I duck so she can't get a hold of me. I look at the four students, I see the fear of God in their eyes. I still don't know what is going on. Finally I say shhh to everyone. It takes about 5 shhh's to get their attention. They are now quiet. I ask one of the students what is going on. He tells me in the best English he can muster up that this lady is head of the English Department and she says the four of them can't take my Sophomore Adult Education Oral English Class. He says they must take a Freshman Oral English Class. They tell the lady (in Chinese) that the English department has them enrolled in two classes at the same time and that is why they are taking the Sophomore Oral English Class with me at this time. (I agreed with these students two weeks ago that they could take this class, and I would give them credit for the Freshman Oral English class) They tell the lady that I had agreed with them coming to this class. Now she lets go of his ear and begins to give me what for in Chinese. Well, I figure what is good for the goose is good for the gander, so I give her my thoughts in English. Well, that goes back and forth for a while and I can see that isn't going any where. I give her the shhh sigh again and I say to the students, "ask her if we can make a deal?" They ask her, she says to them "what's the deal?" Well, at this point I'm not sure what deal to present to her, I was just trying to buy some time so I could think of a deal. I say to the students, "ask her if it would be OK if I teach the four of you at 12:00 P. M. on Wednesday. (I know there are no classes scheduled from noon to 2:00 P.M. every day of the week. The kids have that time off for lunch. They tell her the deal, she thinks for a minute and says, "OK." She leaves, the four students thank me from the bottom of their hearts and they leave. When the door closes, all of my students begin to clap and cheer. Now, I'm not in much of a mood to teach these kids anymore, and I still have two and one half hours to teach them. I ask them what they want to do. One student suggests that I teach them some American Christmas Music. I think, what the heck, the ole gal is already mad. I teach them "we wish you a merry Christmas" After I think they have it down pretty well, I suggest that we all go down to the ole gals office and sing it to her. None of them agree, "Cowards" Towards the end of the class, I hear a knock on my door. I answer the door. There is a lady standing there. She only speaks Chinese. I have one of my students interpreter for me. The lady says that after class I am supposed to come to one of the college offices, room 102. I say OK. I know now that I am getting fired, and I will be heading off to America Tomorrow. After class I head down to get my punishment. I knock on the door of room 102. A different lady answers the door. She invites me in. She hands me a form to sign. I can't read Chinese. I ask her what I am signing. She says, "you are signing that I am giving you your salary for the past month. I sign it, she hands me 1900 yuen in cash. (they always pay me in cash for teaching the Sophomore Oral English Class) I feel relieved. I didn't get fired. Well, it is one full day later and I still have a job. (I think) Well, the irony of it all, is that at 12 noon on Wednesday, is my teachers office hours. What the ole gal doesn't know, is that these kids are going to come to my office hours and visit with me while I eat my lunch. I will tell them what I taught in class, but these kids are so far advanced, that it wouldn't matter anyway. Well, such is life in China.

Mother is enjoying our new mode of transportation. If any of you would like one of these contraptions, let me know and I will ship one to you. I think the grand children would enjoy riding, or driving one. When I bring them to America, I will need to wire an outlet in the garage for a 220 outlet. Not a big deal. Also, we have to purchase a battery in America. They won't ship batteries out of the country. they say if they got damaged along the way, the acid could harm the environment.

A couple of days ago, mother and I had gone down to the market on our vehicle to purchase some vegetables. About a block before we arrived home, our vehicle quit running. I knew I the batteries were low, but I thought I had enough power to get back home where I would recharge the battery. Well, I pedaled mother home. I won't let my battery get so low again. For some reason, my time here in China seems to have a little more action that mother has. I can't figure that out.

We love seeing you and speaking with you. You are the best. I love you all. Dad

Love those students!!

We had another wonderful week and several of our junior students came to learn how to make soup and mashed potatoes and gravy. They are such great kids. We are really enjoying our time with them--

New Vehicle--

This has been another adventurous week for us in China. We took the train to a new market, Tongu and Wynn purchased an electric "cycle." He says he did it to save his life from riding with others who are not as cautious as him, but I think he envisions taking the grandkids to Fry's for donuts when he gets it to America. Yes, he does plan to ship it home in July. I love it. Our Monday classes are over a mile away and it is getting cold. It will beat walking and be much faster!! Here are some pictures of the cycle and the market.

Say goodbye to your briefcase! WYNN

Dear Family:
It is Wednesday evening here and school is over for the week. What a busy week. Mother and I gave all of our classes a Halloween party. Well, mother gave them some apple juice and a donut, and my classes had an all out party. My classes had hot chocolate, apple juice and donuts. My party lasted much of the allotted time. Mothers lasted during the break. My classes much preferred the all out party, and so did I, because that saved me preparing so much more teaching stuff. They deserve a break. I dressed up like a witch. I had a witches hat, a cape and a mask. I left the class room, went to the restroom, put my costume on, went back to the class and knocked on the door. When a person came to the door, I yelled, "trick or treat." They all screamed and laughed. I gave each of them a mask. They had a great time. They used their cell phones to take photos all during the class periods. I am tired and I am glad it is over, but was much fun. they had never had a Halloween anything before, they loved it.

Tonight I went to the market to get a few supplies. What a zoo. There is nothing at the market in English. I was looking for some salt and pepper. None in sight. I looked everywhere. I asked several people if they spoke English. No one did. I walked up and down the aisles saying, "Anyone speak English?" No replies. I know they must have salt and pepper. Finally I see a man and a lady dressed very well. They are a cut above the rest of the shoppers. Surely they speak English. I asked them. She said "a little." I asked her where the salt and pepper was. She took me to it. It really was salt and pepper. Boy what an ordeal. I was looking for salt and pepper for over an hour. I bought a few other things to make some hamburger vegetable soup also. Tomorrow evening my smallest class is coming over to our apartment to learn how to make hamburger vegetable soup. Also mashed potatoes and gravy. Should be fun. They are great kids.

Last Tuesday I worked on the branch tithing report. One person made a donation, so we had to do a report. The way the reports are here in China, you must made a lot of entrys. It took two of us over two hours to finish the report. Then we had to go to the bank. I rode on the back of Brother Powells motor cycle. Another mistake. I know angels have to ride with us or we would have crashed several times. Quite frankly, I don't even understand why angels would ride with us. We go down the one way street twice going the wrong direction. There are four lanes of traffice coming at us. We are driving in the second and third lanes, dodging traffic. They are all coming right at us. On the way to the bank, we are driving near a very narrow sidewalk. Lots of students are walking along side of us. As we are riding along side of the walking traffic, the rear view mirror on his motor cycle catches some guys brief case, and we start taking off with his briefcase. He has no choice but to run because his brief case has a shoulder strap which is across his shoulders. Bro. Powell keeps on going and they guy is running along side of the bike. Finally the brief case comes loose from the rear view mirror and the guy comes to a quick halt. We keep on going. I didn't turn around to see what happened to the guy. When we came back he was gone though, so I guess he either walked off, or was taken by ambulance to the hospital. By now, I'm thinking this isn't all that safe, and I never agreed to this motor cycle stuff when I was called to be the ward clerks. This could get dangerous! Around here, nobody gets shot, they just get run over or knocked down.

Last Saturday, our B P called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the Muslum market. I said sure. (another mistake) He said meet me in the lobbby at 10:00 A. M. OK. I meet him. He says we are going to ride bikes. I think, this isn't good. I think that I will have to ride behind him on his bicycle. He says, you can ride Brother Powells bicycle. I say OK. We're off. I can't believe it. We start going down the one way street again, the wrong way. This time I am on a bicycle, and I am out numbered and out weighed. He waves in and out of traffic, the wrong way. So do I. Everyone is honking at me and I am waving at them. I try to stop and find the bike has little or no brakes. I have to come to a screeching hault by dragging me shoes on the pavement. I don't hit the guy, but dang close. I tell the B P that I have no brakes. He say's, "no problem" No I am worried. Now I go much slower and he is going faster. Finally I lose him. I keep going and think maybe I will see him some where. A few blocks down the road he is stopped waiting for me. We go to the Muslum market. (such as it is) It is a back yard of some guys house that sells beef out of his back window. There are several people lined up to buy his beef. You can get what you want. He has a picture of a cow on the outside wall, and you point to the part of the cow you want to buy. I say, "I want 6 pounds of hamburger" He speaks a little English. He asks me if I want any fat in the hamburger.. This guy is serious. I watch him cut every sliver of fat off of the beef for the last guy. I tell him I want just a little fat. He gives me just a little fat. Maybe one or two percent. He wraps it into one pound packages and hands it to me. There is still a little blood dripping from the bag. I put the bag in my basket on the bike, and the blood from the hamburger dripps on the street all the way home. On the way home, the B P wants to take me sight seeing to places I have never been. We go for about an hour. The meat still dripping blood. Finially I say, "well I best be gettin home, Paula will be wonderin where I am. He says OK, just one more stop. After one more stop, we head home. The hamburger still seems to be OK. I put it in the freezer and hope it is OK.

We do not have a kitchen in our apartment. We do have a small refrigerator and a microwave and a hot plate. No sink to wash the dishes. We do the dishes in the bathroom sink. Not grear, but not bad. You get use to it. Most of the teachers have it much worse than we do. I'm not complaining. We have in door plumbing, hot water most of the time. (you can't drink it though)

When Mom and I go to school in the morning, it is much faster to go the back way. The problem is, the back way is behing the faculity housing restaurant and they wash their table clothes behind the building where we walk, and hang them up on wire clothes lines that we have to walk through. We manouver our way through the wet table clothes, but I have yet to knock one off onto the groung. One big problem is that these Chinese people are short and their clothes line wires are only about 5 feet or so off the groung. I can tell you, a guy could kill himself walking through there at night if you are not oh-so-careful. Decapitation would not be unheard of here for a tall guy. The back way looks like a poor neighborhood in Mexico. It is otherwise safe though. (I think)

We finally get an English television station. It is called National Geographic. We are getting very smart about animals and how they live and we are darn grateful to have that channel. At least we have a channel.

Students help cook supper

Wynn buying ingredients


Students over for soup

Wynn with the skinny chicken- for the soup

Students over for mashed potatoes

Wynn checking the pantry

Riding a motorbike -- Dad

Dear Family & Friends:
Well, another day in China. Starting to cool off. Yesterday A. M. I headed off for the gym. Boy was it cold outside. I went back home and got a coat on. My unclothed legs still froze. I found out the gym was closed for some reason. It was too cold to run the stairs, so I came home and layed in the bath tub and warmed up. Later I receive a call from the counselor in the BP. He tells me we have to go to the bank to make a deposit.
"Meet me at 9:30."
I'm in the lobby at 9:30 waiting for him. We take off-- Literally on his battery powered motor cycle. I say, "is this safe?"
"No problem."
Off we go. Getting through the university was NO PROBLEM. Now we go onto the street. We go between cars and bikes. We aren't going too fast, only about 30 MPH. However, if we crash, I'm locked in. The bike will fall on me. We dodge in an out of traffic.
Finally I ask him, "did you pray before we left?"
He says, "no problem."
I've heard that line before. We turn down a street. Unfortunatley it is a one way street. We are going the wrong way.
I ask him, "is this legal?"
He says, "everything is legal."
I meant to say, "is this safe?"
We dodge traffic, 4 lanes all coming towards us. I don't understand this. I find we have lots of friends, because everyone is honking at us. I wave at them as we go by. Finally we arrive at the bank. Thank goodness. I think I would be safer walking home. We finish at the bank and he talks me into riding home with him. Another mistake. The same thing going home. I don't understand how he can find a one way street going each way. Going one way should be going the right direction back, but it's not. Well, we make it home without a crash. One guy in front of us had a close call though. Just ahead of us, some guy was pulling a cart full of card board. He decides to change lanes in front of another bicyclist. About that time, a taxi pulls up on the other side of the bicyclist. The bicyclist is boxed in. He has two choices, hit the taxi, or wipe out the old guy pulling the cart. Somehow he brings his bike to a stop, but not before he fell down. He just got up and kept going, as did the taxi and the old guy pulling the cart. He never even shook his fist at the old guy. Well anyway, the old guy couldn't have seen him anyway, he didn't have rear view mirrors on his cart.
I am finding it is getting easier to get around and find what I want. Today I went to the market. (Carefoore) It is a large market. Among other things I am looking for ingredients to make some chicken soup. I first look at the chickens. There are literally hundreds of chickens in a pile at the market. Next to the pile of whole chickens, I see some larger chickens that are cut in half. They look like they are pretty good sized chickens, but I figure they let chickens grow to full maturity here. I look at the butcher and point to the larger chicken and try to ask if the larger one is a chicken, or something else. I point to the chicken that I am buying and try to sign language that I want a bigger chicken and point to the big 1/2 thing that is next to the whole chickens. Finally, I think he is trying to tell me it is not a chicken. I think it must be a duck or something else. Anyway, I take the chicken. Now I am looking for some chicken base. I am told they have it at Carefoor. I carefully walk down each aisle. I see a round cardboard continer about the size of a Campbells soup can that has a picture of a chicken on it. I shake the can and it sounds like it is full of granuals. I figure that it must be something to do with a chicken. I buy it. Not sure yet what it is, but I am going to use it in my chicken soup. Maybe I will have chicken duck soup, I don't know. I sure wish they would open and In & Out Burger here. Life would be much easier.
Last week in my adult ed class, I noticed that most of them had blank stares, looking at me. That means I am not getting through to them. So, I ask this question. If you understand me, please raise your hand. Two hands go up. Finally a third hand goes up. I guess the third hand is not sure, but see's the other two hands go up and so she joins in. Wow! Three out of 28. Not very good odds. Well, I figure I had better change my style of teaching. I decide to write a script and teach it to them. It goes like this.
B comes to A looking for a job.
A, May I help you?
B. Yes, I am looking for a job.
A. What do you want to do here?
B. I want to cook hamburgers.
A. Have you ever cooked hamburgers before?
B. No, but I am willing to learn. Will you give me a chance?
A. Yes, but you must work very hard.
--------Well, I say it, then they say it. I say it and they say it. (about 30 times) I get two students up front and have them say it to each other. A speaks with B. Finally I think the entire class has it memorized. And they do. Every student can say it.
So, now I ask the class, "Why did B come to A?"
No one knows. They memorized it really well, but had no idea what they were saying. I might just a well have had the boys ask the girls to marry them. They wouldn't have known the difference. Boy, is this going to be a long semester. Now I know why they gave me a raise for teaching this class. I know they understand one thing--- When the bell rings, they leave, no matter what I am saying.
Well, mother and I are now going to the Friday night movie. I hope all of you have a wonderful night's sleep. It is now about 3:00 A. M. in Arizona and California. 4:00 A. M. in Utah. I love you all. Dad

Wynn's birthday in China

Here are some pictures--Wynn with his chocolate, whipped cream birthday cake and our apartment. The department Wynn teaches for sent the cake and it was superb!! All in all, we both had a wonderful day. He got to talk to all of the kids--what could be better than that? Life is good--

New Posts (from Amber)

Sorry I got a little behind, but new emails from Dad have been posted on Oct. 7, 8, 11, 16, and 20. Check 'um out!

Made in China- Dad

Dear family, friends, and others of interest:
It is Tuesday evening here in China. Tomorrow is my big day (birthday). I begin at 8:00 A. M. and finish at 5:00 P. M.. The good news is that we are off Thursday thur Sunday. This Saturday we are going to another market. This place is full of markets. Now I know why everything you buy in America says 'made in China' Last Saturday we took the bullet train to Beijing. It took exactly 30 minutes. (eighty miles) That thing was flat moving. Very smoothe. At Beijing we first went to the silk market. The largest market in China. Litterly hundreds of shops, selling everything. Anything you buy has a name brand label. I purchased two sets of Ping golf clubs. Everyone of them looked like pings, including the bag. The only thing different was the price. The price is about ten percent of the price in America. You do have to pay shipping however. I think these pings are for the golfer wannabe. You just show off your clubs, but never use them. Well, they did look great. Brit will try out a set and see how they are. If they are great, I will go into business in America boot legging Ping golf clubs. Actually I could boot leg almost anything, I purchased a very nice watch. I don't know what kind it is, but the guy with me told me in America it would sell for several thousand dollars. Boy, the guy that sold me the watch must have really been hungry, because I paid fifteen dollars for the several thousand dollar watch. The list goes on and on. Mother went nuts in the pearl factory. They really were real pearls. This is the pearl capital of the world. I was negotiating the price for mother. Pretty soon mother says, 'no that's to cheap. The lady accepts my bid, and mother ups my bid after it has been accepted. She says the lady must make a profit. I say, 'look, the lady wouldn't sell the stuff if she didn't make a profi.' Mother says, 'it's ok, she needs to make a bigger profit/' I say, 'what do you need me for, if you are always going to up my offer' Mother says, 'don;t get them down so low.' Boy am I confused. I thought the whole idea was to get the best deal you can. I know that their atttitude is to get as much money as possible out of me. I tell mother, 'I have never seen them lower their offer after I have accepted their price.' She says, 'that's different, they need more money. They need more customers like mother! Well, at the Golf shop the price has already been negotiated, because our branch president has purchased several sets of Pings and Caloways prior and had them shipped home. Lucky for me, Mother was not with me when I purchased the Pings. After buying the Pings, we go to Subway for lunch. Really, one subway in Beijing. None in our town. I order my lunch, as does mother. they lady says to me '35 yuan.' About four bucks. I offer her ten Yuan. She looks at me like I am nuts. She again says, '35 Yuan' I offer 12 yuan. She laughs at me. Finially I find out, you can't negotiate meals at fast food restaurants. Well, at least I tried. Good thing mother wasn't with me, she would have offered them more that she asked for. In the afternoon, I go to the toy market. This is where all of the toys in the world are test marketed. Well, at least that's what they told me. That place had some great stuff. Only problem, how do I get the stuff to America? I bought a few things. I did purchase a Halloween costume for me to wear in my class on Halloween day. When we originally arrived in Beijing, we had to go from the Train Station to take a bus to the subway. The bus was crouded, but ok. When we got to the subway, I couldn't believe my eyes. When the train stopped to pick us up, I say a new meaning of 'packed like sardines.' There were probably fifty or sixty of us trying to get on. I think, NO WAY! I'll just wait for the next train. Everyone starts to get on. I can't wait to see what happens. The people just start pushing and they get on. I think, well, I'll try it also. I start pushing, but no one moves. I push harder and finially get on as does mother. As soon as I get on, the door closes. The rest of our group is not on the train. Now I'm worried. I may never see them again. I immediately put my arm between the doors so they can't close. I nearly lose my arm. The train starts going. Without my arm. I jerk it out fast. Lucky for me I still have an arm. (I think) Now I'm not so worried about the people we left, I just worried that I may have to have my arm amputated. The subway train is so crouded, I can't check to see if I have an arm or not, I get out at the next stop. I check my arm. thankfully it is still attached. It sure doesn't feel like it. Well we wait at that stop, hoping that the rest of our group will shop up some time. Pretty soon they show up and we once again get on the next train This time, it's every man for himself. I am not going to try to keep any door open for those who aren't smart enough to push their way on quick. Returning from the Silk Market was the same way. The subway, to the bus, to the train, to the taxi back home. Thank goodness for transportation. Sunday we had meetings as usual. Well, not quite as usual. The speakers never showed up, so the Branch President started calling on individuals to speak. Well, there were 23 in attendance. Men, women and children. Actually I wasn't aware that it was an option not to show up to Sacrament meeting when you are the speakers. Well with ten minutes left, one of the speakers show up. Gives a great talk. After the meeting, I am called to be the Ward Clerk. Well actually, I am the Ward Clerks. All three of them. When I get home from church today, I get a phone call from the District Clerk. He informs me that no reports have been turned in since June. He wants me to get them caught up on Sunday. I inform him that I know nothing that a clerk does, and I don't even know what reports he wants. He says to look the reports up on the computer and there are instructions. I ask, 'what computer' The one you have. I don't have a computer. I call the BP. He says, 'no problem, I'll bring you one right away.'
Well, China is great. This week end (if I get my reports in) we are going to a market about an hour or so from Tianjin. We take a train I am told. It's susposed to be a pretty good market. I am scouting out all the good markets so when the 5 daughters/daughters in law come to China in the spring, I will know where to take them, and who I am allowed to bargain with. (according to mother) I think they are giving mother a piece of the action just to get me to pay more. Next week, all of my classes are going to have a Halloween party. I will give them each a sack of candy, and we will have donuts, apple cider, and hot chocolate in class. I think we will all have a good time. I hope that the university approves. Well, I've written enough for tonight. It is sure fun speaking with all of you from time to time. Thanks for your phone calls. Remember anyone can call me toll free at 1-602-903-5369. Simple as that. Just like calling across the street. Rings right to our apartment. No solicitors please! If you are a solicitor, you will have better luck with mother. Well, I love you all. You are the best. Take great care of my grand children. Watch over them carefully. When I return, I will take over on them, at least for a while. I love you all. Good night. Dad

A fun day in China--

Monday morning at 8 am I am about ready to start my soph oral class--they are wonderful! These are 4 special students that helped Wynn make (and burn) hamburger soup. They are darling.

A lovely day in China

Today we went to the market and forgot our camera--darn. We got the indredients for beef soup and invited 2 young teachers and 4 students over. Surprise!! The beef was really ground lamb--wasn't bad, though.

Burning the Soup- Dad

Dear Family, and others of interest. Yesterday was my lucky day. I received a note during my afternoon adult ed class asking me to come to the payroll department and pick up in cash my pay for teaching the adult ed class. As you know, I was offered $5.33 per hour. Well, after class I went to pick up my money. When I arrived there, they gave me 2000 Yuan. ($330.00) I knew that I was being over paid from what I had agreed on, but certainly less than what I was worth. Well, I tell them of the overpayment. They tell me that I had agreed to teach the class for 100 yuan per hour. (I thought I was getting 100 yuan for three hours) (100 yuan is $16.00) Now, my income has trippled. They paid me for teaching 6 classes times three hours. I don't know why they paid me 2000 yuan instead of 1800, but I couldn't speak much Chinese and they didn't seem to know much English so I settled on the 2000 yuan. Well, actually it was only 1900 Yuan because they held out 100 yuan (5%) for taxes. That is better than the 60% that I was told they would be taking out for taxes. Not only that, but I find out that it is not taxable income in the U S, so now I am really happy. I am so happy that I agree to take mother out for a $2.00 pizza at Pizza Hut, (well, I actually had to pay a buck sixty for the cab fare also) Mother told me that because of generosity, that my heart was going to swell up to the size of a pea and explode. Today, we invited 4 of our students to our home to teach them how to make hamburger vegetable soup. So I go to the market and buy all of the ingredients. The kids, and two other teachers show up at 5:00 P.M. I give them a good pep talk about how to make great delicious soup. I show them the fresh hamburger and tell them that the hamburger gives flavor to the soup. One of my students looks at the hamburger and tells me it is not hamburger, but it is lamb buirger. Well, so much for the good flavor of hamburger. Well, we start to make to soup. I let them do all the work, They love it. They have never seen a can opener before. (we had to use a can opener to open the canned corn and tomatoes that I bought at the American market.) They thought the can opener was cool, but said they couldn't use one in China because they don't have any cans to open. Well,. good point. Well, anyway we proceed to make the soup. We get all of the ingredients in the soup and it begins to cook. Pretty soon I smell this funny smell. The soup is burning on the bottom of the pan. I try to rescue the soup by pouring it into another pot. No luck. the damage is done. I apologize for the burned soup and tell them it is not fit to eat. They want to try it anyway. They said, it was only a little bit burned and they liked it a lot. Well, they must have ,because they finished it off. Actually I think they were so nice to eat the burned soup. It was awful. I told them I would have them back again and I would try to do it right. They told me that there is a food fair in April and everyong brings ingredients to cook. You must cook it at the actual location of the fair. They want to cook the hamburgetr soup at the food fair. Now I know they are nuts. They must really be hungry to like that burned soup. I agreed to help them cook the soup at the fair. I told them if it gets burned at the fair, they get the credit, if not, I get the credit. Well, we'll see. It is starting to cool down here a little and is now very pleasant. We are going to Beijing on Saturday to shop. We are going to the Silk Market. That is the market that Amber spoke to me about, and wants to go shop there when the 5 ladies come out. I am going to buy a couple of sets of Ping Golf Clubs while I am there and send them home. I don't know if they are knock offs or not, but for the price, I guess I can afford it, and with my new raise for teaching the adult ed class, I can afford them. $125.00 per set, includes the bag, plus I must pay shipping to the U. S. There are many things to do in Beijing. It really takes many days to see it all. We will take the 5 gals there for two or three days of their trip. We will also go to Xi'an where the Terricota warriors were found. We will go to other places also. Some of my students are having fun teaching me Chinese. I have learned a few words, (darn few) The guard still salutes me each time I go by, so he still thinks that I am the Base General. He always stops traffic and lets me cross the street and salutes me as I go by. I like that kind of a person. No one ever salutes me in America, not even mother or any of you kids. Boy life is good here. I am finially getting the respect that I have long deserved. Well, enjoy what is left of your good night's rest. It is 9:40 P.M. and time to go to bed. Have a great day. I love you all. Dad

Life in China is never dull

We needed hamburger for the soup--were we surprised. We are going to a village accessable only by donkey cart. The grapes were glorious.
This is the worst bathroom yet. We always pray for a western bathroom, but can use these.
This is the first beggar we have seen. She allowed her picture after we gave her a yuan and hid her face. She is only about 40.
This is the market from the beginning. It is on the edge of our campus and has most everything. It is just always so crowded.

I look like George Bush- Dad

Dear Family: Today, (Saturday) we worked on our lesson plans for next week, and this afternoon we went to a members home for a bar b que and then we watched the Priesthood and Relief Society sessions of General Conference. The 7 ladies watched theirs on the main floor, The Korean ladies on the second floor, the Chinese family on the patio and the English men watched the Priesthood session on the 3rd floor of the home. It worked out well. The bar b que was great. Good old USA food. It wasn't In N Out, but it wasn't bad. Yesterday I went to the qym. I went to run on the tread mill, but it wasn't turned on. I could see it was plugged in, but no light was on. This time I remembered not to un plug the unit or push the reset button. I finally found a button underneath the unit and it went on. No great tragedy and no one mad at me. This morning I went to the market to get a few supplies. On the way there, the taxi was stopped in traffic because of an accident ahead. I didn't know if the car hit anothert car, a bike, or a person. I could only see one car though. After about 10 minuted stopped in the taxi, I gave the taxi driver his 10 yuen and got out. We were in the inside lane. I had to jump over the barrier and cut across 6 more lanes of traffic. that side of traffic was moving right a long. Lucky for me, the accident was up ahead a little, because the accident closed two of the lanes of traffic. I was able to manuver my way through the other 4 lanes of traffic missing the cars. The last two lanes were bicycles and electric motor bikes. Two bikes came a nats hair from running me down. I figured I was safe since the policeman was trying to direct traffic up ahead because of the accident. The policeman was causing more damage than good. Finially along comes a guy riding an electric bike not watching where he is going. He nearly runs over the policeman and smacks into the side of the car that was already there from the accident. Now traffic really does stop and I am able to safely cross the road and go into the market. On the way home the cab is stopped in the line of traffic. A Chinese fellow pulls up along side the cab and starts talking to me. In his broken English, he says something to me about George Bush. I think that he asks if I like him. I say, so so. He smiles and says something else that I can't understand. Now I think he is asking me about Obama. I smile and say yes. He looks at me like I'm Crazy. This time I understand what he says. He says, "you don't look like Obama, he's black. You look like George Bush, he's white. Well, if the Chinese people think that I look like George Bush, then I now know why the guard always salutes me and waves me through the gate, and treats me like I am the base General. I think that mother told you that while on our trip to Western China, I got into an argument with a street vendor. We negotiated for a cup of popagranite juice for 1 yuan. I said OK and drank the juice. When I tried to pay him, he said, "no 10 yuan" I told him to take a hike and walked off. The policeman came over to see what was going on. The ding bat that sold me the juice told his side of the story first. I then told my side of the story. We are 9 yuan apart. ($1.44" I negotiated for sixteen cents, now he wants a buck sixty. The police man said the going rate was 5 yuan. I think the policeman was on the side on the Chinese guy. I pay the 5 yuan, and chalk it up to experience, knowing that I just got beat out of sixty four cents. However, Tyler gave me some really good advice. He sent us an email. it said, "Confucius say, pay 1 yuan first, drink pomegranite juice last" Good advise. I will remember that in the future. I am now working on having a Halloween party for my students. Not sure what to do, any suggestions. I would like to invite them to our guest housing to trick or treat, but there are 32 foreign teachers and they would want to invite all of their students also. We would have a potential of 3500 trick or treaters. That could be costly and I'n not sure the university would approve. I think that we will carve a pumpkin in each class, and I will give them each a bag of candy. They may have to take turns trick or treating at my class room door. That could be adisater also, because when the other students from other classes see what is going on, they may join in on the trick or treating also. Well, I hope all is well with each of you. Enjoy your Saturday. Mother and I will be home from Church before you go to bed tomorrow evening. I love you all. Dad.

More pictures from mom!

The melons here are superb..but overly handled!

We couldn't get a good picture of the live frogs, but notice the snails in the left lower pan (alive)

These fish are ready to fry!

Sun dried tomatoes will never taste the same

It is SO crowded everywhere in China!