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!

The Silk Road Trip- More pictures!

This baby was eating spaghetti for breakfast!


The signs here (and their English translations) are quite humorous! Can you figure out what it is supposed to say?


This is one of the markets where we shopped. Wynn got in an argument with a vendor about the price of pomegranate juice he had already consumed--I got the police (all over) and he settled it.


At the Buddha caves Wynn sat by this man and got the whole group to take their picture with him for 5 yuan each and he made a months earnings in just a half hour!!

Yes, Wynn rode in the caravan, too. He was the last camel and took the pictures!

I am still perfecting my blog skills, so here goes. I just got a hair cut for $4.50 and I believe it is the best most precise haircut I have ever gotten. He measured and trimmed every hair on my head. After a marvelous shampoo, it took 50 minutes. I gave him a 5 yuan tip because in China you are not supposed to tip, but hey, 80 cents for 50 minutes!! I plan to post a few interesting pictures every day that I can, now that Tyler has walked me through how to do it--we'll see!

Haircut and more photos.

Silk Road Trip

Is it any wonder I got an upset stomach? The food tasted good, but my system didn't seem to like it and I had a great trip but ate very little of the food. I was even afraid to eat the raisins at the grape factory for fear they would make me sick--they looked sooooo good!
The camel caravan took us to the top of the Gobi desert sand dunes where we got off and could see for thousands of miles. We then road back down--only 4 from our group went and it was my favorite thing by far.
Here we are passing the one oasis on the way to the top. The blond is from our group. I am in front in the white shirt.
We are at a grape farm with literally 100's of varieties being grown and dried into raisins. I did drink a glass of grape juice they were squeezing in front of us from green grapes. It was delicious and didn't hurt my tummy!

Here we are buying our Terra Cotta warrior.

Bargaining for Warriors- Dad

Dear Family: I hope you are all doing well. I am told that everything is all right. Everyone in Arizona has said how fun it has been to have Emily and children there. I am so happy that you are having a good time. Last week while on our trip we went to several markets. One of the most exciting places we visited was the Terracota Warriiors. The soldiers had been unearthed and left in the original spot they were found. While there, many street vendors wanted to sell us there goods. One young fellow came up to me and wanted to sell me some miniture Terricota Warriors. They were about three inches tall and there were five warriors to a set. The guy said he would make me a good deal. He said 200 Yuan. ($33.00) I said no, and offered him ten. ($1.60) He reduced his price to 150 yuan. I offered 12. I didn't really want the thing, but I thought 'oh well, it would be nice to give them to the grand children for a gift.' He followed me for another block or so. Finially we agreed on 25 yuan. ($4.00) Here comes another guy selling the same thing. This time I know I can get it for 25 yuan. He says 200. Now I say to my self, I will have a little fun. I offer 5. He comes down a little and follows me for a block. Finially, just to get rid of him, I say I will give you 50 yuan for 4. I know he won't take it. He say's OK. Crud, now I have 5 to cart around. Well I know they can't make them that cheap, so I figure they must be stolen. Here comes another guy with a whole bag full of them. He says 200 yuan. I don't want any more, but now it is a game. I now know that I paid double to much for the first one, and I don't know how much over I paid for the next four. I know that I can get them for 12 1/2 yuan. I tell the guy 5 yuan. He looks at me like I'm nuts. I say, 'look, the last guy gave them to me for 12 yuan.' He says, ok ten. Now, I know the last two guys got me for to much. Now I own 6. So, I think I have got a pretty good deal at ten. I start talking to a man in our group and was bragging about only paying ten yuan for my warriors. I asked him how much he paid. He said, 'you can buy them for 5 all over.' Boy did I get took. I paid $4.00 for a tie, I found out later I could have bought is for one dollar. But, I finially did get a good deal. I bought my McGreggor coat for thirty bucks. I know that was a good deal, because I watched several people argue with him. I saw him turn down 31.00 several times, and he wouldn't take it. The coat in the states sells for about $250.00. Our branch president buys calloway and ping golf clubs for $125.00 per set, including the bag. He has purchased about 8 or ten sets so for and sent them to the states. It costs about one hundred dollars for shipping. Anyone wants a set of clubs sent home to hem, let me know. They are well over $1000.00 dollars in the states. Yesterday as I was getting out of the cab (again) I neary wiped out another bike rider. Just as I opened the door a little, the thought came to me,'you better look, somebody might come thru the cab door. I looked, and here somes some guy flat getting with it. Had I opened my door, the cab driver would have had another passenger, and his bike. I've said before, I can manuver through the speeding cars, but the bicycles have a way of sneeking up on you. A few days ago, I was coming home in a cab,and we got to the guard gate. I pulled out my card and showed him. I don't think he could read, he told the cab driver to turn around and get out of there. I saluted him, he saluted me and I showed him the card again. Again he told me take a hike. Now I know that he doesn't know who I am, but he doesn't think that I am the base General. I shove the card in has face again. He could care less. Well, if I get out of the cab, I have to walk about a mile. I pull out my wallet and offer him 1 1/2 yuan. (24 cents) He insinuates he wants more. At least now I know that he can be bought. I notice a guy behind me in his car waiting to come through the gate. I see him get out of his car and walk up to mine. The way the guard looks at him and gets nervous, I know that he must be someone important. He looks at me and my card, and just yells at the guard, grabs my 1 1/2 yuan from his hand, and pushes the guard backwards. He walks over to me and smiles, hands me my 1 1/2 yuan, opens the gate and I go through. I look at the guard, smile and salute him. He doesn;'t salute me. He turns aroung and walks off. I sure hope that he is not on duty the next time I try to come through the gate. I don't know who the guy was that rescued me, but I think he must have been someone important. (or he thought that I was the base commander) Maybe it was my guardian angel, I don't know. But here in China you sure do need guys like that around.. This afternoon, I taught my adult ed class. The one where I receive $5.33 an hour. During the class period, some lady comes in and says the government needs a copy of my passport. I say,'what for?' She says, 'we need to have a copy of your passport so we can pay you for teaching this class. I say, 'why do you need my passport?' She says, 'we have to have it so we can take the taxes out before we pay you. I ask her how much the taxes are, she says 60 percent. Wow! what a deal. My $5.33 an hour just got reduced to $2.13 an hour. Further I am advised that the Chinese government will notify the United States Governemnt of my earnings, and now I know that they are going to ge me for another 40%. What a deal, my $2.13 per hour, just got further reduced to zero. Subtract my tithing form that (10% of $5.33 =fifthy three cents) so now I am in the hole fifth three cents per hour. Boy, life is good here in China! When I get home, mother wants to go out to dinner. I know the dinner will cost about $4.00. I say, 'not a chance, the more I work, the deeper in the hole I get. . Well, like I said, life is good here in China. I love you all. Have a wonderful day. Dad

Back from our Trip- Dad

Dear Family: As you know we arrived back to Tianjin safely. We had an interesting trip. We have now seen much of China. We flew four and 1/2 hours to Urumce. Pronounced yer-room-chee. Stayed there for a couple of days, Saw poverty, pyramids, mountain lakes, Buddist Temples, etc. We ate native Chinese food. It's no wonder the Chinese people are so thin. After the first day, I decided that I would rather not eat, than eat their prepared food. We could usually buy water mellon or nuts or something to tie us over. The water mellon was great. Really sweet. We went to the Gobee desert to ride a camel. I don't know how to sell Gobee, so that's the best you're going to get. We each rode our own camel. Up and over the sand dunes. There were literally hundreds of camesl there. We took a train to Xi'an. There we say Terricata Warriors and where they were excavated. We went to several markets, I rode a bicycle on top of the wall on the city of Xi'an. It was very bumpy and was about ten miles around. Went to a beautiful production and then home. Along the way, I went to an evening market. There were hundreds of vendors, many of them preparing hot foods on their small carts. The food looked awful. There were lots of fish and lamb. I think. Anyway, there was this one guy who was preparing his fish. he told me that when he put his spices on it, it was the most delicious fish that I would ever taste. He took the fish, (whole, head and all) and nailed it to a thin piece of wood. He sliced some cuts across the fish to open the meat section up. I put lots of spices and sauce on it. He than layed the board and fish above a fire pit of charcoal. The fish was layed so that the oils and herbs would run down the fish, onto the board and eventually back into the fire. It smelled great. After he was finished, it looked good enough to eat. I bought the fish, board and all. I sat down to eat the fish. It was hard and tasted awful. However, the spices that he prepared it with was really good. The problem was, that the spices all ran into the board, and not the fish. So, not to be wasteful, I threw the fish in the garbage, and ate the board. One night, I was out walking, looking for something good to eat. I could find nothing. Finially I looked inside of a little hole in the wall restaurant. I saw someone eating some french fries. My mouth started watering, so I went inside and told the guy that I wanted some french fries. He couldn't understand, so I took him to the table where the lady was eating the french fries. i pointed to the french fries. When I pointed to the french fries, the waitrer picked up the ladies french fries and handed tham to me. I said no, I want my own. he said, no, pushed me down into the chair, put her french fries in front of me. I put the french fries back in front of her. She put them back in front of me. I put them back in front of her. All this time, the waiter was holding me down in my chair. I finially handed the french fries back to the waiter. He then had to take his hands off of my shoulder. As soon as his hands were gone, I was out of there. (without any french fries) I purchased a nice Mcgregor winter coat at one of the markets. We negotiated on the price for a few minutes, but finially got it for about $28.00 A friend of mine said they are about $250.00 in the states. Last evening, we held family home evening at our friends home. He is the first counselor in the Area Presidency. They are the Tams. They are both Chinese. She invited us for dinner and FHE. We have a great American dinner. For FHE, he told us some funny stories about the church in China. He said that he attended a Sacrament meeting several months ago, in a branch with only a few members. It was in Central China. The branch president had been a member about one year. Elder Tam noticed that the branch president did everything. He conducted the meetings, he prepared, blessed and passed the sacrament, etc. After Sacrament meeting, Elder Tam asked the branch president if there were any other priesthood holders who could help him. The branch president said there was one, but he had only been a member for about 10 months. Elder Tam said, 'why don't you use him and give his some experience?' The branch president said that he was working with him a lot and trying to prepare him to do those things, but he said that the man was not quite yet perfect. Another time, Elder Tam was in a Sacrament Meeting and a lady blessed the sacrament. After the meeting, Elder Tam spoke with the branch president and told him that a Priesthood holder should bless the sacrament. The branch president said that he would take care of it. A few weeks later, Elder Tam attends the same Sacrament meeting, and the same sister blesses the sacrament. After the meeting, Elder Tam reminded the branch president that the person who blesses the sacrament shoule be a priesthood holder. The branch president said he took care of it after the last time they spoke. The branch president said that after they spoke the last time, that he ordained the sister a priest. Elder Tam said another time, he was at a branch, and after the three hour block was over, he noticed that several primary children were all lined up outside of the kitchen. He said they were all very neat and orderly. Elder Tam asked the branch president what the primary children were doing. He said they were taking turns eating the left over bread from the sacrament. Elder Tam asked why they were lined up eating the left over sacrament bread. The branch president said,'well before this, that after the meeting, they all ran in a disorderly fashion to eat the left over sacrament bread. The branch president said, 'now I have taught them to stand in an order line and take one piece of the left over sacrametn bread at a time. That way everyone received an equal amount. Elder Tam said, 'why are they eating the left over sacrament bread in the first place?' The branch president said, 'it had been blessed and therefor it was very good for them to eat.' In the church, China is a very developing country, and American leadership turns over so fast, that many times the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Elder Whitney Clayton is in charge of China. he will be here in a couple of weeks for training. We will meet with him then. We are very much looking forward to the daughter's/daughters's in laws coming to China in the spring. We will spend a couple of days in Tianjin, probable two days in Xi'an and probable three days in Beijing. There is so much to see and do. Please work on your passports now. If you already have one, please check the expiration date of the passport. I am told that you can't apply for a visa prior to about a couple of months before traveling. I think that we are looking at April. The weather should be pretty nice by then. W will work on a date in the next week or so. Please give us your input about the best times for each of you. I will do my best to accomodate everyone. I will need to purchase the airline tickets within a month or so, in order to get the best deals and the flights we want. You will fly out of either Los Angeles, or San Francisco. So, I suppose that each of you will meet at one of those airports and fly to China together. it is about a twelve hour flight. You will either fly to Korea and then to Tianjin, or fly directly to Beijing and then take the bullet train to Tianjin. If you fly to Beijing, I will meet you there and help you get to the train station to go to Tianjin. When Brit and family come out, it will be the same itenery. When everyone comes out, I am going through a travel agency and hireing a van to take us around, so we can all be together and not have to travel in seperate cabs. When each of you come to China, we will do our best to eat American food, so you won't get sick on the trip. Most places will serve some Chinese food, some is ok and some we just leave on our plates. I went to a restaurant one day and I found a BLT burger on the menu. I ordered it. When it arrived, it was a large piece of meatloaf, (such as it was) with a slice of ham on it, with a tomato and some lettuce. Well, they were right. It was a BLT meatloaf sandwich. It wasn't a hamburger, but it wasn't bad, Well, I've got to run to class. I teach juniors in about an hour. We will send some photos as soon as we can. I love you all. Dad