Jes and I occasionally at a small weekend English school to help out a friend of ours. Its a little extra cash and is a lot of fun. We enjoy teaching much more when the students actually want to learn English. The students ages range from about 5 to 16 or 17. This past Sunday we taught a class of 10-12 year olds. During a break one of the girls (11 years old) asked me about the "economic crisis in America". Any question about it is going to be tough enough to answer the way it is but she simply asked, "What about the economic crisis in America?"
yikes...where to begin...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Hong Kong: Part 3 of 3
Day 6) Saturday was supposed to be very relaxing since Shawn would be taking his test the next day. Pretty early we got on a bus towards "Central" (The main island that is Hong Kong). We stopped at this amazing nunnery. Chinese architecture and their little bonsi style trees are always awesome to me. From the nunnery we could see this brilliant orange bridge in a park that was fairly close to where we were. Naturally we went there next. The landscaping was with the little trees and the carefully tiled rocks... just cool stuff. I also met some people from Iowa. The one guy owned a company in Chaska. Eventually we made our way down to take the famous "Star Ferry" across to Hong Kong Island ("Central"). We had some pretty decent tacos for lunch. There are only 2 mexican places in all of Hong Kong, because Chinese people really don't like Mexican food... which baffles me. Finally we reached our main and intended destination, the "Sothebey's Auction" at the exhibition center. We walked through hundreds of Chinese Contemporary painting that were almost all valued at well over a million dollars. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately we were pretty exhausted by the time we got there anyway, and only spent a few hours there when we could've spent much longer. We got lost on our way out, finally found the bus home, and splurged on a meat lover's pizza from pizza hut. Goodnight.
Day 7) We woke up bright and early to get Shawn to the testing center. We waited with him a while until he could get in the building. Then Carmen and I took a bus over to Asia Lutheran Seminary. I was going to go shopping at the famous "Stanley Market", but instead stayed at ALS and made a "Congratulations" card. I was really anxious for him to get back, so around 2pm I started waiting outside the building, walking back and forth between the train station and ALS. Finally I gave up, but about a half hour later he showed up! He had made a friend and walked to the train station instead of taking a taxi. He said the test could've gone better, could've gone worse, but he seemed to feel pretty good about it. That or he was just relieved to be finished. Then we discovered the Sem pictures of both "Roger Woller" and "J.P. Meyer". We took pictures. I did a little shopping in a nearby market, and then we went to church! It was super encouraging, and we even saw a few old friends! Everyone knew our parents! It was nice to hear a real sermon. Afterward we went to Outback Steakhouse, but I didn't let Shawn get a steak because it wasn't in the budget. Looking back, he had just finished his LSAT and deserved to celebrate. We could have payed Mike back when we see him next month anyway. Sorry Shawn. Next time you can have two.
Day 8) We woke up at 4:30 to leave by 5. We made it through customs and immigration by 6, and were at the airport around 7. When we arrived in Xi'an we had about a 7 hour layover and splurged on the hourly rate hotel. Shawn slept like a rock. I couldn't take the plumbers snaking the drain next door and went out to complain. She offered to move us down the hall, but Shawn was sleeping so well that I decided to just let him. We got up around 5pm, caught a flight at 6pm, and we home in Ningxia by 8.
and THAT is the whole story.
Day 7) We woke up bright and early to get Shawn to the testing center. We waited with him a while until he could get in the building. Then Carmen and I took a bus over to Asia Lutheran Seminary. I was going to go shopping at the famous "Stanley Market", but instead stayed at ALS and made a "Congratulations" card. I was really anxious for him to get back, so around 2pm I started waiting outside the building, walking back and forth between the train station and ALS. Finally I gave up, but about a half hour later he showed up! He had made a friend and walked to the train station instead of taking a taxi. He said the test could've gone better, could've gone worse, but he seemed to feel pretty good about it. That or he was just relieved to be finished. Then we discovered the Sem pictures of both "Roger Woller" and "J.P. Meyer". We took pictures. I did a little shopping in a nearby market, and then we went to church! It was super encouraging, and we even saw a few old friends! Everyone knew our parents! It was nice to hear a real sermon. Afterward we went to Outback Steakhouse, but I didn't let Shawn get a steak because it wasn't in the budget. Looking back, he had just finished his LSAT and deserved to celebrate. We could have payed Mike back when we see him next month anyway. Sorry Shawn. Next time you can have two.
Day 8) We woke up at 4:30 to leave by 5. We made it through customs and immigration by 6, and were at the airport around 7. When we arrived in Xi'an we had about a 7 hour layover and splurged on the hourly rate hotel. Shawn slept like a rock. I couldn't take the plumbers snaking the drain next door and went out to complain. She offered to move us down the hall, but Shawn was sleeping so well that I decided to just let him. We got up around 5pm, caught a flight at 6pm, and we home in Ningxia by 8.
and THAT is the whole story.
Macaroni, Macaroni, Macaroni, Macaroni. Put the Cheese in the Noodles and What Do Ya Get?
That title will seem a bit ridiculous to anyone who doesn't know that song...
Shawn and I decided to bust into our valuable stash of macaroni and cheese last night. (We finally found butter in the underground market).
We were pretty excited about it. We boiled the noodles, and mixed the cheese powder and butter with the milk... the milk. There was something wrong with the milk.
Have you ever tasted "yogurt milk"? It is disgusting, and it turns not only perfectly good, but scarce and precious macaroni and cheese into inedible crap. Gross. I even tried to plug my nose and eat it because it seemed such a waste, but to no avail. We just couldn't do it.
What a waste.
Stupid yogurt milk.
Be warned, taste the milk before you put it in your macaroni.
Shawn and I decided to bust into our valuable stash of macaroni and cheese last night. (We finally found butter in the underground market).
We were pretty excited about it. We boiled the noodles, and mixed the cheese powder and butter with the milk... the milk. There was something wrong with the milk.
Have you ever tasted "yogurt milk"? It is disgusting, and it turns not only perfectly good, but scarce and precious macaroni and cheese into inedible crap. Gross. I even tried to plug my nose and eat it because it seemed such a waste, but to no avail. We just couldn't do it.
What a waste.
Stupid yogurt milk.
Be warned, taste the milk before you put it in your macaroni.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Hong Kong Details: Part 2
Day 3) I woke up early and finished "A Movable Feast" so I could return it to Becca. Then we (Becca and I) went shopping in the Muslim Quarter. I found a set of 4 seasons paintings and I splurged. I talked her down from 800yuan ($115 US) to 270 ($38). She had to go ask her boss if it was okay so that's always a good sign. I was excited. I talked about it so much that Shawn said I was only allowed to talk about the paintings if I scratched his back while doing so. I woke up Shawn around 11:30 and we had a quick lunch and headed to the airport. Since it was actually the Chinese National Day the airport was super relaxed, not busy at all, and our tickets were really cheap! There were hardly any lines for anything and there was coconut milk on the plane! It was delicious. After we got off the plane we crossed the border, went through customs, etc. Then we met up with Carmen (my older sister's high school friend who is awesome and now our friend). She brought us back to her place. We hit up the supermarket and got some sushi and real bread. Then we crashed at her place. Awesome.
Day 4) In the morning Carmen walked us around various parts of Hong Kong and showed us the sights. We saw the incredible skyline of Hong Kong Island and walked the Avenue of the Stars where Shawn waited patiently to have his picture taken with Jacki Chan's hand prints. Of course when we got back none of our students knew who Jacki Chan was. Oh well. We came back to the apartment early so Shawn could take his last practice test. After he was finished we were going to go to the Waterfront Park and then the Nature Reserve (with wild monkeys!) but the Waterfront Part was so gorgeous we just stayed there the whole time instead. It would have been nice to see monkeys, but we weren't sure exactly how to get there anyway. I'm pretty sure we had sushi and bread again that night. This was also when we heard that there was a typhoon a comin'.
Day 5) On Friday morning we got up early and took a bus, then a Ferry over to Cheung Chau Island. It was awesome!! Everything is really expensive in Hong Kong, so when we stopped at one of the island restaurants and had Congee (and local food) we were super excited when it was not only 13 HKD (less than $2), but it was also delicious! We decided to go look for one of the smaller more secluded beaches so there would be as many people, and we ran into a ton of fun stuff on the way! We popped into a few temples, followed a path to what was supposed to be a cave, but just ended up being some cool rocks, climbed some hills that had great views of the island, and finally found a "path" to the beach. We had to climb over a ton of rocks, use a rope to get down from another area, and squeeze through rocks in others. When we got there, though, it was beautiful and there were no other people! We hung out there for a little while. It started to rain on and off. When it was raining a little harder we decided to head back to a different part of the island. Shawn found a really cool lizard near our path, and then we walked by the island cemetery and creamatorium. We went to the big public beach and swam for a while, which was fun and very salty. There were a few ancient rock carvings down one of the paths so we checked those out too. Eventually we made our way back to the ferry and then the bus. Right when we stepped onto the bus it started to rain really hard and didn't stop until well after we got back to Tai Po. It was a good day.
Day 4) In the morning Carmen walked us around various parts of Hong Kong and showed us the sights. We saw the incredible skyline of Hong Kong Island and walked the Avenue of the Stars where Shawn waited patiently to have his picture taken with Jacki Chan's hand prints. Of course when we got back none of our students knew who Jacki Chan was. Oh well. We came back to the apartment early so Shawn could take his last practice test. After he was finished we were going to go to the Waterfront Park and then the Nature Reserve (with wild monkeys!) but the Waterfront Part was so gorgeous we just stayed there the whole time instead. It would have been nice to see monkeys, but we weren't sure exactly how to get there anyway. I'm pretty sure we had sushi and bread again that night. This was also when we heard that there was a typhoon a comin'.
Day 5) On Friday morning we got up early and took a bus, then a Ferry over to Cheung Chau Island. It was awesome!! Everything is really expensive in Hong Kong, so when we stopped at one of the island restaurants and had Congee (and local food) we were super excited when it was not only 13 HKD (less than $2), but it was also delicious! We decided to go look for one of the smaller more secluded beaches so there would be as many people, and we ran into a ton of fun stuff on the way! We popped into a few temples, followed a path to what was supposed to be a cave, but just ended up being some cool rocks, climbed some hills that had great views of the island, and finally found a "path" to the beach. We had to climb over a ton of rocks, use a rope to get down from another area, and squeeze through rocks in others. When we got there, though, it was beautiful and there were no other people! We hung out there for a little while. It started to rain on and off. When it was raining a little harder we decided to head back to a different part of the island. Shawn found a really cool lizard near our path, and then we walked by the island cemetery and creamatorium. We went to the big public beach and swam for a while, which was fun and very salty. There were a few ancient rock carvings down one of the paths so we checked those out too. Eventually we made our way back to the ferry and then the bus. Right when we stepped onto the bus it started to rain really hard and didn't stop until well after we got back to Tai Po. It was a good day.
Hong Kong Details: Part 1 of ?
Day 1) On the eve of the 29th of September Shawn and I began what would be the most horrible train experience of our lives. With 4 people in every 3 person seat and thousands (I say thousands because most of you know I tend to exaggerate) of people standing in the aisles, we began our 16+ hour overnite trian ride to Xi'an. This train actually took longer than it does to get from Minneapolis to Beijing. Usually Shawn and I love the trains, but usually we get the "hard sleepers" and this time we eneded up with hard seats. We were travelling with Becky, Val (the two new FOC teachers) and a group of their medical students. During the ride there was a little girl who had a standing ticket, so I invited her to sit on my lap so she wouldn't have to stand so long. She was a blast except for the fact that she kept hitting Shawn in the face and everywhere, and eventually bit my thumb and drew blood. She did, however, mimic the alphabet with great pronunciation. She got to leave the train around midnight. We did not. There were at least a hundred people in our car with "standing" tickets. We were fairly close to the bathroom which was nice because it meant we only had to crawl over about 20 people to get to the bathroom, but horrible because of the smell. There was a guy sitting on the ground directly in front of the bathroom gnawing on a chicken leg. It was disgusting. Shawn was to take the LSAT in a few days and this was not the way to start it. He did not sleep a wink.
Day 2) That morning we watched as the train that had left from the same station but an hour later passed us. Not encouraging. When we finally did get off the train we went to find the guy who was supposed to have made reservations for all of us. We would have made our own, but we were told they were already made. We literally walked around for hours trying to find a place to stay that the students we were with could afford. Finally Shawn and I left the group and went to our usual hostel and "splurged" for the hefty price of $7 a night. Then, naturally, came the nap. I woke up hours before Shawn did and went walking around the Muslim Quarter. It's fun for me. We had one of the famous Xi'an meals with the whole group (plus Becca who had come from America to visit me the week before and then went to see a friend in Xi'an). I love the mutton in China. Hao Chi. We skipped the fountain show because we'd seen it and Shawn needed to study. I read most of "A Moveable Feast" and decided that I really love non fiction and find it much easier to read than fiction.
Day 2) That morning we watched as the train that had left from the same station but an hour later passed us. Not encouraging. When we finally did get off the train we went to find the guy who was supposed to have made reservations for all of us. We would have made our own, but we were told they were already made. We literally walked around for hours trying to find a place to stay that the students we were with could afford. Finally Shawn and I left the group and went to our usual hostel and "splurged" for the hefty price of $7 a night. Then, naturally, came the nap. I woke up hours before Shawn did and went walking around the Muslim Quarter. It's fun for me. We had one of the famous Xi'an meals with the whole group (plus Becca who had come from America to visit me the week before and then went to see a friend in Xi'an). I love the mutton in China. Hao Chi. We skipped the fountain show because we'd seen it and Shawn needed to study. I read most of "A Moveable Feast" and decided that I really love non fiction and find it much easier to read than fiction.
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