i.am.third

Monday March 8, 2010

2010-03-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

Last Monday I jumped back in at the office and then straight to Chinese class. I had a bad case of jet lag in the 2nd hour of my Chinese lesson – my German and Belgium classmates definitely cracked up laughing when I literally starting dosing off. My head bobbed, and when I was trying to write a word in my notebook I woke up to find just a long line where the pin had drug across the page. How's that for Seminar and 14 hour flight recovery ?

And yes, its still cold in Shanghai, and in my bedroom…I sleep with gloves on and a space heater pulled up to the edge of the mattress!

Around the office, thanks to Nancy, I was reading a book that has a few chapters about sheep. At work this week, I accidentally typed “spreadsheep” instead of spread sheet!

During the week I got to help my friends D & A move, and signed up for an 8k that is a week from Sunday.

This past weekend I met some inspiring women. Turns out after hearing her speak, Jan Silvious, serves on a board with my mom.

I got the opportunity to have lunch with Lisa Bentley, who is the author of the inspirational true story of “Saving Levi”. I am almost finished reading her book, and it really makes the story come alive to know the author! (Here is the link if you have some time -- long article but good to skim if you want to get the gist-- http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-levi12dec12,0,1817011,full.story?coll=la-home-center )

Love the international conversations of economics on a 40 min run, and sitting around a dinner table with people literally from all over the world - Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, all while talking about a friends recent trip to teach children in Cambodia...really? These are my friends? Love 'em!

On Sunday it was great to be back in corporate worship and hear a great message - thoroughly enjoyed the company of a friend.

Monday – Who Let the Dawgs out?? Yes, that's right, UGA MBA study abroad group was in town! They held a reception for Alumni and I was invited by my past roommate's (MB!) friend. We have a running list of some alumni in the area so I sent out an email to see who we could 'round up. Whoo hoo for connecting with alumni all the way in China. Not only did I get to meet several new friends from China who went to Georgia for their MBA (ps. they love chicken -- see pic below) as well as ones from good 'ole Athens - The coordinator, Mrs. Sally said "wait, I knew your brother from a previous trip…." She went on to tell not just one, but several stories about the time she lead the trip of Terry Juniors at Georgia to Europe. Let's just say half the stories were about the chasing of pigeons and hamsters that he would bring back to see her reaction, and the other involved a quick trip to the store to buy speedos and to jump in some lake he probably shouldn't have been swimming. After listening to her recount these memories as though it could have been just the other day, I realized that M had left quite an impression with her ... oh, everyone needs the joy of following in a siblings footsteps. It wasn't hard to convince her I am the well behaved one of the family....

(gave 3 MBA Alumni CFA BOG's)

(Mrs. Sally)

(2 current MBA's on study abroad)

Landed.

2010-02-28T20:50:00.001-08:00

Sun Feb 28--10 pm

Landed. You know you live in another country when your round trip ends here! Temperature not too cold, but today is so overcast I cannot see the sun. Well, it is the Year of the Tiger (lao hu nian) and it is going to be a big one. I was born in the Year of the Tiger. Someone recently asked me if they were born in ‘83, what animal would they be – apparently that is the Year of the Pig :). If it is the year of the animal in which you were born, you are supposed to wear something red the whole year…I’ve only done that a few days, we will see if I keep it up.

It was so fun to bring back chicken for my friends! Per Aunt Trudy’s suggestion, I tried not to let too many people smell it as to prevent attacks by neighbors on the plane…

Yes, that is 20 Original Sandwiches, 20 biscuits, and boxes of girl scout cookies in the middle of Shanghai. We had fun sharing about where the Chinese New Year break took each of us (S returned home to Singapore, M went to visit family and friends in the Philippines, D & A took a 20 hour train ride out to where the mountains they copied for the Avatar movie was, A was in Hong Kong), and I got to show them the new Tim Hawkins patriotic CFA song from Seminar.

While in Washington D.C., I got to see: Mary-Stew, two museums, (the Natural History - where Katie & the Hope Diamond were the highlights, and the American History where Lincoln's Top hat and pocket watch are), and shout out to Mollie who came on a 3 hour bus to spend the day and listen to me prepare for my introduction of the first night speaker.

Before I came back I had a 24 hour stop in Boston and got to see some of these folks:

I met them on the plane over on my last flight. Inspiring and fun people to be around, thanks for hosting Michael.

After 24 hours in Boston, I had 24 hours in Atlanta - just enough time to meet my niece before returning "home".

Now, I am off to try to sleep with all the fireworks going on outside on this last night of the CNY.

How to make a brick wall in China:

2010-02-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

So my friend Sandy and I are walking down the street the other day. And first we see a man painting the whole wall white.

We keep walking and the man behind him is putting tape in lines on the wall that has already been painted white.

The next guy in the assembly line has a yard stick and a pencil and is drawing vertical lines over every other horizontal line.

The next guy is laying the tape over these short pencil marks.

The next guy is painting the entire wall gray.

The next guy....well he got a little quick on the job -- didn't wait for the paint to dry before he started pulling up the tape (you can see the paint dripping)

Voila! This is how a "brick" wall is made in China!

It's a good thing the Great Wall turned out more impressive....

Where will happiness strike next?

2010-01-31T18:13:00.001-08:00

In the US we put a "special" Coca-Cola vending machine at a college campus and captured student reactions when they got more than they expected. Watch these real students in New York City whose day was made a little brighter thanks to the unusual Coca-Cola vending machine.

Indoor Snowboarding

2010-01-31T16:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday some friends and I took the subway to the last stop then took a short taxi ride to an indoor skiing facility. Luckily, we brought plastic trash bags to wrap around our feet before we put them in the funky smelling boots. Once we were with equipment and out to "the slope", we stood in line for the "pole lift".

Well, Alan was first, and juggling a water bottle he slipped up a little, but managed to hang on to his pole and slowly get up the slope. Then it was my turn. I had watched the guy in front of Alan leave his feet out of the bindings and stand on the narrow part of the board with both feet, and it looked easy enough. Boy was I wrong! The board quickly started 'getting off course' causing me to wobble and fall off the pole. So much snow went down my pants! So, Krystle is laughing it up and misses the next pole, which turned out good for me, because I had a second attempt to get resituated, and try again. Attempt two went no better than the first one, and it was the third pole before I got up the mountain. At the top, my calves were already aching! We all had to take a rest at the top just from getting up!

Down the slope went by too quickly and it was back to the pole lift. By the third time we went up, the pole lift began to get better and we all enjoyed our indoor boarding experience. Just remember to bring trash bags for your feet and wash your hands after tying your smelly boot strings!

100 Day Countdown...

2010-01-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

100 day countdown...

There is a countdown sign in almost every subway station, there is a countdown in the middle of a city center, there is a countdown at the door when you walk in the office, there is a countdown on my work computers desktop screen.

Today the countdown says: 100

100 days and counting until the start of the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shanghai.

The Walk

2010-01-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

The walk 步行者（bu xing zhe）

You know you live in China when your conversations with your friends go like this:

“Man it takes forever for my water to heat up – I start running the water then go do some things around the house and come back when it is starting to get warm.” –M.B.

“Yea I stand there brushing my teeth at the sink and hold my foot in the shower until it starts to feel warm.” –Rachel

“Well, our hot water has been shut off for two days, I’m starting to get used to it, but my wife hasn’t showered…” –The Gongs

“Hey Rachel, I have dinner plans tonight and my apartment doesn’t have running water right now, instead of going for a run, can we go for a walk today?” –Anna

On the walk we found a great street with some shops and restaurants we had not discovered before. Amongst the dark haired mountain and sea of people (人山人海) all walking along the sidewalks and selling cds, dvds, and sweet potatoes, we noticed a blond elderly couple looking at a map, more than a little perplexed. Offering to help, they were Canadian tourists who had passed the street they meant to turn on several blocks before. Deciding not to turn back, they instead asked if we could point them in the right direction of a “non-Chinesey (for a change)” place to eat. We walked alongside them, Anna discussing with the Mr. about past skiing and hiking trips as they were quite the adventurers, and I with the Mrs. talking about, well, talking about what I am planning for my post-expo adventures…Once we arrived, the Mr. looked us in the eye and said. “You have two extreme times in your life: one is where you are at now – young and adventurous and free, and the other is when you are where we are – retired and free to travel with the money you’ve earned. Enjoy every moment of this magnificent city.”

I’m glad the circumstances caused us to walk today, or else we might have run right past this inspiring couple.

今天我的朋友告诉我，小笼包是点心。 Jin tian wo de pengyou gaosu wo, xiao long bao shi dian xin.

Shalom

2010-01-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

Shalom & Xiao Long Bao (小笼包)

Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye

Shalom 是意味着和平，完全，福利的一个希伯来人词和惯用地可以被使用意味着两个都喂和再见

Xiǎolóngbāo (小笼包), also known as soup dumpling, is a type of baozi from eastern China, including Shanghai and Wuxi. It is traditionally steamed in small bamboo baskets, hence the name (xiaolong is literally "small steaming basket"). It is said to taste best when eaten in the company of loved ones.

I’ll start with “Shalom” since it is the biggest word in my journal right now. When I see or hear this word, many things come to mind: sand of the Holy Land in my sandals just two years ago, Harm and Dagmar’s home inside the walls of Jerusalem, the two girls I sponsor in Africa, what I yearned for just last Saturday at lunch, what I desire the homeless people who I have met recently to have. What Jesus died on the cross for.

Tonight the word Shalom came to mind as I looked into the crying eyes of a recent university graduate - a Chinese friend who has heard the truth, but is struggling to believe. She feels lost in a hard job in this big city and is wondering her purpose and asked me why bad luck seems to be all around her lately. This week she’s lost something precious to her – a photo with the man who raised her, her grandfather who passed away two years ago. In a life of chaos we all need peace. Shalom.

I came upon a brief bout of Shalom in this city of 22 million just last Sunday. After service, catching up with my friends in my new life, and getting to eat good food in a fun atmosphere with my family members in town. Chopsticks and a little Xiao Long Bao (soup dumpling -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiao_long_bao) go a long way when your sitting at a round table in a foreign country with the people who you love the most.

203..202..201..200...

2009-10-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 200 day countdown until the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Begins. This event will be the largest World's Fair. There are 70 million expected visitors during the 6 month period that the Expo will last. Close to 200 countries will participate and have a pavilion that showcases the business, economy, and culture of their country. I feel honored and humbled to be a part of this World Event in such a strategic country. Great things are happening and will happen in this country.
Official Expo site: http://en.expo2010.cn/

a lesson in kung fu

2009-09-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever see the movie Shao Lin temple with Jet Li? I haven't seen it, but I'd like to because that is where the Expo Project Group went for team building. We got to meet the Abbot (the head monk of the temple), and have many interesting 'behind the scenes’ experiences such as: eating vegetarian food with the monks - we couldn't talk and we had to finish everything they put in the two bowls that were in front of us. We rose at 4:30 am one morning to listen to the monks chant. One night around 8pm it was dark and soo quiet on the temple grounds. We got to have a kung fu lesson from a head monk. It was interesting being there at night and thinking about how old the place is.
We climbed one of the 4 main mountains in China and saw some ancient carvings on stone along a river. Then one day we got blindfolded before getting on the bus. Each person had someone guiding them as we got off the bus, still blindfolded. Then I began to hear clapping. We were being led towards the many clapping hands, it began to get louder and faster and I could hear clapping completely surrounding me. Finally we were led to a small platform and then told to take off our blind folds. In front of us were many perfectly straight lines of boys of all ages going all the way back to a fence at the other end of the courtyard. The youngest and smallest were in front. We realized we were in the middle of a keng fu school - with the dormitories and classroom buildings around us. All of the sudden a voice came over a speaker and called out some orders, then the kids moved in unison yelling "huh" and striking different kung fu poses. It was really quite incredible to see their intense faces and strict discipline as well as the sheer number of them.
It was a very interesting trip but a bit trying being surrounded by emptiness in the temples and in the boys faces. Overall, a very culturally rich trip with highs and lows that will be remembered.

Pepperdine SH style

2009-07-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

The building here in SH that they got for the program a few years ago was originally built in 1937 when the school was founded in the US. I said 'hey' to your peeps Mark.

while it lasts

2009-05-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

so I figured out I could get on wordpress today. Hope you don't mind the switching around, but I am going to use wordpress while it lasts: www.iamthird.wordpress.com

my sins are gone, ive been set free

2009-04-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like worshiping with people from all over the world. So many people filled the church, I joyfully stood throughout the service with others who did not have room to sit. Wonderful time cooking and eating meals with new friends. He's got the whole world in His hands.

医院 yi yuan (hospital)

2009-03-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Mr. Xue picked me up. Checked in at desk. Waited. Then, we who where there for physicals were corralled from room to room to get all the different check ups done.
Room 102 –change into gown/weight/height
Room 112 --eye examination room-cover one eye and say which way the “E” is pointing

Room 109 was labeled “Sample Center”. Worst room. By far.
   I was not allowed to eat for 12 hours prior to check up. Knowing I am a bit faint around needles (especially when I have not eaten breakfast), I opened a piece of chocolate (because I knew I would not have the strength to open it after the needle) and sat it on my leg. I propped my right arm up on the desk—nurse ties a rubber band thing around my bicep and starts slapping the veins in the crease of my arm above my elbow. Here we go…huge needle/shovel looking on the top where the blood can run down goes into my arm and she gets the back of the plastic part to syringe the blood out of my arm.
   This is the part where my eyesight becomes blurry, sounds become muffled, and my head begins to lay back against the chair. I of course forget about the chocolate on my leg. Luckily the nurse figures it out and begins to feed me the piece of chocolate as my head is resting on the back of the chair. Just before I went all the way out the chocolate began to take affect and the nurse also got me some water. I still must not have looked too good, because she reclined the chair then went to get me a ‘moon pie’ looking thing. She would not let me get up from the chair till I had finished eating it.

On to room 116- who knew they give ultrasounds to people who aren’t pregnant? My liver, gallbladder, and kidneys looked interesting on a monitor. The nurses just stared at me funny as I was still weak trying to get up and off of the tall bed-table I had to get on for the gook to be applied to my stomach for the ‘viewing’ of the internals.

117- Chest x-ray – lungs and heart seemed to be ok.

110 – 2nd worst room- EKG. Muster up some more energy to climb on another tall table. Lay down. Out come the rusty metal clamps that are attached to my ankles and wrists. Old timey suction cups with air squeezy balls attached to the end of them are placed around my chest and stomach. And the lady says “relax”. Like that is easy to do when your hooked up to a 1970s piece of medical equipment. Sheesh.

   Last room was another poking an prodding breathing in and out room, and the doctor took my blood pressure—that has always been pretty low. He took it once, mumbled under his breath, took it again and said “very low, very low”.
   Good thing I was watching as he began to type all the information from the other rooms onto the computer. The picture and profile where NOT me. It was a brown headed Belgium girl who was a few people behind me in the ‘corralling line’ . “Oh, so sorry, so sorry” the doctor said when I finally got it across to him that that was not my picture.

   Back out to the waiting room it was my turn to smile at the people who where nervously awaiting their check up experience. Whew, glad that’s over with!

"dreams are the currency of the future"

2009-03-19T02:48:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to my wonderful dad who paid my overweight luggage fee so that I could READ. Yes, I brought some heavy intellectual stimulation in the form of books. It has proved to be fascinating so far to see how each one grows me so much!

Yesterday while reading The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly, I stopped within the first few chapters to write down some dreams. You know what makes me smile? When other people are living/thinking about/planning their dreams too.

-when a friend sits down with his brother to talk about their goals

-when the dreamer lands her summer photog gig

-when a friend tells me in the pool at my house one summer where in the world she was going to live... and she does it!

-when a friend drives cross country in pursuit of his dreams

-when a friend scuba dives Rotan Island to lobbying at Capital Hill and everything in between.

-when a friend moves to NYC

-when a friend nails a tough interview to land a sweet museum gig

-when a friend survives an accident, comes to know Christ, and redirects their life

-when friends find true love

-when friends and family nurture children - natural and/or adopted

-when a friend becomes a rock star

"The pursuit of dreams creates passion, energy, enthusiasm, and vitality. One of the most powerful dynamics in relationships is trying to understand the other person's dreams and helping them chase and fulfill those dreams. Every relationship improves when we are mindful of each others dreams."

KEEP PURSING YOUR DREAMS!

no hui yuan = crazy day at the office

2009-03-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Back in Beijing I was in the building (guarding the door to the conference room) where a major deal went down between Coke and Huiyuan (a major Chinese juice company). Well, the government had exactly 200 days from that day to decide wether they wanted to allow the deal to happen (both Mr. Muhtar and Mr. Ju were in agreement, but nothing here is final until the gov says so).
The deal for 2.5 billion was presented one week before the financial crisis in the States happened. Had the deal been made one week later it would have been for probably half of that offer. Today in the Shanghai offices rumors were flying, and everything was 'a buzz'. There have been nationalist protestors at the building who want to protect their local brands. The 200 days just ran out... the government did not allow the take over. This could be a blessing in disguise for CocaCola, as with the economic crisis, they can use the money for other investments. More below:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2009/03/19/2003438821

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/shared-gen/ap/Finance_General/AS_China_Coca_Cola_Huiyuan.html

chasing geese

2009-03-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

If I were to look back at my journals I could find the entry in one where I wrote about a special memory. It was a few years ago (maybe four) and I was on a jog through the neighborhood when two geese flew low over me. I stopped in my tracks because I felt a strong presence of the Lord. You need to understand that geese flying around our area is somewhat common because the lake being so near. This was different. I felt the Lord's promise of two things. 1) A call on my life 2) a promise of protection. From then on two geese flying has been a reminder to me of the Lord's presence. Right now I am living these promises.

I am told that if a goose falls out of formation another will go back to be with it, they never leave one behind. What a reminder to us all of God's promise in Hebrew 13:5 "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

Today I had a divine appointment with God through reading Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. The Celtic Christians name for the Holy Spirit was An Geadh-Glas, or 'the Wild Goose'. I resonate with the fact that the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed.

Within the first few pages of the book I had underlined, written notes in the margin, and stopped to reread a few lines. It was so closely related to my life right now, it was a though the words were jumping off the pages at me.

...circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: ADVENTURE

...nothing is more unnerving or disorienting that passionately pursuing God

...otro dia, otra aventura (another day, another adventure)

...we have a primal longing to be uncaged

...Soren Kierkegaard believed boredom is the root of all evil.

If I listed all the quotes and notes I took away from this book, this post would be far to long. So I will pray for YOUR divine appointment with this book, whenever that may be for you. For me, it was today.

en route

2009-03-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

Gen 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go...I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. "

around town

2009-02-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

nice view along the river of the bund

Queen of SH?

Cooking with the girls

time with jingle

fun with Jun!

ordered steps

2009-02-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

Got to go spend time and J and R house before I left on this trip, and they were telling me about a sweet Chinese girl that is living with Tracy for a year. She got to come to J and R house and experience a lot of 'first times' with fun things you can do on a house with a lot of land -- like riding four wheelers and shooting guns.

Well, at the dodgeball tournament a few days before I left, Tracy gave me Baihong's information who lives in a town near where I was visiting for the New Year.

I am so thankful that I got to spend time with this strong, smart, caring, hospitable, Chrstian woman.

Well, 'the link' I have yet to meet is CiCi, her daughter. Looking forward to having dinner with her when I return.

eat more

2009-02-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

...and that's me saying "chicken."

Niu Yang ge

2009-01-29T08:01:00.000-08:00

The spitting, burping, and pushing I could do without. But it is things like this that fascinate me: Driving out of the snowy mountains I asked if we could stop the car to see what was going on in a small village we were approaching. Getting out of the car- camera in hand - I was overwhelmed with the sight of colorful outfits and smiling faces. The pounding of a drum was coming from the bed of a truck that was driven into the outside area where the dances where taking place. I asked if I could come into the area and take a few pictures, and the people of this small northern town could not have been happier or more proud to have a 'la wai' (foreigner) be so interested in their spring festival traditions and culture.

They offered me a platter of candy and cigarettes, of which I took a piece of candy. The teenager offering the platter looked up at me worried it seemed as though I had not taken as much as she wanted me to -- and I questioned myself, "should I take a few pieces more or a cigarette to make them feel as though I have partaken the fullness of their generosity, or just this one piece of candy (all that I want and need) so that the others can enjoy the treats?"-- with my best smile of reassurance that this was more than enough for me, I gave a polite nod and bow, as the girl sheepishly smiled back.

I learned that this is called "Niu Yang ge"- traditional dances from the Northern Provences. I found the energy and excitement there brought about emotions that made me not want to leave. But alas, Baihong was waiting for us to continue our journey to Shenyang.

mountain (meng)

2009-01-28T02:56:00.000-08:00

on the way to the mountain, we got caught in a lamb jam...

Nuo Nuo starting early perfecting her peace signs

the mountaineers: Uncle "Shoo Shoo", Aunt Yu Fen, Angela, Yuanyuan, and Nuonuo (oh and me...photographer)

we made it back...

ni ga ha na? (dongbei hua-for what are you doing?)

2009-01-27T01:09:00.000-08:00

Angela making the green beans for another big lunch!

Yuanyuan standing a the red store front

we have been shooting off lots of bottle rockets, cooking, eating, and more mahjong!

The 'Niu' Year

2009-01-26T02:52:00.000-08:00

is what you call it because it is the year of the cow and "niu" is the word for cow. How appropriate, because at home we call it, "Happy Moo Year".

So far, it has consisted of: lots of people over - many of the Meng Family friends. I was told to call all of her father's friends, "Shoo Shoo" which means uncle.

Lots of jaozi:

an unexplainable amount of fireworks - they went off all through the night and most of the day today. For lack of time to upload my video--check out my friend Joe's video who was in Beijing for the New Year.

The men played "mah jong"

The women chatted and compared their red socks (all with cows on them--of course) my foot is turned out with the 'bamboo green' long johns.

and the teenagers watched jackie chan movies (his Chinese name is "Cheng Long") in chinese with chinese subtitles.

Happy Niu Year!

new years eve numero dos

2009-01-24T23:34:00.000-08:00

There was a one hour delay in Seoul because of the winter wonderland at hand.

But it was oh so grand to come around the corner-out of customs- and see Angela in the crowd waving her hand.

To Angela's house we go! Her father has a factory down the street and they (including her brother-17 and sister-20) live above her mother's restaurant. I slept hard last night, and it has been a full morning of preparing for the New Years Eve celebration tonight.

Red banners and signs go above, on, and on either side of all the doors. The door to the restaurant, the door to their living quarters above, the back door, and the garage. The ladies, A, her sister, her mother, her mother's sister and I have been making bread, jaozi (dumplings), fish, and cucumber salad. When the clock strikes 12 am tonight, we will be setting off the stack of fireworks "li hua" that where in the garage when we opened it this morning.

Oh, the second to last picture is of the fish we made out of dough. Fish is a symbol of prosperity. Angela made an octopus, I made a larger than life goldfish looking thing.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U3pSQnzoGA

wonderland

2009-01-24T02:09:00.000-08:00

Beautiful snow is falling in Seoul. I only hope it does not delay the flight. Looking forward to seeing my Angel soon. Up next: the Chinese Lunar New Year. DongBei style. Say "guo nian hao" to your Chinese friends on Jan 25th.

2008-12-01T18:30:00.001-08:00

I am back over here: www.iamthird.wordpress.com

time flies like an arrow...

2008-11-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

my family knows the rest to this saying :)

I CANNOT believe it! My adventure is almost over. I have learned so much, seen amazing places, and met even more amazing people. God is good.

Road trip!

2008-11-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

DVDs….check!
Snacks….check
Cooler with CocaCola beverages…check!

   Girls weekend to the beach! I went to one class with Angela on Friday—Heath class. It was one the 8th floor, no elevators. I felt like I was back in high school, even though she is in her Junior year of college. The teacher turned on music before class began. Angela and I are similar in that we are both note takers. Once class began, she was writing away—I loved to watch her pen move so quickly and accurately drawing the Chinese characters. During the 15 min bathroom break, I got to meet one of her fellow classmates who is from the city in Shandong I was in for a semester four years ago. When class resumed, the boy sitting behind me began passing notes with us and asking me to give him an English name. Zhang Qingbao is now Zachary.
   After grabbing a quick lunch, Sabrina and the driver picked up outside her apartment/dorm building. With our snacks, drinks, and DVDs we were off! Three hours later we were in the beautiful Sanya! Sabrina went to stay with her in laws and Angela and I changed into our swimsuits and headed straight for the beach! White, white sand and clear water. Then we swam laps in the pool, before calling it a night after relaxing in the hot tub.
   The next day, we stayed at the beach from sun up to sun down and it was amazing! Relaxing, people watching, played volleyball once in the morning and once in the afternoon. We were the only girls getting out to play, and we were pretty good if I don’t say so myself—I think the guys thought we would be an easy win, but with one guy on our team, we beat the three other guys with no problem. Angela is a great volleyball player. I was the only “wai guo ren” (foreigner) on the court, so my Chinese counting and “sports talk” got a little better after all that playing! ☺
   Yummy Western style dinner last night. Angela and I realized that this is only the second time we have ever eaten Western food together. Once was in Beijing when we went to a taco place. I really enjoy most Chinese food, and the whole lazy susan everyone sharing concept-- but I have to say it was a relief to get to order my own plate and eat it with a fork! I helped Angela order pasta, this is only the second time she has had it before. Cute shot of her eating her spaghetti:

signage

2008-11-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

my guess is the fire extinguisher is behind here?:

uh...maybe I have been passing out too many BOG's here?? I just haven't gotten why a restaurant serving fusion food is using cows to promote it. But then again, the Chinese people have a hard time when I try to tell them what the cfa cows message stands for.

Or are they promoting the cows ability to share responsibility in holding the sign?

when I was staying here:

2008-11-06T10:04:00.000-08:00

in Koh Samui (I can't believe it was almost three weeks ago-time goes by so quickly!)

I read the book "The Kitchen God's Wife" by Amy Tan. It was a great book to read before going to Shanghai because parts of it took place in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution. There was a quote that said "why do some memories live only on your tongue or in your nose?"

I experienced that today at lunch when we went to a "Dong Bei" restaurant. "Dong Bei" is the part of China Angela is from. She was very excited for me to try her "home town" dishes.

The dishes we ordered were similar to what I often ate 4 years ago in Shandong. The garlic sauce for the jaozi, the eggplant dish, and the caramelized sweet potatoes all brought back such vivid memories of my time in Shandong. Interesting to me that food can do that.

gotta love the sideways peace sign.

coke family

2008-11-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

CocaCola girls:

I am 13 . 2 Fanta cans tall in case you cant tell:

Shout out to the ATL :

how to eat this crazy fruit

2008-11-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

1st, be careful of the spikes:

and don't eat the seed:

yea for new fruits :)

reunited

2008-11-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

look what she has on her desk:

I don't know if you still read this evan, but you had her at "Bei-Bei"

hospitality at its best

2008-11-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

being from the south, i feel i have a pretty good grip on hospitality. i need to rephrase that: I thought I had a good grip on hospitality--the ladies of Hainan have a lesson or two for southerners! They picked me up at the airport, got me checked in, left a basket of local fruits, stocked me up with cocacola products, and filled my tummy with some local dishes:

Many thanks!

Live from Pudong Airport

2008-11-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

My flight to Hainan has been delayed, so I am waiting here in the airport. The people at the gate gave us our meals since it is lunch time. Here is lunch for me :)

Guess it could be worse, here is a picture I took at a street stand in Bangkok:

oh asia.

going to hainan

2008-11-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

hopefully the recent outbreak of cholera will not affect me ??? : ) : )

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/03/content_7169407.htm

another fun sign :)

2008-11-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

around town

2008-11-04T00:18:00.000-08:00

around town you can see the historical temples next to high rise office buildings. What a contrast.

Great day with more meetings and a fun tour of the Shanghai Google offices:

has anyone been to a Google office before? I hear the ones in the states are pretty fun as well!

election countdown...

2008-11-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

So, the last presidential election I had to absentee vote because I was here in China for the fall semester of 2004. I remember watching it on the TV here and the days after when things were not totally decided for a while.

Early voting worked out great for me this year because I was able to vote before embarking on my adventures. But, I just realized in my attempt to schedule my flights around the election day (making sure I was not flying on the 4th), I made a mistake because on Nov 5 in China I will be in an airplane on the way from Shanghai to Hainan. Well, Nov 5 is the 4th for the States, when the results are supposed to be announced. So, guess I will be a little late in comparison to the world on knowing the results of this election. I can only imagine how much the election talk is in the news there, because it seems to be all around here!

wordpress

2008-11-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

oh my goodness. so i just was catching up on some blogs and stopped and realized: I can look at wordpress blogs! I didn't know wether to be excited or frustrated. Here is the deal, I started out with a wordpress blog and got so used to navigating it, and how easy it was to upload things and organize on it. When I was in Beijing this summer, I could not open my wordpress account OR look at any wordpress blogs. (I think this had to do with Olympic security).

SO, when I started my adventure back over to Asia, I grudgingly decided to put up with continuing on the blogspot one I had to create out of necessity this summer. I knew that the latter part of my trip would bring me to China again, so I have been putting up with blogspot this whole time. When I realized tonight I was reading someone's wordpress account and I was in China! I was shocked, so I quickly tried to sign onto my wordpress account. It still WOULDN'T go. I don't understand. Anyway, I AM thankful I am able to read you guys blogs out there that are hosted by wordpress :) and look forward to finding a solution to my blogging preferences.

Spring

2008-11-03T04:59:00.000-08:00

I met Spring in Thailand, she also did the cleansing program on Koh Samui. She has a fresh juice shop here in Shanghai. She invited me over for a healthy lunch and then to go see her shop, 'Summer Crush'. It was right near Yu Garden, so we got to walk around and see the sights.

More good networking accomplished this evening, and another tutoring session. I have a full day lined up for tomorrow as well! Life in this big city is pretty fast paced!

big city life

2008-11-02T03:03:00.000-08:00

about 19 million people here in Shanghai. And I was strolling around with them in People's Square, on the subway, and at the Shanghai Art Museum today.

My tutor, Ding Jiayin (Jingle), invited me to lunch at a restaurant right near People's Square that has a lot of history. Originally opened in 1922. It was beautiful. Hui Wei (Hamily), Jingle and myself at lunch:

Then we walked across the street to stand in line in the rain for the Shanghai Art Museum:

A great day in the big city!

last years halloween...

2008-11-01T19:23:00.001-07:00

Ash and I call it our eco-friendly Halloween because we ran to the store to get the pumpkin carving kit.

The night turned into a pumpkin guts fight:

And ended with me being a piece of bubblegum stuck to a shoe :)

a little blast from the past!

2008-11-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

shout out to where I was last year at this time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Hm9EliugQ

Love you guys to pieces! GOOOO DAWGS!!!

Remember the signs she made?

2008-11-01T11:59:00.001-07:00

Remember when Ashley made signs for Passion? They said "Seould out Seouls" "Lets go Tokyo" "into all the world". Here they are on stage: 268generation.

Saturday

2008-11-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Met a friend for a lunch and a great conversation. Then off to a NLP: Neuro-linguistic programming preview meeting that lasted most of the day. More great contacts and took lots of notes. I will not be in town for the six day course, so I tried to soak up as much as I could.

Then...off to dinner with new friends! Kat is from Malaysia and cooked up a great prawn and noodle soup dish, as well as cucur, and bananas fried with rice flour. It was a lovely evening!

Always...

2008-11-01T11:40:00.001-07:00

...CocaCola. Got to visit the Shanghai office today!

Tonight I met with my tutor and got some great language practice :)

Next stop China

2008-11-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Shanghai. Back where it all began 4 years ago. This is the first time since then that I have been back to this city. Things have definitely changed since then, and so have I. Attended a networking event the night I arrived.

Great contacts and a new friend :)

Wednesday - The Agape Home

2008-11-01T11:00:00.001-07:00

I went to school with Adam at Biola. He got me in contact with Nancy who is a nurse at The Agape Home. This is an orphanage for children with HIV. Here is the wall of pictures of children currently being taken care of:

Judy and Nancy with the girls:

Tuesday...while you were sleeping...

2008-11-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

I got two calls from the states today! The Christians have a Vontage phone in there home and it is able to call the states/receive calls for free. Talked to "The Mill" and Dad and Luke before heading out the door to a BIG day.

While you were sleeping...

I hopped in a van with two girls from Argentina, Hannah from the UK and others from the states. We drove for an hour or so outside of Chiang Mai into the mountains. The landscape was beautiful. Thailand has two seasons: wet and dry (down south in the islands it is known as hot and hotter). Well, right now, Chiang Mai is in their 'wet season'. With all the rain, the mountains were beautiful and lush with all shades of green.

We got to spend a lot of time with the elephants, which I particularly enjoyed. Hannah and I rode an elephant whose name I cannot pronounce. She did a great job going up and down some steep hills and maneuvering through some windy paths. We fed her a whole bag of bananas--she would reach back with her trunk while we were still riding her back and blow air in our faces when she wanted another banana!

We bought the bananas from this banana lady:

she knew how to get our attention for the feeding:

that is one big foot:

family of three- like james, connie, and sam :) -cute little baby:

Anyway, I loved getting to spend some extra time with a mommy elephant. It was so calming standing next to her and petting her.

After this they had to pull me kicking and screaming away from these amazing animals.

On to our next adventure! We hiked to the Karen people's village. The Karen people migrated from Burma to Thailand 200 years ago. They are a village that lead a sustainable lifestyle-they use and eat their own crops and do not sell them. Mostly they grow rice, corn, tobacco, and soy beans. Here is one of the village leaders making scarves to sell:

With our guide, Net, we walked through rice fields, stopping to observe the crops, and learn about the bugs in this area:

It was so cool hiking through 'the jungle' to the waterfall. Again, I couldn't get over the beautiful vegetation in this area.

at one point we had to use bamboo poles to get down a really muddy part. it was so slippery!

Next on our hike we came up on the Hmong people. They migrated from China 125 years ago. They used to grow opium until the current King of Thailand used his own personal money to start a project to teach the people how to grow different crops like strawberries, avocados, artichokes, etc.

After visiting this village, we went to the edge of a river where we got on rafts made of 6 bamboo poles stuck together with a guide on the front and back. It was a crazy ride down the river, because with it being rainy season, the river was up very high and flowing very quickly.

I was pretty worried about this 'raft ride' when we were getting on, but it turned out to be really fun. Don't let this calm water picture fool you--the rapids were big, we all screamed, and we got totally soaked. There was one guide on the front and one on the back. No paddles. All they had were skinnier bamboo sticks that they would use to push of the trees on the banks of the river if we got too close to the edge.

What a day! Back in town, Judy took me to the 'thai drive thru' where this lady made Som Tom for us. It is a raw papaya salad that was so delicious!

Monday- House of Blessing

2008-11-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

On Monday we got to go to the House of Blessing--an orphanage not far from where Judy lives. It was so touching to see how loving the children where, and how excited they were to show me where they slept and ate and played. The workers too, have such passion for what they do and it shows. I met a nice French guy that has been there 9 months working with the children. You can see from this picture how much they adore him:

And of course, I had to do some marketing:

PS dad, I only had one left, now they all want one! :)

(You can see Judy's post from the day here on her blog.)

Last Sunday

2008-11-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

ok, so I am sitting down to the computer, finally have a minute to blog, and don't know where to start! So much has gone on this week and I want to share all of it!

First of all, I want to say that you know a sermon is good when you are still thinking about the truths you heard every day the following week. This is how it has been for me since last Sunday. Through email, I was able to find a Calvary Church to go to in Bangkok the morning before I left for Chiang Mai. It was so good to be around fellow believers and then to go to a great lunch at a nearby Lebanese restaurant--one of my favorite things to eat is a good hummus, and boy it was good! **shout out to the ladies I ate lunch with**Amy and Teressa--If you are reading this--please email me! I want to hear about how the ministry with the Thai ladies went and about the other contacts we talked about!

By Sunday night, I was in Chiang Mai. My new friend Judy and I got to go to the Sunday night market on walking street, and it was so nice to walk the streets look at all the things for sell and take in all the sights and smells!

Back in Bangkok

2008-10-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

I have to confess, I love blogging! It has been hard for me, not being able to blog as much as I would like to. So I want to catch you up as best I can!

After the week on the island of Koh Samui, we returned to the big city. We stayed at probably the best backpackers hostel in Bangkok! It was a great location too, walking right around the corner to the skytrain. Check it out : SUK 11

Erica and I took the skytrain to the end of the line and got on a water ferry---a boat that takes you up the Chao Phraya River.

We got off at the stops where we wanted to explore and see the many Wats (temples) and the Grand Palace. Wat Pho is the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok (built in 16th century- rebuilt in 1785 by King Rama I). Inside this wat is the largest reclining Buddha (I always thought reclining was lying back because of reclining chairs, but this guy was just laying on his side) :

I love that there is fresh fruit and juices sold on every corner! There are markets all over, and the streets are lined with tents and things for sell. We found healthy restaurants, I got a great Thai massage for next to nothing price wise, and found some fun lounging pants that are so comfy!

Erica is off- back to Chicago, so I explored Bangkok the next day by myself. I went to the Home of the American business man who was a famous silk designer in Thailand: Jim Thompson House

While trying to find the Jim Thompson house, I met a couple from Berlin who were also having trouble finding it--a travelers bonding moment--but we ended up finding it all together.

After parting ways with them, I took a small boat up the river to the last stop, I got off there to find The Golden Mount, another wat up a little hill. It was fun to go up and the clouds, sun, and view of the city was really neat!

I then took the boat back to the stop where I could get on the skytrain again. I went to a market called JJ's for short. It was endless it seemed! I am pretty sure anything you could want was there! I knew I was officially in Thailand when I was walking down an isle in the market with all these people around and look up to see two baby elephants walking by!! Wow, I took a double take on that one!

It began to rain, so I wasn't able to catch a good photo of it. Then I headed back to the skytrain. Guess who I ran into? The couple from Berlin! George laughed and said "Bangkok is nothing more than a village I think!" They invited me along to try to find a boxing match to go to, as Muay Thai Boxing is one of the most popular sports unique to Thailand. We found the place, but after considering the 'tourist' price - it was $1,000 baht more than what the Thai's pay! We decided against paying so much, and peeped through the gate to see a little instead. That satisfied us enough and we settled for walking around another night market before saying our good byes at the sky train station.

Koh Samui

2008-10-22T09:59:00.001-07:00

is an island that survives on tourism and their coconut exports. Luckily, we stayed on the West side of the island where it was very low key with a small group of people. Erica and I did a week of cleansing/detox. This consisted of cleaning out our systems by drinking fluids-water, juices, minerals and soups. It was an interesting experience, but in the process we learned about taking care of our bodies by eating healthier and paying attention to food combinations. Hillary taught us some extra healthy recipes and used a dehydrator that her friend built for some of the recipes.
As I mentioned, coconuts are a big part of their economy. But, in order to meet demand, they train monkeys to climb the palm trees and pick the coconuts!
I got to hold this cute little fellow—until he wasn’t cute anymore when he clawed Erica’s nose!

Now, meet Lina:

Our elephant tour guide!

rainy day on the island...

2008-10-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

Today I feel broken. I am tired and hungry.
There was a nice guy at the Passion conference in Seoul that gave me a dvd with a message about hope on it. I watched it today with what was left on the battery on my laptop (no converters here-maybe when I am back in Bangkok). It was such perfect timing to watch it. I needed to hear the truths said. Also, I opened an email from a dear friend who casually mentioned Matthew 6:25-34 at the end of the message. Verse 34 says "therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Wonderful how reminders come when you need them the most.
We only have a few more days to explore this island of Koh Samui. I am thankful for coconuts and good health!

en route

2008-10-11T12:46:00.001-07:00

to Koh Samui...

(sorry I haven't been able to call Mom and Dad, but I am safe and doing well!)

k-snacks

2008-10-10T10:14:00.001-07:00

This is what I was snacking on while I blogged tonight... the first time I tried this Korean candy I was at my home in Georgia when Heather let me to taste it.

let's go tokyo!

2008-10-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ashley made signs tonight for Passion, and Louie ended up taking them on stage to show everyone. Each city prays for the next city, Vancouver prayed for Seoul and we are praying for Tokyo-- where they are going next. The emotion in the place when Chris Tomlin sang in Korean was amazing. The words on the screen where in their native language and you could sense the excitement. Great night. Looking forward to tomorrow. Check out their blog : 268generation

I couldn't help but think about North Korea and China. They do not have these same freedoms to worship. Please pray for these countries.

Busan, South Korea

2008-10-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

See Map of South Korea here:

http://travel.n ationalgeographic.com/places/m aps/map_country_koreasouth.html

To be honest, I was a little bit worried about my trip to Busan (pronounced Pusan). I wanted to see the Film Festival and the beach, but it meant leaving Ashley here in Seoul (she is teaching at a local girls private school) getting on the subway for 45 minutes to get to Seoul Station where I would buy a KTX fast train ticket. Get on the train and travel three and a half hours south to Busan. I knew of one soul in Busan—and it was someone I had only talked to through email. Basically I don’t feel as confident here because I do not know the language.

Well, as I sometimes do, I ended up worrying more than was necessary. At the last minute, a friend I met on the DMZ tour emailed me and said he was going to Busan the next day as well. Mike is a Chinese-American from New Jersey who has studied Korean—so he was very kind to help me get around. We met at Seoul Station, got tickets and headed to Busan. Upon arriving we got oriented with a map of the city.

Jagalchi Market is the local fish market right on the ocean—that was our first stop for some lunch. Korean food is fairly spicy-but I enjoyed tasting the fish and vegetable dishes. We then walked through an area called Nampo-dong. In addition to two cinemas playing the international films for the PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival), there is a lot of shopping both western stores—like ‘Columbia’ and ‘Patagonia’ the sports clothes brands as well as street vendors who set up there stands with watches, purses, scarves, etc. I saw another foreigner in passing with a UGA cell phone cover on his phone. I yelled “go dawgs!” as we passed and found out that he is in the Navy, stationed in Japan but was on liberty this week—he is from the North side of Atlanta. What a small world.

Later we went to a coffee shop and put our feet in a fish tank for a “Dr. Fish” experience. Very interesting this Korean foot therapy—small fish nibble at your feet—eating the dead skin and fungus or whatever off your feet. It felt so weird! They would just nibble away at your feet and it tickled so much. Although my feet did feel a bit cleaner and softer that night, I cant help but thinking that something about it wasn’t very sanitary, the thought of other peoples feet having been in the same water ---or that the fish relieved themselves in that same water. Either way, I am glad to have participated in this Korean custom, and haven’t had any negative results on my feet…yet.

Liz is teaching English in Busan and is who I had been emailing prior to coming because her Aunt had got us in contact with eachother. I was able to stay at her place, so all worked out nicely. I planned to meet Mike the next morning at the Busan Museum of Modern Art---and then met with Liz and her friends who were celebrating one of their birthdays! Guess what? I ran into two more UGA graduates—they were on the field and graduating the same day I did in May of this year. Again, it is a small world after all.

Day 2 in Busan:
The Museum of Modern Art was so much fun. I really liked seeing all the little children in uniforms holding hands and walking through the museum. Also, there were middle school and high school girls sitting outside the Museum under trees with easels painting the landscape.

From there I went to see a film for the festival in a really neat Cinema not far away. Later, I went to the beautiful Haeundae Beach where the festival had more tents and stages set up for interviews with directors and awards going on.

The perfect ending to my time in Busan was walking along the beach at sunset:

crab fishermen enjoyed getting their picture taken:

and a sweet Korean lady approached me speaking in English.

She began to share Christ with me in English, mind you, this is not her native language. I was very impressed and inspired by this. I let her go on a little as I wanted to hear all that she had to say. Then, I opened up and told her about my walk with the Lord and she was so happy she could hardly stand it. Mrs. Lee invited me to dinner at her home, and I decided that I could take a later train back to Seoul, so we walked up the hill to her home. I was so blessed to hear more of her story, learn about her family, eat traditional Korean food, and learn some of their eating customs.

Mrs. Lee also told me about how her mother moved to South Korea before the war. Her mother cried often because all of her mother’s siblings are in North Korea, they still do not know to this day how her siblings are—even if they are dead or alive as there is no internet or mail allowed into or out of North Korea. It really brought things into perspective hearing a true story about a family torn apart. What I saw and learned about at the DMZ on Tuesday became real, not just an illusion of a country divided. The older generation still desires unity, while the younger generation--who are less connected to the separation--believe unity could be destructive to their South Korean economy.

After giving each other gifts, we said our goodbyes and I was off on the last train out of Busan headed to Seoul. I don’t know what I was so worried about, it was a great and safe adventure!

sked-zule:

2008-10-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

What I did today:

Toured the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. Cool and crazy at the same time. My favorite quote from the tour guide. Pointing to a hill 100 feet behind us "here is the area 1 million land mines were dropped right before the cease fire. But don't worry, no problem."

Me: really???

Besides looking over into the North, we got to go in tunnel 3, one of the tunnels S. K found that is now blocked off before reaching the cease fire line underground.

What I am doing tomorrow: 13th PUSAN International Film Festival (www.piff.org)

What I will be doing Friday: Passion World Tour will be in Seoul~

(http://www.268generation.com/worldtour/high.html)

In my inbox today: "Here are your Passion World Tour Tickets"!!

I had no idea they were going to be here the same time.

What I am reading on the train to Pusan: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

a little different from the main street in Siem Reap...

2008-10-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

clever or korean translation?

2008-10-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

Bulgoki ! (beef dish)

2008-10-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

Every restaurant has baseball on the TV. This one was playing the Sydney 2000 Korea v Japan

the perfect serve?

korean gas station

2008-10-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

efficient use of space? I dont know if you can tell from the picture but the pumps are lowered from the ceiling. My only question: is the gas stored on the roof?

Legends of the FALL

2008-10-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up and opened the window- the air was cool and so fall-ish! I snapped this photo on the street in Korea and caught some of the fallen leaves as a lady walked by. For the most part the trees are still green here. Are the leaves changing yet there?

Mostly in the fall I think of sweaters, the geese flying in and landing on the lake, the changing color of leaves, football, and fires.

Here, so far fall has been: leaving the window open, a long sleeve shirt, strolling down the street, and the baristas in coffee and doughnut shops with witch hats and pumpkin decorations for Halloween. Who knew Halloween was so big over seas?

Shuang for life...

2008-10-05T08:20:00.001-07:00

I learned so much from working with and traveling with these girls!

Eater Meter:

2008-10-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Breakfast was Dunkin Doughnuts when I got into the Seoul airport--I choose a powdered doughnut with strawberry filling!

Lunch- sticky rice, chicken and Korean dumplings (squid, seaweed, and shrimp inside)

Dinner was BBQ chicken wraps and salad. Dessert : Belgium waffles with icecream! Ashley tells me a tradition she has with her dad is going to the CFA Dwarf House and getting waffles with icedream on top!

K-town scuppernong

2008-10-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

First of all, if I were to spell it like I say it, it would be: scuppinon

But, we just looked it up:

scuppernong |ˈskəpərˌnä ng; -ˌnə ng |
noun
a variety of the muscadine grape native to the basin of the Scuppernong River in North Carolina.

Korean scuppernongs are what we're snacking on while we blog :) ...thinking of you Mark!

Seoul Sistas!

2008-10-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Live blogging from South Korea! Ashley (is not naked in this picture) is here for a year teaching English--she is from Griffin-- we went to college together. Today we went to Church, rode the subway and bus, cooked lunch, shopped and talked. Fall is in the air here, as I am sure it is in full form in Georgia. Take in the crisp air and changing leaves for me!

An yang ha say yo = Hello

Cam sam nii da = Thank you

(Heather I'm quizzing Losiah when I get back!)

beautiful people, beautiful kids.

2008-10-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

I am amazed at how green everything is here. Looking out you see mountains with all different shades of green. You can see rice fields with green shoots coming up out of the water. "The rice fields give the people much more than rice", Chath told us. "They offer crabs and frogs for eating as well." This country is 90% Buddhist and there are many buddha statues and incense burning. The expats are mainly French and Australian.

how to gas up your 'tuk-tuk'

2008-10-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

stop at the station:

nice lady brings pepsi bottle full of gas:

attach the hose and lift the funnel:

fill 'er up!

and there you have a Cambodian gas station

Siem Reap

2008-10-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Sophie in our 'tuk-tuk' for the day

kids playing in the water after the rain-little boy eating flower

a child in Angkor Wat

outside Angkor Wat--one the of ancient temples in Cambodia

Icecream!

2008-09-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

Beats peanuts any day! Korean Air is doing snack time RIGHT. First of all my experience with China icecream is, well…lets just say one of the flavors—I kid you not—is red bean. Ok so picture red bean flavored icecream on a stick and you have what I am used to for Asia icecream. Now…fastforward to the plane today. The nice Korean ladies with their teal outfits and stiff neck ties offer me icecream. It was ‘Red Carpet Cheesecake’. It was soo yummy. There were chucks of REAL cheesecake in there with strawberry swirl stuff. If you can imagine how excited my face looked during my first icecream-on-airplane experience….you should have seen the little Korean kid’s face sitting next to me after his mom fed him two cups of it! ☺

what I did on a plane for 14 hours besides sleep...

2008-09-29T03:58:00.000-07:00

Jess---guess what I watched on the plane?? Celine Dion’s ‘A New Day’ performance. The lady next to me gave me some funny looks but I couldn’t help using my water bottle as a microphone and mouthing the words along—wish you had been sitting next to me!! ☺

Thank you B & V for your encouraging voicemail!

today...

2008-09-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

...I went to the same gate that I went to when I got on this plane on July 9th. I am in the same internet cafe in the Seoul airpot that I was when I posted this picture before. But this time the second leg is not taking me to Beijing. Cambodia and Thailand here I come!

I am so excited to embark on this journey--using my savings, love of people and places, and the prospect of a job to fuel my trip--I covet your prayers for safety of person and things and logistics of transportation and housing.

((ps. mom and dad- two seats open next to me, I laid down...out of the 14 hours, I slept on and off for about 10 hours--that could be a personal best for me so far))

back in action

2008-09-29T02:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday- said bye to J,C, & S, and so good to see Amy before she left. Keep up with her here. Yes, Max, I made sure I early VOTED :)

Friday- Swing danced in the basement under the disco ball

Saturday- golfed, went to a birthday party, and cheered for the bulldogs

Four years ago, I was in China when this little lady was born. She's growing up:

her brother is one:

Fun times with Jess!

and I love Seth!

HOME

2008-09-19T02:36:00.000-07:00

SWEET

HOME

dont know where to start

2008-09-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

....so much has gone on! Last night I got to watch the closing ceremonies from the TV in the VIP lounges and then go on the balcony to see the fireworks!

Today--with the Shuang Experience Center interns (i worked with previously) --we took a tour of old Hutong's today in a rickshaw! :) Got to visit the home of a Chinese man who had lived there in his 200 yr old Hutong home for 55 years. He was so warm spirited. I would have like to have tea with him and listen to stories of how Beijing has changed over the years.

We had a big intern lunch at a Sichuan Restaurant--- it was so fun and lots of toasts and cheering. The smiling faces and laughter filled my soul. We watched the video of the summer with photos and footage--(I can't wait to show you family--it will be my only way to 'tour' you through the Experience Center, as they began tearing the building down today!! : (

Our bosses spoke and gave out certificates, then there was a lot of crying and hugging. It was heartbreaking to see some of the guys getting teary eyed too. What an amazing summer for us. What an amazing summer for China. Well done Beijing!

I'm off to pack.

egg craft

2008-09-16T00:16:00.000-07:00

this guy carves into the hollow eggs with a small knife. this picture doesn't do it justice, but he was able to do this mans face from the picture!

this morning

2008-09-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

We were having some computer trouble. So we took this as anopportunity for a ipod/picture time break.

Then one of the guys was so sweet...he brought us coffee! :)

"we have to drink it out of the hole because he forgot to bring the suck pipe" -Chelsea

better known as a straw .... :)

My Beijing Birthday

2008-09-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Last night at the Shuang Center - Howard (a manager and friend) had a showing of a documentary he made. You can check it out here: http://www.mybeijingbirthday.com/index1.php#trailer

lovin' the watercube

2008-09-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

pics

2008-09-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Things are busy. Great times, great people, great fun.

USA vs China wheelchair rugby

cute kid in the park- American flag pin

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival was tonight. Great dinner with friends and beautiful walk through hutong buildings of old Beijing :)

kebab, anyone?

2008-09-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

what's the craziest thing you've eaten?

china athletes

2008-09-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

i met her the other day...

2008-09-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

...now she's a Champion!

Fifty-two-year-old Barbara Buchan of the United States displays her gold medal in the awarding ceremony of women's individual pursuit(LC3-4/CP3) of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games cycling track event on Sept. 10, 2008. Buchan won gold medal in the event with 4 mins 15.848 secs.(Xinhua/He Junchang)

USA Mens Wheelchair Basketball Team!

2008-09-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

great great great

2008-09-11T00:43:00.000-07:00

So i see the back of a jersey that says "PEMBERTON" in the Paralympic Village. So I can't help but ask the athelete--any relation to Dr. John Pemberton who created the Coca-Cola suryp formula? And he said yes! That it was his great great great Uncle!

Thomas John (T.J.) Pemberton "drove an ATV off the side of a cliff and broke my leg in 9 places". He continues to rock climb and kyak--and is competing in the Beijing Paralympic Games in Archery. He was gracious enough to give me a ticket and I got to watch him, as well as Lindsey Carmichael, and Kevin Stone all USA athletes qualify for the next round in Archery. GO USA!!!

meet Kai

2008-09-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

A German Paralympic Athlete who is a 3 time medalist in wheelchair tennis!!

here he is talking with one of my managers.

That's a good swimmer!

2008-09-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

What caught my eye was the wheelchair beside the pool that had two prosthetic legs on it--shoes and everything. I took a double look because they were so real-looking. I lingered a little longer to see a man finish swimming a lap. I watched a moment more as he rested before lifting himself out of the pool. His legs lasted only to above the knees. He dried off and the proceeded to put the prosthetics back on so that he could get into the wheelchair. I share this story so you can get an idea of the amazing things I get to see around the Paralympic Village. Now, that's a good swimmer!

blind soccer

2008-09-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

Got to watch a few minutes of Chinese blind soccer practice. How you may ask? There are noise makers inside of the soccer balls. The teammates would make a noise to let the player who was dribbling in and out of them where they were. I watched for approximately 15 minutes. Only once did I see a dribbler run into one of the athletes standing as a post. This stuff is way interesting to me.

new office

2008-09-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the office onsite at the Paralympic Village:

There are two main cafeterias in the Paralympic Village: one is for the athletes and has three double sided walk in refrigerators. The Staff cafeteria has two walk in refrigerators. In addition to the behind the scenes paper work-inventory and delivery forms--our team is in charge of keeping these refrigerators stocked. So, we put on big red jackets and refill the refrigerators. My co-worker, Zhu Yinhuan (Chelsea) and I have a lot of fun! :)

pizza in china

2008-09-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Call in order - usually speak Chinglish

Step 2: Pizza boy comes on bike with warmer box on the back

Step 3: He brings it to your door.

Step 4: You open the box

Step 5: enjoy!

guanxi

2008-09-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yea for BICF on Sundays. Blessed by worship and teachings. Sang Hosanna. Took Communion. Thank you Jesus for this sweet reminder of your body broken for us. And for the blood you shed for all mankind. Good to reunite with the fellow believers here.

Made some good contacts today and on the subway I met the gentleman who befriended me on the bus ride to the 798 Art district back on July 20th. It is amazing to me that over a month later on a subway in a city of 16 million I run into a guy that I met on a bus. Anyway, he introduced me to his wife and we exchanged contact info. This may be crazy. But I feel a real connection to these people I have been meeting, especially the ones I run into more than once. I hope I am able to keep in touch with them.

Tonight after work, I walked to the Olympic Green. I got to see some of the interns that are still here and have not yet returned to school. You should have seen the look on Jason's face. He was so happy! Here is a video of him telling my parents hello before I left working at the Shuang center. *Notice his glasses are broken. They were still broken when I saw him today. I think it adds to his character. But if I am able to visit them again on Tuesday Im going see if I can help him get them fixed. Anyway--this guy was so much fun to work with and would teach me new Chinese words and I would teach him English words. Don't be jealous, but we even have a secret hand shake. Oh, there is nothing like Zhong Guo (Chinese) peng yous (friends)!

Breakfast of Champions

2008-09-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Its pretty necessary that I start my day with cereal-or at least something to eat for breakfast. So, I brought over three bags of cereal this time! This picture was taken last time--but the milk and OJ are the same I kinds I have now. But...this time I forgot to get a bowl and a spoon- so this morning I ate my cereal from a coffee mug and with a fork! Necessity is the mother of invention.

What's your go-to-breakfast food?

Beijing is rocking my socks off...(again)!!!

2008-09-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I had a good first day of work getting situated. I am now working in Venue Operations inside the Paralympic Village. The Village is where the athletes stay. There is apartment style housing, a rather large cafeteria and a fitness area that includes a gym, outdoor swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, etc. So when a colleague gave me a tour around, I couldn’t help but take a few photos with some of the athletes I encountered. The women’s USA volleyball team was especially happy to receive BOG cards! You may not be able to tell from the photo, but most of them have at least one prosthetic leg.

So around 5:30 I get a text message that there might be a ticket for me-and that I should call the boss-boss. Whoa. 20 minutes later I am in a car on my way to the Olympic Green! Because of the credentials the “Olympic” car has, we are able to drive onto the Green…ps this is very rare, and even more rare on the evening of the Opening Ceremonies. The driver was pretty convincing-and he even tried to get the car past some guards that were clearing the way for the VIP buses coming through--to no avail. But I was more than taken care of and was a short walk to the gate I needed to meet at. The boss-boss himself gave me my ticket and showed me the way to…the box seats. Whoa, whoa, whoa. How blessed can one girl get? Did I mention yet how amazing the Opening was?? I am amazed by artistic work of the director- Zhang Yimou. The colors, music, costuming and choreography left me in awe. I was emotionally moved by the wheel chair athlete who was able to pull himself up to the top of the Bird’s Nest in order to light the Olympic flame! A magnificent night- of which I am extremely grateful.

it was soo good meeting up with my past managers! (Craig, Erica, and Sohpie)

Below is the torch being lit- if you look in the top right of the big screen you see the guy pulling himself and wheelchair up to the base of the big torch.

good to see familiar faces

2008-09-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

Meet Chris from Taipei City in Taiwan. He graduated from National Chenchi University in June with a Business Administration degree. He was an exchange student in Universite de Catholique Louvain, Belgium. His English is quite good, as well as his French. And he’s got mad pin trading skills ☺. One of the few from the summer around because most of the summer interns went back to school.

How do they do it?

2008-09-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Made it. I am feeling more like a local, took a bus rather than taxi to the East side of the city-my part of town. But what I am wondering is how they have changed things so quickly. All the signs in the airport when I arrived were for the Paralympics, many of the billboards are changed and the Paralympic logo is everywhere- even the flags on every light post that lines the highway...they sure do work fast here. It was great to call some of my intern friends and surprise them that I have returned! (“Oh my! It’s a happy day! This is good news.”)
My Angel left me a bag of goodies at the front desk ☺. It included a moon cake and a letter begging me to visit her in Hainan where she has returned to school. In the morning I meet my new manager at the Paralympic Village.
In the airport I saw two blind track athletes from Canada being led by their coaches. I also saw a wheelchair athlete from France. I got to answer some questions and talk to the Canadians for a little bit. Wow, I am already inspired. The only thing I am still trying to figure out --how they are able to run their events and keep their lanes? I am being serious here…has anyone seen how they do a blind track race? I guess if no one knows we will find out soon enough…