12.13.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:53 am by Ann
Well everyone it is official…..i have the homesick blues. The last week or so I have been really really missing home. I am not sure if it is because of the holidays (or lack of it here in China) or if I am just really ready to go home. It is difficult to explain because I am having such a great time and I just love everyone…but I really am homesick. Yulin will arrive in 9 days and I feel as if time has stopped while waiting for him!! Ugh hurry hurry hurry and get here!!! =) We have purchased a small christmas tree and we have decorated it with sparkly balls and tinsel….it is absolutely lovely. It’s just I really miss that I can’t go to the farmers market with Megan and have some warm cider and pick out a big beautiful pine tree for the house….I miss the smell of pine!! We also buy spruce tops for our flower boxes….I’m sure Megans looks amazing! I miss decorating the garden spot with something wintery. I bet Deb and Allie have made their front porch look amazing and I am sure Denny has cut down the most incredible tree in all of Minnesota!! Allies birthday is coming up!!! Happy Birthday honey….we will bring you something special from China ok?? Last week I realized I will miss the entire football season….everything….not a single hint of football. I hope you will all go to my house for the super bowl and have a party and watch the commercials…..have a drink for me ok?? I can’t even talk about christmas parties…..it will make me cry I think.  So even though everything is lovely here….I still miss many wonderful things about home…..especially my family and friends.Â
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12.05.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:57 am by Ann
On Sunday I went for a back massage. This is the same place where I get my face washed and occasionally will have my feet washed and massaged. Sunday i decided to go for a back massage…..I have been feeling a bit under the weather and thought this would be a nice way to relax. Hmmmmm??? It wasn’t too relaxing. First I went into the room and the girl was getting prepared. She was so small…..very thin girl and seemed so sweet and gentle. She poured oil on my back…..it was freezing cold! She began rubbing my back and I settled in for pure relaxation…..breathing deeply and relaxing….when all of a sudden she pushed into my back so deeply!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHH that hurts! I screamed out. The pain was so intense I thought I would vomit…..really!! She giggled a soft giggle and said “zong bu zong”…..this means hard or not too hard. Zong Zong Zong!! I said…..too hard!!! So she said ok….I thought she would back off a little bit. NOPE not in China. This is the country of self torture I think…..no relaxing massage here. We must endure this pain to receive the benefit of the massage?? WHAT are you saying to me?? The girl behind the counter came into the room (she speaks a bit of english)….she said “pain will be good…you will get used to it….pain is good for you” Yea right….I’m going to upchuck my breakfast right here on the floor. I let her continue…..why why why did I agree to this. I kept telling myself “go to a happy place go to a happy place….pretend you are getting a massage back home”…..aaaahhhhh I am relaxing just breathe just breathe…JUST BREATHE!! AAAAAHHHHH THAT HURTS!!! Finally she had had enough of torturing me. They were actually giggling at my cries for help. At one point during the massage she held my head down and dug into my back….almost like saying “shut your mouth and enjoy this pain”!!! So she brings in this little rubber square thing….and tells me she will gently rub this on my back….not for massage she says…..to make my skin more beautiful. ????HMMMMM???? I don’t understand what it will entail but decide to go for it. Well what it entails is scraping the top layer of skin off of your back!!! No kidding. OUCH dont’ scrape it any longer!!! She says no no no this will make your skin so beautiful! “BUT IT IS MY BACK….NO ONE WILL EVER SEE THAT SKIN”!!Â
So….the massage experience is over and I have decided to not “enjoy” that again. My back is still hurting…..I think I have deep tissue bruising…..and my shoulders are raw….pink and hurt when water touches them. So I have decided that I LOVE my facials…..but I won’t let them massage my back again. I have one more massage to try….but I am hesitant….it is the front. So basically they massage my boobs and my stomach….YIKES….I don’t think so!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:00 am by Ann
I just thought i would post a bit about our walk (or bike ride) to school every morning. This is the best part of the day. Every morning we walk or ride to school. We pass everyone in the neighborhood and wave to say hello, good morning, ni hao, za zang hao…..just greetings in english or chinese. This makes our day so nice. Both CC and I can be crabby leaving the house….but as soon as we hit the sidewalk and see a friendly neighbor saying good morning….we cheer up. i have video taped our walk to school and recently took many pictures…..so hopefully Yulin will add them on here soon. Each morning we say hello to the security guards of our housing complex, then we pass the la mian (spicy noodle) family (they have a little restaurant where they sell spicy noodles….freshly made)….then we pet a little dog named Dien dien and say good morning to his owner Dong Xia….then we say hello to the bakery family…..and then wave at the guys in the hair salon…..then we pass a few restaurants and say hello to their staff working outside then we say hello to the street cleaning ladies then we pass the “bun” guy….he always says “good morning” really loud and happy….it is nice for him to speak english to us!! good morning is the only thing he can say in english! it is so cute! =) if we are walking we will buy a cup of hot soy milk from him and a warm bun….but if we are riding we just wave and say good morning. Then we get to the big main street to cross…..for several weeks CC and i would celebrate crossing the street with high fives and “YES we made it across alive!!!” ahahhahahah now we are pretty confident crossing….even on the bicycle (but I still won’t ride the bike on the street….only the sidewalks). On our way to school we always see CC’s friends….they will shout out CC hello!! After I drop CC off i pass many parents on the way to school…..so everyone will say hello or good mornig. So by the time I get here to my apartment on campus I have had so many hello’s, good mornings, ni haos, za zang haos!! that I just feel absolutely terrific. What a great way to start my day!!Â
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12.03.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:09 am by Ann
Just a quick update on our lives. CC and I are doing just fine. We are both battling a little cold that has gotten us down for a few days but generally things are fine. We have been splurging and spending all of my teaching money on shopping sprees and spoiling ourselves with whatever strikes our fancy. This experience continues to be one of the greatest adventures of my life…..and I hope for CC too. We have decided though we will never live without Yulin for this long again….it has just been too difficult. Yes we will be fine and we are handling it….but we don’t ever want to be apart this long again.
We are still riding our bike to school…..we will continue untill the weather is just too yucky! School is going well for me and CC. CC has made friends and her teachers are the absolute best. My students impress me more and more every day!! I can’t even begin to tell you how much I admire them all. The foreign teachers are still great to work with. I spend a lot of time with James…..he is the young bloke from England….just graduated from Oxford. What a fine young man he is. We have been working out and talking politics. It will be great to see where his career takes him as well. The Chinese teachers are also a delight to work with. We have met many Chinese faculty and they have been so fun to work with. The Chinese teachers are very helpful with my Chinese and helping me to learn about the culture….it is so nice.
We celebrated Josh’s birhtday last week-end. What an incredible young man he is becoming. I am more and more proud of him every day. What a treasure he is to this family. He is studying very hard but always thinks of his family…..me and CC included….he calls us regularly to ask how we are doing and to tell us about his school work. We only get to see him on the week-ends…..so we treasure the time we have with him. He is very tall and is continuing to play basketball…..of course he is very handsome too! I hope that someday he can come to the states to study. I think he will be a great business person someday….but we will see what he choses for his future.  He will succeed in anything he pursues I am sure.
Yulin’s parents are doing well. His father isn’t in the best of health but he is feeling much better. I know we have made the best choice to be here now. It is good for CC to get to know her grandparents in China and I know they appreciate every second they have with her. These are memories that will be treasured I know!!!
Yulin’s mom has been spoiling me with some yummy cooking!! Today she made a lamb stew with really chunky carrots. It was so yummy and I wanted to take a picture of it for Mecca!!! hahahahahha I just knew Mecca would appreciate this stew and it looked so colorful and tasty!! What a nerd I am!!!
Well I have to go for now. I will write a bit more tomorrow. Nothing too exciting….we are just trying to stay warm and healthy. We are counting down until Yulin comes to visit. We are missing the holiday fun….you all know how I love to entertain! It was good today to talk to Megan (of course….she cheers me up just when she says hello), and Amiee and Sondra and Don!!! Yesterday we talked to Denny!!! Oh by the way….the money truck wasn’t a Denny truck after all…..it was a DEB truck….a green Izuzu!!!! hahahahahh we saw it again this week. This time with 3 gunmen. But we weren’t afraid this time…..just breezed right past them on our bicycle and said “Za Zang Hao” good morning. ahhahahahahahhah CC said “see mommy they won’t shoot us if we say hello”!! hahahahahhahahah
I gotta go for now. Take care everyone. We sure are getting homesick…..but enjoying every minute we have here in China! I will write again tomorrow.
Love and miss you ~Ann~
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:50 am by Ann
Well the temperatures are getting colder….nothing like Minnesota or Iowa cold….but definately winter is coming. Before I came here I thought I would laugh at the winter here…..Cold?? yea right! I am from Iowa and Minnesota….I KNOW cold. Hah! Well there is one big difference here….they have NO FREAKING HEAT!!! yea! that is right….you read it correctly. I am in China….where the majority of our American heating sources are made! The only problem is they don’t use them here in China!!! It is really cold…..inside and out. In Minnesota it will be terribly cold….but you only have to make it from your house to your garage to the store to your car to your garage to your house….the house is heated, the car is heated, the store is heated….heck even the garage is heated (well not ours but some folks do)!!!! We only have to bare the elements for like 2-3 minutes while we walk into another heated destiny!!! Not here in China. They are PROUD of not having heat. I am not kidding about this. They just add layer after layer of clothing. So I am now PROUD of wearing 3 layers….sometimes 4!!! I have been showing my layers to my students….they all laugh at me. So here I sit with cold fingers typing on the computer =) My nose is cold, my feet are cold and even my freaking elbows are cold….better add another layer!!!!
I thought the way to battle the cold was light jogging in the house….because this is what Yulin’s father was doing every morning. Well come to find out….this is just his way of exercising. Who cares….it is keeping me warm. So I have joined all of the Chinese senior citizens and their movement for good health…..light jogging in the house and pounding my muscles with my fists. When I demonstrated my morning routine to my students they had a good laugh at that!!!! So when I return to the states I will be sure to share my “beat the cold” and “keep your heart healthy” jogging routine!!!
Everyone in Minnesota and iowa I have heard the snow is coming. I hope you are all keeping warm. But when you are nestled in by your fireplace….or sitting and watching TV with the 60 degree furnace pumping….just think to yourselves “hahahhahahahha Ann is freezing her ass off!!!”
Love and miss you! Keep warm
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