Erica's Thoughts

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone yet again. Time seems to be awfully warpy these days because it felt like Christmas would never come and also as though it's flown by as fast as one of those funny drag-racing cars. I woke up earlier on Christmas than I had expected to (as I stayed up rather late on Christmas Eve talking to Mom and Jeff and watching those dorky Christmas movies that come on every year after work) and made it to Sacrament meeting with Mom and Dad. Which was very nice and short. Yay.

After church, Mom said I could open my presents that weren't from Dad or Santa (aka Dad). Which meant I got to open cards from Phil and Stephen and Marie, my future in-laws. And a present from them as well. The cards were sparkly and fun and I enjoyed the wrap I got with my name on it very much. Dustin came out of his room and Mom and Dad told him he'd missed Christmas. Which was pretty funny. Afterwards, I made three delicious pumpkin cheesecakes to take to our yearly Christmas bash at Wes and Liz's place (a fairly new but awesome tradition). While those were in the oven, I started working on my bouquet again. Mom made a bouquet for me a few months back, but we both thought it needed a few more flowers. Mom got glitter all over her pants from the ribbon she tied around the stems. Isn't it pretty?

Mom made cheesy potatoes (I helped), and I texted with Phil until we left at 4:40ish for Wes and Liz's. It was a blast, and Liz made a deliciously moist 27 pound turkey for us to share. I overate but enjoyed every moment of it. After dinner we opened presents in a very chaotic way that was lots of fun. I didn't take many pictures (and left out Wes in pictures entirely), but Lydia was having a lot of fun with her new camera and taking tons. I'm sure some of which will show up on Liz's blog. And as she now has a camera, she has let people start taking pictures of her. Amazing!

Adelle was super excited to open more presents. She especially loved the Barbies Mom gave her.

Jeff enjoying cheesy potatoes! And Dustin too.

Andrea was our new addition to the celebration this year. I love her new hair cut. And Kyle's. Dad looks happy.

Lexie and Devin are such a cute couple! And I love Lexie's new Christmas shoes.

Jeff was getting a bit sick of all the flashes. As you can tell.

It's Lydia!

And Liz! She's such a good hostess.

That's a good smile Dustin has.

Violet adored the vegetables and fruit mom and I gave her for Christmas. She spent most of the evening playing with it in the kitchen.

Since Lydia and Liz weren't able to model their dresses for my wedding on Thanksgiving, I asked them to do so after Violet went to bed (because it didn't cross my mind until then). I have a picture of Mom and Adelle in their dresses, but since I'm in the picture in mine, I can't put it on here. Since Phil does read this. Anyway, Lydia is going to be one of my bridesmaids, and her only rules for choosing her dress (and shoes) were that she had to feel beautiful in them. And the dress had to be blue. I think she made a fine choice (though hopefully she doesn't get too much taller). She loves her heels.

Lydia's such a beautiful young woman!

Mom and Dad also got a new blue dress for Liz. I'm so excited for my wedding now.

And Liz looks very good in her new dress too.

Well, this is probably going to be the last blog post for a while (I'm saying that just in case), so I hope you all have a happy new year!

A Rant About K1 Visas

2011-12-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

Phil finally has his interview date scheduled with the US embassy in London on January 5. This process took a lot longer than expected (clearly, or we never would've hoped for a wedding in November) and has been frustrating because there really isn't much you can do when you get the ball going, figuratively speaking. It isn't like it is in the movies where the guy from the foreign country comes and marries the girl of his dreams and they live happily ever after without anything more annoying than an interview to prove that their marriage isn't a fraud. Not how it works. Sadly. If it were that easy, Phil would be here with me for Christmas. But he isn't.

When Phil was here back in May/June, we decided we would do it the "proper" way and apply for a K1 visa instead of just getting married then and there and going the other route. A CR-1 visa is what you use to bring your married spouse to the country. (Don't even get me started on how same-sex couples have no way of bringing their significant other legally into the country.) There are benefits and detriments to both type, and we went with a K1 because Phil would be able to work sooner (as he's the one who'll be making the money in our family as a pilot soonish). Plus then we wouldn't have to be physically apart during part of the process after being married (as can happen with the CR-1 visa process). A K1 visa generally takes less time, too. Generally. When we applied for his K1 visa, on average people were getting approved with the first step within 3ish months. Which is why we thought November would work.

Ha. How naive we were.

Actually it has taken us about as long as it normally takes (which is between 7-9 months), but when you're hoping that it won't take that long, it feels a lot longer. Especially when your significant other can't afford to fly over and see you at all. Or can't take time off work to do that. Or whatever. Spending most of your engagement unable to even poke each other in the arm for being mean is not fun. I would not recommend it to anyone.

Anyway. We mailed the paperwork in after filling it out to the best of our ability (though I wish we'd found visajourney.com earlier in the paperworky part in retrospect) and received our Notification of Action 1 (NOA1) on June 7 from the California Service Center (CSC--there are a lot of abbreviations). Phil then left on the 13. Which was terrible. But at least things were moving along.

Excited for my upcoming nuptials, mom, Lexie, Tasha, and I attended a bridal fair at La Caille in July and I found my wedding dress afterward at David's Bridal. Woot. We started gathering stuff for the wedding that we were hoping to have in November (as December wouldn't be possible for me thanks to my job at the post office). I hate planning weddings. So hopefully mine turns out okay in February. Everything is ridiculously priced for a wedding and as I'd rather use that money on living (and supporting my husband who won't be able to work for up to 90 days), I'm going for pretty simple. But I digress.

Time was just ticking along. Slowly. Then I got hired as a career at the post office. And had a 90 day probation I almost didn't pass because of one too many errors (I haven't had one since probation, funny enough. Almost like the stress was what made me mess up or something). There were some tears during that time. Not only was I stressed out about possibly losing my job and having to get one at Discover that would make it impossible for Phil and I to get our own apartment (curse you stupid student loans!), but there was no word from the CSC. And my fiance wasn't around to hold me when I felt like the world was plotting against me. Not a good time. Actually, it was a pretty awful time. But I made it out of probation at the end of October because I had a very nice supervisor.

And, fortunately, the CSC actually looked at our case on October 26. (See, all these files just sit around for months and months until someone randomly decides to look at them when there's a bit of a spare moment. K1 visas are technically non-immigrant visas and don't have as much priority. Bit messed up...) We got a Request for Evidence (RFE) because there wasn't quite enough proof that he had been here (we didn't send a scan of his boarding pass/passport/itinerary. Or really take many pictures with both of us in it). He had sent me scans just in case this happened all the way back in August. Which meant I could send it off as soon as I got the paper copy of the RFE in the mail on the 31.

I was sick and tired of waiting to see Phil. I'd just been through a very stressful 90 day probation and really wanted to see him face to face, so I told him that if we didn't hear from the CSC by November 11, I was going to buy him a train ticket and plane ticket to come see me. Even if that meant he might be denied entry because they were afraid he would marry me on a visitor's visa. He had stopped taking on new students and was out of a job, so it was going to be my Christmas present to me. Even though I planned to send him back before Christmas. I didn't like the idea of spending Thanksgiving and my birthday without him if the process was going to take forever still.

As the 11 was Veteran's day, I figured that we had not heard from them and was in the beginning stages of planning bringing him over on the 10 while I was out at a Korean restaurant with Devin, Lexie, and Jeff.
The text came at 7:01 while I was texting Phil a week after they received the RFE. As the CSC had been closed for an hour, I really didn't think we'd hear anything...but we did. We got our NOA2. Which meant the really long waiting game was over after 156 days. I had been prepared to drag my congressman into the fray, but fortunately didn't need to.

Our case was forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) and received on the 15. Which was then passed on to the London embassy on the 18. The embassy received it on the 23. I still haven't gotten a letter from the NVC, but that's okay. I'm just glad it didn't get stuck there waiting for administrative process. The whole visa process is incredibly racist. Those who come from certain countries or with certain names that sound "terroristy" (as I put it) have to wait longer than those who come from other countries. Not the least bit fair. Fortunately Phil has a very English name. You'd think that Britons wishing to immigrate to the US would have an easier time of it as they've been such a good ally for so long...but bureaucracy doesn't think much...

Anyway, as Phil has had nothing better to do since his last lesson the last Monday in October, Phil was very much ready for this step. And he's done it in record time for 2011, actually. His medical was on December 1. They make sure potential immigrants have all their shots. And get a chest X-ray. And are determined to be the gender they claim to be. I'm very glad I didn't have to do this step. His blood pressure was high (mine would have been, as you can be denied a visa if you don't pass the medical), but fortunately his doctor had been monitoring that for a while and after a followup visit with his own doctor (the medicals are done by special doctors who can charge a lot...), his medical and blood pressure history were sent to the embassy.

It was another waiting game after they got his information. I had hoped to get news around my birthday as to when his interview date would be (because that would've been a spiffy birthday present), but no such luck. I had to content myself with a cute bear he sent and a very nifty clock his mother sent over for my birthday. He got an email and a letter from the embassy yesterday telling him his interview would be on the 5 of January. I'm sure he'll pass. And have a visa in hand in about a week. And then he can come over! Hooray!

Right. Well, this is longer than I thought it would be.. I suppose the moral of the story is that you should expect a K1 visa to take a very long time so that you're pleasantly surprised when it doesn't if you're one of the lucky people. All told, it will be 212 days between when we got the NOA1 and his interview. And 206 days from when we last kissed and hugged. But if all goes well, I'll be able to see him by this time next month no problem. Which is good. He still needs to get his suit for the wedding :P

Birthdays and Parties and Pictures, oh my!

2011-12-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Eek. I'm now a quarter of a century old. Which is very odd for me as I've seen myself as 24 for the past two years. Why? Well, in Korea I introduced myself as being 24 years old. Which I was in Korean. Children are considered a year old when they're born and they turn another year older at the beginning of the new year. So I was 2 when I was 2 weeks old. As was Violet, coincidentally. Anyway, when I got back from Korea and was in Korean class at the U, I also said I was 24. Which was true at the end of my first semester. And now I can't say that anymore. Sadness.

It's amazing how fast and how slow time can go depending on what you're pondering, isn't it? When I was younger, December used to drag by so slowly I felt as though it would never end. As did the months before, actually. Now that I'm older, time seems to be paradoxically slipping and dragging away. I blame the government. No, Phil does not have his interview date yet even though the embassy has had his paperwork for like 20 days. Grr. This whole immigration thing is taking way too long. No wonder so many people come in illegally. Not that I'm suggesting people do it, but if it's this hard to get a visa to get married, it's got to be ten times harder to just immigrate.

Right. That's my rant for this post. I'm hoping that this rant will somehow encourage the embassy to make his appointment and tell him about it tomorrow. As long as he's got an interview in January, we're planning to get married February 18, 2012. Which isn't the November date we originally wanted...but you can't always get what you want and never in a timely manner from the US government. Now I'm done ranting. Honest.

Luckily for me, my birthday is a week before Christmas Eve (actually, I hated hearing Christmas music before my birthday as a child, but now I really don't care), so that means the annual Oates Christmas Party is near my birthday. And on my birthday when my birthday is a Saturday. Like it was this year. Woot. Tasha picked me up early on Saturday and we saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows before she treated me to pancakes at Ihop (I'd filled up on too much popcorn to eat more). I think I like the second more than the first Sherlock Holmes and am very appreciative to Robert Downey Jr. for putting out such a good movie for my birthday like he did for Tasha's with Iron Man 2. Apparently he likes us, as I already know part of Tasha's present for next year as the Avengers comes out near her birthday :p But I digress. We played on the Kinect for a bit and then she had to go to a wedding.

I got to see both of my grandmothers this year on my birthday, which was a very sweet treat. I was stupid and didn't take a picture of either, though. But I did take them of my adorable nieces!

Violet was in a very good mood during dinner.

She kept making adorable faces

My favorite is her new standard "smile" when you ask her to smile

Lydia actually let me take a few pictures without hiding her face!

Of course they were silly pictures... Gotta love her

Adelle really enjoyed the toys that Aunt Sharon and Uncle Forrest handed out to all the great-grandchildren. I love her new haircut.

I gave the camera to Adelle and ended up in a picture! Aaah!

She got one of Liz too.

And doesn't Wes look great? You can see Uncle Forrest sitting by the fireplace in the background. This was during his fun game time.

Liz won another jar full of quarters! I guessed way high. For future reference, there was like 700 something in there.

Mom won the overall total for the jars of candy/quarters this year. Go mom!

I had a great time and won some money to use to pay for my wedding cake. I'm having my cousin Shontelle design it and I'm super excited to see it. I just wish I didn't have to keep waiting...

Anyway, on Sunday I got to sing with the ward choir. Woot. It was fun. Especially since I didn't have to work (though as a result I get 6 days in a row this week...) After church I had Adelle and Lydia over to play my Disneyland game for my Kinect. I wish I'd taken pictures...but no luck. Adelle and Lydia did a great job dancing like princesses.

I took them back at 4:30 and got to spend some time alone with the birthday girl before all the other people showed up. Violet made cute faces for me again. I got a few pictures. Not many of her actual party, though, as I was taking video. Which I've included for your viewing pleasure..And some pictures.

Lydia is a great older sister. She was helping Violet see the ornaments better.

Isn't she just a cutie?

There's her cheesy smile!

Adelle was very cute too. I like the ribbons in her hair.

Violet loves her grandpa and her grandpa loves her.

What a helpful daddy!

It was a fun party for everyone, especially since Violet clearly had so much fun with her presents. She wouldn't get off the trike in order to eat her cupcake. Little kids are so much fun on their birthdays!

Look for a new post sometime soon about Christmas. And Merry Christmas to my handful of readers!

Happy Turkey Day 2011!

2011-11-25T19:21:00.001-08:00

Well, one of my most favorite holidays has come and passed again. I love Thanksgiving. It's a lot of fun spending time with my family before eating a massively large meal and pie. I remember when I was younger I used to try and fast all day before eating so that I could manage to eat more of the delicious turkey Mom makes. Yes, I know I was an odd child.

Anyway, this year I got to be the chef again. Yay! The last time that happened I was in China making experimental dishes so it was okay if I messed up. I was a bit worried I'd mess up with the annual tradition here. Fortunately, Mom was around to supervise and give me handy tips that kept the tradition alive. And avoided going to a Denny's like Phil suggested in case I burned the turkey (thanks again for that suggestion).

The day before I went to see The Muppets with Tasha. It was funny. Afterward I made three delicious pumpkin cheesecakes (one of which I've eaten nearly half of, I swear). Thanksgiving morning, Mom and I wrestled with our Quasimodo turkey (one side was bigger than the other and the legs were in the way of the lid on the roasting pan) and got him in the oven. I got to peel potatoes and sweet potatoes (and have a pretty cool cuts from using my handy new Titan Peeler), make stuffing, open cans, put Cheese Whiz into celery, and the like. It actually wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be. But lifting that huge turkey was exhausting.

Wes, Liz, Adelle, and Violet were the first to arrive. Poor Violet had been battling a fever all day and melted down about fifteen minutes before the food was ready, sadly, but I did get to play with her and go on a walk around the house after she asked to go on one in a whisper. She's a cutie. Wes took a plate of food back to Liz for her to enjoy while helping soothe sick Violet. Sadly they left before I got my camera out. So no pictures of them. But I do have plenty of food! Yay food!

We actually sat at the table!

Lots of yummy food. You can see some of the pies off on mom's desk. Lyndi and Lexie both brought some homemade and very yummy ones.

Here's the Quasimodo turkey after half of it was removed. Mmm, tasty.

Adelle kept pointing out the wishbone to Dad. And was very anxious to get eating.

She had the first plate. Yum! There are so many of us we have to set up a card table also.

Devin had a wonderfully pretty flower in his hair as we ate.

It's Veggie the lexitarian! Ha. Lexie looked really cute with her new hair color.

There's my aunt Lyndi

And Tyler, her very tall son. Very tall.

I love Dad's very cheesy smile. I only managed to get the back of Grandma's head...

Here's Jeff in a food coma!

The meal was good, but the company was better. After dinner and before pie, Mom, Adelle, and I changed into our dresses for the wedding. I'd post a picture, but then Phil would see so no picture. Adelle didn't want to get out of her dress. I did. I ate too much and it felt a bit tight :P

In other news (since I'm a horrible blog poster), Phil's visa application was approved by USCIS on November 10. Woo! I am out of probation and still have a job! Yay! And sometime soon I'll actually be able to count down to my wedding day!

Labor Day 2011

2011-09-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

As a career employee at the post office, I finally get paid holidays. Which is great. I got a three-day weekend even though I'm in probation and can't take any time off, yay!

As I've got this crazy wedding thing coming up, Mom decided it would be good to utilize my days off with some shopping. Liz, Violet, and Lydia joined up with us and we went off in search of a dress for Liz. Which we found. I didn't get any pictures of it, sadly, but she looks fantastic in it. I'm sure I'll be able to post some when I actually get married of her beautiful dress.

Violet did pretty well during the shopping excursion--Liz used a secret weapon. Cookie Crisps apparently work magic on toddlers. We weren't able to find her a pretty blue dress to wear as flower girl, sadly, though we did look. We found a bunch of options for Adelle, but she was sick at home.

Mom had to go to work on Saturday. And I got to do one of my favorite things--babysit my nieces. Liz won concert tickets, so she and Wes left me in charge. It was a lot of fun (even though Violet cried the entire time I gave her a bath) because those girls are so well behaved. Adelle and Lydia showed me Little Big Planet and demonstrated I'm no good at playing a PS3. It was fun, though, because my little character was dressed up in a wedding dress and veil.

I took a bunch of pictures babysitting--and Lydia took a few too.

Lydia is such a good older sister to Violet and Adelle.

I think Lydia became aware I was using my camera in this picture.

Lydia got this one of me. It's really cute, isn't it?

Violet loves her Elmo doll. It's really cute. It blows kisses.

Adelle spent some of the afternoon reading.

I love the look on Lydia's face... Violet decided to go after Cosette (the cat) and nearly landed on her sister.

Aww...Lydia got to be used as a pillow

For almost the entire movie :P

The rest of the weekend was boring. Adelle was sick on Monday again, so no shopping. Mom was sick, too. Sick enough she's missed work a few days so far, but fortunately she took herself to the doctor. And is on medication and will probably go back to work tomorrow, lucky Mom.

Unlucky Erica has to work 8 days in a row, though, as I've been scheduled for this weekend. Hopefully I'll get some good news today or tomorrow to make it more tolerable, though.

Birthday Bonanza

2011-08-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

No, there's no word about the whole visa thing for Phil. Sadly. I'm betting we'll get it later today. Hopefully. I've been wrong on my bet two times already and owe Phil 2 pennies so far. Terrible, isn't it?

Anyway, I just got back from St. George. Lyndi, who is turning a number this year, decided to celebrate by leaving the Salt Lake valley and inviting her sisters and any nieces along that might be able to attend. Mom's birthday is the day after Lyndi's, so she figured they could both celebrate together. I didn't think I was going to be able to go as last week my days off were Wednesday and Thursday, but the kind scheduler at work randomly put me back on a Monday through Friday schedule this week so I got the weekend off and was able to go. It was a lot of fun. There were 8 of us total--Grandma, Mom, Laurel, LeAnn, Lyndi, Chari, Shalise, and myself. I got to sleep on the floor. We went to Iggy's for their birthday dinner and Leann had the waitress bring out birthday surprises to both Mom and Lyndi. Who blushed. Which was cute.

On Sunday Lyndi made a delicious chicken salad with apples, water chestnuts, grapes, and delicious seasoning. It was yummy. We weren't able to find a decent price for croissants at Walmart the night before, so Chari and Shalise (my cousins) decided to go shopping. They came back with a wonderful surprise--a white buttercream cake with 110 candles--the combined age of Mom and Lyndi. It was like a forest of candles.

Look at all those candles! Chari and Shalise put them on in the car outside.

Here's a video of the lighting and the quick blowing-out process. It was surprising the sprinklers didn't go off!

This is the cake afterward. You can see a lot of wax on it if you look closely.

Here's my piece. With all the wax. Made it look really cool, actually.

Here's Lyndi. Sorry I didn't get a better picture :P

And here's mom!

It was a really fun weekend. Happy birthday Mom and Lyndi!

Blast from the Past

2011-08-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

I put together a photobook for Mom for her birthday on Shutterfly not too long ago. While looking for pictures, I came across some cute videos from 2005/2006. I was home for Christmas during my first year at college, sleeping on the couch (as Jeff had stolen my room) when I recorded these with a brand new webcam I got for my birthday. Adelle was about 20 months old. She loved to sing.

She's singing the theme song to Veggie Tales. And then the Sing Sweet Nightingale song from Cinderella (which was her favorite movie). This was recorded on December 29, 200

This is from January 5, 2006. Lydia apparently has always hated being filmed.

This one is from May 2, 2006. She was two. When I came to visit we'd practice spelling her name with sidewalk chalk. She could draw A's and L's pretty well.

It's amazing how fast kids grow up, isn't it? And how quickly time passes without realizing it's going. Of course, time is going really slowly at the moment as Phil and I wait to hear about his visa. Crawling by. Hopefully my next post will be about him being approved and a wedding date...

Fireworks!

2011-07-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well, July has nearly come and gone, which means I'd best update my blog about July 4th and 24th before I completely forget. Forgetting is bad. Which is why I bother updating my blog at all. The older I get, the more I realize that things just kinda blur together after a while so that you can't really tell things apart anymore.

Anyway, the 4th of July was a lot of fun. We had a BBQ, as usual, at Wes and Liz's place before lighting fireworks on the street. It's become quite a fun family tradition, and I look forward to it each year. Of course, next year Phil will be there, so he'll probably end up in a bunch of pictures. Lucky him. Anyway, we use Wes's grill to make kebobs, burgers, veggie burgers, or whatever strikes our fancy and sit outside and enjoy the heat while eating it. This year, Grandma C came along because my aunt and cousin were off on a river-rafting adventure without her. It was a lot of fun having her along.

Violet wasn't a fan of the fireworks, though, so she said goodnight early and went to bed before it was dark. And, unfortunately, Lydia was in California with her dad. Eating breakfast on the beach, the lucky girl... (I am so not jealous. Nope.)

Here's a picture of Kyle smiling. Wow! He does smile! He and Adelle had fun blowing bubbles. Grandma's in the background having fun as well.

Adelle was very anxious for it to get dark so she could see some of the fireworks go off. I couldn't resist snapping this picture.

Adelle stole my camera!

I stole it back! Just kidding. We actually made a whole bunch of faces at each other and snapped pictures of them.

Aww, Devin and Lexie caught holding hands!

Adelle is apparently having a great time.

I took some picture of fireworks on the 4th, but I think things would be a bit too crowded with all of the pictures I took. So you'll have to trust me when I say it was fun and there were a lot of pretty sparkles to watch.

Mom and I got to watch Violet a few weeks later and I couldn't resist taking adorable pictures of her. She was in a very good mood.

Violet loves her blanket!

I told her to smile and this is what she did. Adorable, no?

I might have possibly encouraged her to do this... This is half of Lydia's Easter egg. Violet now thinks it's a pretty spiffy hat.

Pioneer day, July 24th, fell on a Sunday this year. Which was fun, as everyone was able to make it. Yay! Mom made delicious sloppy joes. Pioneer Day is the day we celebrate Utah. On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young and a bunch of other pioneers first entered the Salt Lake valley and decided to settle here. I can't really imagine how desolate it must have looked, but it's amazing how hard they worked to change the desert into what it is today. We celebrate the 24th the same as the 4th--with fireworks!

Adelle was very excited again.

Violet had a lot of fun out in her playpen for most of the afternoon. Which is good. Here's a picture of Liz taking a picture! Woo!

Lucky Violet got to play with some snaps for the very first time. It was adorable watching her play with them. For your viewing pleasure, I've uploaded a video of it.

The fireworks came with poppers and little guns to use during the day. Lydia is holding one in the picture above. She decided to time Adelle running around the house in flip flops. I've got the video below.

Adelle wanted to play with the slow-burning sticks used to light fireworks. Devin, as the awesome uncle of the day, decided to help her.

Aww. Quality bonding over fire.

We decided to try some fireworks before it actually got dark as Violet kinda got fed up with being outside without running around like a maniac with her sisters. She lasted through a few before she decided it was time for bed. Lydia got to light fireworks for the first time ever! She did most of them throughout the night.

Oooh, ahhh!

Sparklers! I think you can kinda make out Adelle, Lydia, Devin, and Kyle. Liz's brother Phil also played with the sparklers. We had a lot.

Devin made an O!

Kyle and Devin lit two next to each other

Oooh, pretty colors

More sparkler mayhem

I like sparkles.

Purple!

I love July for the fireworks and I can't wait until next year! Hopefully Lydia agrees to be the fireworks master again

A proposal, the zoo, and Topaz Mountain

2011-06-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Okay. I'm sorry that I haven't posted the story of my engagement yet. In my defense, I've been busy. Phil went back home on Monday and I've been catching up on my sleep and moping around. Well, not really moping around. Adelle and I had a sleepover the other day, which was a lot of fun. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So...a few months back I told Phil that I'd never been to Outback steak house and that I wanted to go. So he promised we would sometime while he was here. After seeing an ad on the television about a steak and lobster tail special, he promised we would go...but things just kept getting in the way. Finally we were able to go without anyone else going with us (which is quite the feat when you have a family the size of mine) and we went off to the nearest Outback on the 31 of May. And we got there an hour before the restaurant opened. I forgot to look at the hours of operation on the site. Which meant we spent time wandering around a Macy's and Downeast store until it opened. I had a feeling he wanted to propose when we went to Outback, so I was glad when we finally got in the restaurant. It was nice because we were alone in there for a while.

Phil likes to claim he was asking me if I wanted dessert or not instead of actually proposing, but don't believe him. Once we'd finished our meals (which were delicious) and were waiting for the dessert sampler to come out (which had huge portions), he finally asked me if I'd marry him after I coaxed him a bit. And I said yes. There was no getting down on one knee and no ring, but that's okay. After eating, we went home and I started looking for a ring. Which you saw on my last post. I chose a blue topaz because I love the color blue and diamonds are too expensive in my opinion. So there you have it. That's the story.

On Saturday we went to mail in the lovely forms that will have to be approved by some kind government official for his fiance visa. So until we get the green light, I have no idea when we'll be getting married. I'll let you know when I do. Anyway, after visiting the post office, we went to the zoo with Wes, Liz, and the girls.

The Hogle Zoo is a lot better than I remember it being. Violet was adorable at the zoo. She really likes animals. Lydia was very quiet. I gave Adelle my camera and she went to town getting pictures of animals. And people. Except for Liz. She didn't take any pictures of Liz.

I think this is one of like four pictures of the two of us together. I like how Phil didn't realize Adelle was taking our picture.

Lydia avoiding the camera. Per usual.

Wes seems to be having fun in this picture. Liz was showing Violet the gorillas.

Here's the cutest photographer in town! Maybe I'll have her take my wedding pictures.

We found dinosaurs at the zoo! Scary! This one liked to spit.

You can't really see this here, but Violet was signing the ASL word carrot when she watched these little guys eat their lunch. It was adorable.


Violet definitely loves her daddy. And the zoo.

Now for the even more fun bit. Topaz Mountain. I love Topaz Mountain. My family has been going there for years and years. Even though it's in the middle of nowhere and there are no bathrooms (all my experience with squat toilets in China has come in handy) or water, it's so peaceful I really enjoy going. Around the time Phil said he was going to come and visit, I talked to Lexie and Devin about going to Topaz Mountain. It's been a plan of ours for a while. Devin loves going too. And, fortunately, he has a Jeep. I was a little anxious about going so late in the year, but since the weather has been so wet (I think Phil brought the rain from the UK), it wasn't bad at all. We got the Jeep all packed up. And then got in the car. And realized that there wouldn't be enough ground clearance to go off-roading. So we threw everything into the trailer.

Seriously. Everything fit in here.

Yay!

The trip started out a bit...inauspiciously. To put it lightly. We had no idea what was in store for us. But it was a fun adventure! The Pony Express was fun. But everything was so...green. It was weird. And it looked possibly rainy.

It looked a lot greener in person.

After the ride (which seemed a lot shorter than it did the last time we went to Topaz Mountain), we started out by setting up camp. It was really windy and a bit difficult, but before long the Jeep tent (which we had been unable to find for our trip to Craters of the Moon) was up and Phil and I went off to do some sifting to find pretty topaz rocks. We had gone a few hundred feet away from camp when we heard a terrible and loud noise from the campsite as a huge gust of wind hit. Jeff, who was further away, heard it too. And we came back to find this.

Poor Devin and Lexie were inside when it fell down. I bet it was scary.The rainfly, which had been on top, was ripped.

It seemed pretty hopeless. We hadn't brought an extra tent. But Devin, the ever resourceful handy man, happened to have a lot of duct tape, rope, and extra tent stakes at hand. He used the stakes on the metal poles that had bent like a splint with the duct tape. One of the fiberglass poles was absolutely shattered, so he decided to tie the tent to the Jeep and the trailer. They were also going to be our windbreaks.

Devin is amazing. What can I say? Les Stroud should eat his heart out. Anyway, once that was fixed, we started making dinner. Which was delicious. Not only can Devin fix a tent in a pickle, but he can cook delicious food in dutch ovens. Which is another reason I asked him to come along. It was when it started getting dark that we realized we'd forgotten a few key items--the hatchet, chocolate for s'mores, Sprite for the peach cobbler (it's still in the back of my car), and a few other things I can't remember. Jeff and Devin enterprisingly used shovels in the place of the hatchet.

The following day, Jeff went off hiking (I didn't take any pictures of him, sadly. His hair looks a lot nicer now that I helped him dye it a second time), Devin and Lexie went looking for Topaz, and Phil and I went off in search of the elusive big topaz that all first-timers are supposed to find. He wasn't all that lucky. We were camped up near the amphitheater where my family usually goes and there wasn't all that much...

On our way back home, we stopped down where we used to camp, and went sifting for a bit. There were so many topaz! I found part of a garnet, too.

They're so concentrated.

Sifting for topaz is very addictive. It's hard to stop.

Well, we made our way back home. Devin has his tent on life support at the moment. My sunburns have finally healed and stopped peeling. And Phil is now gone. I don't know the next time I'll be updating, but I'll try to do it in the nearish future. This is Erica signing out!

Suprise!

2011-06-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

Yep! We're engaged! And since we went to the zoo today with Wes, Liz, and the girls, I'm too tired to tell you about it here. Muahahaha.

Potatoes...On the Moon

2011-06-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, Devin, Lexie, Jeff, Phil, and I hopped in the car and drove up to Idaho, of all places. Idaho seems like an odd place to go for a mini-vacation. After all, there's not all that much in Idaho other than very straight roads, cows, and potatoes. But the Museum of Idaho had the Bodies exhibit going on. Since I was in China the last time they rolled into Salt Lake, I really wanted to go. During one of our Tuesday pow-wows up at the University of Utah, Lexie, Jeff, and I decided we wanted to go and see it. Lexie is very interested in anatomy (which is good, as she's going to be a doctor). She talked with Devin, and he decided he wanted to go too if we threw in something fun like going to the Craters of the Moon National Monument or an opal mine in Spencer, Idaho. We decided to go to the Craters of the Moon. I kidnapped Phil and we drove up to Idaho Falls after I got home from work on Monday morning. (I can now say I've driven to Idaho Falls. Woo!)

The exhibit was very interesting, though I would have liked it to be a bit longer. It's amazing the sorts of things people can do with plastic and body parts. The circulatory system part of the exhibit was pretty neat--I couldn't really picture how many veins and arteries are in the body until I saw them. Bodies are exciting.

After eating at a pretty good (but also very busy) burger joint, I let Phil drive my car to the Craters of the Moon and I rode shotgun in my car. I probably should have slept as I ended up awake for over twenty-four hours, but I don't like riding in cars. Even when the scenery is just Idaho. Here's a bunch of pictures:

It looks a lot like the moon, doesn't it?

Devin and Lexie make a cute couple. This is after our hike through a lava tube.

Jeff decided to hike through a tiny lava tube. Now you see him...

Now you don't!

And here he is on the other side! He actually climbed up and out of that side.

Devin, Jeff, and Lexie inside one of the lava tubes

The other side of the same lava tube

Inside the lava tube. He smiled! In a picture. Weird.

More hiking in the lava tube. Devin was our fearless leader.

Jeff and Lexie following Devin

And another smile!

Outside the lava tube. I think Phil must be happy or something because he's smiling again.

This is Jeff standing inside a tree mold. When the lava came up, it left impressions of some of the trees behind. Which was pretty cool to look at.

Hiking back to the trail after exiting the lava tube. I don't think Phil is smiling in this one because I don't think he saw I was taking his picture.

In the lava tube. Devin has his handy light on.

We went skiing in one of the tubes (which gives you an indication of how cold it was). My hands were freezing after getting down this.

Our lovely campsite. It rained. A lot. And was misty. And windy. And cold. But fun!

It was really windy on the top of the Inferno Cone. It was also a really mean hike in the wind to get to the top. But the view was spectacular. When the mist finally went away.

We had a bit of a crisis on Monday evening when the stove didn't work and we couldn't cook our spaghetti. Or pancakes for breakfast. Fortunately, Arco wasn't too horribly far away. We drove to town and ate at Pickle's Place. I had a delicious Crater Burger with olives on it. It was a good burger. We dropped by a tiny little store and picked up pastries and twinkies for breakfast. The weather was nice on the second day, though it was still freezing cold. Better than hot. I imagine those black rocks get really hot during the summer.

As promised, this post also includes coverage of the great Funeral Potato Bake-off! Woo! For those of you who don't know what funeral potatoes are, they're the traditional food served at funerals and church functions in these parts that include potatoes, cheese, sour cream, some sort of soup, and whatever else the chef wants to add. There were four delicious pans of hot, cheesy potatoes at our get-together on Sunday. We basically followed the same recipe, but they all tasted very different. I decided to try something new and put pepperjack cheese in mine instead of cheddar. They were delicious, I must admit.

Lydia did the tallying at the end of our little get-together. And Liz won. By one point. Mom and I tied in second place, and Lexie got third.


Although Lexie got last place, her potatoes went first in the line-up. I forgot where I put my camera and only got a shot at the end. From the left: Lexie's potatoes, mine, Mom's, and then Liz's.

As you can see in the picture, it was rainy. Which meant that my plan to take Phil to Lagoon the following day fell through. Instead, we went to pick up Tasha and then went to the Nickelcade in Ogden. I got an awesome bracelet and toe ring. Okay, they weren't that awesome. Tasha got some neat prizes because she's very good at arcade games, apparently. It was fun, and then the three of us randomly decided to go to Antelope Island on the way back. That's not really a trip I need to make again, though I have now finally stepped into the water of the Great Salt Lake. We saw an antelope. And a few buffalo far away. They looked like dark bushes. It was cold there, too.

My next post will be an exciting one, so look out for it in the next few days! We're going to Topaz Mountain on Monday.

On Stranger Tides

2011-05-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Aargh! Here be Tasha dressed as a gypsy. I mean, pirate.

Well, the big day has come and gone and now not only is there a strange English bloke living in my tent trailer that enjoys lemon drops, but I have seen Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The excitement of counting down this time wasn't quite as high, I must admit, because of that strange English bloke that has come to visit, but it was still fun going to the midnight showing. And dragging Phil along for the ride, along with Tasha and Kyna.

First things first, I'll talk about Phil. He made it safely to Utah an hour later than scheduled and Jeff and I went to pick him up. Admittedly, I was nervous about the whole venture, but after a slightly awkward meal and then saying goodnight, things were a lot less awkward. We haven't done very much except for watch television and movies, but that's okay. It's nice to unwind with a good movie, and the weather hasn't been entirely cooperative anyway.

Now on to my brief review of the movie: I liked it. It was pretty good. There were a few parts that were a bit stupid, but as it focused mainly on Captain Jack Sparrow, I personally thought it was better than #2 and 3. It was a lot less complicated. I was a little disappointed that the zombies weren't the eat-your-brain variety that I really like, but they were at least scary looking and seemed to be the right sort of hoodoo zombie one would expect. The mermaids were pretty neat, and both Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush did a fantastic job of creating their characters again. There weren't crazy lines at the theater this year because of assigned seating, which was a bonus. And no, I did not see it in 3D. I think 3D movies are dorky. Anyway...I'd recommend seeing it if you like Pirates or Johnny Depp. I don't think it will do quite as well as the other ones have, but that's just a prediction. I might be just as wrong as the guy who said that the 21 was the day that the rapture was going to take place.

Here are some pictures! Woot!

I told Phil how to put on the hat. I promise. At least Kyna's amused.

Woo! A blurry picture! I turned the flash off and it wasn't a good thing.

The rest of our week went well. Yesterday we went wandering around Temple Square and downtown Salt Lake. And today we had a get-together at Wes and Liz's place with the family so that everyone could meet the stranger living in the tent trailer. It was fun, and we were able to enjoy the brief two or so hours of sunshine before it started pouring again. We eventually moved inside and started talking, and now next Sunday is going to be a funeral potato bake-off competition, which I will definitely have coverage of. I promise.

Violet already knows how to drive!

Adelle is a good photographer, eh? Here's a not blurry picture of the two of us at the shindig.

And here's a random picture of Liz because she likes to stick pictures of me on her blog. Love ya, Liz!

Things are going well. I just wish I didn't have to work like Phil. Until next time....

Easter Eggstravaganza!

2011-04-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've been prodded by Mom for about six months to post on here again. I kept telling myself I'd post when I wasn't busy with work, homework, and going to class. Well, I'm still busy with all that, but Phil told me the other day that I need to update my blog so he could have something to read. Sorry Mom, but apparently a nudge from my boyfriend is more effective at getting me to post than your gentle reminders. :)

Well, life has been...busy since my last update. It's funny how the small things kinda just add up to become pretty big changes--like Phil. Who'd have guessed a year ago that I'd be chatting to a crazy English bloke on a daily basis? Not me. For those of you who aren't aware, I've met a man named Phil and am "seeing" him in the wonderful netherworld known as the internet. He's coming to the US to visit me in 24 days and will be staying for about a month. I've got a lot of fun trips planned for when he comes, so I suppose you'll probably be seeing more posts from me in May and June. I'm really excited, and those of you I talk to often are probably sick of hearing about him. But that's okay, 'cause I'm sure I'll just be talking about him more as these 24 days slowly pass.

Oh. My grandpa (Dad's dad) passed away in March. I like to think that both my grandpas are swapping stories right now in heaven where neither of them is limited by their body anymore. I went twenty-three years without ever going to a funeral, and I wish that record could have been longer...but I think it's best for my grandpa. His body wasn't letting him do everything he wanted to do, but now he doesn't have to worry about that.

I'm sick of school. Absolutely sick of it. It's all just busy work. This semester has been one of the worst semesters in college I've ever had because I just don't like doing the busy work. Fortunately, it's almost over. I just have to get myself to care about writing two more papers and taking a bunch of tests and it will be over. Hallelujah. I do not plan on going back to school in the fall. A degree in International Relations seemed like a good idea, but I don't know how much it would actually help me find a job I want to do. My dream job is to live in a cardboard box and write, and I think I'll be able to do that in the future if a few things go the way I hope they will.

Anyway, I'm posting about the Easter egg hunt the girls convinced me to have today after I woke up from a nap after work. Since tomorrow might be rainy, it was probably for the best that we did it today. I went all out for the girls again this year (unsurprisingly) and we had ourselves a fun hunt during the day. Liz picked up Violet in the afternoon and then Lydia, Adelle, and I dyed some eggs and watched My Girl. I'd forgotten how much that movie makes me want to cry.

Look how big that egg is!

Ahh...can you spot Violet's egg in this picture? She found it really quickly.

I think the egg fell out of the flower by the time I let the girls go for it.

Poor Kyle's car...it was in a pancake accident last week when two SUVs smashed into the back because they didn't stop fast enough. Kyle and I were unharmed, but his car wasn't. But it did make a good place to hide eggs.

I don't think you can see any of the eggs in this picture.

Violet had fun pulling things out of Lydia's eggs. That's her dog she got in her egg.

Mom gave Lydia some pig jacks for Easter. We played with them on the back of our hands, trying to catch as many as we could after flipping them up. Isn't her perm cute?

Violet was very good at finding the mini Cadbury Eggs inside the small ones.

Sideways picture of a happy Adelle! She got a bunny in her egg. And a necklace (not pictured), Tiana doll, and a special flower pot with seeds to flowers that attract faeries from Mom.

Lydia got a cute piggie in her huge Easter egg. I think it would make a good hat.


I tried using this "no spill" dye kit from Shopko... Yeah, it didn't work. The eggs we put into the blue and green ended up still white. Lydia cracked one open and discovered it was covered in blue spots inside. The green one was too, but it was called a Dodo egg and Adelle really thought it was quite delicious.

Hope you enjoyed my update! I promise another one sometime! (Do you like how ambiguous I was there?)

Frightmares

2010-10-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last updated on here. Sorry 'bout that. I find myself a lot busier now that I'm working and going to school. The semester is halfway over, which is crazy. I don't know where all the time has gone... I'm enjoying school, though. It's fun. I don't have any particularly difficult classes this semester, which is nice. I'm really enjoying my Korean class, even though it's pretty easy for me. I'm learning a lot of vocab that's practical.

Last Friday, I decided it would be fun to take my lovely nieces to Lagoon for Frightmares as they didn't have school and I didn't either. Unfortunately, Lydia was afraid to go, and jumped at the chance to spend time with her dad over the weekend. Which was okay. I'm glad she got to visit her dad and step-mother. Tasha was planning on going with Adelle and I...and then her fridge died. So, it ended up being just me and Adelle. We had a lot of fun and had a very special day together.

Before going to Lagoon, we dropped by Tasha's house to play with her new puppy, Bella, and go and get lunch at Taco Bell (they have some new sauces that are very yummy). Bella chased Adelle around, which was adorable, and Adelle chased Bella around. Here's a quick video I snapped (sorry that I moved the camera around so much).

After eating with Tasha, Adelle and I realized we were really hot. I had originally intended to take her to a hypnotist show at 7:00 at Lagoon. Jeff and I went the previous day, and it was pretty good. It was also really cold, and I didn't want her to freeze. However, it was a beautiful day, and the sun was shining, so we went to Wal-mart and picked out some cheap short-sleeve shirts. I think Adelle was glad we did this.

After the quick shopping trip, we went to the park. Adelle decided she wanted to go on the Roller Coaster at Lagoon. I don't particularly like it. I don't like wood roller coasters, because I feel like they might fall apart, but since it was her special day (and I couldn't convince her to go on Wicked) we went on it. I took my camera out of my pocket and snapped some pictures (though most didn't actually get her face).

This is us going up the hill.

This is us going down a hill. I like how scared she looks.

She enjoyed it, and then we went to the Carousel. It shut down before we could get on it, so she posed at a wooden cutout thingy. They had them all over Lagoon for Frightmares.

After that, we went on the Spook a Boo trail. I didn't take any pictures, but Adelle enjoyed meeting Alice and the Mad Hatter and a pirate. Her favorite part was at the end--there was a pretty princess who asked everyone who her favorite princess is. Adelle said Tiana. We then went on a hay maze (which is very easy to not get lost on), and I snapped a picture of her by a flower.

Adelle wanted to pose at all of the cutout places, so here's another picture of her as a witch.

We made our way to the Wild Mouse. She really likes that roller coaster. I find it kinda painful because of how sharp the turns are...but I smuggled my camera out again.

Adelle in line (the lines were pretty bad, actually)

I love how much she looks like she's having fun. This is on a curve at the top of the roller coaster.

We went on the train to see if there were any special decorations for Frightmare. There weren't. Mostly we just saw lethargic animals. Adelle took pictures of the animals. This is her picture of the lion.

Adelle is fascinated by the pioneer village at Lagoon, which is kinda like a museum of buildings and artifacts from the days of the Pioneers (which is an odd attraction at an amusement park). We went through all of the buildings. She told me that the LDS church only had six members to begin with because the chapel was so small. She's so cute. We went to the jail and I locked her up for a few moments even though she'd been on her best behavior.

Outside the gingerbread house, I snapped a picture of the two of us.

Adelle started getting hungry. I said she could have anything in the park. She picked a corndog. We went to the place with corndogs and I ordered a meal and look how huge the corndog was!

Adelle couldn't finish all of it, so she gave the rest of me and went on a car ride all by herself nearby.

Finally it was time for us to get in line for a haunted house. Adelle was very excited to prove how brave she is. I snapped some pictures of her and then we got in line for Psycho Dave's Junkyard (the least scary of the haunted houses).

This is Adelle before we got in. She was a little anxious because there were people with fake chainsaws that sounded very real walking around trying to scare people.

We went through the haunted house. This is Adelle after.

She was very unsettled by some of the actors in their masks, and not even all of the actors had been there (Jeff and I went on it the previous day). Since she was so scared, we decided it would be best to go home. I said we could get ice cream and play the Xbox. She agreed that would be a good idea.

I got one last picture of her after waiting in line behind a whole family who wanted to be torture victims hanging around Lagoon.

We went to my house after getting some ice cream and she made her own avatar for the Xbox and started playing Lego Harry Potter. It was a really fun day, and I was sad that I had to say goodbye to her and take her home before getting ready to go to work. She seemed a little disappointed that she hadn't done any Frightmares until I pointed out that the two things for children counted as part of Frightmares too, and that she had been very brave in going through the junkyard. She didn't scream or anything. I hope she had as much fun as I did!

Vacation--where I wanna be!

2010-08-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings and salutations! I am now home, wishing that time spent on holiday didn't seem to go thirty times faster than time spent at work.

I rather doubt most of you reading this are unaware of where I went on vacation...but in the off chance I've got readers I don't know about, I'll tell you. We left last Tuesday for Walla Walla, Washington to visit my grandpa. The trip was long. I brought along books on my MP3 players for Tasha and I to listen to on the way. Fitting seven people and all their stuff into two cars was more difficult than I imagined...here's a picture of my mom's trunk.

Cramped, no? Things got worse the further we went due to damp sleeping bags and new souvenirs. My feet generally didn't touch the bottom of the car the entire trip.

Anyway, our first stop to stretch our legs after picking up Tasha was Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. It was pretty.

Not quite as intense as Niagara Falls, but still neato.

We soldiered on to Walla Walla to visit with my Grandpa Christensen. He didn't recognize me at first--but then again, the last time he saw me, I had longer blondish hair. Grandpa has just turned 84 years old and is in fairly good health. He and his wife, Barbara, shared some very funny banter when we went to visit with them. Barbara made us delicious food, and it was a very enjoyable two days there, even if the hotel layout was a bit wonky. The entrance to the bathroom was right next to the second double bed, so we had to sidle past my dad when he was sleeping to get to it. And there was no breakfast included. :(

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of Grandpa. I always forget when I'm visiting with people. If I manage to steal some from my dad, I'll post 'em. Grandpa is great.

After visiting, we went on the road again toward Devin's favorite place as a child--Mount Saint Helens. On the way, we stopped at a restaurant along the Columbia river. It was gorgeous and had pretty good food--we ate outside near the flower garden. I got sunburned. Ha.

I took a bunch of pictures of flowers while we waited for our food. Here's one:

I love my new camera. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Anyway, after eating, we got in the car again and went toward The Dulles dam. I was excited to make dorky dam jokes (On par with "Two fish were swimming. They ran into something. One said, 'Dam!'") and go on the train...but the train to the dam was closed. So we weren't able to see huge sturgeon fish or the large turbines or anything. I didn't even get a decent picture of the dam.

Ah well. We continued on our way and took a break at Multnomah Falls, Oregon. It's a gorgeous waterfall. I bought some gorgeous earrings in the gift shop.

After driving some more, we arrived at Seaquest state park in Washington and set up camp. Dad and Devin went to work chopping up wood.

Tasha and I shared a tent. We went on a nature hike in hopes of finding giant slugs or Elijah Wood, but sadly found neither. We did find yurts, though.

I think I'll stay in a yurt some time--mostly 'cause I like to say the word yurt.

The following morning, we packed everything up and then went to the lowest observatory (where we couldn't see the volcano because of mist) and the Dan Johnson observatory.

Pretty, no? Most of the trees and whatnot the volcano knocked over are still down there. There's not a lot of growth, but wildlife is returning to the area. The lava dome is getting bigger. It was fun seeing time lapse photos of it in the observatory.

We hopped in the car again and started our trek to the coast. My family likes to camp at Cape Lookout in Oregon. It's near Tillamook (like the cheese) and has squeaky sand! Sadly, it was downright nippy...but Devin and Jeff were running around like hooligans nonetheless.

I must admit I did too. I went up to waist-deep water. And was there for about ten minutes before I couldn't stand it anymore. It was very numbing.

And my hair was wild! Wahoo!

Tasha and I went on another nature hike looking for Elijah Wood. Our tent had a round door, like a hobbit-hole, so we figured he would feel comfortable in it. We found a place to hide from ringwraiths, which was nice, but no Elijah Wood.

While near Tillamook, we decided to tour the cheese factory. I was very surprised by how busy that place is! I don't think there's much else to do in the area. I got some yummy ice cream. And cheese. And beef jerky. And two adorable cows that are salt and pepper shakers. I think I'll call them Parsley and Rigatoni. Maybe.

We went exploring along the beach to find shells and found a waterfall on Sunday. Devin and Lexie celebrated their one year anniversary at the beach! Woot!

And jellyfish. This one was alive!!

If you put your hand over it, it twitched. Jeff picked it up with his shoes and tossed it back into the ocean. There were lots of dead jellyfish too.

It was cold most of the time. The sun was hidden behind low clouds that seemed to be on top of our campsite.

Finally, we went to Cape Meares to the lighthouse. Some dorky hooligans broke the glass up on top in January. They vandalized another lighthouse and the Coast Guard figured out who they are. I don't get why people think vandalism is cool.

Here's a panoramic shot of the Octopus Tree near the lighthouse. Isn't it cool?

We packed up on Monday and then drove to Boise, Idaho. We stayed there for the night and made the push back home. I'm very much not in the mood for sitting in a car anytime soon...but I wish I were still on vacation! It was so much fun!

July 4th, Babysitting, and Lagoon!

2010-07-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, so I guess I'll update with some pictures and whatnot.

We got together on the 5th of July for a mighty fine shindig at Wes and Liz's place. Everyone but Lydia was there, which hasn't happened for quite some time. Wes barbecued us up some grub (and did a mighty fine job, though Dad wanted his crispy and black), and we spent some time jawing around a firepit. I didn't feel particularly good, but still had lots of fun.

Violet enjoyed the celebrations as well, and was in a very good mood throughout the evening.

That's a picture of Violet's very lovely mother, Liz, as she's making sure not to burn marshmallows for a S'more.

Adelle really enjoyed her gooey S'more. Almost as much as throwing snaps on the ground.

Jeff had a few issues with his mallows, but burnt is the way Lexi loves 'em! As for me, I prefer not to eat them at all unless I feel in the best of health.

Dad really enjoyed sitting back and relaxing. You can see a whole bunch of bits of paper on the ground behind him--those are all from snaps. Kyle bought a huge box.

Kyle and Dustin were very excited for it to get dark enough to light fireworks.

As was I.

Unfortunately, my battery died so I couldn't take any pictures of said fireworks. But it was a blast. I lit my very first firework all by myself! And taught Adelle how to properly handle sparklers. We had quite the row of fireworks leftover at the end of the evening, and then I had to go to work. :( Still, it was great being with almost all the family for the afternoon! We've plans to meet again on the 25 to celebrate Pioneer Day. Hopefully I'll have more pictures.

This past week, Mom and I have been watching Lydia, Adelle, and Violet so that Liz could go in to work for some training. It was fun. And exhausting! I'd forgotten what being around six-month-olds and six-year-olds was like. Eep! Still, it was great.

One day, Mom was kinda tired so I took over to let her sleep in some more and took Violet downstairs to look at some of my toys. She really liked a baby doll that I have, so I snapped a few cute pictures of her.

Which one is real? Just kidding. It's pretty obvious. Violet is much cuter and has less hair.

On Wednesday, since I didn't have to go to work, I decided to take the girls (sans Violet) to Lagoon for the day. And since we washed my car the day before, you finally get to see it! Wahoo!

Lydia definitely posed for this one. That's okay. The Roller Coaster in the background is the one that Adelle was terrified to go on before...but she went on it again! She was so brave--she only screamed while we were going down the hills.

This is a picture of her right before going on said roller coaster. She looks a little nervous, don't you think?

Though the line for Rattlesnake Rapids was short enough we went on it twice, Lydia looks a bit bored in this picture. She was playing with her hair. She looks quite lovely with it up, doesn't she?

Adelle ran through the fountains several times. Here she is very wet waiting to go on Dracula's Castle. One of the workers hopped on the back of our car and scared me to death when he tapped my shoulder. I almost screamed. People coming up from behind me scare me the most in haunted houses...

It was great being able to spend so much time with my nieces!

It's what fun is!

2010-06-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick post as I'm supposed to be asleep right now so I can work all night long. Shame on me. It's been a while, though, so I thought I'd post really quick about a few things:

1. I have a car! It's very pretty and a stick shift. Can you imagine me driving a stick? I took to it surprisingly fast, though. My car is a 2009 Hyundai Accent hatchback. I'll post pictures eventually.
2. I cut my hair! Mom got her hair cut, so I decided I might as well do so also.
3. I went to Lagoon with the girls and Jeff yesterday and remembered to take my camera! Wahoo!

Lagoon was fun. We went to Lagoon-A-Beach, but it was a bit nippy and then got downright cold, so we changed into normal clothes and went throughout the park.

Afterward, we went on a few kiddie rides as Jeff took our swimming things back to my car.

We even convinced Adelle to ride the white roller coaster! Here's a picture of her before:

She was terrified the entire time and I thought maybe she would die of fright. I've never seen someone so scared. She screamed the whole way. But she did survive, which was good. She's a fun niece. This is her smile of triumph afterwards:

Then we went on the Merry Go 'Round. Jeff and Adelle rode rather tame horses. Lydia and I went for exotic animals.

I named my rooster Ernie. He was fast.

Lydia decided she wanted to go on the Spider, as she'd never been before. We tried to convince Adelle...but it didn't work. So, Jeff and Adelle went on Wild Mouse and Lydia and I went on the Spider. She was a little nervous when I told her there were spiders as decoration...but realized they weren't scary when she saw how fake they looked. She liked the Spider, though it was a bit freaky riding up the hill facing backwards.

We met up with Jeff and Adelle and swapped. Lydia and Jeff went on the Screamer (I don't like that ride) and Adelle and I went on the Wild Mouse again and Music Express.

She had no qualms about squishing me.

We decided to take Sky Ride to the other side of the park. Boy, was it windy! I was attacked by a tree!

The girls and Jeff went on Paratroopers. I was wearing sandals so I couldn't. :(

It started getting really cold, so we decided to only go on a few more rides and then call it a day. We went on bumper cars and the two haunted houses. I had no idea they scared Lydia so much, but she couldn't keep her eyes open the whole time!

Both my nieces enjoyed smashing into me with their cars. I hit Jeff pretty hard, so I understand why they wanted to gang up on us "old" folk. Adelle drove all by herself. She was excited to have a car to herself.

It was super fun! I'm glad I was able to spend time with my nieces. I can't wait to go with them again!

Camera Wars!

2010-04-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

It's posting time again! Work is going well. I get to listen to music while I work, so that makes the day go by much faster. Which is nice. Eight hours of only hearing typing could make a person go a bit bonkers. I've been listening to books lately--very fun. I like having money. Money is good.

Easter was pretty much awesome. I had the girls come over during their spring break and have a sleep over. I let Adelle eat wayyy too much candy, though. Shame on me. She had a great time, though, so it was awesome. We dyed eggs. Here's a picture of 'em:

Neat, eh? The girls were very creative and put sparkly plastic bits on them. I made egg salad with some of my eggs. It ended up quite colorful.

So, on the 17 of April, my aunt Lyndi had a get-together for all the Christensen girls. It was exciting--there were five babies present! It was nice seeing everyone and socializing. Even if I did end up not getting any sleep....

On the 18, Mom prepared a belated birthday dinner for Kyle. She was in Beijing on his birthday and forgot the week before to get the fixings for his chicken-salad croissants. Wes (my eldest brother), Liz, and the girls came over. Devin and Lexie did too, which was fun. I got to play with my girls...I let them use my cameras (I have two, now. I got a new one last week and traded in one of Dad's old ones (my old one was way too old)). Here are some of the resulting pictures:

Hard to tell who took what, eh? Adelle and Lydia took most of them, actually. They're aspiring photographers, aren't they?

This is my favorite picture (which I managed to snap while saying Violet's name):

It was fun being around family so much this weekend! I love the spring and summer because it happens so much. Lydia and I are already planning our yearly water balloon bonanza. It'll be awesome! I'll take pictures an' post 'em.

Hope you have a great week!

It's been a while

2010-03-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

I've now been working at the post office for a week. There is a lot of typing involved and tests. I've never failed so many tests in my life :(. But that's okay. I'm learning pretty well, and should soon be on the floor actually keying mail. Ha. I work at the remote encoding center. There are only 2 left in the entire nation. The other one is in Wichita. There are really good computer programs that read the mail and spray on bar codes so it can get sorted...but sometimes it doesn't know what to do, so it sends a picture to one of the remote encoding centers and an actual person looks at it and encodes it. Exciting, no?

In other news...about a month ago I made a cool cake in celebration of Alice in Wonderland, which I saw last Friday. It's very pretty. And a little scary for younger children...but I liked it. The Mad Hatter was absolutely mad--but that's okay, because the best and most interesting people are at least a little mad. I wouldn't bother seeing it in 3D again, though--there's really not all that much that's like "wow" in the third dimension with this movie. Anyway, here are pictures of my cake.

It was pumpkin. And there were four layers. I made it look all funky 'cause it's supposed to be the Mad Hatter's hat. Obviously. I tried making Alice and the Cheshire cat out of gum paste, but it wasn't setting...so I used frosting instead. The stand is from our old microwave. Worked pretty well. I was lazy and painted Alice's hair black. And didn't try very hard on the Red Queen. But that's okay. Cake is an edible medium, after all.

Erm...in other news, I've been using Proactiv for about a month now. I like it. I've still got some nasty scars on my cheek from some major zits, but my face is a lot clearer than it was. Once I like my after picture I'll post before and after.

I've also applied to go to the U of U. Not 'cause I want a Master's (one in English would basically mean I could teach at college), but I want another Bachelor's. I want to learn Korean better than I currently know it. And I think a degree in International Studies would be more useful than one in English. I loved my classes, but finding a job is ridiculous with a B.A. in English. So...yeah. That's what's been happening in my corner of the world.

Wahoo!

2010-02-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

I've been hired by the post office! It's terribly exciting. I can't wait to start a new job where I don't have to deal with evil little monkey children... (not that most kids are bad, but en masse they can be hard to deal with.) I start at the end of February and will have very odd hours. But I'll have money again! Yay! I plan on buying a car soon. I can't wait.

By the way, I had to move my blog. :( Blogger no longer supports ftp uploads. And I tried getting it to work on my site...but no such luck. So now I'm hosted by blogspot. Until I figure out how to change it...

Pictures

2010-01-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

After the viewing last week, Lydia, Adelle, Jeff, and I played Pretty Pretty Princess. I took pictures this time and thought I should share. Adelle won (again). I think she's just really good at the game because she's a real princess inside.
At the end, we got a little silly as Princess Adelle showed off to Grandma. I love Lydia's look. And Jeff's. It's great.

On a much sadder note, on Monday morning my brother Dustin's cat Patches had a stroke or something. He was leaving my room to go upstairs and started making really odd and worrisome noises. When I went down to check on him, he couldn't move his back leg. And he was really freaking out. I've never seen him so agitated before. It took him a few hours before the shock wore off enough that he could sleep. I stayed with him all day and fed him. Dustin was at work. And I knew that he would want to see his cat again.

Monday night, Patches seemed to be doing a bit better. He had stopped panicking and could pull himself around very awkwardly with his front legs and use his other back leg a bit, but by Tuesday morning things had deteriorated. He could hardly move. Dustin made the very difficult decision to put him down. I'm going to miss talking to him during the day when I'm home alone. He was a very vocal and generally loving cat.
Goodbye, Patches!

The Missing Tooth and Cupcakes

2010-01-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

Hey. It's been a while since I've posted. Guess it's time I should post again so everyone knows I'm still around. The past few days have been very different from my normal schedule. Different is a good thing...but I wish it were for happier reasons it's been different. My sister-in-law's father passed away. I wish I could do more to help her...but as I've never lost any relatives, I don't know what to say. So, instead of just saying that everything will be okay, Mom and I have watched the girls a few times while different preparations were being made.

They came over on Saturday a little more subdued than normal (which is saying something, because they both really get excited when they can play with me). Adelle was very much excited about her loose tooth, though. She even called Tasha and told her all about it. I wish I had as easy a time talking on the phone as Adelle does. She's fearless. And adorable. Anyway, we played for a bit and then I decided it would be fun to make cupcakes. I've been debating as to whether or not I want to go back to school and learn to be a pastry chef...so I've been practicing by making cakes and frosting and fondant. I made a really good pumpkin cake the other day and put fondant over it...but man, fondant is a lot sweeter than I thought it was...

Anyway, we went up and made cupcakes from the box. They were white cupcakes, and both Lydia and Adelle helped me measure out the ingredients. We each got to crack one egg, which was pretty fun. Lydia did hers really slowly and Adelle nearly dropped her eggshells in with the rest. They then helped me spoon the batter into the cupcake pan. We made buttercream frosting. Adelle got bored until we started adding the powdered sugar. She thought that was pretty fun. They both helped me keep count of how many half cups of sugar we'd put in--which was good, because I would've forgotten.

Once the frosting was done, I mixed in yellow (it turned out more orange), blue, green, and black per their requests and we prepared to do some cupcake decorating. I was amazed by how awesome their cupcakes turned out. Once I showed them how to make flowers, they were showing me up!

This is Lydia's first cupcake. She made a pirate ship out of gum paste.

This is Adelle's first cupcake. I had some WALL-E decorations that I got on clearance. Her first one was of EVE.
This is Adelle's pretty flower cupcake:
And this is Lydia's awesome flower cupcake!Here's a picture of all the cupcakes Adelle and Lydia took home:

And these are the rest. The girls got sick of decorating, so we had a bunch that were naked! Aah!
Afterwards, we put a little ship I got from Tasha for Christmas in some water to see if it would grow. Here's a video that the girls made up on the spot:

Now....Adelle has been telling everyone about her loose tooth. Today it finally fell out! She was eating an oatmeal creme pie and realized there was something hard in it. Turned out to be her tooth! She was afraid it would hurt, but it didn't. I snapped a picture of her hole. She's excited to be able to squirt water out of her mouth through the hole (I totally didn't give her that idea...).
We played Pretty Pretty Princess a few times today. Guess who won? Miss I-Lost-My-First-Tooth! She was a beautiful princess. She chose pink for her jewelry. Sadly...no pictures. I wish I could've gotten one of Lydia wearing an extra purple earring on her nose...

Adelle and Lydia are real sweethearts. I'm glad they're in my life.

Liz, you're in my thoughts and prayers! I love you.

New Moon

2009-11-20T12:33:00.000-08:00

Hello!

It's been over two months since my last blog post. I'd say that I haven't updated because I've been super busy...but that's not the case. I haven't updated because life has been pretty boring lately. No crazy stories to tell. No pictures to put up. Well, Mom and I did visit Martin's Cove back in September, and that was pretty neat...but otherwise, things have been pretty tame.

I'm currently looking for a job. I occasionally work as a substitute teacher. I hate substituting, though. Children these days are evil monkeys. I don't remember so much drama when I was in grade school--and I also don't remember so much swearing. I've been subbing for a fifth/sixth grade split class, and you'd be surprised by the language these kids use without even meaning to. Depressing is what it is. There's also a lack of caring about other people. Kids are really cruel to each other. Yet again, I don't remember that happening back when I was in grade school. It seems like there's two or three bullies in every class now as opposed to maybe one or two in an entire grade...

I digress. The main reason I wanted to post today was because I saw New Moon on Wednesday. Tasha dragged me to it with a promise of food. Which I had. It was yummy food, too, otherwise I would've gone crazy. Here's my disclaimer: I'm not a fan of Twilight. I will be mentioning things that are probably considered spoilers. And I will be merciless in attacking Stephanie Myer's terrible use of mythology.

First things first: I have a soft spot for romance novels and movies. I enjoy them. I'm a sucker for sappy love stories and whatnot. But I am not a fan of Edward and Bella's romance (or lack thereof). First of all, Bella is a terrible character. She's a stock character that is terribly static, emphasizing all of the traits that women have been labeled with for centuries unfairly (in some cases). Bella is self-centered and wholly reliant on a strong male character to make all of her decisions for her. My strongest evidence is the way she reacts in the movie when Edward tells her that he has to leave. She doesn't even really protest. And, yes, arguably that's because she feels like she isn't worthy of his love or whatever--but the first book should've shown her that Edward was willing to do anything for her. After all, he managed to stop feeding on her before she became a vampire herself. Instead of begging or demanding Edward stays, she lets him go. And then spends the rest of the movie moping. Which is a little understandable, as heartbreak is terrible--but it takes her months to move on. Months. That's not realistic. If she were really depressed for months, she would probably progress to more self-harm than simply not eating or talking to people.

The apparitions of Edward are ridiculously contrived to try and bring him into the movie more. Which is ridiculous. I don't know why anyone decided Robert Pattinson was a good casting idea for a vampire that's supposed to be handsome. He's scary looking. And compared to Taylor Lautner (Jacob), I don't know why Bella choses him. Honestly. He's brooding (but not in a good brooding way like Angel from the Buffy universe) and immature. Why would vampires choose to spend years repeating high school? Yes, I know they eventually go to college...but that doesn't change the fact that they willingly decide to go to high school over and over and over. Which is stupid. Anyone who has lived through high school doesn't really want to go through it again. Especially since basically the same things are taught over and over. As anyone who has watched Twenty-One Jumpstreet knows, hearing the same thing over and over gets to be monotonous and boring. Are vampires too stupid to remember that they've learned how to solve algebraic equations over and over?

I was glad when Bella finally started hanging out with Jacob. Mostly because the pacing during her depression was boring! The scene where the camera rotated around her to show the passage of time seemed to take an eternity. I felt as though I'd been stuck in the theater for all those months. Which wasn't good. For most of the movie I was actually playing with a butterfly clip I'd had in my hair to keep from crying out of boredom. It was so predictable.

Anyway, I'll move on to the Volturi. Goodness. That was stupid. A council of vampires that make up rules that all vampires have to follow? Lame. And contrived. My biggest problem with the Twilight franchise is that Stephanie Meyers has taken the fangs out of vampires. They just aren't scary in her universe. The point of the vampire mythology is to keep people inside at night like most other mythology. They are widespread in different cultures (though my favorite form of the vampire is one from Japanese mythology that detaches its head and flies around through the sky at night with intestines trailing underneath to suck blood) and are supposed to be feared. Not sparkle. European vampires die in the sunlight to add to the mysteriousness of the pale strangers--as well as to make daytime safe. Other vampires look like normal humans during the day and can only be revealed as vampiric creatures by turning their body parts around so that they reattach themselves all crooked-like. They're scarier if there's no real way to tell that they're killers during the day. Sparkling vampires are not scary. They are ridiculous. I might have been okay with Meyer twisting the mythology if not for the sparkling. They're more like fairies. And not scary at all--which isn't helped by the lame action sequences in both the first and the second movie (and the books).

My next problem is the whole werewolf thing. I know that in the book Meyers makes the distinction that they are not werewolves. But no one seems to remember that. They're skinwalkers, people! Not werewolves. There are legends of skinwalkers in many Native American tribes that walk around with the pelt of wolves, bears and other creatures that eventually turn into them. There are also legends of similar people in Eastern European countries. People that willingly change into wolves. Werewolves do not willingly do so. They are forced into their wolfish state during the full moon. Meyer's wolves are skinwalkers. Okay? Good. Now to complain about the CG. Goodness, I haven't seen wolves that look that fake since Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (at least they weren't hairless like poor Lupin). The CG in this movie seems to be three or four years behind the times. Yes, I know that this isn't a big budget movie...but the first one made enough money they could've paid for something decent, right? They look stupid. And entirely unrealistic.

I know that I'm supposed to suspend my disbelief and forget what I know about mythology...but I'm sorry. The script wasn't very good. Pattison looks disgusting with his shirt off (I wish I could erase that from my memory) because he looks like he's dead. The Volturi are ridiculously contrived and not really scary. And Edward can't read Bella's mind because she doesn't have one. She's a doormat. She doesn't even drive her own truck for most of the movie! This franchise reinforces stereotypes that women need saving and that bad boys really can have soft centers like Edward. Bella is fixated on death. And not a good role model for the little girls who read these books (I've seen several fourth graders with the books). I suppose the only good thing about the books/movies is that vampires are popular again.

Thanks for reading my rant!

Home!

2009-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Utah, sitting on my bed. I don't know how I feel about being home, frankly. I wish I were still in Korea some days, but other days I remember how hard it was and don't really want to go back. I've been kept busy here at home, which is good. We've been waging a war against little terrorists in the house and had an exterminator over yesterday. It was fun getting ready for it. Gave me something to do most of the day.

It's amazing how fast life moves. Korea feels like a dream and an eternity ago, much like home felt like a dream the moment I entered the MTC in April. Everyone has been super nice. Which is good. It's also been super awkward. Especially at church. I hate feeling like a disappointment to people. Before you start telling me that I'm not a disappointment, I know. I've heard from President Perriton and my stake president and my bishop that I'm not. I'm not a failure. My mission wasn't pointless. But that doesn't change the look in people's eyes seeing me home. It was awkward at church, and I can see why a lot of missionaries who come home early go inactive.

President Perriton and I talked about this feeling of failure in length before I came home. I know I'm not one. I just sprained my hamstring and had to be pulled from the game before I did some serious injuries to myself. So here I am. Home. Taking it easy for a while.

I didn't take many pictures in Korea (I thought I had a year and a half), but here are some pictures from my mission.
Me and my trainer, Sister Lee Se-ri. This was our last day together as companions. There's a restaurant behind us that looks like a pig.

This is Sister Jung Eun-ju and I my last day in Gwangju. She was an awesome companion. I love her to pieces. We made every day a special day.
This is my first district in Korea. They were crazy. Lots of fun, too.
This is in the MTC with my district and with Brother Murray.
This is the MTC too with Sister Son and Brother Erickson in our classroom.

I'm sure I'll post more pictures and stories and whatnot in the future. This is just a quick post to let everyone know I've come home safely.

Erica

Confessions part two

2009-09-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all! Time for another confession. I don't particularly want to make this confession...but I figure it best to do so quickly so that you have time to think about what I'm about to say. I'm coming home. Relatively soon, actually. For the past five months, I've had some highs and some very bad lows. Recently, the lows have been getting worse and more prolonged. I have a hard time finding energy to just smile some days. So...I talked to a psychologist in Japan and he recommended that I come home to get treatment. Apparently I'm suffering from severe depression.

The thought of coming home is both a relief and a disappointment. I love it here in Korea. The food is delicious. Everyone is remarkably kind and respectful. I've seen some miracles. Three of the sisters I've had the opportunity to help teach have been baptized (though I only got to physically see one this last week). They will be great members, and I consider it a real privilege that I've been able to meet them. I wasn't able to say much, but I was able to testify. Which I'll do now. I know that this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and through him, Heavenly Father restored His church on this earth. I know that God answers prayers, even though I sometimes don't feel as though they are. He has helped me make it this far in my mission. And though I feel as I've failed Him, I do know He loves me. And you. If we follow His commandments, we will be blessed. I've seen it in my life.

I don't want to come home, but I can't wait to see all of you again. Thank you for your continued support. I've appreciated your prayers on my behalf. The church is true regardless of where I am or what I'm doing, which is a great comfort. The next few weeks will be rough. But through God's help we can do anything. I love you all!

Sister Erica Ellen Oates

Confessions of a Missionary in Korea

2009-08-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hi all! This week I promised to write something better than last week. Which I truly intended to do. Alas, there's someone who wants to use the computer nearby who is trying to be patient...but as I know how hard it is to be patient, I think it best for me to help him by giving him a chance to email as well. Anyway...

I want to make a confession to you all. I've wanted to come home several times this last week. I know I make it all sound glamorous, being in Korea and learning Korean...but it isn't always that way. This is hard. Really hard. Ridiculously hard. I feel like I'm trapped in the mud some days and will never learn Korean or help anyone or do anything right. When I was young, I thought missionaries were always happy and that everything always worked out for them because they were doing what God wanted them to do. They would never want to go home because they were saving souls, right?

Of course, now that I'm a missionary...sometimes it's hard to see the impact we have on people. We've been asked to speak to at least 140 people each week as a companionship. It's hard, because most people say they're busy and don't want to listen to us (especially since I'm really only capable of talking at people now rather than with people). Our investigators sometimes make big changes in their lives...but mostly they seem a little on the lazy side. (It's hard to remember to read from a book you'd never heard of before, after all.) And it's full of disappointment--people cancel their appointments, and people decide they don't want to meet with us, and they don't want to do anything we ask them to do, and they're afraid to change. So it's hard.

I also used to think that missionaries learned their language in no time at all. After all, the gift of tongues is a miracle. So shouldn't it just come overnight? Or maybe in a week? That would be nice. I could live with that if I went to bed and then woke up speaking perfect Korean. Lamentably...it's hard! I suppose I could put forth a little more effort, but as missionaries in Korea, we speak a lot of English because we teach a lot of English. If we found more investigators interested in the gospel, it would be much easier... That was another thing I thought was easy. However, solid investigators who progress are hard to find. Usually when we get a referral from someone in one of the wards, however, they do much better. So, if you know anyone who might be interested in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you should talk to the missionaries.

Obviously I haven't come home. I've come close to making that decision a few times...but if life were easy, people wouldn't write songs about it. If missionary work were easy, then there would be almost no point to it. Following the Savior was never guaranteed to be easy--His life certainly wasn't. There are good times. There are times that I love. But I wouldn't experience those times without all the times where I feel wholly ineffectual at being a missionary or helping people. Life isn't easy.

So, my message to you is just keep working! If I can be here in Korea learning Korean and teaching the gospel to people who sometimes don't really care, you can keep going too. There is help if we ask for it--we're not alone. I love you all!

Sister Oates

My Quick Blog Post For the Week

2009-08-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Korea! I don't have much time today to leave a long message (plus I didn't really think of one this last week), so today it will be short and hopefully sweet. I want to tell you about my fun experience yesterday and today going on splits with a greenie.

So, Sister McKay was in the MTC with me--she arrived six weeks after I did. She's amazing, and she ended up with my trainer as her trainer this transfer. Which is awesome--I get to see her almost every week for P-day. And we get to go on splits with each others' companions. I wrongly assumed that I would go on splits with Sister Lee twice this transfer...nope! I found out on Monday that I would be going on splits with Sister McKay. Ahh! I started to panic. She's on her first transfer and doesn't understand most of what people say, and I'm on my second transfer and also don't understand. And neither of us is particularly gifted with Korean.

So...I was very worried. I figured it would be terrible, because August is really hot, and we would probably spend the whole time just proselyting.

It turned out to be not too bad. Thankfully all of the appointments for yesterday cancelled (teaching a lesson would have been very hard to do successfully), so we decided to heart attack doors (attach hearts to the door with tape) and deliver cookies. We cooked a lot of cookies and had a very good companionship study (that was a little long, admittedly) before going out into the heat. I found my way around by myself. We didn't get lost. We found apartments and delivered cookies (without actually having to talk because it was an attack). Then we taught English class and went home--I could've done a better job talking to people, but it was pretty fun. Sister McKay and I got a lot of compliments.

It's amazing how the Lord can work with such imperfect beings to do His work.

Anyway, I hope you have a great week! Next week I promise to have a better blog post.

Sister Oates

Comparison Time!

2009-08-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Alrighty...yet again, this week I was busy trying to learn my new area after my transfer, so I didn't put too much thought into my blog for this week. But I figured I could give you a glimpse of Korean life, since most of you faithful readers have never been here. I'll also compare it to my time in China, for those of you who've been following my blog for almost a year.

Korea is a beautiful country, and Koreans are very proud of their culture. They are very clean (which is definitely not the case in China) and sort their garbage into recyclable, non-recyclable, and food garbage. They also sort their recyclable garbage into plastic, paper, etc...which is really neat. They even do it at restaurants like McDonald's. They care about the environment and want Korea to be clean in the future, which is great. I'm not so much a fan of the food garbage, though...there are little traps in the sink that catch all the food when you wash dishes etc...then you put it into a garbage bag and take it down to put it with the rest of the apartment complex's food garbage. It kind of smells. But is used for fertilizer and whatnot, so that's good.

When you arrive at a Korean's home, you take off your shoes at the entrance way and then sit down on the floor. Koreans don't have carpet, like the Chinese, so it's a little uncomfortable for foreigners for the first few weeks. (Actually, sometimes it's still uncomfortable, but my feet don't fall asleep as much). Generally you sit cross-legged. Koreans love to feed missionaries, which is awesome. You eat on the floor with a small table. Kimchi is always on the menu. It's delicious. Before you eat, you say that you will eat well, and then you wait until the host/oldest person starts to eat before you eat. After you eat, you always say that you ate well. Koreans like it when you compliment their food---which is easy to do, because it really is delicious.

Korean chopsticks are metal. And flat. Which is really nice...but hard at the same time. In China, I got used to round chopsticks, so I still sometimes have a hard time picking things up. But that's okay. Unlike a lot of Chinese food, Korean food generally doesn't have bones with meat, which is nice. It is very rude in Korea to pick your teeth in public after a meal. Koreans eat a lot of vegetables. It's very healthy food.

They usually don't have dessert--if they do, it's fruit. When you visit someone, they typically give you some fruit or a drink even if they're not feeding you lunch or something. It's rude to not eat what they give you...so there are days when I'm very full because everyone that day decided to give us food.

Koreans are very polite to one another. They bow in Korea when they meet. Chinese people don't bow. Respect is very important--there are different ways to conjugate verbs depending on the level of respect you want to show. As missionaries, we always speak in middle form or high form...but when people are close (like family members or whatnot) they speak in a more familiar form. They love to speak to foreigners, and will compliment you frequently. It's a good thing to play the humble game and compliment them in return.

Korea is a lot more advanced technologically than China. They're on par with the United States for most things and have better technology for others--like phones. Korean cell phones are cool. And Korean cameras--a lot are touch-screen cameras.

If you ever have a chance to visit Korea, you should! Have a great week!

Sister Oates

Change

2009-08-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

The only thing constant in this world is change. That's a really trite and hackneyed phrase, isn't it? Of course, it's true. Everything changes. The weather changes from monsoon season to typhoon season. Buildings change-spiders spin their webs and mold starts to grow, making something that was once shiny and new older and mature. We all get older. We lose skin cells. Mosquitoes annoy people the world around.

We're all changing, even when we're not noticing it. I suppose the reason change is on my mind is that I've been transferred. I got a call from President Perriton on Tuesday morning saying I would be, and by Wednesday night, all of my things were in my new apartment. I said goodbye to the people I met and taught, and am now going to have to introduce myself to two new wards (which is something I'm not particularly looking forward to due to my limited vocabulary and ability to speak Korean). I have a new companion, and now live on the tenth floor of an apartment complex. I don't partiularly like heights. This change, obviously, was a big one. Big changes happen in the blink of an eye. Sometimes they make our lives better--like the birth of a child--and sometimes they can make us devastated. Big changes are really easy to notice.

But I want to focus on small changes. Everyone is changing every day, and if we're not careful, we might never realize what's going on unless we measure how far we've come. For instance...I feel like I can't speak Korean any better (or maybe even worse) than I could at the MTC. But this morning as I was practicing reading in the Book of Mormon, it only took me about five minutes to make it through a page and a quarter. The first time I read from the Book of Mormon in Korean, it took me ten minutes to make it through one column. And I'm sure my pronunciation was terrible. Of course, my pronunciation is still not very good, but when I read with investigators, I don't feel like I'm a baby anymore. I feel more like I'm about to go to kindergarten. (Someday I'll understand what it is I'm reading...)

I've also lost weight in Korea, though it doesn't feel like it to me. Actually, I've been losing about 1-2 kilograms each week. But I can't notice the change. Which is why it's good for us to point out changes in other people for the better. Compliments are wonderful. Koreans are great because they compliment everyone...so, I encourage you to be more like them. Say something nice to everyone you talk to today about some change they've made. Encouragement helps us all continue to change and be better.

Have a great week!

Sister Oates

Greetings from Korea!

2009-07-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's Thursday again. This past week has gone by really fast. Which is a shame...I wanted it to go slower. We had a Sister's Conference yesterday in Daejeon. It would be nice to still be there right now learning from the other sisters in the mission and from Sister Perriton and Sister Pierce. Sadly, nothing good lasts forever just like nothing bad lasts forever here on earth. Time will always keep going no matter how much we want to stop it.

This past week was nice--it only rained on Tuesday. And it didn't rain buckets, either. When we leave our apartment in the morning, I never know if we need umbrellas or not... I think the rainy season is almost over, though. Maybe. I don't actually know. The weather here is exciting, that's for certain. I love seeing everybody on the street with their umbrellas up. When people walk down the street, it's like a big chain of bobbing apples of different colors in a stream.

If you can't tell, I didn't really think about what I was going to tell you in this blog post. I apologize for the randomness... My mind is a mess anymore as I try to remember Korean and people's names. I've always been really bad at remembering names--and I'm not any better at remembering them in Korean. But that's okay. The wonderful thing about Korean is that you can refer to a person without using their names in a wonderfully respectful way by just calling males brother and females sister. I appreciate that.

I've almost been on my mission for four months. It doesn't seem like it's been all that long. At the same time, it feels like I've never been anything but a missionary. I suppose that's because we're kept so busy every day. There really isn't much time to think about home. Which is good. Though, I had a hard time not doing so yesterday on the train home from Daejeon--they showed movie previews for the new Harry Potter and the new Transformers movies... If you haven't seen them yet, you should go and watch them for me. :)

Things are going well here in Korea. My Korean is still abominable. I don't understand most things people say to me...but that's not a bad thing sometimes. When I walk down the street, little children often call me a foreigner, which I find amusing. Everyone here is really nice and honest--when we try to talk to people who have no interest, they've got no problem telling us they're not interested. I like talking to students. They find it funny when I start talking in Korean (especially since I generally just use high form) and are always very interested in what I'm saying. Sadly, they're generally not interested enough to want to hear more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I pray that all of you are doing well--as it takes about three weeks for me to receive letters, I have no idea what's going on in your life. Whatever's happening, know that it's happening for a reason. Growing hurts--ask any teenage boy who is going through a growth spurt. But it's worth it in the end. Hard work becomes easier the more we do it. I never thought I would be able to walk around as much as I do each day (exercise never has been my friend), but each day I do, I get stronger. And I also never thought I could sit on the floor as long as I do when we teach without my legs falling asleep. Granted, they sometimes still fall asleep, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. My legs are sore, but it's getting easier. Keep working.

To quote one of my favorite movies, "Never give up, never surrender!" Hard work pays off rich dividends.

I love you all! (And I would love to hear from you!)

Sister Erica Oates

A Fairly Typical Day in the Life of Sister Oates (오츠 자매)

2009-07-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

6:30: Wake up, pray, exercise.
7:00: Start getting ready--shower. I feel like I'm walking through water most days, so I like taking showers--I feel less sticky afterward because I'm drenched in water, not sweat. Eat breakfast.
8:00: Personal study. This is one of my favorite times of the day. I can read in English and understand what I'm reading. Yay! I'm currently halfway through the Book of Mormon again and almost finished with the New Testament. When we have lessons scheduled for the day, I focus some of my time on studying what will help investigators.
9:00: Companion study. Sister Lee Se-ri and I start with a song (in Korean) and a prayer. Then we tell each other what we learned in personal study, review some missionary rules, and then read from the Book of Mormon. I read one verse in Korean and she corrects my pronunciation, and she reads one verse in English and I correct her pronunciation. Generally we read a page or so. Afterwards, we plan our lessons for the day (wherein I have the difficult task of deciding what I can actually say) and then study from Preach My Gospel together (time permitting).
10:00: Language study. I have a goal to read the Book of Mormon in Korean by the end of my mission, so I try and read at least one page aloud. I don't understand most of it. I also spend this time preparing for teaching (ie getting vocabulary I'll need) and working on learning new grammar/vocabulary. None of it sticks. But that's okay. Eventually I'll remember what I learn. Or my brain will explode >.<.
10:30: We leave the house with a prayer and a copy of the Book of Mormon/pamphlets/fliers. We usually contact people on the street for a half an hour to two hours, depending on when we have an appointment.
12:00-1:00 (ish): Lunch. Yay! Korean food is yummy. I had bear soup the other day for lunch. It was pretty tasty. I haven't really found anything I don't like.
1:00-2:00: An appointment. If we have one. Anyway, we start by teaching English for 30 minutes (which I'm not very helpful at, due to the fact that I can't speak Korean. But I can help with pronunciation.) Afterwards, we teach the gospel for 30 minutes. Or sometimes more. It depends. Many of our investigators like to give us food, too. In Korean culture, it is offensive if you don't eat what they give you--even if you're super full. So you have to eat it.
2:00-5:00: More appointments. If no appointments, we visit less-active members or do more contacting.
5:00-6:00: Dinner! Yummy!
6:00-9:00: More appointments or more contacting or more visiting, depending on circumstances. Sometimes we knock on doors. That's usually not very successful--especially when I talk. I'm hard to understand through doors, apparently. :)
9:00: Come home. Pray. Plan for tomorrow. Update the area book (a book where we keep records of what we taught investigators/members).
10:00: Get ready for bed. Brush, floss, change into PJs...
10:30: Pray and then go to bed.

We repeat basically the same schedule each day--though, sometimes things go awry when people cancel on us. :( It's not too bad, being a missionary. The work can be fun, even when the language is frustrating. I trip over my tongue all the time. Though, I have only actually tripped once, which is good (especially if you know how clumsy I am). There's a lot of shoe-taking off in Korea, which is nice during these hot summer months. I like having appointments to get out of the heat and humidity.

Things are going well here in Korea! I hope all of you are doing well. You're in my prayers. I encourage you to feed the missionaries. We run out of money sometimes and it's nice to not have to pay to eat. Plus you'll get blessings for helping the Lord's servants. If you have time, you should teach with the missionaries. It's exciting--and not really all that hard unless you're trying to speak a language you don't really know. If I can teach about Jesus Christ in Korean, you can teach about Him in English. I challenge you to open your mouth to someone and mention the gospel and how it has blessed your life if you're a member. If you're not...well, I encourage you to meet the missionaries. We're a little weird, true, but we like to make friends.

Necessity of Suffering

2009-07-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

I promised that I was going to share a scripture this week. So here it goes. This is from the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon. Alma was a prophet who went on a mission to a city called Ammonihah with a man named Amulek. Nobody wanted to listen to them, really. In fact, the people in this city wanted to kill them. They thought that repentance was stupid, and didn't want to listen to anything that either man said. (I'm glad that people actually listen to me and generally don't want to kill me here in Korea.) Alma and Amulek kept trying. Some people listened--but most of the people were angry...

They were angry enough that they gathered together all the scriptures and those who had believed and then cast them into the fire. Amulek was really worried about this. I would be too. These were good people who were being killed. Who wants to see good people die? So he asked Alma why they couldn't call down the powers of heaven for help.

Alma 14:11--"But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgements which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and that the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day."

This seems pretty harsh, doesn't it? Why would God allow this to happen just so He can punish the wicked? God is all powerful--could He stop this from happening and just punish the people anyway?

Of course He could. The more important question is should He?

Heavenly Father gave unto all of us agency, which is the ability to choose. In order to have choices, we have to have different things to choose from--many of which are wrong, and contrary to what God would have us choose. Without right and wrong, our choices would never really be more significant than "do I want to wear green or pink?" We would never learn or grow because our choices would always be good.

God wants us to grow and change. There would be no reason for us to leave His presence to come to earth if all we ever did was good. It would make far more sense for us to just stay with Him forever.

It doesn't particularly seem fair. But life isn't fair. God never promised that life would be easy. Children never really appreciate what their parents have done for them until they have children of their own. We need tough experiences to grow and progress.

A particular sentence of this verse had never really stuck out to me until my district meeting last week. Elder Barzee emphasized this phrase "he doth suffer that they may do this thing unto them" while sharing his thoughts. Suffer is a very important word in this instance. The Lord took upon Him the sins of the world during the Atonement. He suffered more than any of us can ever comprehend. He felt all of our griefs and sorrows so that by turning to Him and following His commmandments, we can return to our Father's presence. He understands every paper-cut, jammed thumb, or sense of grief when our loved ones die. He "suffer[ed] that they [might] do [that] thing." Christ experienced the intense pain of the women and children tossed into the fire.

He felt the anguish of the parents of the students at Virginia Tech who were killed. He felt the pain of all those who died on 9/11. He felt the pain of those who are killed or injured in car accidents. He has suffered for everything.

And He still lets bad things happen. It would have been infinitely easier and far less painful for Him if He jumped in like a super hero every time something bad was about to happen and caused it to not happen. He could make us always happy and ensure we do the best thing all the time.

But He doesn't. We wouldn't grow. He won't take our agency. Suffering is a necessary part of life, as harsh as that seems.

Christ learned obedience through suffering, as we learn in Hebrews 5:8: "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." In order for us to be like Him, we have to learn obedience the same way.

It's really easy to follow a law that you already do naturally. However, sometimes it's hard to follow rules that you don't understand. For example...let's say that a parent tells his 3-year-old to not drink from the bottle under the sink. The 3-year-old doesn't know why...so when Daddy leaves, he opens the sink and pulls out the bottle of vinegar. It looks vaguely like a bottle of soda, so he opens it and then starts to drink it. Obviously after a few swallows (if even that many), he's going to realize that vinegar in large quantitites really doesn't taste very good. He has now learned to be obedient to that rule of his father.

Doing the right thing isn't always easy, especially since life is hard. People aren't going to give us pretty blue ribbons when we choose to be obedient or we are going through tough times. Life isn't going to be all puppies and kittens. And bad things will inevitably happen to everyone--regardless of religious creed or background.

The Savior knows how you feel. He has suffered all you have and more. His arms are stretched out to help you. Reach out and cast your burdens at His feet. He will help you. The burden won't disappear, but it will be easier to bear because someone will be helping you. The world won't be as dark.

I hope you all have a great week! Next week, I'll be giving you a typical day in the life of Sister Oates.

Week 2 in Korea

2009-07-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

I've now been in Korea for two weeks. Wow. I'm not sure where the time went. Of course, it's also felt like the longest two weeks of my entire life. I can scarcely remember being back in America anymore. Isn't it funny how relative time is?

So, monsoon season is upon us. It poured rain on Tuesday. Literally poured. I don't think I've ever seen it rain so heavily before. Of course, I am from Utah, so that makes sense, eh? We had district meeting, and the river we go over was just swollen with water. The roads were basically rivers. I was glad I wasn't driving...though, our bus driver was a little crazy.

Things are going pretty well. We've got a baptism scheduled for this Saturday. Sister Kim was going to be baptized last week, but her mother wasn't able to drop by and sign the necessary form...so fingers are crossed for this Saturday. Sister Noh is going to be baptized probably the end of this month, too, which is uber exciting. I can't wait.

Everyone here is very helpful--it's a little frustrating at times when people finish my sentences for me, though. But that's okay. I gave a talk in Primary. They actually listened to me--which is amazing. The Primary in Seongjeong is very energetic and hardly ever listen to anyone. I help Sister Lee teach. I can't say very much (and I understand even less), but we do a lot of English teaching. I can do that. Mostly. I can't explain things in Korean yet. But it will come, so there's no sense in me worrying.

Things are going well. I wanted to share a scripture this week, but I forgot to write it down before we left our apartment...so you'll get to read it next week! Hooray! It's a good one, I promise. Even for people who don't particularly like scriptures.

So, for a spiritual thought, I'd like to quote one of my MTC teacher's mothers. Sister Lebaron's mother said "If the Lord put you to it, He can pull you through it". That's very true. I didn't think I could ever live in Korea and get to the point where I can understand one or two sentences people say...but I've started to be able to. I didn't think I would be able to share the gospel. But I've been able to. The Lord knows what it is we can do, and He does a remarkable job of helping us stretch to be that person. It hurts a lot.

C.S. Lewis gave an interesting parable about how the Lord helps change us. He said that we're like a house. And maybe something breaks in the kitchen and we need a plumber, so we call the Lord. He comes and fixes the sink. And then He fixes a few other things. And before we know it, He's knocking down walls and we're not sure what in the world is going on. It hurts a lot, and it's confusing and even a little scary...but when He's finally done, we see the palace we are now as compared to the house we were.

I don't think I've shared that one before...

Anyway, I encourage each of you to pray to be strengthened through whatever it is you're doing. The Lord will help you. I know He will because He's helped me, even though I sometimes even doubt He's there. His arms are stretched out to us and He will support us if we turn to Him.

Have a wonderful week!

I'm in Korea!

2009-07-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Hello, one and all! I'm currently in Korea. I'm serving in Gwangjou. My companion is Lee Se Ri. She's from around Seoul and is very nice. I don't understand anything anyone is saying. At all. Which is frustrating. The members here are really nice, and their children are adorable, but I have no idea what's going on most of the time.

Korean food is yummy. I make it a special point to eat kimchi at every meal. I'm not sure if I like it or not, actually... I think I do. I really love all of the other Korean foods. A lot of it is spicy...but not as spicy as everyone told me it was going to be (I guess the Hunan province just has spicier food or something). We have three new investigators who are interested in learning about the church and learning English, which is really exciting. I can't remember anyone's name, though. Oh well. It'll come in time. I can't remember any new vocabulary very well either. Which is okay. I'm supposed to be patient or something until things start to make sense. I hope they do soon.

Brother Erickson, if you're reading this right now, the buses in Gwangju aren't really that crazy. They're fun to ride. Relaxing, even. I haven't seen any buses playing chicken yet like I did every day in China. The 할아 머 니s are a lot of fun (I wonder if that will show up or not...I probably spelled it wrong, too) Unfortunately, most people don't really want to hear what I have to say. We talk to a lot of people, but most are unwilling to listen. Which is okay, I guess. It'd be nice if people listened. They look at me like I'm an alien or something when I speak Korean. Not that I speak it very well.

The plane ride was long. We had quite a fun adventure getting to Korea (we missed our connecting flight), but we obviously made it eventually. Because I'm here. Right now. In Korea! Yay!

Erm...a quick spiritual thought: The church is true. The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. I was reading in Mosiah this morning, going over King Benjamin's address. Because God gives us everything, the only real way to show our gratitude to Him is through service to others. He gives us so many blessings if we're faithful and try our best. So, I encourage you to go out of your way and do something nice for someone else this week. It can be as simple as calling them to make sure they're doing well or just smiling and saying hello to your neighbors.

Yahoooooo!!!

2009-06-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Korea in less than a week. A week from today, in fact, I will almost be to the Inchon international airport. Wahoo! I'll get to taste my first bite of kimchi, and will be able to be in high humidity in a country where I don't understand a lot of what I hear again. Fortunately, I'll be able to understand at least a little bit.

My Korean is going okay, I suppose you could say. I'm anxious to go to the country, though, because I've discovered I learn Korean better when I hear it and am forced to use it than by simply reading it. I can read Korean pretty well, actually. Putting sentences together is difficult. But I can do it. I'm sure my pronunciation is terrible, but that's why I'm excited to go to Korea.

It will be about a 14 hour flight. I think. Not too bad, especially when compared to train rides I've taken before. I also get to take a train. I'm very excited about that. I wonder if Korean trains are any different from Chinese...I bet they are. Korea is a very advanced country.

My address in Korea will be (I'm pretty sure):

Sister Erica Oates
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Korea Daejeon Mission Daejeon
P.O. Box 38
Daejeon, Korea, 300-600

Neat, eh? I'll post it in Korean one of these days.

Please write me! I won't be able to update next week (obviously), so if you want to hear from me, you'll have to write me. I love you all, and I'm very excited to be going to Korea, immersed in the language.

Keep up the good work! God loves you all very much, and with His help, we can do seemingly impossible things like learn Korean.

Sister Erica Oates

Two Weeks To Go!

2009-06-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I'm on the cusp of finally getting to go to Korea, which is uber exciting. The past week here has been rather hectic and completely irregular thanks to the quarantine and swine flu going around. Half of my district has been sick and hasn't come to class, which makes it difficult for us to all be on the same page as far as Korean and whatnot. Apparently in quarantine the elders watched the movie Legacy 8 times and in several languages. They got to sleep whenever they wanted...which means that things basically melted down for most missionaries. Fortunately, the elders still tried to be obedient. They're good nineteen-year-olds, that's for certain. Most in a similar situation would probably go insane. Which would be bad. I don't like seeing people go crazy. I had hoped to be patient zero with the swine flu, but unfortunately...no such luck. Drat. I'll have to start a pandemic later. (Just kidding.)

Oh. I just remembered what it was I wanted to talk about in this blog post. I call it the Parable of Shenzhen.As many of you are aware (especially if you've read my blog), I spent four months in China teaching English at an offshoot of Xiangtan University in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China. It was pretty much awesome. I loved being immersed in a different culture (which is why I'm excited to go to Korea) and seeing the history of the other side of the world. I didn't really want to go home--the only reason I did is because my Mom and Kathy decided to pick us up in Hong Kong. I would love to still be there. Although, I am more excited to actually be able to speak the language of another people in Korea...

Anyway (I've been going off on tangents a lot lately), at the end of our stay in China, Lany arranged for us to take a train to Hong Kong to meet up with Mom and Kathy. It would've been really expensive for us to fly, and Jeff and I were okay with taking a train. It was actually pretty fun. We had beds. And lots of Beijing nougat (which I really miss, by the way) to eat. We slept most of the way. It wasn't as noisy or as smelly as the train to Beijing was, and it didn't take as long. Our train ride from Xiangtan ended at Shenzhen.

Now, I had googled Shenzhen when I'd learned we were going to be visiting there, just so I could figure things out. I'd also googled Hong Kong's subway system to figure out where we needed to get off and find a taxi (sadly, my research wasn't thorough enough). I was so excited and terribly nervous...because I couldn't find out how we were supposed to go from Shenzhen to Hong Kong anywhere online.

Jeff and I arrived in Shenzhen and then proceeded to the ticket office in order to purchase a ticket to Hong Kong. After waiting for nearly an hour in the wrong line and then an hour in the right line where they told me they could get us to go through Guangzhou (which was about three hours away) into Hong Kong, I was confused. We didn't have enough money for the tickets, and the ATM in the train station didn't actually work. So, Jeff and I lugged our heavy bags behind us and then set out on a journey around Shenzhen to find an ATM.

I had always thought that I was a really patient person before this experience. I mean, I've got five brothers after all. (Not that they made me endure anything, really.) I found out in a hurry that I'm not. As we started pulling our luggage down the street toward something that looked like a promising area for an ATM, I was panicking. Now, you might wonder why I seem to think panicking and patience are related. Well, when we're patient, we trust that God will provide a way for things to happen. I wasn't trusting God. All I could think about was that we didn't have cell phones, we couldn't get in contact with Mom because she wouldn't be checking her email, and she was probably already thinking we were dead or something. I'd given her a rough estimation as to when we would be coming, and I was certain we wouldn't make it. We couldn't speak Chinese, and our Chinese friends were all the way back in Xiangtan. We'd had to turn our cell phones in, and had no way of remembering any of the numbers.

So, yeah. I was panicking. I felt like crying. I hardly ever feel like crying, but I felt like crying. I looked at Jeff and I said, "What are we going to do? We have no way to...yada yada yada."

He looked at me calmly for a second and smiled. "Erica, it's okay. We'll be alright. Somehow we'll be able to find the train station. We can go to an internet bar and email mom and can find a hostel or something. Let's just try to find out where we need to go. Shenzhen is right next to Hong Kong. There has to be a way."

I have never felt so humble in my life. My little brother had more patience than I did. His reassurance calmed my soul considerably. I didn't start crying, and we proceeded to find an ATM.

I figured that there was probably another train station in Shenzhen we needed to get to, so we tried to communicate to a taxi driver that we wanted to go to the other train station by showing him our tickets. He didn't understand us...and gave us a ride back to the other train station, which was nice. My arm was very sore from pulling nearly 50 pounds behind me over rough terrain (there was construction going on).

Jeff stood in line this time, and the very nice lady at the train station who hadn't understood me before understood him. She wrote the address to the other train station down on a piece of paper. We hailed a taxi, and went off.

We found Hong Kong. We were smelly and sweaty and tired when we came to the Mariott (which is a lot like heaven when you've had a miserable day) and were reunited with our family.

So there you have my parable. :)

I hope you have a wonderful day! Remember that God loves you very much, and that He does answer prayers if we have patience and are humble. Life is hard, but it is possible.

Sister Oates

Quarantine!

2009-06-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Provo Missionary Training Center! I figured that the title to this blog would get your attention. Did it? Well, hopefully. Quarantine is such a fun word, isn't it?

Saturday, there was an official case of swine flu detected at the MTC, so preventative measures have been put in place to try and keep things from spreading like wildfire. With the constant influx of new missionaries each Wednesday and the droves of those leaving each week for various parts of the country, it is imperative that they took such drastic steps to keep things from going crazy. There are about 2,000 missionaries here right now, and it's really easy for communicable diseases to go around (like the cold I inherited from Sister Judd). Any flu-like symptoms are reasons for missionaries to not go to class or to the cafeteria and isolate themselves from the rest of the missionaries. More severe symptoms, like a persistent fever, actually lead to a trip to the hospital.

Two of the elders in my zone have been placed in actual quarantine after visiting the hospital. They are kept in isolation, not allowed to come out of the building, for five days until they receive a clean bill of health. Which is a good thing.

These drastic implementations have brought out a lot of human characteristics that I find amusing. I mean, I shouldn't find them amusing...but I do. Some are paranoid about getting sick, going to extreme measures to avoid those they think are "sick". Some of the elders headed to Japan have face masks they wear to keep from getting sick, which is a good idea, but other missionaries assume they're wearing the masks because they're sick, and then it cannonballs into almost hysteria. People don't know what their symptoms mean, and I think some of those who are sick suffer mostly just from mass hysteria. Living with another person twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week can lead to that sort of assumption you'll end up sick, after all. There are those who are more reasonable--but we have been counseled to stay in our residence hall if we do have any symptoms. Which means that I was the only member of my district in class last night. Which means I joined one of the younger districts. Which is great.

Missionaries who were scheduled to depart this week are being kept here an extra week to ensure they don't develop any symptoms of Swine Flu. Missionaries coming tomorrow, unfortunately, aren't going to be able to say goodbye to their parents. They'll be dropped off at the curb and have to say goodbye there in order to keep us from being exposed from even more contaminates.

There's no need to worry, though. Those who are sick are receiving treatment, and those who aren't sick are pressing forward. The Lord truly does watch over us all. He isn't going to keep me from catching a cold just because I'm on a mission--the Lord wants to give us the opportunity to grow and progress. My patience is being tried this week, which is great. The only way to really know you have patience or to learn how to get it is to be placed in situations that don't seem to go the speed or way you want them to go.

I hope you're all doing well, and that if you have any aches, pains, chills, or a fever that you quarantine yourself (just kidding). God loves you. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. God truly does qualify those who are called to do the work. This life isn't just chaos--we experience what we experience for a reason. Without the things we go through, we would not be able to grow. And, when the judgement day does come, we will realize that every single thing we've gone through was necessary to our salvation. God has a plan for us. I love you all, and I can't wait to be in Korea. 20 days!

Erica

A really quick update from Sister Oates

2009-05-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi! Things are going pretty well here at the MTC. I've got two new companions. Sister McKay and Sister Judd are from Utah. They're both really sweet. Sister Judd already knows a lot of Korean and can almost speak it as well as I can, but that's okay. I need to be humble. Teaching this last week in Korean was fun. And very intimidating. The girls we taught (who were in grade school and one in middle school) spoke very fast. I can't believe I'll actually understand them one day. They did their best to help us understand, which was awesome. This next week we're teaching the Plan of Salvation for the first time, which is really exciting. That's a very happy thing.

I wish I had more time to fill you in on the happenings here, but we didn't get to the computers until twenty or so minutes before six. P-Day officially ends at 6. I love you all! I want more letters from you! God bless you in whatever you're trying to do, and try to look for His hand in your life. The harder you look, the more you'll see, I promise.

Sister Oates

Hangukmarl Karucheyosumnida

2009-05-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

This past week was my first experience teaching only in Korean, as the title to this blog says. Well, kind of says. I don't actually know how to make the Korean sounds using our alphabet. So if you try and sound it out, you might sound like you said "Korean taught". Maybe. I don't think I quite sound like I said that when I speak it to Koreans. Pronunciation is fun. And frustrating, at the same time. Learning a language is not easy. But that's okay! It's fun. Korean is a really neat language. The verb goes at the end of the sentence. And the subject is quite often implied. Much more interesting than boring old English. It's really fun being able to write using their alphabet, too. Korean has an alphabet, which is really fortunate. Chinese doesn't. And that scared me from learning the language in China, as great as pinyin is.

Totally random tangent. Anyway, I taught for the first time in Korean on Saturday. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, though I had a hard time remembering some of the words. (It isn't often that the word to disobey comes up in a conversation.) We (consisting of myself, Elder Vezzani, and Elder Heyrend) taught four young girls originally from Korea. The oldest, Sister Lee, is only 16. The youngest I think was somewhere around 5 or 6. She's really cute. She tries to communicate with me and I have no idea what she's saying, though. The other two girls are really smart, and seem to be enjoying school in America. Anyway, the lesson went well. I got to teach about prophets and showed a picture of Moses. Pictures are great. I love 'em.

Things this past week have been a little on the unusual side. Sister Peterson and Sister Olgilvie left for Korea last week. I sleep in the same room as five sisters headed to Japan just so I'm not alone. I also spend time with them at gym and whatnot. They're (Sister Lung, Sister Nishida, Sister Hobson, Sister Evans, and Sister Lindsey) really sweet. And I'm glad that I've been able to meet them, though I don't particularly know them very well. Most of my day is spent in the classroom with the elders. Our zone is down to the seven of us--Elder Kaing, Elder Peterson, Elder Vezzani, Elder Heyrend, Elder Stubbs, Elder Bessey, and myself. I appreciate how much they generally try to do what is right. Sometimes I feel like I'm their older sister...but often I find them teaching me.

Hmmm...what else is there to tell you about? The weather here is great. Of course, if you're also in Utah, you know that already. We have good food at the MTC. We get ice cream every Sunday and Wednesday. Last week we heard from Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve. He encouraged us to be bold when saying we're following Christ to those interested in the message of the restored gospel. It was pretty neat.

Things are going well here. I hope that everything is going well on your end. I wish that I could write you all letters, but I only have so many addresses...if you want me to write you, you need to write me first.

Annyong he kassayoh!

Sister Oates

Week 5 at the MTC

2009-05-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this time I promise I'm not going to sound too much like a missionary. I want to talk about feeling alone and inadequate today. I'm not going to pull out any scriptures, because I don't have them with me...these are just thoughts that I've had because I often feel alone and inadequate, as I'm sure most people do.

This week, Sister Peterson and Sister Olgilvie are going to Korea. Actually, Sister Olgilvie is gone already. I am a solo sister, which makes things difficult. I frequently felt alone. Its hard being the only sister in a class of elders (they are only nineteen, after all, and not as well-behaved as my brothers). Sometimes I feel like I'm cut off from the real world, and that I'm living in some sort of bubble. And it would be really easy for me to feel sorry for myself. Sometimes I do--I'm not perfect.

Over the past few years, I've noticed that the more time I spend thinking about how miserable I am, the more miserable and alone I feel. So, when I start to feel as though I can never learn Korean, and that I'm going to be completely alone for the next week without any help from anyone else, I do something else. It was a very painful lesson to learn, but I have learned it. I start to sing, I read my scriptures, I talk to someone else, I pray, or I start thinking about vocab in Korean. Anything I can do to keep my mind from being on me and my 'miserable' situation helps. And I promise you that if you try to do the same thing when you feel alone, you'll be able to lessen the impact of those terribly depressing feelings. Even if you don't do something "spiritual". Lose yourself in service of other people. When I'm doing something for someone else, I'm too busy to do any thinking about me.

You're not alone. You don't have to feel miserable. Work on choosing to feel better. I know you can do it! Ciao for this week!

Joseph Smith

2009-05-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

I told myself that I was going to post something of a bit of a lighter nature this week, as I know that some of you reading this aren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ, and I really don't want to end up sounding overly preachy or zealous. However, as I spend most of my time studying either Korean or the gospel, I find that I think mostly about preachy stuff as opposed to the menial chores of day to day living. Being in the MTC from day to day is pretty much the same thing over and over. I mean, there are a few things that are specific to certain days, but generally, I do about the same thing. It's hard to know exactly what day it is, actually. It's a good thing we have planners.

Anyway, our devotional on Sunday night was on Joseph Smith, and afterward, we watched "Joseph Smith; Prophet of the Restoration". That's a really good movie. They show it at temple square and at visitor's centers. If you have one nearby, I encourage you to go and see it. Anyway, I thought I would share my testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith was 14 years old in 1820, confused as to what religion he should join. There were a lot of churches in upstate New York (so many that it was actually called the 'burned over' district), and a lot of really zealous ministers trying to convert people to join their church. Arguments ensued over doctrine, and people weren't exactly exemplifying Christ's patience or other attributes. Joseph was really confused. He'd been raised reading the Bible, and he knew that he needed to be baptized in order to have salvation, but he didn't know which church to join.

Joseph read from James 1:5 one day as he pondered upon these things. I encourage you to read it yourself, as my time is limited and I can't quote it here. Anyway, after reading this scripture, he had enough faith to believe that God would answer his prayers. He went into a secluded grove of trees and prayed to know which church he should join.

I testify that God answered Joseph's prayer. A pillar of light descended upon him, and two Personages appeared to the humble young boy. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He was instructed to join none of the churches. I testify that he later received records from the ancient peoples of America from an angel, an emissary from God. These records were translated into the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I know that he was a prophet. I know he taught God's word. And I know that he restored the fulness of Jesus Christ's gospel.

I also know that there is a living prophet today. God loves us. We are His children. He wants to speak to us, and He does through the prophet. I know these things are true, and I know that anyone who earnestly wishes to know of the truth of these things can receive a manifestation from our Father as to the truth of these things through the Holy Ghost. Experiment upon the word. Ask in faith. Even if you already know he's a prophet, pray about it.

I testify that you will learn for yourself through the Holy Ghost, in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Greetings from Sister Oates!

2009-04-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

So, last week I gave you a taste of the schedule that I have each day. A very small taste, which did not emphasize the number of times I go up and down stairs each day. It probably seems really busy. And it is. But that's good. I've noticed a lot in my life that when I have down-time, I lose focus and end up not sure what to do or say or think. And it's good to unwind every once in a while and not focus on anything in particular, but I was doing it a lot. All of this intense study at the MTC is keeping me focused. We have so many distractions in our lives, it's ridiculously easy to lose sight of what really matters to us.

I'm totally turning into a missionary, aren't I? Ordinarily, I refrained from talking about religion, politics, or anything that I thought was of an incindiary nature on my blog. I didn't really want to offend anyone, so I posted short things that were quite infrequent. I'm naturally a quiet person, even when I'm around friends and family--which was perfectly fine. But I find myself changing here. I speak up more often, which is good. I know there are a lot of times in my life where I look back and cringe because I didn't say something because I thought I had nothing of value to say, and didn't want to offend people. The truth is, everyone has something to say. I encourage all of you to speak your mind often. I encourage you to learn from others and what they have to say. I've learned an awful lot from the nineteen-year-old elders around here who easily and without apology testify of what they know. I love listening to them. When we share what we think and feel and believe with others, we are better able to taste the joy in life we often lose as our focus is distracted and distrupted by mini-emergencies of life or something on television.

Think about why that is. Think about someone in your life who has influenced the way you think and act. What did they do/say to be such a great influence on you? Have you thanked them? Do you try to help others see things in a similar manner?

If you have, kudos. I wish I could give you a candy bar. If not, I encourage you to be like that someone. Share what helps get you through the day with a friend or a neighbor. Try and brighten someone else's day when you notice they're in the depths of despair--or even in a bad mood. You don't need to catch the miserable cold when someone else has it. Think of that influence on your life when you feel down. The more we focus on the good in our life, the easier it is for us to keep pressing on with life--which isn't easy.

As I'm in the MTC, my primary focus and my great Influencer is our Savior, Jesus Christ. I testify that by focusing on Him, my life has been made better. I've become more considerate to others and have tried to put myself in their shoes. I've also been working on being more selfless--something that should be taught in schools. I am very far from perfect, and make many mistakes, but the more I learn of Christ and apply His teachings in my life, the more I want to help others do the same. I want to help them focus on the Savior as well. I know that He lives and loves us. He has truly born our griefs and sorrows that He might succor us. He has descended below us all in order to know exactly what we're going through. I have found peace in my darkest times of life through Him. The more I talk of, think of, and focus on Christ, the easier it is to get through the day. Missionary work is not a picnic, same as life. But there can be much joy and hope as we learn to rely on the Savior and share His all-encompassing love with others through our actions and words.

I challenge all of you to spend at least an hour this week focusing on the Savior. If you know nothing about Him, open up your Bible to the testament of Luke. If you know a lot about Him, ponder upon that which you know and try and see how it has influenced your life. I promise that you will better be able to see how the Lord has blessed you if you do this. You will find joy to be sweeter, and tough times a little easier. I'll be asking you next week if you did.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, and that through His infinite Atonement, we can be made clean and dwell with God. I bear witness of this in His sacred name, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Typical Day At the Provo MTC

2009-04-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

6:30 am: I wake up all groggy and then shuffle my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth in a hurry.
7:00 am: I go up five flights of stairs to my classroom for forty-five minutes of personal study. I'm allowed to choose my own topic of study--this is my favorite time of the day.
7:45 am: breakfast! Yummy! There are lots of choices including cereal and something warm and lots of fruit.
8:25-9:15 am: Gym. I usually work out on an exercise bike or eliptical machine. Sometimes I actually play four square, which is pretty fun.
9:45 am: Class with Sister Lebaron. We go over Korean (grammar, vocab, usage, etc.) and practice effective teaching skills while studying the gospel.
12:30 pm: Lunch!
1:15 pm: Fifteen minutes of personal study.
1:30-2:30 pm: Companion study
2:30-3:30 pm: Language study (I practice hymns, write sentences, read from the Korean Book of Mormon, etc). This is self-directed.
3:30-5:30 pm: We work on language study, companion study, etc... Whatever we feel we need to work on more.
5:30 pm: Dinner
6:15-9:00 pm: Class with Brother Theil.
9:00 pm: planning session for the next day
9:30 pm: I finally get to go back to the RH after climbing up the stairs several times in the day (my calves are starting to look pretty good).
10:30 pm: Bedtime!
We're kept pretty busy. It's fun, though. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about things too much. I encourage you to write me, once again. I like responding to letters on Tuesday.

Musings on the first week at the MTC!

2009-04-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, the MTC is the Missionary Training Center. I'm at the Provo MTC in Utah, but there are several in different parts of the world. Most missionaries sent to the United States are here for three weeks to deepen their understanding of the gospel and to learn how to preach it. Foreign missionaries (ie those going out of the country) are here for between 6 and 12. I'm here for 12 weeks due to the complexity of the Korean language. I don't think I'll ever actually be fluent until the end of my mission, which will be a year and a half minus a week. It mostly sounds and looks like gibberish to me right now, even after a week of intense study.

As missionaries never go into the field alone and have what are called companions, you're probably wondering who I'm learning Korean with. Well, I'm a special case, as it were. I'm a solo sister, meaning that I was the only sister to enter the MTC on April 8 who was going to Korea. I have two companions who are about halfway done at the MTC, Sister Peterson and Sister Olgilvie. We share a room with three bunk beds. Both are very sweet and always willing to help me find where I need to go and answer questions. They're wonderful examples of charity, and often help me with my pronunciation. I really appreciate their presence. Sister Olgilvie has wonderful quirks, and is from Colorado. She loves music, and went on an Ambassadors of Music tour like Katie did (though for Colorado instead of Utah) as part of the choir. Sister Peterson is soft-spoken and sweet. She's a very Christ-like individual. She graduated from BYU in Editing and is from Texas.

In my classes, I hang out with a district (a group of missionaries) that is made up of four elders. Elder Lee and Elder Lee are companions. They both come from Korean-speaking families, so therefore are fluent. That makes it pretty intimidating to me, but they're very kind and helpful. I feel like I've got four new brothers, actually. Elder Bessey and Elder Stubbs are the rest of the district. I do my companion study with them (usually) and they're great fun. All of them are wonderful young men, and are generally very mature when in class. Generally. I'm constantly surprised that they're only 19.

Life at the MTC is very structured. That took a while to get used to, as I don't particularly like plans. We have instruction twice a day for between three to five hours each block. Our teachers are Sister Labaron and Brother Theil. Both are returned missionaries from the Daejeon mission. They are kind and very patient, even though I forget about 90% of what they try to teach us.

So far, I've learned Korean fairly well. I know the alphabet (if you give me a minute for the vowels) and can pray in Korean. I can also bear my testimony (if I read it) and will soon memorize that. I also hope to be able to introduce myself by Saturday, as that's something we need to do for a teaching appointment. I'm nervous about that, actually, but I know that the Lord will be able to help me get through it without dying. The worst thing that can happen is that I say something absolutely terrible.

My days start at 6:30 in the morning and end at 10:30 at night. I don't really have any spare time at all, which is okay. An hour is devoted to personal study each day, and an hour for companionship study, and an hour or more for language study. Things are going quite well, and I'm excited to be here.

Alright, I am only allowed to email family. So, if you're not in my family, I can't give you my address. Consequently, you'll need to write me a letter. Please write me letters. I feel so sad when everyone else gets one and I don't. You can use DearElder.com if you want to. It's fast, convenient, and will make you happy. I can only respond to letters on my preparation day, which is every Tuesday, so don't expect a prompt reply.

I love you all!
Erica

Sister Erica Ellen Oates
MTC Mailbox #255
KOR-DAE 0622
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, Utah 84604-1793

Mission Day 1

2009-04-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

Ellen here.

Erica has asked me to post emails to all here while she is on her mission. I just thought it would be nice to publish here first official mission photo. We took her to the MTC today and said goodbye for the next 18 months while she serves her Heavenly Father on her mission in South Korea. As you can see, she is still smiling.

G'bye!

2009-04-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

I'm apparently notoriously bad at keeping a blog updated on a regular basis. Right. So, since my last post, I've received a mission call to the Korea Daejeon mission for the LDS church. I'm leaving for the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo tomorrow morning. I won't be able to go online very frequently at all, as I'm handing over my time to the Lord to do as He would have me do. Fortunately for you, I've taught my mother how to add posts on blogger. If you'd like to hear what's going on in my life, check back here once a week. I realize I posted this one rather late, as I was set apart earlier tonight, but I was just finalizing my packing and remembered I should probably say something. I want to thank everyone who have been a support to me through my life. I appreciate it.

Oh! Check out the China section of my site--I actually added some thoughts and pictures.

For those of you unable to hear my farewell talk, feel free to read it below.

Standing up here and delivering a talk that was written yesterday and polished this morning is intimidating for me, to say the least. I graduated almost a year ago from BYU-I with a degree in English, which means that I’d rather write than talk any day of the week. Fortunately, it isn’t as though I haven’t been required to speak in public before. As many of you are aware, I spent four months in China teaching English. After visiting Beijing, I actually had three of my classes in the same room at the same time—which amounted to nearly one hundred and twenty students. I’m nervous and my knees are shaking today because not only is there more than one hundred and twenty of you, but you can understand almost all of what I’m saying whereas they only caught every third or fourth word. At least, I hope you can understand what I’m saying. I do have a habit of speaking fast when I’m nervous. If you listen fast, I suppose we’ll be alright, and might even get to go home early. Bishop never did give me a specific topic to address today, so I encourage you to listen carefully like a congregation of detectives to figure out what my central theme is.

Jeff and I landed in Hong Kong on August 21 before a category nine typhoon hit the area. Due to the typhoon, our connecting flight to Changsha was delayed for three days. I went to China with a company called China Horizons started by a man who lives in Rexburg named Jacob. Jacob tried his best to get us train tickets so that we could continue our journey, but all the trains from Hong Kong to Changsha were sold out for five days. That happens a lot in China due to the high population. It didn’t help that our entire group needed to go to Changsha to get to Xiangtan. We had a group of over twenty headed to teach English. Due to the Olympics and limited numbers of visas, we were almost all placed in a smaller city called Xiangtan.
So, there we were, in the Hong Kong airport without our checked luggage. I rather stupidly didn’t put a change of clothes or a toothbrush in my carry-ons. We spent the night in the airport with other stranded passengers, curled up on very rough carpet in an air-conditioned building that was downright chilly. Jacob contacted the mission president in Hong Kong the next morning. Fortunately, the mission and temple presidents agreed to let us stay in the patron housing across from the temple until we could catch our rescheduled flight. Normally, this housing is reserved for those Asian saints who save up to come to the temple to be sealed, endowed, or married for eternity. Fortunately, there was enough room for us stranded saints.
There was a very sweet Chinese family at the housing with us. I couldn’t understand a word they said, but the Spirit was very strong nevertheless and there was a lot of smiling. We could all tell we were brothers and sisters in the gospel, even without knowing how to communicate through much more than gestures when Jeff Treft, a returned missionary from Taiwan in our group, wasn’t around. We attended church in the temple. The Hong Kong temple is several stories high, designed to match the vision President Hinckley had of it. The lower floors are used as a meeting house. During sacrament meeting, we got to hear from a lovely young woman who was about to leave to Salt Lake on her mission. Some of the missionaries translated for us. Our group met with a visiting area authority for Sunday School where we were instructed to follow the laws of the land in China and not proselyte.

There are members of the church in China. Some couple missionaries are called to serve in China, actually, offering service and teaching English. Many teachers who go to China are members. But there are also Chinese members of the church, though proselyting isn’t allowed. Expatriates, or foreigners, are not allowed to interact with native Chinese members, so I don’t know how many members there are, but the church is in China. Many will hear the gospel in America and come back and teach their families, which is allowed. After accepting the gospel, our Chinese brothers and sisters save up money to visit Hong Kong to get baptized by the missionaries. Several elders and sisters speak Mandarin and teach and help prepare these saints for a day or so before they’re baptized.

After this spiritually uplifting discussion on making a distinction between doing what is good and what is right, we went back to the airport and hopped on another plane bound for Changsha, which is about an hour by car away from Xiangtan. Mainland China is very different than Hong Kong, which was under British rule until 1999. That’s why there’s a temple in Hong Kong and missionaries are called to serve there speaking Cantonese and Mandarin. We were greeted with utmost courtesy by representatives from our schools and treated to genuine Chinese food. It’s not like Chinese food here.

Shortly after we arrived, President and Sister Brighton, two missionaries serving in China, came to organize us into a group of the church. After quick interviews on Saturday, I was called to be the group’s relief society leader. We were set apart and had a very spiritual and close Sacrament Meeting as a group in an extra apartment owned by our Chinese liaison with the school, Lany. She actually had a wall removed from her apartment so that we could meet as a group to partake in the sacrament. Lany is very curious about the church. Unfortunately, we couldn’t invite any Chinese nationals to our meetings, or we would have.

President Brighton talked to us that Sunday. He said something very significant that changed the way that I think about pioneers. President Brighton pointed out that we were the first group of saints to ever be in Xiangtan—modern pioneers. Our examples to our students would either be beneficial or detrimental to the church as we walked, talked, and interacted with our Chinese brothers and sisters. I had always equated pioneers to the iconic images of those who crossed the plains under the leadership of Brigham Young, or as part of one of the handcart companies, and hadn’t put much thought into the word pioneer. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a pioneer is someone ‘who ventures into unknown or unclaimed territory to settle’ or ‘opens up new areas of thought, research, or development.’ Now, we do owe a lot to the iconic pioneers we celebrate every 24th of July. After all, they helped a city appear from nowhere and decided to use a grid system and wide streets that make driving easier (it’s not that way in China). Pioneers are not relics of the past.

Elder Oaks actually gave a talk in the October 1989 conference entitled “Modern Pioneers.” Sadly, I don’t remember hearing that one because I wasn’t quite three when he gave it. It’s a good read. He refers back to comments made by President J. Reuben Clark on the unsung pioneers who walked at the end of the wagon train faithfully following their leaders on the trek west and then states that “In every nation, in every worthy occupation and activity, members of this church face hardships, overcome obstacles, and follow the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ as valiantly as the pioneers of any age. They pay their tithes and offerings. They serve as missionaries or as Church Service volunteers, or they support others who do so. Like the noble young mothers who postpone the pursuit of their personal goals in order to provide the needs of their children, they sacrifice immediate pleasures to keep commitments that are eternal. They accept callings and, in the service of others, they willingly give their time and sometimes their lives.”

After some thought, I think there are three ways in which everyone can help open up “new areas of thought or development” in becoming modern pioneers. The first of which is with obedience. The second is through service. And the third is through example. It is through obedience of the covenants we’ve made with our Heavenly Father that we become entitled to the divine help we need to accomplish our mission as pioneers. In Doctrine and Covenants 82:10, the Lord states: “I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” By keeping the commandments and striving to be more Christ-like, we become worthy of the Lord’s help in spreading the gospel and opening up new areas of thought to those around us. There are countless wonderful examples of this throughout the history of the church and in the scriptures.

In China, we were instructed to meet together as a group each Sunday for Sacrament meeting and then Sunday school or priesthood and Relief Society. Our group leader was Chase Fly. He and the rest of the teachers were wonderful examples of obedience to me. Chase, and his assistant, Ryan, would come early to set up the apartment for our worship by lining up the twenty-five seats and then preparing the sacrament table. We would then gather together and start our meeting promptly at 10 each Sunday. Due to our small congregations, we were encouraged to contemplate the Savior for a few minutes after the Sacrament was passed. It was very uplifting to be able to renew covenants in China each week. We sang together, and would split apart after about forty-five minutes. It was a nice break from teaching English to be taught the gospel.

The police started becoming suspicious as to what was happening in the apartment on Sundays. It wasn’t against the law for us to meet as long as we didn’t have any Chinese nationals at our meetings, but after Chase talked to the branch president, we decided it would be best to meet in smaller groups. We didn’t want Lany to get in trouble, for she had done so much for us. Sitting in small groups of five or six, watching the sacrament being passed, was a treat. The memory of seeing Ryan kneeling at a coffee table to bless the sacrament in obedience to the branch president’s direction will forever stay in my mind. My fellow teachers were wonderful examples of obedience.

As another example, I’ve decided to focus on Abish. If you know who Abish is, you deserve a cookie. If not, I’ll explain. One of the greatest missionaries, and one of my favorites, is Ammon. After Alma the Younger’s conversion, Ammon repented of his own wickedness and was desirous to bring souls unto God among his brothers, the Lamanites. Ammon was able to open up a discussion with King Lamoni after saving the king’s sheep and being a faithful servant. After discussing the Lord and His plan, the king, queen, and Ammon all fell to the floor as though dead. I don’t know what the servants thought when they first stepped into the room to see what was going on, but I think in their place, I would probably assume there was some sort of terrible disease that had killed them suddenly. Fortunately, Abish was there. She was a Lamanitish woman, and a servant to the queen. Her reaction to the unusual sight is recorded in the scriptures. In Alma 19:17, it reads, “when she saw that all the servants of Lamoni had fallen to the earth, and also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay prostrate upon the earth, she knew that it was the power of God; and supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would cause them to believe in the power of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people.”

This is certainly an example of the blessings of obedience. Abish was converted to the Lord and kept her covenants with Him though the rest of the Lamanites had no idea if there even was a God. Due to her diligence in keeping her covenants, she was able to be moved upon by the Spirit to gather the Lamanites together to behold the power of God. As people began arriving, some thought the king and queen were dead. Others believed that Ammon had slain them and tried to kill him in turn. However, the power of the Lord was made manifest, and soon the people started arguing as to whether Ammon was sent by God or not. This contention made Abish understandably upset—the people were viewing a miracle and seemed more interested in making God out to be some sort of villain than feeling His hand in this. So she was the one who knelt next to the queen, who then immediately rose from the ground. She awakened her husband, and soon King Lamoni was preaching about the power of God.
The multitude that Abish gathered were then able to hear from Ammon and the other servants of Lamoni who had been converted. Verse 35 reads: “And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them.” Abish was a pioneer in changing the way a multitude of people thought about God and religion through her obedience to the prompting of the Spirit.

It is also easy to find examples of service in the history of the church, in early church history or even in this ward. One of the great things about trying to follow Christ is that He encourages us to “love one another”. On Halloween, Jeff and I traveled to Beijing with Mark, David, and his wife Rebecca. We were quite excited to get to see the capital of China. It’s a beautiful city, clean and very efficient. We went by train from Xiangtan directly to the west Beijing railway station. The train ride was about sixteen hours long—during which we sat the entire time because we didn’t buy tickets early enough to get a sleeper car. The train was packed full of other people headed to Beijing who spoke very little English more than “Hello,” but I felt safe. My personal example of service came when we arrived at the train station.

The hostel we were going to stay at was across from the other railway station. On their website, we were told to take the number nine bus between stations. Of course, shortly after we arrived, we realized there was no number nine bus. Confused, we decided to try going out one of the doors to see if there were more buses. There weren’t. A lovely Chinese woman noticed our disappointment and discouragement and asked in very broken English if she could help in any way. She pulled out her phone and intimated that she would let us use it to contact the hostel. I got the pleasure of speaking to them on the phone. They spoke English, but I found it difficult to understand the kind young man who answered the phone. They wanted to send a bus out to get us—which would cost a lot more than we had anticipated.

As I was on the phone, a concerned man came over to see what was going on. He spoke English very well—he lives in Canada—and offered to help us find the bus we needed to take. He asked us where we were from and quickly surmised that we were Mormons when Jeff and I answered Utah. He said he liked Mormons and told us he was pleased to meet more Christians. He found out what bus we needed to get on and then took a step further by telling the driver to tell us when to get off before finally saying goodbye. This act of service was a tender mercy of the Lord for our little group. His service made him a pioneer though he was Lutheran, for he changed my way of thinking about other Christians and religions. All my life I had been exposed to members of the church offering service, and hadn’t really thought that other people are doing the same thing we are in trying to follow Christ.

An example of a pioneer through service from church history is Amanda Inez Knight. I had never heard her name before I took the second half of Church history at school. Sister Knight was one of the first single sister missionaries. She was set apart on April 1, 1898. Her companion was Lucy Jane Brimhall, called Jennie. Both Amanda and Jennie attended Brigham Young Academy and had been planning to travel to Europe after graduation. Jennie was twenty-three and Amanda twenty-two. They were called to serve in Great Britain.

Amanda was afraid of speaking in public, but she was determined to become an instrument in the hands of God. Even after she was ridiculed by a woman while tracting, she kept going. The sisters met a lot of persecution, along with the elders in Bristol, but were determined to keep serving as ambassadors of Christ. Amanda is one of my favorite figures because she occasionally was the only woman at meetings. She felt very conspicuous amongst all the elders. I can relate to that. Of course, I got used to being the only girl, but I must admit I’m looking forward to having a companion on my mission. As she was called at a time before there were set mission lengths, Amanda ended up serving twenty-five months as a missionary before returning home in 1900. We will probably never know the impact she had on those living in England and Scotland she was able to teach, but I’m positive her service to the Lord and to her fellow man qualifies her as a pioneer. I know that I’m happy to be following in Amanda and Jennie’s footsteps.

The example of other people is what helps shape and define our personalities. When we see people doing something we like, we emulate them. This is another area in which I feel most modern pioneers excel in. Unfortunately, being an example isn’t quantifiable. I can never really know how I influence you, just like you don’t know how you’ve influenced me.

For my first example of an example, I’m going to be talking about Lany, who will be my example of how examples influence people. She’s a devout Buddhist who has been working with Jacob in placing teachers in China for the past few years. Many of the teachers that she has helped place are members of the church. Consequently, she’s remarkably curious about the LDS church. She’s heard snippets about the early persecution of the church, and can’t understand why anyone, Christian or atheist, would be so upset over some different beliefs. Jeff and I got into a discussion that bordered on religious with Lany one day as she delivered our stipend from the government. Lany is trying to understand why so many religions seem to be at each others’ throats as well. As we talked, she said that she tries to accept any religion, for she sees truth in all of them, and that the purpose of religion is to bring peace and not war. I was amazed by how many of the same beliefs she has that we have, actually. I wish I could’ve told her more about the church, but I didn’t want to break the law.

Lany shared a beautiful metaphor from Buddhism that I would like to share with you. She told us that Buddhists strive to be like the lotus flower. Lotuses grow in mud and dirt and rise above the filth to blossom in purity as a beacon of hope, truth, and beauty. This metaphor reminds me strongly of the injunction to be in the world but not of the world that we have heard from the prophets. I encourage you to be a lotus flower.

My next example of an example is Kim Ho Jik. There are plenty of examples in the church, but I decided on Kim Ho Jik because he was from South Korea. He studied at Cornell University, where he heard about the gospel from some colleagues. He was baptized in 1951 in the Susquehanna River. He wasn’t the first Korean convert to the church, but he was very influential. After he received his degree, he went back home to Korea and was made the vice president of education. From this position, he was able to influence the president to allow the church to proselyte in South Korea. He didn’t live to see the fruit of his labor, for he died in 1959, but in 1965 the first ward was organized and in 1973, the first stake in Korea was organized. On the fourteenth and fifteenth of December in 1985, the Seoul South Korea temple was dedicated. Today there are four missions in Korea. I’ll be serving in the Daejeon mission, which is the southern part of South Korea. Kim Ho Jik’s example of faithful service has paved the way for the Korean saints to have a temple in their midst. I don’t know if he would have ever thought that would happen.
Everyone in this room today is a pioneer. If you’re a convert to the church, you’re blazing a trail for future generations to follow. However, some of you have ancestors that joined the church shortly after it was organized. Perhaps some of you are related to Brigham Young, who was indirectly converted after the first official missionary, Samuel Smith, started proclaiming the gospel to the world. It’s hard to feel like a pioneer if you’ve got four or five generations who’ve been strong in the church. But you are. You are the first person in your family to be living in the year 2009 serving in your position in the Church. Whatever it is, you’re influencing people in ways you can’t comprehend as you strive to be obedient, serve in the church, and live while following the example of Christ. My primary teachers, young women advisors, and Sunday School teachers played a major role in cementing the idea of serving a mission in my mind.

It isn’t easy to be a pioneer. The modern conveniences of today make it easier to live from day to day, of course, but it’s still hard to be true to the faith. Satan is still trying to make us break our covenants we’ve made with God. Some days he does better than others as we make mistakes. It’s important to remember that the Lord is with us just as He was with the saints in the Willie and Martin handcart companies. We have been invited to cast our burdens upon the Lord.
There are countless other examples of faithful pioneers in the history of the church. I encourage you to learn about some of them. I also encourage you to write your own history down. I really regret not writing down more about my adventure in China. It didn’t seem like a very important thing to be doing while I was there, for I had my mind on a million other things (like finding peanut butter and yeast at the Bubugao), but I wish I had. I’ve got a lousy memory, and like rereading things I’ve written to refresh my memory. Write about the modern pioneers who have influenced you, and keep track of your own endeavor in our journey back to Heavenly Father as you strive to keep the covenants you’ve made with the Lord.
I’d like to close with my testimony.

I know that Jesus is the Christ, and that through Him and His atoning sacrifice, we are able to return to our Father's presence. I am humbled by my call to serve in Korea, but I know that the Lord will sustain me as I learn the language and serve for eighteen months. I know the Lord loves all of His children. I also know that the gospel is true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in that grove of trees in 1820. I've been to that grove, and I've felt Their holy presence. I'm grateful for those who have taught and supported me through my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I'm not dead, I promise.

2009-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Yet again it seems as though I've become rather lax in updating my blog. A thousand apologies...my life isn't really the most interesting thing in the world, in my opinion. Especially now that I'm home from China. It seems to be back to the way its almost always been, which doesn't constitute as an interesting read in my book. But that's just me. I've been told I ought to update more frequently.

Currently, I'm in the process of having my papers to go on a mission for the LDS church processed. I'm waiting to talk to the stake president, for those of you who are interested. I have the papers all filled out and done, and before too much longer, I'll get that much-anticipated envelope telling me where I'll be spending a year and a half. I probably won't be able to update my blog during that year and a half, coincidentally, so I guess my loyal readers will have to wait significantly longer than a month to hear how things are going. Maybe I'll have my mom post my letters on my blog or something, though. Something to think about.

I work as a substitute teacher for the Granite School District. Some days go better than others. I'm glad I have a source of income right now...a lot of people I know are still looking for a job. Silly economy. You know, I think that if the media weren't emphasizing it as much as they are, it wouldn't get to be so bad...a lot of it is panic on the part of everyone. Still, it has to be scary when you've got loads of bills to pay and you're out of work. Hopefully it won't be as bad a recession as the Great Depression...though, part of me wonders if perhaps it wouldn't be too bad. After seeing the Chinese people make a living with the very little they have, I've wondered if we have too much here. I mean, practically all of my students were cheerful. The people around Xiangtan were happy. And they didn't need a new car or a beautiful house with a sprawling lawn to be so. They have very little in China. Most don't have air conditioners or heaters, and practically everybody lives in an apartment. Most of my students only had two or three outfits, which they kept clean and tidy (for the most part) as they tried to better themselves.

The economy in China is worse, in some ways. Finding a job in your chosen profession is very difficult due to the vast number of applicants. My students are worried about finding jobs when they graduate next year. And for good reason--employers ask potential employees to include their height, weight, age, gender, and even a photograph of them with their resume. That's right. Employers will often choose workers based on how they look, which is why when you go to an upscale restaurant or store, everyone looks beautiful. Many of my students will end up working retail seven days a week. Some might end up pushing around garbage carts. The government does mandate a certain number of jobs for each business to give more people the opportunity to work, which is good. But that leads to boredom--sometimes when Jeff and I went to the store during the middle of the week, we'd be followed by five or six sales associates looking for something to do more than straightening stock.

Anyway, one lesson I've learned is that I really can make do with less. I don't need new clothes every year. I don't need brand names. I don't need a car. I don't need a new video game, or movies, or anything like that. All I really need is food, shelter, and a way to express myself. Everything else I have just happen to be blessings--my computer, my soft bed, carpet, stoves, books, movies, television, cookies, candy, my own room, a western-style toilet... The list is very long. I am grateful to live in the land of plenty. I just think that sometimes we take it for granted. And though the recession is a terrible thing, and lots of Americans are out of jobs looking for ways to make ends meet, at least they'll have a little extra time to spend with the thing that really matters--family. The Chinese generally have remarkably close-knit families. I wish more American families were that way. Some of the students I've seen while substituting clearly need more guidance at home.

Right. So, that turned out to be a rather serious post. I'm working on creating a new section of my site detailing my thoughts of China. I'll post when I've finished--there will be pictures you haven't seen as well as some of my crazy thoughts.

Hong Kong Part Deux

2009-01-07T23:05:00.000-08:00

I meant to put all of this up yesterday in addition to my post about Christmas, but I finally succumbed to fatigue and went to bed when Blogger started having issues saving my post. So, apologies to those who were expecting more of an update. I promise this one will be quite interesting. It has a lot of pictures, as you can probably tell. Yay pictures! I'm not naturally a photographer, though, which means I frequently forget I have a thing like a camera and don't take pictures. Sorry. You've probably noticed that though.

Alrighty. Let's start at the beginning of this second journey to Hong Kong. First of all, Lany wasn't able to get tickets for Jeff and I the day we had been planning to leave. The way the train system works in China is unique, to put it simply. You generally can't buy tickets anywhere until three days before you plan to travel. And if you're not quick about it, you can end up with hard seats like we did to Beijing. Obviously Jeff and I could've survived going on hard seats...but we really didn't know what we would do with our luggage. The buggers probably weighed about forty-nine pounds each, and there really wasn't much room on the train in the hard seating area...so Lany kindly got us beds. Hard beds, I think, technically...which was nice. There were two trains from Xiangtan to Shenzhen (the last stop in mainland China before Hong Kong). Both left late at night. The one we went on left at 11. I think. I should probably pull out my train ticket and look...

Anyway, I got the bottom bunk and Jeff got the top bunk. I put the suitcases down on the floor between the two bottom bunks (there were six bunks to each "compartment"), and we settled in for an eleven hour train ride to Shenzhen West railway station. Most of the passengers in our train compartment got off before Shenzhen, so it was very comfortable toward the end. We met someone named Yuri (I think--I'm bad with names) who had gone to school in the U.S. and worked as a truck driver for a while before coming back to Xiangtan and his parents. He had a little girl that absolutely loved him that was fun to try and talk to. Children in China are not afraid of strangers at all--they love to meet new people. Parents are more than willing to let them, too, for they treat everyone as revered uncles or aunts. Construction workers are referred to as uncles by students, actually. It'd be nice if we could trust strangers enough to be that way in the U.S...but I don't see that happening anytime soon. When we arrived at Shenzhen, the little girl started sobbing because her new friend was leaving.

Feeling rather grungy and groggy (it isn't that easy to sleep on a train, even with a bed), Jeff and I went to the ticket office to get tickets to Hong Kong. Lany gave us a stipend to do so. Unfortunately, after an hour in one line, I was told I needed to be in the next line over in rather broken English. And after an hour in that line, we were told that we would have to go through Guangzhou, which made no sense at all. The woman I ended up talking to after a confusing conversation involving three Chinese men who spoke a bit of English said we'd need to pay 300 RMB for tickets to Guangzhou. I counted our money. We only had 150. I told her that, and asked her for hard seats. They were 200. So, Jeff and I decided to go and find a bank in order to withdraw some money. I was rather discouraged by the whole situation, especially since we had to drag our luggage around behind us while trying to find a bank in an unfamiliar city (and it didn't help it was nearly that time of month). Jeff was great, though. He kept telling me it would be okay somehow and that we'd make it to Hong Kong, even if we were a day late. We had no cell phones, and no way to contact Mom and tell her what was going on--though, he did suggest we could use an internet cafe to contact her. Which was a good idea. But Shenzhen was very different from Xiangtan--much more modern. Which meant there were wide roads, and fewer shops crammed next to each other.

We found a bank and decided the best course of action would be to go to the main railway station and try and get tickets there. Of course, we had no idea how to ask a taxi driver how to get there...so we tried showing our tickets to one and told him not to go to the Xi railway station...but he didn't quite get what we were saying and took us back. Which was okay. I didn't have to drag my luggage back, which was happy. I was starting to get blisters on my hands from doing so, as we had to drag our luggage through construction.

I told Jeff it was his turn to wait in line. He did, and he got to speak to the fluent English-speaker first--who told him, after maybe half an hour of waiting, that we needed to go to the other railway station. She wrote the characters down we'd need to give to the taxi driver. I was happy and frustrated and felt a lot like crying. We went out, found a taxi driver, and then spent the next half hour going from one end of the huge city to the other. It was an expensive ride, but I really didn't care.

We arrived at the main railway station and were immediately confused as to where to buy tickets. So we wandered around for a bit, dragging our heavy bags, until we spotted some foreigners. Jeff asked them what we needed to do, and they informed us we had to go through customs in order ride the MTR. Which made no sense to us, but they said we could get tickets through customs. So we dragged those confounded suitcases behind us and then went through customs to get out of mainland China. We passed over a huge fence with barbed wire, and then went through customs to get into Hong Kong. We found out that the MTR stood for the subway/train system in Hong Kong. Jeff exchanged all the yuan he'd withdrawn into Hong Kong dollars, and we then bought tickets electronically to Hung Hom (I didn't know which station was close to the Marriott, and didn't know we could've bought tickets straight to the building the Marriott was connected to). Once there, we hired a taxi which took us across to Hong Kong Island (another expensive ride) and ended up a the front door of the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong. The bellhops took our bags (we were so confused) and directed us inside. I must say, I felt like I didn't belong at that hotel the moment we stepped in--we smelled funny from our train ride and were all grungy from a day of pulling heavy suitcases. But they took us anyway. We checked in, got our keys, and then went up to Mom and Kathy's hotel room. Kathy is my mom's sister, and was kind enough to arrange the whole trip and hotel room and whatnot. She's a nifty aunt.

Jeff got in the shower and I pulled out my computer to see if there was wireless internet (there wasn't). Moments after I hibernated my computer, Mom and Kathy came in. Mom was very excited to see us. She hugged me for probably five minutes straight before letting me go. And probably did the same to Jeff--I don't know though, as I went and got in the shower as soon as he was out. I felt really icky after everything I'd been through in the past two days--the waiting room at the train station in Xiangtan was full of smokers, for example.

Once we were all cleaned and caught up, we went out on the town to explore the Temple Street night market. Vendors set up little booths full of very sparkly jewelry, random electronics, movies, fans, baubles, and anything else they can sell to primarily tourists. Then we stopped for a more traditional Chinese meal. It wasn't spicy. Which was very different. So was watching Mom eat with chopsticks (just kidding!). By the time we got back, I was pretty much a walking zombie I was so tired.

The following day, we had a tour of Lantau Island. We rode cable cars up the mountain and then went to a very large statue of Buddha. Apparently this Buddha was constructed in the late eighties and finished in the early nineties by a nearby monastery (which we visited as well). It isn't a big fat happy Buddha, like you generally see--he is more of a triumphant Buddha. I would've liked to take pictures inside, for there were some really neat paintings and a piece of Buddha's neck bone up at the top (the size of a grain of rice) brought from Sri Lanka, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. Apparently only people of faith can see the holy relic from Buddha. I think I might've seen something--but you have to stand twenty feet back from the relic, and it's put inside of a capsule inside of a cup inside of a jar, so I'll never really know if it was really a piece of his neck bone or a jelly bean.

After touring inside the big Buddha, we went down to the monastery that paid for the statue. There was a lot of incense burning. There were a lot of tourists, but also some Chinese people worshiping. We were allowed to take pictures inside of the monastery. I didn't take many, though, 'cause I felt it was disrespectful to those who were there to worship. The picture to the left is the main monastery. They're trying to save up money to add a new building of 10,000 buddhas. It will apparently be five stories tall. I think on some level they're desperate to get more tourists to visit. Which might not be the case, but Lantau island is languishing a bit because it doesn't have the major metropolitan influence like in the rest of Hong Kong. It's very beautiful, and there are hardly any large buildings, which was done on purpose. Sadly, most of the residents have been moving out, and new residents aren't allowed to move on certain parts of the island. They built the new international airport on Lantau island--they actually reclaimed land from the sea to do it. Practicing Buddhists are often vegetarians. In fact, we were asked not to eat anything with meat in it before visiting the Buddha. There was a vegetarian cafeteria nearby the monestary. If we'd had more time, it would've been cool to try their spring rolls and stuff...but we were on a rather strict schedule. Unfortunately, not all of the people on the tour realized that. We waited for them for a while, which was rather aggravating. As we waited, I took a picture of this neat rock. It has Chinese characters inscribed on it. I have no idea what any of them say, sadly. The only character I can recognize is the one for yuan. It looks like the pi symbol with a line over it, for those of you who are curious. Many monasteries have similar stones--I saw some pictures from Jeff's co-teacher of similar things. I imagine it's probably something to do with good fortune and blessings on the monastery, but don't quote me on it.

After visiting the monastery, we took a bus down to a fishing village. Mom and Kathy got to smell fish drying in the open air for the first time. We didn't get to spend long there, though, because we needed to catch a ferry back to Hong Kong island. Due to the fact that it was New Year's Eve, it was getting pretty crowded along the harbor. The picture I took in the village was of a wall toward the harbor. Apparently when Jeff and I were at the airport, the typhoon that kept us stranded in Hong Kong sent a wave tall enough that it came over this wall. It caught the villagers unawares--some of the houses are still flooded.

The ferry was probably my least favorite part of the tour. I get seasick really easy, and the waters were all choppy thanks to the numerous boats in the harbor. Of course, it was a nice ferry, but by the end of that ride, I felt icky. Still, I was more than willing to go with Jeff, Mom, and Kathy to the night market again. We found a restaurant that served amazingly delicious duck with the bone in it and everything. They gave us normal utensils and chopsticks. I tried the fork and spoon for a while, but gave up because I kept using them like chopsticks. We saw some of the lights and fireworks as they counted down to the New Year and then promptly all fell asleep.

New Year's Day, we were scheduled to go to Disneyland. We awoke bright and early and got a sluggish start when Jeff stayed in bed...but that was okay, because we ended up at Disneyland half an hour before they opened. The train to Disneyland is really cool. I took a picture of Mom and Kathy (they look a lot like twins, don't they?) after Kathy took a picture of me and Jeff. Anyway, the train is decorated with Mickey Mouse windows, and the handles you can hold while standing have Mickey on them. There are also statues of different characters throughout the train. I was pretty excited to go.

We got into the park and went to Tommorowland first. There was hardly anyone there, so we went on Space Mountain twice, and even went on Autotopia (which isn't very fun). We went on all the rides and moved on within half an hour. Hong Kong Disneyland isn't very big. At all. And it wasn't very crowded, either. We saw the Golden Mickey's show, which was pretty cool. Mickey and Minnie spoke in Chinese and there were English translations on a screen. All of the songs were in English, though. We got to see Mulan in the show. But, sadly, not in the park. I did take a picture of her cow. I mean...horse... I was sad that we didn't get to see Mushu anywhere either. The characters we saw were Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald, Alice, Merlin, and Piglet. There weren't any Minnie Mouse plushies dressed up as princesses in the stores, which was a bummer. Mom wanted to get one dressed as Mulan for Lydia, and I would've liked one. They didn't even have any merchandising for Mulan in the park, really.

Still, it was fun. We finished all of the rides by about four in the afternoon and went to the hotel because there was literally nothing else to do. They need to add a few more rides, I think. There's a lot of beautiful plants and landscaping, but more people would probably be inclined to go if there was more to do. Mom was pretty exhausted, so we vegged in the hotel that night. We had McDonald's. I was tired too, so we called it an early night.

On January 2, Kathy went to visit Guangzhou at an insanely early time. Jeff, Mom, and I went to Ocean Park--the other theme park in Hong Kong--in the morning. It's a very big park--not because it has a lot of rides (though it does have a considerable amount), but because it's on a hill. It isn't as well marked as Disneyland, and the map isn't entirely helpful. But we did manage to find the panda exhibit. Three of the four pandas at Ocean Park were asleep. And the fourth one's exhibit was crowded with people taking pictures. The Chinese are very proud of their pandas. I can see why. They're very cute. Jeff was really excited to finally see live pandas. I think he was sad that there were so many other people, but that's okay. There are always a lot of people in China.

The rest of the park was pretty. There was a large aquarium with lots of big freaky-looking fish (which was crowded as well). And rides. A lot of them are like the ones at Lagoon. The Dragon, a roller coaster, was actually built in Clearfield. It was fun. Mom was afraid to go on it, but Jeff and I did. It went upside down three times. And it wasn't very fast. I think the Chinese are still getting used to the idea of theme parks--there aren't any roller coaster junkies out there yet. I'm sure some day they'll start building huge parks like in the United States. They played Christmas music over the loudspeakers, like they had at Disneyland. Hearing it after the New Year's was weird. Especially since it was so loud.

There was a really neat seal and dolphin show at Ocean Park we saw. It was sunny, and very hot waiting, but worth it. The dolphins were very well trained, and the seals were hilarious. The show was in English. The picture to the right is of my view of the park. We didn't go on many rides, though. Mom and I weren't feeling spectacularly good. So, we decided to head back to the hotel and chill around lunch time.

After eating, Mom thought it would be really fun to find the temple. We went to the concierge desk to ask them how to get there, and ended up with directions to the administrative building. However, they were more than willing to explain how to get to the temple there. We saw six or seven elders in the lobby talking. All but one were from Utah. After receiving directions, we hopped back onto the MTR and went to the temple. For future reference, the stop to get there on the MTR is the Kowloon Tong stop. It's on the side across from Hong Kong Island.
I finally got a good picture of the temple! Yay! It wasn't foggy or anything. So there you are. After that adventure, we went back to the Temple Street market (not the same street the temple's on) and mom got some pretty pink pearls at a pretty decent price. I helped her haggle. She thinks I'm really good at it. I don't like it. We had goose again, and then we went back to the hotel.

The next morning, it was time to go back to our home away from home away from home--the airport. Kathy gave us the rest of her Hong Kong dollars (thanks again!) and Jeff and I bought some jade bracelets and Ben and Jerry's ice cream! Yummy! The flight wasn't too bad back to the states. My first impression upon seeing Salt Lake was thinking that all the buildings are really short. Of course, in China, they're all at least three stories tall, so that's understandable.

So...that was our Hong Kong trip! Wahoo!

Christmas

2009-01-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

I know that this is a rather late update. I should've updated ages ago about Christmas, but Jeff and I had an apartment to clean, and grades to do, and group reports that I looked over and checked for grammar and whatnot... Excuses are easy to come up with after the fact. Especially when it's this late after the fact...

Anyway, I'm sure you readers are curious as to how Jeff and I celebrated Christmas in Xiangtan, China. I'll start with a few days before Christmas. On Sunday, December 21, we attended our last group meeting for church. Afterward, we had a white elephant gift exchange. Jeff ended up with a really cool statue of Chairman Mao that weighs a ton. (I brought it home.) I ended up with a weird mushroom plushie. I left it in China...

On Monday, I had one of my classes do their final presentations. For about seven classes, I had them work on developing a product as a group to present and try and convince me to invest. There were some pretty interesting inventions--like an umbrella that changed colors according to your mood and then could fold up to the size of a piece of candy, a flying car, paint for walls that changes according to mood, apples with different letters on them with flavors like chocolate, and contact lenses made entirely of water. I got some chopstick holders made by one of the students for their demonstration (they're pretty cool) and got to see a bunch of really good advertisements. After teaching, Jeff and I were invited to a feast compliment of our school's dean. It was very delicious...except I made the mistake of picking up the duck head from the plate as my first bit of meat. I didn't realize it was the head at first until I poked one of the eyes in. It was very hard to get to any of the meat inside the duck, but I did try the brains. They were a nasty texture, so I decided I'd had enough of the duck head and put it down with my garbage. Our Chinese hosts jumped to the conclusion that I didn't like Chinese food (though I now love it), so I ended up eating tons of it afterward to try and make up for it. It was a very relaxed dinner--and quite delicious. I really miss all of the spices...
The following day, we were invited to a 5-star hotel by Lany for a Christmas party. It was pretty intense--and buffet style! They had crab, and duck, and oysters, and seafood, and chicken, and weird jelly-like things--and fried rice! I finally had fried rice in China on December 22. Crazy, no? The buffet was set up very beautiful. My picture of it is blurry. But oh well! It's above, and a picture of my first plate of food is below.
Right. So, Jeff and I rather stupidly decided to just take the number 10 bus home and consequently didn't say goodbye to our foreign teacher friends (I felt really dorky when I realized that) but we were really tired. We didn't stay for any karaoke or anything, and we didn't really participate in the program. We had a host at our party, and Lany kept trying to get us to come up and play games, but we were all quite tired. I did win a raffle prize, though. It was a pretty neat tea set--but the tea kettle was made of glass, and I didn't want to have it break on my way back, so I left it in Xiangtan. Besides, I'm not a particularly big fan of tea. I took one sip of green tea and didn't like it. Milk tea is good, though.

Jeff and I thought that we had English Corner on Christmas Eve...but apparently not. It was sad not going. But that was okay. We vegged and watched movies. Both of us really wanted to watch Nightmare Before Christmas, but I got that for my birthday in Utah, so I couldn't show it. Christmas was Thursday, as you are all aware. And it was my last day teaching. Wahoo! I had my students choose a movie on Monday and Tuesday to watch (I gave each class five choices and had them vote before they started their final product presentations). I ended up watching The Princess Bride, Stardust, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My students loved The Princess Bride. It was fun watching them watch it since they'd never seen the ROUS's or anything--several of my students screamed when Westley was attacked. And after class ended, I heard a lot of them say, "As you wish!" to practice. Oddly enough, that movie doesn't have English subtitles--I don't think they understood Inigo Montoya at all... But that's okay. My next class really enjoyed Stardust also. And though I started early and ended late, I still had to cut them off before they saw the end--they were really into it. Not so much for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But that's okay. They watched it at least. When Veruca was carried into the garbage chute they thought that was pretty funny. And they thought it was funny when Mike Teevee came out after being pulled by the taffy puller.

Anywho, after Jeff and I finished our classes, we went downtown and feasted on...McDonald's! Yay! We heard Christmas music, and I said "Merry Christmas" to the cashier. Other than that, it was basically like any day. Jeff and I didn't get each other gifts. Sad, no? Oh well. It didn't really feel like Christmas. It was quite warm, and there was no hint of a white Christmas anywhere.

My Birthday?

2008-12-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

I lucked out this year for my birthday. I didn't have to teach! Yay! Of course, I normally don't have to teach on Wednesdays, so that's nothing new, but it was nice not having to get up in front of my classes and teaching a lesson. I do enjoy teaching sometimes, but I've got a cold. Which makes talking loudly not so much fun—though, my students do seem to be amused listening to me and my cold today (Thursday). Fortunately, they're working on group projects, so I don't really have much to lecture on. I must've been psychic or something when I decided to have them work on a group project...

Anyway, my birthday went well. I woke up later than normal. I should've slept in a bit longer, but I decided I wanted to get up. I ended up remarkably bored 'cause Jeff was still asleep. He was asleep until I made him get up at noon, actually. I think I might've given him my cold... Oh well. I did the dishes and cooked lunch and tried to wake him up at noon. My freshmen students invited us to a Christmas party at one, so I wanted us to eat before we left. Unfortunately, we had just sat down to do that when my students called and said they were waiting for us.

Jeff and I walked with them to KTV—a karaoke bar—to participate in their celebration. They decorated the room with balloons, tinsel, and pictures of Santa. My students were all so excited to be together—they are such a fun group! The party started with a few songs from students before we exchanged gifts. Jeff and I didn't know we were supposed to bring gifts for a white elephant gift exchange, but Jessie (one of my students) provided us with some. I got a little statue of a monkey, and Jeff got a cute bear.

We were then separated into teams and participated in a series of competitions. It was funny watching them pass along a bow using straws—our team won, by the by—and hearing them sing their hearts out to win in the karaoke contest. Jeff and I sang Hey Jude. It went on way too long, and seemed really slow, but my students liked our performance (it doesn't take much to impress them if you're a foreigner).

My students really surprised me when they brought out a cake and started singing “Happy Birthday”. I had told them it was my birthday on Monday during our last class, but I didn't expect a party or anything. They brought the cake out and had me blow out the candles and then cut the cake (I didn't do very well at that). I wish I'd taken a picture of the cake. It was beautiful. I ended up with a tomato on my slice, though. Bleh. I gave it to Jeff. I got a few presents from my students—they're all such sweethearts!—and then blushed when they kept offering me good luck and whatnot. After enjoying the cake, we then proceeded to enjoy listening to people singing karaoke.

Chinese parties are fairly similar to American dances in middle school in the fact that no one dances,but everyone sings. Very interesting. I snapped a few pictures of them as they went about, and they took many pictures with us. After all, we are foreign and different, which makes us superstars.

After the party, we stopped at the gates of the other university for some pictures with Mao Zedong's statue. I had Jeff take a picture of me with my students. Hooray! I'm going to miss them all so very much...they're so much fun!

Afterward, Jeff and I ate the lunch I made and then chilled the rest of the night—English Corner was cancelled—and then finally went to bed around ten. As far as days go, it was fabulous!

Last Day of Class!

2008-12-15T00:24:00.000-08:00

Today was my last day to teach my freshmen English class. I'm so sad it's over. They were such a good class. My freshmen were always eager to learn, and seemed to enjoy my lessons a lot more than my sophomores do. Though, when you first start out college, you are really excited to learn. I guess that excitement just fades away...which is a shame. I hope my freshmen can keep up their enthusiasm for the rest of their college experience. I almost started to cry when the bell rang. Almost. Fortunately, my stoicism returned almost immediately and I went off to deliver my next lesson on advertising. Have I mentioned I don't really like teaching business concepts? I don't think I have. Except for right there. I'll say it again. I don't like teaching business concepts. Alas, I am teaching Business English majors...

Anyway, the time is fast approaching where Jeff and I are going to pack up and go back home. Which is sad, in a way, but I'm also excited. After all, in the United States, we have heaters. They don't have those in China. And they don't have stoves you can turn on to keep you warm. I was talking to one of my students, Max. Apparently last year there was a terrible cold front. The power went down, so all they could use to keep warm was bundles of clothing and by heating water. Which would not be fun. Given how high Chinese ceilings are, keeping even a decently-sized room warm would be rather hard.

After class, Coin (Jeff's co-teacher) invited us over for dinner, cooked by her mother. It was delicious! I felt very welcome by her mother, sisters, and nephews and neice. We watched a little television after eating, and talked a bit about the economy. Apparently it is hard for graduates in China to find jobs...much like it is in the United States. Coin is a lot of fun--she's the freshmen's advisor. My co-teacher, Helen, is off visiting one of her friends...which means I think I'll be asking Coin how to submit my grades.

I meant to take some pictures of my freshmen...but, sadly, forgot to get my camera out. I know, I'm terrible... I suppose you'll just have to live with that fact. So, no visual stimuli. I suppose I could draw a picture using paint and put it up...but that would take a while, eh?

Oh! Before I forget...Jeff and I decided to play with Google maps the other day and pinpoint where we live. I've got it all marked out. You can check it out here.

Chinese Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T05:18:00.000-08:00

Ni hao! Warm wishes to all family and friends reading my blog! I realize that Thanksgiving was yesterday (both here in the future and there in the past), but I got caught up grading my student's final examinations (part one!) and didn't update... Shame on me. But, lucky you, I've got pictures this time. Wahoo!

Jeff and I had a celebration with the other English teachers on Sunday wherein we had chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and various other attempts at American Thanksgiving cuisine. It was lovely, and quite delicious. I enjoyed it all quite a lot. And, sadly, forgot my camera. But no worries. You've all seen food like that before. In fact, many of you have just had some to eat.

Thursday, as you know, was Thanksgiving. Jeff and I decided to celebrate it by cooking up some "traditional" Chinese food. After all, I had watched the Freshmen cooking and thought I could do a fair imitation. So, while Jeff was in class teaching, I set to work preparing our meal. The first dish I cooked (I only have the one wok, so it's one dish at a time) is made from flowers. I have no idea what kind of flowers they are. But this is what they look like.

After peeling the stems from the main part of the flowers (which takes forever!), I fried them up in the wok using oil (butter isn't common 'round these parts), MSG, and some salt. I probably didn't need to throw the MSG in, but we still had some left, an' I figured it'd be fun. Anyway, they cooked pretty easily. They burned a bit when I got impatient after preparing the next dish to go in the wok, but...well, they looked pretty.

After the flowers, I prepared a beef and carrot dish. I really need to learn how to cut carrots thinner. This is a really good dish, for the carrots make the meat somewhat sweet. Of course, I added pepper flakes. I've learned to cook in Hunan, after all. Here's a picture of the finished dish:

I cleaned the wok quickly and chopped up some pork and peppers. This is a really easy dish to make, and quite delicious. I added more peppers for a real kick (I think we're pretty used to spicy foods now) and woked it up. Ha. That should totally be a word.

Jeff came home from class, so I sent him out with the task of getting desert and drinks. He came back with cookies and some other random Chinese foods we hadn't tried yet that looked sweetish. When he got back, he helped me finish with the pork and peppers and then started slicing potatoes as I steamed up some rice. The potatoes have vinegar and salt on them. I think I was supposed to wash off the starch before cooking them...but they wound up tasting pretty good anyway.

Once everything was all cooked, we set it on the coffee table in our front room and I took this picture. It tasted like pretty authentic Chinese food, I must say with some pride. The flowers taste a lot like a mixture of green beans and asparagus. I like 'em. And both the meat dishes were delicious. We had a lot of leftovers, but that's traditional for Thanksgiving as well!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I can't wait to come home and see you all!

Erica

Freshmen Picnic

2008-11-21T17:44:00.000-08:00

Ni hao!

Time for an update from the sporadically-posting Erica. Yesterday (Friday) my students invited me for a picnic/barbecue. They informed me that they were going to be cooking traditional Chinese meals. Now, I've never been one to pass up free food (who in their right mind does?), so I decided to go along with them. I want to know how to cook Chinese food so I can wow the lot of you when I get home from China. My freshmen were the ones who invited me. In China, students with the same majors spend an awful lot of time with one another. They have all the same classes. To promote their sense of unity, they also have scheduled activities. This was one of those activities. Most college students in my classes have no idea how to cook, for their parents did it for them at home, and there are plenty of fast-food joints around for them to eat at (far less expensive than in the U.S.). Coin, Jeff's co-teacher and the advisor to the freshmen, organized a jaunt out to a small farm near the main campus of Xiangtan University.

I accepted their invitation, and hopped on the bus when it arrived Friday morning. Jeff had classes, so he had resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to go. The students were divided up into four different groups. Each student was responsible for making at least one dish. I went around as they were preparing their meals, offering help and saying a few things in English to amuse them. It was all very traditional--which means they were cooking much like people cook when camping. They lit fires using bamboo as fuel, and cooked everything in large cast-iron woks. Woks are pretty much awesome. Vegetables were peeled by hand. They did have knives and cutting boards, but it still wasn't entirely sanitary. The water they cooked with came by sluice.

Though most had no cooking experience, their dishes were absolutely amazing! I watched, in awe, as they cut up vegetables. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to cut the way they do. They seemed to instinctively know how much seasoning and salt to put in their food (though some were a bit on the salty side), and did a fantastic job with their rice, too. One group was a bit zealous in their love of fire, though. This is a picture of them holding their burned rice.

It took them two hours to prepare all their dishes. During that time, whenever they would finish something, they would give me some with chopsticks to try. It was good. But I don't recommend eating some things when they're fresh from the wok--very hot. By the time they were finishing most of their meals, Jeff was done teaching, so he came by taxi. My students then worked very hard to wow us with their dishes. And they did a good job. We went from group to group tasting their dishes. I was absolutely stuffed by the end, though they kept trying to feed me more. When you are in China, you will never go hungry if the Chinese have anything to say about it.

I loved seeing my students outside of the classroom. I only get to teach my freshmen on Mondays, so I don't see them as often as I do my sophomores. They're a fun bunch of students. They love to laugh and are very friendly toward one another (whereas my sophomores sometimes are having fights within the group). I rather inconspicuously took a video of them as they went about their preparations. Sadly, I wasn't able to record their reactions to discovering their burned rice...but still, it'll give you a glimpse into my life here in China.

Beijing

2008-11-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

Ni hao! This is Erica, finally updating my blog. I know, I know...I seem to have a terribly interesting life to the people what read this particular space on the web. After all, I'm in China! There aren't many people who can say that. Actually, there are about 1.3 billion who can...but I'm the only Erica from Magna what's in China at the moment. At least, I'm fairly sure I am...-glances around suspiciously- Anyway, for those of you in the United States, I bet you think my life here in China is full of exciting Kung Fu action and tons of rice. It's not. Generally. Sometimes it's quite exciting and full of rice, but the past few weeks it's been a bit dull save for some frustrations planning an excursion to Beijing and showing a movie for Halloween. But as both events are past, I don't see the point in dwelling on them. Things in China are different than things in the US. That about sums up the frustration.

Before I start on a rant about frustrations, I'd better move on to my trip. On Halloween, David, Mark, Rebecca, Jeff, and I boarded a train headed to Beijingxizhou (the west Beijing train station). We bought our tickets a bit too late...so we ended up in what are called hard seats for the 16 hour trip by train. It's not as bad as it sounds--the hard seats have cushions. Just not as much padding as the soft seats. And there's more people in a hard seat cabin than there are in the soft seat ones. Or the sleeper cabins. That's what we really wanted to get. We left Xiangtan at 6:50 after hopping on the train all crazy-like. The train waited here in Xiangtan for a total of about two minutes--so people in China get on and get off trains ASAP. Kinda daunting when you've never traveled by train, but now I can't make that claim anymore. Anyway, it was a very looong 16 hours. The five of us were split up. I was next to Jeff, so we listened to music, but it wasn't entirely comfortable. And while there is no smoking or spitting in the cabin, there are smoking areas right next to the cabins. Bleh. I think I might be addicted to nicotine by the time I get back. The bathrooms were...well, lovely. Squatter toilets. Smelly. But they got the job done. Sleeping was difficult 'cause I was nervous and excited about the Beijing trip.

Anyway, we arrived in Beijing at about 11:30 the next morning, on November 1. And we promptly were lost. The directions the hostel gave on what bus to take to get to the hostel were less than helpful...the bus they listed doesn't exist anymore. So we were confused, wondering if we should get a taxi or something. A Chinese woman saw the confused looks on our faces and called the hostel for us, but she started arranging for them to pick us up and...well, fortunately, there was a man who spoke English who showed up. He was born in Taiwan and raised in Canada. And he was a real Christian. He found out what bus we needed to take and escorted us there, going so far as to tell the bus attendant to tell us when to get off in order to get to the right stop. I didn't catch his name, but I'm extremely grateful he was such a good Samaritan. I love how kind people seem to be around here. We took the bus and got to the hostel without any problems. Then we checked in and got to relax for a moment before heading off.

Using the Lonely Planet as a guide, we walked to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. They're both very interesting. I wished I could remember more of my Chinese history when we entered the Forbidden City. Anyway, we milled around both places for a while, not paying for an entrance ticket to go in and see the Imperial Palace (which, in retrospect, would've been cool), but definitely enjoying the sights. The pictures above this paragraph are of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. After exploring, we opted to go back to the hotel--we walked back, stopping at a few malls on the way. At the mall at Oriental Plaza, we had some Italian ice cream. It was yummy! I got raspberry, and it tasted like freshly-picked raspberries. Though, we didn't stay there for long. We were all tired from the train ride. And smelly. The showers at the hostel were pretty nice. It was windy our first night in Beijing, hence my crazy hair in front of the imperial palace at the Forbidden Kingdom.

We awoke early the next morning (my alarm went off at 6!) to head off to the Great Wall. We arranged a really neat tour through the hostel. It was 390 RMB per person...which is roughly $57 per person. We had transportation to the wall from the hostel...which made it worth every penny. We also had a personal tour guide who spoke English named Lisa. She was quite knowledgable, and since we left early in the morning, the crowds were pretty thin. We paid for a cable car up to the wall, which was good--the part we chose to visit had a lot of stairs. A lot. Some of them were about the height of one of my toes...but others were the height of my knee. Climbing it was fun! The section of the wall we visited was built in the 1500s, I believe. The first sections of the Great Wall were constructed in 261 B.C. or something like that. The Great Wall is not continuous--and it didn't always work. The Chinese were conquered by the Mongols and Manchus, different ethnic groups, at various times in their history. Still, it's quite impressive! Lisa took us to part of the wall that wasn't preserved by the government. It's slowly decaying...but here's a picture of it. Jeff has better ones. I was feeling too acrophobic to stand up on top of the ruined tower pictured here. I'm generally not afraid of heights...but my knees were like jello after climbing all of those stairs. If the military were to use those babies to train, we would really have something to be worried about, believe you me. Fortunately, it's all just for tourists anymore. Though, I suppose the wall would still be effective in keeping people out as long as they don't have planes...

Anyway, the view from the top was amazing! I think my favorite picture is the one I took from one of the towers at the edge of the restored wall. You can literally see the wall stretching on for miles and miles... A lot of work went into them. And you can tell. I would have had a hard time being a soldier, though. They had to live on the wall and everything, and had to always be ready to light the fire to warn the rest of China. One side of the wall goes up higher than it does to the other--the higher side was where the Mongols approached China. Going down the Great Wall was awesome! Our cable car ticket also gave us a ticket for a toboggan! It was so fun! Jeff says I went too slow, though...he almost ran into me. But it was still awesome. After reaching the bottom, we had a traditional Chinese meal. The food in Beijing is a lot less spicy than in Xiangtan. Which was very happy. I like milder foods, generally. Below the Great Wall, there are tons of vendors selling stuff to tourists. They're rather pushy. Which is okay--they can make pretty decent wages from tourism to help feed their families.

After another 2 hour car ride, we found ourselves in Beijing once more. We started walking to find the Temple of Heaven. It wasn't too hard to find--though, I think I've reached my quota of walking for the month already. The emperor used to come to the Temple of Heaven and pray for good harvests. It's quite beautiful. The archetecture is stunning. The museum about it isn't entirely helpful, though. Some of the signs are in English and Chinese, but mostly it talks about the history only in Chinese. Ah well. The pictures were worth it. After the Temple of Heaven, we went to the pearl market, which is just across the street. This is haggling-central, man! Practically anything you want is in the building. You haggle with the attendants to get a good price, and bang...you've got yourself a pretty hair clip. Or bam! You've got yourself a cashmere sweater. I would tell you what Jeff and I bought, but that's top secret, 'cause some of you readers are going to get what was purchased. Actually, most of you will...unless I have readers I don't actually know. Which might be a possibility. I am quite charismatic...in prose.

We went and had Papa John's for dinner! Yay for pizza! It was very yummy--Papa John's was a deluxe restaurant like Pizza Hut. Expensive, too...but yummy. Jeff and I stopped by Dairy Queen for a Blizzard (they actually tip it upside-down before they give it to you). It was pretty good--not as good as American DQ, though. And then we watched a movie 'til I fell asleep. Our final morning there, Monday, we went back to the pearl market and then went to have duck. It was pretty good. I think I still prefer chicken, though. Sadly, we had to find the bus and get back to the station before we could do anything else, like visit with the branch president and his wife. Then it was another 16 hour train ride back to Xiangtan. We swapped seats so we could face each other and played card games and talked. Since I was so exhausted from the walking, I actually got quite a bit of sleep on the train.

Hope you enjoyed hearing of my travels! I probably won't visit anywhere else until after I've finished teaching, though. Apparently we're not supposed to move our classes around all willy-nilly... Oh well.

Qi Baishi Square

2008-10-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

'Alo, 'alo! Jeff and I went to Qi Baishi Square with Sese and some of my other students on Wednesday, and I actually remembered to bring my camera--amazing, eh? Qi Baishi is a famous artist from Xiangtan who lived during the first part of the twentieth century. There's a lovely park around a museum displaying some of his work. And fish. I like fish. I took a video of the fish, actually, which you can see down at the bottom. These koi were huge! And very hungry. But first things first...the picture you see above is Jeff and I at the museum. One of our students took the picture. Don't you like Jeff's jeans? He's kinda self-conscious about wearing them, which amuses me greatly.

I took a picture of some of the examples of Qi Baishi's artwork. He had a very simple technique, which many artists today still appreciate. And he never had any formal training in art--he was originally going to be a carpenter. His parents were quite poor, and he still managed to make a big impact on Chinese art. He was a very good role model. Below is a picture of Jeff and I with my students. We feel very tall in China. I frequently hit my head on the hand-rails on the buses. But that's okay. I love being here.

My classes are going pretty well. My students seem to enjoy my lessons, for the most part. Yesterday, I showed them some American money. They then had to convince me to invest in their ideas for tourism companies--I gave the winning team members dimes, which they thought was really quite nifty. They were amazed at how small dimes are. Of course, they are ridiculously small when you think about it. My students were also very curious about what presidents were on the various coins and bills in America. I personally have always been curious about money in other countries. I'm definitely going to bring some examples of Chinese money home. So, for those of you who see me on a regular basis when I'm not in China, make sure you ask to see my Chinese coin collection. I'll love to show it off, I'm sure. And I'll probably also have something to give you. Jeff and I have started our souvenir shopping.

Well, I should probably get started on my lesson for Monday. If you wanna see a few more pictures, I've put some online here. Enjoy the quiet video I took of the fish!

7 Random Facts

2008-10-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Liz (my sister-in-law) to post seven random facts about myself. They will likely be quite random--I'm tired right now. I put off doing my lesson plan until about 5:45 this morning...so...yeah... My lesson went well, though. No worries. Here it goes:

1. I love Joss Whedon's work. For those of you who don't know, Whedon created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. I love all three series. He combines drama, science fiction, fantasy, humor, and reality so well... I wish I could write something as witty as Joss Whedon or with as much emotional impact, actually. He seems to be able to do anything he wants to, and does everything he wants to do well. The premise and thought behind Firefly is astounding. Sadly, Fox cancelled the show (I'm still bitter about that) and all that was created was one season, but it's amazing. He clearly understands the way that language evolves over time, and the way he integrated Chinese into the show is really neat. Watching Firefly is really interesting now that I'm in China. I actually understand a few of the things that they say. Neat, eh? Anyway, if you haven't seen any of his shows and you like well-written television, I recommend you check him out. He has a new series premiering on Fox this January called Dollhouse. As a warning, though, sometimes his shows can be dark and full of adult content.

2. I'm a total sucker for romance. Which is really embarrassing to admit, but it's the truth. I'm easily manipulated by chick flicks into thinking that a story that is entirely impossible is plausible. I used to love reading romance when I was a teenager. And, sadly, I must admit I've even written some of it. Bleh. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the genre...but a lot of what I used to read didn't have much depth to it at all. Which is a problem with a lot of books, really. But kudos to the writers anyway for trying! Woo! I'll keep reading and watching romances, I'm sure, even if I hate to admit they get to me. I like to keep my emotions separate from what I see on screen...

3. I'm afraid of animatronics. Seriously. They wig me out. When I went to Disneyland, I couldn't stand the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It scared me. There's just something about the way that they move--it's so cold and mechanical. If robots were to ever take over the world, I'd probably end up in a loony bin because I couldn't cope with them and their looking humanness when they're not even human. I think most of it stems from when I was a child. We visited Mt. St. Helens once, and there was this mannequin of a park ranger with no face. When you walked past her, a face was projected onto her...very creepy. Aliens scare me too. And spiders. But only when they're near me when I'm trying to sleep or shower or something. Earwigs creep me out too.

4. I've had my cat since sixth grade. Her name is Simba. I used to sneak food to her on the way to school, for she lived underneath a trailer next to the gate leading to Lakeridge. I didn't ask Mom if I could have a cat when the owner of the trailer said that we could take her. We just brought her home. I remember I faked being sick the next day so that I could stay with Simba, who was absolutely terrified by the change in venue. Thankfully, Mom didn't make me get rid of her. I love my kitty. She's been with us for nine and a half years. I miss her. I'm tempted to find a cat here and bring it home, but Jeff says that would be bad. He won't let me get a turtle or a bunny, either. Which is sad. They sell baby bunnies all over the place. And turtles. Some of the turtles are really small and cute. I like having a pet. When I was little, I couldn't have one. Devin and I used to catch snakes and stuff and keep them as pets for a while, but...they're not as nice as having something warm and fluffy to curl up with. Simba is a good cat. She likes to sleep next to me on my bed, and even climbs under the covers with me when its cold.

5. I used to want to grow up and be a cub scout. Mom was a Scout leader at the time I told her that. I was really jealous because they got to do all sorts of fun things, like crafts and races. I didn't have anything like that to do because I was a girl. I got over that desire pretty quickly. Shortly after I said that, I went back to wanting to be a baker.

6. I plan to live in Katie's basement in a cardboard box someday. It's a running joke between us that I'm going to end up there in a refrigerator box 'cause she's going to get married first and will have a basement in which I can live. I'm also okay with living in a box under a bridge. That's about all my degree is good for. Kidding. I want to write and actually get something published. But first I have to finish something. Being successful is hard work. Yeeesh. I have been writing since I was a sophomore in high school, actually. Nothing that can get published, mind you. And it isn't all that good, in my opinion. But, if you're really bored and happen to marginally like Pirates of the Caribbean, I'm "working" on a fanfic (a piece of fiction written by a fan) exploring the illustrious career of Captain Jack Sparrow. You can read it here.

7. I detest tomatoes, yet like ketchup. Tomatoes have the wrong texture. I can't stand them. I'm not generally a picky eater (I've tried chicken feet, after all), but I always pick tomatoes out of my food if I can. I just can't stand the way they feel in my mouth. I like the taste of tomatoes, though. I drink V8, I like pizza sauce, and I enjoy ketchup on my fries. I just can't stand tomatoes.

Righto. Seven rather random facts about me. I hope you weren't too bored. And for fun, I'm tagging Katie and Tasha to write seven random facts about themselves. Ciao!

National Day

2008-09-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Time for an update! I guess. It has been a while since my last update, so I figured I might as well keep y'all posted. October 1 is National Day in China, which is on par with the 4th of July back in the States. Except not. They go all out for this in China. At our school, they gave students an entire week off, which is pretty common. In order to make it so they had enough school days, though, they made us teach on Saturday and Sunday. Bleh. My week is all messed up, now. And most of my students didn't come to class on Sunday. Jeff was actually shooed from the building by a custodian before he could teach his second class on Sunday afternoon. Of course, he wasn't about to complain.

Everyone and their dog travels back home or somewhere else during this peak travel time. Which means that train tickets are a hot commodity. Jeff and I figured we could travel to Shanghai and see the sights. After all, there are a few trains that travel from Xiangtan to Shanghai that leave every day. Unfortunately, we didn't take into account the massive amounts of people traveling. With 1.3 billion people, China needs to move a lot in a very little amount of time. Like an unknowing American, I booked our hostel first... When we got to the train station, the line actually came out of the building. Before standing in line, we had my helpful Chinese student ask if the trains were all booked--and they were. We wouldn't have even been able to get standing room only tickets to Shanghai. We ought to have bought our tickets in advance. But the problem with doing that is, depending on the train, you can buy them only a few days in advance.

But that's okay. Instead of going to Shanghai, Jeff and I will stay here and visit more of Xiangtan. We've only seen a limited area of downtown, after all. Plus it's cheaper staying here, and we don't run the risk of not getting back--you can't buy return tickets at the station you leave from. Though, Jeff and I now know how to find tickets to go to Hong Kong at the end of our stay here, which is a definite bonus.

Anywho, I decided to capture a video of my walk from my classroom back to my apartment. If you visit China, you need to keep in mind that appearances on the outside are very deceiving, as you'll see in the video.