A Month's Recap

This weekend marks the end of our fourth week in Nanjing. Time has flown. As you may have realized, it took us a while to figure out how to post on our blog here in China, and it was just last week when we finally found a way to post pictures. A lot of convenient tools are blocked on the internet here for the time being, so we have had to find ways around to do what we want.

That being said, you may have imagined that you (reader) have missed out on quite a few things in the past month. We are sad to inform you that your suspicions are correct. So, in sympathy for you, here is a recap in pictures of our past month. A few things are missing, since our camera seems to love running out of battery power at the most inopportune moments, but we hope to find ways to recapture those lost moments.

Kiersten in front of Xuanwu Gate (玄武门）, one of the original entries into the then capital Nanjing, built over 600 years ago by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty.

A large gate marking the Confucius Temple in Nanjing.

The beginning of a long walk way (including hundreds of steps) up to Sun Yat-sen's (founder of modern China) mausoleum, also located here in Nanjing.

A little change of scenery in the French Quarter's in Shanghai.

For pictures like this, I make Kiersten stand to one corner of the picture so I don't look too obvious in my desire to capture cute elderly Chinese folk on camera (taken in Shanghai).

This is one of my favorites, also taken in Shanghai.

Oh, the things we have to go through just to get to the other side of the street. This is East Nanjing Street in downtown Shanghai.

Kiersten made me do this one. The first of many pictures at Zhonghuamen (a.k.a. The Castle at Zhonghua Gate), the largest existing gate fortress, built 600 years ago, and really quite a remarkable structure.

Kiersten looking out over Zhonghuamen.

And, another shot of Zhonghuamen.

Kiersten and I "being" the tunnel at Zhonghuamen.

A characteristic doorway at the Zhanyuan Gardens in Nanjing.

Another view of the Zhanyuan Gardens.

And, another view of the Zhanyuan Gardens.

There are so many more, and I wish we could post them all online. It takes a while, though, and until we can figure out how to access our picasa web albums, these will have to suffice.

Shanghai Trip!

We were really tired when we got back from Shanghai on Sunday and so this post has been slightly delayed… But what a fun weekend! Aside from Eric having to deal with a very tired and hungry Kiersten (I do not do well when I am super hungry!) it was great. Our journey to Shanghai was very uneventful compared to our last time being there. We were also with a group of students from Eric’s program which made figuring out the train and subway stations a lot easier. The subways (and really everywhere else in Shanghai for that matter) were so much more crowded and crazy than in Nanjing where we live. It made our city of over 6 million seem small in comparison. In fact, when we stepped out of the subway in Nanjing and started walking home, we commented to each other on how quiet and peaceful it seemed.

We spent Saturday morning and afternoon visiting the Shanghai Museum and French Quarters. We were so happy when we got to the museum and realized it was free! We had researched it and thought we would be paying at least 60 Yuan each- but they just waved us through. Isn’t it great when that happens? Eric was in heaven there. He could have easily spent the entire day looking at ancient jade, painted scrolls, and calligraphy. Long after everyone else in our group had left the museum, I asked Eric if he was getting tired or hungry (I sure was!) and he said he felt great. So four hours later, we finally left, really just to appease his hungry wife. Rather than stopping for lunch right then, however, we opted to head over to the French Quarters, planning to raid the scores of French bakeries we hoped to find there. After a long walk, which included a nice security woman using both her walkie-talkie and cellphone to call people to find out where exactly this French Quarters was, we found it. I was never so anxious to find a good piece of warm bread. Alas, none was to be found. Apparently the days of small French bakeries in Shanghai are long gone, replaced by super expensive boutiques and restaurants. We did find the building where the First Congress of the Communist Party was held, though, which was definitely interesting.

So, we headed back. Next on the agenda was District Conference. The real reason we had even come to Shanghai. And it was wonderful, by far making up for the tired feet and empty stomachs. Elder Perkins (the Asia Area President, member of First Quorum of the Seventy, and Eric’s former mission president) and Elder Oaks were there. It was really exciting to be able to see Elder Oaks in a smaller setting such as this District Conference. So much more intimate- we got to talk to him and his wife and shake his hand a few times. Most importantly though, we got to hear and learn from him.

After conference on Sunday ended, we wandered some more in the city, visiting the Bund and Nanjing Road. And finally, here we are. Back home.

Testing the Black Market in Shanghai

Tomorrow morning we take a train to Shanghai, where we will be spending the weekend. The main occasion is a district conference for the Shanghai China International District, but we are excited to spend the day Saturday exploring museums and gardens.

In the spirit of the occasion, though, I thought I'd recap our first experience in Shanghai. Our plane flew into Shanghai on the night of August 22nd at 8:15pm, about two hours behind schedule. Although it was going to make for a little longer night, we weren't too worried. By chance we were on the same plane as Sharla, another flagship student, and we were confident that our Chinese ability could get us from Shanghai to Nanjing. We passed through customs without any setbacks, and the bus leaving for the train station was easy enough to find. We had already exchanged our money in LA, so we were equipped with well enough RMB to make the trip. Unfortunately, though, the normal bus route was apparently partially closed off for an unknown reason, and our bus driver made a few wrong turns. This delayed us arriving at Shanghai train station until close to 11:00pm. And that's where things started getting interesting.

As soon as we got off the bus and were quickly trying to get our luggage from the compartment below, we were surrounded by taxi drivers and "bus scouts." The taxi drivers quickly left, I imagine after seeing all of our luggage, but the bus scouts were determined to have us take their bus. We confidently told them that we were taking the train, only to hear their tale that the last train for Nanjing had already left and the first one in the morning wasn't until 5am. Still confident that I had read the train schedule right, and not quite wanting to trust these men, we decided that Kiersten and I would stay with the luggage (it was a lot to carry) and Sharla would go into the train station to check the schedule. They were right. The last train had left at 11:00. We still didn't trust our pursuers, however, and we tried to locate a bus schedule to find out when a real bus would come. After all, a real bus probably doesn't have bus scouts trying to get people on it. Again to our dismay, we discovered that the last bus for Nanjing had already left. There were two decisions: find a hotel for the night or trust our fate with these men. We went with the latter.

The men had promised us that they had a bus leaving at midnight, and it would only take three hours to get to Nanjing. This sounded doable. Their price was high, but not outrageous, and Sharla's bargaining skills helped drop it down to reasonable. However, after walking twenty minutes to where the bus was waiting, we discovered that we were the first ones on the bus. We didn't like this, but we seemed to have few other choices. However, we realized that this bus would not be going to Nanjing if we were the only ones on it, and it would especially not be leaving at 12 sharp if we were the only ones on it. So, two hours and many more confused and scared faces later, we left for Nanjing at 1:15am. I tried to sleep, but sleep just wouldn't come, and I stared out the window. I was sure we'd get to Nanjing, but this was not making for a good first impression of China. The promised three hours turned into five hours before we finally arrived at Nanjing train station. Being the last ones off the bus, and hoping for some sympathy from someone, we asked our driver if he could take us to our hotel. For an additional 100RMB, he obliged, and we happily took our bags and checked into our hotel at 6:45am, Sunday morning.

That's the condensed version of that night. Both Kiersten and I will both agree that we do not want to experience that again. China has been good to us since then, and we are very happy here. We are definitely hoping for a better impression of Shanghai this time around, and we are confident that we will be able to navigate our way better.

Home Sweet China

We have been living in China for 2 ½ weeks. And as crazy as it seems, it is already feeling like home. Our apartment, now that it is cleaned up and has some dishes and pots and pans, seems like our place. We even put up a picture of Christ and the LA temple (where we were married), along with the Family: A Proclamation and some family pictures. We also finally got a water dispenser and water to go with it today so now we don’t have to rely on running down to the community store to buy bottles of water or boiling our tap water. Yay! I still haven’t gotten my rice cooker pot completely clean from my scorched attempt at cake baking the other day (hint: don’t jab a toothpick into the rice cooker cook/warm button to keep it on cook…not a good idea…), but besides that, things are smooth and settling into normal. And we have yummy cake to eat. :)

To add to feeling more at home here, I, almost all by myself, bought fruit today at the market. The little ladies selling the fruit seemed quite amused at my attempts and kept saying ‘Ok, ok, ok’ to mock my foreignness. But they understood me! And the peach we just ate was amazing- yup, that was me who bought it.


***Here are some older entries that we weren’t able to post while Blogspot was blocked. We will add pictures as soon as we can. A friend of ours figured out how to do it so we are working on getting that info from him. So, those will be coming soon…

Washington!!
(August 17, 2009)

Eric and I just got back a couple of days ago from spending a few days in Washington with his grandparents there. We had just quit our jobs so what better thing to do than go on a road trip. So we took off. I had never been to Washington before and was amazed as we drove through Washington at how beautiful it was. Being from Southern California, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anywhere so green!

We went to see all the places on the Grandma and Grandpa Matthews tour of Seattle- Pike’s Place Market, the Locks, Deception Pass, and of course, the Flight Museum with Grandpa Matthews. It was all so much fun! When Eric asked me the first day what my favorite part was- I told him it was probably watching the salmon swim upstream. There is a place near the locks called the fish ladder where the salmon are able to go in order to pass through where the dam is so they can continue swimming upstream to wherever they are headed. There are glass windows so you can watch them. Maybe it is weird but I thought it was so amazing. Those poor fish looked so tired and seemed to hardly move. Yet they are so determined and keep going.

I got to meet a lot of Eric’s relatives who live up there. They were all so much fun. There was definitely no dull moment with them! From a game of Balderdash spiced up by Aunt Janet’s responses to crouching over the tidal pools with Grandma we had a blast.


August 21

It’s August 21, and we are sitting in the airport waiting for our plane to come. This day has only been on our calendar for the past few months, but the moment we would pack our bags and board a plane to China has been a conversation in our relationship from the very onset.
Both of us still remember the night spent together before we left for Christmas last December. Up until then, we tossed ideas back and forth of activities we would love to do during the summer, but that is where our plans stopped. Hardly anything was mentioned of life after August, when I had already committed to board a plane to China to continue my studies. For me, it was a topic I tried to avoid, fearing the time when Kiersten and I would not be together.

But that December night, as Kiersten and I sat and listened to Neil Diamond singing Christmas songs, I couldn’t hold my question any longer. “Kiersten, would you be willing to go to China?” The response was a yes, and from then on we both knew that our relationship would not end in August. I must admit, that was perhaps one of the most relieving and comforting pieces of knowledge that I’ve ever known.

The past eight months have been hectic with finishing school, getting married and preparing for China, but it has all been allayed by the knowledge that neither of us would be doing it alone.
And so, to rephrase one of the Who’s classic lyrics,

'Got a feeling ’21 is going to be a good [day],
That is, if you and me see it in together!'

And they're back!

Yes, in grand and glorious colors, the Andersons return.*

We are in China and have been for fifteen days now. As you may imagine, a whole lot has happened, and we will try and update you on things as we go along, but trying to recap the past two weeks seems too monstrous a task to tackle today. Our advice to you, as remembered by Rigoletto's unparalleled butler Hans, is..."Curiosity killed the cat."

In case you were wondering, though, WE LOVE CHINA!! Every day is an adventure. Simply said, China is not America. Whether it be buying food for your home, trying to withdraw money from the bank, or attending your first day of class, China is very different. I know that is completely void of details, but keep reading, and we hope to satiate all your desires to know about living in China in the days, weeks and months to come.

*To our current frustration and your loss, we have not figured out how to post pictures yet using our current proxy server. Using a proxy server is the only way we are able to access our blog, but the picture attaching option (and all other post addition options) seem to have vanished. If anyone has knowledge of proxy servers and how to navigate them, we welcome your input.

Time to Say Goodbye

Last night, after a long day of truck loading for them, Kiersten and I were able to spend a last night in Provo with my sister and brother-in-law Kimberly and David. We'll miss spending time with them. It has been great having family so close.

Best of luck, you two!

It was red and yellow and green and brown...

And scarlet and black and ocher and peach

And ruby and olive and violet and fawn

And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve

And cream and crimson and silver and rose

And azure and lemon and russet and grey

And purple and white and pink and orange

And blue!

You don't have to know me long to know that I love musicals, and happily for me, Kiersten does too. Thus, at the beginning of the summer, we made the goal to be in attendance at all three of the Scera outdoor theater's summer musicals. And, equipped with a starving student card promising us two tickets for $10 each time, we were confident in our ability to make it happen. And so, as of Monday evening, we are happy to announce...

Beauty and the Beast ... ... ... ... CHECK!

West Side Story ... ... ... ... CHECK!

AND...

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ... ... ... ... CHECK!

The Scera always does an amazing job at pulling together a stellar cast (both as actors and singers) and they don't waste any time or money on providing the best set, choreography and atmosphere for their outdoor plays. That being said, it is hard to pick a favorite musical of the summer.

This last performance of Joseph, however, had some special meaning for Kiersten and I. For those of you who remember, our first date eleven months ago was also to a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We both admit this week's performance was the better of the two (no hesitation there), and it even added a fun twist of Las Vegas to the plot, but somehow those high school students from last September attempting French accents as they sang "Those Canaan Days" forever won a place in our hearts.

And now, as we prepare to leave Provo a week from today, we with them sing,

Eh bien, raise your berets, to those [Provo] days.