The things you see while running...

There are two very common things I see while running the streets in Shanghai: older men and women exercising and people out playing their erhus and dizis (these are two chinese instruments) in the parks that I pass. But the two combined? Never, at least not until this morning. I was running along the edge of Century Park, one of the largest parks in Shanghai, when I heard beautiful music coming from up ahead. I was excited because I always love to see people out playing their instruments-- I think that is so great. As I came up, I was surprised to see an older man, dressed in his exercise clothing, leg stretched up high on a nearby railing...playing his clarinet.

Talk about multi-tasking! I wish I had my camera. Ruthie, maybe you should start doing that. Take the kids out for a walk and bring along the clarinet. :)

Huangshan- Going up the mountain

Eric has had one picture as his desktop background for years now. It is a beautiful picture of Huangshan or Yellow Mountain in China. Ever since we were first dating, Eric would tell me how it was one of his dreams to go there and take that same picture on his own. Last weekend, we finally went!

Here is the picture from his desktop.

And here is one that we took. We didn't get quite the same picture but it is still breath-taking, yeah?

My husband was definitely a happy man. He was like a little kid with a piece of candy. He had a blast. We both did- I absolutely loved it. We went with our friends, Carissa and Jeff, which made it even more fun!


We took the night train out there, which was 15 hours long. Not too bad, considering you are sleeping for most of it, right? Well, a bus going there takes 5 hours. Imagine how slow this train was. Yep, super slow. Actually most of that time was taken up by the train stopping in the middle of nowhere (okay, sometimes it was actually at a station) and sitting there for half an hour. Or a lot longer. If we weren't sleeping for most of it I am pretty sure it would just about drive me crazy. But it was fun. And we can't complain. Our friends, without realizing it, bought tickets for the hard seat car. And since it was a holiday weekend in China, that meant that every inch of space was taken up by people-- standing, sitting, crammed together. Eric and I really had it good. At least we had beds!



Once we got to Tunxi city, it was off in another bus and then a taxi (who charged us extra saying that there was a special 'insurance fee' when you drive up the mountain. Not true, we later found out.) and then up the mountain we went! Look how excited he is!



It is incredible what the Chinese have done with this mountain. The trails are all steps. Super steep steps, but at least there are steps. The mountain is all really steep and these steps go right up. At times the steps are somehow attached to the side of a cliff with nothing below for hundreds of meters. I had a hard time with those ones- I have a mild fear of heights that pops up every now and then. And those same areas were probably Eric's favorites. Here are some pictures so you can get an idea of what I mean. But the pictures really don't capture how steep and high up they are:





That's me on that ledge. I was positively shaking at that point. Way too big of a drop for my comfort!

And up those steps is carried everything for the buildings and hotels at the top of the mountain. On the backs of tiny looking but obviously incrediably strong Chinese men. They make two trips up and down each day-- all for a total of about $10 a day. Crazy, isn't it? We passed (and more often than not, they passed us) men carrying water, food, and even wooden doors up.



Eric really had fun watching and talking to all the workers we met along the trail. He has decided that the ultimate dream job would be to pick a trash collector on Huangshan. Hiking up and down the mountain all day (without a huge heavy door on your back). How could it get any better than that?

The lucky trash man.

Another man hard at work (the one with the red hat) with a hammer and chisel.

The mountain was incredible. Every mountain is different and beautiful but Huangshan is so majestic and amazing that it really took my breath away.






This picture is a perfect depiction of how we both felt as we climbed. Me a little terrified of how high we were and Eric just completely loving it.






And we made it! Here we are at Lotus Peak, the highest point on Huangshan.

The Worst Movie Ever

Have you ever been super excited about a movie or a book, only to buy it and be incredibly disappointed? Eric and I experienced that yesterday. We have a rule that we try to only buy movies that we have actually seen before and that we love. However, we had both heard great things about this particular movie and had wanted to see it for quite a long time. The cheap prices of movies in China didn’t hurt either. The movie? Bedtime Stories. Yes I know, we are way behind since this movie came out quite a while ago. Well, Eric and I had picked it up, along with a couple other classic favorites of ours, to watch after a long but fun day of exploring and birthday cake and celebrations. Since it was my birthday, I got to choose the movie we watched. Without much hesitation, the choice was ‘Bedtime Stories'.

Within minutes of the movie starting, Eric and I started looking at each other in confusion. This was the movie we had been excited about? We kept watching, hoping it would get better. An hour and a half later, after Eric repeatedly asking if I was still awake, it was over. We sat for a few seconds, blankly staring at the screen. I felt like I had just wasted an hour and a half of my life. It had to be one of the most pointless, silly movies out there! I feel like with the story idea it had the potential to be a really cute, fun movie. But in our opinion, it did not quite make it. This morning, when we woke up, the first thing Eric said was, “Can you believe we watched that movie?” My feelings exactly.

Any 'Bedtime Stories' fans out there? If so, one free copy is yours for the taking.

What we love about Shanghai

There is so much to love about Shanghai. Eric and I have thoroughly enjoyed living here the past couple of months. Here are just a few fun pictures- many of these could really actually be taken anywhere in China.

Why we love Shanghai:

1. Dancing in the park



2. Singing and impromptu erhu concerts in the park



3. Free outdoor gyms



4. The ability to cram cranes and construction everywhere! Ok, we don't really love this... How many cranes can you see? I counted nine.


5. The Chinese seem to find beauty in anything. What is this beautiful plant in the flower pot? Any guesses? Cabbage. Or some sort of lettuce...


6. Uneven door handles. We just like this picture- not all doors look like this. Though that would be awesome if they did!


7. Finding a 'Chinatown' in China.

San Diego, here we come!

The decision is made, and we are going to San Diego!

I'll spare you the recap of every small factor that went into the decision, but somewhere along the way of saving over $25,000 and getting a just as good if not better education, we decided UC San Diego was the place to be. This, of course, was not without sadness that we will be missing out on all the wonders of DC and the east coast (sorry Blake and Lindsay! and oh so many friends!). So yes, it is off to UCSD to attend their School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (affectionately known as IR/PS).

It feels great to have one decision made, and now we can move onto others. First up: what are we doing this summer? (invitations, pre-paid plane tickets, and hotel reservations and even job offers are all very welcome)

Let's go fly a kite!

Kite flying is definitely big here in China. We see people flying kites everywhere. Well, not everywhere- the government bans it in a lots of areas- but where it is allowed, those kites really come out! Eric has been really wanting to get a kite so a couple days ago, we bought one!


We had a great time flying our kite. I told Eric before we bought it that I have always had a significant increase in stress levels when flying a kite. I have always been so afraid it would get caught in a tree or break off the string- so that I almost don't enjoy it. He quickly dismissed our fears. A half an hour later after trying to navigate our kite through the very crowded airway and after our kite's string being cut two times as a result of becoming tangled and then subsequently crashing to the ground, he understood what I meant. But we still had a great time! And our kite is still in one piece. A great accomplishment, in my opinion.

Look how happy he is to finally have his kite!



Can you pick out our kite? Hint: it's the prettiest one up there! :)

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend. A big thanks to Eric's mom for sending us a surprise Easter package with tons of yummy goodies inside. I had been wondering what we could do for Easter in addition to reading and listening to talks about Easter and reading the accounts of the Savior's resurrection in the Bible. I figured that was all we would be able to do (and its much more important, of course!) since I wasn't seeing any egg-dying kits around. :) Leave to Eric's mom to think to send us some! So of course, we invited some friends over- Courtney and Aaron, along with our new friends Carissa and Jeff- to paint eggs and to eat lots of Eastery snacks.


Me using the nifty little Easter egg dye Q-tips that we got in our package. They are great! So much easier that the regular egg-dying kits!


At the last minute, while out shopping with a lady from our branch, I found some plastic Easter eggs and some shredded crepe paper that could pass for Easter grass. I was so excited and so even though they weren't as cheap as they are in America (sorry Eric!) I had to get them. Here is our cute Easter basket when I I found what the Easter bunny had left for us on Easter morning. Ignore the bad hair and no make up.

It will be so much fun when we actually have kids to do all this for- we already have enough fun doing it for ourselves!