Only 24 hours of travel!

All right people, this is it!

We're comin' to America!

Merry Christmas!!!

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I'm old!!! er!!! ;)

Yesterday was my twenty-sixth birthday!  Crazy!  Somehow twenty-six seems massively older than twenty-five.

We had quite an adventure yesterday.  Mitch decided that we would try and go skiing for my birthday!  We got up early, put on many layers of clothing and took a taxi to the mountain.  There still isn't any real snow on the ground but this little ski resort had made some fake snow and had been open for a couple of weeks.  We had to be completely outfitted by them and we looked sooo good!  Whoo!  Like something out of the eighties!  Then we headed out onto the slopes.....slope.  Yeah, only one hill.  It didn't have a chairlift either just this rope tow with a bar that you put between your legs.  I had a LITTLE bit of trouble the first go-round and ended up just holding on with my hands which--let me tell you--became very difficult to do after ten minutes!  It was basically all lame but we managed to have fun filming ourselves and laughing at the skiers around us.  They were great!  Either they were terrible and completely yardsaled when they were barely moving or they thought they were good and bombed the hill and THEN completely yardsaled!

The temperature dropped yesterday back into single digits with a strong wind so we didn't last too long before we decided to call it quits and head back home.  We ended up paying sixty bucks for an hour and a half of "skiing" which in China is quite expensive.  We were a little surprised that they get so much business.

That night for dinner we went to my favorite restaurant (Pizza Hut) and got their famous sauceless Hawaiian pizza(YUM)!  When we got home a pile of presents sat at the foot of our door!  The kids had made a stack while we were away.  They have limited access so the cards and gifts were all basically the same but it really was the thought that counted.

So all in all it was a pretty good day!  Thanks to all of you who thought of me and sent me well-wished even if I didn't technically receive them!!  I hope your holidays are happy!!

-Ev

ps 16 days!!!

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Labor of Love

I think my husband liked his birthday present.  Or maybe he likes me.  Or maybe he has too much time on his hands :)

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Happy Birthday!

    So we celebrated my husbands twenty-third birthday on November 11th.  It was a day filled with adventure!  First of all we had decided months before to go McDonalds for breakfast so that he could have a sausage egg McMuffin.  In America choosing a breakfast at McDonalds is usually one of convenience.  You're running a little late with no time to eat at home so you grab something from Mickey D's on the way.  Well, here in Huhhot it's the exact opposite.  We had to make sure to wake up with plenty of time to spare, put on several layers of clothing (because the temperature has been hovering in the twenties lately) and head outside to hail a taxi.  Apparently it was the morning rush hour because it took a good twenty freezing minutes to get one.  Then we say, "May-don-lao" and off we go!  Then the process has to repeated on the way home.  All in all it probably takes over an hour to get breakfast at McDonalds here.  Fortunately the food was quite similar to what we're used to so it was worth it.

    That afternoon we had many visitors.  I had secretly passed around some notes during class telling the children when Mitch's birthday was and asking them to wish him a "happy birthday".  Well they did more than that!  They all began to bring presents over.  Mostly chocolate (which I can't complain about).  But it was quite satisfying to see the pile of gifts grow throughout the day.  I got him a 7x7 rubix cube--which he is playing with while I write this.

    That night Mitch decided that he wanted to try and find this fancy Western restaurant that he'd read about on the internet.  So we got dressed up and then layered up and headed out into the night--and an inch of snow!  We then began the taxi dance.  We thought that we had left late enough to avoid rush hour but with the snow fall every taxi was in high demand.  We ended up getting a motorcycle with three wheels enclosed in a box.  Not exactly well insulated but always an adventure.  He didn't know where it was but after several numbing inquiries and about 45 minutes we found it!  He scammed us on the price but we were so cold that we didn't even argue.  The restaurant was nice and we ordered steak which didn't disappoint.  After that we wanted to find the ever elusive Dairy Queen and get an ice cream cake.  We managed to snag a taxi and he dropped us off at the shopping complex where it's supposedly located.  Unfortunately we were unaware of how late it had gotten and as others hopped in the cab and drove off we realized that everything was closed!  And so we began to walk home trying to get a cab all the way.  The roads were now covered in an inch of black ice and no buses were running.  Halfway home we stopped at good ole McDonalds and got some hot chocolate to sip on.  After that it was easier to just walk the rest of the way home and not worry about getting a taxi.  We told ourselves that we were safer on our feet than in a car anyways (which could have been true unless you know me well...).  We got home so late that the door to the apartment building was locked and we had to wake up a very confused doorman to get in.  Our apartment felt so nice and warm after all that time outside!

      We fell asleep quite easily that night and I was satisfied that he'd had an enjoyable birthday especially because it was the first time in Mitch's life that he could brag about being older than his twin brother!

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So much all at once!

So I haven't been writing much lately because things have been pretty boring.  And then, of course, everything had to happen all at once so that now I have to catch up!

First of all, last Friday Mitch and I took advantage of a beautifully sunny day to go to the zoo!  It was called a "Wild Safari" and it's up at the foot of the mountains that are just outside of the city (the ones that we hope to get a chance to ski in sometime this winter).  The place was basically empty and it was quite a game just trying to figure out where to go.  We eventually found a bus that took us up into the hills and through some gates.   Behind those gates were lions, and tigers, and bears--no kidding!  We just drove through them as they lounged about!  We saw an elephant and some giraffes as well.  The bus ride ended at a big net enclosure that housed hundreds of different birds.  We bought a couple packets of seeds and wandered around inside for a while.  I must admit that I got pretty good and coaxing the birds around me.  Unlike some of the kids in our group.  Their main goal seemed to be to see how many birds they could get to flee from them in terror!  After that we were left on our own and we wandered around sharing sidewalk space with deer and elk.  The biggest part of our adventure was really just trying to figure out what to do next and where to go but that made discovering the animals that much more fulfilling. 

That night as we went to bed both Mitch and I felt the beginnings of some kind of sickness coming on.  Neither of us were surprised because the children had all been getting sick over the past few days and we realized that it was inevitable for those of us living in such close contact with them to get sick too.  Sure enough, we woke up the next morning with the flu in full swing.  The flu sucks--swine or regular.  We were doing all right though, just taking care of each other all Saturday and most of Sunday--we even listened to church!  But by Sunday evening Mitch wanted to see if someone could get us some kind of expectorant.  He called Yalune up but when she found out that I had a bit of a fever she decided that we should go to the hospital.  We really didn't want to go but we didn't have a choice really so off we went.  As we went I began to feel worse and by the time we got there I had a nice high fever of 102.8.  That sent off their little heat detector things for sure!  Then followed a really torturous hospital quarantine.  I won't go into too many details because that's just me complaining but let's just say it included really horrible beds, seriously limited care and far too many needles.

In the end we got to go home after two nights of torture to be quarantined at home which was a HUGE improvement.  Fortunately Mitch and I are feeling much better.  Mitch just has a little cough to get rid of.

Yesterday was Halloween and we had been wanting to celebrate it with the kids.  We'd asked our families to send us some candy and stuff but with the  quarantine we were unsure as to wether or not we'd get it in time.  We did and yesterday was a blast!  We had the kids come over earlier in the day and they decorated masks and brown bags.  Then at night we passed out candy to a couple of people in the building and had the kids come trick-or-treating.  They sure managed to catch the spirit of the holiday (kids and candy is a universal thing!).  After that we watched Hocus Pocus with them while they devoured their spoils.  It was really fun and quite exhausting after our week of enforced bed rest.

Now it's November and I look forward to birthdays and Thanksgiving and then before you or I know it we'll be back in the states for Christmas!!

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A bit of homesickness

I'm hoping that this will be therapeutic.

I  miss American food!!!!

I miss American Chinese food:

-egg drop soup

-fried rice

-crab cream cheese wantons and a freaking spring roll bowl!

-sweet and sour chicken

-sesame chicken

-those pot-stickers from Costco

-egg rolls

I miss American Mexican food:

-enchiladas 

-tacos both hard and soft

-quesadillas

-nachos

-Cafe Rio's chicken burrito with that special sauce

I miss American Italian food:

-frozen pizza

-lasagna

-fettucini  alfredo

-garlic bread

-the creamy pesto sauce from Old Spaghetti factory on the salad and with the bread

I also miss stuff my mom makes:

-kailua pork

-pot roast

-cheap fish sticks, baked potatoes with sour cream and cooked spinach with lemon juice

-chocolate chip cookies made by Chrissy

-salad!  With the good ranch from the BYU creamery or the kind with fruit and that poppy seed dressing

-that salad Grandma Bounous makes for Thanksgiving (I better not start on Thanksgiving food)

-potato salad

-roasting hot dogs over a fire

-S'mores

-pigs in a blanket

-chili pie

-Cheesy tomato soup with toast and saltine crackers!

-cinnamon raison bagels with cream cheese toasted or not

-those chicken fajitas with the cucumbers, corn, lettuce, ranch and cheese

-Reese's Puff cereal (ok my mom doesn't technically make those either)

-that garlic chicken pasta that's frozen with the carrots and corn and broccoli 

-that cheesy chicken and carrot soup which technically I make

-spaghetti squash

-fried zucchini 

I miss stuff Mitch's mom/dad makes:

-her tacos with that special cheesy sauce stuff (I bet I won't notice the spiciness at ALL now)

-souped up minute rice and grilled cheese

-chocolate zucchini cake

-roasted pineapple (just as good as Tucanos!)

-burgers off the grill

-chili 

-kraft matrimony and cheese

-Don's banana bread (technically I haven't actually tried it but Mitch misses it a lot and I do miss a good banana bread so I thought I could put this one on anyways)

I also miss all these other things:

-grapes without seeds in them

-normal tasting bread--not too mention all the different kinds of breads (ie whole wheat, pumpkin, cheese etc like from Kneaders or Great Harvest)

-normal 1 % milk

-strawberries, blackberries, raspberries

-girl scout cookies (Samoas and thin mints)

-grasshopper milk shakes

-cheddar cheese

-frozen peas and carrots (that aren't overgrown)

-red potatoes

-mandarin oranges

-ground beef that doesn't scare me

-washed, refrigerated  eggs

-any food from my home ward

-those little weenies that people make for the superbowl

-hot pockets

-J--Dawgs

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Stew

We just tried to make stew for dinner.  We're actually getting quite good at this particular dish.  We cut up some potatoes and carrots, add in some freshly chopped beef and add in a dash of beef flavoring.  We left it to simmer away and the delicious aroma soon began to fill our apartment.  We checked on it every few minutes while enjoying an episode of Mr. Bean.  Suddenly Mitch leaps to his feet and runs into the kitchen!  He had heard a strange noise!  Was it the pot boiling over onto the floor? Noooo.  Was it potatoes exploding? Noooo.  Was it the ceiling falling into our dinner?  Yep. 

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New Arrivals

            There have been a few new arrivals in our home over the past couple of days.  First of all Mitch decided that he wanted a goldfish.  So we stopped at a vendor on the street and bought Fredrick.  So far he's been a delight to have in our home.  And I'm sure he will continue to be so as long as Mitch continues to clean his bowl....

             Yesterday we had quite an adventure.  Nova took us coat shopping.  Apparently come November the temperature will be dropping into the single digits and now is the time to buy coats.  It was slightly horrifying trying to wade through all the junk but I do think we did come out with some decent ones that don't look TOO ridiculous (who knew I didn't have the same style sense as the Chinese?).  After we successfully found the coats we thought it might be a good idea to look for some boots.  This is where it gets funny.  So for all of you who don't know I have freakishly long feet for my height (thank you mother!) and for a history lesson the Chinese like small feet so much that they used to wrap their feet to stop them from growing.  Well, we find a pair that might work and Nova tells me to try them on.  I begin to protest that I'll need a bigger size but she insists and says she knows my size.  To my surprise it did go on my foot!  To everyone else's dismay it soon cuts off my circulation to said foot.  I then asked for the next size and the saleslady has a cow!  That is the largest size they have--that ANYONE has.  Ha!  Ha ha! Oh ha!!  Sigh, well fortunately my feet do seem to like being cold.  They aren't called the "Heat Reapers" for nothing!

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I told you so!

      Some part of me knew that we wouldn't be starting classes on September fourth even though that's when we were told we would.  We asked for clarification on that point several times and got such a solid reply that we even looked into possibly going to Hawaii during the break.  It's a good thing we ended up not going because last night at 6 o'clock Nova shows up at our door and tells us that at 8 am the next morning we were going to start teaching!  We were supposed to teach Wednesday, Friday and Sunday but Mitch said no because we had already said that we didn't want to work Sundays and they had agreed plus we're scheduled to give talks this Sunday.  So instead we're teaching Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but then on the first the schedule will change.  How's that for confusing?  Fortunately we'd already discussed the fact that a review of what we'd previously covered would be best and since we'd written up our lesson plans that wasn't hard to figure out.

The classes went really well.  It was great to see them all again.  Interestingly enough just as we were getting into the groove we were taken away to finally meet the president of the art college.  We sat down with him and bunch of other people and listened to the translator while he welcomed us.  The best part about it was that we were able to tell him how incredibly helpful Nova has been during our time here.  Recently we've really been wanting Nova to get some kind of recognition for everything she's done.  She's just a volunteer and she's done way more for us than those who are paid to help us.

Later we went through and gave all of the children english names which is great for me but Mitch is still having kind of a hard time keeping the correct names to faces.  

Oh and we got locked out of our apartment again last night and this time Serge actually climbed up to our bedroom window--and we live on the second floor!  Punched a hold in the screen and unlocked it from the inside.  They've now changed the lock for the third time since we've been here.

I guess we're getting our Chinese adventures!

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Behold the beauty

Our trip to the Grasslands!

We left Saturday night on the night train and arrived Sunday morning in Xilinghaote. The city is smaller and cleaner than Huhhot and Nova told us that it is one of the richest cities in Inner Mongolia. We went to our hotel to have a rest and drop off our stuff. It was a nice hotel with the internet so we were able to call home.

We went to lunch at the only western restaurant in the city--Dico's. It mostly had chicken but they also had doughnuts! Which when we tried them were great disappointments. Then we went to a nearby temple. Nova told us it was a temple for llamas which we took in stride. When she began pointing and saying "llama! Llama!" we looked all over for the animal but all we saw was a bald guy in red robes. When we explained our confusion Nova got a real kick out of it.

At the temple Nova bought some liquor and some scarves and we went up to where tourists are allowed. There were these huge columns with thousands of scarves tied around each one. Nova went to one and began splashing the liquor onto the scarves. We walked around three times while she splashed and then we each tied our scarf to the pile. Nova told us to 'make the wish of our heart'. After that we did some more souvenir shopping. Mitch bought a magnified clock that doesn't quite keep the time but he thinks is super cool because you can see all of the gears working.

The next morning we got up very early, had breakfast at the hotels' buffet and then piled into the car of Serge's uncles friends (or something)(oh and Serge is Novas' boyfriend). He drove us for about two hours into the middle of nowhere to a gas station where we met our student Ben's father. We got into his car where we quickly left paved road behind us and spent another forty-five minutes bumping along the grasslands. Every once in a while something that resembled a house would show up on the horizon and I would think to myself 'not that one! There's no way anyone lives in that!'. At one point I realized that I better stop thinking that because knowing my luck I'd think that and we'd pull into one. And so we did. The whole family was there to meet us including the goat.

I have to admit that some things about staying there were quite shocking. I wasn't expecting much but no toilet at all was a bit of a surprise. They just pull up the nearest patch of dirt. I preferred taking a five minute walk to a bush.

They fed us a lunch of mutton. Something that I didn't enjoy then and I didn't enjoy at every other meal after. Later they took us out to their Yurt which we quite enjoyed exploring. Nova told us that the family was only at the house because of us. Normally they live in the yurt. After that we helped to water their sheep.

After dinner more family showed up to meet us and we began to name the kids. There was Ben (our student) and his younger sister Becky, one cousin we named Sophie who lived down the hill and two other, Susie and Tia who lived in the second half of the house. Mitch quickly became their favorite person to follow around. He would say words and phrases in english and they would mimic him.

We went to bed that night on a wooden platform with carpets and blankets laid on it. It wasn't exactly comfortable but we were so tired that we slept surprisingly well.

The next morning we woke up with the sun and enjoyed a nice mutton breakfast. I should explain that this meat is served right on the large bones and you just take a knife and cut stuff off to eat. I wasn't very good at it and stuck to the cold scone-like bread. We were told that there was going to a party that day not far from the house and that we would go. By party they meant festival but it was fun to call it a party. We piled into the car again and headed out for an hour or so until we saw a circle of cars and some yurts. They were actually set up on a hill near a small town and when we got out and began to walk around the local cops became quickly interested in us. We hadn't even had a chance to look around before we were bustled into the cops car and taken into town. They told us that we were twenty kilometers from the Mongolian border so we had to check-in. Unfortunately Mitch had left our passports back at the house which gave them an excuse to keep us around. Nova was very mad at them all. It wasn't hard to figure out that basically they were very bored cops and that we were the most exciting thing around. Eventually we called Ben who was still at his house and told him where our passports were. They let us go back to the party telling us that we'd have to come back when we got our passports.

We watched a bit of Mongolian wrestling where one guy tries to knock the other one onto the ground and then we watched a horse race. Well, actually we stood around for a long time waiting to watch the end of the horse race but in actuality being the center of attention. Groups of people formed around us wherever we went. Many people wanted pictures with us. Even more just wanted to stare at us. After what felt like forever our friend the cop took us in his car out to see the race. That was cool! We saw the leaders and drove along side of them as they ran their tired horses. There were two of them--one was a young boy and the other was his older brother. We were very impressed with the concern that the elder brother had for his brother. He could have taken quite the lead from his younger brother but instead he stayed with him and urged him onward. It was actually quite touching and we were quite excited when they won.

After the race we were invited into the mayors' yurt for lunch. Mitch was taken up to sit with the men while I got shunted off to the side with the other females who weren't serving the men. Now I'm not much of a feminist but there was something about that pack of smoking men sitting there chomping on meat while they didn't even acknowledge the women who served them unless it was to beckon for something that they wanted to got me grumpy. Eventually the mayor who was sitting next to Mitch left and Mitch motioned for me to sit next to him. I did and Nova had to explain to the rest of the men that Mitch was very kind. Sheesh.

At the party we met another one of our students who we named Jane who invited us to her house because she didn't live very far away (although we soon learned that our idea of not far and theirs were two different things). We slept in a yurt while more wrestling went on and then we headed to Jane's house. They were much more wealthy than Ben's family and it showed in their home but still the bathroom was the great outdoors and the food was mutton. This family took us to the hills of the grasslands to a large pile of rocks that we spent quite some time scrambling around on.

I think the best part of the grasslands is the air. It was cool and clean and it felt so good to be scrambling about in something like the mountains of home. In Huhhot I get my exercise by walking around a dirt track by our apartment. It was so nice to be out away from the city.

We left the hills as it began to rain and headed back to Ben's house. It was amazing to me how nice it was to 'come home'. We had only stayed with that family for one night but their faces had already become familiar.

We woke the next morning and took pictures with the family and eventually headed back to the city. We were sad to leave the family. The Grandma cried and we gave them gifts and hugs. They want us to come back some day.

The next morning we headed to another small but wealthy city where a friend of Serge's lived. We had lunch with him and his wife. After that we drove out to another 'city'. Nova had a hard time explaining what we were about to do so Mitch and I were a little confused. Eventually we stopped at some huge gates and an even bigger rock that had Genghis Khan carved into it. After looking around and seeing a huge ariel shot of an ancient city we figured out that we were going to get to tour one Genghis Khans ancient cities! We piled into these large golf carts and headed into the city. Our first stop was a large wall that had been uncovered and the second stop was the remains of what used to be the house of the princess. From there were could look out and see many other ruins and we got very excited. Unfortunately after that we were taken back to a boardwalk that we had passed on our way in. This boardwalk sort of meandered around the grasslands for no particular reason. Now don't get me wrong the scenery was very beautiful it's just that I wanted to see more ruined old stuff! ;)

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Creative dramatics

You just have to know this family to get this video....

EV & MITCH on vacation in the grasslands.

This video and the next one were shot in the grassland region of inner mongolia.

Not quite what we'd planned

Today we began packing to go on our trip.  About halfway through the day we got a hold of Nova to find out the exact time of our departure.  Unfortunately, she told us that her father is having heart trouble and is in the hospital.  She was very worried about him and asked if we could postpone the trip a little.  Of course we said that was just fine.  So, considering the fact that we had purposefully not gone food shopping so as to not have too much food go bad while we were gone we had to go grocery shopping.  

Grocery shopping here is like a treasure hunt.  We are beginning to have a set routine of foods that we buy but every once in a while we make a discovery.  Like today we found peanut butter!  And a lint roller!  (I'm very excited about the lint roller--washing machines here don't have lint traps and I didn't know they were so important until they were gone!).  We're not exactly sure what the time frame for the trip is anymore so we tried to buy flexibly if that makes any sense.  We don't want to go without fresh fruits and veggies but we don't want to buy too much and have to leave it to go bad while we're gone.  Ah well, we'll just have to see won't we?

When we got back to our  apartment Mitch couldn't get the door unlocked.  Now if you ever give me the key to the door it will seem like it won't open and I will become very frustrated but Mitch never has troubles with the door.  But he could not get it open, so he went to get the door man who tried even longer than Mitch had.  I was getting worried about a precious chocolate ice cream when he went to go get some tools and some help.  Two other men joined us and they each took turns twisting and pulling and pushing and for all I could tell yelling at the door in angry Chinese.  Suddenly Mitch, who is just standing and watching, cries, "You got it!" and pushes hard on the door.  It pops right open and the three men burst out laughing.  They all studied the door while I put the groceries away and could find nothing wrong with it.  

Well, we'll let you know how the plans change!

Thanks for everything!

Ev & Mitch

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One Month and Counting!

Ok folks!

I have officially been in a foreign country for one month and so far I haven't gotten sick from the food or water, I haven't permanently maimed myself or anyone around me and I haven't caused an international scandal by wearing flip-flops and liking cold water better than tea.  I did manage to step into a bowl of ramen noodles but no lasting damage was done and it is surprisingly difficult to get cold water at restaurants (even at our beloved Pizza Hut) but Mitch eventually gets the message across.  

We're having a good time out here.  We still get stared at and at the Iron Pot restaurant the other night some people asked to have their picture taken with us but the Chinese people are pretty friendly once you've broken down their stare barrier.  My favorite thing is that when they say "Hi" and we say "Hi" back they always giggle like crazy afterwards!  It cracks me up!

We had a meeting on Tuesday with Yalune and Mr. Wu about where we would be going on vacation and they helped us pick three cities that all have students nearby.  There are also some mountains and lakes in the area so it should be pretty and we should be able to get out into the grasslands as well.  We still have to have it approved by some big head hancho at the university and then they'll set it up for us.  Tragically it's not an area with camels!  Next time.

Well, that's all for now!

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Professional beggars

First time seeing a mom send out a kid is a shock. I remember on early morning in Italy watching a mom remove her son's nice clothes, dress him in rags, smear dust and water on his face and hands. She settled back on a stool in the shade and off the little boy went....

What time is it?

Summer time!

So apparently we  got here just in time for summer vacation!  We taught on Monday and prepared for the next class on Thursday but come Wednesday night we still hadn't been told what time on Thursday and when we asked it turns out that Monday was our last day for a while!  In fact the kids are all going home tomorrow (they are so excited) and we get to pick a vacation destination!  Mr. Wu would prefer it nearby so we're thinking somewhere in the grasslands.  I know Mitch would like to ride a horse.  We could maybe go near the desert and see if we could ride a camel but it's already pretty hot here so that could be interesting.

The other day Mitch and I were waiting for a cab (we never got one and ended up getting caught in the rain and getting completely soaked which the doorman of our building thought was pretty funny) and while we were standing on the sidewalk I saw something that just blew my mind!  Now I know I'm just so little girl from Utah and all but the sight of a child begging really threw me for a loop.  If you had tried to warn me by saying, "Now EvaLynn you have to be prepared.  In these big cities you're going to see children who are skinny and dirty, wearing clothes that are unrecognizable, holding out grubby little hands with tear-streaked faces begging for money." then you wouldn't have told me anything I didn't already know and wasn't already trying to prepare myself for.  But none of it would have done anyone any good because that isn't what I saw.  The little boy ran up to Mitch who was standing a few feet away from me, dropped to his knees and held up a bright red plastic bowl.  Mitch didn't pay him any attention and I had just enough time to feel glad that it wasn't me when the lady next to me yelled at the kid and pointed at me.  Quick as a snap he ran over to me and did the exact same thing.  I ended up staring at the lady in a bit of shock and they soon moved on.  They were both well dressed, clean, and well fed.  His mother carried a large purse, wore a scarf and had neat, well-kept hair.  My mind was still boggled when not five minutes later another mother this time with a pretty daughter pointed at me!  Down the girl goes with a bright green bowl held high above her head.  I think my jaw came down this time and they moved on down the street with the mother pointing at other people for her child to run to.  I've never seen anything like it!

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Fwd: Recordings

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mitchell Bolen <bolenmitch@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 1:59 AM
Subject: Recordings
To: dpbolen@gmail.com, bounousb@gmail.com


Howdy Y'all,

So, today in music class we brought our microphone. We had the class sing the song they sang at the performance so we could record it without a noisy crowd. Also, we taught them Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in four parts. We recorded that as well. Not too bad considering they started learning it 20 minutes before we recorded it.

Enjoy,

Mitch and Ev

(Note from sysadmin : Still working on imbeding audio files. Will add to post if possible.)

--
Dr. Barry Bounous
bounousb@gmail.com

Teaching Days Two and Three!

I think that our lessons are going well. We had a lot of fun last Thursday teaching the children about colors, shapes and sizes. We actually hit upon a topic that they didn't already know! They didn't know the names of shapes! Who knew SQUARE was so tricky to say? During music class we let them listen to the Disney song called "The Spectrum Song" and they tried to count how many times he said "Red". With our help we counted 18 times! In one song! Sheesh!

Today we talked about different ways to describe people other than by saying what they like to do. Then Mitch and I put up pictures of our families and described them to the class. I used a wedding photo and I better warn Tyndall that there are some sixteen year old boys here who are very much in danger of falling in love with an American. When we told them that she was only sixteen their jaws hit the floor! They thought Ayja and Tyndall were very beautiful (they know that word well).

We taught them Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with a four part harmony that Mitch came up with. It was very fun to divide into sections and teach them the parts. They actually picked it up quite well. I would say that the part that was hardest for them was saying the words ". But we worked on it and even began to work in some dynamics! We also got them to sing us the song that we heard them sing at the opera. Mitch recorded both of them with his fancy microphone. They quite enjoyed the seriousness of recording.

We have begun giving the kids english names because their Mongolian names are very long and complicated. So far we have a Crystal, Sarina, Archie, Henry and Alan. Only like forty more to go!

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On Our Own!

Nova has gone away!  She's on vacation for the next week or so and that means bum ba bum!!  We have to fend for ourselves!  And I must say that we are doing splendidly!  We've already made two trips to the supermarket down the street, had lunch (that we were able to eat most of) at a local restaurant and miraculously enough found burnable DVDs in the first store we tried.  It was a music store and I'm not really sure that they normally sell them but Mitch just has a way with people!

Fortunately Nova can still be reached by text which is good.  She sent us a text this morning warning us not to look at the sun today as there was going to be a partial solar eclipse.  I have never seen Mitch get out of bed faster!  We picked up a golf scope at the store and sat out on the front steps of the school.  We had a steady crowd of people looking at the little shadows on the box and it was fun to try and communicate with them.

It's only been a day since she's been gone but it's nice to know that we are beginning to learn how the city works and that we won't shrivel up and die when we're left on our own!

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Our First Day of Teaching!!

I figured that I should probably write about our first day of teaching before the second one arrives. For the next few weeks we will only be teaching two days a week but if the first day is any indication we will be kept on our toes and completely wiped out by the end of it!

So the day started with a field trip to a hotel with a public swimming pool. We crammed fifty people onto an already full bus! Mitch loved it. I was just hoping not to cause a domino effect. I did notice one interesting thing as we drove along—as each car or biker or pedestrian demands their right-of-way the bus tends to have the last word in the matter. You don't mess with the bus.

Once at the pool we all donned the required and oh-so-attractive swimming caps and we all leaped happily into the water! Or some of us did. Turns out the kids don't know how to swim and somehow Mitch and I became the designated swim teachers of 45 freezing and somewhat frantic Chinese children. It was fun but rather tiring. Going to the swimming pool in China is a little different than in America because of many things but I think the thing the surprisingly affected us the most was that they pay for a certain block of time to get to swim. So despite the fact that all of the kids were shivering their heads off the leaders wanted to get their moneys worth. Now the kids were still having fun regardless of the fact that they were turning blue but Mitch and I had to call it quits when our hands went numb from the cold.

Afterwards we had a return bus trip that was much like the first only this time the fifty extra people crammed onto the bus were all slightly damp.

We rushed home, took showers, attempted to eat some lunch and then headed to the class room.

We started them with basic introductions which they knew the words of but just needed practice conversing. So far that seems to be the main point. Their vocabulary and grammar are actually fairly good but they haven't had much practice speaking it.

After an hour and a half of English we began teaching them music. Basically we seem to be putting English words with concepts that they already know as well as teaching them actual English songs. It may be a bit of a challenge to keep them entertained but I think we are up to the challenge. Our plan for the second lesson is looking great!

By the end of class at 6 we were exhausted but we decided to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner. We wanted to celebrate the success of our first day of teaching and a little something we like to call our 2 month anniversary! So we went to our favorite and most expensive restaurant in Huhehaote! That's right! Pizza Hut! Ahhh, hawaiian pineapple pizza! We even splurged and ordered a chocolate cake to share! (I know, how sweet!)

All in all it was a great day and we look forward to the next time we get to teach!

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potter pics

Our First Trip to the Cinema1

After a slow start to the day yesterday we ended it with a bang!  Nova took us to the International Cinema!  We got to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!  Before we left for China I was quite worried about the fact that the movie didn't come out until we were in another country and despite everyones assurances that the dvd should be fairly easily acquired I really wanted to see it on the big screen.  I mean come on!  It is definitely one for the theaters right?  Turns out we got to see it the first day out, in fantastic seats with a Chinese audience that laughed just before we did because of the subtitles.  I thought it rocked!  Now I know I'm not really hard to please but it was all around enjoyable for me.  I didn't quite pull Mitchs' arm off during the intense parts either which I'm sure he considers to be quite the bonus!  So if you're a Harry Potter fan like me I'm sure you will enjoy it too!

lots of love

Ev and Mitch

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Boating.

Not sure we could water ski until Mitch bulks up a bit.....

Jenny"s Store

American food!

Let's try this out!

So apparently China doesn't allow internet access to websites like facebook, youtube or blogs so I will have to email updates to my blog!  Hopefully I can figure out how to put pictures and video on as well!

On Saturday we went out to a park that has paddle boats.  The water was pretty gross but it was fun to be out instead of stuck in our apartment.  We also went to a bookstore and I found english books.  They mostly just had classics and I've read a lot of those but I decided to try Gone With the Wind (I'd already finished the books that I brought with me) but when I got it out to read it yesterday I realized that it was part 2!!!  It started at chapter 31!  Sheesh.

We also found what will probably be my favorite place to eat here.  Pizza Hut!!!  We had a salad bar, criss-cross french fries and an honest-to-goodness Hawaiian pizza!!  Talk about comfort food!  I know I haven't been here that long or anything but it made me realize what it is that's so different about the food here. It's not really the actual food.  They have beef and chicken and green beans and rice which are quite acceptable foods but it's the flavors in them that are so different.  So to taste something with American flavoring was very nice.  A little later the Mongolian teacher took us to an international food store.  It was called Jenny's store!  We bought things like frosted flakes, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce and kraft parmesan cheese (Mitch was really excited).  It's pretty expensive so we will still eat plenty of native Chinese food though.

Right now the children are having sort of end of term tests and then they will get a short break.  Classes will resume on the twentieth and that is when we will get to start teaching!  It sounds like they want an english class, english songs, music appreciation and a music history class.  We got to sit in on one of their tests this morning.  It was for sight-singing. They use Russian solfege.  Most of it familiar to me but la is with a Russian L and Ti is Si.  I would say that they were as good as first year music students at BYU.

So until then we are getting to do some sight-seeing and adjusting to the time change (I actually slept in today until 8:20! I'm usually bright-eyed by 5:30 or so.). I'm hoping to get to go see the Harry Potter movie when it comes out and Nova said that this is the season for festivals here so we should be able to go see a lot of performances!

Hope you all are well!

Lots of love

Ev

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Hello from the blue city

Ni Hao laizi Huhehaote—Hello from the Blue City!

It’s been a crazy past couple of days and if I wait too long I will have too much to say. The Fourth of July weekend was full of packing with a quick jaunt to Utah Lake where I got to test out my water skills. I haven’t been out on the boat since the car accident and I was a bit nervous. It felt great though! I didn’t try to ski but I did surf and I got up fairly easily! I did almost lose my swimsuit bottom which hasn’t happened to me before. I guess I still haven’t worked my booty back up ;)

We left for the airport at five in the morning on Monday, flew to San Francisco then from there boarded a plane that would be our home for the next 12 hours. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. They had Disney Channel shows! Ah Hannah Montana. Good times. Beijing was grey and humid and hot but Nova and her boyfriend, who met us at the airport, were happy and helpful. They helped us lug our massive amounts of luggage around the city as we stared and tried not to fall asleep. We left the luggage in a locker at the train station and then went to have dinner. Our first authentic Chinese meal! I didn’t eat much ;) Actually the pork and rice were fine. The chicken and beef had red peppers in them and while they tasted ok I’m such a spice wuss that a taste was all I had. After we went to Tienamen Square to watch the lowering of the Chinese flag. We didn’t see much because there were so many Chinese tourists and frankly a lot of them seemed more interested in us than the flag. Only one group of teenagers had the guts to ask us to pose with them everyone else just snapped candid shots of us. I was pretty tired but I tried to keep a smile on my face. I was pretty grateful to head back to the train station though. Before I got on the train we took a potty stop and I experienced my first squatting toilet. I’m surprisingly good at it but I won’t explain any further—gross! We mostly just slept on the train and arrived in Huhehaote around 7:30 AM Wednesday morning (where did Tuesday go?). We met the director of the children’s choir that we’d be working with and they brought us to our home. It’s nicer than I thought it would be in some ways and nicely ghetto in others. Mitch was a little appalled at the lack of outlets. Only four in the whole place! And with a fridge, washer and rice pot that doesn’t leave much for our many electronics. Somehow we will survive.

There are two American restaurants here: KFC and of course McDonalds. KFC was a bit weird but good ole Mickey D’s is going to be a nice comfort when I’m missing American food. Besides food, the biggest difference that I’ve been able to pinpoint in the feel of the cities is the flow of people. Mitch and I were both feeling disoriented as we wandered the cities which is to be expected but I couldn’t figure out why. It really is similar in a lot of ways to big cities in America but there was something majorly different. Ok so granted the signs are all in Chinese which is different but still there was something else. There are also as many bikers on the road as cars but I was expecting that. It took a few scary taxi rides and a lot of walking before it hit me. In New York City there is a flow to cars and people that you can actually relax into and let it sweep you along but here the cars, bikes and pedestrians are all on a different path. When those paths cross it’s like they are rudely being forced to recognize one another and each has the right of way. It’s interesting to see cars forced around massive amounts of pedestrians and people stopping just inches to the side of an oncoming bus. The taxis live in a completely different world than anyone else. I bet they have to get their horns replaced much more often than their brakes. The horn seems to be much more useful to them. I’m not much of a horn translator but I think it says something like, “Hey! Here I am whether you like it or not! So move over!!” As you can imagine Mitch and I LOVE taxi rides.
We were able to meet the kids that first night. We were pretty tired (although it was only 9 PM) but really wanted to meet them. They were in a class that we just took over for forty minutes while each of them stood and introduced themselves. Apparently they had been working hard on those introductions and it showed. Mitch and I were really impressed. They are very cute! They are all around fifteen years old but don’t look older than ten! They seemed to quite like us and are eager to teach us Mongolian—I’m having a hard enough time with Chinese!
The next morning we had to go to the health clinic and get physicals. Our first stop was to get blood drawn and it was all we could do to keep Mitch in his chair. Fortunately the hospitals here are clean and very professional and that phlebotomist rocked! And I should know. I think my favorite part was the ultrasound. She went straight for the kidneys so I quickly told Nova to tell her that she might not be able to find one of them because of the car accident. Fortunately the gigantic scar on my belly had already tipped them off and no one seemed too surprised. She did say that there is only a bit of the left kidney left—the rest has been absorbed by my body—and that the bit looks fine. Good news from China! Looks like they won’t be trying to cut me open to get it out! Wahoo!
Later that night we got to go to a Chinese show at the Opera House because the children were the opening act. Mitch and I were quite impressed. They had a nice clear tone, their harmonies were distinct and clean and they actually looked like they were having fun! I had assumed that we’d be seeing an opera at the Opera House but I was wrong. It was actually a dramatic dance retelling the story of Chinese orphans being sent to live with Mongolian families. It was well televised and because the cameramen seemed to find us almost as interesting as the show it was a little difficult to pay attention with the bright lights of the tv cameras shining in our faces. But for dignity’s sake we kept our heads up and eyes open even though it was past our bedtime.
As predicted we are having a lot of adventures halfway around the world. We miss you and love you all!

Evablog phase II

You all may have thought this blogfaded but Ev's life has entered a new phase. In addition to getting married (now EvaLynn Bolen), she and new hubby are, as I post this, getting on a plane to China. The plan is to stay there 6-12 months, teach English & music at a university in the capital city of the provence of Inner Mongolia. I'll let them fill you in. I've persuaded her and Mitch to do some blogging while there. Dad would have greatly preferred a one month tourist thing but is really impressed with their courage and sense of adventure. Buckle your seat belts!!

Love,

Dad