Congratulations, Dr. Langston!

We just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque for a fun celebration!  My beautiful, smart, talented daughter-in-law, Nicole, graduated from pediatric residency.   She and my son, Dan, (who was looking for terrorists at the graduation banquet) will be moving to the Salt Lake area in August!  Hooray!

Congratulations Nicole!  We're very proud of you!

Paradise and Chinese Cuisine

If someone was to ask you your definition of Paradise, how would you describe it?
This is Oscar. He's 28, single, an only child, majored in English, and was our tour guide for 3 days in Beijing. Our tours were filled with stories, jokes and philosophies. 

He told us his definition of Paradise:

American Salary

UK House

Russian Wife

Chinese Cuisine

I can understand why he'd think an American salary would be paradise when he made only $30.00 a day as a tour guide, and that was a good salary.  I don't know anything about the houses in UK or the women in Russia - but I have tasted Chinese cuisine.


Let me show you just some of the chinese food I was able to eat.

Noodles with pork.  Not sure what part of the pork was used but it was delicious!  Lorie got the same thing only with egg.  The eggs looked just like the pork, in the brown oil but it had roundish morsels.  She found out after she ate it that it could have been termite or ant eggs.  She said that it tasted good anyway.

Donkey.  It was seasoned well and I had only a small portion, but it tasted fine...kinda like chicken!

Chicken feet...did NOT taste like chicken!

Wonton soup.  It tasted good, especially with cilantro.  Then I noticed the large pieces of "rice" had eyes.  Those little shrimps are a delicacy, or so I've been told.  All I know is I tasted them all day!

Peking Duck - it was good, especially wrapped in a wonton skin.

The ever popular rice dish.  It tasted yummy!

Noodles with tomato and eggs - chicken eggs, I think!

Steamed pork dumpling - tasty!

Lily Bulbs - interesting but good. 

Watermelon was served at almost every meal.  It was the sweetest I've tasted.  I love the presentation of all the dishes.

Last, but not least, are some foods available for consumption - but, my daring spirit must have been spirited away.  I had NO desire to eat that! (click on the picture to read what this is.)

So whaddyathink?  Would you include Chinese food in your definition of paradise?

Persistence

We went to the Zhouzhang Water Village, outside of Shanghai, where we went on a gondola ride through the "streets" of the city.

It was beautiful and peaceful.

After the ride, as we walked on the sidewalk, we saw a small, Chinese woman with pictures of the village that she wanted to sell to us. She'd come up to us, smile her toothless grin, and try to push the cards into our hands.

We kept saying, "No, thank-you" but she kept persisting; following us into the restroom, waiting outside the stall, walking to the sink with us; all the time smiling and making whimpering noises while showing us the pictures. We'd wave her off, and continued to walk out of the village. She followed us all the way to the tour bus, trying to convince us to buy her pictures. When we got to the bus, she stood, holding the pictures and smiling at me. I finally gave her a dollar (1 RMB equal to 15 cents- yes I'm still cheap), held her hand and smiled at her.

She grinned even broader then turned to the window of the bus, reached up and showed us her pictures again. We drove away, leaving her in the parking lot. She turned back to the village to find her next potential customer.

I'm Back!

NiHao to all my blog friends and family!  I'm back from a fantastic 2 week trip to China!  It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun...and fun I had!  I can't even begin to tell you all the things I saw, smelled, heard, touched and tasted!  It was a trip to awaken the 5 senses!  Mark and Joan, our friends in China, are great hosts and tour guides.  I greatly appreciate and love them for providing this experience for me.

I need to also thank Dan, Jill and Andy for updating my blog while I was gone.  Since Google and China aren't good friends, I can't access any blogspots, including my own.  Imagine my surprise when I read about sitting next to a terrorist, dickering with the Chinese (although most of it is true) and my fanny pack experiences!  I didn't realize I had such talent and adventures!

I can't wait to get to your blogs to read about your adventures but it may have to wait until tomrrow.  I've been up for 33 hours and my brain isn't working well.

In just a few short hours (although it didn't seem short at the time) I went from this:

to this!

I really am home!

Changzhi and Westerners

These pictures were taken yesterday as we walked around Changzhi. This town doesn't get visitors from other countries so they were all amazed to see 3 "western" women walking around town. As we went into a store, there was a fight on the street that involved a couple of women. There was a crowd that gathered to watch. We watched for a half minute then decided to do some shopping.

While in the store, we saw a cute baby so we stopped to ooh and ahh over the baby. The Grandma, who was holding the baby seemed very happy to have us take pictures.

After takinig a few pictures, we noticed that there was a bigger crowd around us than there were watching the fight. We've become quite the celebrities. People would stare at us and some would say "Hello" to us. When we answered, they'd laugh. These two girls stopped us and asked if they could have a picture with us. This is the picture I took of them scrambling to find their cell phone.

We had lunch at Pizza Hut yesterday - the first American food. As you can see, the menu is slightly different than our Pizza Hut but we still had some pizza.

The picture of the building is Mark and Joan's apartment building. We're on the 6th floor.

Should I buy the T-Shirt for anyone in particular?

oh the places my fanny pack have been!

Well, guess what? I'm in China still. There are so many cool things to see here in the land of short folks and food with eyeballs, but the lines are way too long to wait in to see everything in time in these last days of vacation. But don't worry about me, I have found the solution to my problem.

The other day we were waiting in line for 15 minutes with  no end in sight to see something Chinesey when I had the most amazing idea!

 I heard that humans over the age of 70 don't have to wait in line here. 

Hey, do you see my fanny pack? Do you think it helps me look 70? So do the locals.  Ah, the locals. I'm lying to them. I say I'm 70. They believe me. Thanks, fanny pack.

I get ushered to the very beginning of the line just like THAT! My vacation rocks.

Too bad for my friends, though. They wore purses. They have to wait in line like everybody else. I told them they shouldn't have made fun of my fanny pack (they called me a dork when I got off the plane). 

As I was getting ushered to the front of a line at something, I looked back at my friends and yelled, "See ya later, you purse-wearing DORKS!"
The last thing I remember seeing before everything went black was Miss Joan running towards me all angry-like.
I woke up like this:

Have a good weekend everyone!

(Enter my favorite daughter's giveaway going on on her blog right now. Tell 'em 70 year old Con-Con sent ya.)

Randomness in China

Just a few random pictures.

Notice the flowers. There is no vase, just plastic wrapped around the stems. It stands up well, until the water's gone. I've had to refill it several times because it tips over.

These are some pedicure pictures. We went there the day after we arrived. These ladies are so thorough! It took 2 1/2 hours for the poor gal to finish up my Fred Flintstone feet. She shaved so much dry skin off that I now take a size 9 shoe! She baked the glitter on my nails. They should last all summer!

Here are just a few signs that make me smile. The names of their stores, translated to English have a whole new ring to them. Can you tell wht kind of restroom we were in? That was a nice one. OK, enough randomness.

The Fordbidden City was incredible! I bought the Last Emperoro at a DVD store here, which reminds me, I got 7 DVDs for $2.00 each. Many of them new releases. They even had Shrek 3 but the lady told me it was a bad copy because it's so new (pirated). I'll send some pictures later.
Today we're going to Temple of Heaven and learn how to make noodles.

It's a Buyers Market

I'm still here in Beijing!  Today we left at 9:15 in the a.m. and went on a walking tour of Beijing!  We didn't get back home until 6:30!  I was tired but it was so amazing to see how the people live.  The people in the markets are very persistent.  If you even make eye contact with one of the sales people, they start asking what you like!  I'd like to share a sample of what it's like to dicker with a Chinese person

CP (Chinese person)  "Lady, Lady, you like?"
Me (Connie) "No, I'm just looking!"
CP  "How many?"  You want 4?"
Me "I'm just looking for now!"
CP "This is pretty, yes?"
Me "Yes, it's pretty.  How much is it?"
CP (Pulling out her calculator watch and punches in 60)  "Today, it's 60!"
Me "No, that's too expensive"  (I start running away)
CP (Grabs my arm) I give to you for 40.
Me " NO, still too expensive" ( turn to sprint away)
CP "Lady, how much, how much you pay?"
Me "15"
CP  "No, No, too cheap!" (flips me the bird)
Me (running away and politely waving her away as she hurries after me)
CP "OK, Lady 15"
Me "OK, I'll take 3"

The numbers represent RMB.  10 RMB is equal to $1.50. Yeah, I'm still a cheapskate.


Good night or should I say, good day!

Oh the Joy of Flying!

Well well well, howdy-do bloggers and blogettes! Yup, it's me. I am the Dan my Mother spoke of earlier. When she reluctantly asked if I'd keep her blog friends updated on her Chinese journey I was giddy with anticipation. You see, my Mom is a real trooper when it comes to me entertaining myself on her blog, and I formed a number of delicious yarns to spin for you. This morning however, to my dismay, I woke to a unexpected email from her.

This trip has apparently caused her to become much less of a "trooper". She's discovered technology and has now realized how she can write up her own updates and have me simply be the post-it-kid.  To those of you who were looking forward to my refreshing insights on life, I'm sorry. To those who are grateful for her awareness and situation-prevention skills... sit back and soak in the monotony.  The following is her long-winded email in it's entirety, currently no pictures, but plenty of excitement.
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Danny boy! hey you were not kidding about the excitement of flying! Maybe the excitement is more in the airport itself but goodness me is it fun! I should have done this years ago! So many interesting people to gawk at from behind my sunglasses.
I know we talked about you updating my blog and adding your own spin on my stories and pictures but you don't have to anymore. I what you're thinking "Oh sure, she doesn't trust me." It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't like you. HA! Oh man am I funny today! Anyhow, if you don't mind I'll just scribble my thoughts down on this thing and zip it off to you. Would you please post it for me? Thank you so much.

So, as you know I was extremely nervous to be in flight for so long. I mean, I always get a little nervous with any flight, but 12 hours!? Yikes!  We heard an announcement stating that the airport was currently under Orange alert! We asked some people about it, and it's the second highest threat of terrorism. We were supposed to keep our eyes peeled for suspicious activity. That sure didn't help my nerves. While we were all milling around preparing to board, we noticed that we weren't assigned seats next to each other. I explained our dilemma to the angry little man scanning our tickets, and he said he was sorry but the flight was full. I was upset, but truthfully it just added to my fright. As I walked down the jetway, I bid Lauri adieu and tried not to wet my pants in fear.

Once in the plane, I began making my way down the aisle, trying to figure out where I was to sit. In my head I'm saying "Please don't be some mammoth, hairy guy who's going to sleep on me"  The numbers grew, and I continued further and further to the rear of the large plane. I paused for a moment as the woman in front of me struggled to jam her over sized travel bag and a megaphone she'd brought, into the overhead compartment. While waiting I glanced past her to see what might be awaiting me. For one brief moment, it seemed an icy hand reached in and stopped my heart cold! There, almost at the very back of the aircraft, was a middle-eastern man with a long black beard and a "towel" on his head!! My mind fluttered between thoughts of Orange alert, the do-not-fly-list, and whether or not my khakis were still dry!

I corrected myself, and realized it was simply his culture and who was I to stereotype him? I cleared the mean and terrible thoughts and continued the search for my seat. Wouldn't you know it, yes, my seat was right next to him!

My knees were shaking! With all my might I attempted to appear calm and undisturbed as I scooted past his knees to sit. I fumbled with the buckle as I tried to watch him from the corner of my eye. He was watching the flight attendants very closely. He watched their every move. After a few moments,  the safety instruction song and dance was complete. The captain was wrapping up his boring info over the PA system stating  how high we plan to fly, (as though we cared). Pressing back tight against my chair, I watched my new neighbor with obvious curiosity. He didn't even notice me.  The longer we sat on the runway before take-off, the more impatient he became! This man fidgeted with his seat belt while glaring forward, his eyes darting around rapidly, then he'd swiftly turned his to head scan behind him with an air of frustration. The only attempt I have to truly explain his strange behavior is to compare it to watching a child (with a beard) with extreme A.D.D. who has recently injected a can of RedBull to his veins, strapped into a seat during church!

Deciding to break the ice, I leaned over and asked "How's it going?" Nothing. He must not have heard me. I nudged his elbow and leaned closer. "Hi, how's it going? You want some of my cold air up here? (pointing to the little adjustable dome shooting the stream of AC from the ceiling)  It must be hot under that towel right?"  He turned and looked directly at me with a disgusted, and unamused glare. He was silent. Not one word. He simply turned back and continued his dance of panic. Looking ahead, then back, then ahead, over and over. It seemed to me that he was waiting for the perfect time. Perfect time for WHAT?!

The following few minutes were a blur of activity and emotions. I concluded it was perfectly plausible that this man was a terrorist. He had some sort of exploding device that he had to plant somewhere on the plane but only at a very specific time. This realization cast me instantaneously into a silent fit of terror. Pictures of my husband, my kids, my grandkids and all my family and friends flooded my mind. I will never see them again, I will never hold them again. Do they each know how much I love and appreciate them? Why is this happening? What gives this man the right to cause me so much anguish?! He is only a man!  As quickly as the terror overcame me, it vanished. Traces of confidence and anger wafted near, tickling my heart with hope and desire. I raised my chin and grasped the feelings full until they stood firm in my soul, replacing any lingering inklings of weakness. Mustering this courage, I began a  pep talk to myself, "Connie, pull yourself together, you can stop this,  you need a weapon.  A weapon... a weapon, let's see. Hand sanitizer, no... too clean. Tissues, I certainly have plenty of tissues. C'mon Connie, get a clue, what are you going to to wipe his nose? Paper cuts with dollar bills, yes! Paper cuts certainly hurt right? Are you insane! His hands are obviously far too leathery,otherwise it'd be perfect. The seat belt buckle! Yes! Oh it's so simple.... yet... so brilliant.  Oh Connie. you devil you!... you're like a female, silver haired Jack Bauer!"  The perfect plan, the perfect attitude! I quickly but calmly bent to reach my purse under the seat in front of me, locating my nail file. With the file I began the slow "sawing" of the blue canvas strap to which the buckle was attached. It was working! Amazing! A surge of power filled my chest like an electric current, I was going to be a hero! Maybe there was even some sort of reward! Yes, I could use some reward money.

With a new sense of cool and disregard for his feelings I leaned over yet again to converse with the hateful murderer. "Hey buddy, you happen to catch the finale of Lost the other night? Wasn't that some bull?! I mean, c'mon they all....."  No sooner did I begin my rant about Kate, Sawyer, Jack and the rest of the gang being dead, when this mini Osama  flung off his seatbelt,  bolted up from his chair and raced to the back of the plane. I nearly jumped out of my seat from shock! "Is this it? Is it happening now? Yes, this IS it Connie!" "Holy Mother may I, you gotta be kidding me this is really gonna to happen!" I quickened the pace of my Macgyver saw blade and finally broke through the last remaining threads. I was left with roughly 9 inches of canvas strap as a hand-hold and the heavy metal buckle dangled dangerously off the end. I gripped it tight, made a few practice swipes at the food tray which was still in its upright and locked position.
Not two minutes later he rushed back to his seat, dropped down with a FLUMP! His face was flush and his eyes wide with concern. He bent over close to me. I held my breath expecting doom. Then with a breathless voice, like that of an athsmatic, he managed to stammer out a very excited but worried, "Do you tink dey saw me?"

I stared for a moment in disbelief. Then, it all made sense. The "keep your seatbelts fastened" light had been on this entire time. This big, scary, dangerous man was afraid of getting in trouble but he desperately had to pee!

I looked at him, stunned. Then I just laughed. A loud, belly shaking laugh was all I could manage in response to his inquiry. I wasn't going to die after all. I would most definitely have to see my children again. I was not going to have to save the world. I would simply be forced to pay a hefty fine for the seat belt, and I would certainly not have that large cash reward.

Also, it appears I'll have to get some new pants.

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See? Didn't I tell you it was long winded!

I have just received a few pictures from the Mother. They have no explainations attached. I can certainly come up with a few, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to improvise.  So until I hear otherwise, stare lovingly at these fantastic photos, the stories of which I do not know.