Bathroom Saga Continued

Question: How many people does it take to fix a leaky washing machine?

Answer: Six

Mike, Landlord, Landlord's husband, random guy, plumber, and our friend who translated.

Seriously one of these days I promise I'll quit blogging about our bathroom. It was the day our Christmas team came. We were thinking we were going to have a relaxing day to rest up before all the chaos hit, but unfortunately our bathroom exploded once again. I think we've replaced almost everything in there so we should be good to go now. Fun Fact- we found out that our apartment building is only four years old - and yet everything is breaking? That's Chinarific.

I'd like to give a shout out to our friend for helping us have a dry bathroom once again. Thanks JB! If you don't know who JB is I'll give you a hint... It's NOT James Bond, Jason Borne, or Jack Bauer.

Ok one more quick bathroom story. This week I accomplished an incredible feat...Trough squatty pottly... unheated building... in the dark... and I'm pretty sure there was a boy in there.

Theater Comments

Mike and I went to go see a play with our friend a couple weeks ago. It was all in Chinese, so it was a little hard to follow. In true Chinese fashion, someone died a tragic and very dramatic death about every five minutes. Mike and I were feelin a little tired that day so when the curtain closed we were ready to go home. Apparently it's customary for the director to give comments, then about 10 teachers commented, then the director commented on the comments, and then the mic was passed around to random audience members. About 45 minutes into the commentary session I turned to my friend, and of course she was handing me the microphone. Suddenly 700 Chinese people were waiting to hear from me in Chinese about what I thought about this play that I couldn't understand. I looked at my husband hoping he would have some wonderful words of wisdom, but he just smiled at me and said "Go ahead dear." Thanks for the help. Actually I can't blame him I would have done the same thing to him if I had the chance.

Christmas Extravaganza Extrordinare

A normal December might hold shopping, baking, parties, decorating trees, time off etc.. We have been able to enjoy a few of these things but this year but instead of counting down the days till Christmas we have been counting down the days until our team arrives. That's right in about 1 day a little piece of Iowa will be coming to visit us. Woo Hoo! Very soon we will have five students join us in China for the holiday season. We will be blitzing the campuses of our city with Good News.

For about a week our American friends will be meeting students and inviting them to some sweet Christmas parties. We are way stoked about how many people can be reached through a group like this coming and can't wait to see how the Father will use this time for Himself. We are also looking forward to push forward that this will have on the work here. Christmas is gaining popularity in this country especially among young people and it's such an awesome chance to easily tell them the reason for the season (clique but true).

The past week has been filled with preparations and we are already feeling a little tired, so please pr that we will feel whelmed as we continue through one of the busiest seasons here.

A pic of the Easton family Christmas tree. Ok so maybe it's not that impressive but still blog worthy I think.

Pictures? Are you kidding?

The other day my language tutor told me that she was looking at something in Turkish and she uttered the following sentence:

"I can't read it at all. It just looks like pictures."

Pictures??? Are you kidding me??? Have you seen Chinese??? Your crazy language doesn't even have an alphabet because it's made up of characters...i.e. Pictures.

Auchan Playlist

The following songs blared through the speakers of Auchan during Thursday's shopping trip...

Amazing Grace
Can't Fight the Music (Leanne Rimes version)
What Child Is This
God Bless America

Seems peculiar for China.

once upon a pomello

Once upon a time a handsome orange and a lovely grapefruit fell in love. They were married and had a giant baby. They named him Pomello and he was delicious.

He one of my favorite snacks here. He cost practically nothing, he's everywhere, and he's fun to peel. Go to the store and find him. Then eat him. Then report back to me, and tell me how much you enjoyed it

Smelly Kids

Our bathroom is perpetually smelly. We used to keep the window open, but that stopped when the bat flew in. We try to plug our drains and keep the door closed but sometimes it's just not enough. During certain times of the day the smell increases dramatically. We refer to these "high traffic" times as the "peak poo hours." Coincidentally the peak poo hours coincide with the internet running slow. My friends tell me that the smell is due to the inadequate plumbing in Chinese buildings. Initially this was a comforting thought, but as I visit other bathrooms I have noticed that none of them are quite as odorful as ours. There is only one conclusion that can be made here. We are the smelly kids. There, I said it. The one good thing about having a bathroom that is always smelly is that you never have to take ownership of any one particular scent.

Giving Thanks Party

This week we went to campus on Wednesday afternoon to meet some new people and then invited them to our house on Friday night for a Thanksgiving party. We crammed 16 people in our less-than-huge apartment. We played a game called picture telephone. I’m pretty sure the winning team was cheating – we told them not to but it’s really difficult to catch when everyone is speaking Chinese. It’s very common for the losers of a game to have to be “punished” so the losing team had to do a dance in our living room. Kinda random.

Sidenote: On Wednesday we were playing Duck Duck Goose with a group of students on the campus lawn. One guy’s “punishment “ was to write the name of my friend in the air… with his butt. Not sure what that’s about, but it was funny.

Anyway, we also had the opportunity to share the story of the Pilgrims and talk with them about who the Pilgrims were giving thanks to. We read the information in English and had the Chinese version available also. It went well, but now we have the task of following up with everyone. So please pr. for that this week. Some of them have heard the news a few times now and we really hope that they will be making some decisions.

Turkey Day

Horns honking, people haulking loogies, e-bike alarms, neighbors yelling, the cardboard collector's PA.... We woke up on Thanksgiving only to find the regular hustle and bustle of all our neighbors going to work just like any other Thursday. Class wasn't cancelled so of course we went... yeah right.

Although we missed spending the holiday with family, we have a great surrogate family here that took very food care of us. They had a recording of the 2007 Super Bowl, so we got to watch football while preparing our feast. Turkey, two kinds of stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cornbread, rolls, six pies, and fried rice. We deffinitely weren't roughing it this holiday. We love this culture (usually) but we are certainly thankful that with a little creativity a taste of home is always accessible.


We were also able to convince everyone to partake in the traditional Ritzman/Schmidt Family Post-Dinner Thanksgiving Backyard Football Game. Many of us had never played which lead to lots of chaos, cheating, and falling down. So pretty much just like home. The only difference was that my brother wasn't there to to distract the defense by mooning them while I went out for the pass. (In his defense he only did this once - but it was in the front yard.)

We played in the park across the street. But we had to watch out for the sculpture of a giant medal hand playing marbles.

Oh Chiner

Today...
Woke up with a sore throat
Found the kitchen kinda flooded
Felt like crying
Did the dishes
Hung some laundry to dry
Tried to have some time with the Father
Landlord dropped by
Tried to speak Chinese
Plumber came... didn't bring any tools
Plumber left
Really had to "use it" but the water was off
Plumber came back and fixed the hot water heater
Couldn't take a shower till 4pm
Put away Laundry
The closet rod broke
Felt like swearing
Clothes everywhere
Tried to study Chinese - yeah right
Couldn't find a replacement rod at B &Q (currently using a broom handle)
Why is the bathroom perpetually smelly?
Just discovered that the water heater started leaking again.

Oh Chiner... why are you being so difficult today?
Still, we CHOOSE to be thankful and love our Father.

Extensive Bean Research

This week I have accomplished quite a few cooking feats and I have to say, that I'm pretty much amazing. You can tell me how humble I am later. This week started with tacos. You can't exactly go to the store get a taco packet so I made it myself. I was a little skeptical because I had to leave out a few ingredients, but after careful mixing I opened the bag... and it smelled like tacos. I was stoked. I made Mike smell it. Perhaps the fact that I was so excited about this shows how much I cooked in the states.

That afternoon - chili. In the states I might ask myself, "How can I make this chili taste really good?" but here I just ask "How can I make this taste stuff like chili?" This time I started with the beans. I was reading up on beans and apparently if you don't cook them all the way they release this stuff that's really bad for you. No pressure Em! You have to soak dried beans overnight then cook them for like an hour before you can even get to the chili part - I didn't even know that before my extensive bean research. At home my chili consists of opening cans and dumping in a pot, but here it takes a little more finesse. Then on to chili seasoning. I was a little worried that it would taste like tacos cause it's a lot of the same ingredients. Good news - I put it all together and voila - tasted like chili.

If you are student that has been to our house for a meal you know the only thing we can cook is spaghetti. Ok some things don't change. Last night I had two girls over for dinner and we made... wait for it... spaghetti. One thing that is awesome about this place is that it really doesn't take much to get positive feedback from friends. They raved about how delicious it was and how good a cook I was. I love it. They helped me throw some noodles in some water and dump the can of sauce in the pan - but apparently it was very impressive. I really hope I can adopt this attitude of gratitude and encouragement.

Then we headed back to the kitchen to bake some apple pie in honor of Thanksgiving. It was the first time my friends had ever baked anything, and the first time they had ever used an oven. It it was kinda like baking with middle schoolers - super cute, super messy, and of course about 30 photo opportunities. (unfortunately she didn't have any way to send me the pics - sorry guys). My friend was pretty excited. She called her mom to tell her all about it.

Food Service

This is for all you students out there who are feeling less and less excited about food service as the semester progresses. This is my most recent cafeteria meal. It could be worse...

Fyleaf

FYI the new Flyleaf album came out and we really like it. Along with the album comes a sweet story that is an allegory of The Message, which coincides with the songs. It's proabably not for everyone but we like it.


Another fun fact. In Chiner you can download just about any music for free legally. I guess Western artists figure they might as well get their music out and hope they make it big in Asia. I think there is probably something to this because The Backstreet Boys are still here. Anyway if you have any suggestions of secular bands for the Easton's to check out we'd love to hear them. It's amazing how our minds went blank when the we had the music world at our finger tips.

Chinese Health Tips

• Pepper and onions prevent the flu, according to our teacher.
• Drinking cold water is bad for your health, according to all of China.
• Smoking is apparently fine because tons of people do it.
• And to quote Mike's new buddy "Tomatoes are good for male. Don't tell your wife."

Whelmed

And now to quote a classic film.

"I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed, but are you ever just whelmed?"

- Ten Things I Hate About You (you know you've seen it at least 8 times - don't pretend like you haven't)

I am writing you all with the request that you would lift us up and ask that we would be whelmed. As time passes we are beginning to get a clearer picture of the needs that are here. There's lots of work to be done and we want to run the right pace. It certainly doesn't seem right to be overwhelmed. To be always in over your head and to never feel rest and peace. We also don't want to be lazy or timid and feel underwhelmed. So this is our request.

For all you Google Readers out there in blogland don't forget to periodically check out the actual blog site to see the "lift this up" section for this request as well as others.

Why Manu Ginobli is way more man than I am

Last night I was sitting at the computer and I hear a rustle in the curtain. I didn't really pay much attention to it till I heard the "ftftft" of some flying animal and saw the shadow out of the corner of my eye a bat (which is surprisingly like the Bat Signal). I yell out to Emily who comes rushing into the office with me while the bat flies around our living room... After 2-3 minutes (or 4-5) I finally go out with a badminton racquet, swinging at the curtains to find it till it came swooping by my head causing me to hit the deck (thankfully I was standing on my bed at that point). After a few more swings, I got him to fly out the open window.

A few minutes ago I came across this replay, which made me feel like slightly less of a man, but is so amazing that I had to share: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4618253

Bat 0

Mike 2

Xin Xiao Qu Campus

Our city has over 1/4 million university students. Spread out over a city of 6-8 million people (we never have gotten a solid answer on this) there are 4 main campus areas. Ke Ji Daxue (Science and Technology). Shihu Xiao Qu where some of our students went this summer. Bei (North), Benbu (Center), and Dong (East) Campus where we study, and Xin Qu.

Over the next few weeks, we'll show you some of the campus' that we are spending time at and some things you can specifically be lifting up for those campus.'

The first one we will focus on is New Campus. Some things you can lift up for this campus:

- A family that is likely going to partner with us at this campus to help out with the work. Ask the Father to give them grace in their preparation come.

- For possible semester students from TSC to have the logistics for them to work out to come and be used on this campus.

- That the brothers and sisters on this campus would come together in fellowship and would be bold in sharing.

Here are some of the places on the campus:

The Gate

The motto of Suzhou Daxue is "Unto a Full Grown Man." The campus was originally founded by American brothers and sisters, but has long since lost that influence. However, this motto is based on Lk 2:52 that speaks of the Son "growing in wisdom and favor and stature with both the Father and men." Ask that some of these roots would produce fruit that will be harvested.

The Library

One student told me there's hardly any books in there, but the university just wanted to build a cool building to show themselves off. A great reflection on the materialism that's invading this culture.

Some University Buildings

Basketball Courts

Student Hang Out Spot

One of the many canals that can be found in "the Venice of the East"

Bus No. 5

After stumbling upon an American Idol competion on a different campus, (or is it Chinese Idol?) Mike and I were riding the trusty No. 5 home on Wednesday night. This No. 5 was particularly special. Without fail it managed to die at every traffic light and without fail the driver managed to fire it back up and proceed to our destination. Well, almost without fail.

We slowed to a stop at a red light and the bus died just as it had at every light previously, but this time it did not roar back to life. We sat in the middle of the road with our fellow No.5 patrons waiting patiently while the driver worked to get it going again. Some time passed and the driver yelled something and all the people got off so we did too. As Mike and I were discussing where we would be able to get on a different bus, we noticed that no one was leaving the scene of the bus. The driver, still in his seat yelled back to us again and everyone began to push the bus.

After we stopped laughing we joined in. Ok, Mike joined in and I took a picture. The really amazing thing was that it worked! The bus engined came back to life, we all jumped on and continued the ride home uneventfully. Think we definitely got our one kuai's worth out of that ride!

Mike verses....

Mike Vs. Bat

Mike - 1

Bat - 0

Mike vs. Cockroach

Mike - 2

Roach - 0

Not all our visitors have been Chinese people. About a month ago the following scene occurs.

(Mike cozy in bed sleeping peacefully after a long day of China. Emily enters the bedroom and closes the door quickly)

Emily whispers: Sweetie, are you awake? (obviously he isn't)

There's a bat in our house.

Mike: Are you serious?

(long pause)

Mike: Where?

Emily: In the dinning room.

(another long pause)

Mike: Do you think you will be able to fall asleep if I don't go get it?

Emily: (a little surprised) Umm.... I can try.

(the lights are turned off and about one minute passes)

Mike: You're still awake aren't you. (Big sigh) Fine.

My wonderful husband arose from his blissful slumber. Armed only with a pillow case and a frisbee, he heroically left the safety of the bedroom to attack the savage beast.

Living Stone Band Has Gone International

A few weeks ago, Em and I got invited to play a love song at an English Salon. What's an English Salon you might ask? You wouldn't be alone. We were wondering if we were getting our haircut or helping some people speak English. Basically think, pop concert, kindergarten games, disco, charades, and a slightly shady belly dancer (glad I was helping the ppt guy during that time).

We were the "dignified guests" to this event and got play a few songs. Living Stone band has gone international! Em and I played a love song my buddy Mitch wrote called "One Chance." We also got to play a song I wrote called "The Search" that is basically my story of coming to know the Father. They loved it, because thankfully you don't have to be a great singer to get applause around here!

At the end they posted a few conversation starter questions. Being the only native English speakers you can imagine that they all crowded around us. And they set sharing the Good News up on a tee for us. Right of the bat, when one of the Chinese people found out Em was from Iowa, they said, "I've met people from Iowa State University. They're great!" (Thanks to all you who have sown seeds here). Then he said, "Do you know JC to0?" Because of one of the questions asked, I got to share about my most unforgettable experience.

The Father is at work.

You Ever Carried Cheerios on the Back of a Bike

When doing Wal-Mart runs, I really miss the Ghetto-Cruiser.

Teamwork

On Wednesday morning I got a call from a girl I'd never met inviting me to go to a "short play English competition." A little before the event I called her and asked her if I could bring my two American friends. She mentioned some thing about them sitting in the audience which made me wonder if I was not going to be in the audience. Turns out I was judging this competition, and it's approximately 100 contestants. Huh. Who new? After ten plays of epic love stories and dramatic deaths peppered with various people singing to boy band songs in Chinglish the competition ended and we started talking to some freshmen that we met.

I got the sweet chance to talk to some girls about how my transition to from high school to college was difficult because I was dating a boy that wasn't good for my relationship with the father. I was sharing a little bit about how the father called me back.

Just as I directed the girls' attention over to Mike as an example of a man who follows the father he was practicing a new Chinese word that his friends were teaching him. After he said it a couple times they translated it.... A swear word... Good timing.

The girls I was talking to knew that the boys had tricked him into saying it. They laughed. No harm done.... Freshmen....

Chinese Class - Day 9

In English we might say "a desk, a book, a building" but in Chinese there are a bunch of different measure words that you pair with specific types of objects. For example there is a measure word you use for things that are round and a different measure word that you use for books. We were a little confused as to which measure word goes with which words so we asked our teacher and the following conversation occurred.

Mike: Teacher, is there a list of measure words that will tell us which word to use?

Teacher: Aah, measure words. They are very important. Aaah. Do not forget.

(long pause)

Mike: Yes we want to learn them. If we do not know what measure word to use. Is there a place that we can look to find the answer?

Teacher: Aaaah...yes. I think that it will be very good to remember these ah words for the exam. It is very important.... that you know these words.... so that you can perform well on the exam.

Mike: Mmmm. I agree, but we don't know the measure words. In our text book is there a list to study?

Teacher: Ahh, yes. In Chinese, measure words are very important. And for the test. Do not forget.

(long pause)

Mike: Ok, thanks.

(Mike and Emily walk away smiling.)

We asked an American classmate who told us to look in chapter three.

House on the Rock, not Sand, Now I Get It...

So we were kid-sitting for our boss last night and I (Mike) went to build a sand castle with Caleb (he's 14 and could probably jump into the engineering program at ISU tomorrow). He took the pretty route, I took the, I wanna see how big I can make it route.

So we made our castles

His (Did you notice the rock road on his)

Mine (Hey, it's big! I'm happy)

We were pretty proud of our accomplishment. But take note, this is what can happen when you go for size, and not structural integrity.

One throws a rock...

The rest follow...And a minute thirty later...

It's gone! Those Chinese kids are cute, but it's in their genetics to take out buildings and fast!

Moral of the story...Build your life on the rock/Don't build sand castles in China

Fun Facts

I saw a bunch of people mowing the grass by hand
In China you can download pretty much any song you want through Google LEGALLY
I saw a guy carrying an electric scooter on his bike
I made pizza and ice cream out of play-doh today
Mike and i have been invited to "perform a love song" at an english corner
we got a sweet new couch - PTL
It's not good when your Chinese teacher learns you name and calls on you ALL the time.
Today I ate banana bread, Burger King and Subway.
We are kid-sitting for our boss.
We made friends by looking lost...we didn't have to fake it.
One people group that's international...cafeteria ladies.
They don't appreciate it when you laugh during your school physical at the clinic


Yup that just about sums up our life right now.

What's So Funny

So the other day we went to buy an iron and the guy gave us a demonstration on a steamer - well let me just say that it was an excellent demonstration and he sucked us right into buying one. When we got home we realized that the place you put the water in was broken. So last night I ventured back out to try to exchange it. I get to the store and try to mime that it's broken. She laughed at me then took me to another lady. I mime that it's broken to her and she also laughed at me. Then she took me back to where they sold them and explained it to the guy. He proceeded push the button and slide the part right off (who knew there was a button!) and the all laughed at me.

So I get my steamer then ask if I can look around the store. She takes be back to the other side of the store and gets me a locker to put it in while I look around the store and a receipt that opens it. After I finish my shopping I go back to the locker only to find that I have lost my receipt. I mime to a lady that I have lost my receipt and she laughs at me and takes me back to the other girl at customer service who also laughs at me again.

Then I go to the fruit stand to pick up some oranges. (which cost me about 24 cents) and apparently I was a little slow to count my change and the woman laughed at me. It's like the whole country has an inside joke that I don't know about.

Oh well, I accomplished my tasks and made a new friend. All in all a pretty good night.

PS at China Wal-Mart if you take an article of clothing back because there's a hole in it - instead of giving you a new one or a refund they just sew it up for you right behind the customer service desk.

Chinese Class - Day Two

In our second day of Chinese language class our teacher gives us a paragraph of Chinese characters and says "Here is a riddle for you to figure out." Awesome. I can't do riddles in English. When she eventually translated it for us this is what we got.

upside fur
downside fur
middle have
a water grapes

Any guesses?

(Post your guess as a comment - we'll see if anyone can get it.)

Grilled Face = Bad

We've been blessed with an apartment that is within bike riding distance of almost anywhere we would need to go. There are bikes and electric scooters everywhere here and we've been weaving in and out of them all week exploring our city. A couple days ago we made a run to Auchan (basically a super Wal-Mart on Chinese steroids) to get some shelves for our apartment. So with a big box of shelves on my bike and two boxes strapped to the back of Mike's bike we headed home. Right outside of the bike parking area there are these short red posts placed about a foot apart so that you can't take the carts out of the store. I'm not known for my agility and riding through these posts in a crowd of people, bikes, scooters, food carts, taxis, etc was always a little unnerving. I had previously navigated these posts on my bike before without consequence but on this particular day I caught my pedal on a post and was quickly headed straight for an old woman with a food cart grilling sausage on a stick. Luckily I caught myself just inches away from grilling my face next to her smelly sausage.

Auchan - Our store of choice - I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the store is huge. I couldn't even see the other side of the store from where I was standing. You might also notice that it's a little bit crowded.

Typical ride home from the store

Skype Information

Hey many of you have been asking for our Skpe info.

Our Username is - redletters2

Feel free to look us up and set up a time to talk with us. We deffinitely want to keep in contact with all our friends back home. Please please don't ever think that we are too busy or wouldn't want to talk because we do!! We are 13 hours ahead so just shoot us an email and we will find a time to have a Skype date.

We're Here!

After so much time talking about the move we are finally here and its great! The plane ride went smoothly and were were greeted by our new friends here at our apartment (pictures below). These last couple of days we have been cruising around town on our bicycles and exploring the city. City is amazing - it's full of new sights and new smells. Lots of pics coming.

Living Room - We're looking for some couches a little more cushioned

Dinning Room - and hall way

Master Bedroom - Officially the hardest bed I have ever seen

The study

Bathroom/Laundry Room

Kitchen

Not Pictured: Guest room - which means you should all come visit cause we have a room just for you!!

Our friends did such an amazing job chosing our apartment. We are close to campus as well as amazing shopping (including Wal-Mart) and the mall as well as delicious Chinese Restruants. We even have a garage complete with bikes left for us by some semester students - thanks guys the bikes are great

Good-byes

Difficult good-byes are a blessing because it means that time you spent with those people was so good.

Two weeks ago I couldn't think about saying goodbyes to friends and family without tears welling up. I asked the Father for peace and it came. I was still dreading the time home thinking about how awful it was going to be to say farewell to the friends and family that we love and love us. One week ago I couldn't sleep and Father reminded me that he was strong enough to make this time at home not only bearable, but actually a really good thing. He has been so faithful to His word in these last few days.

Thanks to all the students - Mike came home feeling so encouraged and affirmed that we are supposed to be making this move and that the Father has specifically chosen and equip ed him for the task at hand. Talking with student that have spent time in our city got us pretty stoked to go.

Thanks to friends- Thanks guys for spending some time with us at home and making us feel loved, and thanks to those of you who came to the airport before dawn to see us off.

Thanks to family - Thanks to the Ritzman's and the Easton's for all the support. Thanks for showing us tons of love and for sending us out with your blessings. I know that we asked a lot of you and put you through some extra emotion and stress by taking off overseas.

We love you guys
Mikes final American meal

Forgiveness is NOT...

We recently listened to a speaker that said the following about forgiveness.

Forgiveness is NOT...
Restitution (being paid back for the wrong that harmed you)
Reconciliation (although it can often lead to reconciliation)
Approval of sin (saying that what someone did is ok)

My kids at work and so many others came to mind when he was talking about this. People choosing to walk through their days holding bitterness and anger because they believe one of these myths about forgiveness.

Cyclone Dedication

Turns out they don't broadcast the Iowa/Iowa State game in Virginia. That didn't stop Mike from watching...




This is a picture of Mike watching the game on my parent's TV via skype with the computer pointed towards the screen. The funniest part was that my parents had to turn it up so loud that they couldn't even be in the room anymore. And that is how mike watched the game.

We're not the same

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I took a the Meyers Briggs Personality test and scored pretty much the opposite of each other. Here's a quick story that illustrates our differences.

Mike leaves pretty early in the day because he has to study for a course he's taking and he tells Emily he's going to be gone most of the day. Sweet, thinks Emily, that means I get to hang out with people and have the day to goof off however I want to. Well, she soon realized that there wasn't anyone around the dorms and really you can only play Tetris and Solitare for so long. Eventually she got around to reading and other things that needed to be done. At the end of the day Mike comes back and the following conversation occurs

Emily: How was your day?

Mike: Good I got all the work done that I had wanted to and I'm even a little ahead and I only have a little more to do. What did you do today?

Emily says sadly: Well I studied chinese for two hours and completed some online surveys, finished an assignment, and got caught up on some reading.

Mike: What's wrong?

Emily: I just feel like I wasted my whole day.

Mike (laughing hysterically): That's probably the most productive day you've had in your entire life.

We're not the same

New Big Wong

Some of you may know that one of our assignments here is to take a trip to Washington DC and share with people you come in contact with. So we jumped on the bus and headed out. (Side note - we were selected to be bus captains. I know it's a prestigious title and a big honor but please don't feel awkward around us. Remember we're just like you.) Anyway our lunch goal was to find the most authentic restaurant we could. We carefully surveyed the area and after much deliberation we ended up at the New Big Wong. That's right I'll say it again New Big Wong. We figured you'd have to be foreign to name your restaurant New Big Wong.

By the way it was delicious and we got to share with our waitress!

Another quick fact about our trip to DC - We were appointed bus captians for the short bus

Insert your own amusing statement here _______________________

Rabies is a special feeling

In preparation to move overseas it has been advised that we get properly immunized. Ok, we want to be healthy so that sounds pretty sensible right? Here's the fun part "properly immunized" is just a nice way of saying "Hey Mike and Em, we are going to give you each ELEVEN shots in both arms two at a time and pump you full of every disease that you could possibly incur in the next two years!" Awesome.

Right now swimming around in our bodies are the following deadly diseases:
Hepatitis A/Hepatitis B cocktail
Japanese Encephalitis
Tetanus
Yellow Fever
Typhoid (I thought you only got that on the Oregon Trail)
Rabies - watch out that one's a bleeder.

The Dora the Explorer Band-Aid and the melted ice cream sandwich was not quite the consolation that we was hoping for

Poor little guy

We also were assigned the task of organizing some fun activities for the children after they get their shots. There are three different days that we have shots here to accommodate the different series of shots that we're given. The first day it wasn't so bad cause the kids didn't know what was coming. The parents hyped it up and got them all excited about the fun activities afterward and it was fine. The second week was a little trickier cause they all knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. We sent people into the clinic to make balloon animals hoping that the squeaking of the balloons would drown out the screams of the children being held down inside. I don't think it worked. Still a fun day. Tomorrow is our last clinic day - so we'll see how it goes

This is my cousin's son Owen - We're both pretty stoked about our balloon hats

Just the Beginning

Things are winding down here and we'll be headed back to Ames in just a couple weeks. We're starting to think about the time that we will be spending back home. There's lots to do, family and friends to see, good-byes to say and only about 4 short days to do it in. I've been trying to avoid thinking about it for a long time, but alas it's here.

Our time here has been great. It's been uber fun getting to think about what our days will look like and to wonder in expectation about all the ways that we'll be able to be used there. We're stoked to be students again and to experience all the new things that are headed our way. I even think we are ready to tackle the chicken feet dinners and the squatty potty expeditions. (We tested out some different strategies on a "dry run" and I think we may have found a winner.)

The closer it gets the more excited we are to go and start our work there. But the closer it gets, the less excited we are to say farewell to the people we love here in the states. Please lift this up for us and ask that Mike and I would use this time well and not feel too overwhelmed. Thanks Guys.

PS I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed but are you ever just whelmed?

A visual on the Squatty situation for any who might be unfamiliar

Language 101

Ni feng pi le ma? (did you fart?)

Mei you (I did not)
Dui (Correct)

Ahhh, my first Chinese phrase. It will always hold a special place in my heart. For some reason I find that bathroom humor is funnier in Chinese. One of these days we really should start learning phrases that are actually useful.

Geochaching

If you have ever wanted to be a pirate... or a boyscout... then I would recomend geocaching. Apparently it's kinda nerdy but very fun. If you haven't heard of it just go to http://www.geocaching.com/. Basically you just use your GPS to find "treasure" (aka crap) in the woods. Sometimes if your the FTF or First To Find you get an extra little gift.

Quick word to the wise... if you want to create your own cache to be hunted by others make sure you read all the directions first. Other wise you end up hiding an Excedrin bottle full of paper and Chinese money under a brick in Roanoke Rapids North Carolina for no reason. I'm just saying... rhetorically...

Shenanigans

Shenanigans. Have you ever said something like... "I'm so hungry I could eat an elephant" or "I'm so mad I could just kick myself"? Well, if you and your buddies decide to play shenanigans you should be a lot more careful about the things you say. If you say something absurd and your friend calls "Shenanigans" on you then your immediately left with two choices actually doing the thing you said you would do OR your friend gets to punch you as hard as they want. Hmmmm... decisions decisions. (I'm not really sure why all these games involve punching).

Mike the RA

Well Mike's dream has finally come true. He get's to live in the dorms and be married to me at the same time. He is one lucky man. For those of you that don't know, Mike loved dorm life. In college he spent all four years dedicated to Friley as an RA. The first night we got to our new housing assignment he was like a little kid in the candy store. He immediately informed me that we were going to town ASAP to get some "door-decs" so we went out and bought a white board and put our names on the door. He was particularly excited about the potential to play "hall sports" which the ISU Department of Residence frowns upon. After a our dorm was ravaged by savage TP-ers Mike sprang to action and began a campaign to get himself elected as the RA. The hearts of his fellow residents were won over by his eloquent speeches and charismatic personality resulting in a landslide victory! (perhaps this was also due to the fact that he had no opponents)

Those hooligans!!

Mike's campaign poster