MY TOP 5

Before leaving on my trip my cousin sent me a list of 100 things to do in Beijing. I think we accomplished about 30 of them (pretty good for only being there 7 days-we spent 2 days in another city). To challenge my brain to work through the fog of jet lag tonight I decided to pick my top 5 favorite things. This is difficult but I'm going to stick with it. (Of course I know what you don't and that is that I have many more China posts planned for the rest of the stories!)

So here they are....

5. Seeing the vegetable market in Kristina's neighborhood. Basically this is just an empty lot where on Sundays, Chinese vendors come and sell their fruits, vegetables, spices, rice, noodles, bras, goldfish...pretty much anything. I just felt like I got such a great glimpse into a bit of the Chinese culture and got to see Kristina in action as she buys a lot of her produce there.

4. Purse shopping at the various markets. I had planned on buying a few purses but I had no idea the obsession that would come over me as I journeyed into the various booths looking at all the bags. Kristina did a great job bargaining for me and I actually came home with....well, I won't say the number. I'll just post the picture!

3. Tienanmen Square (and the surrounding areas). It sounds so cliche to list this one but it really was very interesting to walk through the Chinese landmarks that we see on TV. This area, to the Chinese, is like what Washington D.C. is to us. It includes The Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and Mao's Mausoleum. The most striking thing to me about this place was that most of the Chinese people do not know anything about what happened at the Square in 1989. I was told that the night after the "uprising" the pavement all around the Square was replaced so there wouldn't be any sign of the tanks that had plowed through the area. There were no news stories about the event and even if the people do happen to hear anything about it they don't believe it really happened. It is not good when the government controls EVERYTHING!!! 2. The Great Wall! This was pretty awesome. We rode a tram up to the top and then hiked for 3 hours and ate lunch up on the wall. Instead of hiking down the wall we went down on an alpine slide. It was so neat to see something I've heard so much about! Words can't really do it justice. It also didn't hurt to have some NE peeps there as well and YES I'm still talking about that!! If I ever have the chance to go back to China I'm definitely going to spend more time hiking on the wall including seeing the "wild" (translation-not updated) sections of the wall.
1. Spending time with my cousin, Kristina. This really was the best part of the whole trip! We had such fun just spending time together, having the chance to really talk and catch up. It was very cool seeing where she works and understanding more about the work she does, meeting her friends, seeing places that are important to her, and having her tour me around and translate for me. She has been studying Chinese for the last few years and I think she's pretty fluent, although she says she's only about at a 4th grade level. Anyway, it was a precious time and I'm so thankful to have her as my cousin and to have had the opportunity to go on this trip!

NEBRASKA REPRESENTS

One thing that has been somewhat disappointing to me is the lack of recognition my Nebraska gear has been garnering from the Chinese or even the Americans I see. Yesterday at Tianamen Square I did get a lot of looks and I could tell people were reading my t-shirt (although my cousin, Kristina, would say it was because I was wearing crop jeans 2 months before the Chinese would ever think about it...they don't take their long johns off until May).

Anyway, today we went to the Great Wall. (Totally awesome by the by!) I made Kristina wear her NE shirt because she still is from Nebraska even if she is an ex pat. I told her that if anyone from Nebraska was there they would be wearing their gear. Being from a country of 1.3 billion she was somewhat skeptical that we would even see any Americans much less someone from NE.

We had just pulled up and stepped out of our car when I spotted someone wearing red. I knew right away that he was from NE. He saw my shirt too and we started waving at each other. After exchanging the typical hometown info (he was from O'Neill now an ex pat in Hong Kong), we took a few pictures.

As we walked away I was giddy with the excitement that only comes when you have been proven to be right about something, leaving my cousin to shake her head in disbelief. Then, as we stood at the ticket counter, I heard someone yell, "Hey, are you from Lincoln?" I turned around and there were 4 more people all decked out in their Husker finery!! It was so awesome and unexpected. It made my day (as if seeing the Great Wall were not enough!)!

Even in a country of a billion people, the state of 1.3 million represents well!!

Go Big Red!!

WHAT DO YOU DO....

...when you have $45.00 burning a hole in your pocket in China?

How about buying some new glasses (yes they are real!)

or

trying fried grasshoppers on a stick???

Did I do it?

Oh yes I did!

CHINA

After an incredibly long and boring 14 hour flight (it's not very much fun when there's no one to talk to), I finally got here. My boredom was compounded by the fact that I was unable to sleep at all on the flight. Not sure what it was, maybe excitement or adrenaline. I did, however, read a book and 2 magazines, watch When Harry met Sally twice, conquer 6 worlds in Super Mario brothers, and watch about 10 hours of the map of our plane flying around the world (We flew over the North Pole and Siberia!).

So far, jet lag has been pretty non-existent! That's a big blessing!! I'm missing my family but we have been able to e-mail and skype.

We've already seen so many neat things! Can't wait to blog about them when I can download my pictures!!

A few final thoughts: Chinese food is really good here!! $2 foot rubs are awesome here!! Wonderful to worship together with Chinese brothers and sisters on Palm Sunday!!!

GOOD-BYE MOM

Last night I said goodbye to the kids before they went to Awana. Claremarie was crying (as she had been doing off and on the last few days) and so was I a little bit. We were hugging each other and I guess Camden wanted in on the action. He came over and put his head on my lap and pretended like he was crying. After a minute or so of this he said, "Who am I kidding? I'll see you in 12 days mom.". After a quick hug he scampered off to the car without a care in the world.
CM on the other hand, had a bit of a harder time. I asked her what she was worried about thinking she would say a plane crash, an earthquake, or a sandstorm. (Wait...those are my worries!) She then said something so sweet. "Mom, I'm not worried. I'm just going to miss you!

Polar opposites I tell you!

Be back when/if I can but it might be awhile!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

LIKE

You know you spend too much time on facebook when you see your neighbor finally taking down a whole yard full of Christmas decorations and you are looking around your car to find a "like" button to push!!

SOMETHING EXCITING.....

This morning when we woke up it was snowing! (or to borrow a phrase from the morning radio guy, "evil was falling from the sky"). That may a little harsh. Anyway, I thought I wanted the snow to melt until I saw all the dog poo, trash, debris, and leftover Christmas lights that were under it. Not sure I want to face that either....

So, onto something exciting that is happening around here......

Two weeks from today I'm going to China!! Beijing to be exact, to visit my cousin who lives there. I've never traveled anywhere internationally (except for warm places in the Caribbean and Mexico) so it should be interesting. Not sure why I haven't blogged about it except that I was afraid something would come up to change the plans. Now that it is two weeks away I'm feeling more like it is for sure going to happen.

Reactions have been somewhat mixed:

Sam, as usual, is supportive and excited for me to have the experience. He really wanted to go but couldn't get enough time off work. That was very disappointing as there was no one I'd rather have an adventure like this with than him. He is actually taking a week off to help manage the calendar here which is a big relief. I just love him for understanding that this 41 year old, mostly stay at home, mom needs a new experience, a little adventure, a break in the routine, and maybe even a little spiritual reawakening. (Do you think my expectations are a little high??)

Claremarie is having a bit of a hard time with it. She is going to miss me being here (and I will really miss her too!). If you think of it, say a little prayer for her to have peace and to enjoy her time with her daddy and grandparents.

Camden could really just care less. Yesterday he told me he will miss me when I'm gone to China. However, today he said he was kind of glad I was going because he could really use a break from all my yelling. Thanks Camden!

My parents are a little scared I think. The last time a child of theirs traveled out of the country he didn't come home. I'd be afraid too.

My doctor is freaking out that I'm traveling by myself to China. He told me that it's the stuff Lifetime movies are made of. Thanks doc.

Most everyone else I tell gets the most excited look on their face when they first hear and then when I tell them I won't be bringing a baby home they look kind of disappointed. Sorry...it's just a trip.

So, that's it. I hope to blog but as you may have heard google isn't too popular over there right now. There will be lots to write about when I get back!!