Utah!

Of my more years of life than I care to disclose, I have spent a scant 6 in Utah. And yet Utah has felt like home since the first moment I saw it. I was not a Mormon at that time so it's intriguing that I would feel that way. Seeing Mount Olympus once again looming on the horizon is heart warming and familiar --though it's been 25 years or more since I've lived there.

I took an opportunity to go there last month with Bruce and his mom when Uncle Bruce passed away. Uncle Bruce was a kind, friendly soul who always made us feel welcome and honored. There were so many relatives at the funeral -- I loved seeing them all again, and nice to know they remembered us. I was surprised, though I shouldn't have been, to see our nephew, Roger. Don't get to see enough of him or his family!

I feel a tad guilty, though, because I mostly wanted to go there to see Frank -- it's been some three years since I've had a chance to visit with my brother.







It surprised me how easily and quickly I slipped into being totally comfortable and downright silly in his presence. I am glad to have this brother!!


It was also good to meet his new wife at last. And it was good to see the love between them.




We took a hike in Rock Canyon -- lots of memories for me there, of taking our children when there were only two of them and they were bitty, and a hike through this overwhelming canyon amidst grand peaks and massive cliffs was a favorite Sunday activity. Turns out that Frank and Wendy had never been here, but I believe they intend to return again now that they've discovered it. I don't think about it often, but once in the mountains, I realize that I miss them too.






Frank was so good as to give me a ride to Bountiful after our visit. I had split from Mom and Bruce so they could visit people they knew and loved, and I could visit Frank. On the way, we stopped in Salt Lake, mostly because I wanted to go to a German delicatessen, and we found Seigfied's. There's no bread like German bread, no pastries like German pastries, and the Vienner Schnitzel we ate, oh, so good! I also miss German cooking, it turns out....


And, of course, no visit to Utah is complete without a visit with Aunt DeLona and Uncle Reid. Aunt DeLona has the talent and skill of making anyone feel totally welcome and loved, and that it is her greatest delight to have you visit! I imagine all ten of her children (and their spouses, and the grandchildren), all know they are completely loved. I know Mom is always glad to visit her sister. It is sad that the ocassion was the death of her brother, but wonderful to see so much kin!

China part 6, Beijing

We made several trips to Beijing from Zixu's home town. Tianaman square is in Beijing, the Forbidden City is there, the Beijing Zoo, innumerable temples, and way more than we could probably visit in a year.

Zixu was exhausted -- he had just finished finals, run for Student Body President at his university (and won), planned this trip for us and his friends, taken us sightseeing all over, and taken part in his sister's wedding. The day after his friends left, he finally had a doctor take care of a painful ingrown toenail, and that was it -- he didn't have much energy left. We got to know his home town very well (next post). But after a few days, he did take us to Beijing again, one last time....

First, we had to catch a bus, and with luck, find a seat, for the 45 minute drive into Beijing.

We passed endless high rise apartments, literally miles of them.











And finally got off in Beijing. An interesting mix of buildings, mostly quite modern, but often enough we walked or drove past ancient buildings. Don't even know what this one is -- it looks like a gate although to what we don't know -- and whatever it was, it is certainly not there anymore.







Often enough WE were the tourist attaction, and were asked to be in a photo -- as here, on our way to the Silk Market.











No city (apparently) can consider itself modern if they don't have a McDonalds there. But, unlike America, most stores were at the base of apartment buildings.












Just an interesting building we walked past. We did a lot of walking. Cars just weren't practical when traffic was so heavy, and there was public transportation.








But Zixu's toe was still causing considerable pain, so he had us take a rickshaw part of the way. Now they are pulled by electric bikes. It was scary -- there wasn't room for all of us in one of these, and we were separated from Zixu. We knew if this driver didn't follow Zixu's instructions, we would be lost and in trouble -- not speaking the language is a big problem. But, fortunately, nothing went wrong, and we had a nice ride through the crowded streets.


We had seen a number of Bhuddist temples, so we asked if Zixu would take us to a Taoist monastary. This one in the middle of Beijing was a functioning monastary -- we were asked to be respectful. The red lining the walkway are thousands of prayers purchased by people wishing for blessings and tied to "fences" placed there for that purpose.









There were many rooms filled with figures depicting various purposes for their angels and demons --departments of parental obligation, rivers and streams, punishment, worship -- 76 different departments -- all represented by a room full of life-sized figures like this one <--- .




Just as there had been endless apartment buildings, so there were endless other high rises -- we assume in the most modern places they were office buildings. Amazing amazing city.









Although we passed the Silk Market, a well known tourist trap market where we got to pit our bargaining skills against the experts (we got better, but were no match for them), this day we went to a different market, a market focused on traditional crafts -- marvelous beautiful or unusual things. What a treat to be here and buy a few keepsakes of our trip. Zixu bought a magnificent huge original painting of the Great Wall.









Finally it was time to head home. Into the crowded but very efficient subways. We did stop for a break when we got off the subway, and purchased some delicious deserts before getting in line for the 30 minute wait for a bus with seats and a 45 minute ride back to Miyun.




It was a lovely day!

Photos of the week

Partners in Crime: Nina was making zucchini bread and when she turned around, we were doing QC (Quality control). Yup, I definitely enjoy being a Grandma. I don't know how Nina puts up with us!

When Zixu went to Seattle to stock up on Chinese food (and have fun with his Chinese friends), he came back with these lovely dahlias from Pikes Market.







I met these big fellas coming out of the front door of the last host family I needed for this year's students (Yay!!). I was rather startled, but they seemed to take my presence in stride.






I never know what to expect. Just because I gave birth to them doesn't mean I set the course of their lives! Eric is trying to look formally villainous to satisfy a bet. I'm sure I never taught him any such thing!













To my delight, Curry came to visit. She was our student for the 2002/03 school year, and graduated from university here, but we haven't seen her for three years. We are glad she is part of our lives even if she's far away.






Ben did a lot of chauffeuring for Curry, and, of course, spent considerable time here at the house too. Benny took advantage of the opportunity to attack his big uncle!

Interesting idea

I was reading the blog of a niece the other day and she had an interesting idea; at least
sometimes she posts photos of her Sunday. That's a neat idea, although I think I will change that to weekends. So, coming up is the weekend of October 9, 2010.

This sunset behind Mount Adams might be cheating a little bit, since I caught it on Wednesday, on the way to Julie's with Nina, Nathan, and young 'uns, just to hang out and try some recipes. (it was originally planned as a girl's night, but there were as many menfolk as girls, so it was just a fun night to hang with MY young 'uns, and their least 'uns).








Bruce is such a nice grampa! He does well as a pillow, and is the best "airplane ride" giver in the house -- a fact which big brother appreciates already, and little brother will.








I took my students to the Hindu Cultural Center where we watched traditional Hindu dance telling the stories of their faith -- stories of Ram and Sita, and the Avatars of Brahma, among others. The food afterwards was wonderful.







The students also joined me at the Mid-Columbia Duck Race. The weather wasn't very nice so we didn't have to deal with crowds, and we had a great view of 35,000 rubber ducks being dumped in the water, "race" 100 feet (or so), and see who's the winner. Not us, apparently. Rats!





Kermit paid a visit to our home, to the delight of both of the little guys!

China part 5 , Wedding

The reason we went to China, the wedding of Zijing, Zixu's sister, to Tao. What a cute couple!

Perhaps, if there is one thing that stands out for us with China is lavishness -- the Great Wall is thousands of miles long, the Forbidden City ruled an empire of millions for centuries, Beijing is simply MILES of high rises -- and Zijing's wedding was no exception. It can only be described as lavish. But also interesting. I am beginning to think that Americans really don't know how to do weddings!

The first order of business is that the groom comes to pick up the bride from her home at the head of an impressive line up of BMW's or whatever most luxurious car is available (what do I know about cars?) . That's the easy part.

THEN the groom must gain admission to her house, which is guarded by brother and male cousins who have no intention of letting him in unless he pays them for the priviledge. And the priviledge is not cheap. Poor Tao is stuffing red and gold envelopes filled with money through cracks in the door, but those cousins and brother are not going to let him in until he has paid them a lot! (never mind that Tao has already given even more substantial amounts of money beforehand -- Zixu's share of which was spent on us, and his college friends, showing us China). Finally, he has paid enough and is allowed to enter. But Tao's troubles are not over. NOW he must find Zijing's shoes, which have been hidden to show the reluctance of the family to let their daughter leave. The house was so crowded with the bride's relatives that I didn't see this -- but I wouldn't be surprised if Tao had to cough up yet more money for information leading to the location of her shoes! But, however it was, the shoes were found, and placed on her feet. Another important part of the ceremony included Tao feeding noodles to Zijing. Not just any noodles, but noodles made by his mother -- to symbolize that HIS family will now be taking care of her. For me, this whole ocassion was a priviledge and amazing experience, but for Zijing's mother, this was one of many points where tears were swimming in her eyes -- her daughter would now belong to someone else (and in ancient times, the bride's family might never see her again! But it is not like that now.).

Then there were a lot of photos taken -- although, now that I think of it, I didn't see any photos of the bride and groom with their parents, which seems strange to me as an American. Zixu, as the bride's brother had many important duties, which he performed well (here he's carrying a lamp from the bride's home to the groom's family). I'm not quite sure what all the duties were because most of them took place at the groom's village, where he was the sole representative of the bride's family. He says there was food, and so many fireworks that the whole village was smoking. I think they must not have noise ordinances in China because there was seldom a day when we didn't hear fireworks going off (sometimes at 6 am) to mark auspicious ocassions, like weddings (of course) but also the start of building or remodeling projects, and maybe other things we didn't know about. In any case, after everyone left, we waited around the house for a few hours while the groom's family celebrated, and then we left for the hotel for the actual marriage and wedding feast (and feast it was!). Finally, amidst the noise and smoke of yet more fireworks, the impressive entourage of cars arrived at the hotel, and the bride and groom emerged from the lead car to explosions of confetti. Unlike traditional Chinese weddings (according to Zixu), the bride's family was also there. Two floors of the hotel were rented for this ocassion.

The groom's family followed, making their way past a gauntlet of tables where they gave their wedding gifts (unike America, all the gifts were monetary).





And then down the halls flanked with life sized portraits of Zijing and Toa to the main banquet room where the marriage actually took place.



We chose to join the grooms side of the family in their rooms because that's where the actual marriage took place and Zixu and his parents were there, but perhaps the bride's side would have been better because there was a camera filming everything and we would have had a better view of it than we saw at our table way in the back.

Again, there were more traditional things they did. Zijing spent considerable time offering sweets to Tao's family symbolizing that she would be taking care of them from now on, and I especially liked bowing to their parents.


A famous radio personality MC'd the wedding festivities. He had the audience laughing and following along, although for us -- understanding not a word -- it was a little startling to have a TV talk show atmosphere at what we would consider a solemn ocassion. But I think it was not meant to be a solemn ocassion over there!


Despite the wedding portrait I opened this post with, the bride wore traditional western white and she was stunningly gorgeous!



Then it was time to eat. Uninformed Americans that we were, we ate at the grooms table with the grooms family (an expense to the grooms side), and then we transfered to the bride's family where they were waiting for us and had saved a table for us. If we had understood, we probably would have shown up there a lot sooner. The food was fabulous. We could not resist eating again until our bellies groaned. It would not be right if I didn't say something about how generous the hospitality was that we were provided. I rather suspect that life in China is tough, probably tougher than life in America for the average person, but to go there as honored guests and be considered family was amazing. We benefit twice. We very much enjoy having Zixu in our home, and we enjoy their gratitude for our "sacrifice".

After all this, Zijing changed to a traditional colored (but sophisticated modern style) red gown (not pictured -- the red dress to the right is another of the wedding photos that lined the halls) to mingle with guests, and then everybody gradually left. Zijing went to spend three days with the groom's family, which was a sobering experience, but we were all happy to see her come for visits, and after the three days the two of them settled in their apartment.

They went on their honeymoon the day we left China, and Zijing's best friend, and Zixu accompanied them. It has been a long time that brother and sister didn't see each other! Nevertheless, this isn't exactly how I envisioned a honeymoon! I'm sure they all had a great time (and I'm also sure that the couple of honor had plenty of privacy when they wanted it!).

We wish Zijing and Tao a wonderful and happy time as they build a new life together!

Trip to China Part 4 -- Forbidden City

Much has happened in the past few months, but our trip to China was so fascinating, I really want to continue recording it:

In the heart of Beijing lies the Forbidden City, so named because it was the Emperor's home and private property! That said, part at least, of this massive complex was not anciently forbidden but designed to totally awe foreign dignitaries with China's might and power -- at least I assume so based on it's overwhelming effect on me. And now that a good part of the Forbidden City has been restored and turned into a museum, even less of it is forbidden!

<----- In front of it is Tianaman Square, which we've all heard about because there was a massacre there some years ago, but for Zixu it has totally different connotations -- it's a place for massive parades (he knows exactly where he was standing the one time he had an opportunity to participate in one), a place for China's pride, a place he feels good about. And why not?
It is a magnificent place, surrounded by museums (sadly, the national museum was closed for rennovation during our visit), Chairman Mao's tomb ---->
and lots of other huge buildings and offices. I guess it's comparable to our National Mall in Washington DC, although China has had a lot more history and time to to make their showpiece magnificent.

As huge as Tianaman Square is, it is dwarfed by the size of the Forbidden City.
Totally out of place, but interesting, is the portrait of Chairman Mao hanging over the main entrance to the Forbidden City (click on the photo and it will enlarge so you can see it. Then go back to previous screen to return to this blog). This photo does not begin to do justice to the sheer size and grandeur of this landmark. This photo <--- shows the building that greets people coming off the street or out of the subway tunnels. Then we go through a great courtyard, half the size of Tianaman Square, through arches in another huge building/wall complex, another huge courtyard, THEN we finally get to the ticket booths! (the places covered by the brownish awnings to the side of the square arches). ----->

And finally (you are already tired from walking) you can wander through the public parts of the rest of the city. Many of the offices lining the sides of the courtyards have been turned into museums, towards the back are living quarters (restored) for the Emperor, his Empress and many concubines, and gardens.


<----A bedroom with the bed at the very back. I suspect Emperors might have appreciated central heating and A/C, and carpets, but there is no denying that his home was sumptuous and magnificent almost beyond imagining.







The living areas are huge, but don't take up as much space as the massive governmental buildings, apparently even in ancient historical
times government functions took up a lot more space than even the most magnificent Emperor's living space. Of course, the Emperor could also go to his Summer Palace, or Mountain Villa, which are also unbelievably huge (Mountain Villa visited earlier this trip) and with a lot of land around them, which were not accessible to commoners.



There was just way too much to see -- it would take days to see everything, and writing about it in a blog seems even more presumptuous, but not blogging about it seems wrong too--it was just too amazing to forget.

Museum exhibit showing life in the Forbidden City centuries ago --->

There's just too much to show. But this small sample gets the idea across. I just feel such awe when I am in this place, and a deep humility that I am guilty of thinking my life is the whole experience. There is so much in the world I haven't seen or even imagined. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to see some small part of it, and such a magnificent part!