Friday July 15th

This will most likely be my last post until late next week, unless I can get to a computer any earlier. Today being my last day at work, I took some good pictures of the cafeteria food buffet tables and eating facilities where we eat at most of the time. You'll have to remind me about viewing all of my photo's next time we see eachother. I know everyone will be anxious to see the food selection. I can now say that I don't want to eat Chinese food for awhile after returning home. Some things I will miss though. Eating with chop-sticks has been a learning experience. I was ok at it before coming to Beijing but now I have almost mastered it. If you want a great diet idea, there you go, use some chop-sticks and you'll definitly lose weight. I know I have. I Haven't had the opportunity to weigh myself yet, but I can feel my pants sitting a little lower on my waist then before.
Next week will be a busy one. April joins me in Beijing on Monday at around 5pm (China time). Tuesday, we will visit the Forbidden City, Tian nianmen Square, Beihai Park and ofcourse the great shopping areas. We will also attend a Acrobatics show that evening. It should be a lot of fun. Wednesday, we will go to the Great Wall. I am looking forward to seeing the magnificent manmade structure. There will be many pictures taken there. Thursday morning we will fly from Beijing and arrive in Hong Kong, where there will be many more adventures to experience. We will stay three nights and leave on Sunday the 24th for the USA.
Check back next week for further blog entries...See you later.

Monday July 11th

Hello! This past weekend I ended up getting a few blisters on my feet from all the walking I did. On Saturday I met up with some guys from church that are studying here in Beijing. The trip there took about 50 minutes and I walked probably 30 minutes of the total time. I had to take the Subway to where I work first and then I took the light rail train north toward the university. I wrote in a previous blog about us meeting to swim and then go bowling, but it didn't go according to plan. The pool wasn't going to be open until 1:30 so we decided to play tennis. "Play" isn't the right word, but we had fun doing it. After tennis a few of us went on to the pool for a refreshing dip. The pool wasn't like back home. Not too much of a shocker because almost everything here is not like back home. The pool consisted of a huge looking cement planter box which is around 4 feet in depth. The water was dirty looking but it didn't hold any of us back. We arrived when there was only 15 minutes left for that session of swimming. The cost was 6 yuan per person. We thought we would wait a half an hour until the next session started to get the full time to enjoy our swim, but one of the guys mentioned that 6 yuan was only around 75 cents USD. We all kind of laughed and then speedily paid, changed and enjoyed the time remaining. Everyone continued to question us getting in with only 15 minutes left. The other guys kept explaining in Mandarine that we knew there was only so much time remaining. It was worth it. After a refreshing swim I decided to head back before it became too late. The way home was easier because I found a bus that would take me directly to the rail station. Upon arriving at my hotel I asked if there were any bikes available for me to rent. Ofcourse, they are free to hotel guests. I decided to get one and go to a tailor to have some pants hemmed. The trip was much faster then I remember doing it by foot weeks before. The only thing is you have to be even more careful when riding a bike around. People don't give you (the rider) the right away, they don't give anyone other then themselves the right away. So watch out! Another thing about riding a bike: all you have to do to lock it up is put a lock through one of the tires and then leave it there. I am certainly not used to doing that at home, where you have to take everything that can possibly be stolen and lock it to a tree or sign. Here you leave it. Even though I new this I caught myself looking outside to make sure the bike was safe.
Sunday was another day of riding my rental bike. I decided to ride to church. The trip is accross town but I was up for it. It took me less time then if I would have taken the subway and then walked, like I did last week. Also, this time the bike wasn't pinkish like Saturday's but still had a frame like a woman's bike. It doesn't matter here. Girls who are friends and not partners hold hands here as a sign of friendship. So the stereo type is non-exsistant. It was a good weekend of resting my feet and putting the rubber on the road. The experience brought me back to serving my mission, which is always a great time in my life to think about. Got to go...Check back again.

Thursday July 7th

Well, there hasn't been too much new going on here. I haven't seen any other new sites around Beijing this past week. This weekend I will be meeting up with some guys from church to do something, it hasn't been finalized on what is planned yet. This past Monday though I talked to my hotel and have offered the front staff some English lessons in exchange for a lowered rent. The manager had to clear it with higher management but said he would get back to me. I have now become there longest hotel guest. It seems that I know everyone there and I definitly standout among the other's that stay there. My health is good and I seem to be adjusting well to the different food categories available. I'm sure my weight has changed some since coming here. Either for the good or bad I'm not sure. I'll wait and see what everyone says when I return home. Bye for now! Check back again..

Monday July 4

Happy Independence Day to all those in the USA! I did hear mention of the 4th on the English news channel this morning. This picture is of the view from the building I work in. It looks like LA traffic and get's just as bad at times. On this particular day it was overcast.
Yesterday I was able to go to church here in Beijing. I know what your thinking! An LDS Church in a Communist Country? Well there is. It's not the usual building type but it is the 4th floor in a large business office building. On arriving inside the building I was confused on where to go, until I noticed a group of "white" people all dressed in their Sunday best waiting for the elevator. I said "this must be the place". The group was from Utah, traveling around China. When arriving at the fourth floor I could hear an organ being played. It began to feel like home. I introduced myself to the Branch President (who is the same as a Bishop in a Ward) , his first counselor, and many of the member's came up to introdcue themselves as well. The chapel was filled with chairs, a podium, sacrament table and the organ. Throughout the fourth floor I could see a library, classroom's designated for certain age groups and leadership offices too. It was better then what we had in Detroit, where one branch met in a Auto worker's Union hall, and the other shared a building with another church. It was a great and refreshing sight to see a setting that was a place I could call home. I think roughly there was 100-120 people there. Families, singles, student's and regular's who have lived in Beijing for years. I couldn't believe how much I had missed Sunday's. There is actually a National's Branch that was starting to meet there that afternoon. The rule that is in place is that you cannot talk to Chinese National's about the LDS meetings, Christianity, or promote the church in any way, but that we could meet freely in the privacy of our own facility. This was another great experience to add to my list, here in Beijing.

Hello!

I wanted to get these pictures out before the weekend comes. Today is my Friday and I won't be emailing until Monday unless I have the chance. The picture on the top is of me about to ring the bell in the tower at Beihai Park last Saturday. I did talk briefly about it a few blog entries ago, if you want to catch up. The other is of the large & steep stairs that lead up to the White Tower. This tower can be seen from my office building too. That day was cloudy so there wasn't much to see once at the top.

Today at work was good. I am doing research on the types of training in the US that deals with Supply Chain Management. My supervisor wants me to give a "short" presentation to the staff here about my findings before I am through. Only two weeks before April joins me and we adventure off to the Great Wall & later Hong Kong. I am doing fine and am getting used to my surroundings. Check back again later on Sunday night for some more pics. Talk to you all soon.

Food!!

Ok, I promised you a picture of the Peking Duck dinner I had last Saturday. I just figured out how to get it in the blog listing like this. You can't really make out all of the meal but there is sliced duck, duck soup, yellow corn w/ sunflower seeds, fresh shrimp to the right, pork & greenbean in the middle, greens on the left and that's me in the center trying to hold the knid of torilla wrap I made with my chop-sticks. Everyone seems pleased with my chop-stick skills. Atleast I'm good at something, because my Mandarin isn't. Like I said in a previous blog, the meal only cost a total of around 15$ USD. I had alot of fun that day. I will include other photos later. Take care.