Mike went on a business trip to
China this last week while Hallie reigned over (or rather reined in) things at
home.
Very early Monday morning, Mike
and his work colleague David met up with the rest of their travel group at the
airport for their flight. All in all, things went uneventfully from SLC to LAX.
In LA, the group experienced a slight delay that turned into a missed
connection in Tokyo. Mike wasn’t heartbroken, as this delay meant some more
time spent in Japan than expected. We were compensated for our missed
connection with a stay at the hotel built right into the airport (Mike got a
kick at revisiting the tiny rooms with all their amenities) and over $50 in
meal vouchers. We ate (too) well that night and the next morning. He felt a
might bit jet lagged that night and woke too early for his comfort. Oh, well!
Meanwhile in Utah, Hallie took
Landon to gymnastics and then dropped off Eliza at her reading class. In the
afternoon Hallie and Eliza went back to gymnastics to drop Eliza off for gym
and pick up Lily for the afternoon. Landon joined the girls for the late
afternoon, and the three went to Costco.
(Mike lost a day traveling to Japan.)
Meanwhile in Utah on Tuesday, Landon had
gymnastics, Eliza had school, and Hallie and her parents tried getting tickets
for the Mormon Tabernacle Choirs Pioneer Day concert. All parties were
successful in getting tickets! In the afternoon Eliza had gymnastics.
On Wednesday morning (we lost a
day on our flight), Mike and his travel group got on the new flight for the
last leg of their journey to Guangzhou. We spent much of the day in the air and
on the road, with a four-hour flight to Guangzhou and an hour drive to the
Clifford School, where the interns will spend the majority of their time. The
Clifford School is located within a planned community in Guangzhou complete
with its own subdivisions, shopping mall, hospital, and internal transportation
system. After meeting with the administrative team at Clifford, we finally made
our way to the apartment buildings we would live in for the week. The air
conditioning felt delicious after a day’s worth of hot and humid (including
rainy) conditions.
Meanwhile back in Utah, we
remember Wednesday not having a lot going on. Gymnastics and Eliza's class
started out the morning. It is nice to look back and think we weren't as busy
as we normally are, which is a good thing. While Mike was gone to China life
ran more smoothly than other times he has traveled. It probably helps that the
children are getting older and are a bit more capable. Sometimes capable means
eating rice krispie treats for breakfast, but Hallie guesses the boy who ate
them did not starve.
The temperature started going up
during the week, and the upstairs is particularly warm, even with central air.
We had talked for a while about getting a ceiling fan but for one reason or
another it hadn't happened until today. Hallie bought a fan at Home Depot, and
our awesome neighbor installed it for her that night. It is so nice to have the
air moving through the room!
Thursday morning dawned too early
for a slightly jet lagged Mike. We went to the Clifford school for a quick
breakfast before heading for the train station and a high speed train to Qing
Yuan and a couple of school visits. We had had quite a full day traipsing around
in the rain (and thus relatively less heat), eating amazing food, touring
school facilities, and talking school with teachers and administrators before
finally taking the train back to Clifford.
Thursday back in Utah was a bit
busy. Landon had gym, we picked up Lily, and Eliza had school. Eliza, Lily, and
Hallie met the Maygren's landlord to pick up the keys for their temporary housing.
The girls went to drop off Eliza for gym and then Landon was done about 30
minutes later. At the end of Landon's practice we realized one of the other
boy's mom was not there to pick him up because she had a flat tire on the
freeway. So, instead of waiting around for mom we took our Landon, Lily, and
the other Landon to go get ice cream at S.O.S.pharmacy. Landon's mom came to
pick him up while we were eating our treats. Everyone was happy and safe in the
end and that was what was important. Landon, Lily, and Hallie walked over to
the Art City Days festival to look around and to see what other good things
they could sink their teeth into, literally. While browsing the trio ran into
the AirTime Training Center booth. When Landon saw that you could play on items
and do tricks, he was drawn to the booth for a long time. He said he wanted to
do tricks for them to advertise. After a while Coach Sarah, Lily's mom, and
Eliza met up with, and then we headed home. Hallie was tired by the end of the
day, being a single parent had started to catch up to her.
Fergus is such a beg to get out the door now that he is an indoor/outdoor cat.
Mike and his group had a full two
days on Friday and Saturday, staying in Shenzhen overnight after a visit to the
RDF International School there. On Friday morning they took the train (almost
missed it!) to Shenzhen. After another really filling lunch, they toured the
school and met with its teachers and administrators. We then went to the
Dapeng Fortress and
completed a full day with another filling meal with, er, unique Chinese cuisine.
Afterwards, we bunked down in student dorms. Our beds were made from foam-covered
plywood, but we had A/C, hot water, and fish-manicured toesies, so life was
good. After several days of rain, the skies finally began to clear this
evening.
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| These are moth chrysalises. Yes, Mike ate one. It didn't taste terrible. |
Meanwhile in Utah on Friday
Landon was to have gym at 8:00 am, and that is such a yucky time for everyone
to be out the door. But, really, he didn't go. Thursday night into Friday,
Landon had some kind of heat rash, allergic reaction to something, or whatever,
but all we can tell you is that Landon and Hallie were up most of the night
trying to care of whatever itched Landon. Hallie tried Aquaphor, Good Goop,
allergy medicine, and oatmeal bath, and even a prayer. After everyone caught up
on a bit of sleep Hallie dragged herself to Smith's to get some calamine lotion
to try on Landon. Thank heavens the lotion worked!!! The kids remember watching
Thor Ragnorok and Black Panther over the weekend, but really no one remembers
which day. Saturday was going to be a long early day so we were headed to bed
early.
Several members of the church
teach at RDF, and Saturday morning had Mike’s group dining with one of the
families. After breakfast, we went to the recently-renovated
Dapeng
Dongshan Buddhist temple. After our visit, we drove up to Shenzhen for
lunch with even more amazing food before Mike and his colleague shared a
presentation on American schools with a large group of parents and students
interested in studying in the US. After the presentation, we took a train back
to Guangzhou and the Clifford Apartments, ending our day.
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| Where the gang buys mirk, yogult, and other daily ploducts |
Meanwhile back in Utah, Saturday
morning the kids walked and did gymnastics tricks in the Art City Days parade
for AirTime Training Center. The kids were hot and a bit tired after the parade,
and we are all glad that the majority of the heat stayed away until later in
the day. After the parade, we walked around the food and vendor booths again,
and Landon was brave and exchanged a BB gun that he bought from a vendor that had
stopped working. In the evening our awesome neighbor Julie took both kids and
her son to the carnival to ride the rides and play the games, and of course
they had so much fun! We honestly have been blessed with amazing neighbors over
the last close to 20 years!
On Sunday morning, Mike and the
China intern group went to church at a branch of the church in Guangzhou. As
might be imagined, the church is quite small in this part of the world. Mike
was having a pretty emotional morning, feeling a real sense of love for the people
here and a sense of amazement at all his experiences. The branch meets in
several rooms at a local international hotel in downtown Guangzhou. People
travel from quite a ways to get there. He had a strong feeling of branch love
such as he has felt many times in Belle Isle, Michigan. After church, his group
headed back to the apartments. Mike took an afternoon stroll around the local
mall before riding back to the apartments, as he would not have the opportunity
tomorrow. Hard to believe it was almost time to go! In the evening, the university group all got together for dinner and reflection on their time in China so far.
David and Mike fly out Monday, but the interns will remain for another couple
of weeks.
Meanwhile back in Utah, Sunday
took us to church and choir. Then home for some outdoors time and a late dinner
for us. It is hard to convince the kids to come in and eat when it is so bright
outside. It is even harder to convince them to come in when it is time for bed,
so later bedtimes have been a bit of the norm.
