Elephants, Tigers and Scooters Oh My!!!!!

Our family of Pachyderm riders.

  This week's blog is dedicated to the men and women who take care of the elephants at Ran-Tong Elephant Training and Rescue in Chiang Mai.  We also want to thank Bridgitte and Solke, our new friends from Germany for helping to make the day very special.  Also, I have to give credit to Taylor for picking the title of this week's blog.  One last note, the elephant pictures were taken by the staff at Ran-Tong.  When I edit the pictures, the program I use puts my watermark on them.  Also, most of the Tiger pictures were taken by yours truly, except a few taken by Cecelia and a couple of staff members at Tiger Kingdom.  So without further ado, here is the blog for this week.

SCHOOL:  SORRY NO SCHOOL STORIES, STILL ON VACATION.  DARN CHINESE NEW YEAR AND SPRING FESTIVAL ARE KEEPING ME FROM GETTING BACK TO WORK.  IT REALLY STINKS, NOT!!!!!!!  HA,HA,HA,HA,HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ADVENTURES:  I want to start this week's adventure off with a little preface.  I am a strong believer in the presence of God all around us.  I try to appreciate it as much as possible and to thank him for the opportunity to experience the beauty he has created in all things.  I spent the entire day, thanking him continually.  So, with that being said I want to share with you up front how much of an awe inspiring and emotional experience it was to share the day with an animal that could crush me without even giving it a second thought.  And, yet as I stared into the chestnut eyes of one of these magnificent creatures I got the feeling of what it is to have true peace.  When an elephant looks into your eyes and sees your soul as good, and then gives you a bit of a hug or pat of the trunk you can't help but get emotionally stirred up on the inside. Indian elephants have the second largest brain of all creatures, next to whales. Their brains also have two hemispheres, just like ours, so that probably means that they are better judges of character than us humans.

Adding gas to the car

  I wanted to share with you a bit about Ran-Tong Elephant Rescue.  They are a privately run organization that has made it their goal to rescue and rehabilitate over worked and abused elephants.  At Ran-Tong, once the elephants have been rehabilitated and become comfortable around humans that care and love them 24 hours a day, they are free to roam the ranch.  Our elephants liked hanging around humans so much that when they were free to eat, they would often hang out to be loved upon.  They love to have the back of their ears rubbed and to have their trunks itched.  There are 13 elephants at Ran-Tong and their numbers are growing. They have a mother elephant that just had a baby.  Unfortunately we were not able to see the baby, but maybe another time.  While in the water the elephants are scrubbed with brushes and then rinsed off.  They absolutely love it.  The humans don't think it is too bad as either.  The video and pictures will show you how much fun all of us had.
  On top of the feelings I was having about the elephants, I couldn't help but have a little bit of fatherly pride while watching my two daughters share an experience that was life changing for all of us.  Of course they wanted to bring one home with them, but I don't believe five acres is a big enough space for an elephant.  I kept asking Cecelia as we rode back to camp, "How did we get here?".  When we got married almost 18 years ago, this type of thing was definitely not in our conversations.

Our elephant sanctuary for lunch

  So picture the scene 20 years ago, while we were dating.  The setting is having coffee while sitting at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach during a perfect North County spring day waiting for the sunset.  Very romantic right?  
  "Cecelia, I really love you and want to have many adventures  together."
  Cecelia would then say, "Oh, I love adventures, how about a trip up the coast of California and back?"
  "Well, I had something a little more adventurous than that in mind."
  "Oh really, how adventurous?"
  I then said "Well, I was thinking that maybe we should go to Thailand and ride elephants with our future daughters."
  After an awkward pause, Cecelia would say "Sure why not. Even though you are crazy, you're a lot more exciting than all the other boyfriends that I have had."
  I would answer "Honey, only the wild and craziest for you."
  As much as I would love to think the story would go like that, she probably would have thought I was too crazy and that would have been the end of the story.
  I probably would have lost the romantic moment as well.  I don't know, elephants, coffee, sunset, it doesn't seem to go together for some reason.
  As we rode together on our elephant, watching our girls giggle and laugh with joy, the only answer we could come up with for the question I asked earlier was, "The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways".
  I will definitely tell you that there is nothing like taking care of and then riding an elephant for the day.  It is very manly, kind of like an Old Spice commercial.  If you don't know about Old Spice commercials they go something like this.
  I am sitting astride my magnificent Pachyderm with a beautiful woman (my wife of course).  The sun is setting and and her blonde hair is glimmering as the sun casts the final rays of day on her.  There I am a thin, fit 50 year old guy (of course they have airbrushed in a little bit more hair,  a slightly bigger chest, and a six pack stomach on me).
  I then say into the television camera. "Look at Me."
  "Now look at your man."
  "Now look at Me again."
  "Now look at your man sitting on the sectional sofa with the beer and Nacho residue dribbling down his chin while watching the Super Bowl."
  "Now look at Me again astride my majestic Elephant with a beautiful woman."
  "Now look at your man again, with the pot belly and elastic waiste pants that he wears to hide his gut."
  "Now look at me and my wife again."
  "Don't you wish you could be doing what we are doing?"
  "Go buy some Old Spice at half time, it may not change your husband, but at least he will smell good."
  By the way, I wear Axe anyway.
  Anyway, the day was outstanding and unforgettable.  The video and pictures will continue to fill in the rest of the story.
  The next day we rented some scooters from The Secret Garden and went on another adventure.  Yes, I did say scooter adventure.  Uncle Paul would have loved this one.
  The first stop on our adventure was to The Tiger Kingdom.  The place was very professional and had some pretty rigorous standards.  The first thing that we were told was that Taylor was only allowed to go in with the six to eight week old Tigers.  Apparently, she looks too much like a small goat to the big cats.  The little ones are so cute and cuddly.  By the way, the girls want to have a pet tiger now too (5 acres definitely isn't big enough for that).  We were not allowed to play with them, and we could only pet them on the tummy and back.  After one of the trainers showed me the claws of an eight week old, I was glad that we could not play with them.  While showing me he commented and said, "Their claws are long enough to reach bone".  That was enough information for me.  The trainer also told us that they did not encourage playing with humans because when they get older it becomes a problem.  It is all fun and games when the six to eight week old tigers want to play, but it is a totally different  situation when the two year old tigers that are 400 lbs want to play.  They encourage the tigers to play with each other, rather than with the human visitors.
  Claire and Cecelia then went into the cage with the small tigers which were almost as big as Claire. Apparently Claire looks too much like a small Impala so she cannot go in with the big cats.  The two of them had a good time rubbing the tigers bellies and Claire even petted a tiger that was getting a little playful.
  Finally, Cecelia went in with the big tigers.  I sacrificed her to the tigers, I mean sacrificed myself because somebody had to supervise the girls outside of the cage.  Cecelia had a good time with the big cats and got to experience a little bit of tiger agitation.  One of the tigers was watching another tiger in an opposite cage and became agitated because the other tiger was stalking something.  The trainer had Cecelia walk calmly away.  He then took her over to the biggest tiger in the compound and had her pet and lay on top of it.  The tiger sure seemed to appreciate her affection, because he rolled over on her.  I was a little concerned that my wife was being squished by a 400 pound tiger.  She managed to escape without any major scratches and really enjoyed the experience.
  After the tiger experience we headed on our scooters to see the highest temple in Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep. To get to Doi Suthep you have to navigate a winding mountain road to get to the parking area.  The road is one of those cool mountain roads that Mercedes or BMW uses in their commercials.  Ours was actually a lot more fun, because we got to weave in and out of the slower cars on the way to the temple.  When you get to the top of the mountain you still have to walk the 309 steps to the temple.  The steps are lined on both sides with giant dragons that have bright green ceramic scales the entire length of the stairs.  For those of you that are a little less hearty, there is a tram to the top as well.  When you arrive at the top the temple is laid out before you.  The first thing that you must do is to remove your shoes.  You have to walk around with bare feet throughout the temple.  The amazing thing about this temple, unlike any others is that all of your senses except for taste are heightened.  The first thing you notice is the feel of the smooth and cool marble under your bare feet.  Then as you walk into the main temple courtyard you are overwhelmed by the colors that hit your eyes.

At one of the many Buddha enclosures at Doi Suthep

  There is so much gold that it is like being on the sun, without the heat of course.  The next thing you notice is the intoxicating smell of incense as you pass by each Buddha enclosure.  Finally you notice the tinkling of small bells combined with the sweet baritone sounds of the bells being rung for prayers to loved ones that have passed away.  All of this put together creates an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.  You can see why a monk can sit for hours in this type of environment meditating.

We all rang a bell and did a little sitting to enjoy the environment while we were there.  The other cool thing about the temple is that it has an amazing look out that gives a great view of old Chiang Mai and the surrounding area.

Monks enjoying the view

  After our experience at the temple, we then rode our scooters down into old Chiang Mai to have dinner.  I learned a valuable lesson.  Do, not and I repeat do not ask a Thai waitress to give you food like the Thai locals eat.  My food was so spicy that even though I ate most of it, I didn't finish.  Even when I went to Starbucks afterward, my mouth was still numb from dinner.
  We then made our way back to The Secret Garden for the evening.  We wanted to make sure we got a good night's sleep, because we were heading for Ko Samui the next day.

Bonus Blog - Into the Belly of Crazy Horse!!!

Where are you Going Claire??

  This Bonus Blog is dedicated to our new friends at CMRCA(Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures).  Ooan, Bo and Aut were amazing guides and made us feel safe and encouraged everyone all day.  These guys were very professional.  We also want to thank Thomas Enz for being a great companion during the day.  Enjoy the rest of your trip Thomas, we will definitely keep in touch.  Finally, we want to thank Cash and Keng from  "Flight of The Gibbon" for an awesome zip lining experience.  We have a new appreciation for Gibbons and The Rain Forest because of you. 
  This bonus blog is going to be told with many pictures and a small video.  I didn't do the pictures in a slideshow because you need to see some of the amazing sights at large size.  I know you will enjoy this one!!!
  SCHOOL:  NO SCHOOL STORIES, WE'RE ON VACATION, LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!
  ADVENTURES:  You probably already have a good idea what this bonus blog is about, but I need to fill in some of the empty space.  To begin, we left The Secret Garden on Monday morning and were picked up by CMRCA in town.  When we were picked up we met our guides for the day and Thomas Enz.  Thomas is vacationing in Thailand from Switzerland.
  All of us then rode in the back of a pick up truck (yes, I said in the back of a pick up truck).  For those of you that are old enough to remember, this used to be one of those simple pleasures that was allowed in the United States.

Crazy Horse Buttress,
Photo taken by sgclimb.com

Anyway, I digress so lets keep going with the story.  We rode for about an hour into the hills of Chiang Mai.  We stopped for a short break to use the restroom and pick up the rest of our provisions for the day.  The trip then continued in the truck for about another ten minutes until we arrived at a camp just below a place called Crazy Horse Buttress.
  Ooan, Bo and Aut then gave instructions to our group and then we made our way up the hill to do some climbing.  The rock we climbed was quite different than what we are used to at home.  It was made of old limestone.  It had great texture and is a lot easier to climb than the granite that we are used to at home in Yosemite.  The first climb was about 40 ft. and we all made it to the top.  Even our friend Thomas did well and he had not climbed very much.  Here are some pictures of the morning climb.  This was a warm up for what was to come later.  We climbed for about two hours.  The height was a little bit of a stretch for Taylor, but she made it two the top as well.  She did have a little motivation to make it, because we told her that she couldn't have any lunch unless she made it to the top.  I know, we are very demanding parents.

Ready to Climb!

  After the morning climb we walked back down to the camp and had a nice lunch.  The crew gave us warm fried rice with eggs and chicken.  We also had fresh pineapple to finish off our meal.  It was great comfort food.
  We were then informed that the first activity of the afternoon was to do some rappelling.  Cecelia and I have both done some rappelling before, so we just assumed that we would be rappelling down the face of a cliff.  We were to be shockingly surprised.

  All of us then refilled our water bottles and started up for the afternoon climb.  We hiked up the buttress a bit and actually did go into The Belly of Crazy Horse.  

The Belly of Crazy Horse

After going through the belly we hiked over the shoulder and went down a gap in the rock.  We were then presented with the biggest surprise of the day.  A huge cavern opened up before us and the guys told us that we were rappelling into it.  The looks on the faces of Taylor and Claire were priceless.  A mixture of terrified, excited and a "What the hell did you get us into this time dad" look.(Of course my children would never think of using bad words, but that was the look they gave me.)  When they both gave me their looks the only thing I could say to make them feel comfortable was "Awesome, I can't wait".  

Our Crew getting ready to drop 210 ft. into a cave

  They then asked me if I had ever done anything like this and I told them, "Yeah sure, something similar."  They seemed to feel a little better until the guide told us how far it was to the bottom.  Ooan said "it is only 70 meters to the bottom, no problem."  I agreed and encouraged the girls, all the while thinking to myself "Oh crap, 70 meters.  That's roughly 210 feet."  I didn't tell the girls the calculation I was doing in my head, I just hoped they weren't doing the same thing.  Cecelia, the stud of the group went first.  She did a great job of doing the distance quickly and hooting and hollering along the way to let the girls know that it was safe and fun.  

Taylor hooked in and ready to rappell

Taylor then went next.  She determined quickly that she didn't like gravity very much.  She made it to the bottom and talked the entire way down.  It was then Claire's turn.  Claire put on a brave face and then made the descent into the cavern.  We have figured out the differences between the two girls when it comes to being scared and nervous.  Taylor is a chatter box, while Claire is contemplative and quiet.  I couldn't have been more proud of them.  They both did an outstanding job facing their fear and conquering it.  It was finally my turn to go.  The drop into the cavern was exilerating and amazing.  Most of the way you could bounce off of the rock with your feet and then descend without too much difficulty.  The only part that was a bit sketchy to me was the last 50 or so feet.  The cave then dropped away and you then free fell to the bottom.  Nothing like your stomach flying up into your throat as you dangle in thin air with nowhere to go but down.  When we were all on the bottom we got the next surprise of the day.  The cavern was full of beautiful rock formations and the sun was streaming in through a small opening to give the cave a surreal atmosphere.  

Claire Ready to drop into what???

Our new friend Thomas made his way to the bottom and then we hiked out.  I have added some amazing pictures to show you what the cave looked like.  While hiking out I was struck by the brilliant colors of the rock.  The browns and creams blended together to give  us the image of melting chocolate flowing out of the ground.  It was simply, ethereal.

  After leaving the cavern we did one last climb.  The final climb of the day was 80 ft. and quite a bit more difficult that the morning climb.  Tay and Claire did their best but were just a little short to get past one of the more difficult sections.  I know this because I went up after them and I had a hard time getting past it myself.  About 60 ft. I almost gave up, but there was a promise of beer for getting to the top.  I also wanted to do well for my girls.  I will admit that I was one slip away from having them let me down, but I did take a break and faced down my fear of heights one more time to make it to the top.  I had an amazing sense of accomplishment, because I had never done a pitch that steep or that high before.  I do have to mention that Cecelia also made it to the top.  She made it look much easier than I did.

Taylor looks like a juicy worm
on a fishing line!! 

  We then said good by to our friends at CMRCA and Thomas and were picked up by the truck from Flight of the Gibbon.

  The hour long ride up into the jungle gave us time to rest and talk about how amazing the day was for our family.  I thank the Lord for getting the opportunity to share experiences like this with my wife and daughters.

  We were then dropped off at one of the villagers homes to stay in for the night.  The village people in Thailand are gracious and very hospitable.  We were made to feel welcome right away and were treated to one the most incredible meals that we have had so far.  We had a tasty Lemon Grass and Chicken soup with rice.  It also included this mixture of minced meat, garlic, celontro and tomatoes.  Finally topped off with homemade banana chips and watermelon.  We then ended the evening by having three other village women coming to the home and giving all of us massages.  It was a first for both Taylor and Claire.  Taylor enjoyed her massage the most, she fell asleep on the mat while being massaged.  I had to carry her to bed afterwards.  So much for my massage, I almost threw out my back getting her into her bed.

  The next morning we arose to the smell of breakfast being served.  It was another meal that will leave memories with us for a long time.  Warm soup with toast and fruit.  Add a warm cup of coffee and tea to the mix and you have a perfect meal.  The lady of the house was so thoughtful, that she heard Claire coughing the night before and made a cup of ginger tea special for her.  It was great getting to know that woman of the house a little.  She was beaming with pride as she shared with us a picture of her son.  He is a monk in one of the local Buddhist Temples.  I imagined it was the same feeling that some families get when their sons go into the priesthood.  

  We were then wisked away for our zip lining adventure.  Here is a short video to give you an idea of the amount of fun we had.  Taylor enjoyed it so much that she was ready to take a job as a zip line guide.  She absolutely loves Thailand.

  

The following are some other pictures for you to enjoy!!!  Wait until you get Sundays blog.  It will be a blockbuster for some of you.  I will give you a little hint, it has to do with furry critters.  Always like to keep you guessing.  See you then!!!! 

Cash and Keng, zipline Jocks!!!!

Angels flying in through the opening!!

One Brave Girl!!!

Over Crazy Horses Shoulder

Flowing Chocolate

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Simply Beautiful

I could have stayed all day

What do you see???

Claire climbing the Crack

Yours truly going up the face

Taylor climbing the Crack

Cecelia making it look easy as always!!

It really wasn't that far down.  Cha!!! yeah right!!!

Dangling like a Spider on a Web

The Odyssey Moves to Thailand

  This week is dedicated the friends that I asked to give me their opinion regarding a situation that has arisen in China.  So, thank you to all of you that sent prayers and or gave their input.  Your words were both encouraging and thought provoking.

SCHOOL:  This week at school was the most mellow that we have had.  The only exciting thing about it was going to collect the extra food that was donated to the local orphanage.  This was organized by Paul and had a big turnout.  I know, because I had to carry multiple bags of rice to storage.  Other than that, everyone was busy giving and grading finals before the break.  I gave my last final on Friday morning and was done by the afternoon.  Cecelia was done by noon as well.  Paul the slacker had been done for one week already and started his vacation early.  It is the only time that I can give him a hard time, since he teaches more classes than me.  He also left for the U.S. on Wednesday morning, so if you want to get a hold of him he is back in Sacramento.  We sorely missed him the last half of the week.

ADVENTURES:  Well this weeks adventure starts off with a pleasant surprise.  Those of you who have been following know that the previous week I participated in an activity with some of the local business men at our golf course.  Our team finished fourth out of 14 teams and I didn't really think much of it.  I was disappointed that I didn't play better on the last day.  I left the course quickly and could not go to the awards ceremony and dinner, because of the wedding that we participated in for our friends John and Katy.  

  If you haven't heard about it yet on Facebook, John and Katy's wedding made it on the evening news in China.  So, along with the bride and groom, Paul, Cecelia, Claire, Taylor and Yours Truly were on television in China.  

  Anyway, apparently first through fifth place in Chinese golf tournaments is considered doing well.  Those of you that know my attitude about golf tournaments will understand what I am going to say next.   I kind of subscribe to the Ricky Bobby from Talladega Nights mentality, which is, "If You Ain't First Your Last".  So, I didn't think much of it until my golfing friend David sent me a text to come and pick up my 4300 rmb.  For those of you that haven't figured out the math yet from the other blogs, the U.S. dollar is 6 to 1.  This means that I won the equivalent of around $750.

Who says that golf doesn't pay???

I was so excited that I had to go out and by myself something.  The following picture is the item.  When I bought it Cecelia commented, "You are really turning Chinese".  I think of it more as paying respect to the culture in which I am living.  I would let you be the judge, but it doesn't really matter, I like it.  So, enough about me.

Now that's what I'm talking about!!!

  Saturday morning found us on our way to Thailand.  We first took a cab to the metro and then took the metro to the airport.  From the airport we took a three hour plane flight to Bangkok.  When we got to Bangkok we were about 30 minutes late so we were concerned about catching our connecting flight.

Now, that is one good looking group of "O's" heading for Thailand!!!

After getting off the plane we made our way to a Bangkok Airways agent to find out the status of our flight.  She told us that we had to go to ticketing and then come back.  We had about 40 minutes so we began running through the airport like the crazed tourists that we were.  So, you may ask why were we in such a hurry.  Well, we had to make our way through customs and then through immigration just to get back to the ticket counter.  We then had to be issued tickets and go back through Thailand customs and security.  We weren't sure we could get it all done in 40 minutes.  Fortunately we only packed backpacks and didn't have to check any luggage.  The nice thing was that when we got to the ticket counter we figured we had about 30 minutes to spare so we felt like we could take a bit of a breather.  We were then informed that our plane was delayed and that we had about an hour and a half to wait.  How, did we gain so much time you may ask?  Well, someone forgot to mention to us that when we got to Thailand that we had picked up a time zone and gained an extra hour.  So, we went from hurry up to wait in an instant.  The real nice thing about it, was that Bangkok Air has a really nice waiting lounge with drinks and food.  It is nice to feel like you are being treated like someone special, even though we were flying Economy Class.

Bangkok is a scary place!!!!

  We then made the hour long flight to Chiang Mai and was greeted by our host Peter, from The Secret Garden.  Peter is the owner and proprieter of an outstanding vacation home facility that he has spent the last five years building on his own.  He runs the place with his wife and daughter.  They are a gracious and low key family that treats you immediately like friends when you arrive.  We arrived late and they even asked us if we wanted them to keep the kitchen open for us.  We politely declined since we had eaten on the plane.  We then checked into our bungalow and then went directly to sleep.  We were all tired from the long day of travel.

  This next part of the blog was initially going to be the end.  I was going to just spend a few paragraphs describing The Secret Garden to you.  We didn't really have anything planned for the next day so it was going to be a day of R & R.
    Well in typical "O" fashion that didn't turn out to be the case.  So bare with me a moment while I try to describe things that are beyond my menial brain or limited talent as a writer to explain.
   First of all The Secret Garden is exactly like it's name.  When we first arrived at our little bungalow, we found it to be quaint and cozy.  In the dark you can't really see that much, except for the warm glow of lights shining on an inviting front porch with laying pillows and a table.  But during the day, the vines and flowers growing over the rooftop turn the place into a magical building thrust into a Monet painting.  On top of that the pond out front with the fountain turn it into a place that is made for relaxing.  Once we got over the atmosphere just outside our front door, we made it through the other bungalows to the inner court yard.  The courtyard is a breath taking garden with the heady smells of plumaria, honeysuckle and orchids.  Combine those smells with the outstanding smell of fresh coffee and breakfast being made in the open kitechen and you have yourself one intoxicating environment.  I felt like my wife was going to come across a serpent offering her an apple at any moment. ( Well maybe not but remember I am trying to describe something that needs to be seen to be believed.  Oh, and no I am not delusional.)

  After breakfast we went to the Umbrella festival in the local village.  We arrived just in time to experience the last day of the festival.  We rode some of the bikes that Peter offers to his guests into the village and had a wonderful morning.  Along the way we experienced our first Buddhist Temple.  The temples here are literally working pieces of art.  They are absolutely beautiful and always have monks that are the care takers. The temples are not just for tourists to look at, the monks actually perform services in them everyday.  I have put a slide show of pictures together for the temples and Umbrella Festival.  I would describe them, but it is better seen in pictures.  Enjoy the slide show!!!

  I wanted to mention that Sunday morning was the first time that I felt like I was living an episode of "Lonely Planet" combined with Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations".  The atmosphere and the food are so amazing here that it becomes surreal.  I keep having to pinch myself, because I still feel like I am living a dream.  The pinch hurts, but I can happily tell you that I am living a dream and loving every minute of it.

  One last thing.  This week I am going to put together a bonus blog.  The reason is because I feel like the first two adventures we are going to have this week are so awesome that I don't want to wait until the weekend to share them with you.  Not only that, if I put all of our adventures onto one blog this upcoming weekend, it would become like some epic novel like War and Peace.  You would become very bored and I can't have that now, can I?  At least my blog has pictures.  I don't recall War and Peace having any pictures.  Can one of you literary giants out there confirm that for me?  

  Love to everyone and we want to send out a special miss you to Uncle Paul.  All of us would have really enjoyed having you with us to experience this magic.  Maybe next year????

  

Our First Chinese Wedding!!!! Hmm, Interesting

Hello Everyone.  This weeks second blog brings us back up to date with the weekly story.  When I began this blog, my wife and brother said "Hey why don't you do it twice a month or even once a month".  I said "No Way, I am committed to share every week.  Like I have said before in previous blogs, we have a saying here that "You never know what is going to happen in China".  If I did it once a month I wouldn't be able to remember half of the stuff that seems to happen on a daily basis.  Besides, I am energized by the fact that I have kept it up for so many weeks.  With that being said here we go for this week.

SCHOOL:  This was a pretty low key week at school.  We did make it through our seven day work week and were excited for the weekend to come.  I will confess that it was actually only a six day work week for me. I missed one day due to participating in an event with some of the local business men.  It was still kind of work, since I was representing our school.  Yeah, think what you like, but I don't have to justify anything to anyone.  I work hard at doing PR for the school.  Wait, I think that sounded like a justification.  Heck with it, time to move on!!!  Anyway we are all preparing for the end of the semester and testing.  The only real exciting thing that happened was that Cecelia and I have been offered positions for next year already.  Apparently this is rather unusual, but because we have done such a good job they wanted to get an answer from us already.  Usually you are requested to renew your contract in March.  More to come on this subject later.  Cecelia did go out to dinner with the first grade staff on Friday.  She said she had a great time and made the comment, "Nobody should ever say that these people aren't friendly".  Her dinner wasn't quite as crazy as going to KTV and she did make it home at a reasonable time.

ADVENTURES:  This weeks adventure focuses on our friends John and Katy.  John and Katy are both kindergarten teachers.  They are originally from the United States.  They have lived abroad for a number of years and recently got married in the US at a justice of the peace.  They did this because they didn't have time to plan a formal wedding before heading back to China.  So, when they returned here they started to plan to have a wedding ceremony here and then in the states later on this summer.  When John and Katy began planning their wedding they told us that it was going to be a traditional Chinese wedding.  John and Katy love China and have really embraced the culture here, just as we have.

That is one good looking family!!!!

  After finding out the dates and times Paul and I went to the local tailor to get traditional shirts made.  We had to have them made, because believe it or not I am too big for the clothing here for men.  I am a size XXL here, while Paul cannot find anything for his brawny body.  The problem is mostly in the shoulders and the upper arms.  Chinese men typically don't have broad shoulders, chests or biceps.  Even with my slight physique I am larger than most of the men here in that particular area of the body.  Just think about it, Paul is almost twice as big as me in those areas.

Paul with the beauties before the wedding

  It took a little over a week to have them made, but when they were finished they were awesome!!!!  The cost was around $80 each.  They are worth every cent.  I don't mind telling you that we both look like a couple of Chinese Aristocrats with them on.  As for Cecelia and the girls, we found them traditional Chinese dresses in the wholesale market in Guangzhou.  Cecelia is absolutely a Chinese hotty in her dress.  The word "Concubine" was thrown out more than once during the evening when they saw her in the dress.  All I can tell you is that I am one lucky Chinese Warlord(I mean Aristocrat).  Claire and Taylor were stunning in their dresses as well.  Our entire family was a big hit at the wedding, because of the time and effort to support John and Katy with our garb.  There were two other friends that dressed traditional as well and that was Hector and Adam.  You will be happy to know that we didn't out class the bride and groom.  From the pictures I am going to share with you, you can see the amazing outfits that they wore.  Erin and Nathan, the best man and maid of honor were also dressed in their finery as well.
  You may be asking by now what is a Chinese wedding ceremony like.
 Well, let me tell you.  It is nothing like traditional weddings in the US.  As the bride and groom walk down the aisle to the stage, they are peppered with rose petals and confetti canons are shot off over their heads.  So, by the time they get up front they have confetti and rose petals stuck all over them.

The Happy Chinese Couple!

  The next thing that happens is that the bride and groom then do the bowing ceremony.  An older married couple is brought up to sit in chairs on the stage.  John and Katy then move over in front of them as bow.  This is to pay respect to the long marriage of the older couple and to ensure that theirs will be long and fulfilling as well.  They then bow to each other, and the one the bows the lowest is the person in charge of the family.  Typically women win this one and Katy obviously did not disappoint.  John is kicking himself for not going to Yoga with us and Katy more often.  They then bow to the audience for respect and do receive encouragement from us as a group.

The best man with his best woman, Nate and Erin

  They finish off the ceremony with a toasting ritual.  The first toast is to each other.  The second toast is with their arms interlocked like many traditional weddings in the US.  Finally, they toast by putting their arms around each others necks and drinking.  When the service is over they go around to all of the tables and toast with each table.  By the way, they must use wine.  So you can imagine by the time they get done, they are a little tipsy.
  After everything is done on stage there is entertainment.  The kindergarten teachers that work with John and Katy put on a couple of skits and dance routines.  The strangest skit was a rendition of Cinderella which we all couldn't understand.  The weirdest part about it was that they had a man playing the evil stepmothers role and a women playing the prince charming role.  The women could have easily played the evil stepmother.

Man, those people look very Chinese!!!

  We all had Chinese food, beer and Chinese white lightening.  It was a good time had by all.  We were invited over to John and Katy's for some post wedding games, but apparently they are not appropriate for children so we didn't go.  According to John and Katy I can't even describe them to you on the blog or I would lose my "G" rating.

What's a wedding with a good old fashioned family brawl.

  The next morning we were invited to go to have traditional Chinese Tea and breakfast with our friend David's family.  It was very good and we had some very interesting breakfast items.  One of the more interesting foods that we liked was Pumpkin Congee.  It is a porridge like substance with pumpkin and corn in it.  According to David, the porridge was a favorite with the Red Army during the Communist uprising.  Of course the red sweet potato balls and steamed bokchoy are interesting.  I can't say I enjoy having vegetables for breakfast other than potatoes.  David's family is gracious and generous.  They have treated us like family and it has been greatly appreciated.

Of course after a fight we will take on everyone else together!!!

  After breakfast we came home and caught the bus to Guangzhou.  We haven't had any trips as of late to do any historical research, so we took the bus to Yuxiu Park.  Yuxiu Park is famous because it houses the most revered statue in the Guangdong Province.  The statue signifies the five rams that the people attribute to saving the province.  Apparently as the story goes, there was a terrible drought and people were on the verge of starvation.  Somehow the goats came out of nowhere and began eating the weeds that were harming the plants.  From that point on the plants prospered and the people were not starving any longer.  Based on the story, it seems to me that the point everyone is missing is that not only did the goats eat the harmful plants, but the people learned about fertilizer as well.  Anyway, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the low key atmosphere of the park.  We will definitely have to go back and see more.  The parks are so big here that there is no way to see all of them in one day.
   Finally, we are so excited because it is six days until we leave for Thailand.  So next weeks blog will come to you from Chiang Mai, Thailand.  I won't have a lot of pictures yet, because it will be the first day of our adventure, but I will share with you what I have.  Until then Zaijian!!!!

The girls at the famed Five Rams Statue!!

Our first truly quiet week in China

  Hello Everyone.  I apologize for the late blog this week, but if you can believe it I was busy with school.  I will explain in the school section later.  This weeks blog is probably the most low key and shortest.  I will also follow this blog up with the regular blog this up coming weekend.  So enjoy the pictures and a short read.

TEACHING/SCHOOL:  Well, last week we were off for the entire New Year Holiday.  Sounds great, right!!!WRONG!!!  Even though we had the week off we had to work on Saturday and Sunday leading up to having it off.  I don't even remember the last Sunday in which I worked, let alone taught.  So there you go, that was the only exciting thing about school last week.  Oh, by the way, did I mention that we had to follow that up with a seven day work week.  Anyway, let's move on to the fun stuff for the week.

ADVENTURES:  I have to mention first of all what it was like on New Year's Eve here in good old China.  Paul, Claire and I were the only one's that made it to midnight.  So, about 25 minutes before midnight we bundled up and went into the village to see if there were any New Years festivities going on.  To our amazement, the town was a ghost town.  There wasn't a soul out on the street.  We drove around for most of the 25 minutes and found ourselves wishing each other Happy New Year in front of a very quiet Luxury Resort.  I guess the Chinese just save up all of their celebrating for the Chinese New Year.  We did stop on the bridge that leads to our home and watch a couple of fireworks shows.  That was pretty cool.  The night was crisp and clear with many stars to highlight the fireworks shows.  Paul, Claire and I did give each other hugs and mentioned that it didn't really matter if there were people to celebrate with, we had each other and we were in China!!!  We never tire of coming to that realization, it is still awesome.  We then went home and wished a sleeping Taylor and Cecelia Happy 2013.
  The rest of the week we spent catching up on sleep and just hanging out.  Paul, Cecelia and the Girls went with our friend Michael to visit a forest park.  Ziayaosan Forest Park, north east of Guangzhou about three hours.  The park wasn't as cool as they thought it would be, but they definitely had some fun with Michael, his family and friends.  Paul loves to work on his Chinese whenever he gets a chance and he had plenty of time while riding in the bus and having lunch at the park.  The pictures are of their adventure.

At the waterfall

Bamboo forest

Paul, The girls and Michael's Family

Cecelia Choosing Lunch.  Uh!  I'll take the pigeon

At another Waterfall

A cave to nowhere

 
The only other thing that happened was that while walking in Guangzhou shopping, a man came up to me and asked if the girls would be willing to be part of their modeling agency.  I was a little suspicious at first, but the flier he gave me was very professional and the office called me right away to assure me it wasn't a scam.  They asked if we could come by their studio for a photo shoot.  It was in the area that we were going to be in anyway, so we decided to go.  We met the photographer at a very nice office building and he showed us some of the catalogs in which their clients model.  They specialize in kids clothing and the catalogs were professionally done.  He spent about an hour with the girls and they had a good time doing it.  Claire was a little shy at first, but warmed up to the camera in the end.  Of course Taylor was a ham and really had a good time.  I have    included a couple of their photos.