This is our front gate. It is called The Red Gate, who would have guessed that? When you enter the gate, turn right and follow the path to our apartment, about 100 feet.

Today – Monday September 13, It rained so hard all of the ditches were full with 2 feet of water standing under most of the overpasses. There were a lot of stalled cars from trying to drive through the puddles. Last week we had a typhoon that just missed Shanghai but still left a lot of rainfall. So most of the ditches had not drained out. It was the first day of regular school and it was cancelled because the typhoon was supposed to directly hit Shanghai. Lucky us it missed. There was a lot of lightning and very loud thunder because it was right on top of our heads.

We live in Xuihui (shew way) neighborhood, which is right next to one of the largest commercial centers, of which there are many, in Shanghai. What that means is that we are three blocks from Shanghai's Times Square. Wow! Is it ever big, lighted, and full of people and excitement. The stores close at 10:00 pm. McDonalds stays open 24 hours. Everybody is out and about at night. It's still plenty warm. One feels perfectly safe at all times. Of course, there are lots of cars, bikes, and motorbikes and even though they are not supposed to, they often drive on the sidewalks. You always have to look around you at all times. I think Brigham Young might have been Chinese, because the sidewalks here are almost are wide as the streets in Salt Lake.

There are two really tall skyscrapers at the center. They are called the Grand Gateway Mall. Go on line and see if you can see it. The mall inside has at least 13 escalators and 4 glass elevators, all within one view. It goes up about 7 floors and gigantic. There is a book store and there are lots of English novels for sale. I believe the Chinese are definitely changing from just a producing country to a consumer country as well.

We took the subway Line 10 find Walmart. It took 45 minutes on the subway and another 15 minutes of walking to get there. I needed an electric hairbrush, and I couldn't find one here. Sure enough Walmart had it. But most people around here have never ever even heard of Walmart. They didn't know what it was. Amazing when you think most of Walmart's stuff is made in China, and that Walmart is the largest company in the world. Anyway, Shanghai's Walmart was about 4 stories tall. It was a Super Walmart.

Our first trip to church by subway took us 8 hours from when we left the apartment and returned; the second time took us 6 hours. We took a different line. It was better and less crowded. The subways are beautiful, clean, well-organized, with English written and spoken directions. They are much better then London's or New York's; but, of course, they are much newer. Also, they have escalators coming up out of the tunnels, so they are less exhausting. At Church, one young mother bore her testimony, telling us that it takes her 1 ½ hours by subway to get her and her two little kids to church by herself; her husband often travels. She said it was so difficult, and that a Brother So and So, learned of her situation, and he started sending his private driver to pick her and her kids up to get them to church. She cried when she expressed her gratitude to him. Wow, and we have trouble in the US getting our kids into our own cars and driving to church on time. Lots of interesting people at church, most are young 20s, 30s, and 40s. Most are business people. We are the oldest people in the Branch.

More from Shanghai later.

September 5, 2010

Today is Saturday, Sept. 4. We have been in China for a full week now, very busy setting up our apartment and getting situated for school. Chuck has just downloaded a VPN, which allows us to by pass the Chinese filters on the inter net. So hopefully we c.an begin posting to our Blog. If anyone reads this, please let us know. Post some notes so we will know it works.

Our friends told us it may go off and you have to reset another VPN.

Virtual Private Networks are legal. They protect you from identity theft. They also protect you from anyone looking at your internet usage. But – nothing on the internet is completely safe so we use it to post and hope it hides our addresses from identity thieves.

August 29, 2010

Last night we walked to BestBuy to purchase a DVD. They told us Phillips brand would work on Chinese and US DVD. They had one on sale. They even set it up for English, very helpful and nice.

We got home and the TV remote was in Chinese. It Took me 3 days with the help of our hall monitor to figure out where the enter button on the remote was. You have to push a button 2 times. We have DVD. We can watch US movies bought off the street for $1.20 and they are real new. Prince of Pershia, Salt, A-Team, Expendables are a few offered. When I get back to the US I may have to re read the copywrite laws that I have worked with for 20 years as a Librarian.

We have eaten more rice and noodles for breakfast actually 24 hours a ay. They hive other food if you want to look for it. The noodles – a big bowl is $0.60 and Ronda can hardly eat all of it – I am full when I get finished. It is so hot I cannot carry it to the table with out burning my hand. Actually it is very tasty. We have eaten there often.

We have eaten in the restaurant of our hotel for $4.50 and it was a big full meal. We only do that on special occasions. $0.60 is much better. Actually it depends on where we are and if we want to go to a nice place. Hotel restaurant is like Sharis. The $.60 is like McDonalds. Yes we have one 2 block away. It is just like home. Cost is $3.00 for a complete chicken meal.

August 28, 2010 – Saturday

This was our first day in China. We flew in at 10:30 on Friday night.

We got up and had a nice breakfast provided by the hotel. We had rice and eggs, dumplings, pot stickers, and several types of buns. We had milk, juice, and hot tea was provided if you wanted it.

After breakfast we walked around the Jiao Tong - Xihui campus. It is very quiet.

We walked down the block and bought some French bread and sandwiches and rolls for lunch.

After lunch we took a nap to help with the jet lag.

In the afternoon we went to WalMart. That was a real trip. 30 miutes by subway. Cost $4 round trip.

When we got there it was amazing to see. But it was very much like a WalMart at home. Except – this is the real Walmart in the real China.

There are more big big big shopping malls then I thought were in the world. We have about 5 with in 2 blocks of where we live. We tried to look in all of them but ended up saving a couple for another day.

We found a big Best Buy just 2 blocks from where we live in case we need some computer stuff.

We ended the day by eating in an Italian restaurant for supper.

It was a long day but very successful.

Now we can ride the subway all over Shanghai.

8-20-2010

Posted on Friday 8-20-10, but most of it was written a few lines at a time over the week then posted on Friday.

Today is Sunday, August 15, 2010.

Ronda and I have just finished 2 weeks (100 hours) of the best training we have ever been able to enjoy.

We had classes on security, medical safety, health (do not drink the water unless it is in a bottle), and how to deal with the cultural overload that will hit us after a few days in China.

It was a 2 week, 10 hours a day, marathon – and I do mean we were running to keep up.

The training was to prepare us for our 1 year of working in China in the China Teachers program through BYU where we will teach English at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

We have our class assignments:

Ronda – 3 classes of Freshmen - Oral English,

2 classes of Senior Writing,

1 class of Writing for Graduate Students.

Charles – 3 classes of Sophomores for Oral English,

2 classes of Juniors for Speech and Debate,

1 class of South Korean Juniors for Speech and Debate.

We are excited to meet our students.

We had many classes on culture, ethics, and Chinese history. We had 20 hours of Chinese language. That is not much but we hope we learned enough to ask for something to eat and directions back to our living quarters when we get lost in the city of Shanghai.

We look forward to visiting the many historical sites of China like the Great Wall, the canal between Beijing and Shanghai, the Silk Road near Xi an with the Terracotta warriors, Hong Kong, and maybe Siagon, Viet Nam (all it takes is money). We enjoy visiting sites around the world.

We hope we can help those who want to improve their use of the English Language to become better readers, speakers, and English Language users.

more later

California wedding and Party with friends July 28, 2010

Hello:

I hope everyone is having a GREAT summer like Ronda and I are. After a fast trip to Pismo Beach, California where we enjoyed the Beach and Universal City with 3 of our Grandkids, and a family wedding we returned to Salem to a party with some of our friends.

Thank you very much Donnah for all of your work and planning. It was fun to visit with everyone and remember the many enjoyable times we have shared.

Thank you everyone who was able to stop in for a few minutes and visit with us as we prepare to start our adventure by traveling to BYU for 100 hours of training the first 2 weeks of August. Then we will fly to Shanghai, China on August 26. School starts on September 3 for Ronda with two classes of English writing. She will be finished by 12 noon. I do not start until the following Monday with one class of English Writing at 8am with Juniors and the rest of the day off. On Thursdays I will have a class of South Korean students. They will be working on their 3 language - Korean, Chinese, and English. We might point a lot and be really confused at times.

Tuesday June 22, 2010

A little history of why and how Ronda and I decided to go to China.

The why is - we have always wanted to go on a mission somewhere after we retired. But I was still working and planned on at least 1 more year. In November 2009 Ronda saw an add in the Church News inviting couples between 60 and 70 years old with a 4 year college degree to apply for a teaching position in China.

The how - We filled out the papers and sent them in not expecting anything to develop. We were accepted. In 2010 at the end of June I retired so we could go to China. Ronda has been retired for several years.

We want to go live in another country while we are still young. We did not want to wait a few years and then have a major medical issue as happens to so many people. We have traveled to other countries and it is often rough in the best of times. If you get sick it can be very hard.

We want to go away for a year while my mother is in good health as she is now.

Many missions are expensive - going to China and teaching English through this program we will get paid by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University - not a lot of money but they provide the living quarters and the plane ticket both ways. Financially we can work in China for a year and build some lasting relationships.

Announcement!

Ronda and Charles will arrive in China in September 2010. We will start posting in earnest at that time! Please check back often for updates and news on what we will be doing and learning and experiencing. We'll even have pictures of places we visit! Maybe. If we can. We will be in a communist country after all.

Follow our "practice posts" until we get to China!

Click HERE to see what we'll be doing and for more information on how to join us!