Getting settled and setting up

---

Ni Hao!

Since I cannot access Facebook here I thought it would be a good idea to create a blog. This can work like Facebook. I would love to hear what everyone is up to, so we should start a chat forum here on my blog! The Chinese government blocks Facebook in China because they don't want people getting on the site and slandering China. It sounds weird but it has apparently been an issue. I have already tried to get an IP blocker but they have blocked those sites too....lol

China is really awesome, especially where I am at. The city I live in is beautiful and the weather is AMAZING! It never gets over 75 degrees! This place reminds me of Manhattan but with 2 million more people! There is a lot of shopping and lots of restaurants. The traffic here is crazy! Everyone drives or rides a motor scooter. Yesterday I saw a woman on the back of a motor scooter holding a baby! They also drive their scooters on the sidewalks so you always have to be alert when you are walking.

The food and drink is very interesting. The Chinese don't drink cold drinks, so cold drinks aren't as plentiful as they are in the U.S. Today I ventured out alone for the first time and went to McDonalds to buy a wrap, this was very interesting. I was in there for 20 minutes trying to communicate with them. I have to point to everything I want. It took me this long to get sauces and for them to put my food in a bag to go. The only American restaurants here are McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Dairy Queen. They serve rice in all of them...lol...

I have already met a friend, her name is Laura. She is from Kunming and has been helping me out a lot. She has been kind of like my travel buddy. She speaks decent English so it's very helpful to have someone like that to go places with me. To all of my single guy friends.....you would love her! Laura is also teaching me Chinese for two hours a day everyday. I have learned a little but it's a really hard language to learn.

The TOILETS! Man, they are crappy....literally. All public toilets are a hole in the ground. You basically have to squat over them and poop or pee. All of them are really disgusting. They do this for sanitary purposes. A lot of Chinese are dirty and have poor hygiene so this makes it so you don't touch anything. I walked into the public restroom and walked right back out. I decided to wait till I got home to poop!

How is everyone doing? Anything new and interesting going on? I wanna hear some stories, jokes, and comments!

Love ya everyone!



-E-Funk

---

Comments

[Sherrie/Mom]

It is so nice out in the backyard, it rained last night so it is cool. We went to Lisa and John\'s yesterday, it was fun, I even went swimming. Emma got in the water with me but she didn\'t like it too much, she is also scared of the fireworks so I had to put her in the car. Kelly an I are going out to dinner for his birthday later today. Sounds like a real culture shock over there but what an opportunity! Talk to you soon, love you.

[Erin Woodmancy]

Hi Mom!
I am glad to see that you are on here! It's good to hear from you! Sounds like you guys had fun out to Lisa's on Friday, I bet it was nice to go swimming and enjoy the fireworks. I don't remember Emma being afraid of the fireworks last year, I think I remember taking her to the firework show in Cottonwood Heights last year and she was fine. Maybe it's because I wasn't there :) Biggest culture shock is the toilets and the bugs, I am having a hard time adjusting to both. How are you doing? Getting ready for Fish Lake? I will be on Skype around 8am-10am your time. Love you, Erin

[Lisa]

Hey Ewwin!
Hey chic, glad to hear you made it safe :-) Asia is a beautiful place...good to hear you like where you\'re living too. Oh yeah...the public restrooms sound just like the one\'s in Vietnam, the hideous squatty potties...lol! Your mom came over yesterday & we got skype set up, so we\'ll have to plan a time to chat on that soon. Take lots of pictures & take care. Talk to you soon! Love, Lisa, Andy, & Odin (woof!)

[Erin Woodmancy]

Hey Sista!
Hey Sista! It is really nice to hear from you! The squatters and the bugs are the hardest things to adjust to here! The bugs are awful, especially the mosquitos. I have about 80 bites on me, so I look like I have some sort of skin disease...lol... My mom told me that she was at your house on Saturday. I am glad that you got Skype up and going. My username is erin.woodmancy2. I would love to talk to you and Andy. I was sorry to hear that I probably missed one of the best UFC cards there has been in awhile. I hate Silva and have always wanted to see him get knocked out and I MISSED IT! How everything with you guys? How is work going? Are you doing good with you gluten free diet? It's pretty much impossible to do the gluten free thing in China! They use soy sauce and flour in almost anything. The fruit is really tasty here, especially the peaches and pears! Any baby news yet? Are ya still trying? Keep in touch on here! I wanna hear from you guys! I miss ya! Erin

[April]

Hey Erin! Glad to hear you are liking China! You need to post pictures so we know what your environment looks like! For the 4th of July, me, Mark and Ally went kayaking down the provo river in the afternoon and then we went to the Murray fireworks. I had never been to Murray fireworks, but it had a live band and a pretty good firework show. It lasted quite a long time! We went through a hot streak of 100+ degree weather for awhile, but it rained right before the 4th and started cooling down this weekend. (thank goodness). Very interesting about your poo situation! LOL! Well, to be even, I have a poo story for you. (mighta told this your last night here, can\'t remember) I JUST painted my living room and both bathrooms about a month ago. Well the other day i was giving Ally a bath and when I walked into the main bathroom (which i hardly ever use except to give Ally a bath) I noticed some dark smudge streaks all down the wall near the toilet paper holder. Looked like Ally was fingerpainting or something on my newly painted walls so i called Ally into the bathroom (this is while the tub was filling with water so Ally wasn\'t in there yet) and I pointed to the mess on the wall. \"what is this? Did you do this?\" I ask. Ally looked down to the floor guiltily and shrugged her shoulders. I asked again. Another shrug. I start to get angry and demand to know what is on the wall. She finally said sheepishly \"poo\". I freak out. \"WHY IS THERE POO ALL OVER THE WALL???\". She said, \"I got some on my finger\". Oh, so i guess the logical thing to do in a 5 yr olds mind is to wipe and smear it all over the wall instead of grabbing the toilet paper you are smearing all AROUND next to. Oh, I was very mad and I made Ally clean it up. Ha.

[Erin Woodmancy]

Yo yo!
Hey April! Good to hear from you! I am trying to get in the habit of carrying a camera and taking as many pictures as possible, I have never been a big picture taker. I definitely missed the fireworks this year, it's one of the things I look forward to every summer. Murray park always does good fireworks and they usually have several different food vendors, did they have that? lol...I remember you telling me the Ally poop story. After you hear that story your heart kind of melts doesn't it? I can't imagine what she was thinking and her problem solving skills. At 5 years old their problem solving skills aren't the best, don't be too hard on her! At least she kept the poo in the bathroom! lol...haha. The toilets are really disgusting. I walked in one today and there was runny poo all over. Also, the stalls don't have toilet paper, so you have to always carry some. I learned this the hard way! I thought Mark was moving or something? Did he decide not to? I hope everything is going well there. Thanks again for responding, it was really nice to hear from you! I always like to hear your stories, it seems like you always have weird shit happening to you. I will talk to you soon!

[Mark Tolman]

Sounds like your having great experience! Sounds like you're dealing with the culture shock very well. Have you started your tutoring?

[Erin Woodmancy]

Hey!
Hey Mark! It's good to hear from you! I am still adjusting the the culture shock, but so far all is good. I am having a hard time dealing with bugs and them biting me. That is the hardest part so far. I have started tutoring the kids, they pretty much started me the day after I arrived. It's really fun and challenging, and the kids are really cute. How is everything with you?