still me

5 week anniversary!

Today marks our 5th week here in Beijing…long enough to start to get used to things, kinda know where to find stuff that we need, and  starting to recognize my way around. Long enough that we are getting used to my cooking, and our little routines and also, feeling settled, and comfortable. Long enough for me to get brave enough to start driving here and there… and actually be doing pretty good!  Long enough to sort of start missing stuff from home just a little…(wink) and long enough that we can all count to 100 in Chinese. It’s funny, cause we have been trying to teach Capri to count, teach her the color names, and fruit names…which is exactly what we are trying to learn in Chinese…so we are on a 1 year old level so far! (pretty impressive). I think it’s so crazy that people can actually read the characters. It’s just SUCH a foreign language!
SO, in celebration of our 5 week anniversary…guess what arrived last night?! Our container with the stuff that we shipped over on the water.  We have been anxiously anticipating it’s arrival, despite the fact that we had really learned to  ‘make do’ with what we had. And although the container had a lot of ‘creature comforts’ such as our mattresses, blankets, warm clothes, bikes, PS2, and a big load of good from Costco…I realize now that we can certainly survive easily on FAR less than we think we need. In fact, I say- less is more!  That being said…I slept so good on my mattress last night, I couldn’t believe it. I have been suspecting that a comfortable mattress was directly proportional to a restful night’s sleep.. but until last night, I didn’t know how critical a good mattress is. The mattress we have been sleeping on (well, all of us) are SO hard, and the springs totally boing when you move, and jab you. so lame. I have a bruise on my hip from sleeping on my side. Lol. I layed down in bed last night and practically cried myself to sleep with gratitude, and I awoke feeling a million percent better than I have thus far. Not to mention that we haven’t had blankets-I only brought sheets when we came on the plane. So we got a few fleece blankets from ikea, but it’s been getting  COLD. I loved being warm! We all did. It was a good night. And now that I have all my spices, there is a whole new range of recipies I can tackle!                                                                                                                         
Today was a clear, crisp (emphasis on crisp) beautiful fall day, and after we were through with lunch and school stuff, we decided to load up and go see the  “Summer Palace”.  This is another one of those places that Beijing is known for, and I have been wanting to get there since we came. I can’t believe it took us 5 weeks.  We went there by taxi, and since Eric had to do a factory visit I southern china today, he wasn’t here to help- we just took the map, and showed the taxi drivers where we wanted to go!  I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had seen some pictures, and from the looks of it on the map, it’s HUGE…but I had no clue it was as fascinating and stunningly gorgeously amazing as it is.  Holy cow, it’s the most fabulous place. I must say, amazing photo opps galore. We will be going back there for a photo shoot and family photo. Everywhere I looked was a great place to do photo shoots! Killer backdrops, amazing patterns and designs on the ground, and fabulous foliage- just beautiful grounds.  When we pulled up and got out of the taxi, we were met by a young Chinese girl (20’s) asking me in English if I needed help. Turns out she is an offical free-lance tour guide for the place, and pretty much just approaches people that come on their own (not in a huge tour group arriving on a big bus).  She convinced me that she would take us to the best places, and that she would help us with the kids, and give us her ‘best price’.  So in addition to the price to get in the park, we paid about 20$ for a personal guide, and extra pair of eyes on the kids, and she carried my diaper bag… WELL WORTH IT! her name was Lily and she was the nicest, cutest, best thing! It was so fun to hear the stories of the place, and the history and all the insight that she has. She is a student, and does this part time. She knew everything about everything. I particularly liked hearing about all the traditions of symbols that represent things like ‘longlife’ ‘success’ ‘prosperity’ ‘safety’  etc… it was fascinating. She was a doll, and was a good sport about my kids climbing on everything and running all over and well, being kids—she was totally freaked out that I have 5 kids… LOL. Of course all the Chinese people were trying to take photos of the kids. It was super cold I thought. This AZ girl is going to have a brutal winter.  Anyway… we walked around for about 2 hours. I wish that we had been dressed better, or not had the babies,....we HAVE to go back soon! It’s fabulous. So I am putting the photos that we got today in an album like the one I did for the great wall. I was in charge of the camcorder, and kylee was taking photos… so pretty much she took all the ones that you will see. She did a great job. You could  totally spend the whole day there. There is this really big ‘budda temple’ that we didn’t climb up to, cause it takes like an hour…so I want to go back. I am sure we’ll have lots of opportunities. Man, we had so much fuN! It was so great, the kids had a blast. It’s so nice that they can climb around and explore. It would be nice if it weren’t so freakishly cold. There were several places that you could get dressed up in emperor clothes, and get your photo taken, I think that would be fuN!

november club heidi...get ready!

So i am 14 hours ahead of home… and I woke up to a bunch of emails from people telling me how excited they are about the new club heidi that just went up! It freaked me out, because I guess I have lost track of time a little. I mean, yea- it’s Halloween, and we did the Halloween thing on Saturday night… holy cow, you’d think we were in Any-town, USA! There were SOOO many American kids, well-and kids from ALL OVER there trick or treating. It was amazing. (never mind the fact that I had a really bad attitude and was a super-grouchy mom with the whole thing- the kids had fuN!) I was WISHING that I had that Oct. Club Heidi kit… I LOVE that kit! I LOVE Halloween pages… and I LOVE looking back over the years! So, now that Halloween is over, there are a few more Oct. kits- and they are even marked down a little to make room for the November kits that will be available November 1st at 9am PST (that is THURSdAY) this week.  I was thinking that those marked down kits would make great gifts for those people on your list that you just need to get a little something for! You know- even teachers… so perfect. Comes in a box, you slap some wrapping paper on it… good to go!  Anyway… this month’s kit will launch you into the swirls of holiday prep! Here’s my philosophy this year… START EARLY! (shipping times considered, how long does it take to ship stuff from china? I don’t know!) the question is … WILL I START EARLY? Hmmm. I hope so.  Be sure to check out all the fun inspiring ideas… easy and fun stuff!

this kit has some fun, interesting stuff..  fuzzy rub-ons... i love the red and green tulle. it's got the brown foto folders... that would make a quick and easy mini book- or even quick holiday cards... and i have to say that you could create a really cute table top frame thing for photos w/ santa!  so cute! and i love that card w/ the glitter stickles!
here go's... "happy holidays!!"

the trike...

Today we cruised out to the factory for a little bit, and then went into the city, for eats and to check out one of the more well-known markets: “silk street”. It’s one of those places that tour busses take loads of people to buy purses, silk stuff, all the Chinese goods you can imagine and MORE! We had heard that it was a mob-scene, and really pushy sales people, wanting to make you a deal.
On our way out to the factory, we found that the 6th ring road was closed because of fog…it was crazy, as we were driving along on the tollroad, all the sudden, cars are coming toward us down the freeway. Serioulsy, the off ramp was closed, so people just flipped a U turn right on the freeway and turned around to go back and get off at the last exit. Wowsa. Anyway, we got a bit derailed, and went the long way to the factory. The kids love going to the factory because of the trike. (see photos)… they love to ride it around and take turns driving, and riding in the back and I swear they get it going so fast in the courtyard-it’s scary. But they love it. The folks that work at the factory are used to their rambunctious behavior. They think it’s pretty funny.
It took us about an hour and ½ to get into the city from the factory due to the fog factor… we parked near the silk street market, and checked it out. it was really fun to see all the stuff that is available there. It wasn’t too crowded… the kids liked the toy section. I liked the kites. I was too chicken to buy one… I need to do a little more investigation. But I really want one of those long dragon kites. I think it’s going to take a little learning to figure out how to fly them. But I definitely found the one I want. So fabulous.
Tomorrow is the Halloween celebration here… I am so lame in the costume planning department. So, we’ll have to get really creative tomorrow and see what we come up with.
Ok… just for you MESA LOCALS… Saturday morning Emily’s neighborhood is having a big garage sale… she has decided it’s time to purge her garage and storage area of old kits, product and stuff that needs to get cleaned out!  frankly, she has a bunch of great stuff that she just needs to get rid of. Random stuff… but GOOD stuff!
The sale is from 7am until noon on SAT. Oct. 27th … the cross streets are University and Sossaman. Her address is:  353 north Greenwood
If you are a local… check it out!

my day off...

I have no idea how long it’s been since I have been on a bike to just cruise. If I have been on a bike in the last few years, it’s been for a workout. But today-it was for sightseeing! SO AWESOME! Today was a good day.
In my BPS “Year to Remember” class this month, I challenged the students to ‘take a day off’… like really take a day to themselves, doing something that really re-charges your battery and makes you happy! Well, today was my day off! I contemplated what I wanted to do for my day off…and since my first choice (first class airfare to Hawaii and sit on the beach) was not really an option, I went with my second, which was to spend a little time, sans-kids, to explore a little bit of downtown Beijing. And as luck would have it, a friend of mine invited me to go to a couple wholesale markets and then on a little bike tour of the city. Her mom is in town, and she was going to take her around.  I was thrilled, and they threw in an extra bike for me.  We went to two different wholesale markets. The first one was really wild. TONS AND TONS of booths- 13 floors. Each booth was like 10x10. They would have all the samples of their goods hanging from the tops of the booth, and the floors of the booths were just stacked with merch. It’s a place where shop owners come to buy. As if I weren’t completely overwhelmed by that expeience, we went to another one, this one was much more organized and nice.  I bought some bling-y hairclips and a bunch of papers-pretty sure it’s wrapping paper-and some cards. Oh, and these amazing paper-cut pieces…its’ really intricate die cutting out of one sheet of tissue paper.  (this girl was so cute! i want to be HER for halloween! there were a lot of total 'fashionista'-china girls at the market... some pretty serious glitter eyeliner... i have to find me some!)

this stack is all cool paper... i bought a bunch to play with. i think this guy was a little annoyed with me making him pull out  colors from all the stacks. i bought a bunch of cheap ribbon too!
Once we left the market, we drove awhile, and then got out-unloaded the bikes and rode 7-8miles to Tiananmen Square. Well, if I thought it was scary driving, try riding a bike! There are no rules except don’t get killed! It’s crazy, if there is a stopped bus, you simply go around it (hoping you don’t get drilled).  The buildings are so modern in Downtown Beijing. It’s such a beautiful city.  There are so many busses, taxis and bikes. The biking was a bit intense. But it’s totally fun to be moving in ‘bike traffic’. You just really have to be watching everything. I almost got creamed by a bus! It was so much fuN! It was so awesome to cover a lot of ground, and still be able to see everything up close and personal! I was just feeling so thankful and amazed that I was sitting there on a bike, and not stuck in a tour bus! And again, it struck me how awesome this experience is!
I was highly entertained by those riding around us. here are some photos.
We also bought a cooked sweet potato (so yum) for lunch. Once we were on the bikes it was about 7-8 miles to Tiananmen Square…the forbidden City is just on the same road, across the street. It was a little bit of a smoggy day… so the visibility is not very good. But you get the idea. Nan is my friend pictured here- she is the primary president. Her mom (who is a service missionary at temple square) is here visiting, and they invited me to join them. Nan and her family have been here for 3 years, so she could give me the scoop on everything. I am so glad I got that opportunity! Riding bikes is a great way to check out the city! (‘when in rome’); I loved the chance to see it a little more intimately than from a car window.

chinese acrobats

Well, 2 blog entries in one night, but i just had to add these fabulous photos that kylee took at the acrobats. I took my little camera, and she was smart, and brought her big camera…so my photos turned out so lame, and her’s were way better. Anyway, the show started at like 7:15, and we needed to be there around 6:45. The traffic was horrible getting into the city, and we were cruising on a wing and a prayer to try to find the theater. Eric is SO good at finding his way around places… I would be useless. We found the theatre- it was a small, more intimate theatre, and  we were really close to the action, despite buying ‘cheap’ seats. The theatre had these really comfy big seats- I was impressed. The show was about an hour and ½, and had several acts. it started with these girls balancing all these plates on the sticks… at the end, they all dropped them so you could see that they were being balanced, and not attached. There were a couple of really young performers. It’s just amazing to see – it’s no Cirque de Sole, not quite as over the top, but the talent is definitely there. It was a treat. –after we went to McDonalds for chicken nuggets… kinda killed the moment, but the kids were starving! LOL.

happy birthday colton!!!!-he's 10

Things are winding down from the day, and there is actually some quiet in the house. I am always so relieved when the babies are asleep, and the older kids are mellowing out, and I actually have a little time to breathe. We kicked off the week with Colton’s 10th Birthday!  Wow… it’s hard to believe! I HAVE BEEN A MOM FOR 10 YEARS.  Holy cow, life changes with a baby! But once there is one… that change is dialed in, and you may as well has 5 right? I can totally remember life with no kids. SO fun, those early marriage years…I can remember being so stressed about school, work, money, cars, etc. I look back now and it seems like a lifetime ago.  At the same time, I can’t even imagine NOT having my kids.  I love being here, and sharing this experience with them.
Anyway, I really wanted Colton’s b-day to be fun for him!  The first challenge was figuring out what to get him and where to get it! we wound up at a really fabulous sporting goods store, and got him a kid’s size rugby ball, and a street basketball, and some nets for the beater basketball standards here in the neighborhood. (side story: the other day we were at the park for ‘recess’ and lunch and there were about 4 older Chinese guys that had started a little pick-up basketball game at the park, I wasn’t watching so I have no idea how Colton got himself invited in, but next thing I knew there he was playing a 3 on 2 game. It was really something, Colton was you know, ½ their size and with that crazy blonde hair, running circles around these guys, and hitting everything he was putting up! Oh, and dribbling so low they couldn’t even swat it away from him. Course, I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I am sure it was something like ‘what planet is this kid from’. Then the next thing I knew, one of the guards jumped in for 3-on-3. We were cheering for them and stuff, it was great)
Ok, back to the birthday story…so we also got him a watch and I made him a little mini-book of his skateboarding photos, and kylee-who is an art major and just so creative…anyway, at like 10pm, we decided to start the creative gifts! LOL. I wanted a Happy Birthday Poster for Colton, but I can’t draw, so she picked a skateboarding photo I had taken, and sketched it, and painted it w/ the watercolors I had. I loved watching her create. I printed out “happy birthday colton” and glued it on. We strung up tons of balloons and wrapped his presents in Chinese newspapers.  He knew that we were down here working on stuff for him, and it was so cute, cause it was like Christmas for him. He couldn’t sleep. We wouldn’t let him come downstairs.  He was up at like 5am, and eric had to convince him to watch a movie on his laptop until it was 7am. LOL.
Right before breakfast, before presents, we finally got skype to work with my parents. It was Sunday night, and my grandparents were at their house having dinner. I set my laptop up on the dining room and they were able to WATCH him open presents! I think that is SOOOOO COOL!  I can’t get over how amazing VIDEO chatting is.
SO, we didn’t do school, in celebration of Colton’s b-day. (that felt like a present for me!) and kylee put together this totally cute scavenger hunt for Colton and the clues were little video clips that Quincy and Cory did. It wa a mission impossible theme. Kylee got a new mac i-book about 2 weeks before we came, and is loving all the TOYS on it. Then she created this cutest little i-movie of all these photos of Colton…he loved it, I cried! So fun. So we hung out and played, and then around 4 loaded up and went with another family in our branch to see some Chinese Acrobats.  They have 4 kids, and we all loaded in the JINBEI. Such a party van.  Ok- the acrobats are amazing. It was so fun to see up super close, in a tiny theatre… it was great. The kids were in total awe and amazement. I had ordered a cake from baskin robins, and I thought that would be a highlight… but colton would have been happy with a plate of brownies.  The birthday turned out to be a great day for all of us. it was great to have something to celebrate. It was so cute how everyone tried to make it a great day for Colton. We love him.  he is so cute in a beanie! 

the wet market

This week has gone by so fast… it’s sat. afternoon, and the big kids are at rugby with eric, and the babies are home with kylee and i. we spent the morning cleaning house, and now the babies are asleep, and I may have about 20 minutes to sit in a clean, quite house… oh, what to do? As I sit here, I am planning next week’s meals and preparing a shopping list. So much effort has to go into the planning and prep, and then figuring out where I have to go to get the different things I need!
This last week, I was finally introduced to the ‘wet market’. There are a lot of different markets here… but the ‘wet’ market (I am gathering) is for fruits and veggies. Eric got home a little early on thurs, and so we were able to go find the closest one to our house. Basically, there is what looks like a big parking lot, but it’s just full of vendors. For the most part, it looks like they all have the same thing for sale. I am not really sure how you pick a vendor, they all look pretty much the same. I would imagine that they come in the morning, and set it all up, and leave when it gets dark.  There were also a few merchants selling artifacts and ‘antique’ furniture and stuff. A lot of the stuff, it’s hard to know if it’s really an antique, or just a replica or whatever… anyway, there was a guy there in the parking lot that had a bunch of home décor type items, and he had this ‘buffet’ thing. He said it was 60-70 years old (??) and a family heirloom (???) I am not really sure if you can believe what they say, or they just tell you stories to get you interested. All of his stuff is just sting out in the elements, and he has this little shed kind of thing set up, and that is where he lives. He has a little wood-burning stove in there, and a bed, and he just hangs out there all the time. Pretty wild. I really liked the piece, but I am hesitant to buy anything until I look around a little more. I think it would be fun to buy a few interesting pieces that could still work into my ‘décor’ at home.  Who knows. I am looking forward to our container arriving, and having a few more of our personal stuff to make it feel a little more like home. – ok, well, back to my story…

I was so excited to be able to buy such beautiful produce! I snapped a bunch of photos so you could see how they are presented. I am not really very adventurous when it comes to veggies… but I did buy a lot of fruit. It’s so yummy here. So I got onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery. And for fruit, I got pears, apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, this freaky fruit called “Dragon Eyes” that is kind of like a big grape with a skin on it that you peel, and there is a big seed I the middle. (eric loves them, but the rest of us aren’t really sold)… and then mine, and kylee’s favorite fruit is sort of like a cataloupe, but it’s the shape of a rugby ball, and is so much tastier than a cantaloupe. I would try to spell the name, but I can barley pronounce it. so yummy. We love it.
It was fun to see all the different things for sale, and start to get some idea of where to go to get things when you need them.
Monday (the 22nd) is Colton’s 10th birthday!! I can hardly believe I will have a 10yr old. So eric and I had to go meet with the visa people to work on our resident permits, and then afterwards did a bunch of looking around for some things for colton’s b-day. We found a few things. I hope we can make it a special day for him. I ordered a cake from Baskin Robbins, and bought some balloons! He will be happy!
Ok, I am going to see if I can sneak a little nap myself.

The Great Wall

I have wanted to visit the Great Wall since we got here… I would have gone on the first day if I had the chance. It was the number one thing I wanted to check out. I guess that somehow, I thought that I’d be able to see it from everywhere… like, I had a total misconception that it was just right around town or something. I didn’t think about how it goes mile and miles along the tippy tippy tops of the mountains.  So I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t see it out my window! So, we woke up to an absolutely beautiful Sunday, and decided to head for the hills. We didn’t have church b/c of conf. (delayed a week).  After much deliberation, we decided on a section of the wall, and headed out. it took about 1 ½ hours to get there. Everyone made it sound like it was a long ways away. So we packed some PB&J’s and waters. I really had no idea what to expect. SO we got there, and paid for the chair lift up to it… I mean, it’s up at the top of the mountain, like a ski resort. Then there is a slide coming down, I am sure the Ming Emperor  would die if he saw people riding down the hill! The entrance to the chair lift had these 15’ golden lions set up guarding the entrance!  Kinda cheesy.. (a guy coming down the hill behind us w/ a couple people- I could tell they were from AU or England from the accent, and someone in his group was taking a photo of the big blow up gold lions, and he was like, “it’s a bit dodgey”… made me laugh, had to agree”.
Anyway..i am thinking about all the things that were going through my head, and I am not sure I can really convey how I was feeling standing with my family on THE GREAT WALL of CHINA…. So I will switch to the bullet point method
1.    I took a bunch of photos, and there were so many I put them in an album that you can look through. I think it’s hard to focus on photography with a baby in a front pack, and 4 other kids to keep an eye on and panic when they get too close to any edge, or are running full speed down these steep flights of stairs.
2.    If the Great Wall of CHINA was in the US, there would be tons of guard rails and plexi glass inserts to prevent people from falling to their death very easily… and surely there would be people or signs telling you not to climb up where there is a 500 foot drop off the other side. But not in China. The kids were like monkeys.
3.    The wall went as far as the eye could see… I mean, you would look in the distance, and see the occasional guard tower, sticking out. and the terrain is UNREAL. And where did all the stone come from? And plans… did they draw up plans? I am SO intrigued by the whole thing. I am going to start doing research to learn more about it. it’s so beautiful there.
4.    The kids were running CIRCLES around the adults climbing up and down the wall. First, I was a little nervous with Connor on me, cause I couldn’t see my feet. SO I was being very cautious. The kids were not about caution. In some places, it was so steep, you were sort of crawling up. And going up, you were actually more worried about whether or not you’d make it down.
5.    I was wondering how many languages were being spoken on the wall that day. We met and saw people from ALL OVER the world.
6.    It felt weird to not be a tourist… I mean… we’re totally LOCALS! Its sooo nice to just leisurely go and see the wall, and come home. Not trying to cram in ALL the Beijing sites into just a few days. It’s so great to be here long enough to check out the culture and the history and make friends etc. so cool.
7.    The day was totally perfect. Perfect temps. Not too many people…. And my kids were so happy and excited to go. Don’t you just love happy kids.
8.    We totally had a blast. I can honestly say, that I had FUN!! I climbed to the very top guard tower…although if it hadn’t been for quincy, I would have pooped out. but quincy won’t let any one quit. I think she may grow up to be a personal trainer.
9.    I am planning on running the Great Wall marathon (prob. The 1/2marathon)… it was an eyeopener. It will be so hard. I can’t get over the ups and downs.
10.    Capri is in the stair climbing stage. She loves it! she climbed and climbed stairs. It was so cute.

11. i never thought that i would be excited over dried fruit and nuts for a treat... but there were many vendors at the bottom, selling all kinds of stuff... but this was YUMMMY! we got sweet walnuts, roasted almonds-and they are small! dried strawberries and cherries. SO YUMMY! i had never had strawberries and Colton could do the orange.?

We all slept really good that night. We spent about 3 hours running around. Great day! For sure.

Expats for Olympic Torchbearers...PLEASE VOTE!!

Alright.. I would love your help everyone!!
I just met this cutest girl, her name is Ellie Goldrup… she is awesome. She and her family have lived all over the world with the state department… anyway, she was lucky enough to win a competition that made her a finalist to be able to carry the torch in the Beijing Olympics… but once you win, I guess you have to get votes to actually become a torch bearer! She is almost 14, and has like the best attitude on the planet- about everything.. last year she ran the GREAT WALL MARATHON… that is HUGE!! (E and I hope to run it next year) anyway… she is behind in the votes.. and it CLOSES TONIGHT! (well, your Sunday morning… ) WILL  YOU HELP!?
just click on this link… or copy/paste it into your browser… you can see her and read all about her. I think you can really get a feel for her dynamic little spirit! She is darling..
It would be so awesome to see her taking part in such an amazing event! I think they have been here 3 years, and she truly loves it!
Anyway, I told her I would try to get the word out, I wish I knew a little sooner, but every vote will help!
THANK YOU!!!

VOTE FOR ELLIE!!

http://pub1.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/torch/members.shtml?mid=354

Great Saturday

It’s 9:30pm, and after this busy day, I am totally exhausted!
It’s been a great day! We woke up and cleaned the whole house. I love the all-clean house feeling! That lasted for about 45 seconds… (chuckle)…today started out really quite rainy, but the rain went away and the afternoon was all blue skies(since we never got rain in AZ, they are loving the whole playing with umbrellas thing. i keep thinking they are going to poke each other's eye's out. you can see from the photo, that the umbrellas are already showing some signs of wear...)  After such a work-morning, we decided that we needed to do something fun. Eric’s rugby match was at 3, and we were having some issues with the van not starting (bummer). So, by 2 we loaded up for fun. We dropped E of at the field-they were playing at the stadium at the international school; it’s got amazing facilities. And the kids and I went to the Ice rink to check it out. (the mile and ½ between the field and the ice rink was my first driving in China…I did pretty good!) There were some other kids we knew going, and we had a little time before the game, so the kids went ahead and got skates and skated up a storm. It was perfect, not very many kids… it’s a smaller rink, and the boys had a little rubber basketball, and they were playing dodgeball, and the girls were just getting brave enough to let go of the sides and go into the middle and twirl! (and trying to ‘dodge’ the boys). So cute

When the session was over, we cruised back just in time to watch the last ½ hour of the game. Eric was already out due to injuries sustained in the first ½ (glad I wasn’t there to witness). When we got there, E’s team, The Beijing Dragons, were losing 17-5. But in those last few minutes, they turned it around. One of Eric’s long time friends who has was at BYU, and BYU study abroad with, actually scored 2 tires in a row, and then our team got another…in the end, we won! Apparently the team is undefeated.
It’s just such an aggressive sport. When you watch it on tv, I think you miss the blood and gore…you have to be on the sidelines to get the real deal. I made beef stroganoff for dinner, and didn’t get a peep of complaining! (gasp!)