Monday morning. A typical Monday morning is just that; Monday morning. It typically has a somewhat negative connotation to it as it brings with it all those things we dread.....the beginning of a new work week, the stack of things on your desk that could "wait til next week", new deadlines and emergencies some created by you some by others, and then of course the realization that the weekend is now OFFICIALLY over. Well I for one this Monday morning am glad to see it come! This means that we have rounded the last corner and are headed down the straightaway of Survivor China Season II.
Yesterday we went to church as expected......well, sort of, but not really. We didn't realize what "church" meant. When we arrived in the lobby at 9am for 9:30 church our guide explained that he would be dropping us off at a catholic church down the street. This was interesting to me as I was surprised that there even was such a thing as I know how the Chinese feel about Christians. Apparently though the Catholic Church is OK in China as they are better able to regulate the activities of the Catholic Church than they are the more protestant denominations. ( I learned something here). At any rate, he then proceeds to tell us that the service is all in Chinese. Well, needless to say that didn't seem like it was going to be a very good experience for us so we decided to bail out on that so we returned to the Hotel and Morgan and I did our own little bible study back in the room.
The other thing we did yesterday was walked through some of the local shops. Morgan had decided he wanted to get a set of the Olympic mascots (in stuffed animal format). We had only seen them in one place so we had gone back in the morning to see how much we could get them down to (bartering is such a huge thing here.....any of you who know me know how much I HATE to buy a car, and thus everything you buy here is like buying a car!). Anyway, we walked away at one point and figured we'd return later and pay their bottom price (which we now knew since they let us walk away at that point). An hour later we returned and you guessed it, they were sold out. (Please submit all Father of the Year nominations to Ms. Darcy *e***l* as she'll be handling the balloting this year).... long story short the shopkeeper could get some more in, but we'd have to go back last night to get them. Well, we go there and started talking to the lady and next thing I know Morgan says "I think I'm going to get sick". Now let me translate that for you: That means "I've already decided to get sick and I'm just looking for a place to do so and you have approximately 2.1 seconds to respond....Go." Needless to say my response rate is substantially more than 2.1 seconds and BAM. Gets sick EVERYWHERE. I won't bore you with the details but trust me it was both a site and an experience we will remember for sometime to come. (and remember, we now even have souvenirs to commemorate the occasion.)
But today is Monday and we are grateful. It's a new day, a new week, and the countdown is 3. God is good. We need to wait in the room this morning for a call from the consulate if there is any last minute snags in our paperwork. We then have a boat ride we are going on this evening (they call it a "cruise," I'm calling it a "ride" until we get on it and get back. If there is a distribution of paddles as we enter the boat we may again rethink our participation.) Anyway, that's catching you up on where we are and where we're headed. Have a good night sleep!
The 3 Muskateers
p.s. The pic of Morgan and his souvenirs the morning after.....ah the memories they will hold! : )
Note from Darcy: I am glad Mike left out the graphic details...It was really, really bad!! All the while, Ryan was playing with breakable items on a shelf in the store...I will gladly take nominations for "Dad of Year!" Mike is quite the trooper!
Yesterday we went to church as expected......well, sort of, but not really. We didn't realize what "church" meant. When we arrived in the lobby at 9am for 9:30 church our guide explained that he would be dropping us off at a catholic church down the street. This was interesting to me as I was surprised that there even was such a thing as I know how the Chinese feel about Christians. Apparently though the Catholic Church is OK in China as they are better able to regulate the activities of the Catholic Church than they are the more protestant denominations. ( I learned something here). At any rate, he then proceeds to tell us that the service is all in Chinese. Well, needless to say that didn't seem like it was going to be a very good experience for us so we decided to bail out on that so we returned to the Hotel and Morgan and I did our own little bible study back in the room.
The other thing we did yesterday was walked through some of the local shops. Morgan had decided he wanted to get a set of the Olympic mascots (in stuffed animal format). We had only seen them in one place so we had gone back in the morning to see how much we could get them down to (bartering is such a huge thing here.....any of you who know me know how much I HATE to buy a car, and thus everything you buy here is like buying a car!). Anyway, we walked away at one point and figured we'd return later and pay their bottom price (which we now knew since they let us walk away at that point). An hour later we returned and you guessed it, they were sold out. (Please submit all Father of the Year nominations to Ms. Darcy *e***l* as she'll be handling the balloting this year).... long story short the shopkeeper could get some more in, but we'd have to go back last night to get them. Well, we go there and started talking to the lady and next thing I know Morgan says "I think I'm going to get sick". Now let me translate that for you: That means "I've already decided to get sick and I'm just looking for a place to do so and you have approximately 2.1 seconds to respond....Go." Needless to say my response rate is substantially more than 2.1 seconds and BAM. Gets sick EVERYWHERE. I won't bore you with the details but trust me it was both a site and an experience we will remember for sometime to come. (and remember, we now even have souvenirs to commemorate the occasion.)
But today is Monday and we are grateful. It's a new day, a new week, and the countdown is 3. God is good. We need to wait in the room this morning for a call from the consulate if there is any last minute snags in our paperwork. We then have a boat ride we are going on this evening (they call it a "cruise," I'm calling it a "ride" until we get on it and get back. If there is a distribution of paddles as we enter the boat we may again rethink our participation.) Anyway, that's catching you up on where we are and where we're headed. Have a good night sleep!
The 3 Muskateers
p.s. The pic of Morgan and his souvenirs the morning after.....ah the memories they will hold! : )
Note from Darcy: I am glad Mike left out the graphic details...It was really, really bad!! All the while, Ryan was playing with breakable items on a shelf in the store...I will gladly take nominations for "Dad of Year!" Mike is quite the trooper!
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