Shanghai

Shanghai was great....the rugby was awful. So i had the pleasure of flying on a plane where leg room was scarce but i did sit next to a chinese woman which meant more leg room for me because she couldnt touch the floor with her feet. She was short and her husband was really scared and nervous. It was kind of funny. so he was clinging to the arm rest the entire flight and i dont think he moved a muscle. So i arrived in Shanghai and went directly to the canal street where there was festival going on where tons of local international restaurants had tents setup with food and drinks. Luckily, the event ended at 11:00pm because we had to wake up the next morning at 7:00 in order to make it to the rugby fields by 8:30am. We didnt arrive at the fields until 9:30pm. We slept in a little later then planned. I was privileged enough to get an air mattress which was probably the best part of the trip. Well, there were 16 teams registered to play and we got put in the group with a chinese team, japanese team, figi team, and one of the shanghai teams. The first game we played the japanese team and only lost 3-1 in tries. All the rest of the games were much worse. We only scored 1 try the entire tournament. We had a player dislocate his knee, another guy broken his hand, and another guy got whip lashed into the ground. We finally arrived home at 11:00pm that night after the after party at the fields. I was staying with the guy who dislocated his knee and his knee swelled up almost 5x bigger. So sunday we just watched some movies and played some video games. He went to the local hospital and the doctor looked at it and just said wait. So we went out to find some crutches and the first place only had one....so we bought it....and then next place had two....well a friend.....not me.....bought it and gave it to my crippled friend....and it was a different size....so he is walking around with one crutch that is for a 6'3" man and the other crutch that is for a 5'10". HILARIOUS!!!!!! I made it back to kunming okla. The biggest problem that i had on both flights was the fact that the person sitting next to kept looking over and watching my screen to watch what i was watching. It was kind of getting really annoying. because they would only do it every so often.

Shanghai was way too big for me personally. We probably spent 500RMB just on taxi fair going to different parts of the city...luckily, we could split it between 4 of us where ever we went. 

Mom's visit

Other than the earthquake, we had a great week.

Day 1

I took my mom to the Yunnan Nationalities Village and we only spent 6 hours walking through the villages, watching little side shows, watching an elephant show, and seeing the local village dances. We did go ahead and eat some road side fried noodles and fried rice. Mom thought the noodles were super delicious. Luckily, the sun was out the entire time we were there….so I got a nice sunburn. Mom on the other hand received a nice umbrella from a really great guy so she was covered from the sun for the entire time. After seeing everything, we then proceed to go up to the center city where we sat down and ate Japanese food for supper which was paid for by the best grandmother in the world. After hanging out for a couple of hours..I took her to her hotel where she then slept for 10 straight hours.

Day 2

We went up into the north to eat Korean Food for an early lunch. It was OK….not the best I have had. After the meal, we went up to the Wild animal Park (ZOO). I call it the safari. We saw monkeys, tigers, birds, pandas, raccoons…Yes, they had at least 20 raccoons. There was a golden monkey and it was the first time that we had seen one. We got within 5 feet of some tigers….There were some white tigers….and white foxes. So we had to walk to the different places…and I looked and the farthest place was only 3 miles from the entrance. So “we” decided that we would try to walk it..Now, this place is on a mountain…so it was uphill all the way…After about 1 mile, “we” decided that we should hop in the shuttle and take it the rest of the way….It was a great idea. For some reason, the people who made the place decided to spread out the facility over about 10 sq miles. Then later that night…I “allowed” my mom to teach some of my class.

She slept great that night again.

Day 3

We had a first lull. So we had been spending 10-12 hours a day together…And I day three we were walking in silence at some points. It was a more relaxed day. We went to Salvadors to each brunch and then went up to a temple…then went up to Oreilly’s….and then walked through two parks and then sat down for Thai food that night….And I was a gentleman…I let her pay for everything

Day 4

I was hoping this would be a more relaxing day as well. We went to a Temple where the taxi driver didn’t know where it was and I had never been there before….The temple has a market ever Thursday. I though this market was going to be like tourist trinkets, but it was just a market where they were selling anything from spices to shoes.  She did teach some of my class that night.

There aren’t many pictures because mom has all the pictures and I forgot to get them off of her camera before she left.

Kunming trembles on her arrival

So my mother mad it to Kunming in one piece....HURRAY!!!! So i have arranged this private driver to pick her up from the airport and We left with plenty of time to spare. Everything is going great!!!! So her flight was supposed to arrive 7:45pm and the driver says that she probs wont get in until 8pm which is fine by me....We arrive at the airport at 7:10pm, and parking in China cost by the half hour. There is nothing free in china except for......UUUUMMMM...nothing is free in china. So we stop on the highway on the side of the road....and it is common....there are other cars doing this and i sit in the vehicle twiddling my thumbs while the driver is out on the highway having a smoke. Finally after about 30 minutes, we head into the airport.....It is a brand new airport and looks awesome. We are reviewing the arrivals board and there it is.....mom's plane....it's arrival time was 7:45pm....ETA is 8:50PM....WOW!!!! the driver said she was going to be a little late....BOY was she every late. Her flight was just a 1 hour flight from Nanning. We were sitting on the highway and she had not left Nanning airport yet....No worries...My candy that she was carry was not damaged....It was a relief. So we end up getting to her hotel around 10PM which lost her reservation or never got it..IT IS CHINA!?
So the day started off with a little fear and excited...YUP, you guessed ...Kunming had a mild earthquake, but it was enough to shake her hotel room and my apartment building (across the street). There was no damage done...It was just shaking of the buildings.
http://gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/6853/earthquake

NEXT Blog:
Mom's visit and the "Exciting" time we had

Character Class and what i thought was going to be the start of something GREAT!!!!

Sunday character class didn't go as smoothly as Saturday. Part of the problem was because i had just come from 6 hours of teaching and i was dead tired. But all in all the kids had a good time with the games and activities. 

MOM IS COMING TO KUNMING!!!!! on october 14th. So that day i get to teach 7.5 hours and then rush out to the airport to pick her up.....IT IS GOING TO BE A FUN DAY!!!! The biggest difference with having her here as opposed to my father is that we can actually eat Chinese food. We will do probably most of the same sight seeing stuff except i plan on taking her to the stone forest. But i am really excited to spend her money on EXTRAVAGANT meals. and i hope i get my passport back by then.

Day 1 of the Digestive Flush = I am not going to last the 5 days....

So the night before i went out an bought some fruit for the morning fruit shake....Oranges...apples.....you know.....FRUIT! So that night before i ate tons of food to a point where i wanted to get so full that i didn't have to think about it on the first day. It didn't help. I wake up and drink my water with lime and lemon juice and then proceed to peel the fruit to put in the blender.....Now i am expecting it to taste a little bit like fruit juice.....NOPE!!! It was bland and not good. And this was the fruit which made me really scared to try the vegetables. So i finish the fruit shake and didn't gag. Then i started to get hungry about 4 hours later so i proceed to start making the vegetable one. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, some kind of green leaf, carrots..It only took an hour to peel and blend everything....I open the top of the blender and it smells like grass....but the kicker is that it tasted worse.  After the first gulp, i almost puked, but by the time i got to my last drink on the second 16oz glass....i had adapted to the bad taste and it wasn't feeling like puking....The hardest part of the whole day is that you don't really feel starving...you just feel a little hungry....THE ENTIRE DAY!!!!

Day 2 = I think i can, i think i can, i think i can......but i probably won't

So after looking through some cleanse articles..ONE said that i could add maple syrup to the morning shake....SO I DID!!!!! and i also only added half the oranges and went more with more apples. IT TASTED SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! Now, i didn't add a ton of syrup. I think it was just a squeeze. The night time shake was tons better that day 1. I did all the same except i added peanuts and lemon juice. Peanuts because i figure Protein and i don't know if the vegetables are really adding anything to that. I am thinking one more day and i will be throughly cleansed. 

End of the my first year Newsletter goes out this week. If you don't receive it and you would like to, Please email me at jaredkprice@gmail.com.