China 1

Hi everyone,

Well, we made it back to China without major incident. We got hung up in Boise for an extra hour because San Francisco was fogged in, then when we got to SF we were in holding pattern over the airport for about another hour. We were supposed to have a three hour layover in SF, but just made it barely in time to get onto our flight to China. We had to change to three different airlines, IF to Boise was Alaska Air, then had to get boarding passes from United to go to San Francisco, then had to change to Air China for the final leg. We got into Beijing fine, though they did put us on "High Risk" because of flying to China, but all that entailed was that they hand-frisked us at the gates, and they dumped EVERYTHNG out of our luggage, then put it all back in. Fortunately we just had to do that at IF, and we didn't see it again until we got to China. Everything made it fine, and they didn't give us any static about it.

We've been busy since we got here, went shopping to five different stores yesterday for groceries and stuff to set our office back up. I forget that I brought home ALL the mice for the computers, so had to go buy another one yesterday. Also got new cartridges for our printer. Also the cell phone I brought didn't speak Chinese so the China sim card wouldn't work, so had to go buy a really cheap one here. It doesn't work either, so after classes start I'll get somebody that speaks Chinese to go to the store and see if we can figure it out.

Pres. Tam called yesterday, wanted to do a branch audit last night, so we went over and tried to figure out what had been done while I was gone. Turns out the clerk didn't, so we had to figure it all out. I worked for awhile on it last night, then for three more hours on it today. I think I have it ready to turn in, but July and August are going to be a nightmare. He left in the middle and didn't keep anything while we were gone. Oh, well. TIC. I hope we can get a good clerk this year.

Mom is with Bonnie Bird at a different market right now, going to get some things we couldn't find at the other markets. Our internet has been down almost since we got here, and it's REALLY slow. They changed things this year, supposed to be better. NOT. We are trying to get hooked up with DHL, will cost us extra, but if it works it will be worth it. I wish I'd brought the modem box with us from home. Anyway, when we get it, we should have high-speed again, and a lot more reliable. Guess we'll see. They're supposed to hook it up to our office phone line, but the phone is dead, so they are supposed to come fix it. Hope they do before the DHL guy comes.

Biggest problem with being gone, then coming home, then leaving again, is that this time we REALLY miss all you guys! It's going to be a long, hard year, I think. And classes haven't even started yet! We haven't even gotten ready for the first day yet, don't know how many students we'll have, or what their skill levels will be. They said they'd get us rolls the second or third week of class. TIC.

Well, better get back to work trying to get ready for class. Mom has been working for the past two days trying to get the apartment organized and cleaned up, and we're really fighting jet-lag. Hope we're better tomorrow. Wish we had a little time to just sit and recover. I hope you're all doing well, and know how much we love you.

Love, Dad and Mom