My September 11th

I awoke on the morning of September 12, 2001 a little later than usual.  I quickly cleaned up and dressed, leaving my apartment without time to check my email.  Just outside the school gate, I caught the bus taking me to the outskirts of town to a sister campus where my classes were held.

A few weeks earlier, I had arrived in Jingshan, a small, rural town in south-central China, to teach English for a year.  I worked at a local high school and taught oral English to freshman students.  I had begun to grow accustom to my novelty in the small town.  Not many foreigners had come to Jingshan.  Currently, I knew of only one other American in town, he lived right above me and we had chatted occasionally.

I arrived at the school and gathered my things for my first class.  I didn’t have time to chat with any of the other teachers before class began and headed off to the classroom.  The morning flew by swiftly as I taught three classes back-to-back.  After my last class I headed out to catch the bus back into town. 

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me as I exited the bus early in order to buy some items at a nearby market.  As I selected my items and chatted with the shopkeeper, I noticed more people gathering to watch me and could sense something was different.

“What do you think America will do?” the shopkeeper asked me.

“What do you mean?” I responded.

The surprise seemed evident and the people around me inundated me in Chinese with all sorts of information that I couldn’t comprehend.  Amongst the barrage of information, I could grasp something significant had happened.  Words like “plane”, “city”, “war”, “death” were repeated in each sentence.  The shopkeeper finally thrust a newspaper in front of me and I comprehended.  On the front page was a picture of buildings engulfed in flames, my heart sank and I knew I needed to figure out what was going on. 

I paid for my items and quickly walked back to my apartment.  I got online and went straight to a news outlet.  It didn’t take long to get the story.  I read of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers.  I read of one crashing into the Pentagon and of another crashing into a field.  I read about the towers collapsing.  I moved to my email and found a lot of messages from family and friends inquiring about my well being and assuring me they were fine. 

I checked the time when it all happened and realized that about the same time that the events of September 11^th were unfolding, I was getting ready to retire for the evening a half a world away. 

September 11^th affected me no less, despite being far away.  My Chinese friends were sensitive and polite.  My American colleague and I became fast friends as we found a common bond amidst this tragedy. 

But I longed to be back in the States with family and friends.  I longed to be united to my fellow countrymen and work through this ordeal with them.  Nevertheless, I remained in China. 

When troops invaded Afghanistan, I suddenly found myself on the defense as Chinese people often would ask about the U.S.’s motivations.  They accused us of wanting to take over the world and imposing our system of government on everyone.  Never before had I defended my country in such a way.  In some ways, I figured they did not understand.

They had never been to New York.  They had never stood on top of the World Trade Centers and looked around the skyline of New York.  They had never lived under a government that allowed its citizens true freedom. 

It was a defining part of my life living abroad during and after September 11^th.  When I finally returned to the States the following summer, I patiently waited in the lines at the airport security.  I didn’t mind the longer wait, and still don’t.

I share this brief experience of mine, in the hopes that others will always remember where they were when September 11^th happened and how it affected them.  May we never forget those brave people who perished that day and their families.  And may we never stop striving for a safer, more peaceful world.

A new addition to the family!

 

A new family picture.

Beautiful mother and baby!

Tired and worn out, baby takes a much needed nap.

Child#1 is ready to help out!

Child #3 is excited, but still unsure about the new baby.

A new little brother.

The guys altogether.

Grandma loves her newest grandson.

The kids love their new baby brother.

The family home together.

Welcome to the family!

Fall fun and the holidays!

While many people traditionally do a end of year family newsletter of some sort, we have moved away from that with this blog.  Essentially all the news is right here along with pictures, we just need to be better about updating it.

Our return to Georgia coincided with our oldest daughter starting 1st grade early in August and Dad starting his 2nd year of his PhD program shortly thereafter.  Not much had changed in our absence and we quickly fell back into a familiar routine.  One major change was that we got a new roof on our house.  When we bought the house we found out that the roof was the original roof  and was nearing the end of its life.  It was one of the major things high on our list of things to take care of once we got settled.

By far the biggest news since our return was learning that Mom was pregnant again!  The kids were excited to learn of this news.  Our oldest by far understands this process the best and is old enough to help out a lot this time around.  Mom got into the first trimester and endured through the usual bout of morning sickness (e.g. fatigue, nausea).  Dad helped out by spending more time at home between classes; cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of kids, and helping out all around.

At the same time, Dad worked hard at school writing a couple of grants in hopes of obtaining more funding for his research and schooling.  He also found time to train for a 5K and a half marathon  in October, he placed 2nd in the 5K and 30th in the half marathon.  Our oldest began thriving in 1st grade doing more reading each day and learning more complex math.  The other two enjoy helping Mom at home and playing together.

By the end of October, Mom was beginning to get her strength back and Dad was finishing up his grant writing.  Halloween brought the usual excitement for the kids and they enjoyed the haul of candy they brought in for their efforts.  They actually had a variety of costumes to choose from (see below) and enjoyed the whole dressing up part.

Before long, Thanksgiving was upon us and we enjoyed getting together with some other friends from Church.  There was lots of food and lots of kids running around with each other.  Thanksgiving also allowed Dad to get caught up on some of his research and studying as he prepared for the end of the semester.

Mom was well into the second trimester by December as Dad wrapped up his schoolwork.  Since Dad is also taking his written exams in January he immediately began intensively studying for them.  He has continued to study throughout the break.  It has been very good for him since no one is around at school to bother him and he pretty much has lots of quiet time at the lab each day.

Shortly before Christmas, we had an ultrasound.  We took the whole family in to see the new baby for the first time.  The baby looked good and healthy and we are going to be having a boy!  Dad and his son are excited to even out the sex ratio in the family now.  The baby is due near the end of April 2011.

Christmas weekend was fantastic.  Dad spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with the family.  The kids enjoyed the pre-Christmas traditions of getting ready for Santa, putting out reindeer food, and having treats.  They awoke on Christmas to stockings filled with goodies and presents.  One of the biggest surprises was finding an aquarium set up for them with fish in it!  We awoke the day after Christmas to find three inches of snow on the ground!  Church was canceled and we enjoyed another full day at home together!  The season has been great and we look forward to the coming new year!

 

 Various Halloween costume options.

 More Halloween costume options.

 Two sisters love hanging out with each other.

 The youngest loves snuggling with her Daddy.

 Since we had no snow on Christmas Eve, we played in the leaves.

 The kids love playing with Daddy.

Post-China adventures

We returned to Georgia without any difficulties and rested for a few days before our next summer adventure.  We all piled into the van and drove to Nauvoo, IL for a family reunion.  Members of the LDS Church founded and built the city of Nauvoo, it became the largest city in Illinois before the Church members were driven out by mobs.  We spent a couple of days visiting historic sites in Nauvoo and learning about life in the 1840s for those settlers.  We then drove to Cedar Rapids, IA and stayed at my older brother’s house for the remainder of the reunion.  We had picnics, played at the park, engaged in all sorts of silliness, even wore matching T-shirts for a day and ate lots of good food.  One of the highlights of the reunion was watching my wife beat two of my brothers and me in a game of Risk!  By Sunday, everyone was worn out, especially all the kids who had been going non-stop playing with their cousins.  The adults all enjoyed watching the kids fall off to sleep at church on Sunday. 

Upon returning to Georgia, we began settling back in and getting ready for school.  Our oldest daughter started 1^st grade last week.  We attended an open house at the school and she got to meet her teacher and see her classroom.  I started classes at the university today and we are settling back into a regular school routine.  The kids are happy to be back in their home with their familiar surroundings and toys. 

We have had a couple of wildlife encounters since we returned that are certainly noteworthy.  The morning after we returned from the family reunion, we were slowly getting moving when I heard the toilet lid slam down hard.  Since two of our children have been potty-training over the summer I thought nothing out of the ordinary but decided to go make sure everything was in order.  I found my son talking with his older sister, he had a very serious and forlorn look on his face.  I asked him what was the matter and he calmly told me that there was a frog in the toilet.  Knowing the kids have a couple of toy frogs, I assumed my youngest child had thrown one of them in the toilet and it gave my son a scare.  So I walked over to the toilet and lifted the lid.  To my surprise, there was a real, live medium-sized frog.  I went and got something to scoop it out with, but when it saw me coming for it is quickly dove down the pipe.  After flushing the toilet and reassuring my son the frog would not come back, I decided we had better clean the toilets.  The frog has not returned.

Just a couple days ago, the kids headed out to the park early with my wife while I went for a run.  Upon returning, we found an eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina) walking in front of our house.  The kids were excited and I decided to bring him into the house for a day.  We placed him in a box and tried to offer it lettuce and peas but he wasn’t too interested.  The kids kept checking on the turtle throughout the day and enjoyed watching him from time to time as he moved about trying to figure out his new surroundings.  Later in the evening, we let him go back where we had found him and watched him wander off into the nearest bush.  The kids definitely showed a cautious interest in the critter.

All four couples at the Nauvoo Temple.

All the grandkids lining up for a picture in their matching T-shirts and pioneer hats and bonnets at Nauvoo.

At some point, someone decided all the kids needed to attack me.  I held my own until my brothers intervened.

All the cousins getting ready for ice cream and cake.

Pushing the kids in the swing at the park.

My mother and father doing karaoke?

Our oldest (far right) doing karaoke with her cousins.

China in brief

Intro

For the past two months, I have been traveling I China for my Ph.D research with a group of undergraduates on study abroad. We spent part of the time doing science stuff and part of the time touring around to learn about the culture. Altogether, I spent the last eight weeks visiting ten different cities in China and Taiwan by plane, train, and bus. While I kept a daily log of my travels, I figure I will give a brief summary here with a few pics. I have more pics posted on Facebook.

Shanghai
We first spent a few days in Shanghai, a city I had visited previously many years ago. However, we visited several places and museums that I had not been to before. Shanghai is a very modern city and has a long history of Western influence. The rest of the group spent a day at the World Expo, I chose to explore more of the city by myself.

Nanjing
We basically used Nanjing as our base for the rest of the trip. We stayed at Nanjing University, where we have several good contacts and collaborators. We spent time here between trips to other places and visited many of the sites around the area as well.

Beijing
We visited Beijing to see some of the major attractions of China (the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, etc.) and to also visit with one of our collaborators in research. Since I had spent a lot of time in this city already there wasn’t much new to me that I hadn’t already seen. We did eat some wonderful Beijing duck. I spent part of a day away from the group with a Chinese grad student friend of mine. Beijing has always been a city I have enjoyed and I never grow tired of visiting it.

Xishuangbanna
The province of Yunan is in the southernmost part of China and borders southeast Asia, Xishuangbanna is a county right on the border. We stayed here for a week in a tropical botanical garden. We learned about tropical rain forests, did a few field experiments, and enjoyed the tropics. This part of China is home to several minority ethnic groups that exist in the region. A grad student at the botanical garden is Dai and she graciously took us to her village and we went for a hike in their sacred forest. Afterwards, her mother treated us to a tremendous lunch of their native dishes.

Kunming
We spent a couple of days sightseeing in this city on the way back from Xishuangbanna. It is the capital of Yunnan Province and attracts a large number of tourists each year. We visited one of the mountains outside of the city that had several Buddhist/Daoist shrines carved into the side of the mountain. Probably the most impressive thing we visited was the Stone Forest, which extended for hundreds of acres outside of the city.

Taipei
I had made some contacts of my own for my research that I wanted to follow-up on so while the rest of the group stayed in Nanjing for a time, I headed out to Taipei. I was hosted by a professor at National Taiwan Normal University, who is really into invasive species and is quite knowledgeable about them in Taiwan. We collected some mosquitofish throughout the northern part of Taiwan and spent some time in his lab with his grad students.

Guangzhou
After Taiwan, I headed to Guangzhou where I was hosted by a professor at Jinan University. I spent a couple of days collecting mosquitofish around the city with one of his grad students. It was a delightful city and the food was excellent, one of the few palces in the world where you will be offered chicken feet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Jiuzhaigou
They say that many Chinese couples come to Jiuzhaigou because it is said to be one of the most beautiful places in China. I would have to agree. This lush, green valley is full of crystal clear mineral water lakes connected by various streams, shoals, and waterfalls. The scenery was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere.

Lhasa
One of the most anticipated parts of the trip was our trip to Tibet. We spent several days visiting sites in the city of Lhasa and traveling around to see nearby lakes and other shrines/monasteries. One of the issues we ran into here was altitude sickness. Due to the elevation we took precautions and only one of our group really had any difficulty during the trip.

Chengdu
We spent several days in Chengdu seeing the panda breeding facility, Tibetan macaques, the zoo, more Buddhist temples, and other attractions. Since this part of the trip was right near the end everyone was tired and anxious for some relaxation time.

Wuhu
One of the professors at our university working with us has some contacts in a smaller city not far from Nanjing. Upon returning from Chengdu my advisor and I took a quick trip down there to meet with some other faculty and grad students. We made some presentations about our research and made arrangements for others from our group to come down and help out with a survey they were doing the following week.

Conclusion
After all those cities, hotels, flights, trains, etc. I was ready to come home. My wife and kids had stayed with her parents in Utah during the duration of my absence. They had enjoyed being with family the whole time and had spent time with both sets of grandparents. It was great to see them after so long and I look forward to spending the rest of the summer with them.

Leaving on a jet plane...

The semester ended for me with the usual frenzy of projects, exams, papers, and tasks to get done in a small amount of time allotted. But it is over. I also had my first committee meeting and basically have two more courses to take for my program. In a few days, I hop on a plane to China and will begin pursuing my research interests there for my dissertation over the course of the next two months. My wife and kids will be in hanging out with family in Utah for the duration of my absence.

Somewhere in early April, the weather warmed up considerable and we enjoyed a marvelous weather for the month with a fair amount of rain. Along with the change in weather came the pollen. For several days the sky and air was filled with pollen from all the trees around the area. Cars parked outside would have a thin layer of pollen covering them within a short period of time. Fortunately, my hayfever medication worked fine in the new area.

Posts on or blog may be scarce for the next few months as the Great Firewall of China tends to block all blog sites. But I hope to post pics and info upon my return.

Spring has arrived!

Spring has been coming to Athens for several weeks now. The trees are all blooming, the sun is shining, shirt sleeves are comfortable, sunglasses are needed, and I need my daily hay fever meds. We experienced one more snow storm early in March, but it was nothing like the other one we got. (Yes, it snowed twice here in Athens this winter.)

I had spring break early in March and my wife’s parents came out for a visit. We picked them up on Monday and had a wonderful week full of good food (provided mostly by my wife) and activities. We visited a lot of the old homes here in Athens and showed them the UGA campus. We took them down to Madison which is one of the places that General Sherman didn’t burn so there are still a lot of homes from pre-Civil War. We toured the Mayfield Dairy and got some ice cream for a treat afterward. My wife’s parents also watched the kids for us a couple of nights so the two of us could go out, which we enjoyed since we don’t get out together very often without the kids.

School has been consuming me as usual, but it is all good since I will be mostly done with my coursework after this semester. We have big plans for the summer which include going back to Utah to spend time with our families, I head to China for a couple of months to do research there, and then my family is having a family reunion in Nauvoo, Illinois.

We are working on potty training the two youngest, so wish us luck. My son is now three and he understands the mechanics of it all, just needs to get the psychology of it down (if you don’t know what I am talking about then you probably haven’t done any potty training). My youngest daughter shows interest in it and may get trained before her older brother. She is also into clothes a lot and my wife tells me she loves to change clothes all day long, and she is not quite two. My son is a sponge and soaks up everything his older sister comes home with from school. He knows his alphabet, his numbers, and loves to play on the computer. My oldest daughter is loving kindergarten, she has improved dramatically and I had an excellent parent-teacher conference. The teacher said she could not recommend my daughter for testing into the gifted program, I told her I was okay with that. (Are you kidding me? A gifted program at kindergarten? Lets let the kids develop a bit more and have some fun before we turn the screws on being gifted!)

Anyway, we look forward to the coming events and hope things are well with our family and friends. Enjoy the pics below!

The kids on one of the MANY bulldogs in town.

A home in Madison.

A home in Madison.

A home in Madison.

Grandma getting some quality time with the grandkids.

We helped run the Pinewood Derby, I had the challenging job of calling each race.

The boys had lots of creative designs.

The boys all had lots of fun.

A nice action shot of this classic event.