Beer

Now that I have your attention, I thought I would write about the famous local Qingdao beer called TsingTao. You can buy it in the US. Qingdao was inhabited by Germans in the early 1900's and they wanted their beer so they brought in brewmasters from Germany to teach the Chinese how to make it. And that is how a Chinese beer (TsingTao is pronounced Qingdao) tastes like a light German beer from hops. It is really tasty and it is served cold (one of the few drinks in China served that way). We toured their museum and of course what tour is complete without samples.




Isn't this a great fountain?












They even had bottles of the beer at the buffet at the hotel. You could take as many as you wanted to the table.

Random Stuff About China

I'll start my China recap with some random tidbits about China.

First thing I saw about the hotel was the gas mask. Why you wonder a gas mask in the hotel room? In case of fire you put it on to help you get out.





Then of course was the usual hair dryer. While I was happy that there was something, my hair didn't appreciate the effort. At least the second hotel I stayed in had a real one.





Did you know brides in China have huge production pictures taken before the wedding with the group? In Qingdao they took them at the beach, the park and the churches. The photographers have all the dresses and they do multiple changes. It isn't the dress they get married in.










They have lots of American fast food chains.














There's lots more to write about but I had to start somewhere. Hopefully I'll put together some thoughts about actual places soon.

Back from China

So many things to write about. Took several hundred pictures. Have to put thoughts together with many blog posts to come.




On the Great Wall!

Friday Fragments - Panic is Setting In

So Unknown Mami is hosting Friday Fragments for the summer while Mrs. 4444 is on vacation. Thank you for stepping up to host this exciting part of my week.




This time tomorrow I'll be jetting my way to China. Panic is setting in. I haven't made any lists of what to pack. I need to figure that out before I pack I guess. I did go and buy some things I'll need (including snacks) so I don't think I need to go to the store today. Except for foundation. I thought I would have enough last night and when I used it this morning and I don't think so. 
I also need to take my car into the dealership and leave it for them to fix a few things. I've taken it in a few times to have them look at the remote key lock/unlock feature. Of course it always works for them. I have it narrowed down that when the temperature gets either really hot or really cold it stops working. Since it will be in the 90's they can leave the car outside all day and they try the keys. And they can keep it multiple days until it doesn't work. I want this thing fixed.
I got everything done that I could for Mom's move here. I need to write a note to put with all the documents for her since she arrives while I'm gone but that shouldn't take too long.
I think I've killed one of my basil plants. I thought I had overwatered it but Dan thinks a bug got to it and ate all the leaves. All that is left is the stalk.
I also may have trimmed my day lily plant wrong. I've never had one before and I'm afraid I've screwed it up.
I got my hair colored and cut yesterday and went and got my nails done. So at least I can look beautiful when I'm gone. My stress level should go down once I get on the plane because I won't be able to do anything and any problems with the symposium will not be mine. I'm tired of people cancelling on me.
And that's it folks. I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog while in China. Well I can blog I don't know if I can post. So I may have a bunch of posts waiting to upload when I get home. There are a lot of website that get blocked by the government.

What Day Is Today?

It is one of those weeks and it is only Tuesday. Gee whiz. My stress level is high. My patience is thin. If I had time to get my blood pressure checked it would probably be high. And my time is short. In five days I'll be on a plane to go to China. I'd better get my act together.

Things that have made me smile -

A saw a father with his son teaching him how to hold a fishing pole on my drive to work. The boy was concentrating on everything the dad was saying.

I haven't killed my lilies yet. Even with all the rain and my tendency to over water everything.

An email from a former employee who heard I will be in China and wants to have lunch. I barely spoke to her when she was here but she was a sweetheart. How nice that she wants to see me.

The fact that I was right about something and I really wanted to be smug about it to the person who was wrong but I held back and was just nice and pleasant in my email.

So I'm ending with another cute puppy photo because it is a good way to de-stress.

Image from Cuteheaven.com

Friday Fragments

Well I'm not sure who/where we link up to but I'm going to write these and hope I figure it out.

Stupid criminal this week is really dumb. A guy was under house arrest for 11 months. He called the police with about one month left and said please take me to jail for the remainder of the sentence. His reason...he ran our of Xbox games to play. I leave it to your imagination as to how stupid he is.

I had to check out the cost of international calling/texting while in China. Calling is prohibitively expensive but the texting plan seems like it is reasonable. And I was told that all incoming texts just count against my current plan so since I have unlimited texting I should be able to receive all that get sent to me for free.

So You Think You Can Dance announces top 20 next week. Anyone else excited about that? Whitney will have to hold the shows I'm missing on the dvr for me so I can catch up when I get home.

They announced another benefit concert for tornado relief. It has more big name country artists but will be at the football stadium...in July...in the afternoon. Geez, how many heat related illnesses will come from that. Only saving grace is that they can't serve beer there since it is on OU property. Needless to say, I won't be going.

I used some of my fresh rosemary to make roasted red potatoes. Dan said they were dangerously good. As in he liked them too much (he isn't supposed to eat a lot of potatoes). Guess I'll have to try that one again. :)


I found the link with Unknown Mami now.

Hodgepodge - Father Reflections

Time for another round of questions from Joyce. I don't know how she does this every week.


1. What do you think makes a good dad?
These apply to also being a good mom.
Stay active in a child's life. Keep trying to find out about a child's life even when they go through the stage of not wanting anything to do with you. Unconditional love.

2. What's something you learned from your own father?
My dad died when I was 21 so I've now lived more than half my life without him. So sometimes it is hard to remember him and what I may have learned from him. I have rose-colored glasses on when I do think of him. But the most important thing is that I remember how much he loved me. So I don't know if that was something I learned but it is what I remember.

3. It's your birthday-what kind of cake will we be having?
When I was young, it would have been German Chocolate. When I was in my 20's it would have been anything decadently chocolate. I haven't baked a cake in years now. I think if I would choose a cake it would be carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

4. When you're faced with a big decision are you more of a go with your gut type of person, or are you someone who reasons it all out, weighing the pros and cons?
I do both. Most of the time my gut reaction is the same as when I weigh the pros and cons.

5. June is National Dairy Month. What's your favorite dairy item? Most often purchased dairy item?
Oh how I love dairy products. How do you choose a favorite? You've got so many kinds of cheese and milk. Oh my. I guess I would go with my Braum's lowfat milk as favorite and most purchased. Although I do buy a lot of shredded monterrey jack/colby mix.

6. Explorer Jacques Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910....what's something you've recently discovered or something you'd like to explore?
I'm discovering new vegetables and ways to cook them. I definitely need to keep going on that.

7. Are you typical of your generation?
When I was younger I would say not. But now I probably am typical of people in their 40's.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I'm enjoying going to the gym to walk on the treadmill. I thought I would but it gives me time to decompress and not think about anything.