Emily's Escapades

Thanks

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:12:00 +0000

The outpouring of sympathy for my family has been overwhelming. Friends and neighbors flooded us with food, paper utensils, flowers, and memorials. At the prayer service and funeral, the church was full. That was actually heartbreaking - so many people loved Jared, yet he couldn't see it. A lady from his bank told mom that each of the female tellers hoped Jared would come to her window since he was so nice and handsome. A girl from the post office sent a card telling us how she knew Jared because he had a lot of packages and how friendly he was. We've gotten many cards from his clients saying what a talented gunsmith he was and what great work he did.

Right now it feels like there is a hole in my heart. We had the perfect nuclear family - mom, dad, brother, sister. It doesn't feel right that there is only the three of us now. The question WHY constantly runs through my head.

Jon and I took the past 2 weeks off work (using the last of our PTO) and the next 2 weeks we will be working in Brookings at the corporate office, but staying in Howard with my parents. I probably will not be updating my blog for a couple more weeks. Check back later.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers.

Jared John Reisch

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:16:00 +0000

My brother Jared passed away on Friday. I'll be back home for a while now.

San Fransico

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:56:00 +0000

Some streets in San Fransisco are really crazy steep!

It would be pretty cool to live on a boathouse.

Treasure Island

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:48:00 +0000

Dave used to live on this island so showed us around it. The island was created for an exhibition and then used as a naval base. Now everything is basically falling apart, but the views are really great!

Birds at the wharf

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:44:00 +0000

Alcatraz is in the background.

American Food

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:38:00 +0000

One of the best things about being home is the FOOD! Jon said, "Even the bottled water here taste's better." (I agree.) Things I have really enjoyed so far:

A thick steak grilled to medium-rare over a charcoal grill, along with corn on the cob (thanks Dave!)
Mussels, crab, and calamari at The Fransiscan in Fishermans Wharf
Blue Moon beer (enjoyed in the sun at a restaurant overlooking the harbor in San Francisco)
Broccoli cheese soup in a breadbowl at Quiznos
A turkey-swiss with ranch croissant at a local coffee shop
Chicken strips with ranch & BBQ sauce, a baked potato with cream cheese, and cottage cheese
Indian taco (that was Jon's)
Wheatables (crackers)
Milk! (non-tainted)

The Golden Gate Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:17:00 +0000

On Saturday Jon and I took Dave's car and drove to the Golden Gate Bridge, then all around that area. It was nice to just drive again!

San Francisco is a very healthy town - we constantly saw people running and biking everywhere. At the park by the bridge, youth soccer tournaments were going on. It was pretty heavenly - perfect blue skies, sunny, green grass and a laid-back atmosphere.

The bridge usually has clouds over it, even if the rest of the weather is totally clear.

I read that this is the most popular place in the world to commit suicide.

Alcatraz Island - we tried to go see it Sunday but the tour was sold out until Monday. Next time we'll book in advance.

Book Club

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:53:00 +0000

The 3rd Thursday of the month I usually go to book club. This month we read "One More Day" by Mitch Albom, who is also the author of "Tuesdays with Morrie." It's a easy read (I actually just read it in one evening) and very good.

We meet at an interesting cafe somewhere downtown - this time it was Whisk, which I have blogged about before. It is heaven via chocolate, and good food. It turns out Suzy's husband knows the owner, who came out and had us sample a bottle or two of wine he was thinking of putting on the menu.

Catharina, who is Swedish and works at the consulate; Alicia, who is Australian and is an exporter; Suzy, who has a business taking people shopping; me; and Kerstin, who is German and works for TUV Rheinland.

This was a really fun night - we're all expat women who work and have no kids (all of us but Catharina has a cat or two though) so it seems we have a lot in common. Catharina was surprised to meet someone who spent time in Sweden; we even showed everyone else how to play Kubb!

Fun with Airport Codes

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Sept 26 - PVG to SFO
Sept 28 - SFO to DEN to RAP
Oct 5 - Drive East
Oct 13 - BKX
Oct 17 - FSD to LAS
Oct 19 - LAS to SFO to PVG

See many of you in the USA soon!

Mail

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:19:00 +0000

I've always loved getting mail. Today I got a package with a elephant stamp from Thailand. Something about the writing, elephant and baht made it seem quite exotic to me (hence worthy of a photo). Thanks Esther!

On our farm, the mailbox was located on the gravel road at the end of the driveway, which is typical in the midwest. I heard a story once that my cousin John had a girl from California visiting the farm. Apparently she had never been in such a desolate area (said sarcastically by me) because she said to John "You really get mail out here?"

To which he solemnly replied, "Actually, it's just for looks. The Pony Express does come by once a week though."

The Suzhou Skyscreen

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:26:00 +0000

In Suzhou, a company is building a skyscreen similar to Freemont Street in Las Vegas. It is NOT a Daktronics screen (we choose not to even bid this project.) It was supposed to open in a couple days but is way behind schedule. Keyframe does have a contract for two 5-minute animations and about 25 30-second clips. We went onsite to try and see how our content would look from the ground.

Another photomerge... I love that feature!

The skyscreen doesn't seem so big when you are there. Above us, workers were welding in some places. (Don't worry mom, I was VERY careful.)

It's OK to smoke while handling tanks, right? I was hoping whatever was in them or had been in them was not flammable.

This guy was being very safe. Instead of letting all of the sparks fly everywhere he used a board to block most of them.

I always think it is very interesting to visit construction sites (more so where Daktronics displays are being put in) but in China I am always a bit relieved to have made it safely off site. I have tried to find statstics on death on construction site, but either it is covered up or no one actually cares enough to keep track of the migrant workers. You always hear "Only 11 people died builiding the Golden Gate bridge." I checked and about 100 died building the Hoover Dam - I am positive the number would be in the thousands for building the Three Gorges Dam.

The Peak

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:02:00 +0000

The Peak is pretty famous in Hong Kong. Click on the photo to view it larger - it looks much better that way! I used PhotoShop's photomerge feature to create this from 3 photos I took. It about a 180 degree view.

Jon and Adam - what a clear day. (not. as usual.)

Fire Dragon Dance

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:54:00 +0000

Saturday night we went to a "Fire Dragon Dance." We stood and got pushed for about 3 hours and really didn't see much, even though we were up front.

Dragon running through the streets without fire.

There was drumming for over an hour at the beginning.

This girl was good - her belt says "Sexy Bull"! (random?)

The dragon was this thing that had a ton of incense sticks in it. After the drumming, they lit the incense and ran it through the streets.

Girls at the Fire Dragon Dance

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:26:00 +0000

Weekend in Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:10:00 +0000

We had a day off on the 11th, and Jon and I were in Macau and Hong Kong for business, so we decided to stay down there for the weekend. Adam lives in Macau, which is about an hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong.

Friday night we ate at a Greek restaurant, found a new t-shirt for me (from France, I was told), went to a bar called Carnegie's, and then finished the evening at the sports bar in our hotel. The restaurant was great. Jon found a little piece of plastic in his food, but told the waiter not to worry about it. Of course the waiter was worried about it, so gave us all free dessert. I was too full for dessert and I think he felt bad because I didn't get anything, because then he showed up at the table with shots of ouzo. And he ensured we drank them.

Hong Kong has double-decker busses and trams. The streets and sidewalks are very narrow too.

Puppy Potty

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:06:00 +0000

I thought this was interesting...

Replacement display

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:45:00 +0000

This is a display at the Sands Casino that is being replaced by a Daktronics HD 16 mm LED display. Right now they are removing the old one.

Bamboo scaffolding is used in all of the construction projects. Bamboo is extremely strong, but it is pretty unnerving to walk on it for the first few minutes because it gives. I didn't have the best shoes on to be climbing the ladders with uneven steps, so I just went up a little bit. I understand now why all of the construction workers wear crocs or canvas shoes - they would grab the ladder better than the hard-soled steel toed boots I think they wear in the US.

Carefully lowering the old display piece by piece.

Bad baby milk

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:47:00 +0000

I am sure everyone has heard about the chemical-laced milk that gave hundreds of babies kidney stones. I am just dumbfounded on how this can happen. Some person is poisoning babies just so they can make some extra money with this watered-down milk.

In China, you have to believe everything is fake, even medicine. In Macau, I bought cold medicine that turned out to have photocopied safety information. It is so strange to not be able to trust products here. One of Jon's salespeople said he can actually feel the difference when he takes vitamins we brought back from the US instead of vitamins he buys here. (Obviously not every product is fake, but there is enough of a problem that most people are careful about it.)

Why doesn't this happen at home? I'm really glad it doesn't, but why should it happen here? Are people more ruthless and don't care about who they might hurt to make an extra buck? Are there so many more regulations in the USA that it doesn't happen because it is so much more difficult?

Saturday Night

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:03:00 +0000

On Saturday, we fit in a trip to the Bund, the grocery store, the Propaganda Poster Museum (which is walking distance from our apartment), a walk through a bit of the French Concession, the Pearl Market, lunch at Bukharra (an Indian restaurant), a Dutch movie our friend Inge brought over, a nap, a quick stroll on Nanjing Lu, a drink at 789 Nanjing Lu, and a couple beers at the Captain's Bar. It was a busy day. (These are all Esther's photos.)

I like this photo of us! I feel like we are on a movie set or something.

I've wanted to go to the Captain's Bar for a while now, and it was on Esther's to-do list because a co-worker had told her about it. It's on the top of a hostel and the cheapest bar with a Bund view. Granted, the cheapest with a Bund view is still expensive! A draft Chinese beer was 45 RMB. We buy the bottled beer at the convenience store next to our house for about 4 RMB.

Anyway, we had a really good time talking about all of our memories (or lack thereof) from Sweden and discussed who we'd kept in touch with and who was doing what.

the Grocery Store

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:21:00 +0000

These are all photos that Esther took. We stopped by our local grocery store for a peek at some differences in Western and Eastern cuisine. She has been living in Thailand for 10 months, working as a tour guide, so I didn't think these things would surprise her but they did.

This is from a male pig. Enough said.

Chicken feet

Not the pet store.... frogs. (yep, alive.)

Soft-shelled turtles - I've had them before.

A fish no one will pick - they need to be alive and well. It is very important to pick out the freshest and best animal, which is why the meat counter is so interesting to me.

None of the meat counters have glass in them. You can slap, pinch and poke each piece of meat before picking one. Then the next person slaps, pinches and poke each one too. The process is repeated all day (remember most public toilets do not have soap or hot water.) This is why we don't buy meat at the local stores. (Probably, cooking the meat would kill any germs. Our western ideas of how meat should be treated still prevents us from purchasing it though.)

Durian - the famous fruit that is supposed to be wonderful if you can get past the awful smell! Most hotels even ban it. I haven't had it.

no tai chi

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:18:00 +0000

We wanted to get up early on Saturday to see Tai Chi being done at the Bund, but we didn't actually want to get up early. So we left about 9 AM - and that is way too late too see Tai Chi! I think they say sunrise but that is about 5 AM. I like to sleep much more than that.

(Esther's photos)

to the Bookworm...

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:59:00 +0000

After getting wet feet and starting to get cold, we decided to go to a bookstore/cafe that is becoming famous among expats. The location apparently is not famous though, because the taxi dropped us off at the totally opposite end of the street where it was located at.

This pedi-cab driver wanted to take us there, and after calling them and have them give him the directions, we agreed to let him take us. We actually had to call them again when we got close! But, it was well worth the 10 RMB to get dropped off at the door - we were very cold, wet, hungry and cranky at that point.

Snacking on olives while waiting for our food, which was delicious!

After eating we walked around looking at the shops for a while. This sign was on the walking street.

No spitting, no littering, no digging through the trash to collect bottles, no dogs, no passing out fliers, no bikes, no using long sticks to carrying your bags across your shoulders, no sleeping, no picking flowers, and no smoking.

(Esther took all of these photos.)

Suzhou

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:11:00 +0000

One of the things that we still can't quite get used to is that traditionally the babies don't wear diapers, even when they are a few months old. They have pants with a split in the crotch, and when they have to go they just go anywhere. Perhaps a curb or drain, or the metal grate around a tree on the sidewalk. (or in Tiananmen Square, see this post.) Now, it is MUCH better for the environment that 1.3 billion people did not or do not wear disposable diapers - that is wonderful. But, having human excrement anywhere is not so wonderful. I also can't quite get used to private parts not being private. This little guy was just playing around but when he squatted down there was nothing private anymore....

It poured rain most of the day. We went to Tiger Hill, which the guidebook says is usually packed. The great thing about the rain was that there was almost no one there.

Dak Shanghai

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:54:00 +0000

On Friday, I was going to work as usual when my boss convinced me I should take the day off and go to Suzhou with Esther. (He was right! Thanks Dan.) We showed her around before going to the train station. She really liked the LED displays as a background - I have to agree, it looks pretty cool.

Guitar Hero

noreply@blogger.com (m--e) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:49:00 +0000

Jon bought the new Aerosmith game for Guitar Hero in Hong Kong.

It's fun - Jon even plays our friend Adam online sometimes.

Eating at Element Fresh - it's pretty close and has great food.