Carmel

Pebble Beach

Sunset Robby calls this the "J. Crew shot" A beautiful ending to a wonderful day

"Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality." -Bertrand Russell

The Big Sur Half Marathon!

Our Medals were hand made!

6am! Before the race! The course was unbelievably beautiful!

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices." - William James

Monterey California

Beautiful Jelly Fish! The big aquarium Monterey Bay Me in a clam and Robby in an egg! Mr. Sea Turtle Hey Everyone! I hope you all enjoyed reading Robby's posts about China! I loved the pictures he had of the Great Wall! Well, we had another wonderful time this weekend. We drove Saturday morning to Monterey Bay and spent most of the day at the Aquarium. It was better than I expected. We saw jelly fish, sea otter, a great white shark, all kinds of fish, pengiuns, and a lot of other things. It was great fun! They had a lot of shows and we got to see most of the animals eat. We really had a great time. After that we drove to Carmel and watched the sunset on the beach. We ate dinner at the Hog's Breath Inn, a restaurant owned by Clint Eastwood, the former Mayor of Carmel! We spent the night at the Holiday Inn back in Monterey and this morning Robby and I ran in the Big Sur Half Marathon! It was the prettiest run! We ran right a long the bay.. In all, I'd say it was pretty great weekend! ~Andrea

The Forbidden City

*** Hey! Just so you know, I posted all of my pictures from China in reverse order, but I guess it doesn't matter too much. There are three new posts prior to this one that you might want to look at first. The Forbidden City is at the center Beijing. I spent my last afternoon in China there. It was amazing, and a lot larger than I expected it to be. It is about the size of an entire city block ( for some reason I was expecting it to be one palace). It was really the only time that I saw traditional Chinese architecture while I was on the trip. Which is a little bit sad, it seemed like the government officials were more proud of their "Western" style buildings than their own culture. Anyways, it was a great trip, but I'm glad to be back in the States! ~Robby

Beijing

The top picture kind of sums up my reaction of China. I took it from the hutongs (the traditional housing areas) at the center of Beijing. In the background they are completing an ultramodern theater (the big silver egg), and the Chinese symbol on the wall to the left means that the neighborhood is scheduled for demolition. The country is growing so quickly, and so there are many examples of gigantic modern developments right next to older, traditional housing. It's pretty weird. Beijing was a great place to visit after Tianjin, and it was a lot easier to get around. Many people here spoke English and after having my fill of traditional Chinese food (which is totally different than Chinese food in the States) I started eating fast food every meal. Also, the thing that looks like playground equipment is an exercise station. The government has put them in most of the hutongs to get the country ready for the 2008 olypics in Beijing. But exercise is a totally foreign idea to most of the people here, so it is kind of funny to see them walk up to the machines, hold on to them, and just swing one leg back and forth. I've decided to open a Gold's Gym there and whip all these people into shape. ~Robby

Great Wall

Yep, the sign I'm holding says "I Love you and I wish You were Here", but Andrea quickly noticed that it wasn't in my handwriting...I borrowed the sign from someone else. Oh well, it was still a nice gesture. The Great Wall is beautiful, we hiked on it for about 6 miles, and at the end we took a zip line down from the top of the mountain, over a lake, to the bottom. It was a lot of fun. I even made a video of it that Andrea is going to try to post. It is a hard hike, very steep. Legend has it that Ghengis Khan walked all the way up to the top of the wall to lead the Mongols into China, but when he got to the top he passed out from the hike and died. It was a great day and probably my favorite thing that we did in China. ( I made up the part about Ghengis Khan). ~Robby

Tianjin

Alright, this is my first time to post. So this is Tianjin, the place is pretty wild. It is China's third largest city-9 million people. The interior of most of the gigantic city blocks looked like this, pretty dirty, overcrowded, no underground sewage lines. But they are tearing these places down everyday to build more "modern" buildings. There is construction everywhere. But we had a good time, and I only got sick for one day (which happened to be the same day that our toilet was stopped up - woo hoo!). I think it was the tiny little squids I ate at dinner...they taste like chicken. It was a lot of fun, but probably the strangest place I've ever been. Definitely not a tourist town, we were mobbed everywhere we went. I was ready to get to Beijing. ~ Robby

Day 9: preparing for Robby's return!

Just thought you guys would like to see just how tough I have been (just kidding, that's actually an old picture of me in nursing school)!!!!! I just got done cleaning the house and blowing up like 30 balloons and making "Welcome Home Robby" signs and decorating and just a whole bunch of fun stuff! I haven't been this exited about something since my dad gave me Daisy, my little yellow bug, for Christmas!!! Thanks so much for all of your support guys, it has really meant a lot to me that everyone has been calling and checking on me and stuff. I am very blessed to have such good friends and family. I love you all very very much. Robby comes home tomorrow!!! Oh, Happy Day!

A funny little fact from my Nana

My nana sent me this in an email and I thought it was really funny, I wanted to share some laughs with everyone, so here is what her email said!........... For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies. > >> > 1. The Japanese eat very little fat, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. > >> > 2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. > >> > 3. The Chinese drink very little red wine, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. > >> > 4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. > >> > 5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. > >> > CONCLUSION > >> > Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Day 6, 7 & 8 Beijing and The Great Wall

Hello peoples! I just thought that these were such beautiful pictures, that I had to share them with everyone. My sister's children are growing so fast, it really makes me sad that I am missing this part of their lives. Thomas is a big boy now and is going to Mother's day out at God's House and the twins are also big boys! Harrison is on the left and Hudson is on the right with the wash cloth, (you have to click on the picture of the twins so you can see how beautiful Hudson's eyes are). But I can't talk about Gigi's boys without saying that Jakob too is getting to be all grown up! He is so smart in school and is a really good soccer player! I love all of these boys in my family! Well, I worked 12 hour shifts the last two days. Things have been kind of rough and I was just too tired last night to write an update on Robby, sorry. But I have heard from him since the last time I wrote you guys and everything is fine. So, I'll give you kind of a short update. Lets see, his entire class ended up getting sick with whatever Robby had, but the day before yesterday they were all feeling much better and finished up their presentations in Tianjin. In the afternoon they all rode a bus to Beijing. Robby says the driving there is terrible. He told me that the roads there seem more like suggestions of where people should drive and that the bus driver was pulled over by a cop and given a ticket while he was driving them!!! Robby was excited about going to Biejing. He said that Tianjin was a very hard place to be; very unsanitary, not so good food, and no one spoke English. He had been told that Beijing would be better for Americans. In his last email he told me that Beijing was actually MUCH better than Tianjin and that he was buying stuff for himself and having a great time. But he has been most excited about his trip to the Great Wall, which was yesterday. He and some class mates hiked a portion of it (about 6 miles). Today, Satuday in China, he says he is going to go to the Forbidden City. I am very glad that he is having a good time and am also very ready for him to come home. I have realized that I would not do well as a single person. I guess I have been with Robby so long that I didn't realize how much I like having someone around me all of the time. I have been striking up conversations with random people I run into at the grocery store or on the street! I have been having a really hard time making myself do anything productive! The house is dirty, I have been eating anything out of a carton that I don't have to cook or clean up, and I haven't even been running as much as I usually do, I guess I just don't see the point in doing anything! That's kind of sad, you'd think I was depressed or something! I am ready for things to start to form a routine here, you know, to feel "settled in", I still feel like a foreigner here. I wonder if I always will? There is something about this place that is so different from the South. It is really hard to discribe, but people here are much harder than they are in the south, I miss that "southern hospitality". Well, I guess I am going to go to bed. I think I am just very tired. It was another long day at work today and when I am extra tired I tend to think too deeply about stuff and cry to easily! So, good night everyone. I will talk to you later! ~Dea

Day5: No news from Robby :(

I thought that this picture was pretty funny, and went with the theme of these last few blogs! I didn't hear from Robby yesterday, I am hoping that it was because he was so busy, not because he was so sick! Yesterday, Tuesday here, (Wed. in China!) he was supposed to continue to do more site analysis and documentation in the morning, and in the afternoon they were going to present their site analysis and inital systems propositions. Then they were supposed to discuss their design ideas with the Tianjin University students and the students hosted their dinner banquet last night. I wonder what types of foods they cooked for Robby and his class! I'll let you guys know how they are doing as soon as I hear from Robby. I signed up to run the Big Sur Half Marathon yesterday! It is on October 28, and it is a race along the bay! I am very excited! I actually planned a whole little trip around it. The race is in Monterey, CA, and the aquarium there is supposed to be one of the best in the world, so I bought tickets for Robby and I to go to that on Saturday the 28 of October! Then we will spend the night at a hotel in Monterey and I will run Sunday. Here is the website for the race http://www.bsim.org/ and for the aquarium http://www.mbayaq.org/ if anyone wants to look at them. I miss you guys so much. It really makes me happy to be able to write, especially when Robby is gone. When he gets back, I will probably just go back to posting when something interesting happens!! But for now, this is really helping me not feel so lonely! Have a great rest of the week. Talk to you soon! ~Dea

Day4: Baby Squid!!!

****I posted 2 blogs tonight, so you should probably read the one before this first, or you might feel a bit lost!!! Thanks, Andrea.**** Hey it is me again! I missed Robby’s phone call today. I cried (like the bunny)! It was so frustrating, I walked outside to check the mail and he called while I was out. He hung up the phone right as I walked in the door. What bad timing! He still hasn’t figured out his calling card. He borrowed his teacher’s cell phone to call and tell me that he is sick. Poor boy, he said he must have gotten a little too carried away eating all of the delicacies people were making for them. I got to talk to him online tonight for a little while. It is Tuesday there already and he was getting ready for his day. I am going to post parts of our conversation for you guys to read. I think it will just be easier than retyping the interesting things he said! Some parts might read a little strange, because I have cut out things and edited it just like I did his email that I posted. For those of you who don’t use instant messenger, what I copy to the blog will read like a conversation. The person who is “speaking's” name is written in bold before what they are saying. I hope it is not too confusing to read. I think it gives everyone o pretty good idea of what is going on with Robby. Well, it is late and I am going to go to bed now. Good night everyone. This is what Robby had to say about the food and what he is doing right now...... Robby: Last night I was so tired that I fell asleep at 8:30 with my shoes on. I woke up at 7:00 this morning, maybe it is the jet lag? Me: yeah it is probably jet lag. you know it is only 545pm on monday here, your Circadian rhythm is all messed up! Robby: my what? are you making up words, that sounds chinese me: are you still feeling sick? did you throw up? Robby: yeah, i feel pretty bad, I just bought like 5 bottles of water, they don't drink much water here. lots of tea. Things are very cheap here, kind of amazing-25 cents for bottled water Robby: I've gotten pretty good with chop sticks too me: way to go! Robby: no forks or knives here, I still haven't seen any other white people me: wow…really? Robby: Last night I ate tiny little squids, with the tentacles and everything, bite size me: ill have you a bunch of good groceries when you get home and ill cook you a good meal every night! me: oh, yuck robby, yuck! Robby: all the fish still have their heads me: you are making me queezy, i would die of starvation if you moved me to china! Robby: the thing is that they normally just eat rice and vegetables, which is pretty good, but at the banquets they want to be impressive, with all these traditional foods me: so are you not going out with the group today? i have been keeping up with your schedule and stuff. today: Tianjin university Robby: we are free until 3:30, when we are going to an art school, before then a big group of us are going to the site Robby: oh, and don't worry about the police escort, everything is very safe here me: good! it is still cool though that you guys had one. celebrity man! what are you guys designing? Robby: They are just very ashamed of these little villages (not what they feel a modern city should be) we had the escort to keep us looking at all the impressive modern, architecture! they are tearing down gigantic sections of housing at one time, we are designing housing and commercial stuff to replace it me: I googled tianjin and saw some pretty cool looking buildings. some of them looked pretty modern to me. are they really going to use your stuff? Robby: I don't think so me: well, they will probably at least look at it Robby: But they are very interested, at the school yesterday they had a gigantic banner that said "welcome students from UC Berkeley in Chinese me: wow that is cool. im glad they are happy to see you guys, that makes it fun for everyone

Day 3: Emails from Robby

Hey everyone! This is a billboard that Robby and I thought was really funny. I’m not sure why. It is very close to our house. Maybe it just seems so strange. Most of the billboards out here are about not letting your kids be fat and how you should be buying organic foods. Anyways, that has nothing to do with why I am posting. I just wanted to let you guys know that I heard from Robby. He is having a really good time. He can’t figure out how to use his calling card, so we have been staying in touch through emails and instant messaging! It sort if feels like high school all over again! He gave me permission to copy parts of our conversations and emails to the blog so you guys can hear a little about what he has been doing in his own words. So, here is part of the email I got from him yesterday. I have cut and pasted only parts of it, but I think that what is written makes sense. In the email he is talking about Sunday when he says yesterday, and Monday when he says today. I know that seems weird, but he is a day ahead of us! Robby wrote: “well, yesterday was the strangest day of my life, seriously. We woke up and walked around, everyone was on bike and I think the people in the cars were trying to hit them. As soon as you walk off the main road where all the skyscrapers are, you are in the slums, or maybe they aren't slums. Sewage is every where, piles of trash, big animal carcasses are hanging up in the windows. This is where people live, restaurants are here also. We are like celebrities here-not tourists. I haven't seen any other white people. The government took us on a tour yesterday on a bus, with a police escort! we are a huge group and people crowd around us everywhere that we go. people welcomed us into their tiny houses, and we took pictures of everything. (I filled my card, so you'll have plenty of things to see) They took us out for dumplings at lunch, and rolls for dinner. I ate sea cucumber, whole fish, pig neck and stomach? It was crazy. People toasted us, sang to us at dinner, and gave us little presentations. What a weird place. Kind of western, but only on the surface. Today we are starting the design stuff, we looked at the site yesterday. There is huge construction everywhere, right next to all these people living in poverty. The city officials seem embarrassed that their people still use the bathroom in chamber pots, and they are planning on tearing down and rebuilding all of those people homes (which is a good thing). "

Day 2: Robby is in Tianjin

Hello peoples! I just wanted to let everyone know that I heard from Robby today. He made it to Tianjin safely and was at his hotel. I looked at the hotel's website and it is a very nice looking place. If you want to look at it click on this link www.hfghotel.com.cn He said his flight was fine, but he is having a hard time sleeping. It was 2 am in China when I talked to him on instant messanger. He said that China is a "very strange looking place" and that he was looking forward to taking pictures. Tomorrow he and his classmates are supposed to have a tour of Tianjin with the Hebei Government and then the Hebei Government is having a banquet for them for dinner! Robby said that his teacher warned them to be careful what they eat! He said that the people will try to impress them with "delicacies". His teacher told them that last year they served turtle soup, with the entire dead turtle (shell, body, head, and all) floating in it!!! I can't wait to hear how tomorrow goes for him. Well, I have posted three maps above for you guys to look at if you want. The first is of China; Tianjin is just below Beijing and to the right. The second map is a map of Tianjin, I tried to figure out where he was staying and where his architecture site is, but I couldn't, sorry. Tomorrow I work a 12 hour shift, so I probably won't write again until Monday. I will be sure to let you guys know what is going on. Today was a strange day, I don't really like being alone all day. I found myself starting up conversations with random people at the gym and at the grocery store!! I will be glad to have Robby back home, I miss him. I have to say though, Mary and Gigi sent me some good surprises in the mail today and I was very excited to recieve them. Thanks guys! I love you. ~Dea

Day 1: Robby is off / Dea is all alone

Well, Robby's plane left SF today for China at 4pm and he is supposed to arrive tomorrow at 7pm. It is a 12 hour flight! The time difference between here and China is a bit confusing. I found a great website that is supposed to allow me to post a clock to my blog that will keep up with the time in China. I thought it would be fun for us to all know what time it is where Robby is. I will try to make it work, or at least post a link to the website for you guys! Right now it is 8:48pm on Friday night here in CA and it is 11:48 am on Saturday morning in China! Talk about jet lag! I have Robby's whole schedule until he goes to Beijing on October 30. I will write and tell you guys what he is doing every day that I can. There is nothing planned for tomorrow but for them to arrive in Tianjin and check into their hotel. They are staying at the Huafu Palace Hotel in the Tianjin Heping District. I will post again on Sunday or tomorrow and let you guys know what he is doing and if I hear from him. You know, it is a really weird feeling being thousands of miles away from everyone you love. I now know what it feels like to be totally alone. I could disappear tomorrow and no one here would even notice. It makes me feel like my sad bunny picture. But like some person said somewhere, "that which doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger". Right??? Well, either that or it just makes us realize that we are NEVER going to do it again! We will just have to see how this whole being alone thing goes. Robby told me it was a test. He said for me to be a rock, an island even. Well, right now I just feel like a rock on an island with no other rocks to be my friend......... Oh I'm just sort of kidding! Anyways, my grandmother called me tonight at like 10 B'ham time just to check on me and it made me feel so much better, and very loved. Thanks Nana. You guys all have a great night. I am going to attemp to get this clock thing to work! Love ya~The rock http://www.worldtimeserver.com/clocks/wtsclock001.swf?color=00FF00&wtsid=CN Ok, so I couldn't get the clock to work, but you can just click on the link above and it will take you to my clock that is showing the current time in Tianjin. I hope. If that doesn't work just click on this website below. It will show you the time in China, the weather, and some other stuff! Or you can do both!! http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_CN.aspx

ALCATRAZ ISLAND

Hi everyone! It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Things are just really busy around here! Robby is already in the middle of his semester and I am about to finish up my critical care classes! We have been here more than two months, and it really doesn't seem that long. Well, we finally went to Alcatraz and it was incredible! Sunday was definitely the prettiest day we have had since we moved here (as if it could be any more beautiful!) We took the Bart to SF and then we took a ferry to the Island. The view of SF from the ferry and Alcatraz was perfect. The fog is gone right now and it is just hot enough to wear short sleeves but not too hot to wear pants. The tour of Alcatraz was great. We saw everything. There is also a great audio tour that you take of the penitentiary that is very interesting and fun. Alcatraz wasn't a penitentiary until about 1909, before that it was a military base. I also thought it was pretty interesting to know that all of the inmates there were not in prison for life. They were just sent there because they were considered "high risk", meaning that they were not getting along well in the prison they were in, or they might try to escape. Alcatraz also is not surrounded by man eating sharks like everyone thinks. In fact the only sharks that live in the bay area are sand sharks! The reason it is so hard to escape from Alcatraz is because of the strong currents and cold waters! The Island was also only a penitentiary for about 20 years and then it was shut down because it was too expensive to keep up and because the government realized that it probably wasn't such a good idea to put all of the "high risk" inmates in one place! After that it became inhabited by Indians, and now it is a state park! Anyways, there are a lot of other neat things about the place, but you guys will just have to see them for yourselves when you come and visit us! Robby and I had a great time and we also lucked out because Sunday just happened to be the day that the Blue Angels were going to do a show over the bay between SF and the GG bridge! We had front row seats from the island! It was great fun and it was also very comical to watch all of the boats in the bay! Supposedly, you don't have to have a boating license to drive a boat in the bay and there were hundreds of boats in the water watching the show! The little boats kept getting caught in the strong currents and running into each other! It was quite a show! I have tons more pictures of the day on Snapfish, so if anyone wants to see them just email me and I will send you an invite to see the album. The ones on this post are of Alcatraz island (an aerial view) us riding up to Alcatraz on the ferry, me behind bars!, Robby listening to the audio tour in the penitentiary infront of the cells, the view of the GG bridge from Alcatraz with all of the little boats in the water, and the view of SF from Alcatraz with more boats! One of the former inmates told us that it was the views you had from every side of Alcatraz that made it so unbearable to be imprisoned there. It reminded you every day of the beauty you were missing! That's why so many wanted to escape! Plus it is really only 1.6 miles from SF, so you could hear the people celebrating New Years and at times when there was a lot going on in SF. In all I would have to say that this was my very favorite day so far. I love it here. I do I do!

Just saying hello!

(This is a picture of the bus Robby and I are always riding everywhere! It is a hybrid, it uses electricity and natural gas only! People here are very big on preserving the environment! Robby and I had to have our car "smog tested" before we could buy it! That's right, we are trying to take out a loan so we can buy the Jetta!) Hello friends and family! It is time for my weekly update! Unfortunately things are starting to get really busy with my work and Robby's school, so I don't have any fun pictures to share this week. Wednesday, when I go back to work at the hospital, I am going to take a camera with me so I can show you guys what my unit looks like! The view from the ICU is breath taking. It's too bad the patients are usually too sick to notice it, but it is a million dollar view! Robby and I went on our first "date" last night since we have been here. I cooked a good meal and then we took the bus into downtown Berkeley and went to see a movie. It was fun, but I don't think I will ever get used to the streets literally being lined with homeless people sleeping. They are nice, they honestly don't bother you, except to ask for change every now and then, but that's all. Most of them are very educated people that just got hit hard when the .com era erupted. Anyways, Robby now has his passport and we are waiting for his visa from the Chinese embassy. I'm nervous for him! The time change is really crazy, he leaves here at like 9 in the morning and gets there at like 8 in the morning on the same day! Those aren't the actual times, but it is about a 12 hour flight and he says he will be getting there before he left here! Talk about jet lag!! You know, I like this age. I am so excited about every day! There are so many fun things going on in my friends lives too! I have 3 friends getting married (Amanda, Rachel, and Natalie), 1 going to a TESL school in Australia (Lane), and 2 having their 3rd baby (Katie and Walt)!! So many new adventures!! So far, 23 has been my favorite age. Robby says 22 or 23 was his favorite too, he doesn't like that he is about to turn 25, it bothers him, he talks about it a lot!! You know, I thank God every day for His blessings, Robby and I are truly blessed to be loved by such great family and friends. You guys have no idea how important you are to us, and how much we love and miss you all. We are already talking about how excited we are about possibly getting to come home for Christmas, and we are already stressing about not having enough time to see everyone we want to! Have a great week, I will have some pictures to post soon, I promise! War Eagle! ~Dea