And I'm off, or we are off....

[Arnold]

That is great News Lloyd ! Now I'm really jealous .. NOT .. just happy for you things are moving well along . Don't eat too much .. haha .. that is a "Tough" one in China , but as long as you enjoy it ... 

[RobertBfrom aust]

Sujuan and I have been reading your posts together and she keeps nodding her head , so it must be that you are doing okay , we look forward to your updates .

[halfpint]

You both make me feel jealous, it will be July at the earliest I can go back to China.  Enjoy!

[lfputman3]

Wow, it's afternoon and it's been a full day already. She just went shopping with a couple friends, and it was clarified that the "mother" I met the other night is a surrogate mother, she informed me she has seven people she calls mother. I had seen her real mom in the background on some of our QQ chats, so I wasn't sure about all the mother people I was meeting. The surrogate mother from our first night meeting has approved and today I met the first real family member, JieJie-she's from a family with four children and she's the baby of the bunch-anyway, this sister apparently likes me, which is great because this sister is the next youngest, and she is 17 years senior. Have I mention her parents are in the 70s? So this is a really tough sell with her father. I also met some friends along with the real sister who works at the hospital next to Congtai Gongyuan. Hongyun though me meeting her sister at work would be good for me as I am one of the military vets who absolutely hates, fears and loathes the hospital, so of course, I was definitely not in a comfort zone there.

Long story, there was a lot of chatter at speeds I cannot begin to comprehend, her sister would ask some questions in Chinese and some in English and I was told it is my duty to protect her sister. That made me feel much better as everyone can imagine. She made me tell Hongyun Ni zhen mei, wo ai ni and a fairly lengthy list of compliments and other expressions, many I did not know yet and I am not sure if I can remember them all, but I am going to try. The whole time big sister is laughing because she has her baby sister and her man blushing and laughing in the middle of hospital ward office.
After wards we went for roast duck, again, I feel a food coma coming on. This time I think I really overdid, but in my defense, it was duck and this is China. Maybe not Beijing Duck, but duck none-the-less. One of her friends brought her young son along, I bought a lunch feast and no remorse over it. The irony, a bunch of the older visitors in the restaurant thought the boy was mine, I was thinking he looks like one of my nephews actually and the whole time the girls are all laughing and the waitstaff was giggling along with them about it.

And finally, a picture, you can all see my ugly mug and wonder what all the fuss is about, 'cuz I'm baffled about the compliments. Maybe as mom says, I'm modest...

Until later
Lloyd

[Arnold]

Ahhhh .. thanks Lloyd , a pretty Face after all that reading . No .. I don't mean you . Hongyun is all smiles and I can see why ! She has a reason to , having you next to her .
Great updates are always welcome and thanks again .

[shaun]

Great update.  I am enjoying them.  Looking forward to more.

[john1964]

hey buddy, thanks for the update,  I recognise the back ground,,,I was there in January, the river was frozen then but still a wonderful place, i hope things still go well for you and hongyun , Enjoy every moment my friend,,,kindest regards from John.

[lfputman3]

So I forgot my camera in the hotel today. ouch, but hey there are some great pictures going to pop up on a few qq pages I'm sure. We went to lunch with her sisters, on me of course, originally I thought she had 2, she has 3 Jiemen and they all work in that same office at the hospital, so I met all of them, but two of them were busy with work so I only spoke with the the one. We went to a Halal restaurant, chafing dish built into the table, wow, awesome meal wanted to go into a food coma and then they decided we were all piling into the car, I'm glad they let me in the front with Hongyun, as she has a Chevy Aveo, hatchback...  3 sisters, 2 nieces and 2 friends. That is a crowded backseat, the nieces are around 20, so no little ones to make the fit easy, but they all jumped in. Rumor has it the next outing with the sisters involves a KTV bar, lord help me, I'm sure the next morning is going to hurt.

The big sisters decided we needed to visit a temple, so we went to Lu Xian Ci, a fairly old Taoist temple north of town, where I recieved my first, "ah, mei gou ren? qing zhaopan." They got a couple pictures, very happy folks about it, they helped us light our incense and walked away giggling and such.

As for the pictures that will pop up on qq, the Jiemen wanted affectionate pictures as did the friends, so they (ahem) "forced" us do a couple toasts, you guessed it, arms intertwined. Hugs and cheek pecks for the camera. Hongyun is a bit bashful, shy and I've gotten a bit shy myself in recent years, I guess the whole growing up and not partying, **amendment to fact, no partying in recent years, frivolity at my brother's wedding, but not like when I was a young, dumb kid in the army on a flight crew thinking I was invincible** I have gained some inhibitions, which she loves. We also had a playful game of finger poke while we were driving around. Lots of giggles and snickers about that from the back seat, but I figured she needed a little torture as she did spill her drink all over me at the restaurant.

I think I am good with the sisters, they are having a big family dinner at their parents tonight, the sisters wanted me along, Hongyun objected because she wants her sisters to talk with her father and brother before she brings me over. Dad is, from what I can tell, indifferent at this point, worried he's losing a daughter and such, normal dad behavior, this dinner is apparently the sisters briefing mom and dad about me. Brother, we ain't going there, I've heard his take a couple times. Between me and her, we have two fantastic older brothers. Her's is on the dirty, tricky yank bit and mine is on the green card spiel. However, I can tell my brother where he can stick it. Whereas my little brother, his wife and my sister keep sending me emails to remember they want to attend the wedding. Oh, yeah, it will be a wedding and apparently, I am going to be spending some money when it comes, but it is going to be worth it. I have been told, no wedding this trip. One sister indicated certain pre-People's government time periods for weddings. It's ok, I found the one and I've waited this long just to hold her. I can be patient.

Tomorrow we are going shopping with her friends. I just want to see one thing, the very nice bag she jokingly she said she wanted for Christmas (LV) that I gave to her. The look on her face when I pulled out the bag it came in was worth the price tag.

Well for now, I'm gonna assume that food coma I needed 5 hours ago. I will give you another update later, for now. I'm done for the day, unless she drops by later for a walk, chat or otherwise after the family dinner, but I'm guessing family dinner is not gonna be over early.

Lloyd

[john1964]

great up date Lloyd, have a ball, where are you staying in Handan?, is the weather a little warmer now, No ice on the ground i hope, Food coma,haha, i know what you mean, regards from John and Minying

[john1964]

Hey Lloyd, seems good news travels fast in Handan, My wife just wrote to me from the agency and told me that the latest talk is about a Hansom man named Lloyd coming to visit his lady, in the home town, It is not often that a westerner does come to town to meet his lady as this is a small city "8,000,000 people" haha, Well you and yr lovely lady are the talk of the town,,,Enjoy my friend and i hope things go good for you and yr beautiful lady, Regards from John and MinYing.

[lfputman3]

Well, there were a about a dozen women in the agency office the other night... her sisters work at the hospital... Dinner at that Halal place...  no, I haven't been seen with her anywhere or by anyone at all in this town.   haha, now I know why I get the smiles and giggles in some areas though. We will be somewhere and "friends" will go out of their way to come and say hi.

The fun part, today I got to tag along to the malls, yeah I know, most guys are going, "what the hell is wrong with this guy?" Seriously it is very informative and when she comes to the states, I might have to teach her some marketplace spanish and cut down to Mexico, we were in one mall with a lot of local boutiques, had some definite "not copyrighted" goods in a couple shops, oh man, I am impressed this girl can work over a vendor. Her and the friend that was with us are both pretty harsh in the negotiating bit, but when she latches on, it's like a bull dog going to town. I had a hard time keeping a straight face a couple times, had to walk away. but my goal was to learn a little more about her and I got to have fun while doing it.  I just hope her friend didn't go back and buy those shoes we told her to steer away from, Sunday school teacher shoes and ugly ones at that. Although her friend and I didn't agree much on anything Hongyun was checking out clothing wise. She was after a new outfit for her daughter's birthday tomorrow. Then got herself a present. I would get asked my opinion and most times I was laughed at by her friend saying I am just being nice. The friend got overridden on the outfit that I literally did a jaw drop when I saw it. Hey it looked good on her and let's face it, as guys, we know the ultimate compliment is stupefied, open mouth silence follow by a wow and a grin.

We had lunch while shopping and after shopping we came back here and just relaxed, she pulled up some webcasts of Beijing and Hennan Opera, she loves her opera, which is fine. I am actually enjoying it myself. Maybe because she tends to sing her favorites and I enjoy her singing, but hey, people say I'm weird.
Along with the opera, she made me sing for her, fortunately I know a couple of LeeHom's songs and she had me going over the sayings in her English book and then she was browsing the pages in my LP phrase book. While we were sitting there looking at the books together, my neighbors started in on an afternoon session, I must say they are quite the noisy and energetic couple and  they don't seem to have any stamina issues, I apologized to her for the noise, she asked me if they had been like this before and I had to tell her yes, last night 7, 10:30, 1:00, 4:00 and she just started laughing. Then the real giggles started as she was flipping through the green section of the LP Mandarin Phrasebook and came across the sex page, which I had completely forgotten was in the book....
I thought about it after she left because she kept pulling the book away and didn't want me to see what she was giggling about. I knew which section she was in and then it hit me, oh my, she found that page... oh well, not like she's school girl. I'm sure one of those phrases is going to end up in one of our next little word game sessions.

Oh, John, no ice, I carry a coat, but generally don't need it during the day, got a laugh at the halal place because I was wearing a polo shirt, they all wanted to know if I was cold. Staying at the Sunflower, not bad, they have  remote for the lighting system, need an iron in the room though. Water pot, King size bed, but if it gets cold you have to call the desk for the heat. Fortunately there's a down comforter under the bar. Nice washroom, very western, big shower, bowl sink. Glass wall, frosted.  Needs some maintenance, fresh paint and carpets, but hey, I can't complain 3000Rmb for two weeks sounded good to me, they also have a good breakfast.

So tomorrow is the big birthday meet the kid day, got my fingers crossed, I'm armed with a Barbie doll. She told me her daughter wanted one, she said she thought an American Barbie would be better than one from here.  Irony, where is Barbie made? 
So big family friend event again tomorrow, wish me luck I think it's meet fuqin day along with the party. I'm not gonna try and sweat it, I am concerned about him, but more concerned with her daughter. I already have mom and the sisters in my court, let's face it, dad can't hold out too long when he is outnumbered 4:1.

So good night, and I will put my camera in my coat pocket tonight. Can't miss any more picture opportunities and if I have her sisters pegged, there will be more shenanigans and if they know my camera is around it will get used.

Lloyd

[john1964]

hongyun yuang and yrself are the talk of the town,,,so happy for you both,,,keeps the love alive for us who are missing our wifes/g/friends in a land so far away,,,Thank you Lloyd for the great update

[Bee964]

Lloyd,

I have just been catching up on your posts here. WOW what a flight you had. I am glad to hear that things seem to be working out great for you two after a bit of a rocky start with the "witch" on the other end of the phone. I hope that the meeting and birthday party for her daughter goes well for you. I am sure that she will love the Barbie doll you got her, even if it was made in China!

I hope that the rest of your trip goes well for you two.

Dave C

[halfpint]

Sounds like you are having a great experience, thanks for sharing it.

[lfputman3]

wow, been a couple days, not sure where to start, but I should probably go chronological. Great news, I am a hit with the kid. She likes playing peek-a-boo and we've a bit of a pillsbury doughboy game, it started as the rib tickle, but she's a quick one and she likes to run and give me a belly tickle and run away, so I give her a doughboy type giggle and she loves it. There were two birthday parties on Saturday, I go to go the first one, smaller one with friends, apparently Barbie upstaged most of the family gifts at the later party.

Sunday we went to Zhou Gongyuan, I have to ask, why isn't Handan on any of the tourist maps for westerners, I've read a couple of the classics and some of the Chinese fables and didn't realize until I was here, where and what Handan really is. She's successfully getting me hooked on Chinese Opera, can't wait to hear my father's take on it the first time he comes over after I'm back and listening to the Opera for Fa Mulan. So back to the task at hand..

While we were at Zhou Gongyuan her father called, her uncle was visiting, I forget where from, but not anywhere close as I understand. So she was told to dump me off at my hotel and get back home to see her uncle. After uncle left, she came back over with her daughter TianTian, perfect name, she's a sweetheart and bit of a ham. We went to dinner, she's trying to teach me Chinese food and then gives me grief for words I don't know, but we still play our little game of hao chi ma?

Today was the big stress day for me... FuMu....  she says I passed. I know dad was smiles and waves (to me) as we left. It was lunch, I think I got off cheap, only 500RMB. Met her other JieJie (this one is sister-in-law) who was previewing me for her husband, along with the parents, TianTian was along and the sister brought along the nephews (2) husky boys at that. Oh and yes, I did ensure dad got all the watering (piju) he wanted, two big bottles, not Tsingtao, no idea what kind it was. He laughed when I said I didn't want any because it was too early in the day for me. I explained to her later, I came close enough to living in a bottle, I just don't do it very often anymore. B

After lunch she had to run and get a prescription for her mom, and then went for a job interview. It sounds like she got the job, but now I am uncertain of what we are doing the rest of this week. Especially brutal considering I looked at the train schedule and I'm going to have to leave Sunday night, not Monday morning, because the early train to Beijing leaves way to late for my 11:00am flight. Bit of bummer there. I guess we'll talk about it this week.

So I've had one fantastic week following the episode with the wicked witch. Oh, did find out, the wicked witch has a problem with all foreign men. Seems she met a yard bird and now we are all dirt.

I hope to get in a few more good days, I may be making some adjustments to my schedule for the summer, I may cancel on other plans in June, because that would score me two more weeks here with her. We have talked about her visiting the states, I think it would be best in late or early summer. It's hotter than the blazes here from all reports and back home, if it gets hot, well, it's Michigan, you can never be 6 miles from a lake, river or other body of water, not counting pools. Plus, she loves fish, as I've learned from our several meals. She really loves fish, score a big one for me, I love to fish and again, it's the great lakes. Additionally, summer would mean we could see a bit more of the state without worrying about getting snowbound. I'll just have to carfully work on her. Her concern is language barrier and my older brother, but then I was expecting her older brother Saturday and today, still have not met him. He's gonna be my tough nut in the family.

So a couple fresh pictures, I've got to get more with us together, we were about to have some taken at Zhou Gongyuan when her dad called, the Cherry blossoms are beautiful, as you can see... but they do not hold a candle to her.

Lloyd