A Kiwi in China - Beijing

No, no, no!  My plane’s departure got delayed and delayed and delayed until I almost lost my customary good humour - 3 and 1/2 hours late leaving Shanghai and I was supposed to meet Joanna in Beijing.  Now I HAD built in plenty of time, but this was more than I had allowed for!

With a friend’s help I managed to get a message to Joanna, a tailwind helped to make up half an hour AND Jo’s plane from Hong Kong was a little late, too, so I did end up getting to her terminal and met her with only 15 minutes to spare.  

Steep, steep staircase at the drum
 tower in the Hutongs, Beijing. 

Rickshaw ride in the Hutongs

Jo was in remarkably good shape for having travelled more than halfway around the world!  but I had planned a fairly easy day for her first day - just in case she flagged (which she didn’t!)  First stop was the drum tower in the Hutongs - the old alleys of Beijing.  The drum and bell towers were used in the olden days so the peasants knew the time.  We walked up the steep stairs and got a view over part of Beijing.  

Temple of the Fire god

Mist I hear you ask?  No, smog unfortunately.  Next we had a rickshaw ride around the Hutongs and a visit to the fire god temple and Hohai Lake.  

Peking duck restaurant,
personal
chef to carve

On the afternoon we went to Wangfujing Street and saw the delicacies I have written about before - live skewered scorpions, sea horses, starfish and silkworms ready to be grilled.  The street was PACKED.  For dinner we went to the Peking Duck restaurant where you can watch them cook this speciality, then you get a personal waiter to carve your duck and you roll it up, along with condiments in a little crepe.  Very delicious!!!  Jo proved to be very adept with chopsticks, which was lucky given that we went to several places where that was the only cutlery. 

Peking Duck Restaurant

In the afternoon we went to Wangfujing Street and saw the delicacies I have written about before - live skewered scorpions, sea horses, starfish and silkworms ready to be grilled.  The street was PACKED.  For dinner we went to the Peking Duck restaurant where you can watch them cook this speciality, then you get a personal waiter to carve your duck and you roll it up, along with condiments in a little crepe.  Very delicious!!!  Jo proved to be very adept with chopsticks, which was lucky given that we went to several places where that was the only cutlery. 


Day 2 and we find Jo and me, along with about a million Chinese people, at the Forbidden City (also known as Palace Museum which is very misleading for tourists!)  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City)  This is a World Heritage site and much more extensive than most people realise.  Tiananmen Square is just across the street from the entrance  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square) and we wandered through to get a feel for that.  

Jo at Tiananmen Square with Forbidden City behind

Soldier at
Tiananmen Square

The weather was VERY hot so blisters were to be avoided at all costs!  One way?  Change your shoes to wear jandals (flip flops, thongs, whatever you want to call them! )  Of course another way is a foot massage - one of the true treats of living and travelling in China!  

Jo + foot massage = BLISS!!!!

My closest Beijing foot massage place is a blind massage place.  Now, I have to tell you a funny story.  My (totally blind) masseuse took away the soaking bucket and put it aside, continuing my foot massage.  Unfortunately the sighted lady did not take it away and Jo’s partially blind masseuse came in and tripped over it.  Luckily he was obviously used to a quick recovery and he righted himself very quickly.  I must say I admire and respect the fact that these blind people earn a living - however meagre - rather than begging on the streets.  

Suzanne at the Ming Tombs

Jo at the Great Wall, Badaling

Sunday was a big day.  We had booked a tour to the Wall.  It started with a visit to the Ming Tombs in a different spot than I had been to before.   From there we went to the Wall at Badaling. There were two choices for getting to the top of the Wall - climb up or take a cable car.  We chose the cable car to be able to spend as much time as possible actually on the Wall.  As always, it was amazing, steep and on this day, very hot!  We were fortunate that although there were a lot of people, the most crowded section was away from where we were.  A quick obligatory trip to the silk museum and factory completed the day.  

Our final day in Beijing saw us visiting Yonghegong - a lamasery temple. The religion is Tibetan Buddhism, with robed monks evident.  This was a huge structure with various buildings dedicated to the various gods and very much used by visitors to pray and make offerings of incense.  

I so enjoyed the trip to Beijing with Jo.  Thanks, Jo!!!!

It's Coming!

It is coming!  A Kiwi in China - Beijing chapter, is nearly ready to publish.  Meanwhile, a photo montage to view.....

The Road Trip - Part 2

4 famous faces above - 4 famous faces below!

Still in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was the next port of call and it is every bit as impressive as it looks on pictures and brochures.  It was very, very hot so hats and water bottles were in order.  Notice the four famous faces above and the echoing four famous faces below?  Ha, ha!  

Can can girl drink waitress -
cute and full of personality!

We had lunch at Ruby House, in Keystone, South Dakota.  This historic building was fitted out beautifully, both externally and internally, with many old west photos and a gun collection.  Dad was all eyes for the drinks waitress, though, and she was NOT vintage! 

Next we had a long drive through Custer State Park.  I was determined to see buffalo, and I was not disappointed! There was a large herd of females, babies and young males, but the bulls keep their distance at this time of the year while the babies are young.  We also saw a deer, some elk and these friendly burros!  

Bull buffalo in Cuter State Park,
South Dakota

Friendly burros!

"Wild Bill" Hickok

Deadwood was a rough town in the days of the “wild west”.  There were many saloon brawls and it is the burial place of “Wild Bill” Hickock and Calamity Jane, both colorful figures in American history.  The poker “dead man’s hand” stemmed from Wild Bill’s death.    Apparently he was holding a pair of 8s and a pair of aces when he was murdered in 1876 at Saloon 10 in Deadwood. (hlp.jpg) (Wild Bill Hickok   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok)  (Calamity Jane   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamity_Jane) 

Mt. Moriah Cemetery.  Grave of Wild Bill Hickok
(left with statue) and Calamity Jane
(at right with white urn and a gin bottle at its base!)

Markers where soldiers fell in the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Custer's has the black insignia.

Spots where Lakota fell are
marked with red granite
stones.

By now we had driven ( a looooong time!) into Montana.  We arrived at the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn towards afternoon and we just managed to catch a historic talk about the battle and site, overlooking where troops and Lakota indians fought in 1876.  It was a sobering spot as there are markers where soldiers and indians fell, with a large monument overlooking Custer’s Last Stand.  Custer was only 36 at the time of his death and although this was such a major even, he had had a very successful military career.  

AND FINALLY - I GOT TO SEE WHERE I WAS BORN!! 

The Jaeckel family at Fort Lewis,
Tacoma, Washington

After driving over a mountain pass (with temperatures as low as 53 degrees - and this after 110 in the Badlands!) we made it to Tacoma, Washington!  We had been told that Fort Lewis Army Base is a closed base and we could not get in, but we decided to bowl up and chance it.  It took a bit of persuading, but we were allowed a few hours on the base!  The hospital building where I was born had been replaced some years ago at a slightly different location, but some of the lower red brick buildings are still there so at least I now have some sense of the place where I was born and spent the first 6 weeks of my life.  We drove to the house Mom and Dad lived in and although it looked different to them, they did recognize some aspects of their first home.  Tacoma is a pretty city but it seems vastly overshadowed by Seattle, which is only about 30 minutes away.  

Fort Clatsop

Having done much interstate driving, we decided to take highway 101 along the coast of Oregon - very scenic, often overlooking the sea and meandering through small towns.  We crossed an inlet on a quiet, peaceful ferry.  We stumbled upon the Lewis and Clark State Park and the Fort Clatsop winter encampment.  (http://www.nps.gov/lewi/planyourvisit/fortclatsop.htm)  A winter there, over 200 years ago, must have been very hard, but these two men were robust and determined! 

Overlooking a west coast beach
in Oregon 

Sea, beaches and sand dunes featured next as  we entered Oregon and northern California, along with warnings in low-lying coastal areas.  In Redding, California we visited an enormous sundial and glass bridge over the Sacramento River.  In Corning (known as Olive City!) we had olive burgers and had fun looking at all the things that are “olive” related.  Apparently Corning has the world’s largest ripe olive cannery. 

Huge sundial,
Redding, California

Corning, California
Olive-growing region

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California

We finally  reached San Francisco and our planned visit to the John Muir Woods didn’t work out, nor did a visit to Point Bonita lighthouse, since the road to it was closed.  So, not to be defeated, we walked to the halfway mark of the Golden Gate Bridge and back!  The backdrop of the city was beautiful but traffic was truly whizzing by!  

Lovely dinner, lovely company!

We had arranged to meet Matthew, Michelle and Harris at our hotel and go out for dinner, so we had a great time with them (although there were sad goodbyes) to round off my wonderful, wonderful trip!  Thanks, everybody! 

The Road Trip - Part 1

The road trip route

There seem to be so many highlights of my recent trip to the States.  I have previously written about the “girls’” reunion in Kansas City and the Huerter family reunion in Marysville, Kansas.  The next (and final) phase of my wonderful summer trip to the States, was a long road trip with Mom, Dad and my aunt, Arlene.  

At the Sac and Fox indian reservation

We set off on Saturday afternoon after I returned from Kansas City.  We had a huge distance to cover - as it turned out it was about 2800 miles (4500 km) by the time I flew out (longer for the other 3 who returned to the mid west by car)!  We stopped at the Sac and Fox for lunch.  This is an indian reservation and although the slot machines looked tempting, we only had time for lunch!  

Flooded countryside beyond the banks of the
 Missouri River

The Missouri River has been flooded and we saw much evidence of this.  In fact, we had to reroute our trip since some of the roads were flooded and closed.  The house and barns in the picture were not NOT on the riverfront!  I am sure this flood was devastating to many people in its path.

The Corn Palace,
Mitchell, South Dakota

We passed through Council Bluffs (Nebraska), Sioux City (Iowa), Sioux Falls (South Dakota), finally arriving in Mitchell, South Dakota.  This is a city of about 15,500 and its claim to fame is the Corn Palace.  The building is fronted with mosaic pictures made from various colors of ears of corn, which are changed annually.  (5055 and 5057 crop)  Surprisingly, it is very effective.

Corn mosaic closeup

Wall Drug Store

Back into the car and from here on for the entire trip we saw signs warning of snakes, although we never actually saw any (for which I am grateful)!  The Badlands was the next stop.  This is a huge state park, full of beautiful mesas, striped with colored layers.   Wall, South Dakota was next, with a trip to the famous drug store.  This is a drug store like you have never seen!  I believe it started out modestly in the 1930s as a drug store (chemist!) and the owner, Ted Hustead, brought customers in by offering free ice water for travellers, many of whom were enroute to Mt. Rushmore (a VERY smart idea, judging by the heat that we were experiencing - up to 110 degrees - that is just over 43 degrees C, my metric friends!) Anyway, Wall Drug Store has expanded into a maze of interconnected shops dealing from jewllery to candy to souvenirs.

Mom, Dad and I

Arlene and I at the Badlands

Now at this stage, my camera, which has had palsy on and off for a year or so, started to really get huffy with me and the shakes by now were almost constant, so I had to resort to borrowing Mom and Dad’s camera when I felt the need for a photo.  I was NOT impressed!  

Crazy Horse Memorial was our next stop. This is very ambitious project that was begun near Mount Rushmore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial) in the Black Hills, South Dakota.  The huge sculpture (the final product will be far bigger than Mt. Rushmore - 195 meters wide and 172 meters high) was begun in 1948 and has a long, long way to go.  In this photo you can see me, a scaled sculpture of the monument, and in the distant background the mountain that has been carved to show Crazy Horse’s profile.  

Crazy Horse Memorial, Black Hills, South Dakota

Part 2 to come.........

Huerter Family Reunion (July 8 - 10th, 2011)

The last of my grandparents died in 1998.  Grandma was 93 years old and had led a long, hard-working life.  After that time, her children, my mother and her siblings, decided to meet for a family reunion each year in June, near the time of Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding anniversary.

Albert and Leona Huerter

When I was living in New Zealand, attendance was simply not possible - for all sorts of reasons, and each year I felt sad that I could not participate.  Some years I phoned, but that was even harder, so most years I just felt sorry for myself!

Veteran's Memorial Wall, Seneca Kansas

This year, however, the organizers kindly put the date a month later, and I was able to attend!  This was another highlight of my summer trip.

The Huerter family reunion kicked off on Friday, 8th July.  On the way to Marysville, Kansas, we stopped in Seneca to see my Grandpa’s name on the Veteran’s Wall there.

The entire group at the Wagon Wheel

After we settled into the motel, it was down to the Wagon Wheel for the traditional dinner.  Since chicken fried steak seemed to be THE thing to order, who was I to buck the system?  I had not had chicken fried steak in years and years!  It was so good to spend time with aunts and uncles, cousins and second cousins!  A toast was said in memory of Richard who died a few years ago and was missed. 

In memory of Richard Huerter

Inscribed brick bench at St. Gregory's School

The entertainment committee decided to keep this year low-key, due to the huge variety of  interests and ages of the group.  So I can only report on the parts that I participated in, but they were by no means the only happenings.  On Saturday morning some of us went to St. Gregory’s where a number of us had attended elementary school. The school grounds were looking good, and of particular interest were the bricks on an outside bench, commemorating Grandma and Grandpa (Albert and Leona Huerter) and great-grandparents John and Christina Steinbach and John and Gertrude Kienlen.  

Next we went to see the Veteran’s Memorial Wall in Marysville.  After a long search we concluded that Grandpa’s plaque (and Dad’s and Richard’s) were on the wall where clearly everything had fallen off!  Upon investigation, this was indeed the case and it will be some months before this is fixed up.  An incentive for me to go back soon?

After lunch in town with most of the group, we ventured to the Pony Express Museum.  Here we saw Grandpa’s WW I uniform - well, at least the jacket and helmet.  Not sure where the trousers have gone!  As always, it was fun to see the exhibits and recall the history of the Pony Express Home Station #1.  (I did not recall that the Pony Express only existed for only a very short time - April 1860 to Oct 1861.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express    for those interested in finding out more.) 

Saturday afternoon two cousins and I managed to catch up with a childhood friend from Marysville and dinner was at a local burger place. 

The Jaeckel branch of the family

On Sunday morning we took our various group pictures proving that we were indeed at this reunion, before going to Mass at St. Gregory’s Church.  This church features strongly in our family, with a large number of us and our ancestors having been baptized and married there.  Quite a number were dispatched from this church, too.  So before the service we had visited the Catholic Cemetery to pay respects to Grandma and Grandpa, Rosemary (an aunt of mine), Richard and great grandparents. 

Lunch was scattered, but I went to the Mexican restaurant with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousin.  Some of us then went to the site of the Blue River rope ferry crossing (replica of the ferry is pictured) which was an important aspect of the early days and settlement of Marshall County and Marysville township. 

Replica of Blue River rope ferry

Hearing the news that the Courthouse was open drew many of us there and housed there was Grandma’s wedding dress, the girls’ first communion veil and an old family globe that was displayed in the historical schoolroom.  

Some of the cousins and their children had to leave on Sunday to get back into their working week, and others were able to spend time in Marysville until Monday.  Many had traveled far to attend and rearranged schedules especially to be there.  For this I was grateful because it meant I got to see the largest number of family possible at this event (and I was sorry to miss a few who could not make it).  Numbers were good, thanks to the many children of cousins who opted to also come along, and they were patient with the generations older than they, who had lots to talk about and share.   

I was pleased to be able to be at the reunion in 2011!

Reunion With My High School Friends

THEN - Suzanne talking to
Mr. McNaughton

THEN - Lexie with
her Dad, Mr. McNaughton

THEN - Suzanne at AISD High School graduation dinner

You always wonder......has she changed?  What will we talk about?  Will she look different?  Do I look different?  These are the questions that go through your head when you make the decision to meet up with friends from the past, and Lexie, Chris and I have had quite a few months to think about these.  This week we met up as a trio for the first time since 1974.  

THEN - Chris and Tommy at
AISD High School graduation
dinner

It all started in 1968 when the American International School of Dusseldorf started.  Lexie and Chris, my soon-to-be best friends, were already enrolled there when I arrived to live in Germany that December.  As time went on, we became firm and fast friends, sharing a lot of laughs together, traveling, shopping, going to the Altstadt and just hanging out together.  

     

Graduation saw us go our separate ways, as happens with children at international schools.  It was hard to stay in touch in those days.  There was no internet or Facebook and phone calls were outrageously expensive.  The only way was to write a letter (time-consuming!) and as we became busy with university, jobs and demands of family life, we soon lost touch with one another.  

Fast-forward to 2008.  The internet is an everyday reality of life - almost a necessity!  Facebook has been invented.  Phone calls are cheap (but you still have to know a number to phone!).  Letters.....well, hardly anyone would write letters any more.  Suzanne, Lexie and Chris have found one another again, after a silence of many, many years.  We had  SO much to catch up on!  Some things were easy to impart on FB and we unfolded our stories for one another as time went on.

NOW - WOW, we all look the same (well, sort of!)

NOW - We FINALLY got together!

NOW - lunch out

NOW - Lexie, tickling a spider!

Fast-forward again to  2011.  By now we all live in various parts of the world - Suzanne in Shanghai, China, Lexie in the US southwest, and Chris in the US eastern seaboard.  However, by March, I knew I was going to be able to make a summer trip to the States and I put forward a tentative thought - would we like to meet up somewhere relatively central for a few days and connect again?  The answer from both Chris and Lexie was a resounding YES!!!!  

It took a lot of hard work to make it happen.  Coordinating with the other 2.  Organizing rides and plane trips.  Renting a car.  Finding time out of busy schedules. Booking a hotel.  But finally the day came, and what a day it was!  

I drove to Kansas City.  I would like to report that it was hard, but after Shanghai traffic, I must say the driving (and crossing the road) is soooo easy.  Chris arrived at the airport and I recognized her in an instant.  The years had been kind to her and we reconnected immediately!  It seemed so surreal, but comfortable and right as we spent the day shopping and talking!

By 8:00 pm we had found our hotel and we were waiting in the lobby for Lexie to arrive.  There was a knock on the window and we raced outside to greet her.  No silences or awkward moments with her, either, as we began discovering the paths that our various lives have taken us!  

NOW - At the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum

So, we have spent several days talking, walking, shopping, eating and drinking, confounding the locals (!) and reconnecting all these years later.  This has been an amazing week - thanks ladies!