Greetings and Salutations,
I trust this email finds everyone busy with “life” and all that entails… The overseas Tebo clan has been doing well, so I wanted to share with you some of our adventures since the last update…
We went home to Bremerton, WA in June for around thirty-five days. We wanted to stay longer, but if we did then we’d lose are foreign residency status and have to pay taxes. We spent some time in Victoria, B.C. for a couple of days to ensure this didn’t happen. It’s a gorgeous place and we had awesome weather but its way too expensive. 14% tax- are you kidding me? It was great being home and having all the conveniences! People drive normal and follow the rules. I can actually find clothes that fit and they’re not badly made knock-offs. Things are just so clean back home- restaurants, toilets, stores. Every time Travis and I went into a grocery store, we were there for an hour just looking at stuff. I think what struck me the most were all the choices and flavors… Reduced-fat, non-fat, sugar-free, cholesterol free, sodium free, etc. And of course Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. What the hell is that all about? And where can you get just Diet Vanilla Coke that’s not in a 2 liter bottle? But I digress… I do have to say that Diet Coke is WAY better in China, though. And all the flavors of Doritos! Mmmm…This is my personal favorite junk food, although I’m waiting for them to come back out with Jumpin’ Jack cheese flavored. I didn’t miss all the commercialization, and especially all the ads on television- and the media in general. It’s so annoying. All in all, it was a great trip back home. I’m glad we got to see Washington in summer because it’s my favorite season there. I didn’t miss all the tipping, paying tax, and the over-priced meals. We spent so much money and we don’t really know what we spent it on. It was probably on gas- I was shocked by how much it is. Have you noticed that people talk about that a lot too? The best part was seeing our friends and family... Travis and I completely surprised my parents, which was hilarious. If I didn’t see you- just know that I was thinking about you… There’s always next time.
We left home in the middle of July to head for Europe. Check this out. We flew from Seattle to San Francisco (2 hours), then to Beijing (11 hours). By the way, we had to pay 200 bucks extra in Seattle because our bags were overweight- however we got bumped up to business class which was a whole new, amazing world. The seats reclined all the way back!!! Anyway, we got into Beijing around 4 pm and took off the next day around 8 am and flew to Amsterdam (10 hours) and then flew to London (1.5 hours). We had to take a one hour bus to another airport, where we stayed-up the entire night playing rummy because we had a 6 am flight to Dublin, Ireland the following day. When we got into Dublin our hotel room wasn’t ready so we went to the Guinness Factory and then walked around the city a bit. We finally got into our hotel room around 3pm. I slept from 4 pm until 6 am the next day. It was a crazy couple of days, but we were too cheap to by a hotel room in London. Dublin is really cool, but it doesn’t look like a big city. Although there are a lot of people, the buildings aren’t very tall but they look really cool. We came during the heat wave- so the weather was great. Travis and I went on a tour, called “The Shamrocker.” We drove around in a yellow bus with about fifteen other people (all around the same age). I can’t truly describe to you how much fun we had. We met-up in Dublin and drove west and then down south and back up again to Dublin. We saw lots of castles, amazing countryside, and drank Guinness all along the way. It’s true, the Guinness is better in Ireland. I’ve been there before when I was young, but it’s much better as an adult. It really is a very green-looking country. They have lots of hills and mountains, but it’s covered with green grass. My favorite town was Westport. It was right on the water and really cute. You hear this a lot, but it’s also true. The people are so awesome and genuinely friendly. This older fellow, who’s a regular at the local pub (by the way, I’ve never seen so many pubs!!!), started to sing Irish folk songs and everyone followed along- it was magical. Irish people tell great stories, love to sing, and the guys are really flirtatious. Even an old married woman like me was getting hit on. One guy actually kept winking at me across from the bar. I don’t know why, but getting winked at by an Irish guy is just funny to me. And yup, they do seem to really enjoy drinking, especially their Guinness. As one of our tour guides said, “It’s the sweet nectar of the Gods.” The tour we got, through “Haggis Tours.” paid for the transportation, tour guide, and it guarantees a room in a hostel. You can request a private room but not all of the hostels have them. We sometimes had to sleep in mixed dorms, which was weird but you don’t spend a lot of time in there. Just sleep. It was six days and a total blast. We met so many people and had good conversations about traveling, politics, and just life in general… These are now great memories...
Our next stop was London. As you may know, I lived in London for four years growing up (aged 7-11). I have always wanted to go back, so this was a different trip for me than Travis because he’s never been there. I was reminiscing the whole time and even visited both of my old houses and elementary school (which, by the way, closed down that June). I also went to my old, favorite candy store and bought some sweets. It’s owned by a different family but it looked the same. On one of the days we went to the Tower of London, London Bridge, and Big Ben. I loved that! I think British history and the royal family is really interesting. Since we went on a previous Haggis tour, we got a discount off the next one, so we decided to do the Cornwall trip around southwest England. We saw Stonehenge, lots of castles, beautiful scenery, Merlin’s caves, the Roman Baths and Lands End. We learned the story about the Knights of the Roundtable and we ate Cornish pasties and had the best scones and clotted cream ever. My favorite place was Newquay. It reminds me of a surfer town in California. They had a place with the best fish and chips too. Plus, all these cute stores that were right above a cliff looking over the ocean. It had a very fun-loving vibe to it and a great place to visit in the summer. The beach was gorgeous! I never knew England had beaches like that. We met some cool people on this trip too, but since it was four days we didn’t really bond like we did with the first tour group we went one. However, we still had a good time, although it was expensive. If you didn’t know, the pound is almost double Travis the American dollar. We pretty much ate sandwiches the whole time. After our two and a half week trip, we flew back to Beijing because I had to start work the very next day. It was great coming back to China and feasting for five bucks.
CHINESE LESSON: The first week of October is a national holiday, so we get a week off. It’s also the time of the Moon Festival or mid-Autumn festival. The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month on the Chinese calendar. Legend says that Chang Er (Goddess of the moon) flew to the moon after stealing some elixir from her husband, where she has lived ever since. It is said that you might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. They celebrate it by making “moon cakes” and you’re supposed to eat these under a full moon. It’s also a time when there are family reunions where you eat moon cakes under the moon and think about how wonderful the world is. Moon cakes are these nasty round cakes with bean paste in them. To be fair, I did have a coconut one which was pretty good. The tradition reminds me a lot of fruit cake at Christmas. People give fruit cake as a gift during Christmas time, expecting that the other person is going to enjoy eating it- very much like moon cakes. Travis and I both got tons of them from our parents. They’re so popular, even Starbucks makes them.
The second year around is so much better… I’m working with a new counselor this year and showing her the ropes, which cracks me up because I was completely lost last year. I’m enjoying my job and keeping busy with parent workshops (I’m organizing a Career Coaching one this year with my colleague) and preparing to run a social skills group for boys. I’m also one of the co-advisors to the Student Council group (we call it STUCO). It’s fun because the kids are amazing, but it’s definitely a time commitment. I have to attend all the school events and chaperone them. My friend is doing it with me, so it’s not that bad and it’s a good chance to get-to-know some kids better. Travis still loves his job and is getting more involved with leadership stuff at the school. We also got a car! Oh man, the quality of life has improved 1000%. It’s a 2003 Great Wall SAFE. The body looks like a Toyota 4-Runner and it’s crimson and gray (go cougs!). We’re SO HAPPY we gave in and bought one. We’ve already had some mini adventures, including going to where the Great Wall meets the ocean and some other towns along the way. In addition, we’re almost settled now in our new place. We just got our furniture (we got stuff made) last week. We’ve been sleeping on a mattress since July and I’ve been dreaming of the day when we could finally have our own bed. This year I’ll be able to finally nest and make a home.
Travis and I are going to Shanghai for the weekend at the end of October to celebrate our birthdays, so that’ll be fun. We’re also coming home for Winter break. I’m looking forward to the smell of Christmas, rainy weather, watching “A Christmas Story,” and shopping. Last year we went to Australia and it was super hot and didn’t feel like Christmas at all.
I hope all is well on your end… Like I always say at the end of these updates, we love hearing from you even if it’s just to say hello…
Cheers,
Cara
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