What is traveling to China like?

A long time ago, Tricia said she would allow me access to post on this FAMILY blog. Well, she finally gave me the permissions needed to do so, so I'll do something I was going to do back then. A few years ago, my dad invited me to join him on a lecture trip to Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. When I left, I didn't have an opportunity to see or talk to Tricia as she was on a trip with her family in Nauvoo, IL. As a result, I started and kept a diary of my travels so I could share my experiences with her. I'll share those notes now (and maybe some pictures as well). Remember, this was about 2 years ago... and I was travel weary for most of it :).

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I am sans phone or internet use so... paper and pen. I was sad as to the outcome of our last phone call... I had hoped to hve a conversation because I was lonely and missing you. It was very frustrating to call Joe, Rich, Jill, Ang, Nick and you at least twice each and the outcome being Isak barking like a dog, Becca telling me that you guys were going to be an a parade and our short exchange. Regardless, I don't write this to complain, I have a lot I wanted to share with you.

1. So, I weighed my bag last night and it came to like 55 lbs. I got online (this was at midnight) to confirm that this was okay. Well, I saw that I could take two bags, but both had to be less than 50lbs each and have a linear measurement of 62" (length + width). The big bag was 65" according to my measurements. So I panicked. I went back to the computer to verify the 62" and discovered that, in my travels in Asia, my bags had to have a COMBINED weight of 44lbs. Wonderful, so I am using the wheeled duffel bag and got rid of some stuff. It weighs 40lbs, including my pillow. I decided to change backpacks as well, due to size (and I got rid of some stuff there).

2. I mowed, weedwacked, cleaned, did dishes, watched a movie, played some games but was very alone last night. I missed you and Becca and Isak.

3. So, the flight to Chicago was short and uneventful. I had a drink that I brought and read. It was.

(Editor's note: This is when I made the phone calls. It was a very frustrating 30 min. BTW - all comments that I am currently adding will be inticated with brackets and in red text.)

4. We are currently almost over the North Pole right now... 5 hours into the flight, and 5199 miles left (2872 miles traveled) (about 10.5 hours left).

5. While I was at Mom and Dad's yesterday, I took the liberty of selecting my seat... with Mom's input. We decided on a window seat towards the back of the airplane (row 59 of 62). I'll have to show you a seating chart. the normal [seating] configuration is 3-4-3, I am in a 2-4-2 setup [those are number of seats across a row. The plane started tapering at the tail around the area of row 59, so they couldn't fit as many seats] with about a foot of open space between me and the bulkhead, me and then an empty seat. I don't want to write the whole story so you'll have to remind me about the change in aircraft. [I don't remember the story at this time] However, the flight is almost completely full. A flight attendant came up to me after the doors wre closed and asked if I was in my assigned seat. I told him I was, and he asked if the seat next to me was empty. I said that it was, to the best of my knowledge. He looked at me and said something like, "I like you and you are a big guy, so we'll leav this seat empty. However, until after takeoff, why don't you sit here (in the aisle seat). There is a gentleman up front looking for an aisle seat." Of course I figuratively jumped into the adjacent seat. After take-off he came by and told me that I could move back whenever I wanted to. The 3 guys in front of me, however, have had their seats in the reclining position the ENTIRE flight, 2 of them from before takeoff.

6. I got to see Frost/Nixon. I think you would really like it if we can find it in an edited format (it is rated R, I could tell there were a LOT of edited words).

7. So half-way through movie #2 (Seven Pounds) they are handing out bowls of Ramen noodles w/ an attendant giving out hot water. I think this is very funy (7 hours into the flight).

8. (BTW - starting w/ #7, these are all real time) Seven Pounds just ended. I am not sure you would like it. It is kind of like Enigma, but harder to follow.

9. There is a flight attendant that whacks the row in front of me with her cart EVERY TIME SHE COMES BY. You would think she would be ready for it. No one else does it.

10. So my chair is off-set, right? My fold down tray folds down and slides to the left and right so I am able to center it to my seat. BTW... We are almost over Siberia now (just north of it) 3917 Mi to go, 7:30 elapsed... Movie #3 is getting ready to start. According to my frame of reference, it is 8:00PM. I realized a bit ago that I'll be landing @ 4:30AM, my time. YUCK!

11. We are over Siberia now... almost all the way through. 2870 miles to go and it has been 9:15 in the air... and I gots gas bad. must have been the noodles. We just finished Inkheart. It wasn't good. Brandon Frasier plays a very convincing cavemen. nfortunately, that character was only needed for one movie. So it is 9:45PM my time. I'm gonna try to take a nap. Movie #4 is Bride Wars... and while I am interested, I'd like to get some sleep before I have to pretend I'm wide awake.

12. We are over China now. 11:50 into the flight. That means 2 hours of sleep. Wahoo!

13. I'm in Hong Kong w/ Dad. We ate at McDonalds, which I thought was very funny. We walked around a bit and I was accosted by, what I can only assume were, hookers. Good times. It is 8:20PM here... 8:20AM there. I am going to bed and you are waking up. Jet lag should be a joy to deal with. On a positive note, I lost a day, so I'll need one less pair of garments.
[This is me, just off the plane.]
[This is the Hong Kong McDonalds we stopped at.]

14. I forgot to leave a note from yesterday. Yesterday, Dad and I rode the MTR (subway) to the [Hong Kong] temple, tried to enter the temple (although we were not in sunday clothes and the temple was closed [for cleaning and maintenance]), walked a bit, had a massage (my chick stood on my back and was friendly with my butt), took the Star Ferry to mainland Hong Kong, walked the Avenue of (Chinese) Stars, ate at a chinese place in a mall, watched a light show [all the large shoreline buildings on the Hong Kong island participate in a laser light show set to music], took the Star Ferry back and came back to our room.

[This is what we were wearing when trying to visit the Hong Kong temple. We are in front of the temple.]

15. I forgot to leave a note from 2 days ago (Monday). Dad and I tried to get a Chinese visa; I did an English review while Dad found the Hong Kong church building; we went on a tour to Victoria Park, Aberdean (a fishing village), Dynasty Jewellery shop, Stanley Market (where Dad bought Mom silk PJs and I got Tricia 3 Pashminas) and saw the Man-Mo temple (Literature-Martial Arts); we had a seafood dinner on Monday and rode the city tram back [a series of double-decker tram cars in Hong Kong].

16. Today I went to Macau (Portuguese-owned territory) [like Hong Kong was a British owned territory of China] and saw a Chinese temple, the remains of a Catholic Cathedral, a Portuguese fort, Casino and rode on a hydrofoil. Dad lectured and we had dinner w/ the owner of the Untradent distributor for Hong Kong. He was tipping everybody very well. It was a very authentic Chinese meal.

[This is the coastline of Macau.]

17. We are leaving for Korea tomorrow... after breakfast. I forgot to mention breakfasts. I have eated peppered beef pastries, sharkfin dumplings, pork dumplings, a chicked bun (very pasty) and normal breakfast stuff.

18. I don't know why I am still numbering these things.

19. Today Dad and I traveled to Korea. We flew into Seoul and then on to Kwang Ju. We met up with Dad's friends, the Parks. They took us to a hotel and Dad asked me to get our bags, so I did. We then went to the Restaurant and ate, then we went back to the car and drove to the Park's house. For dinner, I consumed kimshee, pickled duck's egg (it was purple and green), sweet and sour shrimp, some beef thing, some spicy chicken wings, and other stuff... oh, and persimmon jam. And I had a bowl of spicy noodles w/ seafood in it. I don't know what all I ate was, but I had to stop after the 1st two rubbery things. I figure I had eaten enough weird food for one day. We got back to the Park's apartment and, although we had eaten a very large dinner, they put out more food. She cut up a fruit that my father calls, "paz" and I think the Parks are saying, "pears". I don't think they have ever corrected him. I am awefully tired now, and it is only 9:30 (10:30 Korean time and 9:30AM your time). And the Park's don't have central air so I am very hot.
[Dad and I and the Park family.]

20. The Parks just took us around Kwang Ju. We went to the KJ Christian Hospital, Dr Park's Son's office, ate a traditional Korean lunch [sitting on the floor, 'family style' service], and went to some random Dr's home for fruit and some kind of gross refried bean pastry from Japan. We fly back to Seoul in 2 hrs. Wahoo
[This is lunch and everyone sitting on the floor.]

21. Okay... So I think Kwanju was better. We flew into Seoul, our little guy (incidentally named, Kevin) was about 20 min late picking us up. We got stuck in traffic and had to go directly to our scheduled dinner. We had some fancy schmancy Italian food, which included octopus and steak so tender that I was cutting it with a butter knife. After dinner (with our other lecturer), Kevin took us to a Korean restaurant where we ate dog. Yum. (Not). Kevin is very excitable and wants to please everybody and prove that Korea is the best place ever. When we were checking in, Kevin was very anxious to schedule a tour for me, so he picked one... I'll be the only one on the tour and it ends w/ a sauna and massage. Should be very interesting. I didn't argue w/ him because he is paying for it, but I probably would have picked something different.
[Dad and I eating dog meat.]

22. Something I forgot from a few days ago. We were on our tour of Hong Kong and the tour guide was telling us about a shark attack on one of their beaches. He asked, "If there is a European and Chinaman in the water w/ a shark, who would the shark eat first?" I answered, "The European, because if he ate the Chinaman, he would be hungry two hours later." Everyone on the bus thought it was funny, but the tour guide didn't.

23. In Taiwan now. My tour guide yeaterday [from item #21] suggested that I not do the sauna and massage, so I didn't. Instead, I toured two very [VERY] similar Korean palaces, went to two different tourist stores (ginsing and amythist) and walked along a korean market street. Last night, we ate stinky tofu and rice with pig's blood. Dad, Chris and I were late getting to the airport. We checked in at the time when boarding of the plane was starting. We were very vervous for a bit. I am on my way to a seaside and downtown Taipei tour. I am excited to be leaving in less than 24 hours.

24. So I texted you a bit of this, but I went to a seaside town, finally found gifts for Becca and Isak, saw some natural rock formations (wahoo), went to the China History museum, saw the changing of the guard somewhere and saw a Tawanese temple. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the Korean one for comparison's sake. I have some big dinner tonight that should be fun. I also saw a Coldstone Creamery and Dunkin' Donuts. I am stoked! [This is the Taiwanese temple. It was very much a party atmosphere]

25. Okay, no donuts... I'm bummed. I am in Hong Kong now, awaiting my flight. We got up at 4:00AM. I am also having GI problems, so this flight should be delightful. I am crazy excited to be home soon, though.

26. I just ended texting you. Air guitar guy suddenly started air drums. I chuckled.

27. Okay, I chickened out. I paid for an upgrade to Economy Plus. $150 or $10 per hour. Sorry.

28. So, I am in Economy Plus. I have the entire row (3 seats) all to myself. I have been able to lay across all three seats and sleep... for almost 3 hours. I am glad I spent the money. Unfortunately, as I like to sit in the window seat... the woman in front of me is very irrate because she was hoping to use this row [the one I was in] to sleep in. Sucks to be her.

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So, those were my experiences. The thing on the flight home was funny, because I upgraded like 5 min before I got on the plane. I was originally sharing the row with a preteen boy, but he moved over with his parents shortly into the flight. The lady in front of me had looked at the flight before she left and had seen that my row was empty and had been hoping to move to it after the flight started. If I remember correctly, she was in a full row and there were some large people in it with her. I was very lucky.

Becca's three white dresses...two down, one to go

February 9, 2003 - Becca was blessed.

January 22, 2011 - Becca was baptized (in a white jumpsuit, not a dress, much to her chagrin)




I can't express enough how much I love this little girl.

When she was a baby I called her my angel. She changed my life in ways that I could have never imagined.

She was an angel.

She is an angel.

She is a precious daughter of our Father in Heaven and I am so blessed to have her entrusted to my care.

Christmas Letter

We just recently mailed out our holiday letter. Being away from home over Christmas threw us off a bit. Due to the lateness of the letter, we didn't send it to everyone that we normally do, and we didn't have time to get addresses for new friends and family that we've added to our mailing list. I am posting it here, hoping that everyone who would like to read it will be able to do so. We love our friends and family and are so grateful to be able to stay in touch with all of you!

The holidays and the year have come to a close, but we have one last task to check off our list – send our annual letter and well wishes to our beloved family and friends. We hope you all felt the joy of the holiday season, enjoyed peace and happiness in 2010 and look forward to 2011 with hope and gladness!

Like all of you, we have had a busy year.

Jeremy is now in his third year of dental school which means that he spends less time in classrooms and more time in the clinic, which he loves! He enjoys the other students and staff in the clinic as well as his patients. Some days he actually feels like a dentist! In addition to his school work, Jeremy continues to do freelance proofreading and reviewing, and also continues to serve as the ward finance clerk.

Tricia enjoys having both kids in school and has become more involved in helping out in their classrooms and volunteering with the PTO. She helps Jeremy stay on top of his freelance work and does some of her own as well. Tricia was recently released from the stake Young Women’s presidency and is now serving in the ward Primary presidency. Both callings have proven to be challenging but fun!

It is often said of Becca that she is a miniature Tricia. She loves 2nd grade, has started singing in the Indianapolis Children’s Choir and continues to take dance lessons (jazz and tap this year). She is responsible and thoughtful and loves EVERYTHING!

If Becca is a miniature Tricia, then Isak is a miniature Jeremy. He has a fun sense of humor and makes us laugh all the time. He loves being in Kindergarten, but really can’t wait until 1st grade when he can be in school all day. Isak loves to read and will read just about anything he can get his hands on. He also enjoys going to taekwondo classes and playing video games.

We were especially fortunate this year to take a trip to Hawaii over the Christmas holiday. We were there for two weeks, spending 4 days on the island of Oahu and 10 days on the island of Molokai. We had a blast sightseeing, spending time with our friends who travelled with us, snorkeling and playing at the beach!

Those of you who know us well, though, will not be surprised to know that we were grateful to get back to the cool weather in Indianapolis! We loved so much about Hawaii, but not the weather. Well, except for Isak, who claims that he is a full-blooded Hawaiian and tells us every day that he wants to move there.

It was fun to come home from our trip and find cards and letters from so many of you! Thank you for keeping in touch! We send our love and wish you the best in 2011!

Whiner Nightmares

At about 4:00 this morning Isak came into our bedroom cyring. He'd had a nightmare. Typically when he has a bad dream he will come tell us, and maybe cry a little bit, but is easily calmed and will go back to bed.

This nightmare was different. He was near hysterics - crying, shaking and absolutely refusing to go back to his bed. I let him climb into bed with us and tried to comfort him. He calmed down a bit and after several minutes said, "Mom, do you know what a whiner is?"

"Yes"

"What is it?"

"A person who whines a lot." And, being confused about the randomness of this conversation asked, "Why?"

"Because there was a whiner in my nightmare. It was coming after me!" And then he burst into tears again.

So there you go. Whiners are SCARY!

I want my baby back, baby back, baby back

As Isak grew out of his clothes as a baby, we would box them up and take them out to Jeremy's parents' house to be stored and saved for Jer's brother, Jason and his wife, Megan. Jason and Megan have had two girls, and thus have not yet needed boy clothes. Recently Jer's parents have started redecorating their home and needed to empty out closets. They asked us if we would take the tubs of stored baby clothes off their hands. And so it is that I am hauling around about six tubs of baby boy clothes in the back of my van.

Today I decided to go through the clothes and see what is there and try to determine what to do with them. There's nothing like going through your kids' baby clothes to fill your heart with the joy of sweet memories and a longing for time to slow down just a little bit.

Isak turned six yesterday. I am simply amazed. I even asked him yesterday, "Isak, how can you be six when you've only been alive for like two years?!" He thinks I'm crazy. I think that time goes by too fast.

Thankfully he still snuggles with me (by the way, if you've read earlier posts about Isak, he loves me again) and doesn't complain too much when I smother him with kisses and call him "doodle bug". I can't imagine my life without this boy who is one of the greatest miracles of my life and who makes me laugh everyday.

In My Daughter's Eyes

Last week I went to Becca's classroom to be a "mystery reader". I showed up while the class was at lunch, and before they returned to the classroom, covered myself with a large sheet. The children were allowed to ask me "yes" or "no" questions to which I could respond by nodding my head. Once they figured out who I was, I took off the sheet and was prepared to read a couple of books to them.

However, before I started reading, the teacher asked me to tell the class about myself. "Hmmmm...what would twenty-two 7 & 8 year-olds be interested in knowing about me?" I wondered. I simply stated, "My name is Tricia Matis. I am Rebecca's mom. I also have a son named Isak who is 5. (thoughtful pause ) Ummm...do you have any questions for me?"

For a brief moment I thought, "Wow. This is depressing. I can't think of anything interesting to say about my life!" Then, a hand went up. "Yes," I aksed.

"What do you do?"

"Well, I'm a mom."

Another hand went up. "Um...I think she meant, what kind of work do you do?"

"Well, I work at home, as a mom," To which sweet Becca added, "She does a lot of work at home."

Then, Becca leaned over to me and said, "Tell them about the food you make."

"What?" I whispered back, confused.

"You know, the food that you make to take to people who need help."

"Oh."

And then I realized. I am more than the woman who cleans the house and does the laundry. I am more than the person who keeps everyone on schedule and makes sure that homework gets done. I am more than the chauffer who ensures that everyone is where they need to be.

I am a heroine. I comfort. I serve. I love. I take meals to people!

At least, I realized in that moment, that's what my daughter sees in me.

So, I turned to the class, with Becca smiling proudly at my side, and explained, "You see, because I am able to be a stay-at-home mom, and don't have to work outside the home, I have time to do things like prepare meals for people who are sick, have just had a baby or have lost a loved one."

I knew in that moment that I am being exactly the kind of mom I want to be. No, I'm not perfect, but in spite of my imperfections, my daughter is learning how heroic it is to be a mom who not only serves her family, but blesses the lives of those around her. I'm grateful for what she sees in me, for it inspires me to better - to measure up to what she sees in me.

A New Favorite

I am a huge fan of the movie Anne of Green Gables. In my post-mission, pre-marriage days, I had roomates who introduced me to the Anne movies. Whenever one of us was sick, or just having a really horrible day, we would have an Anne marathon.

There is some controversy over when this specifically happened, but around the time that Jeremy and I got married we found the Anne books in a little bookstore for not much money. I had never read the books and decided that I would like to. Jeremy bought them for me.

That was 11 1/2 years ago.

I don't know why I never actually read them. I started the first one and only got a couple of chapters in before I stopped. Every once in a while Jeremy would harrass me about not reading the books.

For Mothers' Day this year Jeremy got me the set of dvd's . It had been on my wishlist FOREVER and I was super excited. What is even more exciting is that I now have a daughter old enough to appreciate them with me. So the day after Becca broke her collar bone this past summer, when she was in a lot of pain and couldn't really do more than just sit, I asked her if she wanted to watch the first one. She LOVED it! Within 24 hours we had watched all 3 movies! I was in heaven.

That sparked my interest once again in reading the books.

Well, with the craziness of summer (kids at home, YW camp, pioneer trek...) I didn't get to read much, but finally, last night, I finished reading Anne of Green Gables.

The point of this post isn't to tell you a long, boring story about reading a book that I bought almost 12 years ago. The point is to share with you my new favorite quote. It inspired me to a feeling of gratitude for my life, that isn't exactly what I dreamed of, but suits me perfectly.

"...but if the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joys of sincere work and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship were to be hers; nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams. And there was always the bend in the road!"

"'God's in his heaven, all's right with the world,'" whispered Anne softly.

Like Anne, I am a dreamer. And though the dreams that I hold dear don't always come true in the way that I dream them, "flowers of quiet happiness" bloom along my path, "the joys of sincere work, and worthy aspiration and congenial friendship" are mine, and there always is a "bend in the road!"

Indeed, "God's in his heaven, all's right with the world."