S’mores an American Classic

Christine and Henny came over for an impromtu movie night. On the way over Christine stopped by Walmart to pick up milk for the morning danishes I promised. She found something extra and surprised us with the necessities for S’mores.  Henny of course had never had one so Christine and I enjoyed the initiation. We

The New BYU group!

With a new year comes a new group of teachers. The Qingdao International Branch is composed mainly of Korean members and the BYU English teachers. These English teachers are all retirees  that have volunteered through the David M. Kennedy Center through BYU. The group this year is wonderful. I will miss the old group dearly. Victoria left all the

The smell of HomeDepot

Okay maybe I’m weird, wait so I’m weird but this is my blog so I’m writing it anyway. You know those smells that trigger memories, memories that just make you smile. They have begun building a new residential complex to the northeast of my building and the sounds and smell of construction permeate the air.

Kayte’s First KTV

I’ve happily managed to avoid KTV for over a year. I was beginning to wonder if I would actually make it out of China without going to one. I seriously contemplated skipping out as I had a valid excuse of classes the next day when I finally decided it would be wrong if not a mortal sin to leave

New Year’s: A Quiet Dinner In

I was hoping for a wild New Year’s to be honest. The last crazy one I had was in Argentina but when your school night curfew is 2am a 12pm party just doesn’t hold the same weight. With there being a few great party animals here I was hoping for a real zinger of a New Years. Imagine my disappointment when

I think I have a problem…

The following pictures I think pretty much cover it. Um oh yeah I’m missing my latest purchase a five strand multi-size beauty.

I’m not dead

I got an interesting email the other day so I figured it was time to write something on this blog. I realized leaving the gas leak as the last blog was not the wisest place to take a hiatus. So to assure you I am alive and kicking and not the victim of another gas leak

An International Thanksgiving

As usual Brad was our holiday coordinator for Thanksgiving. We decided on a potluck as the costs of a real western feast can be astronomical and well, cooking a western feast in a Chinese kitchen isn’t exactly a piece of cake either. Once assignments were made I ended up with the classic Green Bean Casserole,

My contribution to the weekly Newsletter

The Virtual Branch I attend here in China has a weekly newsletter for the Relief Society Sisters. I was asked to contribute my thoughts on the topic of Chinese food. I was told to take it in any direction so here is what I ended up with… Coming to China has been one of the

As one door closes another opens

AMIO has hired a full time teacher thus eliminating the need for a part time teacher. This came at a most convenient time in all honesty. Julie was approached for an English job, once or twice a week at a local automotive company. We spoke with the representative and worked out the details. In the