Thursday, May 30, 2013

Our First 12 Months of Honeymooning!

Well, it has been over a year now since we got married. Life has been full of adventures and full of surprises. We had a few good months at home after we got married followed by a bold move to China only a few months after marriage. Some say it causes for a difficult year and others say it is the best thing to do right after getting married. We have experienced the latter opinion. Having moved to China and away from our normal support groups and friends, we have learned to lean on each other more and to lean to Father more when things got tough. There is much more to this, but before I get carried away, here is the main reason for this post!

A brief review of our year of being married! We have done quite a bit! I hope you all enjoy this post!

May 26th, 2012
Tying the knot!

June
Moving into our temporary home for the summer! 

Watching friends run 100 miles during Western States Endurance Run (with Marissa Licon)

Climbing Mount Whitney together!

The view from 13,600 plus feet!

Visiting my sister in Pasadena! Love you Leya!

July
Going to Disneyland :-)

 In Mickey's fridge (I think?).
Cheese Dip Ice Cream anyone?

Rachel calling the local police for help! Unfortunately, it wasn't a real phone. ;-)

Maybe I was having too much fun? haha Can you tell which movie this is from?

Vegas. The Bellagio for Rachel's birthday!

My classy wife! <3

Enjoying a warm night in Vegas

August
Our last stop at China Beach in San Francisco, CA...in preparation for life in China. 

Layover in LAX and last meal in America for 2012. Thanks for treating Leya! 

China here we come!! 

One of our first views of campus, SIAS International University, from Renmin Lu (People's Road).

September
Eating dumplings in China! I think we ate a whole meal for less than $2 for the both of us.

First bike ride in Xinzheng, China.

What us foreigners call "Two-head Park" in downtown Xinzheng.

Climbing up to the 5th floor to teach Oral English.

October
Going to Xi'an and visiting the famous Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses site. (Click on link to learn more about these newly discovered (in the 70's) life-size soldiers that were made to protect the deceased emperor in 210 B.C.). 


November
Visiting Kaifeng! 
(Read more about this from a previous post by clicking here).


Visiting Luoyang!
One of the coolest and unbelievable places I've been to in China: Longmen Grottoes.
Over 10,000 statues of Buddha and his disciples carved into the mountain. Truly an incredibly historical place that one should visit if in China.







December
Experiencing our first snow in China (right outside of Peter Hall)

Also, experiencing some of the worst pollution days of winter (AQI: 500+).

January
Escaping to Thailand!

Nikki Beach Bungalows, Koh Samui, Thailand

My lovely wife waiting for her dinner.

Out for a joy ride in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Thai shrines and Buddhas are totally different from their Chinese counterpart. 

February
Hong Kong! One of my favorite cities in China. A beautiful and overcast day on Victoria Peak.

Overlooking Hong Kong.

Being a little silly at a park in Hong Kong.

March
Getting back into the flow of things. One of the nine Finance classes I teach.

Isaac is not our student. But we met him in the beginning of the year and have been friends since!

April
Climbing Songshan (aka. Mt. Song), one of the five sacred mountains in China.

Made it to the top!

Now to take stairs all the way down.

The entrance to the famous Shaolin Temple.

The Pagoda Forest

One of the coolest experiences we've had in China. 
"Shaolin Zen Music Ritual"
An incredible outdoor show filled with Kung Fu with the mountains as a backdrop.

Visiting the National Museum of Chinese Writing in Anyang, a city far north in Henan.

An example of ancient Chinese characters. The far left is the ancient characters (they totally resemble the meaning) and center character is the traditional way of writing. Now, Chinese use an even simplified version.

Visiting Linlu Mountain
If you look closely, you'll see all the stairs people must take to climb the mountain. Mountains in China are all equipped with stairs...that is how one climbs mountains here.

Climbing Shizushan (aka. Mount Juci). The gentleman to the far right is a total random fellow. We encounter this is China quite often. People will ask to take photos with us regularly...but this guy? he just photo bombed this one and threw his hand on my back.
On our decent down Shizushan.
(Rachel, Isaac, and Obama...yes, I said that correctly. His English name is Obama! :)

May
Beijing! Finally!
This is a view of Forbidden City from temple on top of a hill. Quite the epic view.

The Great Wall (Mutianyu section).

Last but no where near least, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 
After over two and a half years together, we finally gave into wearing what is quite popular in China, couple t-shirts. We even have couple mugs. 

Thank you for reading our blog! We can't wait to be back home!

If everything goes according to plan, we will land on the 19 of June! Looking forward to it BIG TIME!

Miss you all!

-Benjamin

2 comments:

  1. Hey You Two,
    We are so looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks and hearing abt. your year of adventures. Maybe you can give us a fashion update for China-- those matching t shirts will be a real hit in Calif. Hope you don't have matching fuzzy panda bear bedroom slippers!
    Love,
    Aunt Lou Ann and Uncle Steve

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Aunt Lou Ann and Uncle Steve!
    Thanks for the comment! We cant wait to see you both again, too!
    Um...so does that mean you don't want a gift of matching panda slippers? Uh oh...

    ReplyDelete