Quick note

Family,

 

Here are some pictures of the highlights of the week.  Bryce was one of the younger brothers in the stake play - Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  The cowboy song (with Bryce doing a low bass feature) was hilarious and sticks in my mind all day.

 

I gave a lesson in the Gospel Essentials class today - on the Temple.  Here are a couple of the illustrations I used.  We talked about the temple in antiquity including the influence of the Great Temple in Egypt.  Did you know that the Great Temple (what we today call the Great Pyramid) was already 1000 years old when Moses was in Egypt?  Then we talked about what questions people have about the temple and how we can best answer them.  It was fun.

 

Kaaren has been sick with the flu for the last couple of days.  She is now on the mend.

 

It has been raining for 3 days now without stopping.  And it is cold and misty at night and foggy in the mornings. We are into the winter season already.

 

We are remodeling our bathroom - finally.  Our contractor we found for Keizer apartment work is doing it.  Also replacing our windows in the house.  Logan helped me put in the shower pan yesterday.  It was fun.

 

I guess you know that Kaaren is going to New York for a meeting with Amy and a potential large publisher - Scholastic - of children's books.

 

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving this coming week.  Forrest and Kaarina will join the extended Portland Pixton family.

 

I am singing with the Portland Mormon Choir and Orchestra and quite enjoying it.

 

That is all for this evening.  Tired and need to join Kaaren in bed.  We bought a new mattress yesterday and we need to try it out.

 

love,

 

Dad

We're home!

Family,

We arrived safely today from Hong Kong. Courtney and children picked us up. We check 5 bags (including the huge packed jar from Beijing) and carried on the rest. We needed two carts to haul all our luggage. Only one bag didn't make it with us and it has been found and will be delivered to our home this afternoon.

We left Hong Kong on Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 at 12:30 and flew east through the rest of a day, a night and another morning over the international date line, arriving after a stop in SFO at PDX at 1 PM on Tuesday - the "same" day.

The house is beautiful and clean - Bryce cleaned all the carpets while we were gone! And Courtney and Bryce cleaned counter surfaces in the kitchen. We really have a wonderful home and it was such a pleasure to come home to this special place. Colors in the trees are vibrant now and were a pleasant splash to the senses. I fired up the spa, turned on the water heater in our west bedroom wing and we unpacked our Chinese jar and placed it on the fireplace threshhold where it looks great.

The grandchildren are playing in the house and sound happy. They were glad to see us.

Thank you, Mark and Elaine, for everything. It was a magical visit and vacation.

Here's a last word at about the photos I have sent to the flickr site to help you get the most of it. I like to go there the simple way to me -

1. just go to www.pixtonfamily.com and then click on one of the pictures. It will take you to the latest photos uploaded on the flickr site.
2. Regardless of which photos you initially see, click on the blue text to the right of the screen that says "tompixton's photostream". That will take you to a group of photos with the separate "albums" shown on the right of the screen.
3. Choose which group ("album") of photos to see by clicking on the album you want.
4. You will then see all the photos in that album grouped on the right and the first one in the set shown larger on the left.
5. You can look at individual photos by clicking on them - the title of the photo (if I had time to make one) will be at the top of the photo. However, I think the best way to look at the photos is:
6. click on "view as slideshow" . That will show the photos the largest and will move you through them pretty quickly. You can move your curser over the arrows to the right and left of the photo to move along or go back faster. Also
7. move the curse to the middle of the photo - over an "i" watermark and click it. That will reveal the title of the photo, which otherwise doesn't appear in the slideshow.
8. Lastly, another tip. You can press F-11 and the photo will displayed over the full screen. Press F-11 again return to normal display.

There. I hope that makes the photos more enjoyable and you can get as much of a kick out of them as I do.

love,

Dad

Art Museum and Last Walk in Hong Kong and Kowloon

Family,
Here are some pictures from our adventures today. Hong Kong park through the green house and aviary and then to The Peak of the island where there are tourist shops and restaurants. A steep tram takes tourists to the top, but we took a taxi - much faster, cheaper and no lines. We had a great dinner at a restaurant overlooking the city below: German potatoe soup, tandoori salmon and tanfoori sea bass. Much pollution today which you can see from the photos taken at dusk. The view from The Peak actually improves at night because the lights of the cities cut through the smog.

In looking at the cities below, what you are seeing is Hong Kong from the south, at the peak of the island. Then there is a bay inbetween Hong Kong and Kowloon on the north. To the north of Kowloon, and not very visible in the photos is the area called New Territories. All three "cities" were controlled by the British until finally ceeded back to China in 1997. In ten years the place has thrived with the communist government pretty much leaving the capitalist system in place. Some hope this will be a good influence on mainland china - to influence their city mayors and managers to adopt the best of the system that has worked so well here.

I learned something yesterday that perhaps some of you already learned in school but I didn't. Hong Kong was just an empty island in the early 1800's but after the British fought with China over opium smuggling they were profiteering by (the Opium Wars - when Governer Linn of China destroyed all the opium on ships etc that could be found to attempt to stamp out the addiction of millions of Chinese to opium sold by British traders for Chinese silver) China ceded Hong Kong Island to the British to allow them a place to repair their ships and post personnel there for that purpose. But they used it also to continue their massive opium smuggling. Hong Kong grew as a place for trading, refiting ships and smuggling opium. In sum, Hong Kong has no natural resources except a harbor and lots of rocky island. It was founded and continues today solely for the purpose of trading and making money. Since most of the island is solid, steep rock, all housing and business is crammed on very little buildable space - hence the high density.

Many people here are very, very wealthy. You can get a picture of the vast wealth when you see the pictures of the high rise business buildings, but there is more in the elegant apartment buildings and houses that are crammed on the edges of the island. I will attempt to take some pictures of the more routine things that explain the daily way of life here. But Mark and Elaine, guests of the State Department, don't live a routine life. Fifteen years ago they lived in Windsor, not far from our house there, in a small house and struggled to make ends meet until he finally got word that he passed the foreign service exam and got hired. (He actually had passed the exam 10 years earlier, but that is another story). Now, after living all over the world and enjoying a reasonably comfortable salary, they live in a fancy high rise apartment that rents for $10,000 per month and rising. They drive a $150 Nissan but park it in the garage where I found mostly Mercedes and BMWs. An occasionally Porsche, etc. Most native people here live in much more cramped quarters and live modestly. But the super rich are super rich and there are lots and lots of them. Recently, an owner of a great house up at The Peak turned down an offer of $700 million for the house. Many people here have a home in Hong Kong and in Manhattan and in London. Such is life for some.

An interesting note on security. The Consulate General here is provided with a BMW. This would be expensive enough, but he needs special security, so BMW offers a special secure vehicle for persons of political importance. This one has glass 1 and 1/2 inch thick, armor all around, etc. and costs $250,000. There are many employees of the State Department here and Mark Johnsen's job is to manage the properties that house the offices and the homes and apartments the US owns. In Hong Kong, her manages property that tallies approximately $1 billion.

I thought of another thing that might interest you boys. There are no private airplanes in Hong Kong or Beijing. None. The only things in the air are commercial and military airliners and helicopters. I imagine someone might bring in a private Gulfstream or such a large jet airplane that can travel from another mainland but it can only land at the main, commercial international airports. Think of the relative freedom we enjoy compared to most of the world.

This morning Kaaren and Elaine went for a walk - about 7 miles - in the forest. I slept, read and wrote and dealt with business and family stuff by internet.

It has been a good day.

Any good news from home?

love,

Dad

Hong Kong Park and The Peak

Family,
Here are some pictures from our adventures today. Hong Kong park through the green house and aviary and then to The Peak of the island where there are tourist shops and restaurants. A steep tram takes tourists to the top, but we took a taxi - much faster, cheaper and no lines. We had a great dinner at a restaurant overlooking the city below: German potatoe soup, tandoori salmon and tanfoori sea bass. Much pollution today which you can see from the photos taken at dusk. The view from The Peak actually improves at night because the lights of the cities cut through the smog.

In looking at the cities below, what you are seeing is Hong Kong from the south, at the peak of the island. Then there is a bay inbetween Hong Kong and Kowloon on the north. To the north of Kowloon, and not very visible in the photos is the area called New Territories. All three "cities" were controlled by the British until finally ceeded back to China in 1997. In ten years the place has thrived with the communist government pretty much leaving the capitalist system in place. Some hope this will be a good influence on mainland china - to influence their city mayors and managers to adopt the best of the system that has worked so well here.

I learned something yesterday that perhaps some of you already learned in school but I didn't. Hong Kong was just an empty island in the early 1800's but after the British fought with China over opium smuggling they were profiteering by (the Opium Wars - when Governer Linn of China destroyed all the opium on ships etc that could be found to attempt to stamp out the addiction of millions of Chinese to opium sold by British traders for Chinese silver) China ceded Hong Kong Island to the British to allow them a place to repair their ships and post personnel there for that purpose. But they used it also to continue their massive opium smuggling. Hong Kong grew as a place for trading, refiting ships and smuggling opium. In sum, Hong Kong has no natural resources except a harbor and lots of rocky island. It was founded and continues today solely for the purpose of trading and making money. Since most of the island is solid, steep rock, all housing and business is crammed on very little buildable space - hence the high density.

Many people here are very, very wealthy. You can get a picture of the vast wealth when you see the pictures of the high rise business buildings, but there is more in the elegant apartment buildings and houses that are crammed on the edges of the island. I will attempt to take some pictures of the more routine things that explain the daily way of life here. But Mark and Elaine, guests of the State Department, don't live a routine life. Fifteen years ago they lived in Windsor, not far from our house there, in a small house and struggled to make ends meet until he finally got word that he passed the foreign service exam and got hired. (He actually had passed the exam 10 years earlier, but that is another story). Now, after living all over the world and enjoying a reasonably comfortable salary, they live in a fancy high rise apartment that rents for $10,000 per month and rising. They drive a $150 Nissan but park it in the garage where I found mostly Mercedes and BMWs. An occasionally Porsche, etc. Most native people here live in much more cramped quarters and live modestly. But the super rich are super rich and there are lots and lots of them. Recently, an owner of a great house up at The Peak turned down an offer of $700 million for the house. Many people here have a home in Hong Kong and in Manhattan and in London. Such is life for some.

An interesting note on security. The Consulate General here is provided with a BMW. This would be expensive enough, but he needs special security, so BMW offers a special secure vehicle for persons of political importance. This one has glass 1 and 1/2 inch thick, armor all around, etc. and costs $250,000. There are many employees of the State Department here and Mark Johnsen's job is to manage the properties that house the offices and the homes and apartments the US owns. In Hong Kong, her manages property that tallies approximately $1 billion.

I thought of another thing that might interest you boys. There are no private airplanes in Hong Kong or Beijing. None. The only things in the air are commercial and military airliners and helicopters. I imagine someone might bring in a private Gulfstream or such a large jet airplane that can travel from another mainland but it can only land at the main, commercial international airports. Think of the relative freedom we enjoy compared to most of the world.

This morning Kaaren and Elaine went for a walk - about 7 miles - in the forest. I slept, read and wrote and dealt with business and family stuff by internet.

It has been a good day.

Any good news from home?

love,

Dad

Slowing Down

Family,
Here are a few photos from the last day or so. Visiting the Hong Kong history museum in Kowloon and some more photos of architecture in downtown Hong Kong.

We are slowing down somewhat - this morning I slept late with a CPAC device on my face - trying it out. Kaaren and Elaine went for a hike and we are repacking and talking and considering how to best use the time we have left.

Also taking care of emails and questions from contractors, schools, law office, clients, and family back home. It takes time and we have just slowed down to take the time to deal with some of this business.

Yesterday, we went the consulate to meet with Mark and Elaine at work. Elaine and her nurse practitioner, Rena, diagnosed the dark spot on my back as ---- and Elaine used some cold gas to freeze it off. Kaaren and Elaine went to a Relief Society dinner - homemaking meeting and Mark and I went to get a hamburger and drove up to the "Peak" where we had a terrific view of both sides of Hong Kong Island. I'll try to get a photo today. It's an unbelieveable sight of world commerce focusing on one small place on the planet with extraordinarily wealthy results.

Not feeling very thoughtful at the moment - just thought I'd pass along some photos and say that I'm actually beginning to feel relaxed.

love,

Dad

No birds or ducks in China lakes and ponds

Family,
Talking with Brittany on the phone this morning reminded me about something I was going to write about but forgot. It's short.

If you look at the photo of us on the boat in the Beijing Hutong, you may notice that there are no ducks in the lake. They've all been eaten. Seeing a bird in Beijing and in Hong Kong is rare. I can count on one hand the birds I've seen in 12 days, except for one flock of doves flying at one point in Beijing, but that was it. No geese, ever. No pidgeons, no gulls at the sea shore. Nothing. I wrote earlier that there are a few feral dogs loose near Stanley Park - dogs that got loose from their masters - but they retreat into the forest when threatened. People eat dogs here, too. Of course, there are birds, and one hears them occasionally, but like I said, I've only seen a handful.

That is all.

Dad

Kowloon and Science Museum

Today Kaaren took the subway to Kowloon to see the Historical Museum of Hong Kong - but it was closed so we visited the adjacent Science Museum . It was modeled much like the OMSI museum with everything interactive for kids to learn - except they had a terrific exhibit on dinosaurs which we very much enjoyed. Then we walked through some side streets on the way to our subway connection. We found an authentic Chinese restaurant where they served noodle soups in huge bowls - essentially a hot sour soup base and you choose things to add. They were delicious. Unfortunately, several photos I took today, including the soup, are not saved on the camera card and I have no idea why. I did change batteries and everything looked ok but apparently I was mistaken. So only a few photos today.

Then we returned to Stanley Park where we bought things for the grandchildren (whoops - shhhhh) and a few carry bags for ourselves. When we got home, Kaaren made pizza and she is now watching a movie - Lemmony Snickets - while Mark is on his computer and Elaine is on the phone with family back in the US.

I am still recovering from the pain of my tooth - after seeing the dentist yesterday, it doesn't hurt if I don't put any pressure on it, but still felt a huge headache last night and very fatigued. I'm tired today and will turn in early.

We managed to get ourselves from Stanley Park onto a bus and onto a subway and then a change of subways and walk to the Museum and back again. So we are learning the system and enjoying traveling and seeing sights together.

We are praying daily for all of you - your needs we know about and those we don't. I hope you are doing well.

love,

Dad

Back in Hong Kong

Family,

Today I went to a Hong Kong dentist to help with pain in one tooth - learned the tooth has died and is infected and I need a root canal. He drilled out the decay, but did not complete a root canal - recommended I get that done when I return to the US - put on a temporary filling and gave me pain and antibiotic prescriptions . The bill was $42 US.

The other great adventure of the day was a trip to the tailor to pick up my new suit and 5 shirts custom made. They are not bad. I also rode the trolley a few miles each way to just see the city a bit, stopped at the Western Market where I spied a German Baeckerei and picked up some bread and pastries and some Kiwi fruit drink. I took trams and buses and subway to get home.

Meanwhile, Kaaren walked down to the beach by the apartment and painted. It is a nice painting of the scene of the coast line from the beach.

We laid out our haul from Beijing - it covered the bed. We will also repack our vase before checking it on the plane again.

The bustle and clang of Hong Kong was not welcome today. Beijing is much quieter and larger, of course. I needed some rest from the pain I have been dealing with.

This evening Mark and Elaine and Kaaren and I went to dinner in Stanley Park - the upscale community where they live. Kaaren ordered shark, Elaine and I ordered African chicken, and Mark ate orange roughy. Then we went to the grocery store and bought their groceries for the next week or so. Groceries here are much more expensive than at home. But we see things from all over the world, too. Very interesting.

I am missing our wonderful home in West Linn. This is a very busy place. We think we will do some hiking in the next day or so.

Elaine pointed out to me that I have not sent out pictures of our walk on the Great Wall. (Well, three, I think). So I uploaded too many to the Flickr site. Go to PixtonFamily.com (which, by the way, Skye, is very slow to load and actually fails to load completely for me and for Elaine's computer - have you loaded it up with too much stuff?) and click on the photos at the top to be routed to the Flickr site. click on Tom Pixton's photostream and you will be taken to the various albums I have created to organize these too many photos. Enjoy

Now I'm going to try to sleep.

love, Dad

Old Beijing Neighborhoods

Family,

Today was out last day in Beijing and we were ready to stay for many more. There is so much to see and do in this huge, sprawling city. It was smoggy today - worse than I have ever seen in my life - a problem that the Chinese leadership is worried about. Today we went to LDS church meetings (sorry no photos) with the Beijing International Branch that meets on part of the 4th floor of an office building downtown. Though the speakers this time were local students studying Mandarin (one from Kansas City) and were less than electrifying, I still found the experience uplifting. Here in the middle of China, ex-patriots from all over the world gather together to meet in a pattern that is familiar and comfortable for LDS people worldwide. They know the drill and can run the plays without coaching. Our opening prayer was a wonderful prayer in German. The rest of the meeting was in English. The Communist government will not allow proselytizing and I'm not sure of the status of the Chinese branch, though there is one that meets in the same place later in the day, but is critically important, apparently, that they not mix - so that the foreign Mormons are not in any way teaching or proselitizing the Chinese nationals. As I wrote earlier, Chinese nationals wishing to join the church must currently travel out of the country - to Hong Kong usually - to be baptised.

Our friend in Beijing, Gail, was there with her two darling Chinese daughters she adopted while living in NYC. She was 30, unmarried and wanted children so decided to start the adoption process and get on with her life as she wanted it. Recently, adoption rules have changed and a single mother would not be able to adopt from China. Also unsatisfactory prospective parents would be gays and people overweight and people over 55. So she feels blessed. Here in Beijing, she has two servants at home, a car and driver provided by Deutche Bank, her employer, and so her life is better for her than living in the suburbs of America trying to raise her daughters alone. We were so luch to have her as a resource and to have her car and driver at our disposal at all hours of the day when she did not need him. I felt like a charactere in a 1920's movie where the rich English in China have servants and drivers to carry them about and above the rabble of common people.

After church we visited one of the more well known Hutangs or old neighborhoods to wander the streets. Unfortunately, the alleys and streets are full of people hawking watches, clothing and Rick Shaw rides. They were very annoying and we walking away into less traveled alleyways. Pictures are enclosed of some of this to give a flavor of the place. To alleviate the din of marketing, we decided to rent a small electric powered boat and cruise around on the lake. A closing picture of the day is of huge new high rise buildings in Beijing on the way to the airport.

We liked Beijing very much. It has a much more open feeling that Hong Kong - very spread out - with endless things to see and do and buy. I would like to return there some day but, of course, that is unlikely. I hope one of you can make the trip. Do you realize that the great majority of the world population is Asian - either Chinese, or south Asian, or South East Asian including Indian and surrounding nations? China has had different Emperors over the centuries, but has been around with language that is still written and spoken from times before the Roman Empire. Seeing something of this very old and complex culture is an eye opener. I loved learning bits and pieces of the language, though very difficult for a caucasian like me.

We managed to get our lovely vase packed and shipped with baggage on the plane to Hong Kong - it was quite a project to get it to the airport (it's large and heavy and doesn't fit in a luggage we could buy) and get it packed at the post office in the airport which has obviously had this problem before and has stacks of cardboard boxing materials and newspaper to accomodate tourists. We paid 90 Yuen to have it boxed. The flight was an unconfortable 3 hours back to Hong Kong, which strangely, felt like home after the strangeness of the "real" China. Elaine's taxi service picked us up at the airport in a van and for $450 Hong Kong dollars, we were given a Mr. Toad's wild ride from the airport on Landau Island, through Kowloon and Hong Kong to Stanley Park on the south of the Hong Kong Island were Mark and Elaine's high rise apartment is located.

Beijing weather, being in the northern latitudes, was pleasant for Oregonians - in the 60s and 70s, but Hong Kong is just inside the latitude of the tropics, humid and in the high 80s.

It is hard to believe after all we have seen that we are really only half way through our trip here in Asia.

I hope you are all well.

love,

Dad

Beijing Dirt Market

Thanks.

Family,
Today our mission was the Dirt Market - a huge flea market like operation with everything from junk to exquisite. It was enormous! We could easily spend and enjoy days there. Bryce you would love all the very old stuff, impliments and tools and books and of course art of all kinds. Courtney, you would get stuck forever in the beads and jewelry. I took some pictures so you can get a feel for the scale of the thing. There are people from all over the world here buying. The merchants shout "Hello, Sir. Look at this! Look at this. If you make eye contact, you can forget a peaceful viewing. Sellers followed me and pulled on my shirt and pushed me back to their booth. The offer a price - you are then expected to offer yours and the negotiation begins. No one every offers the price they are willing to sell at. Those who can't speak any English - most of them - punch numbers in a hand held calculator and show the number to you. You say no. or if you have a little class you say "Tai qui le" - too expensive. Then the merchant hands you the calculator for you to make an offer. If you don't make an offer, they follow and push and try lower numbers until you either walk away or accept the last number. If you make an offer, the bargaining begins. They complain that the little woman in the household shop works so hard and how can you offer less and you say again "Tai qui le" or just "no." Our driver taught me in the car how to bargain. If one offers a piece of merchandise at 100 Yuen, you must say NO! with a very angry tone and chop the air with your hand and say 50 Yuen. And so on. After moaning and drama you agree on a price, the smiles come out all a round and the piece is handed over or packed with great care and you are now the best of friends.

In the Silk Market this afternoon, the sellers of shoes and handbags (I was looking for a suitcase or trunk large enough to hold an exquisite vase we bought today - and paid a porter to carry on his bicycle-truck for us ) pulled on my shirt and took the pen out of my pocket "Is this genuine?" "Hello, Sir!" Hello, Sir!" "You have lots of money - you need to buy more!" "Look at this!" "Look at this!". I was annoyed and so was Mark so we left and walked the streets and alleys near the hotel where locals were gathering in many small diners where merchants made barbecue or roast pork in a pita, noodle soups and soups made with things you don't want to hear about. Diner after diner in the alleys. We bought some grape juice in plastic bottles and came back to the hotel for quiet conversation in the lobby while we waited for Kaaren and Elaine to return from their shoppinig in the Silk Market.

We had dinner again with Elaine's friend and two little Chinese girls - Gail, Lydia and Adeline at a local restaurant that made dishes very interestingly and colorfully.

Kaaren is in bed and desperately needs a footrub so you know where my priorities lie...

Tomorrow LDS church in Beijing. More later.

love,

Dad