Chinese Summer 2k14

Not long after my two wonderful weeks with Tom, I set to work at my summer job, teaching Chinese exchange students.  This summer marked my fourth program.  The first year I did this program I taught in Eugene, the second year I taught in downtown Portland, the third year I taught in Newberg, and this year I was back at the downtown Portland program.  The first two years teaching in this program were great.  Actually, the first year was an absolute disaster.  The group coordinator was losing her mind (literally) and continually blamed me for things I should have been doing, though she never told me I should be doing them.  Two other teachers quit during that summer because of her and I stuck it out...somehow laughing the entire time.  During that program, I ended up having to host a Chinese teacher and a student, as well.  It actually makes me more angry thinking about it now, than it did when I was in the midst of the situation.  The second program I did was excellent.  I got to work with another teacher and she was fabulous.  She really knew her stuff, even though she told me everyday she was just making it up as she went along.  She was clearly a professional to make it look that easy.  The group of kids we had that summer were fantastic.  Really smart and really capable high school-aged students.  The Newberg program on the other hand was another disaster.  The kids were really young, none of them spoke English, and none of them would listen.  It was horrific.  Additionally, the two chaperones stayed outside and chain-smoked all day.  I really didn't think I could do another program after last year.  But.....I did.

Of course, I did!  The human resources gal got in touch with me late this spring and asked me if I would do it.  She also told me I'd have my choice of programs.  I perked up at that!  I told her I'd do it if I could work in the downtown program and if I could work with Mary Frances.  Mary Frances is a group coordinator and she is fabulous!  She takes every single issue, problem, concern, and complaint in stride.  And, believe me, there are always many issues, problems, concerns and complaints.  The students we get are typically from elite families in China, meaning they have dolla, dolla bills, yo.  They send their kids to the USA for about five weeks.  The kids this year told me the program costs between $10,000 and $14,000 for them to make the trip.  Now, take that with a grain of salt.  There is plenty lost in translation when trying to figure these things out.  I don't know how much the program costs but it is expensive, especially when families send thousands of dollars with their students to buy "gifts" for their family members.  This year's top gifts were Coach bags and Nike shoes.  Oh, and luggage.  They always end up buying more luggage here.  So, the program is a homestay program meaning the students stay with host families for about three weeks.  But, Monday through Friday the students have classes and outings.  So, I would teach Monday through Friday from about 9-noon.  Then, we'd break for lunch and we'd typically leave for our outing about 1 pm and return back to the educational center around 5.  This year, I was able to work with another teacher and we had two classrooms.  It couldn't have been more perfect.  We were able to split the group so that I would teach 14 students at a time.  I would focus on reading and comprehension and she focused on speaking and listening.  This structure was so great.  We could really assist the students that were struggling and we had high school volunteers that were able to work with the really high level students during these sessions as well. It turns out that these students were super fantastic.  They were absolutely willing to try most everything we had them do.  Here are a few of the highlights...

First of all, just reading their applications for the program is absolutely awesome. I like to devote about an hour to this process.  In their applications, they write a letter to their host family telling about themselves and some things that they like.  A few applications caught my eye.

One boy wrote, "I am sunshine boy!"  I think that means he's happy a lot of the time?

Another boy wrote, "I love cats.  I love Siamese, and (some other type I can't remember) and (some other type I can't remember) but, I do not love Canadian hairless.  I cannot accept her."

Yet, another boy wrote one of the captions accompanying his picture, "In this picture, I am a little black."

And...the hits just kept a' comin'....

The first day of class we take them on a walking tour of downtown Portland.  This day is painfully slow because I don't know if you've ever walked with a group of 30 or so Chinese people, but they walk slooooowwwwwww.  So, it's not a fast afternoon by any means.  It takes us at least three rotations to get through a crosswalk signal.  Ridiculous.  But, on this day, one of the students approached me on our way to the Safeway (where they could get a cool drink or a Starbucks).

Student: "Judy, have you heard of secret menu at Starbucks?"
Me:  "I've heard of many secret menus, but I don't know if any of them work."
Student: "I want to try it!"
Me: "Go for it!"

So, we arrive at the Starbucks and as I'm sitting there talking with Mary Frances, a student runs up to me...
Student: "Judy!  The most amazing thing has just happen!"
Me:  "What?!"
Student: "Secret menu at Starbucks!  It's really true!"
Me:  (laughs hysterically)
Student:  "The boy working is so impress I know secret menu!"
Me:  "I'm impressed, too!  So, what is on secret menu?"
Student:  "I don't know. Maybe something like 'zebra mocha'?"

Well, you can only get so far...

Also, on the first day of class, we asked students to make a name card that would stand up on their desks.  Let's face it, the first time I see my groups, I never think I'll be able to distinguish who is who but yet, I always do.  It continues to astonish me.  On the back of their name cards, they were to write one thing they enjoy doing and their favorite animal.  After they were finished, we had each student share these things.  One boy stood up and said, "My name is Andy.  I like playing soccer and basketball.  I also like shopping...if I have a girlfriend.  That will make her happy.  But, I don't have a girlfriend."  I was dying.  I knew I was going to like these kids!

One of the days we were supposed to take the students bowling.  The usual place we have gone bowling in the past is no longer there, so we had to try a new place this year.  Well, when we got to the new place we learned that they had no space, and there was a serious miscommunication about making a reservation.  Quickly, Mary Frances came up with another plan to take the students to Pioneer Place mall.  There, they could shop, eat, see a movie, or a few could go bowling at Punch Bowl Social (which I love by the way).  So, we wrangled them all onto another city bus to take us into downtown.  I watched the students bowl for a little while, which was hilarious and then I began to walk around.  We told the students to meet us at 4:30 on the bottom floor.  I started to the meeting point around 4:15 and was waiting and counting up the kids.  In this program, I'm forever counting kids.  We were still missing a few (of course!) so we continued to wait.  As Mary is trying to get the kids quiet to listen so that we can head to the Max train the fire alarm sounds and everyone starts evacuating....except us.  We continue to count and try to figure out who we are missing.  I'm acting as though nothing is going on around us, and finally a student comes over to me and says, "Judy, what is that noise?"  I respond simply, "Oh it's a fire alarm." The student who is shocked says, "Well, I think maybe we should get out of here!"  Reassuringly, I say, "No, no, it's just for practice."  I had no clue what was going on, but I didn't want them to panic any more than they already were.  After a while, a security guard did come talk to us and told us that it was fine that we stayed.  She wasn't sure why the fire alarm was going off either.  At this point, we were trying to tell the children that ride the Max train to Beaverton that they could stay on the train.  They didn't need to get off the train where we usually do because it would just take them to Beaverton/Hilsboro areas.  They nodded their heads like they understood us, but we were skeptical.  I told a few boys who did need to get off the train at our stop to watch for me, and when I got off, they should get off.  Kate told her boys that as well.  So, sure enough we came upon our Max stop and I got off with my three boys.  Kate got off with two of her three boys, and then randomly at the last minute, one of her boys, Hans, jumped back on the train and off they went towards Beaverton.  I could not believe my eyes!  Why did they do that!?  So, now we had two boys who were supposed to be riding a bus to Happy Valley headed towards Beaverton on the Max.  Luckily, Mary Frances was still on the train and she was able to get to them and get them off the train, with their teachers/chaperones, and get them on the correct course.  That was a fiasco!  I'd like to say it was the only time that happened, but it also happened the second to last day of the program, as well.  All I could do was shake my head....

I've saved the best story for last.  One day as we were heading out the door to catch the city bus, three boys dart into the boys bathroom.  Clearly, I was annoyed because they have an entire hour for lunch and I neglect to see why they can't do those things DURING their lunch break!  I volunteered to hang back with these three and told the rest of the group to go ahead to wait for the bus.  I was praying we would not miss the bus because I'm barely even an amateur when it comes to navigating around Portland on public transit.  Meanwhile, I can hear the boys laughing and talking in the bathroom.  This was really aggravating me.  I wanted to storm in there and yell at them!  But, I couldn't just walk into the boys bathroom, so I knocked on the door instead.  Soon, two boys appeared at the door.  I tried to explain to them that we needed to leave so that we could get to the bus on time.  One boy began protesting, "No! No! No!  We cannot go!"  Why?  I asked.  The other boy started to explain, "It's because Li....his stomach....it's broken."  I could not keep a straight face.   I know I began smirking, trying to stifle a laugh.  I never question diarrhea but this was just funny!  I tried to get more information, "Did Li eat something bad?"  The boy explained, "No, no....it's because...he eat too much.  Then he play basketball.  He never give it a rest!"  I can never predict my days! Needless to say, we did make it to the bus stop on time, and all turned out okay.  Poor Li.

Lastly, one of my precious girls somehow talked me into singing Royals as a duet with her at the farewell party.  That was purely terrifying.  A video may or may not exist.

I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to work with this group of students.  I can only hope next year's group with be just as good. Whether, or not, I decide to do this work again is yet to be determined!  :o)

Day 12: Spy Games

I'm not going to lie, the day started off rough.  We had done so well the night before preparing ourselves for the big day in the city that lay ahead.  However, I could NOT for the life of me fall asleep.  For four hours, I lied awake.  I tried reading, I tried surfing, and I felt so tired.  I felt like I could sleep for an eternity.  But, I just couldn't drift off to the ol' shut-eye theatre.  Around 3 am, I tried to sleep in another room of the house.  There, I wafted in and out of sleep for three hours.  At this point, I was so anxious about how I was going to get through the day on so very little sleep that it was impeding my sleep even further.  I could not believe this was happening.  I mean, I sleep everywhere...and always.  Why, tonight?  Why could I not just rest?  Why couldn't my brain stop whirling?  I just wanted quiet, peaceful, restful sleep and I was in tears that I couldn't achieve that.

Before going to bed Friday evening, I had told Tom to wake me at 8:30 because we needed to get the 9:30 train.  Well, while I was still awake at 6 am I pretty much threw that plan out the window, unbeknownst to Tom.  Sure enough, he woke me at 8:30 like I had asked, and I told him I had only slept for about five hours, so I'd like to sleep for at least thirty more minutes.  He was more than happy to let me sleep longer, but we had to catch the 10 o'clock metro to Chinatown because our first task was scheduled for 11.  At 9 o'clock I dragged myself out of bed, and tried to shower and get ready the best I could.  I was so fearful that I would not make it through the day on such little sleep.  I can't remember the last time I did anything on that little sleep!  I was emotional that morning because I wanted this to be the very best day we had together!  I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and I knew it.  Tom definitely knew it and reassured me several times that it was all going to be fine.  We were still going to have fun and it was going to be a great day.  After a shower, I felt a bit better and was more willing to believe in these crazy ideas of his.  We made the 10 am metro and exited the Chinatown metro station around 10:30.  Then, we walked up the block to The International Spy Museum.  Okay, now I got really excited!   Once the museum was in view, I was sure that we were going to have a fun day.  But, first we needed food.  We had completely skipped eating in the morning due to rushing out to catch the train.  I thought we should go pick up our tickets so we headed to the museum (after taking pictures of course).

Metro Ride to Chinatown - An extremely sleepy Judy but damn if my makeup doesn't look good!  

First sight of the SPY MUSEUM!  

A very happy Tom.  Happy birthday, babe!  

An extremely nice woman helped us as we walked in the door.  We obtained our tickets at the will call box and she informed us that our first mission would be starting at 10:55, instead of 11:05.  She went on to tell us that this mission would require us to jump, run, dodge, and duck.  We were eyeing each other like, "Uh oh. We have no fuel."  I looked at him and said, well....do you think we can make it?  He was instantly like, "Absolutely not...." and asks the lady, "Where's that Starbucks?"  She gave him a face that said you're not going to have enough time.  Next thing I knew he was out the door jogging across the street.  He had less than 15 minutes to get there, get us something to eat, and head back.  I was probably more nervous than he was.  I didn't want to end up having to go on the mission alone!  I meandered around in nervousness and texted him panicked messages which I'm sure were super helpful to him.  :o)  He got back right at 10:55 and we scared down our fruit and cheese plates.  I was very pleased with the selections he brought back for us but I'm certain neither of us really tasted the food because we literally ate in five minutes.  Then, we went to the waiting area for our mission.  There were a few other families that were on this particular mission with us.  I don't want to give too much away because I want people to go do the mission for themselves!  But, there was one family with two younger children who were probably eight or ten years old, another family was comprised of a mom and her son and they looked exactly the same right down to the haircut and the eyeglasses.  Then there were a few other couples.  Our group represented a diversity of ages.  At the beginning of the mission, they give you some information of the place that you're going and what you're going to be required to do.  They make it sound really intense.  Once inside the secret location they give you more information about the problem and they take you through a series of guided activities.  The kids were absolutely hilarious to watch during this!  Of course, Tom and I were participating but I was cracking up because I truly believe the kids thought we were on a real mission, solving a real case.  It was awesome!  The whole mission lasted about an hour and it flew by.  It was really, really fun.  The whole time I was wishing my nephews were there.  They would have gotten into it, I think.  After the mission, it was right about lunch time, so Tom and I went next door to the Shake Shack.  Neither of us had ever been to this place, but how can you go wrong with a burger?  We grabbed a couple burgers and then tried to find somewhere to sit.  The place was packed.  People everywhere.  I practically had to throw down with another man to steal us a seat.  Maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but it felt like it.  We rushed through lunch just because of how crowded it was, and because we wanted to get back to the museum.

Sometimes Tom likes to sneak attach pictures on me.  

Back to the museum we went.  I had to find The Americans exhibit!  We actually found it at the very end of the museum tour, but it was still awesome.  

This show is so, so, so good!

The museum is LOADED with information and cool artifacts.  There was a ton of James Bond stuff, there was a bunch of information about spies through history, and tools and gadgets spies use/have used.  The place is just stacked with awesome.  The very first thing you come upon though is a room full of identities plastered all around the walls.  The tour guides tell you to find one that appeals to you and to memorize all the information on the card.  This is your new alias.  I was Gretta Schmidt from somewhere in Germany and was going to London for 4 days on a business trip.  Tom was Vasili someone or other (I think? I'm honestly drawing a blank) who was a fisherman and he was going to Boston to visit his cousin. Later in the museum, there are computer kiosks that ask you to remember the information about your alias.  Once you answer all of the questions, you get more information about your alias.  By the time you get to the end of all of the exhibits (which is a long time!) there is another guide posing as some sort of border patrol.  She sits behind a desk and has people come sit in the chairs in front of her as she tries to grill them to make them lose their composure. She decides if you get to continue on and cross the border, or not.  Of course, Tom stepped right up.  She started by asking him questions, starting with his name, and Tom totally got into character.  He busted out his superb Russian accent and soon a crowd began gathering behind us.  The woman continued to ask him questions, some repetitively, because I think he rattled her a little bit!  She asked him several times about his job as a fisherman and went so far as to ask where he sold his fish.  Without missing a beat, Tom says, "Sell zee fish? I do not have time to catch zee fish and sell zee fish!?"  Finally, she said she would allow him to continue on with his trip.  Everyone behind us was completely awed by his performance.  Then, someone heard Tom talk to me and they were aghast, "OH!  He's not really Russian?!!"  It was hilarious.  I wish I could have had it all on video.  

Lastly, we had one more mission.  I had signed us up for the Spy in the City mission.  During this mission, you receive a tablet which transmits clues, videos, directions and tasks to complete so that you can solve the case.  I liked this part the best.  I felt like we were on the Amazing Race!  We didn't go through it super fast because we wanted to be accurate and thorough.  The mission leads you around different parts of the city around the museum but it takes you on a pretty good walkabout.  In the end, we did successfully complete the mission.  However, at the end of the mission you are asked if you'd cut a deal and make a little money off the top, and I said we'd consider it.  This was the wrong answer, of course.  The mission leads informed us that while we did complete the mission successfully, they were not convinced they'd work with us in the future because our ethics seemed a little shifty.  :o)  It was all in good fun.  I can't think of two more ethical people!  

Getting ready to hit the streets on our mission!

Totally loving on this.  A real life puzzle!  

Under Mr. Franklin, the place of one of the clues. 

This is what the clues/tasks looked like.  

E

He is the navigation man.  If only I could read a map....

Well, we ended up near St. Patrick's church which was extremely beautiful.  

Can't stop this Catholic girl from checking out the confession times! 

YESSSS!  SPY MASTERS!!!!  BOOOYAH!

I may have ended up enjoying the museum more than Tom did. :o)

And, we have an epic experience to remember!  

Day 10: Keepin' it Low Key

Friday was not a super eventful day.  I got up and got in a good workout, visited CVS pharmacy (again!), and then scoped out the "uncommon café."  So, the café received very interesting reviews on Yelp.com.  I'm not going to say I was really pumped to go there after reading some reviews, but I wanted to see, and decide, for myself, so off I went.  I stepped inside and saw two, or three, long buffet areas.  There were tons of people already sitting down but the buffet areas were not super crowded.  That, in and of itself, was enough to please me.  There are just too many damn people in Virginia, DC and other metropolitan areas back East.  I was thrilled to be able to take my time and figure out how this café place worked.  I perused the salad bar and it looked okay.  There were other items like fried chicken and "homestyle" type foods.  There was a whole array of Asian types of food and then there was a counter where it looked like you could order sandwiches or something like that.  The salad bar seemed simplest and I was dying for some veggies.  I put together my salad and then decided I would walk back across the street and eat at the apartment.  It was cheaper than SweetGreens, though perhaps not as healthy. :o) I chilled out the rest of the afternoon and just took it easy.


By the time Tom got home, I was ready to go do something, but naturally he was tired.  I mean, he's been working all day, afterall!  This has been the interesting dynamic of this trip.  I want to go out and experience so many things with him, but I also have to understand that he is going to be much more wiped out than I am everyday because he's out hustlin'.  By hustlin', I mean being productive at a renown security company.  Rest assured, his job is on the up and up.  On this particular night, he wanted some downtime and I think I did a fairly good job of providing that for him.  I spent some time reading and we went out for pizza slices around 7.


Down the block from the apartment is some pizza place called Autentica!  We thought we'd give that a try since we hadn't been there yet.  For some reason, I was confused about how to order our slices and how it coincided with their "combo" options.  Tom ordered first, and of course, made it seem so simple.  Then, I ordered, and of course, the worker starts questioning which combo I'm trying to get and what things I can have, and can't have, and I can barely understand what this man is saying, so I just look at Tom.  He is so much more patient with these things.  I just start panicking and probably end up paying way too much for things I don't even actually want because I can't communicate with the people that work at the establishment.  Tom, of course, made friends with these guy by asking where he is from.  Turns out the guy, and all the workers at the restaurant, are from Nepal.  He assured us, though, that the owner is Italian.  That is literally all I gleaned from the conversation he had with Tom.  The pizza was okay, but the gelato was excellent!  We took the gelato home to munch on while we were watching The Americans.


Tomorrow, we would be off to the International Spy Museum.  We spent the rest of our evening cozy, and schnuggly, watching our favorite (loathed) Russians.  It was a quaint, quiet night in and just exactly what we wanted. 

Day 9: Creative Juices Flowin'

I could not wake up today.  All I wanted to do was sleep, but my body was hurting so bad.  I finally pulled myself out from under the covers around noon, or so, and decided to walk around the block and find somewhere to eat for lunch.  I had already partially settled on checking out this Sweet Green place, so I ducked in there for a bite.  My summer obsession has been salads at Mucho Gusto, in Eugene.  I love this salad so much because the price is right, for one thing, and the toppings are fresh and delicious, and the pepita-citrus vinaigrette is to die for.  I can also go for the fajita salad at El Torito, in Eugene, because the grape seed vinaigrette is equally delightful.  Sweet Green appeared to offer a similar salad to what I'm accustomed to back home, save for it was called Guacamole Greens and came with a lime-cilantro vinaigrette.  It was decent, but it certainly made me long for my salad at Mucho!  Soon, I'm going to try another salad bar place.  I don't know the name of it, but the tagline is "An Uncommon Cafe."  I'm sure I'll have much to report tomorrow.

My afternoon consisted of mostly rest and reading the book When the Game Stands Tall.  The movie is due out this fall, and the book is tremendous.  The movie is going to be good.  I can already tell.  I highly recommend it if you're into motivational, inspirational stories told through the lens of sports, specifically football.

When Tom got home, he got some much needed down time and we eventually headed out to do some souvenir shopping for my nephews before we headed back to Maryland for trivia night.  As we headed out towards Maryland, it really began raining.  Yes, I'm from Oregon and I know we get a lot of rain, but the rain here is a little different.  It's much heavier rain than we usually get in Eugene, but it doesn't usually last quite as long.  So, it began pouring, then lightning started.  We could see flashes all over from the safe seats of the car.  Then, the thunder came.  It was quite a show.  We got a good look at it because these conditions had people nearly slamming on their breaks.  Traffic was pretty slow there for awhile.  Luckily, it did not take us nearly as long to get into Maryland as it did last Thursday. Regardless, Tom was heard saying, "The Lord does not want us in Maryland." Maybe we should start building an ark.  :o)

We arrived at the Hideaway around 8, which gave us a good couple hours to play trivia.  We met up with Tom's friend Caleb again, and another 'usual' named Kat.  Our name for this evening was Creative Juices Flowin' but there were some real classic trivia names last night.  I can't, for the life of me, remember our name last week.  Tom?  Can you remember?  Anyway, we played a pretty good game and ended up in second place.  Apparently, the first place team gets a $30 credit, and second gets a $24 credit.  So, we still ended up with 8 dollars off our tab.  That's definitely incentive for winning at this particular trivia place!  We all had our usual drinks; Tom with a craft beer, me with my 7 & 7's, and Caleb...I don't know what Caleb was drinking.  Before he goes home for the night, he gets a Long Island to-go to take home to his wife.  It's remarkable that this place does that.  That's definitely a perk for being a regular at a small town bar located a quarter mile from your house.  Cheers!

The Hideaway.

Bonus Post! Sounds of Hawai'i in Arlington

My boyfriend loves to surprise me.  Incidentally, I love surprises.  We work out really well that way.  I don't know how long he planned it, but since I arrived he's obsessively been checking the mail for "my surprise."  I use the term obsessively pretty loosely seeing as how I only check the mail about once a month.  Anyone that is checking their mail more frequently can be considered to be obsessive in my book.  So, as I was rushing out on Tuesday to get to the game, I noticed that we had a UPS slip on our door.  I thought that seemed odd because I had been here literally all day and had not heard any knocking on the door.  I put the slip inside the house and texted Tom about it.  When he texted me to tell me he was on his way to the game, he said he was able to secure the package.  I didn't think too much of it, but thought it might be my surprise.  When we got home later that evening, I saw remnants of the said package.  There was an empty box in the living room, but I saw nothing else until I went to bed.  Then, I saw, propped up against my side of the bed, a very special little gem.

Yes, he got me a little pink uke for the East coast so I don't have to be bothered with packing mine back and forth.  I don't know how long he planned this surprise but I loved it!  Despite my horrific mood after the rained out game, I couldn't believe he did this for me.  Of course, of course, I cried!  Happy little tears!  What a guy, eh!?

In other news about the game, I just got confirmation for Ericha that we can switch our tickets to August 7th when I will be in town next!  YAHOOOOOOO!!!!!!  I'm going to get my baseball game come hell or high water!  

Day 8: Heaven is an Italian Deli

Let's face it, we didn't have much going on on Wednesday.  The minute Tom got home he was thrilled to learn we had very little on the agenda for the evening.  As much as we both like getting out to see our friends, and going out to do super fun things, we also enjoy our quiet evenings, too.  Tom was mostly thankful that he didn't have to walk anywhere.  Being without wheels back here, I've become more accustomed to walking and it actually feels better for my hips and flexors to be walking around.  Regardless, I had done some walking during the day.

Lunch time seems to be a good time to explore the neighborhood. Yesterday, I deliberated between walking over to the mall for lunch, since I had to go to CVS Pharmacy anyway (located at the mall), or eating at a place called Sweet Green.  I walked by Sweet Green and it appears that it's a restaurant devoted to salads.  That pretty much assures that I'll be attending Sweet Green on my own since Tom probably can't eat anything there.  He will want to make it known that's it's not that he doesn't like salads, it's that he can't have salads.  So, there it is.  I decided it would be more time efficient to just grab something at the mall.  Yes, I'm trying to save time....because I have SO much to do. (Insert heavy dose of sarcasm here.)  I noticed they had a Chick Fil A and decided I'd give that a go.  Turns out that was a terrible mistake.  The food wasn't nearly as good as the first time I experienced it.  My fruit was basically brown and gross looking, and I'm still slightly skeptical about whether the chicken was fully cooked or not.  I ended up throwing most of it away.  Then, I decided I would search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie.  I think it's important to know where the sweet treats are in the neighborhood!  First, I considered grabbing a chocolate chipper cookie from Panera bread.  While I think the name for their version of the chocolate chip cookie is delightful, I never enjoy eating these cookies.  8 out of 10 times the cookie is hard as a rock.  In fact, I remember on of our first dates, Tom took me to Panera bread and ordered me a cookie.  I was flattered, of course, and it's not like I wasn't going to eat it, but the minute I took a bite of the rock hard cookie, I looked up at him and said, "You know, there are two types of people in this world; there are people that like hard chocolate chip cookies and there are people that like soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies.  I like the soft, chewy kind."  From that day forth, we have scoured the greater Eugene, Albany, and Corvallis areas for the divine chocolate chip cookie.  Sweet Life and Laughing Planet are the two best so far.  So, I wandered the neighborhood, past Sweet Green again and was instantly convinced I had made the wrong choice about not eating there.  I vowed to eat lunch there sometime this week.  Soon after passing the Sweet Green, I saw a place called Buzz.  I guessed it was probably a coffee shop and what I know about coffee shops is that they usually have sweet treats.  So, in I went, and sitting there on an elevated pedestal, like they should be, were the chocolate chip cookies.  I bought one and waited until I got home to enjoy it with a glass of milk and I can safely say Buzz has some excellent cookies.  This, however, is not the only place to get sweet treats.  Near Buzz, is a place called Frozen Yo or something to that effect.  I don't remember, I just know it's a self serve froyo place.  We ventured there a couple of nights ago.  Tom and I are accustomed to a franchise in Eugene, Corvallis and Albany known as Yogurt Extreme.  They have TONS of froyo flavors and I think they boast something about having 100 toppings?  This place we tried out back here was no Yogurt Extreme, however, they did have one major perk.  Free Hot Fudge.  Are you kidding me!?  I was so confused at first because the hot fudge pumps were placed near the cash register and I watched a woman pay for her yogurt and then she doused it in hot fudge.  I was like, "Uhhhhhhh, that lady is cheating and no one even called her out!"  When Tom and I sat down, I mentioned to him that that was really strange.  Of course, he hadn't really noticed anything so I relayed the entire story to him, and pondered, "The hot fudge is what makes it heavy...and expensive?"  Then, I glanced at the counter again just in time to see a kid's mother pay for his treat and then he walks over to the hot fudge and slathers it on.  I was like, "WHAT IS GOING ON!?!"  In that moment, I saw a sign bolted to the wall that read, "Free hot fudge."  Whoa.  Mind blown!   While it may not be yogurt extreme, it has benefits all of it's own.

Once Tom got home, I expressed my desire to check out this place that I'd read about on the internet.  Again, if you know anything about me, my sister, or my father, you know that when we go to a new place we love to scope out the Italian markets/delis in the area.  We were famous for doing this in Seattle and I figured that they would have to have some good ones back East.  I did some preliminary Googling and Yelping and found The Italian Store.  People were raving about it.  I couldn't believe how good of reviews it was getting.  I had considered walking there earlier in the day because it's only about a mile and a half away but then I realized that my forecast was calling for thunderstorms again.  I have been caught out in thunderstorms twice since being here and I was not up for the risk a third time.  Tom said he'd take me and we'd go for dinner.  So, when you arrive at The Italian Store you see a gaggle of people waiting around the front counter.  That's a sure sign that this place is legit!  Then, you take a number, and wait for your number to be called.  When you get called, you better know what you want!  Tom got a couple of slices of pizza and I got a chicken parm sandwich.  Then, I just wandered the store and looked at all the pastas, the mushrooms, the wine and cheeses.  I know Dad will want to know...."No there was no teleme cheese and no copa."  Still, I was home.  I could probably have easily spent an hour in there looking at everything.  But, alas, I resigned to come back at a later time (maybe I'll walk!) and we left with our foodstuffs to head back to the apartment.  We had a lovely meal sitting at our lovely table in our lovely breakfast nook, except we use it for dinner.  It was quite enjoyable to just get to talk about our days (not that I have a whole lot to talk about) but it was calming nonetheless.

I am constantly amazed at how much these mushrooms cost.  We were raised to "hunt" this type of mushroom, basically.  This 1 lb. bag could be yours for only $59.99 +tax!

"Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." ~Sophia Loren  

Ohhhhhhhhh, this is amazing!  That jar is about as big as my head!

After dinner, we decided that we would start watching The Americans.  We watched the pilot episode and I was pretty hooked.  Some parts of the pilot dragged on, and I thought okay, move on already, but I think things like that often improve over the course of a series.  I don't want to give too much more away because I really want my mom and sister to start watching it!  Hopefully, we'll have more time to watch it before we hit the spy museum on Saturday.  I know they have an exhibit devoted to The Americans so I'm excited to see that!

By the time I get done writing I always think I'm leaving something out...and I probably am.

Day 7: Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

I had eagerly been awaiting today.  Tuesday.  The day that Tom and Judy would venture into the city to meet up with Judy's childhood friend Ericha, and her husband, Mark.  Not only was I super excited to see an old friend from back home, but this would be the first time Tom had met one of my friends from Klamath.  Of course, he's met most of my Eugene friends, though not all.  But, my friends from back home are different.  There's a real history there that goes way, way back and it's important that he pass their tests!  :o) Mark and Ericha hooked us up with tickets and did all the leg work for the evening's festivities.  It was really nice to have someone else leading the charge!  So, Tom and I had made arrangements for me to take the metro down a bit earlier so that I could meet up with Ericha and we could have some girl/gossip time before the guys got there.  This was no problem since I had done the trial run to the ballpark the previous day.  I arrived at the stadium around 4:30 and texted Ericha.  She told me the restaurant to go to and to try to get a booth in the bar.  I'm thinking...try?  Would it really be this packed already?  The game isn't even until 7!  However, by the time I walked the few blocks to the restaurant it was indeed too late.  The booths in the bar were all taken and, of course, I had forgotten about that bloody Fifa World Cup.  Naturally, everyone was in there to watch the game.  By "the game," I mean the Germany vs. Brazil game in which Germany absolutely dominated Brazil.  One would think that a 5 nothing lead at the half would clear some people out, but I guess they were holding on to hope that Brazil would make a comeback?  Please.  It's hard enough to make a comeback when the score is 1-0.  Don't get me started on this sport.  Just don't do it.  Anyway, there were all these other rules about seating in the actual restaurant section, so we decided to go next door to Nando's: a Portuguese chicken place.  This turned out to be a pretty good move.  We were able to be seated quickly and we got our food relatively quickly, as well.  Tom and Mark met up with us here and we all had a lovely meal together.

After we ate, it was time to get started towards the game.  Mark and Ericha grabbed their bikes (their car was stolen at some point last year, and they decided not to replace it...and they'll soon be moving back to the West coast ;o) and we headed up the road towards the stadium.  We took obligatory tourist pictures out front, scanned our tickets and headed in.  Up to this point, both Mark and Ericha had expressed fears about it raining that night.  They had apparently been checking the weather all day and the chances of rain continued to increase as the day wore on.  I hadn't even thought about checking the weather because my phone said it was partly cloudy and 96 degrees outside.  What could go wrong?  Well, a lot, as it turns out.

Inside the gates. 

Look, Roo!  Not only did you make it onto the blog, but you got a picture too!!

Just as we enter the stadium, I see a big banner sign that says, "Attention Fans: Delayed game start time, severe weather warning in effect."  Mark instantly began checking his phone.  Sure enough, a severe weather storm had been issued.  So, we decided to drink some beer.  We got our five dollar Coors lights and headed to find our seats.  I could tell Mark and Ericha were way more anxious about the rain than I was.  I guess I was still in disbelief that it would actually rain.  I reassured them by saying it would just make for a better story, and Mark was in disbelief that this was my attitude!  We ended up walking the entire perimeter of the concourse in trying to get to our seats.  However, once we got to our seats....WOW!  They were awesome.  We were seated just about dead center field three or four rows up from the wall.  It was pretty good home run territory if you ask me!  I was so stoked!

We sat down and literally at that moment an announcement on the loud speaker came on:  "Attention fans, please clear the stadium and head toward the main concourse."  I looked around the stadium and you could see a mass exodus of people up the aisles toward where we had just come from.  We sat in our seats for literally 2 seconds.  The security guy came and swept everyone out of their seats as we headed for the coverage of the concourse.  Luckily, as we were standing around wondering what on earth we were going to do, Ericha eyed some free table space and totally swooped in on this elderly gentleman and his son.  They were quite kind to let us take up three-fourths of their table.  We sat and visited and waited for it to rain.

That is apparently Tom's "sad" face.  I'd say more disgruntled than anything! 

We may have been sitting there close to an hour when finally the rain began.  And, it rained.  Like, really rained.  We heard the thunder, and we saw the lightning.  It seemed relentless.  We had no idea when they were going to actually make the decision to postpone the game so Mark busted out his phone that had a really cool game called Heads Up.  We played this game for probably another hour.  It is summer fun.  I recommend it to anyone who might be see themselves getting stuck somewhere with a group of friends.  It really helped us to pass the time. I think it helped pass the time for those that were around us, also.  People all around us were watching and laughing right along with us.  At one point, a guy that was standing nearby asked us what the app was called because he wanted to download it so he and his friends could pass the time playing it, too.  That was pretty cool.  During the game, Tom whispered to me, "This is probably just as fun as watching the game!"  Certainly, it was more interactive than watching a baseball game.

See the guy looking on in amusement?  Yeah, he's jealous. 

At this point, we've probably been sitting for a couple of hours.  I began to get a little stir crazy and got up to take some pictures.  I just couldn't believe that it was STILL raining...and raining hard.  When were they going to call it?  We sat back down and waited some more.  Finally, it was nearing 10 pm and Tom was getting antsy to get home due to having to get up early the next day.  We deliberated about what to do.  I didn't want them to start the game up after we had left because then we really wouldn't get our money back.  But, I also didn't want to wait much longer as we were all getting tired.  As we were hemming and hawing, the announcement came over the loud speaker that the game was to be postponed until a later date.  As relieved as I was to hear this announcement, I was also very saddened because I knew I would not be here for the postponed game time.  So, regardless, I didn't get my monies worth ;o(.

It just kept raining. 

Unbelievable. Enjoy the game without me!  

A very sad Judy indeed. 

 I was lucky that I had a great group of friends to play games with to pass the time, however.  And, that, was priceless!