Scalping doughnuts.......

This is Krispy Kreme in Bangkok:

 
 It just opened a few months ago, and well, Krispy Kreme chose the perfect place to open...because this is the line to buy doughnuts at Krispy Kreme:

Yes, that is outside of the store.  They called people in shifts to enter and buy doughnuts.  Once inside you have to choose if you are the "original glazed only" type or the "assorted" type.  Once you decide, that is the kind you will get...it doesn't matter how appealing a NY cheesecake doughnut sounds after you are in the original glazed line.

This is my happy husband, after we stood in that crazy line:

While in the line we were approached by this guy:

(The guy on the right of the picture, with the shifty eyes......)

to buy a dozen doughnuts from him for a higher price, so we could skip out on the line.

He is just one of what seems to be a million people who are trying to make a baht or two off of the brilliance that is Krispy Kreme, by selling dozens of doughnuts to salivating people passing by.

Literally across the street from Krispy Kreme in Bangkok I passed FIVE different stands selling dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for prices 50 - 150 baht more than at the store. What that means in US dollars: a dozen glazed is 249 baht or $8.30, people on the street are selling them for anywhere from 300 baht ($10) to 400 baht ($13.30) RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE STORE!

Today I am proud to be a North Carolinian.

Dando gracias

I'm hanging up these laces for the next month, as I spend three weeks in flip flops and sandals and then two weeks in hiking boots. But wanted to express my sincere gratitude to my mom who bought these shoes for my birthday. They have been the perfect China shoes, waterproof and perfect for the cold and sometimes wet weather, as well as for all the walking around I have done in the last month. I have worn them everyday since December 6th. They were good to me while we were in America, and actually served the purpose they were made for a few times, but here instead of trails with roots and rocks, these shoes have been dodging puddles and tiles in the sidewalk that squirt up water all over my feet when I step on them.

Thank you, mom.

Mi casa es su casa

If they mated.....

       +

Result =

This is Asian Kate. I know you can see it. Don't lie.

This is me with Kate and her son, whose English name is coincidentally Jackie....probably after her father.

Our own cider house

This is our friend Albert

Albert is standing over a cider press that he made with his resourcefulness of being able to look at objects like lunch trays and cutting boards, and see useful parts of a cider press.

Albert is known for his love of apples and is famous for his applesauce. But this apple season he has gone beyond "Albert's World Famous Applesauce" to now "Albert's World Famous Apple Cider."  He invited us over to make cider at his house.

To make cider:

First you have smash the apples. Whole apples. Don't peel them, don't core them. Just smash them.

Once they are smashed, then you can fill the press:

And then just turn the knob and cider starts pouring out! Aaron did all the hard work of smashing the apples. I just watched the juice pour out.

Last step: Enjoy.

mint hot chocolate. egg nog. and now apple cider - things that normally leave us longing when we think of them. Thinking of them makes me want to curl up under a blanket in front of a fire with a hot cup (or cold cup) with a book or a movie. So far this asian winter we have enjoyed all of these drinks, no fire, lots of movies, and the occasional book. I would say it has been a great winter. AND the egg nog and cider that we have enjoyed here have been better than egg nog or cider I ever had in the US. Y'all want to move here now, don't you?

How to learn a new city

Aaron and I have recently realized that at this point in our moving in/learning a new city we have a choice. We don't start class until the end of February, and we don't leave for travel until January 13th. So that meant this week, we had a choice each morning to either not venture out into the cold, gray weather and staying warm and cozy at home, OR we could venture out, wearing layers and layers of clothes (I'm wearing long johns for the first time in my life) and learn our city, our new home.

But, how do you learn a new city? We are doing it by getting on every and any bus that comes by our house and ride it until it ends.

Our first bus ride was a 45 minute ride to the southwest of our city. We quickly went off of the map Aaron and I were using to track our route, and ended up here:

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture what exactly is out here, but let me tell you - it was nothing. This was it. This is where all the buses stop, and the bus drivers take their nap before their next bus route. On the way out here, we watched as our surroundings got dustier and dustier and the industrial parks increased. This is where the hard workers live. If I ever need to buy construction equipment, I now know which bus to ride.

Our second bus trip was a much more successful bus ride in my eyes, as this is where we ended up:

We ended up within walking distance to H&M, Sephora, Starbucks, Subway, Ikea, and a European sports store called Decathalon. Much better ending I would say. On this bus trip we stayed on the map, and discovered where to go in our city if we ever need anything computer related, or if we need to buy a new bike.

I'm sure the other buses have pretty good stops, but I think we've already hit the jackpot. Especially considering taxis to this area cost us at least $20 USD roundtrip, and just over $1 USD roundtrip on the bus.

for Auld Lang Syne, my dear

Train ride

Coming back from Christmas with our friends, Aaron and I decided to take an 18 hour train ride back to our city so that we could transport luggage that we left with our friends when we came in April.

in the train station waiting to board

aaron on the train

The train was amazing! I was a little bit nervous because I have only heard about how long the ride is and on such hard seats, so I was pleasantly surprised by the soft sleepers that we had. I was in a room with a young couple traveling together, and an older gentleman traveling by himself. Aaron bunked with 3 guys who kept calling us their "foreign friends" and one told us that we, Americans, are very pretty.

our rooms

People in the train station and on the train were pretty interested in us. Loading our luggage onto the train we got several "hellos" from random people walking by, and one guy on the train smelled like he had been drinking some liquid courage as he came up to us to try out his english. The conversation quickly switched to his language so that we could talk a little more.

views from outside of the window

When we came to Asia in April we dropped off three suitcases, 50 pound each, at our friend's home. For our flight to Asia we were both each allowed 2 fifty pound suitcases for free. We decided to make one of the 4 bags we had together overweight to 70lbs and pay the difference. We paid $130 to have those extra 20 pounds. The suitcases that we picked up from our friends, a total weight of 150 pounds, only cost us $25.50 to ship on the train and $113 for both of our overnight train tickets. So for roughly the same amount as we spent in the airport for an extra 20 pounds we were able to ship all of our bags to our new home. I am so glad we brought those extra bags in April! I don't want to think about how much the extra 150 pounds would've cost us at the airport!

the crowds waiting on arrivals at the train station

We've been enjoying having our bags with all the extra goodies we packed....though we were bummed to find that TSA had taken out our case of Cheerwine and bag of grits from our suitcases....WHY DO YOU HATE SOUTHERNERS, TSA?

Christmas Review

We were really thankful to get to spend this Christmas with such good friends, and to spend time reflecting on Christmas. This Christmas we have enjoyed lighting the advent candle and preparing our hearts in expectation for the second coming of Christ.

Christmas Eve we spent the evening celebrating with a feast. In Asia we can't get ingredients for our traditional Christmas dishes as easily or as inexpensively as you can in America. So all of the meals that were made were made from scratch and made with a bit of a sacrifice to make Christmas special. We are definitely going to head back to our city a few pounds heavier than when we came.

After dinner we followed the O'Hare family tradition and watched Christmas Vacation. This was by far the largest screen I have ever seen the movie on....and by screen, I mean wall.

Aaron wanted Christmas to be classy this year.....

Aaron shaved the Fu Manchu on Christmas Eve to give everyone the Christmas dream we've all been wishing for. He still hasn't shaved it and it is Sunday evening here.....I'm hoping shaving is his New Year's resolution.....or 27th of December resolution.

We skyped our families and were jealous as they flaunted Rick O'Hare's famous molasses cookies, Honey Baked Ham at the Shepard's, and inches of snow on the ground Christmas day in Greensboro!

While we missed family, we had a great Christmas, and can't imagine a better way to spend Christmas in Asia.

Feliz Navidad!

This post is especially for Aaron's mom, who was sad when she thought about us not having any Christmas decorations in Asia and so provided the stockings and fireplace :) They were the first things I put up in our apartment.

Also, thank you to all of our friends who sent us photo Christmas cards last year....I saved them anticipating not getting Christmas cards for a while, and they are hanging on the windows. So, Riddles, Montagues, Hursts, Bacons, Krebs, Flanders, Shelleys, O'Hares, Jungs, Vuljanics, Bass, and Nunns, I hope you liked your 2009 Christmas cards, because they are going to be a part of our Christmas decorations for a while to come!