2.5 weeks in Beijing

Well, now that we have Internet access at home, I think updating the blog will be much easier!  As an aside, the only reason I've broken it up into work and the rest of my life recently is because I have to submit work journals to Flagship, so it will be easier this way.

The last week has been fantastic!  List format:

• Wednesday night was the devotional with Elder Oaks.  I got a recording of it, which turned out well except for one part where the microphone conked out on Elder Hallstrom.  Overall, it was a very spiritually strengthening meeting focused on basic obedience to gospel principles and our covenants, and there wasn't anything earth-shattering on China specifically, but it was well worth attending.  Elder Oaks shook most everyone's hand; I was a little disappointed that he wasn't actually looking at me when he shook mine, but still happy he did.
• After that, Isaac took me, Joel, Karin and Josef out to a Taiwanese place for dinner, and we ate ridiculous amounts food, including awesome dim sum!  Isaac is pretty well-off, and he's always paying for things (see below).
• On Friday, about 15 YSA's had dinner at a pizza place, Krow's Nest, which was a cool bar/pizza joint with enormous pizzas.  Think Slab Pizza sized slices and the same kind of pizza.  We got four pizzas and it was more than enough.  And Isaac insisted on paying for half of it.  Then we invited people over to our house to watch a movie, and about 10 people came over and watched The Princess Bride (not my first choice, but a good party movie and some people hadn't seen it).  Isaac drove some of us, and he stopped to get a huge cake at a bakery that cost at least 400 kuai and then took us to Cold Stone for ice cream on top of that!  It was fun to have people over, even though we hadn't really cleaned our house yet, and we only managed to eat a quarter of the cake, so the rest is in our freezer.
• On Saturday, I walked to Gehua and applied for broadband.  In the afternoon, I went on a 10K run to Tian'anmen Square and back.  Actually, it was 6.3 km to Tian'anmen, so I only ran partway back and took a cab from there.  It was really cool to run through the enormous crowds and see all the Chinese people gaping at me for wearing running clothes in freezing weather.  I might do it again tomorrow!  The first cab driver I tried said 100 kuai to get back home - absurd.  He was obviously under the impression that I was an incredibly gullible tourist.  I hopped in a cab a half block later and it only cost 20 something to get home.
• After that, I went to the Easter program practice at the church.  They're doing The Garden, a musical by Michael McLean.  Andrew Dougherty volunteered me for it, but I don't mind.  They need the support, and I was given a tenor solo right away.  Fun!
• Joel and I translated sacrament meeting at church on Sunday.  It was my first time doing it in a while, so I was a little choppy, but it's good experience.  I'm also a branch missionary, and I hope I can be involved in teaching lessons and things.
• After church, many of the YSA's had dinner at Sister Classen's house, which was incredible.  There were pork chops, pumpkin soup, quiche, salad, peach cobbler, brownies, cheesecake, etc etc.  So good!  Anyway, I got home only to realize that I had left my bag at Sister Clausen's house, so I took a taxi back and bused home, because it was 1/20 the cost.  But it took 40 minutes.  Sigh.