I feel like we owe everyone an explanation of the name for our blog: heavy plum.
Since I took John's family name, and went into all the trouble going to court to change my name into an American one, John decided he would take on a Chinese name with my last name Li. Li, being the fourth most popular family name in China, means plums in Chinese. Usually Chinese characters have multiple meanings. I searched many dictionaries trying to find a cooler explanation for Li, but, no luck. Just plums. Oh well...
John hates it when the Chinese mispronounce his name. He has several criteria for a name: easy to pronounce, masculine, close pronunciation to his real name John. Zhong, which means heavy in Chinese, seems to fit all the above criteria. Therefore, he became Li Zhong in China:-)
We had fun imagining how to introduce himself. "Hey, I'm heavy. How are you?" "Ni hao, I'm heavy." My brother said he should be Li Gao, which means tall. My friends suggested Li Jun (handsome). I thought it should be Li Bai (white), only that Li Bai is the most famous poet from Tang dynasty. We were not sure whether John would live up to his name. Too much pressure. It's like naming your kid William Yeats, Edgar Allen Poe, or Shakespeare.
Anyway, that's the report. When you hear about some famous American guy named Li Zhong on Shanghai News someday, you'll be like "oh that's John! I knew him once!"
爱上我的家
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas in Harmony :-)
John and I had our first Christmas together! We had a great time!
I was introduced to Christmas three years ago and I've fallen in love with it ever since. The Christmas spirit of loving, sharing, and giving always fills my heart with warmth. John and I sent cookies and banana breads to our friends and neighbors in the ward; we gave away some of our stuff to some families in need; we sent out Christmas cards to family and friends; we got each other surprise presents; most important of all, we set a goal to be closer to Christ through constant prayers.
We checked out our apartment Dec 22 and came down to John's parents'. It was hard to leave all our families and friends behind. I am so glad I got to spend time with my brother and with Deanna before I had to leave. I was also glad that I spent time with Kate on John's presents, had lunch with Naisi in the MOA, had dinner with the Hardings, met up with the Mckays & Mckees in the Wilk, and happed to see many other friends. We'll miss all of you!
On Christmas Eve, a big herd of deer came into our backyard. I screamed as if the house was on fire. They were beautiful, especially the big buck. I asked John to take some pictures so my friends in China would believe me.
I was introduced to Christmas three years ago and I've fallen in love with it ever since. The Christmas spirit of loving, sharing, and giving always fills my heart with warmth. John and I sent cookies and banana breads to our friends and neighbors in the ward; we gave away some of our stuff to some families in need; we sent out Christmas cards to family and friends; we got each other surprise presents; most important of all, we set a goal to be closer to Christ through constant prayers.
We checked out our apartment Dec 22 and came down to John's parents'. It was hard to leave all our families and friends behind. I am so glad I got to spend time with my brother and with Deanna before I had to leave. I was also glad that I spent time with Kate on John's presents, had lunch with Naisi in the MOA, had dinner with the Hardings, met up with the Mckays & Mckees in the Wilk, and happed to see many other friends. We'll miss all of you!
On Christmas Eve, a big herd of deer came into our backyard. I screamed as if the house was on fire. They were beautiful, especially the big buck. I asked John to take some pictures so my friends in China would believe me.
Buying and opening gifts are the main reasons I love Christmas. All the hiding, anticipating, and surprising is just too much fun! I made John two pairs of P.J. pants and he looked cute in both of them even though they are very much flawed! Hey I'm no sewer. But I'm proud of myself. So is John :-)
Among all the gifts, my favorite is the digital picture frame John got me. He knows how much I love pictures and how often I complain about not having enough frames for all my pictures. What a sweetheart! Now I don't have to try to decide which one to frame, I can display them all in a slideshow mode. So happy!
John's mom has this tradtion of sending him on a scavenger hunt for his best gift. This year, John had to run to the barn, the garden, the bird house, the storage room in the basement, the kitchen, and finally found a pack of gum in the living room. He was disappointed until he discovered the check in the gum :-) Surprise!!
I love Christmas and can't wait for the next one!
I love Christmas and can't wait for the next one!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas!
This link is too a really cool Christmas medley by a men's A Cappella group. Funny stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/greeting_view?s=WfjtOe7tUCI&p=2862B4D46C3F8E75
http://www.youtube.com/greeting_view?s=WfjtOe7tUCI&p=2862B4D46C3F8E75
This is our blog :
Welcome
We promised to keep in touch with so many people we decided that this would be a good idea. Hopefully I'll be better at posting on here than I have been at writing in my journal so far :)
Sherry always has her camera with her, and now we'll have somewhere to put all those pictures!
Visit often, and leave lots of comments!
We promised to keep in touch with so many people we decided that this would be a good idea. Hopefully I'll be better at posting on here than I have been at writing in my journal so far :)
Sherry always has her camera with her, and now we'll have somewhere to put all those pictures!
Visit often, and leave lots of comments!
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