Lorraine comes to town!

Hooray for visitors!!! Lorraine came into town last weekend for a quick visit, and it was really nice to have her around! While I haven't yet mastered my "tour de Boston" repertoire, we still managed to see lots of stuff. We spent the day exploring Boston on our very own “walking tour” that ended up lasting 5 ½ hours. (Bring your walking shoes if you come to Boston...) We even managed to find a GA Bulldog’s bar to watch the game!

Goodbye, I will miss you...

Two big things happened over the weekend. First, my trip to Geneva was canceled (Thank goodness. I'm kinda over flying long distances for short meetings). Second, my computer blew up!!!!!! Well, it didn't really blow up but it might as well have; the hard drive died. Which really stinks. I spent the day trying to recover data (which was mostly successful).

I feel so disconnected and unable to keep in touch with the world. Maybe it is withdraw symptoms from not being able to surf the net for useless information. I am also shaking a lot and have a cold sweat....wonder if I should look into getting help.

I am able to post this tonight as I stole Allison's computer. So if you do not see anyting from me for a while it's because I am επίθ as the greek say, or "disconnected". (Or I may have gone on another CIA mission.)

Welcome to Boston, Chris

Chris is finally home. And he'll be here for A WHOLE WEEK before he's off to conquer the world, er, I mean sell some computer programs or something...

Maybe I'll give him one of my famous walking tours while he's here!

The response has been AMAZING...

OK, so I was hoping that people would have a chance to look over the Blog and kind of laugh along with Chris and I as we document our year here in Boston (and around the world), but I have truly been amazed by the amount of emails that I have received concerning one particular post. So many of you have lovingly expressed your genuine concern over a matter that I thought might be the one reason to pack up and move back home.

No Duke's Mayonnaise.

If you're not a Duke's mayo fan (what are you, crazy???), than there is no reason for you to read on.

We have had people offer to ship us the stuff, and I don't think they were kidding. This is serious. Since I'm going to be doing quite a bit of research over the course of the next year, I thought I'd start off with something close to my heart (but not in my fridge, because, clearly, the nice folks up here have no IDEA what they are missing...)

Fun Facts FYI
- Duke’s original sales force was all women
- Famous Duke’s users include Paula Deen, Ina Garten and Race Car drivers Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jay Haas, Davis Love, JEB Stuart IV and RE Lee V
- Southerners have hit the web to yelp, blog and even broadcast their love for Duke’s Mayonnaise. You can find Duke’s on Flickr, YouTube as well as the blogosphere
- Duke’s is not only a favorite among the SE, it’s shipped to Germany, Russia, Africa, Iraq and other international locations monthly.

***Just so you know, that came off of the Duke's website. That's right, they have a website, and as it turns out, they'll SHIP their products anywhere in the world!

Life is good.

(A special thanks to Chris's dad (not a Carolina boy) for trying the Duke's Vs. Kraft taste test. Unfortunately, his taste buds are dead from years of exposure to other "sandwich dressings", and his opinions on the matter cannot be taken into account.)

Oh boy...

Well, I did. If nothing else, I can now tell people that I made it through an entire week at Harvard University. Not a small accomplishment, considering the fact that I feel like I just ran a marathon. There is a distinct possibility that my head will explode if I have to read any more, and Chris will be forced to clean up the mess, and head off to take pictures of barns and turtle-rocks...

My posts might become much shorter in the coming weeks. So far, this has been the most rewarding and challenging week of my life (academically speaking), but it has been fun. I can't wait for Chris to come back to Boston and experience this great city with me.

I found out today that I will be completing my internship at the Martin Luther "King" School in Cambridge. I chuckled to myself as I walked into the building and considered the irony of having to come 1000 miles away to teach in a school named after the man who played such a dominant role in Atlanta. God does have a sense of humor...

If anyone knows anything about multivariate evidence for a convergent skills model of reading development, please call me IMMEDIATELY. I've got a paper to write, and I don't think my stack of Organic Chemistry books is going to help me on this one. (Nice observation, Mr. Sandlin. Are you on Facebook?) :)

Ahhh, Park City

So I have made it back to the US of A from Asia and all its earthquakes. It was only a 7 hour flight from Singapore to Seoul (a 30 min layover) and then a 10 hour 30 min flight from Seoul to San Francisco, and then another 1 hour 30 min flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. So a grand total of 18 hours on an airplane, do I know how to spell F-U-N or what?.

The flight path coming into San Francisco was amazing. We flew parallel to the coast and the Golden Gate Bridge. After the bridge we banked to the left, flying over the city and Alcatraz. It was such a pretty view from a great vantage point.

I decided to go to Salt Lake City, Utah to spend the night with my dear friends Mike & Teash Lawson and their two kids Aden & Amelia in Park City. I have not seen them in a long time ,and by visiting them I was able to avoid the Red Eye flight back to the East Coast, and sleep in a bed instead of an airplane seat...That is what I like to call a bonus item.

So if anyone is wondering what it is like trying to adjust back to a time zone that is 12 hours different from the East Coast,... Sometimes it is not too bad but other times it is, well how do I say....hmm...well....it sucks. Last night I slept great but today I have been up since 4am EST, which is 2am Mountain time. Later today should be very interesting!

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day. It started off with a nice bagel and a cup of coffee, followed by a very competitive trash- talking game of Sorry! (which I have not played since I was about 10 years old, man it was fun!) against Mike and his son Aden (I was winning right up to the end when Aden pulled 2 Sorry! Cards and pushed me back home. I do not like to lose-not even to a 5 year old). After dropping the kids at afternoon school, Mike and I had a great sushi lunch with a nice bowl of miso soup to warm us up (it is a bit cool here), and followed it up with a great steak dinner. (Thanks Mike- it was good and needed after 10 or so days in Asia). And then another round of Sorry!, which I lost.

I am glad to be here visiting the Lawson Family and enjoying the wonderful weather and views here in Park City. (I could see Allison working here and me being a SkiBum, note to self....... "talk to Allison about future plans in Park City upon returning to Boston"). However, I am looking forward to getting home (well Boston) and spending some time with my wife. I have to check the blog to remember what she looks like.

The time will be short as I found out today that I am heading to Geneva, Switzerland on Sunday night and returning on Thursday. I will then be in Boston for the last weekend of September to host Brad Owens (Allison's Dad's wife's son, did ya follow that?) who is coming to visit with tickets to the Sox game next Friday night. NOTE: We have not set any gift minimum to visit us, but Brad has now set the bar pretty high for anyone who follows him.

On the following Monday, October 1st, I have to go to Sao Paulo for a business meeting, and then I am heading to Cordoba, Argentina to go Dove hunting (man I hope I do not pull a Cheney) with Allison’s Uncle. And finally, I'll be returning to the Boston on the 15th of October. So this month was a blur and next month will be one as well.

**Play will start next week for "Where In The World is Chris", with the winner being able to take Chris's place on his next business trip some place in the world.

Oh, and the picture is of The Mcpolin Barn in Park City from Jeff Swindell at www.postercaseproductions.com

Allison Miller, HGSE student

Well, it's official. I am a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Whoo hoo.
I had my first class today, and all is well. They sure do expect us to read a lot here though...

Next step, become a die-hard Red Sox fan (sorry Chip and Kristin.)

Make way for the ducklings (and the Millers...)

Ok, so it turns out that not EVERY day in Boston is either rainy or cold. Thank you God! Today was a perfect example of how wonderful Boston can be! I made it to a worship service at the oldest church in the area (est. 1809), Park Street Church. I even had an opportunity to meet other grad students at a reception that followed. There's a lot to be said for the connection between free food and fellowship...

Classes start tomorrow, and I know that I am going to be VERY BUSY for the next few months, so I took the opportunity to get outside today and take in some of the Boston scenery. I hung out with the ducklings in the Public Gardens for a while, saw the Swan Boats, a Duck Tour, and even got a little sun on my face from the reflection off of the Capitol Building dome. What a beautiful day it was in Boston.

Mongolia, Yes, Mongolia

After being in Boston for an about 36 hours I decided to leave my wife to settle us into incredible large postal stamp sized apartment we are now calling home (or at least for the next 10 months or so) so that I could go to Mongolia, Yes, Mongolia.

I had a business trip to meet with the CEO and Sr. VP at MIAT Mongolian Airlines (www.miat.com) whom we had hosted in London earlier in the year. So a group of nine from our Singapore office and two Americans headed to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Our company actually has an office there with 4 employees; the two senior people there had invited us to spend part of the weekend so they could show us their country.

So I left Boston on September 6, 2007 to make my way to Mongolia but first I had to go to Salt Lake City, then to San Francisco, continuing on to Seoul, South Korea (where I spent the night and a day) and finally arriving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia at 9pm Saturday, September 8, 2007.

While in Seoul, I decided to stay at the W Walkerhill Seoul, which was nice but on the other side of Seoul from the airport (which I did not know until I got to the hotel). It took me 2 hours from the airport to get there due to traffic. But the next day before my flight to Mongolia I wasted some time at a place called Technomart, which is a 10 – 12 story building that houses everything electronics. The place had everything from TVs, digital cameras, mp3 players, to air conditioners, washers/dyers and computers. It was interesting to see that much stuff in one place but there were no real deals to be had so, contrary to normal practice for me, I bought nothing but did manage to waste some serious time.

So, MIAT Mongolian Airlines. If you are thinking they are not big you would be correct. However, they did have new 737-800 aircraft, and the food/service was better than most US airlines. The airport on arrival in Mongolia on the other hand was pretty beat down. We landed on the roughest landing strip I had ever been on. In fact, the day we had the meeting with the CEO, he had to leave early due to a plane blowing a tire on take off and had an issue landing in Moscow.

On Sunday, September 9, Ganbar, our host and co-worker, took us to the country side to see what people like about Mongolia. We went to Terelj National Park, a park that is situated at 80Km. north east of Ulaan Baatar. It is very popular with the locals and on the weekends with foreigners. It took us nearly two hours to drive from the capital due to the roads. The park sits at about 5300 feet and looks like you are in the Rockies and is about 1.2 million acres. (The country is big, really big.)

In the park we saw The Turtle Rock or what the locals called Melkhi Khad. It is an interesting rock formation that looks like a turtle, as you can see by the photo. Also, there are locals offering horse and camel (of the two hump variety) rides.

Afterward we had a traditional Mongolian feast at Ger (traditional home) Camp. This is a place that has about 20 Gers and a central restaurant. They prepared a meal which was awesome and included lamb, beef, vegetables, and more. However, it did not have horse, a very typical dish. Oh well, maybe next time. We did have the other typical item, which is Grand Khaan Vodka. It is very good stuff. If you live in Denver there is an importer there that has the following website: www.grandkhaan.com

Overall it was a great trip to country with some beautiful mountains and a lot of nice people. I talked to the VP about going back next summer, which would be fun. It would be great to go back and do some hiking and visiting other parts of Mongolia. Then conclude it with a train ride from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing through a portion of the Gobi desert. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Harvard

I have been here for a week now (Chris is in Singapore enjoying the earthquakes...), and I finally got the last bag unpacked. I've spent the week attending orientation sessions at HGSE, where they assured us on the first day that they had not, in fact, made any mistakes in the admissions process. So it turns out that I get to stay!

So far the process has been very exciting. For an educator, this is a dream world. Some of the most well-known names in the field of education teach at Harvard, and passing them on the sidewalk is no big deal. For me, it is kind of like Hollywood. You just never know whom you are going to see here...

Today, more than ever, I realized how truely blessed I am to be here. I have met a few girls that have been an AMAZING support in the last couple of days, and I have no doubt that they are here to help me get through this coming year. It is all a bit overwhelming right now, but I am finding comfort in the idea that God has a perfect plan for me, and I can do this.

Umbrella? Ha.

I have been mentally and physically preparing for the inevitable, horrible, unavoidable truth that winter here is a mess. I like preparing for things like this. Chris and I bought nice, warm jackets. I have a heated mattress pad. I even look cute in mittens and a hat.

Today, however, I felt as though I had been a bit misled about the weather here in Boston. It seems as though the snow/mush/cold of winter is only a follow-up to the gloominess that is a fall day in New England. I could tell you that it “rained” today, but that would be HORRIBLY MISLEADING.

If you have ever been to a water park and stood at the bottom of “Splash Mountain” (or whatever they might call it at the amusement park of your choice), you might be able to comprehend what I am about to describe. At the bottom of the previously mentioned water “feature”, an umbrella would be futile. You’d get really wet.

Today, the city of Boston was at the bottom of Splash Mountain. For hours. And I, with my umbrella, got soaked. I mean, really, really soaked. This “mist” of sorts would have been welcome on Saturday as I sat in the direct sun at the Boston College/ NC State game in 95-100 degree temperatures. No luck. Today it was about 68 degrees outside. Did I mention that I had on flip-flops?

The "T"

It turns out that public transportation, when executed correctly, is really quite effective. The "T" here is wonderful. I don't have to deal with traffic (which is a blessing, because the traffic here is UNBELIEVABLE), I can read or eat breakfast on my way to the school, and no one even expects (or wants) me to be friendly.
One drawback to public transportation: If you get on the train going in the wrong direction, it takes a while to get back on track. Not that I've ever done that on my way home or anything. I just wanted to throw that out there.

Stop & Shop

This has to be the best idea, EVER. (Well, cookie dough in ice cream was a pretty ingenious idea too, but this is a close second.)

http://www.peapod.com/

Since grocery stores are few and far between here, and NONE OF THEM SELL DUKE'S MAYONAISE, you have to be fairly open to shopping. While there is a Whole Foods Market right across the street, I have a really hard time spending so much on groceries. So Chris found a good alternative for us at this place called Stop & Shop. (Notice that I did not mention Publix or BiLo. There is a reason for this. There are no “normal” grocery stores here.) This is how it works: You go online, click on all of the things that you want to buy, except for Duke’s, and then they deliver it right to your door. Amazing. Well, almost amazing. As it turns out, it’s strangely expensive, and you still can’t get everything you might want, but all in all, pretty impressive. And, I didn’t have to lug all of the stuff across the street, up the stairs, and through two locked doors.

Our New Home

It's close to everything, it's clean, and there's almost enough room for half of our things...

Week 1

We made it! The drive wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We made stops at Lake Hartwell to see my dad and Susan, and then we drove to Greenville to spend the night with Ryan, Pam, Madison and Paden, and to see Courtney. Our first day from Atlanta was a bugger. The 2-hour drive nearly did us in...

On Monday, Labor Day, we made our way through NC (stopping at Best Buy to purchase a Navigation System that was later returned because it took both of us, and way too much thought to operate,) VA (where we stopped in Grottoes to see Chris's Uncle Jack,) WV (um, no stops here...), MD, PA, NJ, NY, and into CT, where we stopped for the night in Stamford.
**Great thanks to Chris's dad for spending over an hour on the phone with Chris trying to find us a decent place to stay.

On Tuesday morning we jumped in the car for the final leg of our trip. Funny thing, after spending nearly 12 hours in the car the day before, the last 3 1/2 hours of our drive seemed to last forever. Finally, around 1 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2008, we made it to our new home in Boston, Massachusetts. Over 1000 miles, 5 toles, countless highways, and a myriad of CD's, we made it. We were in 10 states in 3 days. And boy, were we glad to get here. I'd like to say that I contributed to the driving, but that would be a lie of sorts. Actually, I did contribute in that I managed to stay awake for all but about 1 hour of the entire trip. For me, that's huge.

Moving in should have been easy. We rented a furnished unit, so all we had to bring was our clothes. I've never claimed to be an efficient packer, and this move just proves that I have NO CLUE how to pack, at all. Our car was packed with every item of clothing I own, and a few of Chris's things. When we got to our apartment on Beacon Hill (www.beaconhillonline.com) we were less than excited to notice that there was NO parking. The next hour or so of moving our things into the apartment consisted of a series of sprints to and from the car with luggage as Chris drove around the block time and again. Next time I'll pack lighter...

We got all of our things in, and we've spent the last day and a half trying to fit all of our things into a tiny space. Chris left this morning for Mongolia, and by the time he gets back on the 22nd, I should have this place all figured out. Thank you for all of your prayers for us as we made the journey up here. Please continue to pray for us in our new home!