Skiing at The Canyons

JJ and Jake were out of school on Monday and so we thought it would be a great idea to take them skiing. This was their very first time. Over the past couple of years they have wanted to learn how to snowboard but I've told them that they had to learn how to ski first. We had a blast. We rode the gondola up to mid-mountain. I gave them the basic lesson of the snowplow and then it was up the lift. The Canyons is a large and quite pretty ski resort.

Jake was a bit frustrated the first couple of runs because of all the little kids speeding down the hill past him. But he quickly got the hang of it. JJ had no problem at all. In fact, he was going down the hill about two times for each time Jake and I made it down. Mid afternoon JJ was speeding down "Snow Dancer" and was a bit out of control. He crashed pretty hard and hurt his ankle/foot enough that he couldn't stand on it. So I went and retrieved the Ski Patrol. They wrapped him up nice and tight and then took him down the mountain. It was quite an adventure for all of us. I'm glad that I had my camera handy to take the cool pictures. After we picked JJ up from the First Aid station, he graciously told us to finish out the day. We set him up with a book, his iPod, his Gameboy, and Sean Hannity. Jake and I got in several more good runs. It was a great day. Not too cold, a little bit of fresh snow and not very many people on the slopes. Later that night we took JJ to the instant care to have his foot x-rayed. Nothing broken but he'll have to stay off it for a few days.

Great Season, Outlaws! 

Shopping on Melrose! 

Here is the US Bank Building that WAS blown up by the aliens in Independance Day but almost again by Al Qaeda 

Santa Monica pier (sure beats the FFT) 

Welcome to Hollywood, what's your dream?

Okay, I finally have a few minutes to write about our short stint in So. Cal a couple of weeks ago. For the past couple of years one of the Christmas gifts I give my lover is a trip to L.A. We love getting away for a few days, away from work, away from children, away from the FFT. This year we stayed in a nice suite at the downtown Marriott and puttered around town in a convertible. On Friday night we had tickets to Riverdance at the Pantages Theater. We rode the Metro (just a few blocks from our hotel) over to Hollywood. That was very convenient. We really didn't know what to expect but we thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Very good music, singing, and of course dancing. It was so nice to sleep in, get up and exercise. Marcella and I would exercise and then walk over to Starbucks for a late breakfast snack. One morning I got to swim about a mile in the pool. That was fun. We also visited Santa Monica beach and pier. By far the biggest highlight (especially for the wife) was the shopping on Melrose. Lots of fun shops. We really had a great time together and can't wait until next year.

Blogshares???

Well my buddy over at Clariticity told me about the new website the other day called BlogShares. Let me know if you would like some shares of "Why I'm Here" or any of a number of blogs. Too bad my situation is anything close to reality. A few weeks ago, the folks at SlashDot gave me a few shares and the next thing I knew they were yanked from me in a leveraged buyout. As a result I made about a million "blogshares" bucks. So I bought a bunch of cheap shares of several cycling blogs yet I still have 1.2 million in cash that I can't seem to spend. Let me know if someone has something to sell.

Look out, Lance! I love my new bike! 

Happy Birthday, Olivia! You're 5 years old! 

Totally Stupid Act (TSA for short)

Okay, so the only highlight that I'm writing about my return trip to Orlando (after being home a whopping 48 hours) takes place in the SLC airport. I was checking in and waiting in my "special" line (for all of those frequent flyers). I turned to look at the X-ray screening where TSA checks your bags and saw this employee going through this one bag. He found a magazine and began going through it. No lie the guy probably spent a good 2 or 3 minutes reading this magazine (no it wasn't a nice girly one). I just had to chuckle. Next time I fly, I'll have to throw in some jokes or something interesting besides my socks and underwear. It must be quite boring (or entertaining) for those folks.

Hey, is that the President? Naw, it's just my "cool" brother-in-law, Ryan 

Geunjeongjeon building of the Gyeongbokgung Palace 

Korea House

Last night Kang-Kun took Prabhakar and I to the Korea House. This is a nice place to enjoy a traditional Korea performance and a traditional Korean dinner. The performance lasted about an hour and included several dances by the lovely ladies standing behind me. My favorite parts were the drums and the guy with the 50 foot streamer attached to the top of his head.


After the performance we were treated to a 16 course meal. It was truely a wonderful experience. Kang-Kun gave me money to give to the girl that was taking care of us. It was a little awkward trying to get her to take the money. What a wonderful experience.

Sabbath is the seventh day don't you know?

Today on the way to see a few things downtown I happened to run into a group of Korean missionaries from the Church of God. I had a delightful time talking to them about why the Sabbath is on Sunday instead of Saturday. I figured that if we expect people to listen to our missionaries, then I could take a few minutes with them. After about 20 minutes I couldn't take anymore of their banter. They were pretty aggressive, however. So, next time you ride the subway to Nakseongdae watch out for young Korean girls asking you to fill out a survey.

I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday...

A couple of nights ago, I found and attended the Seoul, Korea temple. What a great experience. It is tucked away on top of a hill in downtown Seoul. I was the only English speaking attendee that day. I met and talked to several Korean members while waiting over an hour for the endowment session to begin. The Seoul temple was dedicated in 1985. Pretty amazing. Since I was given a headset I took advantage and listened to the entire session in Spanish. Strange. A tall (and skinny) American, in a Korean temple, listening to Spanish. I love my job.

Hey tall American!

Today on the streets of Seoul, I was approached by a man that asked "Hey, how you like a custom taylored suit". Huh? I keep walking. "How about a Rolex" he continues. Yeah, I'll take both. Kept walking.

Can this REALLY be called a gift set? 

Do you find this funny?

In the building where I am working this week I discovered something that I found quite funny. This is a snapshot of the men's restroom. Besides being one of the STINKIEST places I've ever been, the sink is complete with washclothes, lotions, a comb and hair creme, and of course, a toothbrush and toothpaste. Now, who in the world would go into a public restroom and scrub their teeth with a toothbrush there? Just because there is a vase of flowers, does that make it okay? What do you think?

Krazy Koreans

Okay, I've been here for 5 days now. I'm starting to get fed up with the food. Today in class there was something quite funny. My friend, Prabhakar, and I are teaching a class of Koreans. There are a couple of people from the Philippines. We are teaching them about groundwater modeling and bioremediation topics. We are now on the afternoon of the 3rd day and Prabhakar says to the class, "Raise you hand if you do hydrology work". No one raises their hand. Then he says, "Raise your hand if you do groundwater work". Of the class, only 1 or 2 people raised their hand (to either question). He asked again, and then again, and then again. Finally, after about the 5th time, about 1/3 of the class were raising their hand. Clement then asked "If you don't do hydrology OR groundwater work, why are you here"? I was in the back of the class laughing my head off (ROTFLMHO). My guess is that most of these people REALLY have no idea what we are saying MOST of the time. Too funny. Maybe it won't be funny to you but it was really funny to me. Before continuing on to the next lecture, Prabhakar commented, "Man, I want your job. You apparently don't do anything".

On a side note, I know what they DO do. Our host, Dr. Kang-Kun Lee, is always in meetings. Most nights he has meetings that last until 9:30, 10:00, or even 11:00 at night. Can you imagine Americans going to work meetings at night AFTER work. Not.

Secundo dia en Seoul

Well, some interesting things to note about today. It started early because I woke up at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep. So I finally got up around 5. I did a bit or work before I turned on the TV. I didn't think I would find much but to my surprise the Steelers/Broncos game was on. Sweet! I watched most of the 2nd quarter. At halftime I went and had breakfast. It would have been nice to see the rest of the game but we had to go. From where we are staying the location where the course is is about 1/2 hour drive. But guess what? The car I was in had a TV in it so I got to watch the entire 4th quarter. Pretty cool.

The course went really well today. I really enjoy teaching and I had several people come up to me today and tell me how much they were enjoying the course. After the day's lectures we had a special dinner. There were a few "important" people lots of talk in Korean and lots of clapping. No clue what was said. Blah, blah, blah.

Then I was asked to stand and say a few words. Great! What in the heck was I going to say. Most of them had just spent the past 8 hours listening to me. I did have a couple of things to share:

1) my career/job allows me to work with some pretty smart (and cool) people all over this earth and I get quite a bit of satisfaction in working side by side with them.

2) my travels also allow me to work with many people all over this world. I have friends in so many countries and it is a great satisfaction to me to be able to spend time with them, to get to know them, to understand their culture, and help them with their water issues.

Kold in Korea

I've been in Korea for just over a day now. It is quite cold but at least I was smart enough to wear pants and bring a jacket. The new Seoul airport is nice but quite a ways from the city and it took about 2 hours by bus to get to where we are staying. I was supposed to come to Korea about 5 years ago but was not able to due to the arrival of Olivia Pilar. I'm here with my buddy, Prabhakar Clement. We have taught many classes together over the years. I got up this morning and went for a nice run. It was cold but I had a warm sweatshirt. We are staying at the faculty building on the campus of Seoul National University. My room is WAY too hot but it was nice after Clement and I ventured downtown this evening and froze our butts off. For lunch we went to this nice place and ate Kalbi. VERY tasty. My buddy, Norm, tells me that there's a good Korean place in Provo called Sam Hawk. I can't wait to try it out.

MCO

Well, my travel started out a few days earlier than I had expected. A client needed me for a few days so I flew down to Orlando this week. It was nice to leave the snow and cold. I stayed in a semi-decent Holiday Inn Express (don't think I'll stay there again). I did have the exercise room to myself. Nothing exciting to report. A few decent meals (including an Indian lunch) and a chance to finish the book I've been reading for the past couple of months (Ship of Gold - highly recommend it). It was pretty bad that I was only home for a total 8 hours before I left for Korea.

Pogo

Several years ago Grandpa Davis gave our boys a pogo stick. Jake has by far been the most attached to it. For a long time, his record was around 700 or so. The other night he jumped on and 4018 jumps later he had to stop to eat dinner before Scouts. Good job, Jakey!

Puleeeeaaassseeee!

The Palms' $50,000-a-night Hardwood Suite in Las Vegas

Merry Christmas 2005 

Merry Christmas

Each year we send a Christmas card, letter, and picture to friends and family all over the world. For the past few years we have done an A-Z letter listing some of the highlights of the Davis year. Here is this years:

Happy Holidays 2005!
Here’s the scoop from A to Z:

Arden B – Marcella’s favorite store
Backyard – We finally have backyard grass!
Challenger school – Olivia started school this year
Drapers – What would we do without them
Emergency Room – Jake managed to roll a 4-wheeler on him
Freakin’ Frozen Tundra – We still live here.
Great Barrier Reef – Jeff took the ultimate dive
Hockey – Jake started living his dream.
Ipods – We all have ‘em.
Jr. Jazz – both JJ and Jake had great seasons in basketball
Kitchen (as in My Girlfriend’s Kitchen) Marcella’s
lifesaver for dinners for the family.
Lasik – Marcella is free from contacts and glasses forever!!!
Motorcycle – JJ learned how to ride at Sandpoint
Nice and clean – We still LOVE Thursdays after Luci and company come to clean.
Orlando – We surprised the kids in April.
Patio furniture – We finally have our patio
Quick feet – JJ finished his first track season
Respiratory disease – Olivia became child #2 with asthma
Sandpoint – Where we spent our summer vacation
Tinkerbell – Olivia changed her name this year
Utrecht – Jeff and Marcella had a wonderful time in Holland (including Shaving cream)
Viajes – Jeff racked up plenty of FF miles working in Europe, India, Australia, and New Zealand
Washington D.C. – Marcella went back twice this year, once for Ryan’s graduation and the second time to decorate his new house
Xenophile – That’s Marcella and Jeff
Year – Another year has passed and we cannot believe it
Zero more Davis children (guaranteed)

We hope this Holiday Season finds all of you well!

Love,
Jeff, Marcella, JJ, Jake and Olivia

Does anyone know what happens when you put a cheap pillow in the washer? Ka-boom! 

Happy Birthday (39), skinny guy! 

Like Father like Son. Jake is following in his father's footsteps (albeit he's starting much earlier) 

Rakaia Gorge 

JJ's climbing heaven (Kura Tawhiti conservation area) 

Franz Josef glacier 

Christchurch Stake Center 

One of the many one lane bridges (on the road from Christchurch to the West Coast) 

New Zealand Alps (South Island) 

Rangitoto Island (the largest and youngest volcano in Auckland) 

View from Mt Eden (domant volcano). Gee, what a skinny guy! 

View overlooking the city of Auckland from the Sky Tower 

Sunday Church and Sunday Drive

Aren’t Sundays made for going to church and then for a drive? They are if you’re a Davis. When I first got into Christchurch I drove by what was obviously an LDS church. I looked online to see what time the service started and showed up a few minutes early. There were tons of chairs set up and then someone told me that it was Stake conference. There was a visiting authority, the mission president, temple president, and lots of missionaries. It was a great meeting and I was glad I went. I have had many opportunities to worship with saints from all across the globe. It really is a strength to my testimony. After church, I left for my drive. I started for Arthur’s Pass again because I wanted to get some more pictures of the mountains and beautiful flowers. I came across this unique rock area and I stopped to have a look around. Most of the sites like this are Maori sacred areas. I climbed to the top of one of the hills to have a look around. It was so amazing. My ride continued along the Canterbury plains. Much of the LOTR scenes were shot in this area. I stopped at one of the big rivers to climb down to the banks and take more pictures. From there I headed back east to the East coast. I wandered through little towns, lots of pastures and fields of crops and lots of sheep and moo cows. I got to the coast and drove through the main port city east of Christchurch then up to the top of an old volcano. A spectacular view of the Pacific ocean, Christchurch, and the beaches along the coast. The top of the volcano is a very popular place to hang glide from. I drove down the other side to the beaches. Pretty lame beaches if you ask me. Little surf and lots of shells, wood, and other material washed up on the shore. There was a pretty cool rock formation that the waves had carved lots of holes and caves in. This was quite popular for the children. Well, that was about it for my Sunday drive. The rest of the time was spent working with a couple of different groups in Christchurch. For the most part, I really enjoyed the food. Good seafood, good lamb. The Kiwis are big on ice cream and that suits me just fine. I had Thai food one night and that was also quite good. Most nights I would eat by myself and that is one of the pitiful parts of being on the road. I often would just take my book and sit there and read.

Well, after several hours on the plane, I left the nice warm, sunny Southern Hemisphere for the FFT (Freakin’ Frozen Tundra).

The Long and Winding Road......

Well, I didn’t get a chance to finish my trip details here in Kiwiland so since I have an hour or so here in Auckland, I might as well finish. I think in my last post I pretty much covered my North Island activities. I do need to post a picture or two. I had some pretty good meals in Auckland mostly seafood or lamb.

Now on to the South Island. If you are a fan of the LOTR movies, you’ll know that all three movies were filmed mostly on the South Island. The Hobbitville was on the North Island (kind of in the middle of the island, and the volcano scenes (can’t remember where the place is called in the book) were also filmed on the south side of the North Island. Everything else was on the South Island. I got there on the weekend so I had a little bit of time to look around. I went to the West Coast which was beautiful. From Christchurch it is a couple of hours drive. You go over Arthur’s Pass and through the Alps. It is quite incredible. The only thing that I can liken it to are the Canadian Rockies up by Banff and Jasper. The sand on the beaches is black. As you drive south it is all bush (which I would call rainforest). I was going to title this blog entry as “The road of a thousand one lane bridges”. Every few miles (or “K”s as they say here) you have this narrow bridge. Usually they alternate on what direction yields. I’ll have to post some pictures. The only disappointing part of the whole trip was that it was raining the entire time. It is no wonder because you can look at the surrounding area to see how much rain they get. They say that it rains pretty much EVERY day. I stopped in a couple of the small towns to have a look around. The highlight was my stop in Franz Josef. There are two large glaciers here (one in Franz and the other in Fox Glacier). I was excited to see this even though it was raining. So I switched my sandals for my running shoes and set off. It was raining pretty hard but I didn’t mind (at that point). Beautiful, large waterfalls all along were fascinating. The hike to the terminal face of the glacier was a couple of miles up. By the time I reached it, I was SOAKED. There were a number of “smart” people that were part of a tour. They were decked out in their rain/snow gear. Next time I go, I’ll try one of those tours. They actually take you up ON to the glacier. It looks pretty cool. Well, I couldn’t take it anymore and I headed back. Here I was, the stupid American in shorts, walking along with people with either umbrellas or at least winter type gear. Oh well. On to the next site. Close to the next glacier is Lake Matheson. The reason that I went there is this is “supposed” to be one of the picture perfect places in all of New Zealand. From the lake you are “supposed” to be able to see Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman the two highest peaks in New Zealand. Well, you can imagine all I saw was clouds and rain. Not a problem. It was so beautiful, there was no one around and I had nothing better to do. I had dinner back in Franz Josef. By the time I made it all the way back to Christchurch, it was pretty late.

Kiwiland

Okay, it is the night before I go home, and I thought I would maybe blog a bit about my trip here in New Zealand. Right now, I just want to get home. I've been on the road for pretty much the last two months and I'm looking forward to being home for a while.

Because of a scheduling oversight on my part, I had to leave on Thanksgiving for my trip here. Dinner (and pumpkin pie) was awesome and we had a houseful of people to join us this year. The trip was uneventful except for the fact that Air New Zealand lost my bags for 2 days. Luckily, I had an extra shirt and change of underwear to get me through it.

I spent my first day in Auckland (the biggest city in New Zealand). It is a port city on the northern part of the North Island. I went up the Sky Tower which is the highest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. It was quite pretty to see the entire city and surroundings. I taught for a couple of days, attended a decent conference, and met a number of good people. One of my new friends, Trevor Pilar, was there with his wife and I spent a couple of evenings and an afternoon with them. We went on a field trip which included many of the dormant volcanoes that dot the area. I also took a boat trip out to Rangitoto which is Auckland's youngest volcano.

After spending almost a week in Auckland (a fairly big city), I flew to Christchurch. This is the largest city on the South Island and is situated just about in the middle on the East coast. The South Island is quite a bit different than the area around Auckland. It is pretty amazing. There are parts that remind me of Banff and the Swiss Alps, but there are beautiful coasts, incredible bush (I would call them rainforests or jungles), and miles and miles (okay kilometers and kilometers) of Canterbury fields/ranges/pastures/farmland.

I'll try to posts some pictures in the morning and continue on. I hate reading long posts so I'm stopping here.