... and the World 🌑

03 October 2008

Buy my wedding album!

Through the magic on the Interwebs and QOOP, everyone can buy our wedding album for the low, low price of only $49.99 here. You can also see the first 15 pages there as well. This is cheaper than purchasing one in China and shipping it over to America via FedEx.

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29 September 2008

Wedding Photos!

My wedding photos are finally processed, scanned and uploaded to Facebook. Sorry about the delay. You can see them at http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53206&l=80e1a&id=505257160. Unfortunately Asian photo taking and retouching tries to make the skin more pale, prings out the red-tones, and softens the jaw line. All three are things that do not help my appearance at all. So while my wife looks beautiful in these pictures (as she always does), I am not very fond of my looks in many of these photographs. Please feel free to comment about the pictures on Facebook, or if you are not a Facebook member and do not wish to join, you may comment here as well. I love comments! :-)

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04 September 2008

Soulmates

I always liked the idea of soul mates, but I am not sure I believed in them thoroughly. That is, until I met my wife. As I have said before, she and I connect and are compatible on not only level I would want in a mate, but we connect on other levels I never expected or realized it was able to connect on. We are a perfect fit, like 2 puzzle pieces that were made to be together. And it is not just me who notices. Her family and my family have noticed how happy we make one another and others have even seen it in pictures. I have to wonder how rare it is that someone would not only have but meet and actually marry their soulmate? I do not know, but I consider myself the luckiest man int he world to have someone who loves me unlike I have ever been loved and someone who I love unlike I have ever loved anyone before. I truly am happy and satisfied with life when she is with me. If she were to die before me, I am sure that like many truly in-love elderly couples who experience this, I would die of a lonely heart and my prime desire to be with her,

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Superficial Thoughts on BeiJing, P.R.C.

I think I like ChangSha and even YuanJiang, in HuNan Province better than BeiJing. Do not get me wrong. BeiJing has some wonderful sights, a wonderful airport, excellent subway and bus system, and some great people like Winser Zhao and family (pictured to the left), but it is just not my kind of city. (Fei says I only feel this way because I was pick-pocketed, sold a fake memory card, and got sick in BeiJing!) Plus they are all taller up north and I no longer feel tall. LOL! It did not help that so many super-tall northern Europeans were in BeiJing when I was there either! In South China, people are shorter (like my perfect sized wife who is 158cm/5'2") and me being 175cm/5'9", I feel tall, which I like, as 5'9" is not tall in America or BeiJing! :-D

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21 August 2008

Evil Twins

Usually twins will not only look the same, but also have the same interests, aspirations, and desires in life. Sometimes this is not so. Though there may be moral disparity between actual biological twins, the term is more often a misnomer. In many cases, the two look-alikes are not actually twins. In others, the so-called "evil" twin is more precisely a dual opposite to their "good" counterpart, possessing at least some commonality with the value system of the protagonist.

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18 August 2008

The Wedding Video!

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China

So I am still in China (which is a story within itself for a later blog entry) but I wanted to let everyone know that my time in HuNan Province from 1-12 August was great! I will detail the wedding at http://feisnik.blogspot.com and I am uploading pictures as I get them on my Facebook page at http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=505257160. I finally met Fei's twin sister, YanHong; and it was good to see the two MeiMeis who I like and get along with really well, YanZi and YanFan. YanZi's husband and I of course drank many beers over those 2 weeks and it is always good to see DiDi. As I said before, I will blog about the wedding on the marriage blog and then return here to blog more about being stuck in BeiJing, which is also being covered somewhat at the new Facebook.

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28 July 2008

QiXi: Chinese Valentine's Day and Olympic Love

In 2008, Beijing is undoubtedly the focus of the world, because the 29th Olympic Games will be held here. It is not only a grand affair of the mankind, but also a great honor of Chinese people. We are solicitous of the advent of the Olympics and as well, we warmly welcome you to come to Beijing to appreciate the infinite glamour of the oriental ancient civilizations.

On the occasion of worldwide celebration, the coming of traditional Chinese Valentine's Day adds more festivity to the atmosphere. Double Seventh Day, the Valentine's Day in China on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which falls on August 7 this year, while Aug. 8 is the opening day of 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Quite mysteriously, it seems that the Olympics is destined to be connected with the Double Seventh Day, QiXi.

The indissoluble bond between the Olympics and love was tied since the first Olympic Games. In the old Greek legend, Pelops was the grandson of the Olympian Zeus, the ruler of the Olympus. He fell in love with Hippodameia, the daughter of King Oenomaus of the Elis City. A god once predicted that Oenomaus would die if his daughter had got married. Therefore, he came up with an idea that anyone who wanted to marry his daughter had to race carriages with him. Only the winner could have his dream come true. 12 warriors lost the race and also their lives. Finally, Nelops resorted to Poseidon and won the game with the magic carriage and flying horse borrowed from him. Nelops had his wish fulfilled and also became the king of the Elis City. To celebrate his victory, he launched the world famous Olympic Games.

As well, the will of perseverance lying behind the beautiful love story of Double Seventh Day happens to be similar to the Olympic spirit. The legend goes like this: Zhi Nu was the youngest of the seven daughters of the Queen Mother, while, Niu Lang was a poor orphan cowherd, driven out of his home by his sister-in-law. His only companion was an old magical cow.

Under the direction of the cow, Niu Lang successfully married the youngest fairy, Zhi Nu. They lived happily together and had two children before the Queen Mother discovered Zhi Nu's absence. Queen Mother was so annoyed that she had Zhi Nu brought back to heaven. Again, with the help of the magical cow, Niu Lang was able to follow Zhi Nu into heaven. He was about to reach his wife when the Queen showed up and pulled off her hairpin to draw a line between the two. The line became the Silver River (also called Milky Way ) in heaven.

Zhi Nu went back to the heavenly workshop, going on weaving the clouds. But she missed her husband and children across the Silver River so much that the clouds she weaved seemed sad. Their loyalty to love touched magpies, so tens of thousands magpies came to build a bridge for the Cowhand and Weaver Maid to meet each other. Finally, the Queen showed a little mercy, allowing the couple to meet each year on the 7th of the 7th lunar month on the Silver River. Then for lovers who can not be together temporarily, this day became an important festival.

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21 July 2008

HOW-TO: Announce the International Wedding Online

So the bride has her parents pick an auspicious day and everything is ready to go. But how do you let your friends in many countries know what you need? Well as for us, we used Facebook and specifically the application, "WeddingBook" by WedSnap. With it we were able to announce the date and place of the wedding, our online Wedding Registries at Amazon, Cutco, and Target, and also able to invite people — all electronically!

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30 June 2008

I won! I won! I won!

I received an envelope from China today, which is not unusual in itself. But what was inside was. I won third prize in the 2008 Olympics Global Contest sponsored by China Radio International! I received a nice certificate suitable for framing and one of the Games of the 29th Olympiad International Pre-Stamped Postcard in an awesome Fuwa stand-up frame. The prize may be small, but I am very excited to have won this international essay contest that over 300,000 people entered!

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My Slide.com Nik+Fei Slide Show!

22 June 2008

Hand Painted and Metal Greek, Russian, and Ukrainian Orthodox Icons for sale CHEAP! Moving Sale!

I am getting ready to move due to a new job, and besides needing cash, I found that I have a BUNCH of duplicate icons that I had put away and forgotten about! I am even selling some hand painted icons from Russia! These are some very beautiful icons, but with close of my mission and with my hundreds of icons that I own, I have no space to display them. My loss is your gain! All icon auctions are starting at only 99 cents American. See all my auctions on eBay at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZfeisnik

14 June 2008

Are you driving less? Why? Gas prices? Global Warming? Fat?

The Euphrosynos Cafe is wanting to know if current crises are changing your driving habits. Are you driving less? Are you walking more? Are you bicycling more? Why? Is it to save money? Is it to save the Earth's environment? Is it to lose weight? Is it to build more muscle tone? Or is it just because you enjoy walking and biking?

04 June 2008

FFF: Fruit, Fiber, and Fish FTW!

One thing I have not been good on during this change of lifestyle is taking in enough fruit. Well the last 2 weeks I have been getting better at that and am getting all my protein from beans, legumes, and fish. Also I have been upping my fiber intake along with this protein from beans regiment.

This, along with swimming in my now-opened swimming pool, working out every other day, and adding volleyball to my exercise regime has made for some serious weight loss over the last two weeks.

According to my scale this morning, I am now at 181 pounds/82.1 kilograms, which is exactly 100 pounds/45.4 kilograms under my weight when taken by a health professional on 11 November 2006!

100 pounds/45.4 kilograms in less than 20 months is not too bad, I think! :-) This is a very exciting day for me! Of course the weight is not the only thing I have lost. I have also lost 12 inches/30.5 centimeters from my waist measurement and dropped my BPI by almost 15% too! All of that along with a very noticeable increase in muscle density is very good for my long term health. And my now-more defined jawline definitely makes me feel better about my appearance.

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03 June 2008

KyLin TV (Chinese Pan-Asia IPTV) Now only $8!

KyLin TV is an IP TV service that offers over 40 channels from Asia in various Chinese dialects, Korean, Japanese, English, Spanish, and French languages. With a special FAF code and this link you can get a free IPTV box, a free month of service and continuing service after that for only $8 a month! What a great television deal for Sinophiles, Japanophiles, and other Asiaphiles!

25 May 2008

Stuck at 189#... ...for now!

My Weight Chart:

So I have been stuck around 189 pounds/85.7 kilograms for a good month or so. But I have just started going to the gym again, and plan to go every other day. So I am hoping that I can get down to about 185 pounds/83.9 kilograms by my wedding, even if that seems a little unrealistic to lose so much so quickly.

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23 May 2008

HOW-TO: Get married in China (for Foreigners)

I have a blog recapping the instructions and the hurdles I have found in trying to get married to a Chinese citizen. I am hoping one day in the future it helps other men who find their one true love abroad as well. If you would like to read it, check it out at http://feisnik.blogspot.com/.

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