21st August 09, Friday – Friday was really slow and we were quite bored and we had 2 breaks near each other but by dinner time it got busy and we didn’t have any dinner breaks. We were supposed to work till 11 as all the concessionaires have to. So we cleaned up and packed up everything before 10 as the weather looks really bad and we were just waiting to see if we can get permission to pack up early. We are collecting quarters now as the quarters have the different states engraved on it and we wanted to collect every single one of it. Today Chariene and I also took quite some photos as we were bored and there isn’t much chance left for us to work in the pizza stand.
22nd August 09, Saturday – Started early since Earl and Becky only arrived late last night and they will start late today. It looked as if it was going to rain very heavily this morning but there was still quite a big crowd and business was quite steady at the pizza stand. When they came I got an hour break. It was very cold today and most of us wore the Charlie’s sweater to work except for JR. I went to the grab joint to work and it got quite busy even though it started to rain. Had to go back to the pizza stand to give Earl and Becky a break and customers kept coming and before I know it, it is time for me to go back to the grab joint. During my dinner break I stepped on a nail which pierced right through my slippers and into my feet. It was painful and thankfully it wasn’t very bad. Used an alcohol swab and some antiseptic cream on it before putting on a plaster to prevent infection. Charlie fell down and scrapped his knee again and he bled quite a bit. After my break, made some corn dogs and fries before cleaning up and we ended earlier today since we ended late last night. We went to do our laundry and then packed some of our stuff for our DC trip.
23rd August 09, Sunday – Finally the last day of the fair, I got to start late today since on average I’ve been staring earlier than JR and Jonathan. Woke up later than usual, first time I’m the last to start work so everyone already left the truck when I got up. Packed the room a bit just in case Doug have to move the truck today and then went to get the documents for the hotel and train reservation printed. Work was busy today and I spent most of the time in the grab joint. It got a bit crazy a few times when all the customers just come at the same time with big orders. Went to the DNR building for the first time at the fair on the very last day where they had some interesting exhibits. During my dinner break I ate a lot since we won’t have any more free food after today, I had an Italian sausage, a hotdog, an order of fries, a corndog and a 32oz Dr pepper. After that we started cleaning up the stands and packed up everything for tomorrow when they are going to move out back to Wisconsin. Burned my hand today because Doug paced the fries fryer on top of the fridge and then I touched the fridge. Only the time boiling water scalded my feet was more painful than this. The burning sensation lasted the whole night. By the time everything was packed it was already 1230. Doug offered to bring us to the airport the next morning. Hopefully everything will go well for the trip. Tomorrow, Washington DC!
24th August 09, Monday – We woke up at around 5am today and Doug drove us to the airport. It was really cold at around 57 degree Fahrenheit which is about 13 plus degree Celsius. The Indianapolis International airport looked really new and after checking in we boarded the plane soon after and our first stop would be Atlanta, Georgia before we transfer flight to Baltimore. The first flight took about an hour or so. When we arrived at Baltimore we took a shuttle bus to the train station where it cost us 6 bucks each to take a train to the union station at Washington DC. After reaching the union station we rented a car for our trip to Niagara Falls and took a public bus to Capitol Hilton where we will be staying for the next 3 nights. The room we got was huge and it could fit another 4 person and the location was good, just 2 blocks away from the White House. So after some planning we went out to have our meal at Subway. Then we went to the White House, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial. By the time we were done we are very tired since we didn’t get to sleep much the previous night and we went back to the hotel and planned for the next day. Washington DC downtown is actually quite a nice place and the public transport system is good so it is quite easy to get around the area.
25th August 09, Tuesday – this morning we woke up around 8 something so that we would have more time to spend during the day and the museums that we want to go today are the natural history museum and the holocaust memorial museum. We went to have our breakfast at a foodcourt in the Ronald Reagan building where everything was quite expensive so in the end Jr and I didn’t eat anything over there. The natural history museum was really cool and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit there. There were many exhibits and many of them were really spectacular, we had to speed through certain parts of the museum because there was just too many things to see and read, after that we went to the holocaust memorial museum which was another very informative museum and allows us to have a better understanding of what really happened during the holocaust. Once again we do not have enough time because it closes at 530pm, I wished I had a few more hours there as there were just too many things to see and read. Once we were done, we went to the Smithsonian ‘castle’, I quite like the building, took some photos and then to the air and space travel museum because we still have a little bit more time before the museum closes. It wasn’t as interesting as the previous 2 museums and we were tired by then. At night we had dinner at subway and supper at Macs before going back to the hotel and planned for our shopping trip to Leesburg premium outlets and asked the Taiwan girls whether they wanted to join us or not. They just arrived today and are staying in the double tree hotel which is about 2 streets away from us.
26th August 09, Wednesday – this morning we woke up early and called concierge to help us ask for the price of hiring a van to bring us to the Leesburg Premium outlets and it cost 300 USD to bring us there and back. So we called the Taiwan girls who were staying in the double tree hotel just a few streets away from us and they joined us for the shopping trip. On the way there we just catch up and when we reached the premium outlets we planned how we were going to move around the place and then we set off on our shopping spree. Bought stuff from Adidas, UnderArmour, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Aeropostale, Puma and Levi’s. there were many shops that we went to as well but just didn’t buy anything. Maybe because we didn’t have money or just not enough time even though we shopped from 1130 to 2100. Went shopping with JR and we spent quite a bit today. I think we would most likely be going to another premium outlet for our next trip. At night Michelle, Sana and Wen came to our hotel and just spend some time with us before deciding tomorrow we would go to the spy museum together. Packed my things for tomorrow since we would be checking out and we will be driving up to Niagara Falls tomorrow night. Hopefully we won’t have any trouble finding it.
27th August 09, Thursday – today we woke up a little bit later, packed up all our stuff as we were going to check out today. After packing all our stuff we walked to the Double Tree hotel where we placed all of our luggage at so that at night before we leave we can still wash up and use the toilet before setting off for Niagara Falls. After placing our stuff, Jon and Chariene went off on their own as Chariene didn’t want to go to the spy museum and Jon had to change the Kenneth Cole bag he bought yesterday as the strap was giving way. Before reaching the spy museum we walked past Chinatown and stop at AT&T as Monica had to top up her prepaid card. When we finally reached the museum we had to pay 18 USD to get in, it was quite informative and they tried to make their exhibits more interactive so it was quite interesting. After we finished our tour of the spy museum, we went for lunch at legal seafood where we had their crabcakes which was good even though the serving is small. The mashed potato and clam chowder was not bad as well, it was a little pricey but I think it was worth the money. After lunch, the Taiwan girls went to union station so Monica, JR and I went to the art and portraiture museum as it was another one of Smithsonian museum so admission is free. They have really beautiful paintings in this museum and I enjoyed it very much and I once again find that there isn’t enough time to walk and see everything in the museum. At night, Jon, Chariene and I went to get the car we booked on Monday, we got a red Chevrolet Impala, it wasn’t too bad and there was quite a large boot so we don’t have any problem fitting all of our luggage in. We didn’t know how to use the GPS in the beginning so we had a little problem finding the double tree hotel from Union Station. It took us some time getting used to it and once we got it, we were on our way to Niagara Falls. Our route would be to Pittsburg, Erie, Buffalo and then to Niagara Falls.
28th August 09, Friday – our road trip to Niagara Falls would be quite a happening one as Jon got pulled over because he was speeding and he didn’t keep to his lane and it started to rain really heavily and we couldn’t see what was in front of us. After some close shave here and there, Jon told me he couldn’t take it anymore so before reaching Pittsburg, I took over driving and drove up to Erie from about 130 to 6. It was the most tiring drive and it was the first time I felt as though I am sleeping while I am driving. It rained every now and then and it made it even more difficult for me to drive. After reaching Erie, it was Chariene’s turn to drive and we reached Niagara Falss at around 10 plus in the morning. After arriving at the Falls, we went to the Terrapin point first where we saw the Horseshoe Falls which was really beautiful and magnificent. I have never seen anything like that and the photos that I saw of the Falls is nothing compared to seeing it there. We went to the 3 sisters island afterwards where we took some photos of the rapids. Next was Luna island where we can see the Bridal Veil Falls. It wasn’t as breathtaking as the Horseshoe falls but it was still nice. We wanted to have red lobster for lunch but the nearest was in Canada, the GPS nearly brought us to Canada. After that, the next closest one, according to the GPS, is about 7 km away but took us about 30 min to get there, and when we reached the place, it was the Niagara Falls Fashion outlet. We ended up eating our lunch at the food court of the fashion outlet. After lunch, we went back to the Falls to the other side where the maid of the mist tour would start. The boat ride took us right into the Horseshoe Falls where it was really cool to be ‘surrounded’ by the falls. If not for the poncho, we would have been soaked. More photo taking after that and we went back to the car because it was getting really cold. Wanted to go for the cave of the winds tour, but only JR and I went since the rest didn’t want to. The tour brought us right in front of the Bridal Veils fall and for the first time we felt the power of the falls. It was really fun and we got quite wet as a result. When we were all done, we waited for the sun to set as there would be lights illuminating the falls from 830 onwards. It wasn’t as good as expected, so we left a little bit earlier than planned. We were supposed to drive to the Amtrak station than to the airport but the GPS is making things difficult for us once again and it took a while before we got it set and drove to the airport instead and returned the car. We had to take a cab to the Amtrak station as it was too far from the airport. Once we are there we got our tickets printed and then we waited for our train to bring us to our next destination, Chicago. The train is so much better than the Greyhound and so we slept through most of the train ride to Chicago.
29th August 09, Saturday – Chicago, Illinois. When we arrived at the station we got our luggage and then we proceeded to our hotel, Club Quarters. This one wasn’t as good as it was a 3.5 star hotel, the room is much smaller and a first we only got a double bed but managed to get an extra bed. After washing up and planning a bit of what to do, we went down and had Macs for lunch and then we went to Grant park where the Buckingham Fountain was. It is a huge fountain but after seeing the Niagara Falls, the fountain is nothing. Then we went outside of the natural history museum, the aquarium and planetarium which were all located just beside the Lake Michigan which looked more like a sea, but just don’t have the seawater smell. The view was beautiful and we took some photos there, there were 3 wedding couples taking their wedding photos there as well. After that we went to the Millenium Park which has got an interesting sculpture which reflects quite well so there were quite a lot of people there taking photos. After Millenium Park we were supposed to go to Red lobster to have our dinner but we couldn’t find it and after asking, we realized that the nearest one was just too far and so we decided to go to navy pier to have our dinner instead. After dinner we walked along the pier and saw a magic show and then the stained glass museum and then the fireworks display which just isn’t as nice as before because this is at leas the 4th time we’ve seen fireworks in the US, it was a long walk back to the hotel and we had Macs for supper and e got 2 free apple pie.
30th August 09, Sunday – Woke up early today to pack my things as I would be going over to Angela’s place during the later part of the day. we started off the day with breakfast at Macs and some dunkin donuts which JR and I shared. After that we took the bus, which cost 2.25 USD, to get to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free. The zoo was quite nice for one which we do not have to pay for admission. Although most of the animals seemed quite lethargic maybe due to the cold weather. I was quite disappointed that the polar bear was temporarily off display at the time we were at the zoo so I didn’t get to see it. After the trip to the zoo we went to the Magnificent Mile, which is a stretch of road something like Orchard Road back in Singapore. I stayed with them for our cheesecake factory meal, it was fantastic but I had to rush to finish my oreo chocolate mudslide cheesecake because I have a train to catch. I bought a 6-inch strawberry cheesecake for Angela and her family as well and rush to the train station only to see it leave when I got onto the platform. The next train was 2 hours later and I spent about an hour sorting out some of my photos that were taken during our trip to Washington DC and Niagara Falls. So I reached Wheaton at around 730 where I was greeted by Angela. She drove me to her place and I got to meet Clayton, her husband, and her 3 sons, Judah, Nathan and Jordan. Angela cooked dinner for me and it was nice to have home cooked food after such a long time. We spent the night talking and catching up, getting to know each other better while the boys had to go to bed early. It was wonderful how things worked out the way it did, them moving to Wheaton and me coming to the Midwest so that we were able to meet up. After eating the cheesecake and drinking the hot caramel with milk, Angela and Clayton went to bed while I used the internet for a while more before turning in for the night.
31st August 09, Monday – woke up at 715am today as I had to take the 830am train which goes back to Chicago. I was greeted by Judah as I was going up the stairs and I had orange juice and cereal for breakfast. Talked to the boys a little more before Angela brought me to the train station and I went back to Chicago, to the Club Quarters hotel where it was really crowded because the Taiwan girls were already there. We packed our things and went to the Union station. In the end we had to buy Greyhound tickets because the initial bus we wanted to take, the tickets could only be purchased online. So we decided to give Greyhound another chance after our bad experience with it from New York to Madison. The bus would leave only at 330pm so we had about 4 hours to spare and we went to a supermarket to eat. Their things were mostly organic and so were not cheap. I shared a whole chicken with JR, while Jon ate 菜饭and Chariene ate Japanese food. After that we went back to the Greyhound station to wait for our bus. The bus ride was much better this time. Jonathan left his Kenneth Cole bag in the hotel room and luckily, the Taiwan girls were there to get their luggage so they managed to get the bag. Chris was at the Milwaukee Greyhound station to pick us up and he drove us to the Elkhorn fairgrounds, Walworth County Fair. After cleaning up our room a little bit, we met the Taiwan girls and Jay and went to Subway/Burger King for dinner. After that we met Drazen and Vladon as well, it looks like this is going to be quite a big fair as there were so many stands and people working here. The Asians talked at the bench outside of Doug’s trailer for a while before we went to use the internet outide of th fairgrounds office.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Indiana State Fair
31st July 09, - Friday – JR and I had half a day off today. It was supposed to be a full day off but Doug was expecting it to get busy today so he requested that we be back by 5pm. After having a strawberry banana smoothie and some food, Monica brought us to the mall where we spend half the day shopping. We saw some interesting things and it was much more interesting and more for guys. We spent most of our time in the Abercrombie and Fitch store where I got a polo tee and JR got 2 t-shirts. We had teriyaki chicken rice after that and used the internet as there was free wifi at the food court. After getting back we started work and it was quite busy at the lemonade stand. Worked till around 1045 and played with Katelynn, a pretty little girl from the stand next to ours. She was really cute and enthusiastic playing catching with us, she is really fast and like her family, she has long legs. Played with her for about an hour before going back to our truck when it started to rain and so we bathed in our truck again. Tomorrow will be another half day to make up for today, maybe we will drop by at the mall again or go to Walmart to help Monica to change one of purchase.
1st August 09, Saturday – since JR and I got half day off again we went to the mall again because we wanted to use the internet. Uploaded some photos and research a little bit on where we wanted to go during our 1 week break after the Indiana State fair. I think more or less should be going to Washington D.C and then after that we will be going to Chicago before going back for our last fair at Elkorn. After that we walked back to the fair grounds and Monica brought us to Walmart where we were supposed to help Mo Mo change some of her cosmetics but in the end we just got them refunded because we were not very sure what was it that she wanted. We also dropped by Old Navy where we got ourselves each a pair of slippers for 2.5 bucks. I got a chocolate chocolate chip Haagen Dazs ice cream while JR got a Baileys one. After coming back to work we were entertained by the children when they made a costume out of boxes and wearing the hat and apron with a corn dog in their hands. It looked as if they were advertising for us, and it was hilarious. Business was much worse than expected for a Saturday even though the weather was good. Tomorrow will be the last day of the fair and we will be going back to the barn.
2nd August 09, Sunday – Last day of the Olmsted County Fair. Worked in the lemonade stand today since the girls are not working and will be leaving early with Monica and the kids. It was our last time eating the chicken strips and drinking the strawberry banana smoothie. I am sure gonna miss them. Things were really slow today and we started to pack up around 4 something and at 6 we stopped and clean up the stands and moved out at around 8. We reached the barn at around 12 and we had some noodles for supper since we didn’t have a proper dinner. Plans are ever changing. Now I want to drive from Wisconsin to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas before going to L.A, which means we won’t be going to San Francisco. I think going to cities like San Francisco would be very much possible in the future, but going on road trips with friends wouldn’t and so I am more for going on the road trip rather than taking a plane.
3rd August 09, Monday – Woke up and started to pack some stuff which we needed for the Indiana State Fair and moved off at about 1130am. The journey would take around 6 plus hours, passing by Illinois and then to Indiana. On the way, I listened to a CD, a story by James Patterson, the big bad wolf. Earl brought it with him so that time would pass faster while driving. Only managed to finish about half of the story though, hopefully can find the book and then finish the story. After reaching the fair grounds, realized that it was so much bigger than those that I have been to so far and this fair would be quite long, starts on the 7th and ends on the 23rd. after parking the trailers we went for dinner at taco bell and then came back to set the stands in place before planning on our trip after Elkorn. I must say that I am very disappointed but it is alright. I will find another opportunity and I will be fine tomorrow.
4th August 09, Tuesday – Last night was really happening, there was a thunderstorm at around 2 and it was raining very heavily and we wanted to see if there was hail so I opened the door to take a look. The second time, before I could open the door, there was one which struck somewhere nearby and after a while we opened the door and saw Chariene outside of Doug’s door knocking and we could smell something burning and then Doug was running around, to switch off the power and soon there was smoke coming out from the girls’ room. After ensuring that it was safe to go back to their room we used the internet till about 4 am and then went to sleep, when we woke up it was raining heavily and Doug told us that we don’t need to work today since it was raining and that we will go somewhere and do something else. They brought us to the mall where we spent the afternoon and then had dinner at the Texas roadhouse. We had a very filling dinner there as there was free flow of peanuts and bread and as Jonathan says, free food taste the best so we kept eating the peanuts and having fun throwing them as we waited for our seats. Aaron, JR and I couldn’t finish our dinner so we had to pack our food and maybe eat it for breakfast tomorrow.
5th August 09, Wednesday – the day started with a training for the concessionaires working at the fair where people in charge talked to us about the fair, what would be happening and what to take note of especially about cleanliness and hygiene. After that we prepared the stands and went for lunch at Fazoli’s. Italian food which was not bad and quite value for money, partly because there was free flow of breadsticks. After that Aaron drove us downtown where we walked around. We wlked around the state capitol. Wanted to go to the museum but it was closed at 5 so we went to the park instead where we met Mike Busk, who was working somewhere nearby and he talked to us quite a bit about the US and told us that he would come and visit us at our stand when the state fair begins. We went to Conseco Fieldhouse where the Indiana Pacers play and after that to Circle centre where the mall was. Connected to a few different buildings but we only had about 10 minutes before Doug called and told us he would be coming to pick us up and then go for dinner. Supposed to watch movie but it was cheaper to go the next morning so we went for dinner instead at Steak and Shake.
6th August 09, Thursday – 1st time I watched a 3D movie, it was cool but I don’t know whether it is worth the extra money. Watched ice age 3 with Doug’s family and Aaron this morning and then ate at Castleton Mall, teriyaki chicken rice again… After that we went back to the fairground as I had to have my photograph taken to make a pass for the fair and then Monica Miller drove us to downtown Indianapolis. Went to the Eiteljorg Museum, which was all about American Indians and Western art, with Monica Chao. It was quite an interesting museum, it would have been much better if only I had more time to spend there as they close at 5pm. Took a lot of photos as we don’t have time to read the text associated with the art piece or cultural object. So we would read it from the photos we took. It feels much better than going shopping. I don’t want to spend so much time shopping anymore, there is so much more to see, hear, learn and experience. After that went to the circle centre mall where we were supposed to meet Chariene Jonathan and JR at the Abercrombie and Fitch shop. Went window shopping for a while before stopping for dinner at Subway and checking transportation to D.C and Niagara Falls and then Doug came to pick us up and brought us back to our bunk trailers.
7th August 09, Friday – woke up earlier today as I had to report for work at 9. The day started slow and after the rest came I was shifted to the pizza stand with Chariene and things got busy real quick, the crowd just kept coming and we weren’t that prepared for them and Doug had to come and help us out as the queue was forming too fast. Things were different in the pizza stand as the person taking order had to get all the food and drinks by him or herself so it wasn’t easy to serve the customers fast. When I finally got my break, it was already 3. Time pass so much quicker when things get busy. After working for a while more got shifted back to the grab joint as Earl and Becky came to help out in the pizza stand. They would be here during the weekends. Went to peel and chop onions after that, this time didn’t cry as long as before, maybe about 3 minutes or so and I was fine. This fair is really huge and I think I am gonna take quite a few days before I can see most of it. Anyway, Jason Mraz would be performing at the fair’s grandstand on the 18th, hopefully would be able to see his performance. Ended earlier since I started earlier, wanted to use the internet but now we have to pay if we want to use it, the signal is so much stronger now… Clean our bunk while waiting for the rest to come back. Realized it was really dirty and that area cleaning is very applicable over here.
8th August 09, Saturday – Today I was working in the grab joint mostly and we were more prepared for the crowd, quite busy again as it was a weekend. After that worked in the pizza stand for a while to give Earl and Becky a break and got to go chop the onions again. 4 things I dislike during my stay here would be mosquitoes, flies, onions and lemons. The onions made me cry again today and after that went back to work in the 2 stands again. Nothing much happened today and business was quite steady today. Finished a little later today and Doug drove JR and I back to our truck. Don’t think we will have much free time here since we do not have that many people working in this fair.
9th August 09, Sunday – Happy Birthday Singapore! First time spending national day outside of Singapore. Today was really warm and everyone seemed to be in a bad mood because of the weather. Everyone’s skin is not dry anymore and we do not have to use moisturizer as we are sweating now although not as much in Singapore because it isn’t as humid. Went to see some of the exhibits today and there were quite a lot of things to see today as I walked to some parts of the fair with JR during our hour long lunch break. Unpleasant things happened all the time and there are bound to be things that we don’t like about each person we meet. I have got to humble myself more and complain lesser.
10th August 09, Monday – Today is Doug’s birthday and so he got the day off and Monica was here to help. Today started slow and it got hectic after a while at the pizza stand, suddenly there were a lot of customers ordering pizza and we couldn’t make the pizzas fast enough. When things slowed down I had to go to the truck to help peel onions, after a while I got called back because both stands were getting too busy and so I rushed back to help. By the time I got my break it was already 3 plus and I was really hungry. Around dinner time Doug came with the kids and then during my dinner break went to walk around the fair. This time I got to see animals and some old farming equipment and how Indiana was like last time. Went to the swine barn as well and there were lots of pigs there, the biggest boar weighed 1175 pounds. Demi Lovato was here to performed today and she was really popular with little girls as the grandstand was fully packed. After the concert we had another rush for food again as they were leaving the fair after the concert. After that while cleaning up, Charlie and Mary came all the way from Milwaukee to give Doug a surprise and we celebrated his birthday after work. Will was very enthusiastic about singing a birthday song to his father and it was really nice to see the family together. We had chocolate cupcakes and ice cream and then played with balloons and the kids after that, we were behaving like little kids, even Monica and Aaron were joining in the fun.
11th August 09, Tuesday – Opened the pizza stand today, things were really slow today for most of the day except during lunch time and that is when Charlie came in to the pizza stand and helped out a little bit until we cleared the queue. It wasn’t as warm today and at a point in time it seemed as though it was going to rain but in the end it didn’t. if it rained some people would have to leave early. Even during dinner time there wasn’t much people around. Everyone was very lethargic today and during my hour break I also didn’t go walk around the fair because I was just too lazy to move. Tomorrow should be a better day as yesterday’s paper had free tickets for Wednesday and Thursday in it so that should draw more people to come to the fair. Ignorance is bliss? Just something that came to my mind when I was talking to Jonathan, JR and Monica.
12th August 09, Wednesday – This morning Doug came a bit later and so had to wait for him to come before I could open the pizza stand. As usual things started slow today and it picked up around 12 and there were a lot of kids around and we had big orders, 5 large lemonades shakeups, 5 small lemonades shakeups, 8 slices of pizza and so on. I was working at the back at that time so had to make sure I am making enough pizzas, pretzels and squeezed lemons. It is fun when it gets busy and you are able to cope with the orders, it is only stressful when we don’t have enough food or drinks when the customers are ordering. Working in almost all the different stands and trying out almost everything I think I get a rough idea of how everything is done around the stands and what kind of problems people will face when doing certain jobs. Not much free time during work today and so time past much faster than yesterday. More bees came into the stand today and we killed about 10 of them today. Chariene and I got a bit of tips today, 2.35 USD in total, finally something which made her happier. It had been quite a while since anyone got any tips. During my dinner break, went to walk around the fair with Chariene and took some photos. Why do people get pissed off? Is it really because they are scared of something? I kinda like that the people here are friendlier and more expressive, sometimes certain little things that they say or do can make your day so much better. Tomorrow should be another busy day since the free ticket from the papers could be used tomorrow as well.
13th August 09, Thursday – it wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be, it was quite constant throughout the day. I worked more at the back of the stand today, I think it is good to be able to rotate with Chariene. Although it wasn’t as busy as yesterday, we still had busy moments and it felt good being able to do things quick when it gets busy. Will asked for yellow lemonade today, he told me he didn’t want white lemonade. The 1st time he told me that I didn’t understand but I still made him a lemonade, then today his mum told me that we ran out of syrup because Will told her that we gave him white lemonade because it was sour as it was just water and lemon juice with no syrup. Yellow lemonade is sweet while white lemonade is sour. A customer said ‘I love you’ to me today, haha, I was stunned for a while. There were quite a few hilarious incidences today as well, both Doug and Aaron asked customers whether they want any fries while serving customers in the pizza stand. Chariene spilled lemon juice on my feet again, a customer didn’t pay for his lemonade refill and Aaron was pissed, a little boy gave me 50 cents tips, Chariene shook the lemonade so hard that lemons fell from the tray as the whole stand shook while she was making the lemonade, I made pizzas with pointed crust as I pinch the edge of the crust really hard, now we have female pizzas and male corn dogs. I saw a bee stung the rag that I was using to kill it. I had my dinner break really late today at around 830. By the time I was back, everyone had already begun cleaning up. Went to watch the free concert during my break, there was a local band performing and they were promoting their new album. Tomorrow Kelly Clarkson would be performing, don’t know whether I will have my break during her performance.
14th August 09, Friday – Woke up early and went for a run this morning around the fair grounds. Saw the horse trainers bringing their horses out for a run on the race tracks. Opened the pizza stand today, Doug forgot to lock it last night. It wasn’t consistent today and we had crowds coming at times and they would clear all our pizzas and we had to rush out new pizzas. During my break, went to see some exhibits with JR and got some free stuff while walking around. We also went to measure our weight at the space exhibit and I am 4 kg lesser than what I used to weigh. There were a lot of orders for lemonade and it could get quite irritating at times. Kelly Clarkson was here today and we could hear her from our stands, it didn’t sound that fantastic because of where our stand is located. We are located behind the stage. We were supposed to start cleaning up early but there was a crowd due to the hot air balloons on the field, so there were quite a number of orders and we couldn’t start cleaning early. Work ended quite late today as we had to set up a tent outside of the stands and also to clean up the grab joint. Made some new friends, from South Africa and Turkey. One is selling food as well while the other works for the Midway, operating one of the rides maybe?
15th August 09, Saturday – today has got to be the busiest day of all the days I worked in the fair. We only had an hour break the whole day and all the other time we were doing something as there were a lot of customers throughout the day. Monica came to help today as we were unable to cope with so many orders coming in and even with her around we were still kept very busy and it has been quite some time since I have felt so tired. Ate a lot during my lunch break and after that it was back to work. It could get quite frustrating at times when it gets so busy and some people just have to make the situation worse or maybe I just have to be more accommodating and take things easy. During my dinner break I just went to the tent where we keep our stock and watch finding Nemo with Will and Hailey as I was too tired to do anything and I just didn’t want to talk anymore since I have been talking to customers the whole day. I am thankful for the nice and friendly customers who help make the day much better. Keith Urban was here today to perform and he drew a much bigger crowd to come than Kelly Clarkson. The grandstand was about 90% full while yesterday was less than half full. After his performance end we had some more customers as they want to grab something to eat or get something to drink before leaving the fair. As usual when we are about to close there is bound to be some customers who would want to get lemonade which made things difficult for us as we have to use the lemon squeezer and wash it again. It is the hardest dish to wash.
16th August 09, Sunday – Another busy day today although not a busy as yesterday. First thing in the morning I had to run to the truck to get pepperoni because we ran out of pepperoni and we need it to make pizzas since pepperoni pizza is quite popular over here. It got really busy during lunch time and I sometimes don’t understand why we only have 2 person working in the pizza stand when it is definitely not enough when it gets really busy. We sold a lot of lemonades today. Really a lot, a lot of lemonades. Will and Hailey were around today since Monica was around to help us as well and they sometimes get in the way especially when it gets busy which made things quite difficult. I got quite frustrated today and thankfully I was ok after my break. We closed earlier tonight and after work we went to Walmart because Monica had to make a trip down to get some things so we tagged along and went to get some stuff for ourselves as well. Got some fruits, Haagen Dasz ice cream, ham and orange juice.
17th August 09. Monday – slow slow day. it was so boring and we didn’t sell much today. Everyone had 2 hours break total. JR, Jonathan and Chariene also ended work early today because of that. They finished at about 815pm while I finished at 10pm. We cooked our lunch today, toasting bread with ham, mozzarella cheese, onions, green pepper, sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms. It was really tasty, and hopefully will get a chance to make something like that tomorrow. Chariene and I killed a lot of bees today. We were so bored we started keeping them in a cup. Since we got internet access now, everyone stayed in the tent outside of the stands during their break so as to use the internet, no one is walking around the fair during their breaks anymore because we are just quite sick of the same thing around the fair although there are still things which we haven’t seen yet. Tomorrow will be the $2 dollar day where every stand would sell something at 2 bucks so as to allow people to try the food. Jason Mraz will be performing tomorrow as well, something to look forward to.
18th August 09, Tuesday – Today almost all the food stands in the fair would be selling one of their items at only $2 so we figured we could go around trying the different types of food we wanna try but didn’t cos they were too expensive. Pizza business was quite good even though now we cut the pizza into 12 slices instead of the usual 8. They looked so small and initially I thought the business for pizza would be bad since the slices were so small. But I was wrong, throughout the day business was steady and we have to constantly make pizzas. The grab joint was selling the Italian sausage at $2, but a much smaller version. Booked the air ticket to DC and the accommodation there using Doug’s credit card. At night Jason Mraz was there to perform but I didn’t hear him although Doug said he heard him sing ‘I’m yours’. Dinner break with Chariene and JR and we went to get taters, Wisconsin cheese and that’s about it as some of the $2 stuff were too small or the queue was too long. Got into some trouble with boss today cos we didn’t do some things. It wasn’t pleasant but I guess things like that happens, just hope that it won’t happen again.
19th August 09, Wednesday – opened the stand today and we made ourselves really busy. I got to go to the mall today because I want to get my hair cut and get some things from the mall so I left at around 2 to find Monica so she can bring me to the mall. She helped me find a cheaper place to cut my hair other than the mall because the one at the mall will cost 25USD. The one she brought me to cost 15USD and I got my hair cut there. My most expensive hair cut ever. After getting my hair cut, she dropped me off at Castleton mall where I had teriyaki chicken, again. Went around looking for things to buy and I finally got the UA backpack which I had been wanting to get since the 1st time I saw it. After that went to Sam’s I think, to get some stock for Doug, bought mozzarella cheese, paper towels, cake for Jonathan’s birthday, strawberries and I got myself a sundae. While getting the stuff into the car boot it started to rain heavily suddenly and we had to throw everything in and we were drenched. When I got back to the stand, it was already about 730 and we closed early today because there was a weather warning that there would be a heavy thunderstorm and so we had to pack up real quick and leave early so we wouldn’t get caught in the rain.
20th August 09, Thursday – today was Jonathan’s birthday and Doug told us to go to the stand at 9am today because we are going to have a birthday breakfast to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday. Doug prepared the breakfast, we had pancakes, hashbrowns, bacons, orange juice, eggs, milk and grapes. They got him a $15 red lobster voucher so I guess we will be going to red lobster to eat one day. they also got each one of us the new Charlie t-shirt which had the year printed on it as well. After we had breakfast it was back to work and I started today since I had a few hours off yesterday. Things were really slow today, I guess it was because of the weather forecast. It was quite windy the whole day but it was sunny as well so it was nice. After Chariene came in, Doug told me to go to the truck to chop the onions. Cried again while doing it, can’t believe I cried so much while I’m here in the US. Then I got an hour break around the same time with Monica and JR and we went to find the long ruler that we saw a lot of people walking around with. After getting it we went to see the agriculture and horticulture exhibits. It was quite cool to see the things they have over there and then it was back to work. Jonathan and Chariene got a 2 hour break today and JR came over to work in the pizza stand for the first time. Killed many bees today and things picked up a lot during dinner time. Just kept making pizzas and pretzels. Got to go get some stock because we were running out of mozzarella cheese and I got my break only after I got back at around 8. Another hour break. Work ended around 1030.
21st August 09, Friday – Friday was really slow and we were quite bored and we had 2 breaks near each other but by dinner time it got busy and we didn’t have any dinner breaks. We were supposed to work till 11 as all the concessionaires have to. So we cleaned up and packed up everything before 10 as the weather looks really bad and we were just waiting to see if we can get permission to pack up early. We are collecting quarters now as the quarters have the different states engraved on it and we wanted to collect every single one of it. Today Chariene and I also took quite some photos as we were bored and there isn’t much chance left for us to work in the pizza stand.
1st August 09, Saturday – since JR and I got half day off again we went to the mall again because we wanted to use the internet. Uploaded some photos and research a little bit on where we wanted to go during our 1 week break after the Indiana State fair. I think more or less should be going to Washington D.C and then after that we will be going to Chicago before going back for our last fair at Elkorn. After that we walked back to the fair grounds and Monica brought us to Walmart where we were supposed to help Mo Mo change some of her cosmetics but in the end we just got them refunded because we were not very sure what was it that she wanted. We also dropped by Old Navy where we got ourselves each a pair of slippers for 2.5 bucks. I got a chocolate chocolate chip Haagen Dazs ice cream while JR got a Baileys one. After coming back to work we were entertained by the children when they made a costume out of boxes and wearing the hat and apron with a corn dog in their hands. It looked as if they were advertising for us, and it was hilarious. Business was much worse than expected for a Saturday even though the weather was good. Tomorrow will be the last day of the fair and we will be going back to the barn.
2nd August 09, Sunday – Last day of the Olmsted County Fair. Worked in the lemonade stand today since the girls are not working and will be leaving early with Monica and the kids. It was our last time eating the chicken strips and drinking the strawberry banana smoothie. I am sure gonna miss them. Things were really slow today and we started to pack up around 4 something and at 6 we stopped and clean up the stands and moved out at around 8. We reached the barn at around 12 and we had some noodles for supper since we didn’t have a proper dinner. Plans are ever changing. Now I want to drive from Wisconsin to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas before going to L.A, which means we won’t be going to San Francisco. I think going to cities like San Francisco would be very much possible in the future, but going on road trips with friends wouldn’t and so I am more for going on the road trip rather than taking a plane.
3rd August 09, Monday – Woke up and started to pack some stuff which we needed for the Indiana State Fair and moved off at about 1130am. The journey would take around 6 plus hours, passing by Illinois and then to Indiana. On the way, I listened to a CD, a story by James Patterson, the big bad wolf. Earl brought it with him so that time would pass faster while driving. Only managed to finish about half of the story though, hopefully can find the book and then finish the story. After reaching the fair grounds, realized that it was so much bigger than those that I have been to so far and this fair would be quite long, starts on the 7th and ends on the 23rd. after parking the trailers we went for dinner at taco bell and then came back to set the stands in place before planning on our trip after Elkorn. I must say that I am very disappointed but it is alright. I will find another opportunity and I will be fine tomorrow.
4th August 09, Tuesday – Last night was really happening, there was a thunderstorm at around 2 and it was raining very heavily and we wanted to see if there was hail so I opened the door to take a look. The second time, before I could open the door, there was one which struck somewhere nearby and after a while we opened the door and saw Chariene outside of Doug’s door knocking and we could smell something burning and then Doug was running around, to switch off the power and soon there was smoke coming out from the girls’ room. After ensuring that it was safe to go back to their room we used the internet till about 4 am and then went to sleep, when we woke up it was raining heavily and Doug told us that we don’t need to work today since it was raining and that we will go somewhere and do something else. They brought us to the mall where we spent the afternoon and then had dinner at the Texas roadhouse. We had a very filling dinner there as there was free flow of peanuts and bread and as Jonathan says, free food taste the best so we kept eating the peanuts and having fun throwing them as we waited for our seats. Aaron, JR and I couldn’t finish our dinner so we had to pack our food and maybe eat it for breakfast tomorrow.
5th August 09, Wednesday – the day started with a training for the concessionaires working at the fair where people in charge talked to us about the fair, what would be happening and what to take note of especially about cleanliness and hygiene. After that we prepared the stands and went for lunch at Fazoli’s. Italian food which was not bad and quite value for money, partly because there was free flow of breadsticks. After that Aaron drove us downtown where we walked around. We wlked around the state capitol. Wanted to go to the museum but it was closed at 5 so we went to the park instead where we met Mike Busk, who was working somewhere nearby and he talked to us quite a bit about the US and told us that he would come and visit us at our stand when the state fair begins. We went to Conseco Fieldhouse where the Indiana Pacers play and after that to Circle centre where the mall was. Connected to a few different buildings but we only had about 10 minutes before Doug called and told us he would be coming to pick us up and then go for dinner. Supposed to watch movie but it was cheaper to go the next morning so we went for dinner instead at Steak and Shake.
6th August 09, Thursday – 1st time I watched a 3D movie, it was cool but I don’t know whether it is worth the extra money. Watched ice age 3 with Doug’s family and Aaron this morning and then ate at Castleton Mall, teriyaki chicken rice again… After that we went back to the fairground as I had to have my photograph taken to make a pass for the fair and then Monica Miller drove us to downtown Indianapolis. Went to the Eiteljorg Museum, which was all about American Indians and Western art, with Monica Chao. It was quite an interesting museum, it would have been much better if only I had more time to spend there as they close at 5pm. Took a lot of photos as we don’t have time to read the text associated with the art piece or cultural object. So we would read it from the photos we took. It feels much better than going shopping. I don’t want to spend so much time shopping anymore, there is so much more to see, hear, learn and experience. After that went to the circle centre mall where we were supposed to meet Chariene Jonathan and JR at the Abercrombie and Fitch shop. Went window shopping for a while before stopping for dinner at Subway and checking transportation to D.C and Niagara Falls and then Doug came to pick us up and brought us back to our bunk trailers.
7th August 09, Friday – woke up earlier today as I had to report for work at 9. The day started slow and after the rest came I was shifted to the pizza stand with Chariene and things got busy real quick, the crowd just kept coming and we weren’t that prepared for them and Doug had to come and help us out as the queue was forming too fast. Things were different in the pizza stand as the person taking order had to get all the food and drinks by him or herself so it wasn’t easy to serve the customers fast. When I finally got my break, it was already 3. Time pass so much quicker when things get busy. After working for a while more got shifted back to the grab joint as Earl and Becky came to help out in the pizza stand. They would be here during the weekends. Went to peel and chop onions after that, this time didn’t cry as long as before, maybe about 3 minutes or so and I was fine. This fair is really huge and I think I am gonna take quite a few days before I can see most of it. Anyway, Jason Mraz would be performing at the fair’s grandstand on the 18th, hopefully would be able to see his performance. Ended earlier since I started earlier, wanted to use the internet but now we have to pay if we want to use it, the signal is so much stronger now… Clean our bunk while waiting for the rest to come back. Realized it was really dirty and that area cleaning is very applicable over here.
8th August 09, Saturday – Today I was working in the grab joint mostly and we were more prepared for the crowd, quite busy again as it was a weekend. After that worked in the pizza stand for a while to give Earl and Becky a break and got to go chop the onions again. 4 things I dislike during my stay here would be mosquitoes, flies, onions and lemons. The onions made me cry again today and after that went back to work in the 2 stands again. Nothing much happened today and business was quite steady today. Finished a little later today and Doug drove JR and I back to our truck. Don’t think we will have much free time here since we do not have that many people working in this fair.
9th August 09, Sunday – Happy Birthday Singapore! First time spending national day outside of Singapore. Today was really warm and everyone seemed to be in a bad mood because of the weather. Everyone’s skin is not dry anymore and we do not have to use moisturizer as we are sweating now although not as much in Singapore because it isn’t as humid. Went to see some of the exhibits today and there were quite a lot of things to see today as I walked to some parts of the fair with JR during our hour long lunch break. Unpleasant things happened all the time and there are bound to be things that we don’t like about each person we meet. I have got to humble myself more and complain lesser.
10th August 09, Monday – Today is Doug’s birthday and so he got the day off and Monica was here to help. Today started slow and it got hectic after a while at the pizza stand, suddenly there were a lot of customers ordering pizza and we couldn’t make the pizzas fast enough. When things slowed down I had to go to the truck to help peel onions, after a while I got called back because both stands were getting too busy and so I rushed back to help. By the time I got my break it was already 3 plus and I was really hungry. Around dinner time Doug came with the kids and then during my dinner break went to walk around the fair. This time I got to see animals and some old farming equipment and how Indiana was like last time. Went to the swine barn as well and there were lots of pigs there, the biggest boar weighed 1175 pounds. Demi Lovato was here to performed today and she was really popular with little girls as the grandstand was fully packed. After the concert we had another rush for food again as they were leaving the fair after the concert. After that while cleaning up, Charlie and Mary came all the way from Milwaukee to give Doug a surprise and we celebrated his birthday after work. Will was very enthusiastic about singing a birthday song to his father and it was really nice to see the family together. We had chocolate cupcakes and ice cream and then played with balloons and the kids after that, we were behaving like little kids, even Monica and Aaron were joining in the fun.
11th August 09, Tuesday – Opened the pizza stand today, things were really slow today for most of the day except during lunch time and that is when Charlie came in to the pizza stand and helped out a little bit until we cleared the queue. It wasn’t as warm today and at a point in time it seemed as though it was going to rain but in the end it didn’t. if it rained some people would have to leave early. Even during dinner time there wasn’t much people around. Everyone was very lethargic today and during my hour break I also didn’t go walk around the fair because I was just too lazy to move. Tomorrow should be a better day as yesterday’s paper had free tickets for Wednesday and Thursday in it so that should draw more people to come to the fair. Ignorance is bliss? Just something that came to my mind when I was talking to Jonathan, JR and Monica.
12th August 09, Wednesday – This morning Doug came a bit later and so had to wait for him to come before I could open the pizza stand. As usual things started slow today and it picked up around 12 and there were a lot of kids around and we had big orders, 5 large lemonades shakeups, 5 small lemonades shakeups, 8 slices of pizza and so on. I was working at the back at that time so had to make sure I am making enough pizzas, pretzels and squeezed lemons. It is fun when it gets busy and you are able to cope with the orders, it is only stressful when we don’t have enough food or drinks when the customers are ordering. Working in almost all the different stands and trying out almost everything I think I get a rough idea of how everything is done around the stands and what kind of problems people will face when doing certain jobs. Not much free time during work today and so time past much faster than yesterday. More bees came into the stand today and we killed about 10 of them today. Chariene and I got a bit of tips today, 2.35 USD in total, finally something which made her happier. It had been quite a while since anyone got any tips. During my dinner break, went to walk around the fair with Chariene and took some photos. Why do people get pissed off? Is it really because they are scared of something? I kinda like that the people here are friendlier and more expressive, sometimes certain little things that they say or do can make your day so much better. Tomorrow should be another busy day since the free ticket from the papers could be used tomorrow as well.
13th August 09, Thursday – it wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be, it was quite constant throughout the day. I worked more at the back of the stand today, I think it is good to be able to rotate with Chariene. Although it wasn’t as busy as yesterday, we still had busy moments and it felt good being able to do things quick when it gets busy. Will asked for yellow lemonade today, he told me he didn’t want white lemonade. The 1st time he told me that I didn’t understand but I still made him a lemonade, then today his mum told me that we ran out of syrup because Will told her that we gave him white lemonade because it was sour as it was just water and lemon juice with no syrup. Yellow lemonade is sweet while white lemonade is sour. A customer said ‘I love you’ to me today, haha, I was stunned for a while. There were quite a few hilarious incidences today as well, both Doug and Aaron asked customers whether they want any fries while serving customers in the pizza stand. Chariene spilled lemon juice on my feet again, a customer didn’t pay for his lemonade refill and Aaron was pissed, a little boy gave me 50 cents tips, Chariene shook the lemonade so hard that lemons fell from the tray as the whole stand shook while she was making the lemonade, I made pizzas with pointed crust as I pinch the edge of the crust really hard, now we have female pizzas and male corn dogs. I saw a bee stung the rag that I was using to kill it. I had my dinner break really late today at around 830. By the time I was back, everyone had already begun cleaning up. Went to watch the free concert during my break, there was a local band performing and they were promoting their new album. Tomorrow Kelly Clarkson would be performing, don’t know whether I will have my break during her performance.
14th August 09, Friday – Woke up early and went for a run this morning around the fair grounds. Saw the horse trainers bringing their horses out for a run on the race tracks. Opened the pizza stand today, Doug forgot to lock it last night. It wasn’t consistent today and we had crowds coming at times and they would clear all our pizzas and we had to rush out new pizzas. During my break, went to see some exhibits with JR and got some free stuff while walking around. We also went to measure our weight at the space exhibit and I am 4 kg lesser than what I used to weigh. There were a lot of orders for lemonade and it could get quite irritating at times. Kelly Clarkson was here today and we could hear her from our stands, it didn’t sound that fantastic because of where our stand is located. We are located behind the stage. We were supposed to start cleaning up early but there was a crowd due to the hot air balloons on the field, so there were quite a number of orders and we couldn’t start cleaning early. Work ended quite late today as we had to set up a tent outside of the stands and also to clean up the grab joint. Made some new friends, from South Africa and Turkey. One is selling food as well while the other works for the Midway, operating one of the rides maybe?
15th August 09, Saturday – today has got to be the busiest day of all the days I worked in the fair. We only had an hour break the whole day and all the other time we were doing something as there were a lot of customers throughout the day. Monica came to help today as we were unable to cope with so many orders coming in and even with her around we were still kept very busy and it has been quite some time since I have felt so tired. Ate a lot during my lunch break and after that it was back to work. It could get quite frustrating at times when it gets so busy and some people just have to make the situation worse or maybe I just have to be more accommodating and take things easy. During my dinner break I just went to the tent where we keep our stock and watch finding Nemo with Will and Hailey as I was too tired to do anything and I just didn’t want to talk anymore since I have been talking to customers the whole day. I am thankful for the nice and friendly customers who help make the day much better. Keith Urban was here today to perform and he drew a much bigger crowd to come than Kelly Clarkson. The grandstand was about 90% full while yesterday was less than half full. After his performance end we had some more customers as they want to grab something to eat or get something to drink before leaving the fair. As usual when we are about to close there is bound to be some customers who would want to get lemonade which made things difficult for us as we have to use the lemon squeezer and wash it again. It is the hardest dish to wash.
16th August 09, Sunday – Another busy day today although not a busy as yesterday. First thing in the morning I had to run to the truck to get pepperoni because we ran out of pepperoni and we need it to make pizzas since pepperoni pizza is quite popular over here. It got really busy during lunch time and I sometimes don’t understand why we only have 2 person working in the pizza stand when it is definitely not enough when it gets really busy. We sold a lot of lemonades today. Really a lot, a lot of lemonades. Will and Hailey were around today since Monica was around to help us as well and they sometimes get in the way especially when it gets busy which made things quite difficult. I got quite frustrated today and thankfully I was ok after my break. We closed earlier tonight and after work we went to Walmart because Monica had to make a trip down to get some things so we tagged along and went to get some stuff for ourselves as well. Got some fruits, Haagen Dasz ice cream, ham and orange juice.
17th August 09. Monday – slow slow day. it was so boring and we didn’t sell much today. Everyone had 2 hours break total. JR, Jonathan and Chariene also ended work early today because of that. They finished at about 815pm while I finished at 10pm. We cooked our lunch today, toasting bread with ham, mozzarella cheese, onions, green pepper, sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms. It was really tasty, and hopefully will get a chance to make something like that tomorrow. Chariene and I killed a lot of bees today. We were so bored we started keeping them in a cup. Since we got internet access now, everyone stayed in the tent outside of the stands during their break so as to use the internet, no one is walking around the fair during their breaks anymore because we are just quite sick of the same thing around the fair although there are still things which we haven’t seen yet. Tomorrow will be the $2 dollar day where every stand would sell something at 2 bucks so as to allow people to try the food. Jason Mraz will be performing tomorrow as well, something to look forward to.
18th August 09, Tuesday – Today almost all the food stands in the fair would be selling one of their items at only $2 so we figured we could go around trying the different types of food we wanna try but didn’t cos they were too expensive. Pizza business was quite good even though now we cut the pizza into 12 slices instead of the usual 8. They looked so small and initially I thought the business for pizza would be bad since the slices were so small. But I was wrong, throughout the day business was steady and we have to constantly make pizzas. The grab joint was selling the Italian sausage at $2, but a much smaller version. Booked the air ticket to DC and the accommodation there using Doug’s credit card. At night Jason Mraz was there to perform but I didn’t hear him although Doug said he heard him sing ‘I’m yours’. Dinner break with Chariene and JR and we went to get taters, Wisconsin cheese and that’s about it as some of the $2 stuff were too small or the queue was too long. Got into some trouble with boss today cos we didn’t do some things. It wasn’t pleasant but I guess things like that happens, just hope that it won’t happen again.
19th August 09, Wednesday – opened the stand today and we made ourselves really busy. I got to go to the mall today because I want to get my hair cut and get some things from the mall so I left at around 2 to find Monica so she can bring me to the mall. She helped me find a cheaper place to cut my hair other than the mall because the one at the mall will cost 25USD. The one she brought me to cost 15USD and I got my hair cut there. My most expensive hair cut ever. After getting my hair cut, she dropped me off at Castleton mall where I had teriyaki chicken, again. Went around looking for things to buy and I finally got the UA backpack which I had been wanting to get since the 1st time I saw it. After that went to Sam’s I think, to get some stock for Doug, bought mozzarella cheese, paper towels, cake for Jonathan’s birthday, strawberries and I got myself a sundae. While getting the stuff into the car boot it started to rain heavily suddenly and we had to throw everything in and we were drenched. When I got back to the stand, it was already about 730 and we closed early today because there was a weather warning that there would be a heavy thunderstorm and so we had to pack up real quick and leave early so we wouldn’t get caught in the rain.
20th August 09, Thursday – today was Jonathan’s birthday and Doug told us to go to the stand at 9am today because we are going to have a birthday breakfast to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday. Doug prepared the breakfast, we had pancakes, hashbrowns, bacons, orange juice, eggs, milk and grapes. They got him a $15 red lobster voucher so I guess we will be going to red lobster to eat one day. they also got each one of us the new Charlie t-shirt which had the year printed on it as well. After we had breakfast it was back to work and I started today since I had a few hours off yesterday. Things were really slow today, I guess it was because of the weather forecast. It was quite windy the whole day but it was sunny as well so it was nice. After Chariene came in, Doug told me to go to the truck to chop the onions. Cried again while doing it, can’t believe I cried so much while I’m here in the US. Then I got an hour break around the same time with Monica and JR and we went to find the long ruler that we saw a lot of people walking around with. After getting it we went to see the agriculture and horticulture exhibits. It was quite cool to see the things they have over there and then it was back to work. Jonathan and Chariene got a 2 hour break today and JR came over to work in the pizza stand for the first time. Killed many bees today and things picked up a lot during dinner time. Just kept making pizzas and pretzels. Got to go get some stock because we were running out of mozzarella cheese and I got my break only after I got back at around 8. Another hour break. Work ended around 1030.
21st August 09, Friday – Friday was really slow and we were quite bored and we had 2 breaks near each other but by dinner time it got busy and we didn’t have any dinner breaks. We were supposed to work till 11 as all the concessionaires have to. So we cleaned up and packed up everything before 10 as the weather looks really bad and we were just waiting to see if we can get permission to pack up early. We are collecting quarters now as the quarters have the different states engraved on it and we wanted to collect every single one of it. Today Chariene and I also took quite some photos as we were bored and there isn’t much chance left for us to work in the pizza stand.
Friday, July 31, 2009
work work...
14th July 09, Tuesday – This morning I went for a run around the exhibition centre and fair grounds. At 11 Doug came to bring us to do our laundry and we went to a Vietnamese shop while waiting for the laundry and found durian there! It was frozen though. After doing our laundry, we went to South Towne Mall with the Taiwan girls and China colleagues. It was quite a long walk there and one of the Taiwan girls was making a lot of noise and she really reminded me a lot of Derek. Every time she open her mouth she will get scolded and shot by everyone. When we got to the mall we had Macs for lunch and we asked for every sauce they have. When we got to the mall we were so disappointed, I guess its cos we were comparing it to the premium outlets we went last week. A walmart supercentre was across the street so we went there and found that the things there were even cheaper than the smaller walmarts around. We bought some reese chocolate, ben and jerry’s and haagen dasz ice cream and strawberries! Dinner was ice cream. We walk back to our trailers and had strawberries for supper. Work will start tomorrow at 10am. I hope it will be a good day, should be doing something different from what I was in the previous fair.
15th July 09, Wednesday – Jonathan, Chariene and I went for a short run this morning and then we started work. I was working in the grilled food stand today. It is run differently from the pizza stand and I took some time before getting used to taking orders. Peeled onions as well today, cried nonstop for about 10 minutes before I could open my eyes properly to peel the onions. It was quite a busy day and this fair is much bigger than the one at Green Bay during Independence Day. It will end only on Sunday. It was quite a good day I guess, hopefully things will get better as I work longer here.
16th July 09, Thursday – Work started at 1130 today. It was another tiring day, worked in the cheese steak stand where I learnt how to make the Philly cheese steaks and I had to be alone in the stand. It was more tiring as I had to do everything by myself. Occasionally someone would come over to ask if I am short of anything. Walked around the fair today and realized that actually there was quite a lot to see here. Business seemed quite good so far and hopefully it stays this way. Had an unpleasant encounter with a customer today, I hope this does not happen often, thankfully most of my customers were alright and some were very friendly. I want to run tomorrow, I have been eating too much unhealthy food, pizzas, hot dogs, corn dogs, cheeseburgers, nachos with cheese, meatballs sandwiches, carbonated drinks, Italian and Polish sausages.
17th July 09, Friday – it rained today and business is quite bad. The cold wind kept blowing and it felt very comfortable inside the stand behind the grill. I did cheese steak again for the whole day and it could get really boring as I am working alone while the others are working with one another and can talk while working. It isn’t a bad thing to be alone but I hope I get to do some other things in the next fair. I went to see some of the exhibits at the fair, the cakes, artwork and toy models made by the youths were quite impressive. The band that performed at the fair today was quite good and they performed a few songs that were familiar and so work wasn’t so boring during their performance. Tomorrow should be busier as it would be Saturday, another day alone in the cheese steak stand.
18th July 09, Saturday – The day did not start really well today but it got better afterwards. It was a busy and lonely day in the cheese steak stand but it was a little different because little Charlie came to help me today and he followed me around during my break and I bought mini donuts for him and the rest of the people who are working. The band which performed today was quite good and there was one particular song that I really like. Jonathan JR and I ended work earlier tonight at around 930pm and we had our turkey leg and roasted pig with barbeque sauce. It was really huge and fattening. After that we went back to our truck and went outside of the exhibition centre to use the internet in the cold before turning in for the night.
19th July 09, Sunday – Last day of the Dane County Fair, business was really good and there were a lot of Mexicans today who love the roasted corn. I started work at 1045 today and around 3 plus I got transferred to the corn stand to help out because they were getting too busy there and needed more help. Pluck the loose leaves and break off the parts of the corn which could not be eaten for a few hours before I got transferred to Miga’s stand to help them get ice and stick the skewers into the sausages for making corn dogs. We had to clean up and pack everything because we are moving out tomorrow to Seymour where the next fair would be. Wash, clean and pack till around 130am and we had to wait a while more before we could go back to our truck because they moved it to the fair grounds to connect it to one of the trailers, so only got to sleep at around 3am. It wasn’t a good day for me, I guess I just have to suck it up as some things are not within my control.
20th July 09, Monday – we moved out at around 11 plus to Seymour where the next fair is held, the Outagamie Fair, this year is their 125th anniversary. It took us about 4hours drive to reach Seymour. It is a rather small town with a population of about 3000 or so. After setting the bunk trailers in place and connecting the pipes and electricity, we went about setting up the tents, cleaning the stands and making sure they will be ready tomorrow. The fair grounds are much smaller this time and so we do not need to walk as far as we did in the Dane County Fair. Lori would be at this fair too and so her children are here as well, gave them Reese chocolate during dinner. We had subway for dinner after eating all the food from the stands for about a week and it was good to have some vegetables. At night Aaron came to our truck and we spent about 3 hours just talking.
21st July 09, Tuesday – Woke up quite late today and we went to do our laundry which took quite long because the dryer was quite screwed up. We tried the broasted chicken and it wasn’t as good as expected because Doug told us it was good. We got back and started work only at around 4 or 5 but then it started raining so waited till 530 before starting work. I am working at the grab joint this time. There wasn’t a big crowd and business was slow today even though admission is free today. Maybe the next few days would be better since there would be more events the next few days. Quite thankful for the people that I will be working with for the summer, I think we’ve got a good team following Doug and Monica. I’ve got to work harder and complain lesser and remember that I am here to learn as well. I still have no idea why summer is so cold and I hope it gets warmer soon before fall.
22nd July 09, Wednesday – today had half a day off so JR and I went to the library for the first half of the day. Business was slow again today although there were more people at the fair today. Tried doing the corn dogs today, I am going to need a lot more practice before I can make a proper one. Felt lethargic today, just didn’t feel like doing anything. After work, the crew from Asia got together and talked quite a bit.
23rd July 09, Thursday – it was busy during lunch and dinner, partly because Charlie appeared on the news channel this morning and so people want to try the food here. The fair had a popular country music singer performing here today as well which drew quite a big crowd, although I have never heard of her before, Sara Evans. Today I worked a while in the lemonade stand and so the only stand I have not been to is the one with the meatballs. I am not specialized in doing anything I guess that’s why I keep moving around the different stands. It rained for a short while this afternoon and there was a rainbow today.
24th July 09, Friday – Another busy day and another singer was here, Gary Allan. I’ve never heard of him before as well. Today I got to work in the lemonade stand for quite a while now that I know how things work over there. Jack of all trades but master of none. I should be able to work in all the different stands but I am not really good at anything. I guess Doug might need someone like that so in case any stand needs help and I would be able to go help. Spent some time playing with my little gf today. Angelina is adorable as usual, I have only the next 2 days then she will be following Miga and his crew and I would be following Doug. Angelina remembers my name now, hopefully she won’t forget me when we meet again at Elkorn during September.
25th July 09, Saturday – went for a shot run this morning before starting work, it has been quite a while since I went for a run and it felt good to sweat after being dry for most of the time. Work began at 11 for me today and it got busy pretty quick as it was lunch time and time flew past pretty quick. Got to work in the lemonade stand again today and business was much better today since it is a Saturday. I tried the homemade ice cream today because they were having a promotion, a small cup which cost only 1USD instead of the cones which would be around 3 USD and above. The sky was beautiful today during the evening time, took some photos of it and also some of Angelina eating ice cream and she had ice cream all over her face. At night Michelle and Wen helped cut my hair. At first I was quite worried but their skills were alright, it wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t too bad as well and it is free. Tomorrow Doug’s crew which consist of the Singaporeans, Monica and Aaron would be leaving for Rochester, Minneapolis after packing up over here in Seymour and we will set up and start working at Rochester on Monday. Miga would be bringing the Taiwanese girls and Serbians with him to Union Grove and we won’t be meeting till September.
26th July 09, Sunday – This morning I attended the fair’s church service which was held right outside of my bunk truck. Charlie came knocking on our door at 9 am and told us about it and so I washed up real quick and went out. After that work began at 11 and things got pretty busy around noon as there was a competition going on at the grandstand where drivers would be crashing each other and the last car that isn’t totaled wins. I got to watch a bit of it because we took turns going inside to sell bottled water to the spectators. It was tiring walking up and down the aisles and I was sweating when I was done. The fair ended early at Seymour and we started packing up at around 5 or 6 plus. When we were done packing, we bathe and pack our stuff and got ready to move out to Rochester, Minnesota that night. While waiting we just hang around talking to people, playing with Angelina the last time before we leave. It was kinda sad that we have to part after working together for 2 fairs and definitely would be looking forward to seeing them again at Elkorn. We left at around 1 am and it was a 5 hours journey.
27th July 09, Monday – we got to sleep for a few hours before Doug woke us up and we started to set up the stands and the tents. It was exhausting trying to hammer the pegs into the ground and by the time we were done my arms were aching and I couldn’t even use the tongs properly to get the fries into the tray. It was a good workout for my arms and we started selling food around 1pm or so. Things were really slow today and there wasn’t much to do. Spent most of the time in the lemonade stand helping and accompanying Chariene as there were times when it was a little busier there. We had a deal with some of the people from the other stands, so we could go to their stands once every day to get some food and vice versa. We tried the strawberry smoothie today which was really good. The donuts were not bad as well. Now there is only 6 of us working I guess we might be able to clock in more hours and hopefully more OT.
28th July 09, Tuesday – Second day we woke up earlier today to do our laundry, went to get some groceries. I bought some grapes and we are sharing eggs and some veggie. After that we went to have our breakfast at Denny’s. The breakfast wasn’t too bad just that had to rush a bit because have to rush back for work. Things were slow in the beginning but as it got busier I moved from stand to stand depending on how busy each one is. Tried the chili fries and strawberry smoothie from the opposite stand and it was good. Doug really love the strawberry smoothie, he said he could drink it all day long and still not get sick of it. Someone stole a lemon from us today. We ended around 10 plus today and we went to Denny’s again, this time for supper and we tried the different cakes and pies that they had. It was really troublesome having to walk so far every time we want to bathe especially when it is so cold during the night.
29th July 09, Wednesday – Open the lemonade stand today and didn’t spend much time there because we have lesser people today as Aaron had half a day off and Monica had the day off. Things got really busy in the evening though and there was a point in time when she ran out of almost everything in the stand and JR, Jonathan and I were helping her to keep up with the customers’ orders. Cleaned the floor today and discussed a little about our holiday trip after the Indiana state fair before going to Denny’s for supper again and to use the internet but I can’t connect. It started to rain and it was so cold again. This time we bathed in our room since it was raining and the ground should be flooded.
30th July 09, Thursday – Spent the whole day at the lemonade stand alone today since Chariene and Jonathan were on off. It was really boring until around 5 plus 6 when people start coming and they are hungry and thirsty. Will was very cute today, he was trying to impress another girl. He asked me to help him build something out of the empty boxes so that he can get her attention. Can’t imagine what he will be like when he is already like that at only 4 years old. Ate some veggie and fruits during my lunch break, felt so much better after always eating fast and fried food. Didn’t go Denny’s this time. Jonathan and Chariene got quite a few stuff from shopping today. Tomorrow will be JR and me, hopefully will find something that I like. We had our own AAR after some unpleasant incidents and after bathing we turned in for the night
15th July 09, Wednesday – Jonathan, Chariene and I went for a short run this morning and then we started work. I was working in the grilled food stand today. It is run differently from the pizza stand and I took some time before getting used to taking orders. Peeled onions as well today, cried nonstop for about 10 minutes before I could open my eyes properly to peel the onions. It was quite a busy day and this fair is much bigger than the one at Green Bay during Independence Day. It will end only on Sunday. It was quite a good day I guess, hopefully things will get better as I work longer here.
16th July 09, Thursday – Work started at 1130 today. It was another tiring day, worked in the cheese steak stand where I learnt how to make the Philly cheese steaks and I had to be alone in the stand. It was more tiring as I had to do everything by myself. Occasionally someone would come over to ask if I am short of anything. Walked around the fair today and realized that actually there was quite a lot to see here. Business seemed quite good so far and hopefully it stays this way. Had an unpleasant encounter with a customer today, I hope this does not happen often, thankfully most of my customers were alright and some were very friendly. I want to run tomorrow, I have been eating too much unhealthy food, pizzas, hot dogs, corn dogs, cheeseburgers, nachos with cheese, meatballs sandwiches, carbonated drinks, Italian and Polish sausages.
17th July 09, Friday – it rained today and business is quite bad. The cold wind kept blowing and it felt very comfortable inside the stand behind the grill. I did cheese steak again for the whole day and it could get really boring as I am working alone while the others are working with one another and can talk while working. It isn’t a bad thing to be alone but I hope I get to do some other things in the next fair. I went to see some of the exhibits at the fair, the cakes, artwork and toy models made by the youths were quite impressive. The band that performed at the fair today was quite good and they performed a few songs that were familiar and so work wasn’t so boring during their performance. Tomorrow should be busier as it would be Saturday, another day alone in the cheese steak stand.
18th July 09, Saturday – The day did not start really well today but it got better afterwards. It was a busy and lonely day in the cheese steak stand but it was a little different because little Charlie came to help me today and he followed me around during my break and I bought mini donuts for him and the rest of the people who are working. The band which performed today was quite good and there was one particular song that I really like. Jonathan JR and I ended work earlier tonight at around 930pm and we had our turkey leg and roasted pig with barbeque sauce. It was really huge and fattening. After that we went back to our truck and went outside of the exhibition centre to use the internet in the cold before turning in for the night.
19th July 09, Sunday – Last day of the Dane County Fair, business was really good and there were a lot of Mexicans today who love the roasted corn. I started work at 1045 today and around 3 plus I got transferred to the corn stand to help out because they were getting too busy there and needed more help. Pluck the loose leaves and break off the parts of the corn which could not be eaten for a few hours before I got transferred to Miga’s stand to help them get ice and stick the skewers into the sausages for making corn dogs. We had to clean up and pack everything because we are moving out tomorrow to Seymour where the next fair would be. Wash, clean and pack till around 130am and we had to wait a while more before we could go back to our truck because they moved it to the fair grounds to connect it to one of the trailers, so only got to sleep at around 3am. It wasn’t a good day for me, I guess I just have to suck it up as some things are not within my control.
20th July 09, Monday – we moved out at around 11 plus to Seymour where the next fair is held, the Outagamie Fair, this year is their 125th anniversary. It took us about 4hours drive to reach Seymour. It is a rather small town with a population of about 3000 or so. After setting the bunk trailers in place and connecting the pipes and electricity, we went about setting up the tents, cleaning the stands and making sure they will be ready tomorrow. The fair grounds are much smaller this time and so we do not need to walk as far as we did in the Dane County Fair. Lori would be at this fair too and so her children are here as well, gave them Reese chocolate during dinner. We had subway for dinner after eating all the food from the stands for about a week and it was good to have some vegetables. At night Aaron came to our truck and we spent about 3 hours just talking.
21st July 09, Tuesday – Woke up quite late today and we went to do our laundry which took quite long because the dryer was quite screwed up. We tried the broasted chicken and it wasn’t as good as expected because Doug told us it was good. We got back and started work only at around 4 or 5 but then it started raining so waited till 530 before starting work. I am working at the grab joint this time. There wasn’t a big crowd and business was slow today even though admission is free today. Maybe the next few days would be better since there would be more events the next few days. Quite thankful for the people that I will be working with for the summer, I think we’ve got a good team following Doug and Monica. I’ve got to work harder and complain lesser and remember that I am here to learn as well. I still have no idea why summer is so cold and I hope it gets warmer soon before fall.
22nd July 09, Wednesday – today had half a day off so JR and I went to the library for the first half of the day. Business was slow again today although there were more people at the fair today. Tried doing the corn dogs today, I am going to need a lot more practice before I can make a proper one. Felt lethargic today, just didn’t feel like doing anything. After work, the crew from Asia got together and talked quite a bit.
23rd July 09, Thursday – it was busy during lunch and dinner, partly because Charlie appeared on the news channel this morning and so people want to try the food here. The fair had a popular country music singer performing here today as well which drew quite a big crowd, although I have never heard of her before, Sara Evans. Today I worked a while in the lemonade stand and so the only stand I have not been to is the one with the meatballs. I am not specialized in doing anything I guess that’s why I keep moving around the different stands. It rained for a short while this afternoon and there was a rainbow today.
24th July 09, Friday – Another busy day and another singer was here, Gary Allan. I’ve never heard of him before as well. Today I got to work in the lemonade stand for quite a while now that I know how things work over there. Jack of all trades but master of none. I should be able to work in all the different stands but I am not really good at anything. I guess Doug might need someone like that so in case any stand needs help and I would be able to go help. Spent some time playing with my little gf today. Angelina is adorable as usual, I have only the next 2 days then she will be following Miga and his crew and I would be following Doug. Angelina remembers my name now, hopefully she won’t forget me when we meet again at Elkorn during September.
25th July 09, Saturday – went for a shot run this morning before starting work, it has been quite a while since I went for a run and it felt good to sweat after being dry for most of the time. Work began at 11 for me today and it got busy pretty quick as it was lunch time and time flew past pretty quick. Got to work in the lemonade stand again today and business was much better today since it is a Saturday. I tried the homemade ice cream today because they were having a promotion, a small cup which cost only 1USD instead of the cones which would be around 3 USD and above. The sky was beautiful today during the evening time, took some photos of it and also some of Angelina eating ice cream and she had ice cream all over her face. At night Michelle and Wen helped cut my hair. At first I was quite worried but their skills were alright, it wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t too bad as well and it is free. Tomorrow Doug’s crew which consist of the Singaporeans, Monica and Aaron would be leaving for Rochester, Minneapolis after packing up over here in Seymour and we will set up and start working at Rochester on Monday. Miga would be bringing the Taiwanese girls and Serbians with him to Union Grove and we won’t be meeting till September.
26th July 09, Sunday – This morning I attended the fair’s church service which was held right outside of my bunk truck. Charlie came knocking on our door at 9 am and told us about it and so I washed up real quick and went out. After that work began at 11 and things got pretty busy around noon as there was a competition going on at the grandstand where drivers would be crashing each other and the last car that isn’t totaled wins. I got to watch a bit of it because we took turns going inside to sell bottled water to the spectators. It was tiring walking up and down the aisles and I was sweating when I was done. The fair ended early at Seymour and we started packing up at around 5 or 6 plus. When we were done packing, we bathe and pack our stuff and got ready to move out to Rochester, Minnesota that night. While waiting we just hang around talking to people, playing with Angelina the last time before we leave. It was kinda sad that we have to part after working together for 2 fairs and definitely would be looking forward to seeing them again at Elkorn. We left at around 1 am and it was a 5 hours journey.
27th July 09, Monday – we got to sleep for a few hours before Doug woke us up and we started to set up the stands and the tents. It was exhausting trying to hammer the pegs into the ground and by the time we were done my arms were aching and I couldn’t even use the tongs properly to get the fries into the tray. It was a good workout for my arms and we started selling food around 1pm or so. Things were really slow today and there wasn’t much to do. Spent most of the time in the lemonade stand helping and accompanying Chariene as there were times when it was a little busier there. We had a deal with some of the people from the other stands, so we could go to their stands once every day to get some food and vice versa. We tried the strawberry smoothie today which was really good. The donuts were not bad as well. Now there is only 6 of us working I guess we might be able to clock in more hours and hopefully more OT.
28th July 09, Tuesday – Second day we woke up earlier today to do our laundry, went to get some groceries. I bought some grapes and we are sharing eggs and some veggie. After that we went to have our breakfast at Denny’s. The breakfast wasn’t too bad just that had to rush a bit because have to rush back for work. Things were slow in the beginning but as it got busier I moved from stand to stand depending on how busy each one is. Tried the chili fries and strawberry smoothie from the opposite stand and it was good. Doug really love the strawberry smoothie, he said he could drink it all day long and still not get sick of it. Someone stole a lemon from us today. We ended around 10 plus today and we went to Denny’s again, this time for supper and we tried the different cakes and pies that they had. It was really troublesome having to walk so far every time we want to bathe especially when it is so cold during the night.
29th July 09, Wednesday – Open the lemonade stand today and didn’t spend much time there because we have lesser people today as Aaron had half a day off and Monica had the day off. Things got really busy in the evening though and there was a point in time when she ran out of almost everything in the stand and JR, Jonathan and I were helping her to keep up with the customers’ orders. Cleaned the floor today and discussed a little about our holiday trip after the Indiana state fair before going to Denny’s for supper again and to use the internet but I can’t connect. It started to rain and it was so cold again. This time we bathed in our room since it was raining and the ground should be flooded.
30th July 09, Thursday – Spent the whole day at the lemonade stand alone today since Chariene and Jonathan were on off. It was really boring until around 5 plus 6 when people start coming and they are hungry and thirsty. Will was very cute today, he was trying to impress another girl. He asked me to help him build something out of the empty boxes so that he can get her attention. Can’t imagine what he will be like when he is already like that at only 4 years old. Ate some veggie and fruits during my lunch break, felt so much better after always eating fast and fried food. Didn’t go Denny’s this time. Jonathan and Chariene got quite a few stuff from shopping today. Tomorrow will be JR and me, hopefully will find something that I like. We had our own AAR after some unpleasant incidents and after bathing we turned in for the night
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Last few days of play before work
10th July 09, Friday – in the end we did not have any work to do today so we were hoping someone would be able to take us to the library or to the premium outlets today. Then Doug came and told us that Monica would come tomorrow to bring us there. Charlie and Doug went about fixing the corn roaster, in the process we got to eat some corns. Miga came he brought us to the library and he needed someone to take care of Angelina as he has got to go for a medical checkup. JR and I went to the library to upload pictures while Jonathan and Chariene followed Miga. Miga brought them to go shop and he treated them to a free buffet lunch. We went to Miga’s house afterwards and played with Angelina. She is really talkative now that she has gotten much more used to having us around. We were all feeling sleepy but she was so energetic after her nap and we took turns entertaining her. Her favourite words are, “it’s mine, uh-oh, thank you and Hi” and she is learning really fast. When Miga and Amie got home they brought us back to the barn where we had dinner, noodles, ham and bread and the other haagen dazs ice cream, butter pecan. Hopefully I would be able to wake up early for a run tomorrow, I should be running alone.
11th July 09, Saturday – last night it rained and there was hail, it was so noisy that it woke us up in the middle of the night. We wanted to take a look but we were too lazy and scared that we will get hit by the hail so we went back to sleep. When I woke up the next day, the barn was quite wet even though we only left the door open by just a little bit. I went to run alone by myself, first time running in a jacket because it was cold and windy. After that bathe, breakfast and waited for Monica to come and bring us to Johnson Creek premium outlets to shop. It took about half an hour to get there and we got only till 2pm to shop because Doug has got plans in the afternoon and Monica needed to be home by 3pm. The things at the outlets are so much more cheaper than what we usually see and we were rushing from shop to shop due to the limited time we have. We went Nike, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Old Navy, etc. Thankfully it was one of the smaller premium outlets around otherwise we would have been more disappointed to have to skip so many shops. I got a coach bag, a tshirt and a pair of Nike shorts. We finally got to see how much cheaper we can get things over here in the US. After 2 pm Monica brought us to Wendy’s where we had our lunch, it was so so only and then we walked to Amie’s shop, Hallmark, where JR got his gifts and we got ourselves Ben and Jerry’s ice cream this time and then Doug brought us back to the barn where we spend the evening taking photos around the barn as this is most likely our last night at the barn because tomorrow we will be setting off for Madison and we will be having fairs one after another and most likely will not be coming back to Sun Prairie. As usual, the mosquitoes swarmed us and we had to run and jump around to get away from the mosquitoes. Tomorrow I will be going to church with Doug and his family, I am gonna try to wake up early to go for a run again.
12th July 09, Sunday – Overslept and did not wake up earlier to run. We had our breakfast and then Charlie and Mary brought me to their church, a much smaller congregation as compared to the one which Miga and Amie attend, only about 50 or so. We went there and sang some hymns, 2 young brothers shared their experience about sharing the gospel and another brother shared the word of the Lord, he spoke about king Josiah. After that we had lunch at Pedro’s, a Mexican restaurant where we had a 3 pound burrito, 2 to one of those and we still cannot finish it, it was just too filling. We went back to the barn and started to pack up and move off to our next fair which would be at Madison, after connecting the pipes and power lines to the trailers Jonathan and I followed Miga to the raceway at Sun Prairie again to help him in setting up of his toys. Angelina was there too and after we set up the toys we took care of her and she finally held my hands for the first time. When we were done Miga brought us back to the trailers in Madison and we talked for a while with the Taiwan girls as they have arrived from the fair at Oshkosh to help out here.
13th July 09, Monday – Today we set up the stands at the fair grounds just outside of the Alliant Energy Centre. There was more to do as we have to put up some tents, tables and chairs. We have a new companion from China, Monica, and she will most likely be with us as she is sharing room with Chariene. Everything was done at about 5 after that we played with Lori’s and Doug’s children. It was chaotic and they managed to steal one of my slippers so I just played along with them. In the end I had to bathe before going for dinner because I was sweating after playing with them. We went for the Chinese buffet beside Amie’s Hallmark shop for dinner. The kids got very restless after a while and they were running around the restaurant. I am beginning to feel old as sometimes I feel as if I am unable to keep up with the kids’ energy level. Tomorrow would be another day off before the fair starts on Wednesday.
11th July 09, Saturday – last night it rained and there was hail, it was so noisy that it woke us up in the middle of the night. We wanted to take a look but we were too lazy and scared that we will get hit by the hail so we went back to sleep. When I woke up the next day, the barn was quite wet even though we only left the door open by just a little bit. I went to run alone by myself, first time running in a jacket because it was cold and windy. After that bathe, breakfast and waited for Monica to come and bring us to Johnson Creek premium outlets to shop. It took about half an hour to get there and we got only till 2pm to shop because Doug has got plans in the afternoon and Monica needed to be home by 3pm. The things at the outlets are so much more cheaper than what we usually see and we were rushing from shop to shop due to the limited time we have. We went Nike, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Old Navy, etc. Thankfully it was one of the smaller premium outlets around otherwise we would have been more disappointed to have to skip so many shops. I got a coach bag, a tshirt and a pair of Nike shorts. We finally got to see how much cheaper we can get things over here in the US. After 2 pm Monica brought us to Wendy’s where we had our lunch, it was so so only and then we walked to Amie’s shop, Hallmark, where JR got his gifts and we got ourselves Ben and Jerry’s ice cream this time and then Doug brought us back to the barn where we spend the evening taking photos around the barn as this is most likely our last night at the barn because tomorrow we will be setting off for Madison and we will be having fairs one after another and most likely will not be coming back to Sun Prairie. As usual, the mosquitoes swarmed us and we had to run and jump around to get away from the mosquitoes. Tomorrow I will be going to church with Doug and his family, I am gonna try to wake up early to go for a run again.
12th July 09, Sunday – Overslept and did not wake up earlier to run. We had our breakfast and then Charlie and Mary brought me to their church, a much smaller congregation as compared to the one which Miga and Amie attend, only about 50 or so. We went there and sang some hymns, 2 young brothers shared their experience about sharing the gospel and another brother shared the word of the Lord, he spoke about king Josiah. After that we had lunch at Pedro’s, a Mexican restaurant where we had a 3 pound burrito, 2 to one of those and we still cannot finish it, it was just too filling. We went back to the barn and started to pack up and move off to our next fair which would be at Madison, after connecting the pipes and power lines to the trailers Jonathan and I followed Miga to the raceway at Sun Prairie again to help him in setting up of his toys. Angelina was there too and after we set up the toys we took care of her and she finally held my hands for the first time. When we were done Miga brought us back to the trailers in Madison and we talked for a while with the Taiwan girls as they have arrived from the fair at Oshkosh to help out here.
13th July 09, Monday – Today we set up the stands at the fair grounds just outside of the Alliant Energy Centre. There was more to do as we have to put up some tents, tables and chairs. We have a new companion from China, Monica, and she will most likely be with us as she is sharing room with Chariene. Everything was done at about 5 after that we played with Lori’s and Doug’s children. It was chaotic and they managed to steal one of my slippers so I just played along with them. In the end I had to bathe before going for dinner because I was sweating after playing with them. We went for the Chinese buffet beside Amie’s Hallmark shop for dinner. The kids got very restless after a while and they were running around the restaurant. I am beginning to feel old as sometimes I feel as if I am unable to keep up with the kids’ energy level. Tomorrow would be another day off before the fair starts on Wednesday.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Updates for the past 2 and a half week
This will be a really long post. I don’t think I would be posting any photos here so you guys will have to go to facebook to see them. The time at Wisconsin is 13 hours behind Singapore.
21st June 09, Saturday - I want to thank all those who came to send me off and also to those who messaged me because they could not come. China Airline was not as bad as I thought it would be. On the way to Taipei, due to turbulence, I got a little motion sickness. Thankfully it was a short flight there. Next stop was Anchorage, Alaska. I asked for red wine so that I would be able to sleep better. The air stewardess asked for my age, the 3 of them burst out laughing.
22nd June 09, Sunday - Upon arrival at JFK airport, we spent the night there, had Macs for breakfast and then took a cab to Hotel New Yorker in the morning. After settling down we went out to explore the city, 1st stop was central park. It was huge and had a lot of facilities over there. My favourite has got to be the sheep’s meadow, a huge open area with nice soft grass. It would be perfect for playing Frisbee. The weather was really cooling and we did not sweat at all. Lunch was at subway and we found out that there is chili in the US. Jonathan, Jianrong and Chariene can vouch for that. Next stop was the UN building and then Grand Central Terminal and then back to hotel for a short rest. Supposed to meet for dinner but all of them overslept. Waited at the lobby for half an hour then I called them. At night they met the program coordinator and we found out who our roommates were and
there were supposed to be 3 other guys from Turkey sharing the same room as me.
23rd June 09, Monday - Day 2, we had to attend the orientation program by interexchange, got everything done then we set off to buy our bus tickets to go to Madison, Wisconsin and after that we went to Chinatown. We had a good Chinese meal and we went to see the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge. They were huge and that is where our love for the butt began. Walked past the financial district and tried to see the statue of liberty from the main island but could not see much because it was too far. At night we went to Times Square, lots of lights, shopping places. Spend the night in Jonathan and JR’s room because the Turks already took up most of the space on the beds.
24th June 09, Tuesday - Next day went shopping at Macy’s, Old Navy and Victoria’s secret. We did not buy much because we have not started working yet and it just does not feel good to spend when we are not earning any money yet. It rained during lunch time and we left NY for Madison taking the Greyhound bus. While taking the train, the lady in the control station was being a real pain in the ass. She did not want to help us open the gate so as to allow us to get into the station. We had problems because of our luggage. Instead of helping us, she was just gloating at out predicament. When we got to the greyhound bus station we tried to call Charlie to inform him that we are on our way there. We had some problems calling and someone offered us to use his phone but we had to pay 10 bucks, in the end JR paid him 5. Slept most part of the journey for that day. It was the longest bus ride ever, from New York to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee and finally Madison. The whole journey took about 24 hours. It was not comfortable but we were really tired so we slept through most of the bus ride.
25th June 09, Thursday - When we arrived we were greeted by Miga, he is Charlie’s, our boss, son-in-law. He told us a little about himself, telling us he came for the same work and travel program in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, then he got married to Amie, Charlie’s daughter. Charlie has got 3 children, Lori, Amie and Doug. All of them are married, Lori has got 6 daughters, Amie have a daughter and Doug has got 2 sons and a daughter. Miga brought us to our trailers and we moved into our trailers. It was a little small but I guess its fine since we do not have to pay for our accomodation. At night he brought us to the public library so we can use the internet and after that it was dinner at Chris’ and Lori’s home. Chris is Charlie’s other son-in-law. It was great meeting the Miller family. Chris has got 6 daughter and their names all start with A. we had a fantastic dinner and played some games with the children. They were very friendly and warm towards us and made us felt really welcomed. Miga invited us to go watch a movie with him and Amie but we declined because we want to be well rested for our first day of work the next day. The sun sets at around 9 pm over here.
26th June 09, Friday – Sunrise was at around 5am. The next day was our 1st day working, washing and waxing the trucks. We only managed to clean and wax 2 trucks. It was tough, washing under the sun, scrubbing, waxing and climbing. We got sunburnt as a result. It was a job well done and we were quite proud of our accomplishment. Miga brought us to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant, a buffet dinner for 9USD. It was better than expected. Then we went to Walmart and got some stuff before going back to our trailer to spend the night playing saboteur, taking photos and stargazing.
27th June, Saturday - We helped Miga set up his big ‘toy balloon’ and went to east town mall. We thought it would be a huge mall but there was not much to shop and we waited for Miga to come fetch us back to the barn.
28th June 09, Sunday - The next day I went to church with Miga, Amie and Angelina. It was a huge church with about 700 members. Sang some hymns, heard a testimony by a brother and a message by their pastor. Afternoon we went to the sports park to play basketball, volleyball and Frisbee. We had lunch at Miga’s place with his neighbours. Miga asked me to drive his car because he was driving another vehicle. I had some orientation drive and then I just followed him back to the barn, it was my first time driving in US. At night we went to see the fireworks. We met Jay. Jay is from China, his name is Ke Jie but they call him Jay because it was easier for them to remember. We waited really long at the park because Charlie brought us there at 6 so that he would be able the heavy traffic before the fireworks start. The fireworks only started at 930. But it was good because it was our first time being so near the fireworks and the ashes kept dropping on my head.
29th June 09, Monday - The next day was back to work, washing and waxing the vehicles we are going to use for work. Our 3 best friends, Dawn(detergent), Soft Scrub(bleach) and Turtle Wax(wax). After work we went to do our laundry at the Laundromat and had subway for dinner. That night we went bowling with Miga, Drazen, Vladon, Aaron, Mei and Sana. It was my second time bowling. Drazen, Vladon and Aaron are Miga’s friends while Mei and Sana are from Taiwan and are also here for the US work and travel program. It was 1 USD per game after 9 so we went at 9 and played a few game.
30th June 09, Tuesday – It was the same, we are woke up at around 830, wash up, have breakfast and be ready for work by 930. Wash and wax till lunch and we have half day off because the weather does not seem good. It was getting really cold and we realized the temperature was about 13 degrees Celsius, and it was supposed to be summer. We went to the library and spend half a day there.
1st July 09, Wednesday – It was another half day and we went to east town mall again, we thought there would be free wifi but there wasn’t, we had to pay to use it. I spent the day there organizing the photos and reading up more about San Francisco at the bookstore there and had a good dinner, Teriyaki chicken fried rice.
2nd July 09, Thursday - We had the day off and we went downtown Madison, which is the capital of Wisconsin. We took the bus there. First stop was the capitol building. The interior was really beautiful. Lunch was at noodles and company. We walked along State Street where most of the shops are located and they have really interesting stuff on sale there. We spent quite a bit of time in a store that sells Wisconsin apparel. JR, Chariene and Jonathan got a pullover while I got myself a t-shirt. We walked to the University of Wisconsin, Lake Mendota and Memorial Union. which is just a small lake in the state of Wisconsin. Finding the bustop was quite a hassle, even though the bus pass ceratin place, the bustop does not have the that bus service. So we ended up walking quite a distance. In the end we realized the bus stops just about anywhere along its route. At night Miga, Drazen and Vladon started to tease Jay, telling him he has to drive the lawn mower the next day before the fair starts. This is what they do before the international students start work. They also told Mei she had to milk the cows.
3rd July 09, Friday – We set off for Green Bay, it was quite cool seeing a fleet of trucks and trailers moving out from the barn. We sat in the car which Monica drove and she was really friendly and kept talking to us until we stopped at the petrol kiosk to top up gas for the vehicles and her mum joined us then the both of them talked throughout the whole journey while Jonathan JR and I slept. The journey took about 3 hours and we started to set up the stands. We had subway for lunch, walked a big round before finding the subway. We just help out whatever we can and I made my first pizza in the pizza stand. We celebrated Vladon’s birthday after everything was done and just spend time interacting with the Taiwan girls and the Millers’ children beside the railway tracks. Jay disappeared as he went to the museum nearby to tap into the free wireless provided for the public there.
4th July 09, Saturday - Independence day, this is the day where our real work began. We started a 10 helping to skewer the sausages, which would be used to make the corn dogs and then Chariene and I went over to the pizza stand to help Monica. She taught us what we were supposed to do and we got started. JR was in the joint store which sold corn dogs, burgers, fries, sausages and sodas. Jonathan went to help out in the stand selling corn. Things were slow in the beginning and only started to pick up around 5 in the afternoon. Things got really busy and queues formed and we were taking so many orders at a time, pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, sausage or pepperoni and sausage), pretzels (salted or not, with or without cheese), nachos and sodas. Most of our customers were quite friendly and it was quite fun serving them and we got quite a bit of tips. One of them did not take his change and so I put $16 into the tips box. Everyone in the pizza stand got $9.25 from tips, it was more than JR’s $5.50 and Jonathan’s $2.25. the fireworks lasted quite long this time and some people were getting drunk and some looked as though they are on drugs. After that was cleaning up and keeping all the stuff. Everything ended at around 12, just in time for my birthday. After bathing we went outside the museum nearby to use the internet. It was super cold and after a while it started to drizzle so we went back to rest for the night.
5th July 09, Sunday - My birthday we woke up around 9.30 and started packing up and left Green Bay, we were supposed to have the week off but we do not know what we can do and so we decided to stay and do whatever work we can and see the next few days where we can go. I sat in the yellow truck with Miga and Drazen. It was an old truck so it was not really comfortable in it and it was a warm day. We stopped at a petrol kiosk and got some drinks. After that we went back to the barn to put the corn roaster back and had leftover watermelons for lunch. Went Miga’s place for a while, watched a movie, ate some chips and strawberry pie and went to the midget race in the afternoon. It was quite cool seeing the race, really noisy and the mosquitoes were horrible that night. We helped him set up and keep the toy balloons.
6th July 09, Monday - we slept in and woke up at about 10. Miga stock up on our breakfast and he came around noon to bring us to the library. We spent the afternoon in the library and doing our laundry. We were supposed to go Walmart to shop but we took too long in the library and laundry so after that Miga came to pick us up from walmart to his home to pick up my birthday cake which was baked by Amie. We went rocky’s pizza place to celebrate my birthday. It was quite nice, Miga and his family, Drazen, Charlie and Mary and the Singaporeans celebrated my birthday there. We had quite a good dinner, the pizza was good and we played some arcade games there. We got some tokens and we used it to change for a Zoe soft toy for Angelina. They got me a t-shirt, a Wisconsin cap, uno cards and a portable fan. It was really nice of them to celebrate my birthday for me. Angelina was talking much more now and it was fun just watching her and teaching her how to speak.
7th July 09, Tuesday - We went for a run after not running for about 2 weeks. I ran for about an hour around the area. Thought I would be able to sweat it out but in the end still did not sweat much. After getting back to the barn, Doug got some work for us to do, sweep the barn. He drove out all the vehicles there and we started sweeping. We took about 2 hours to get the job done and so we worked out our legs and arms. In the afternoon, Doug brought us to walmart and we finally got our haagen daas ice cream, a tub of chocolate and butter pecan. We napped for a few hours and about 8 Miga came knocking on our door and invited us to go up to Charlie’s place for dinner. We got swarmed by mosquitoes on the way up. Dinner was good, we had roast beef, potato with cheese, beans and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Angelina was getting noisier. I think she is getting more used to having us around and she was talking a lot more and now we know she can get really noisy. She played with us for about an hour plus and after that we went back to sleep.
8th July 09, Wednesday - I wanted to run but when I woke up I realized it was drizzling, so I went back to sleep. We had some noodles for breakfast. It was wonderful having hot soup when the weather was cold, then we finally drank some milo which Chariene brought and we had the haagen daas chocolate ice cream. JR ate some more chocolate mint ice cream after that and we started playing uno cards. About 2 Doug told us to get ready to go to his place. Before that we went over to Amie’s Hallmark shop to fix up a new safe as the shop was broken into. One of the glass door was smashed and in its place was a wooden plank. Then we went over to his place. It was really nice home and has the most space among all the homes we have been to. We played the Wii and with Hailey and Will. They were hyperactive and it was tiring just to keep up with them. Dinner we had lasagna, garlic bread, Italian salad and some pasta, dessert was brownies. Had a nice time chatting with Doug and Monica and after watching tv and spending some time with the kids we went back for the night. The next day we are supposed to be going out to the lake on the boat, we are really looking forward to that.
9th July 09, Thursday – Today Doug and his family brought us to Lake Mendota. We needed to go back to the barn once and one more time to the auto store because the boat’s engine was giving us problems. When it was finally fixed we went over to the other side of the lake where Charlie, Stephanie, Miga, Amie and Angelina were. A tube was tied to the boat and we just hung on to it while Doug drove the boat around the lake. It was damn fun and when we went over the waves it felt like we were flying. It was also tiring to hang onto the tube. After that I tried water skiing. I had a lot of trouble getting the skis on and I tire myself out trying to put them on. It was quite difficult and after failing 3 times I gave up but I was getting the idea better now. I will try again when I have the chance. After that we had dinner, they grilled some hot dogs and sausages and I ate 2 sausages and 1 hotdog. It was quite interesting listening to their conversation. Amie, Charlie, Miga and Stephanie were talking about how they want to die. After that played some volleyball and Frisbee with JR. Then we tried to fly kite, it was quite fun but tiring, I guess its because the wind was not strong enough so I had to keep pulling the kite to keep it up in the air. On the way back we took the boat again and Jonathan cut his finger while jumping onto the boat. It was quite a deep cut as he hit a fiberglass piece of the boat and a small part of it broke. Doug drove the boat near the city of Madison and we saw the convention centre of the city. It was quite a nice view with the sun setting. After that he drove the boat the fastest the boat could go, about 45 mph. I saw some people playing Frisbee on that side of the lake where the boat was launched. Doug brought us back to the barn. We might be working tomorrow.
21st June 09, Saturday - I want to thank all those who came to send me off and also to those who messaged me because they could not come. China Airline was not as bad as I thought it would be. On the way to Taipei, due to turbulence, I got a little motion sickness. Thankfully it was a short flight there. Next stop was Anchorage, Alaska. I asked for red wine so that I would be able to sleep better. The air stewardess asked for my age, the 3 of them burst out laughing.
22nd June 09, Sunday - Upon arrival at JFK airport, we spent the night there, had Macs for breakfast and then took a cab to Hotel New Yorker in the morning. After settling down we went out to explore the city, 1st stop was central park. It was huge and had a lot of facilities over there. My favourite has got to be the sheep’s meadow, a huge open area with nice soft grass. It would be perfect for playing Frisbee. The weather was really cooling and we did not sweat at all. Lunch was at subway and we found out that there is chili in the US. Jonathan, Jianrong and Chariene can vouch for that. Next stop was the UN building and then Grand Central Terminal and then back to hotel for a short rest. Supposed to meet for dinner but all of them overslept. Waited at the lobby for half an hour then I called them. At night they met the program coordinator and we found out who our roommates were and
there were supposed to be 3 other guys from Turkey sharing the same room as me.
23rd June 09, Monday - Day 2, we had to attend the orientation program by interexchange, got everything done then we set off to buy our bus tickets to go to Madison, Wisconsin and after that we went to Chinatown. We had a good Chinese meal and we went to see the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge. They were huge and that is where our love for the butt began. Walked past the financial district and tried to see the statue of liberty from the main island but could not see much because it was too far. At night we went to Times Square, lots of lights, shopping places. Spend the night in Jonathan and JR’s room because the Turks already took up most of the space on the beds.
24th June 09, Tuesday - Next day went shopping at Macy’s, Old Navy and Victoria’s secret. We did not buy much because we have not started working yet and it just does not feel good to spend when we are not earning any money yet. It rained during lunch time and we left NY for Madison taking the Greyhound bus. While taking the train, the lady in the control station was being a real pain in the ass. She did not want to help us open the gate so as to allow us to get into the station. We had problems because of our luggage. Instead of helping us, she was just gloating at out predicament. When we got to the greyhound bus station we tried to call Charlie to inform him that we are on our way there. We had some problems calling and someone offered us to use his phone but we had to pay 10 bucks, in the end JR paid him 5. Slept most part of the journey for that day. It was the longest bus ride ever, from New York to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee and finally Madison. The whole journey took about 24 hours. It was not comfortable but we were really tired so we slept through most of the bus ride.
25th June 09, Thursday - When we arrived we were greeted by Miga, he is Charlie’s, our boss, son-in-law. He told us a little about himself, telling us he came for the same work and travel program in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, then he got married to Amie, Charlie’s daughter. Charlie has got 3 children, Lori, Amie and Doug. All of them are married, Lori has got 6 daughters, Amie have a daughter and Doug has got 2 sons and a daughter. Miga brought us to our trailers and we moved into our trailers. It was a little small but I guess its fine since we do not have to pay for our accomodation. At night he brought us to the public library so we can use the internet and after that it was dinner at Chris’ and Lori’s home. Chris is Charlie’s other son-in-law. It was great meeting the Miller family. Chris has got 6 daughter and their names all start with A. we had a fantastic dinner and played some games with the children. They were very friendly and warm towards us and made us felt really welcomed. Miga invited us to go watch a movie with him and Amie but we declined because we want to be well rested for our first day of work the next day. The sun sets at around 9 pm over here.
26th June 09, Friday – Sunrise was at around 5am. The next day was our 1st day working, washing and waxing the trucks. We only managed to clean and wax 2 trucks. It was tough, washing under the sun, scrubbing, waxing and climbing. We got sunburnt as a result. It was a job well done and we were quite proud of our accomplishment. Miga brought us to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant, a buffet dinner for 9USD. It was better than expected. Then we went to Walmart and got some stuff before going back to our trailer to spend the night playing saboteur, taking photos and stargazing.
27th June, Saturday - We helped Miga set up his big ‘toy balloon’ and went to east town mall. We thought it would be a huge mall but there was not much to shop and we waited for Miga to come fetch us back to the barn.
28th June 09, Sunday - The next day I went to church with Miga, Amie and Angelina. It was a huge church with about 700 members. Sang some hymns, heard a testimony by a brother and a message by their pastor. Afternoon we went to the sports park to play basketball, volleyball and Frisbee. We had lunch at Miga’s place with his neighbours. Miga asked me to drive his car because he was driving another vehicle. I had some orientation drive and then I just followed him back to the barn, it was my first time driving in US. At night we went to see the fireworks. We met Jay. Jay is from China, his name is Ke Jie but they call him Jay because it was easier for them to remember. We waited really long at the park because Charlie brought us there at 6 so that he would be able the heavy traffic before the fireworks start. The fireworks only started at 930. But it was good because it was our first time being so near the fireworks and the ashes kept dropping on my head.
29th June 09, Monday - The next day was back to work, washing and waxing the vehicles we are going to use for work. Our 3 best friends, Dawn(detergent), Soft Scrub(bleach) and Turtle Wax(wax). After work we went to do our laundry at the Laundromat and had subway for dinner. That night we went bowling with Miga, Drazen, Vladon, Aaron, Mei and Sana. It was my second time bowling. Drazen, Vladon and Aaron are Miga’s friends while Mei and Sana are from Taiwan and are also here for the US work and travel program. It was 1 USD per game after 9 so we went at 9 and played a few game.
30th June 09, Tuesday – It was the same, we are woke up at around 830, wash up, have breakfast and be ready for work by 930. Wash and wax till lunch and we have half day off because the weather does not seem good. It was getting really cold and we realized the temperature was about 13 degrees Celsius, and it was supposed to be summer. We went to the library and spend half a day there.
1st July 09, Wednesday – It was another half day and we went to east town mall again, we thought there would be free wifi but there wasn’t, we had to pay to use it. I spent the day there organizing the photos and reading up more about San Francisco at the bookstore there and had a good dinner, Teriyaki chicken fried rice.
2nd July 09, Thursday - We had the day off and we went downtown Madison, which is the capital of Wisconsin. We took the bus there. First stop was the capitol building. The interior was really beautiful. Lunch was at noodles and company. We walked along State Street where most of the shops are located and they have really interesting stuff on sale there. We spent quite a bit of time in a store that sells Wisconsin apparel. JR, Chariene and Jonathan got a pullover while I got myself a t-shirt. We walked to the University of Wisconsin, Lake Mendota and Memorial Union. which is just a small lake in the state of Wisconsin. Finding the bustop was quite a hassle, even though the bus pass ceratin place, the bustop does not have the that bus service. So we ended up walking quite a distance. In the end we realized the bus stops just about anywhere along its route. At night Miga, Drazen and Vladon started to tease Jay, telling him he has to drive the lawn mower the next day before the fair starts. This is what they do before the international students start work. They also told Mei she had to milk the cows.
3rd July 09, Friday – We set off for Green Bay, it was quite cool seeing a fleet of trucks and trailers moving out from the barn. We sat in the car which Monica drove and she was really friendly and kept talking to us until we stopped at the petrol kiosk to top up gas for the vehicles and her mum joined us then the both of them talked throughout the whole journey while Jonathan JR and I slept. The journey took about 3 hours and we started to set up the stands. We had subway for lunch, walked a big round before finding the subway. We just help out whatever we can and I made my first pizza in the pizza stand. We celebrated Vladon’s birthday after everything was done and just spend time interacting with the Taiwan girls and the Millers’ children beside the railway tracks. Jay disappeared as he went to the museum nearby to tap into the free wireless provided for the public there.
4th July 09, Saturday - Independence day, this is the day where our real work began. We started a 10 helping to skewer the sausages, which would be used to make the corn dogs and then Chariene and I went over to the pizza stand to help Monica. She taught us what we were supposed to do and we got started. JR was in the joint store which sold corn dogs, burgers, fries, sausages and sodas. Jonathan went to help out in the stand selling corn. Things were slow in the beginning and only started to pick up around 5 in the afternoon. Things got really busy and queues formed and we were taking so many orders at a time, pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, sausage or pepperoni and sausage), pretzels (salted or not, with or without cheese), nachos and sodas. Most of our customers were quite friendly and it was quite fun serving them and we got quite a bit of tips. One of them did not take his change and so I put $16 into the tips box. Everyone in the pizza stand got $9.25 from tips, it was more than JR’s $5.50 and Jonathan’s $2.25. the fireworks lasted quite long this time and some people were getting drunk and some looked as though they are on drugs. After that was cleaning up and keeping all the stuff. Everything ended at around 12, just in time for my birthday. After bathing we went outside the museum nearby to use the internet. It was super cold and after a while it started to drizzle so we went back to rest for the night.
5th July 09, Sunday - My birthday we woke up around 9.30 and started packing up and left Green Bay, we were supposed to have the week off but we do not know what we can do and so we decided to stay and do whatever work we can and see the next few days where we can go. I sat in the yellow truck with Miga and Drazen. It was an old truck so it was not really comfortable in it and it was a warm day. We stopped at a petrol kiosk and got some drinks. After that we went back to the barn to put the corn roaster back and had leftover watermelons for lunch. Went Miga’s place for a while, watched a movie, ate some chips and strawberry pie and went to the midget race in the afternoon. It was quite cool seeing the race, really noisy and the mosquitoes were horrible that night. We helped him set up and keep the toy balloons.
6th July 09, Monday - we slept in and woke up at about 10. Miga stock up on our breakfast and he came around noon to bring us to the library. We spent the afternoon in the library and doing our laundry. We were supposed to go Walmart to shop but we took too long in the library and laundry so after that Miga came to pick us up from walmart to his home to pick up my birthday cake which was baked by Amie. We went rocky’s pizza place to celebrate my birthday. It was quite nice, Miga and his family, Drazen, Charlie and Mary and the Singaporeans celebrated my birthday there. We had quite a good dinner, the pizza was good and we played some arcade games there. We got some tokens and we used it to change for a Zoe soft toy for Angelina. They got me a t-shirt, a Wisconsin cap, uno cards and a portable fan. It was really nice of them to celebrate my birthday for me. Angelina was talking much more now and it was fun just watching her and teaching her how to speak.
7th July 09, Tuesday - We went for a run after not running for about 2 weeks. I ran for about an hour around the area. Thought I would be able to sweat it out but in the end still did not sweat much. After getting back to the barn, Doug got some work for us to do, sweep the barn. He drove out all the vehicles there and we started sweeping. We took about 2 hours to get the job done and so we worked out our legs and arms. In the afternoon, Doug brought us to walmart and we finally got our haagen daas ice cream, a tub of chocolate and butter pecan. We napped for a few hours and about 8 Miga came knocking on our door and invited us to go up to Charlie’s place for dinner. We got swarmed by mosquitoes on the way up. Dinner was good, we had roast beef, potato with cheese, beans and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Angelina was getting noisier. I think she is getting more used to having us around and she was talking a lot more and now we know she can get really noisy. She played with us for about an hour plus and after that we went back to sleep.
8th July 09, Wednesday - I wanted to run but when I woke up I realized it was drizzling, so I went back to sleep. We had some noodles for breakfast. It was wonderful having hot soup when the weather was cold, then we finally drank some milo which Chariene brought and we had the haagen daas chocolate ice cream. JR ate some more chocolate mint ice cream after that and we started playing uno cards. About 2 Doug told us to get ready to go to his place. Before that we went over to Amie’s Hallmark shop to fix up a new safe as the shop was broken into. One of the glass door was smashed and in its place was a wooden plank. Then we went over to his place. It was really nice home and has the most space among all the homes we have been to. We played the Wii and with Hailey and Will. They were hyperactive and it was tiring just to keep up with them. Dinner we had lasagna, garlic bread, Italian salad and some pasta, dessert was brownies. Had a nice time chatting with Doug and Monica and after watching tv and spending some time with the kids we went back for the night. The next day we are supposed to be going out to the lake on the boat, we are really looking forward to that.
9th July 09, Thursday – Today Doug and his family brought us to Lake Mendota. We needed to go back to the barn once and one more time to the auto store because the boat’s engine was giving us problems. When it was finally fixed we went over to the other side of the lake where Charlie, Stephanie, Miga, Amie and Angelina were. A tube was tied to the boat and we just hung on to it while Doug drove the boat around the lake. It was damn fun and when we went over the waves it felt like we were flying. It was also tiring to hang onto the tube. After that I tried water skiing. I had a lot of trouble getting the skis on and I tire myself out trying to put them on. It was quite difficult and after failing 3 times I gave up but I was getting the idea better now. I will try again when I have the chance. After that we had dinner, they grilled some hot dogs and sausages and I ate 2 sausages and 1 hotdog. It was quite interesting listening to their conversation. Amie, Charlie, Miga and Stephanie were talking about how they want to die. After that played some volleyball and Frisbee with JR. Then we tried to fly kite, it was quite fun but tiring, I guess its because the wind was not strong enough so I had to keep pulling the kite to keep it up in the air. On the way back we took the boat again and Jonathan cut his finger while jumping onto the boat. It was quite a deep cut as he hit a fiberglass piece of the boat and a small part of it broke. Doug drove the boat near the city of Madison and we saw the convention centre of the city. It was quite a nice view with the sun setting. After that he drove the boat the fastest the boat could go, about 45 mph. I saw some people playing Frisbee on that side of the lake where the boat was launched. Doug brought us back to the barn. We might be working tomorrow.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
testing out
1st entry, at the public library of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Just trying out posting my 1st post. Not much time so only will post more stuff the next time i get to use the internet.
Joshua
Joshua
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