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
Friday, July 31, 2009
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.
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