Traveling with Megan...and Big Bird

My good friend Megan flew out from Denver on Saturday and spent the past three days in Spokane checking out our lovely new town and hanging out with me. Megan and I worked together at the pediatric hospital in Denver. Though we have both moved on since then (figuratively and literally) we are still very close. It was great to have a girlfriend to just chill and chat with...especially because I really don't know any women in this town yet. We visited all sorts of restaurants and watched movies - and overall laughed A LOT! Here is a photo from our trip over to Coeur d'Alene on Sunday:
Megan also brought me a little gift that she spied at on a recent trip to a discount department store - a DVD!

She, Steve and I had a good time watching this video from the 80's vault - and it will be something fun to share with Lia someday - although watching the video, you can tell that China has changed a LOT since this filmed! The video is still available in DVD format from Amazon.com. I went on Amazon today to check, and saw the following video review from the "little girl" who befriends Big Bird and shows him around China...she may have been six or seven years old when it was filmed in the mid-80s:

By Lisa Ou (Hong Kong)

I am so delighted to see this movie finally in DVD. Feel very proud as I played the role Xiao Foo 24 years ago. Few interesting things I would like to share with people who love this movie:
- Xiao Foo didn't understand a single word of English when acting. I am local Chinese and do not start a second language until age of 9. All script was recited by memories.
- We filmed the movie in 3 cities: Beijing(the Great Wall, animal sculpture), Guilin(the Glass Chessboard, headless buffalo),Suzhou(the story teller). These are still the most beautiful tourist highlights of China.
- We had harsh time when filming the Great Wall, cause it was always packed with tourists. We eventually filmed it at 4:00am in the morning.
- China has changed a lot since then. We no longer dressed like the crowd in the movie. Major cities are well developed.
- Xiao Foo never acted in any movies after that. She grew up in Beijing, attended universities in Canada, now working for a top US investment bank in Hong Kong.
- Xiao Foo lost contact with Big Bird, Barkley and the Crew right after the movie. But to her, this movie is always the most precious memory.

I think that is so cool - it's like a "behind-the-scenes" look into "Big Bird in China"!

Hey - while I'm here, I also want to give a shout out to my (not-so) Secret Pal, Marcy, who is in China RIGHT NOW with her new daughter Neely. They met Neely on Monday, and it sounds like things are going really well. I am very excited for Marcy and her family...she has been a supportive friend and confidant to me over the past two years, and I wish her the very best!