Hotter than a Pepper Sprout

It's really, really hot in southern China in May. The heat index has consistently been averaging 104 fahrenheit. I'm still not thinking metric or celsius, thank you very much...or in yuan as opposed to dollars. I'm sure I'll get to the point when I don't have to really think about how much something REALLY costs when given the price. For instance, when a friend invited me to a benefit event, she mentioned that the cost of the ticket was 350. I was of course thinking "WHAT?? $350???" when actually it was going to cost me U.S.$45 for dinner and a show. I need to work on that...

So, anyway, about the heat. When I walk down the stairs to pick up Andrew, holding Ella, I get to school completely covered in sweat. Today I was pretty sure I was sweating on the inside as well, and I understood how the wicked witch felt when she was melting. I have found it helps to use an umbrella to block the sun - you see more umbrellas on sunny days than on rainy days here. Here's the strange part about the summer heat - the air is actually much cleaner here in summer than in winter. I guess the winds blow in from the ocean in summer, forcing all the icky air and smog and stuff further inland so the skies are clear here. I suppose that since we're on the other side of the world, a few things are bound to be a bit different, eh?

The kids are doing well. Ella is going through a silly stage - she makes faces back and forth with me until we both crack up. She also tries to fart with her armpit because that's what her brothers do. She's a riot. She refuses to wear dresses, of course, and is now also refusing to wear any clothes I pick out. She has to pick them out. Yesterday she was wearing red penguin pajama bottoms with a white and pink sleeveless peasant top. Very nice.

Andrew is very active and is having many playdates with his friends. He's usually covered with dirt and sweat and is out of breath from running around, playing soccer or being silly. Lots of baths here...

Alex is loving school and making some great friends. Summer is going to be lonely here once school gets out - all his friends will be leaving for the summer. We'll have to make it fun.

I went to Hong Kong the other day to shop with my friend Marcie. We went to Toys R Us, which was really a treat. You can't really buy nice toys in China, and Wal-Mart has a tiny toy selection of really cheap toys or else a few really expensive imported toys (WAAY overpriced barbies, for example). Hong Kong, however, has Toys R Us. I had a ball there and picked up a toy for each kid. I also hit the ESPRIT outlet store which has clothes for everybody, not just teeny-boppers like in the U.S. There are all sorts of outlet stores hidden around Hong Kong where you can get great bargains. I took Marcie to the Hard Rock Cafe where she had FOUR refills of her root beer...guess what else you can't get in China!! She also kept me entertained with stories about growing up Mormon in Texas. She loved the food - had their awesome bbq pork sandwich, and some baked beans we were both fighting over. I had a big, greasy bacon cheeseburger with fries and a load of ketchup. It was a beautiful little slice of normal for us.

Riding the subway was a challenge with big shopping bags, a stroller, and an obstinate 2-year-old who didn't WANT to ride in the stroller. Another challenge was when it poured and we got completely soaked with our babies...not fun. I bought a big, giant Hard Rock Cafe umbrella, only to find I couldn't fit walking down the street with all the other people - the umbrella took up too much space! So, we got really, really wet. All in all we had a nice, normal day. You don't have any idea how precious normal is until you live in China or someplace else where nothing is really normal.

It's the rainy season here so we can expect torrential downpours many days. It's nice, though - it cools things off!

A Clearer, More Sparkly Hong Kong

OK, here are some much better pictures of Hong Kong, thanks to my mom's trip here last fall. They capture what I always talk about - the view from the Peak is first - you're looking down on huge skyscrapers. Next is a typical boat you see in the harbor. And last is the view of Hong Kong from the harbor, which is just so cool. Yay! Thanks, Mom!

We had a really rainy weekend in Hong Kong yesterday and today. But I thought I'd show you a bit of it. The first picture is of Ella because she's so darn cute - no, my house isn't usually that messy!! The next few pictures are inside a Disneyland subway car - it's a special line of the MTR that's exclusive to Hong Kong Disneyalnd. it's so cool!The last picture is a bit gray but you can just make out the buildings jutting up from Hong Kong Island beyond all the boats; it's a pretty typical picture of what we see from the ferry. It's breathtaking when it's clear and sunny I'll take pictures next time I remember my camera and it's sunny (probably won't be for a while...)

I finished my first "Survivial Mandarin" class today. It was a fun class. The teacher was fresh and always very prepared, and she had many interesting and varied activities for us to learn with. Today she looked so proud and was taking pictures - I asked if we were her first class, and it turns out that we were!

And a one, and a two...

Well, Tim came home on Mother's Day, which was a really great Mother's Day present for everybody. He's recuperating well and getting his bandage cleaned and changed daily by the doctor at the SOS clinic. It turns out it was a staph infection, so I'm really glad we caught it when we did, and that the antibiotics worked their magic.

Did you know Mother's Day is celebrate all over the world? It is sometimes on a different day, depending on the country, but I do know that China, Hong Kong and Peru all celebrate it the same day we do in the United States! My friend Patty had a big international potluck on Mother's Day - somehow the moms all did the cooking, however. But we all had a really nice time, and the highlight for me was definetly when Tim got dropped off at Patty's door when our dear friend Daniel brought him home from Hong Kong. We had a great time.

Speaking of Mothers, I am so sorry to inform you all that my mom and her husband won't be coming next week, as we've been eagerly anticipating. Wayne is holed up in a hospital with a nasty case of pneumonia and it looks like he'll have a long recovery before any sane doctor lets him visit China. Very, very sad - I've been having a hard time with this one. I've been very worried about his health, and I've also had to realize that their visit was making every adjustment easier. It was like I just wasn't having that tough a transition, really, because I knew my mom was coming in May. Now that she's not coming, it all is hitting me like a ton of bricks, the loneliness, the homesickness, and the missing my friends so very much. Builds character, I am sure. I'm just going to have to start dancing, I suppose.

Keep on Dancing

I was talking with my friend Paty today. Paty was the first person we met here, on our first walk around the neighborhood. She has given me many words of wisdom and she has made me laugh very hard many times, as well. I respect, admire and really like her.

Today we were talking about challenges in life and she told me a very cool story. Someone once said that depression and troubles are like standing in a hole, digging. If you stay there and keep digging, you're going to get deeper and deeper and soil is going to start falling in on you. But if you start dancing on that soil, you're eventually going to have something solid to stand on again, and eventually you'll end up back on top. Since you're dancing on that soil it's going to be even more solid that where you started.

My Left Foot

Well, Tim's left foot, actually...

I'm sitting in a hospital in Hong Kong waiting for Tim to get out of surgery. This past weekend he developed an infection in the top of his foot. His foot was double the size it usually is (if you know Tim, you know that's really, really big) and red and purple. It looked awful. So, Monday morning he went down to the International SOS Clinic, which is in our neighborhood. The clinic is staffed by English-speaking doctors and nurses and is managed by an American. They are kind, prompt, and so far have been very helpful to us.

The doctor took one look at his foot and sent him to Hong Kong, to Matilda Hospital. Matilda Hospital is located on the Peak of Hong Kong and overlooks the harbor. The private room Tim is staying in has a balcony with lounge chairs and excellent room service. It's really, really nice. The staff are knowledgeable, helpful, and conservative considering we live in China. Rather than sending him away with an oral antibiotic, they admitted him for intraveneous antibiotics to make sure the infection gets kicked out. Lucky for us they did that, because the first antibiotic stopped working on Tuesday night. His foot got worse after getting better. The wise doctor changed the antibiotic, and as of last evening his foot seems to be on the mend. Right now they are draining the infection surgically, and they had to put him under for that.

I came here to visit him on Tuesday for a few hours, too. In order to get to Hong Kong, which we can see from our kitchen window, it takes about 1 1/2 hours and a bit of hassle. We usually take a ferry from Shenzhen - the ferry station is within walking distance from our house. We have to go through China customs on our way out, before we can get on the boat. The trip across the water takes about an hour, and on the way you see many, many boats and cargo ships and ferries. It's very exciting - everywhere you look are small and huge boats loaded up with containers. Hong Kong is the second largest port in the world, and with China being a manufacturing giant, there are unimaginable quanitites of stuff going to and from each day. Once in a while we'll see one of the mega-huge container ships that seem to stretch out a mile long. The ferry usually does a bit of rocking afer going past one of those! Many cranes to load and unload, and smaller ships that have just 15 or so containers on them are all around on the water, too.

Once in Hong Kong, you go through Hong Kong customs and down the ferry station escalators to the taxi stand. If your taxi driver doesn't speak English, as mine didn't today, you need to call someone who can tell them where you're going in Cantonese. I had to call Tim, who had to call a nurse, to talk to the taxi driver today.

This evening when I return to China, I'll go through customs in Hong Kong again, and again when I reach China.

While Shenzhen and Hong Kong are really very close to each other, they certainly seem to be a world apart. When Tim and I were talking this afternoon, he said that just an hour away seems like a whole lot more considering the differences and the process to get there. And the fact that your love is on the other side of that hour and half. The kids and I can't wait for him to come home.

Hopefully he'll be coming back to the room soon and I'll get a good report. Keep him in your prayers!

Tip to Toes

Due to a major language barrier and dim lighting, last week my hair got bleached blonde and stripped of any nice color or resemblance of health. I am very upset by this, and have been told by a professional there is nothing - at all - I can do. I feel like Courtney Love. Enough said. Next time, if I ever get hair again, I'm going to Hong Kong, where it's expensive but they understand the word "RED" does not mean "BLONDE." Yikes.

On a more positive note, I had my first Chinese foot massage today and I don't think I'll ever be the same. In China, a foot massage is so much more. You start with your feet soaking (up to your knees) in hot water that has milk and rose petals in it (or seaweed, or menthol, and I think there are other choices). While you soak you get a major back, neck, shoulder, arm and hand massage - they hit pressure points that release all sorts of pain and tension, they stretch you and pound on you until you feel like you could never be stressed again, even if your hair looks like it's been deep-fried at Dollywood and served on a stick.

Then, you sit back in a comfy chair and they work on your feet. They really, really work on your feet - pressure points to release any tension you may have held in your body since childhood. Every tiny bit of your feet is pulled, pushed and roughed up until it surrenders. It's amazing, truly. They work up your calves to your knees, kneading and smacking the tar out of any sore spots. It's the most relaxing thing because all that pounding makes the stress, tension and soreness just melt away. I truly recommend anyone who gets anywhere near China, come to Shenzhen for a foot massage!

Here are the kids on Easter Sunday.


Here are a few pictures of the kids and our neighborhood. The park below is sort of typical of China in that you'll notice there is a slide but no ladder...it's been like that since we moved in. Sort of makes no sense, eh? Below it is a photo of the Park N Shop, where we walk to get most of our groceries.

This week is the May Day Labor Day holiday in China (and other communist countries, apparently). It's a big deal - most schools are closed for the week, although since the holiday is officially Tuesday - Thursday, they go to school Saturday and Sunday so they get the whole week off. Tim's company is closed for the week, except for Monday. The kids' school is only closed Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. We had originally planned to travel to Macau for the break, but we heard that all of China will be traveling and vacationing, so we'd best not go there. Then we thought we'd go to Beijing for the week, but, same thing, just tons and tons of crowds, even moreso than usual. So, we're staying home and hanging out here. It will actually be nice, I think.

Today was Andrew's birthday, he turned 5. Amazing, I remember quite vividly the events that led up to his early birth, as I'm sure anybody who knew me then remembers. Lucky us, how blessed are we to have that little boy around! He's so funny.

I made him a racecar cake, as I have done for his past 3 birthdays (thanks, Mom, for sending the pan!). I made it Friday and planned to decorate it for the party on Saturday. Saturday afternoon rolled around - I waiting as long as possible to decorate it because the humidity melts icing - and I realized the cake wasn't cooked all the way through, all gooey and such in the middle. So, stressing like only I can, I baked another cake, waited patiently for it to cool (well, kind of patiently) and decorated it about 1 hour before the party. Since it took 1 1/2 hours to decorate, I was still scrambling when everyone got here. Bummer. My cheesecake was also subpar, which was disappointing and embarrassing because I truly am the Queen of the Cheesecake. Ah, well, Andrew had a nice party and it was really nice to spend time with our friends. The pizza was good - they have Papa John's here which taste pretty much the same as it does back home. Except they also deliver salad and the Ranch dressing tastes like nothing but plastic with some pepper in it. It's strange, nasty and scary. But, I digress...

Today I went to the Protestant service with the boys and really enjoyed it. I met some more very nice people, saw some people I already knew, which was very nice, and felt "spoken to" during the message. In all, it was a refreshing, grounding experience and I felt blessed to be there.

This past Friday I went to the neighborhood pool with the boys (they didn't have school Friday because they really never have school, now, do they?). On the way down I had this feeling of deja vu, only it was us heading to our neighborhood pool in Knoxville. It was really lonely to realize that I would, indeed, not be running into my friends Carolyn, Mary, Heidy and Barb and their lovely kids at the pool, I would just be running into a bunch of people I don't know so well and their kids. It was a very lonely moment for me and I felt so homesick for my neighbors and friends. I miss you, pals!! And your lovely children! The really nice thing was, though, that I did run into some new friends I had met before through my wonderful neighbor. They hung out with me and made me feel quite welcome and included. It was very enjoyable. The sad thing is, they're both moving back to the States this summer. I am going to have to get used to the incredibly temporary situation everyone is in here and not guard my heart too closely. I'm going to have to be open to friends who may not live near me for very long but who very well may stay in my heart and in my life even after we return to our respective homes.

Lily's Wedding

We were invited to a Chinese wedding party this Sunday. When a Chinese couple gets married, the actual marriage takes place at a government office with just the bride and groom attending. It has to be on a good day according to the lunar calendar. The party, too, has to be on a good day according to that calendar (not the Gregorian calendar). One of Tim's coworkers who was there said she got married but they didn't have the party until over a year later because the year in between wasn't a good year to get married.

The party was in a city north of Shenzhen, and has a much smaller foreign population - we received many stares from people in other vehicles.

When you walk into the venue, the bride is there to greet you (she had on a beautiful white dress, gloves and veil) along with a few friends/relatives who carried silver trays. The trays were for little red envelopes, the traditional gift of choice for weddings (filled with cash, of course). Then we walked into the party room where tables were set with red cloths, bowls of peanuts and candy, and two packs of cigarettes on each table.

We found a table and sat down, and were served tea even though we were the first ones there. We relaxed and listened to various songs such as "auld lang syne", "Happy Birthday", and some traditional Chinese music. People began arriving and finding a seat. Finally the bridal procession entered - a wedding cake (very small) on a cart, followed by a wedding performer/MC guy, then the bride and groom, and then some friends with big Chinese crackers that shot out confetti and streamers with a bang. The groom then picked up the bride and paraded her around the room so each table could get a good look at her. They walked up to a platform where speeches were given - in this case, by each of their bosses. Since they are both from different towns, they had already had two parties in each of those towns with their relatives. After speeches and some jokes and nice words from the MC guy (who would normally, I believe, be a friend of the couple), they had a ring ceremony. I suppose I don't need to add that I had no idea what any of the speakers was saying, except for Lily's American boss. The woman next to me explained that it was mostly about how they met and about them as a couple.

Then they cut the heart-shaped cake in half but did not eat any. After that they had champagne in two cups that were tied together with a red ribbon, and poured some champagne into a cup on top of a tower of cups. The MC guy poured that cup into two cups underneath it and they each drank from one of those.

After that, the bride left to change into a beautiful reddish tulle dress - sort of a vermillion color, I guess. It was gorgeous and she looked like a princess. So much so that Ella was terrified of her because she is terrified of any Disney character including Alice in Wonderland and the Princesses. But, I digress.

Chinese meals are served family-style, with a big lazy susan in the middle of the table, and you just grabe what you want with the chopsticks for each dish and put it on your plate. We had a delicious meal of broth soup, fish balls with oysters, mushroom and braised lettuce leaves in gravy, stewed ginger chicken, shrimp (which the Chinese eat whole - head and shell and all, then they spit out the shells), grilled pork (usually sliced, with a lot of fat and skin around very tender meat), cashew chicken (which was REALLY good), fried rice, and whole grilled fish. The other people at the table looked at me funny when I peeled my shrimp and took off the head with my chopsticks - the woman next to me even showed me how to just pop the whole thing in....ummmmm, no thanks. I also didn't try the fish balls because I had a hard time with the smell, but everything else was really, really good. The kids even ate really well. While we ate, the bride and groom visited each table for a toast and a welcome.

Then they served a plate of sweets - little egg custard tarts, which Alex loved, and these sticky rice pastries filled with sweet black sesame seed paste. These were really, really really good! After that came the usual dessert of a huge tray of cut fresh fruit. It was really good - we had star fruit, apples, oranges, melon, watermelon, and grapes.

After that, it was done and we headed back to Shenzhen and a very light supper because we were still so full!

In case you're wondering what Americans can eat in China, here's a rundown of our normal meals:

hamburgers, french fries and baked beans
spaghetti, sauce and meat balls
chicken nuggets and green beans
baked fish, broccoli and rice
Fillippino pork stew (menudo) and rice
Ham, mashed potatoes, beans and salad
pork chops
pizza, pizza, pizza
salad (usually only at restaurants, it's hard to find salad in the store)

There is a wonderful butcher shop nearby where we get all the normal meats we're used to, and with the import stores and wonderfully fresh produce at the corner shop, we can eat fairly similarly to the way we used to. It's pretty cool, because everything is pretty fresh as far as meat and produce goes. We had eggs and toast tonight (the corner shop DOES refrigerate their eggs, probably thanks to the heavy expat population here, yay).

There are some pretty cool perks that come along with living here, too, besides the obvious one of domestic help. Because the only kids' channel we could get was Cartoon Network, and now we can't even get that, the kids just don't watch tv or want to. They play together inside sometimes and outside as often as they can, riding scooters and bikes or drawing with chalk or playing at the playground. It's amazing to watch them fill up their time with good, old-fashioned activities that involve moving your body! We spend more time together as a family, which I had been told ahead of time by dear friends would happen, and we're enjoying each others' company much more.

Everybody delivers, even McDonald's and Subway, though we don't frequent those places often at all. The other restaurants deliver, and nobody expects a tip. Cool! They ride up here on bikes with our food, piping hot and ready to eat. I don't know how they keep the soup that hot for that long. I also found out that STARBUCK'S DELIVERS. Whoooppee! Even though, as I previously mentioned, they don't carry their fantastic cream cheese danishes, pumpkin muffins or strawberries and cream frappuccino. Somebody out there (Marlena?), please have one for me and think about me because I miss those!

So, while we can get Chinese food if we wanted to (and just about any other nationality of food!), and the kids COULD watch Chinese TV, they and we don't. There are some pretty neat things about living in China I hadn't even thought of ahead of time.

Dirty eggs and Other Chinese Stuff

Some funny stuff, some sad stuff, and some meaningful stuff:

1. Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday - We went to an egg hunt/Easter Party Sunday morning in our neighborhood. After walking down to the front of the neighborhood, then following the directions of various security guards, we eneded up at the bottom of the 188 steps behind our back door. There was pizza (at 9 a.m.!) and a bunch of other food. And an egg hunt, which consisted of eggs that were buried in the ground (the dirt) that kids were trying to dig up with sticks or whatever tools they could find, like broken pottery shards. If you were lucky enough to find an egg (few were!), and if there was a piece of cardboard inside your egg, you got a prize. If not, tough luck and keep digging in the dirt. It was the strangest, silliest egg hunt I've ever seen, and we had a good laugh about it.

That afternoon, Andrew had a birthday party (yeah, on Easter Sunday) and Alex and I went to the Catholic church. I felt a little lost, enough said.

2. Last evening we went to a Gala at the school to benefit students in Guizhou Province, which is a very poor, rural province in northern China. The children there didn't even have a bathroom, just a ditch. The building was a shack with big spaces between the roof boards (so, no roof, really). Desks were primitive wooden tables with a bunch of kids crowded around each one. It's very cold there and the children were without warm clothing. And the drinking water came from a ditch - it looked pretty green and gross. Last year's Gala resulted in a bathroom, 6 water cisterns for drinking water, a school building, desks, supplies, warm clothes, hats and mittens, and pigs for many families to raise. It was heartbreaking to watch the presentation of before and after, and even the "after" would be considered sad in the U.S. It was heartwarming at the same time, to see the difference in these childrens' and their families' lives. The really nice thing was, all the work, such as building the desks, was done by people in the town there, so the money went to the community in addition to providing the school facility to the children. We had a nice time, spent as much money as we could on a few auction items, and met so many wonderful people. We met some people from Wisconsin, even, and had a great time talking about "home." We did bid on a "win" a digital camera, so I'll be taking pictures this week of Resort Land and our house and the kids for all of you who are asking : )

3. Church today was a completely different scene from the last time I attended the Protestant service. This morning, we all went and had a very uplifting, moving, spiritual worship experience. It was really fantastic, and I felt so at home. All the Wisconsin folks we had met last night were there, along with a mix of Christians from all ends of the earth. The music was inspiring, the message was solid, thought-provoking, and challenging (in a good way), and the kids had fun in Sunday School. It was the thing I've been so missing since coming to China, and I'm so glad we went back for another chance. I feel like a hole inside me has been filled.

4. This afternoon we all headed down to the pool where Alex beat me severely in a water gun fight (that I started) and we all had a nice time on a hot afternoon. Even Ella got to go swimming, which she loved as long as she could hang onto Daddy. Tim is out starting the grill two hours before we plan to eat because Chinese charcoal is much more difficult and fussy than U.S. briquets. There is no lighter fluid, either, just these wierd little pills, about 3 cm around and 2 cm tall that stay really hot and help the charcoal get fired up. It takes forever to get a fire going, and we've had some really late dinners because of this. Also, the grills don't have covers so the food takes much longer to cook.

5. And yet, aren't we so very lucky and blessed to have what we have!

(Sesame St. Voiceover) Cookies! Um num num num num....

Tonight I had this great idea to give everyone a taste of home and comfort: chocolate chip cookies! Sounds easy enough, right? Riiiiight.

First off, you have to buy flour, baking powder, soda and brown sugar at the import store - they just don't bake here. Could be because nobody has an oven, I don't know. But I luckily had all the ingredients I needed on hand, even real butter (from Fraaaance). I even had my friend the Monster Mixer on the counter. Sadly, we couldn't find a way to make the mixer work because it's a 3-prong 110 Watt machine. Our converter to 220 watts only works with two-prong plugs. So, Tim got a nice workout mixing the ingredients for me.

About halfway through (too late to turn back) I realized the movers had never packed a single cookie sheet, even though I had clearly marked them "TO CHINA." Nor did they pack any of my cake pans, to go with the 16 cake mixes they DID pack, but that's another story for another time. So, I took a sheet of foil, greased it up and stuck it to the broiler pan. I also used a 9 x 13 pan for the rest of the cookies. I'm starting to believe that the bulk of creativity comes from desperation.

We used up our chocolate chip stash, and I have yet to see chocolate chips anywhere, even at the import stores. Very sad, indeed. Please don't send us any because it's really hot here and we'd end up with a giant chocolate lump. Eeuuu.

My oven, which I am incredibly lucky to have here in China, is a strange bird. Most ovens here are those teeny little half-size European jobs. Mine is full-size, but there is no window, so you have to open the oven to see what's going on, letting out most of the heat. In this case, however, that's a good thing, because regardless of what the temperature gauge says, this baby just keeps getting hotter and hotter and hotter. Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise that the cake pans never arrived. Perhaps they were afraid.

Anywho, we finally got them mixed and baked and put them to cool (for about 3 seconds). We all had a little bedtime snack (because it was bedtime by the time I finished). And you know, they did taste like home and they were some of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.

Happy Palm Sunday

Yesterday we were invited to return to Hong Kong and spend the day with some associates of Tim. They met us at the ferry station and took us to a space museum (we all thought of you, Ariel!), the Avenue of the Stars (sort of like in Hollywood, but with Chinese stars), then we took the tram up to the Peak. The Peak is my favorite place to be. It looks way down on all the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and the harbor with all the ships and boats. It's a beautiful place to be during the day, and breathtaking at night. We had a wonderful dinner there and were right in front of the live music. Ella kept flirting with the singer and keyboard player, and they played a few songs for her to enjoy, like Sesame Street in a jazzed-up version and another jazzy kids' tune. It was really fun and I think they had a ball because she was so sweet and dancing and pointing and laughing with them.

We returned on the early afternoon ferry in time for me to check out the Catholic church that meets here at the school. I'm not Catholic, so communion was a big bummer, as Catholics don't let you take communion there if you're not Catholic. But, the liturgy was relatively familiar and the choir was outstanding. It was, again, a very international service. The priest, I believe, is French. The deacon is Irish, and the congregation is quite varied. I was once again struck by the worldwide fellowship of believers.

I cried all the way home. I really, really miss my church, and my support network and the fellowship I was so blessed to find there. I miss my pastor very much and my friends and people who worship like I do and who know me. This is Holy Week, and if I were in the U.S. I would be able to find a service Thursday night, Friday night and a sunrise Easter service. No such luck here; we are apparently lucky to get the part-time clergy we do get here. The Passion truly stirs me - it is a good thing to hear the story again and again. I will so very much miss it this week. Sunday will be church again, but there will not be a sunrise service, which I just love, with the trumpet blasting out "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" and people singing. I'm homesick.

I guess Sundays are going to be hard for a while no matter what.

We had a surprise this afternoon, too. Our shipment of all our things from home was to arrive tomorrow morning (Monday.) However, they apparently wanted to get it out of the way so they brought it tonight at 7:30. Who on earth delivers stuff on a Sunday night?? It was really fun trying to get the kids to bed and also to make them sleep once again in the guest bed because their beds weren't put together yet. Many tears and frustration from my poor 4-year-old. I now sit surounded by boxes upon boxes and more boxes. Tomorrow should be a fun day.

I'm thinking that since it's near midnight, perhaps I'll go to bed. It seems a shame with all the unpacking left to do, but I think I'm done for the night.

Leisure Time

This week is Spring Break for the kids. I know, I know, you're asking "do these kids EVER go to school??" The answer is, well, sometimes. There are many Chinese holidays, and the International School celebrates them as well as the American ones. They do have a long school year, beginning in mid-August and going until mid-June.

Yesterday was play-day for the kids. They played all day with their friend from down the street. I took them swimming for a while, and the pool was completely empty. Our little friend (from Canada) said it's because it's winter. Winter! Ha! Ha ha ha ha HAH! It was hot and muggy and a swim was just what they needed. I like this kind of winter!

We went to the park again this afternoon. It's so easy to just walk on down and play and let the kids let off steam. I believe I only walked DOWN the stairs once today, and we took a golf cart back up. Yikes! I'm going to get out of shape this week without school forcing me to StairMaster. My sister in law asked me who needs a StairMaster when you can be Master of the Stairs! She's not kidding! I do miss my tae kwon do class, though, and could use a little punching and yelling and kicking. I found one class here but it would be myself and a bunch of elementary school kids kicking my tookus around the mats. No, thanks. I guess I'll have to take up tai chi, but it doesn't seem nearly as fun.

At noon we met Tim at his office and went out to eat with his coworkers. I was nervous about the kids eating because we went to a Chinese restaurant (well, duh!) but they really did great, trying stuff and liking some of it very much. It was delicious! One of the best Chinese meals we've had here. We had stewed chicken with ginger; spicy beef with bean sprouts; bok choy; fried rice; eggs with ham, peppers and onion; noodles with broth and vegetables; tofu with sausage; scallops on the shell with garlic; deep-fried ribs; herb soup; and orange slices. We also had a really nice time with Tim's coworkers.

Afterwards, I met with his office manager to work on putting together a Conversational English and American Culture class for any employees who wish to take it. They are very interested in getting English practice and learning about American culture. This seems like a really big job with American culture being as varied as it is. I'm really looking forward to working with them and finding little tidbits to add to the class.

It's been really nice, having this extra family time together to make our transition easier. We're hoping to fill the kids' hearts with many sweet memories to go along with their "I can't BELIEVE you did this to us!" memories of beginning our life here. So, tomorrow we head to Hong Kong Disneyland for more together-time. The ferry, the subway, the Buzz Lightyear - what a wonderful way to spend Wednesday together!

I do have a quick favor for you, readers. Please, right now, say a quick prayer for Katie's pain to ease and for comfort for her and her family. Thanks!

Zai jian!

Not exciting, but normal!

We had a pretty good weekend - a NORMAL weekend. Although we really, really miss watching Monk and Psyche on Friday nights, we made it through the evening without our shows.

Saturday morning we had a relatively lazy morning; we then went ice skating at a shopping mall. It's a really nice mall with a big atrium area where you can ice skate. Our friends' daughter takes lessons there so we met them, then had some lunch at the Spaghetti House (the lasagne tasted a tad funky, but the pizza is wonderful). Then the boys and I went skating while Tim took Ella with him to get a haircut. We had a blast, and it was so normal, so peaceful to just skate around and not have to worry about communicating with anyone or not being able to get my point across. It felt great.

Then we went home and spent the afternoon playing with the next-door neighbors, who invited us over for pizza that evening. We had a nice, relaxing evening having pizza and conversation with other Americans. Got some nice tips for living here and getting stuff, like the milk delivery everyone gets twice a week. Sweet deal! You can only buy milk in the little skinny cartons, and we go through several of these a week. Apparently there's a guy who will deliver as much milk as you need, as many times a week as you ask him to.

This morning Tim went golfing, which I'm sure felt great for him. For me, it was nice and normal because the ayis all have Sundays off, so it was just the kids and I. We found the church, and I was able to sing some of my favorite praise songs then I got the boys off to Sunday school. Church was mainly Asians and other foreigners - it was interesting to realize how Christianity touches such a vast number of people. I guess I never much thought about it before, but it could have been a Sunday morning anywhere in the world, and it felt so familiar and good to worship with other people.

After church we had lunch at home then headed to the playground for the afternoon. Up and down the stairs a lot, again. We had some downtime when Tim got home, then tonight we were invited out to meet our Peruvian and Irish and Brazilian and Canadian and American friends and eat outside while the kids played in the big plaza/courtyard area. It was a lot of fun. The kids are tired, and I felt like I could talk to anybody I needed to, all weekend. Refreshing!

Tomorrow I start my Mandarin lessons - can't wait!

If Only I'd Have Known

Our things should be arriving via the ocean in a few weeks. I definetly WON'T be needing the treadmill, and I wish I would have known that ahead of time.

Here are some other things I wish I would have known ahead of time:

You can't buy deodorant in China.
You can't buy good ice cream in China.
You can't buy English-language books in China. Right now even a trashy novel would be refreshing.
You can't buy toddler beds in China.
You can't return stuff to stores in China.
Starbucks doesn't carry their strawberries & cream frappuccino in China. Or any of the good pastries.
You really do need sunscreen in southern China in March. And shorts and tank tops and sandals.
"Skinny" jeans should not be thrown away in moments of despair.
Clothes are made for people thinner and taller than we (my family) are - even kids' clothes.
You really do need to learn to speak or at least understand Mandarin in China - English isn't going to cut it in everyday life.

Stuff I'm glad I found out:

You CAN buy good cosmetics in Hong Kong, and my favorite hair products are available in China.

The world is much smaller than you may think it is.

There are good, kind and friendly people everywhere.

My mom is still the best mom in the world, even half a world away.

I have some really, really good friends.

Wal-mart: We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto

Well, going to Wal-Mart is really a trip here in China. It's so different. When you go in, there are these little tiny shopping carts and you ride up a sort of slanted moving sidewalk - not an escalator because there are no stairs (because of the carts). These conveyor belts are magnetized so the carts stick, and they take you upstairs to the non-food floor. I tried to buy a little TV for our ayi's room but since nobody speaks English, I had a tough time finding what I needed. I also checked out a stroller for my friend, but all the strollers were chained to a high shelf so you could SEE them, but not check them out physically without asking for help. Tough to ask for help when you don't speak Mandarin. No stroller and no TV later, I headed to the little boys' clothing where I tried to find some pants for Andrew. All the sizes here are in centimeters, not the good old 2-4-5/6, etc. Most of the boys' pants had this weird Harry Potter logo sewn all over them and weird embroidery designs. No just plain old khakis or jeans, except one normal jeans style. So I finally figured out what size he should wear and, lo and behold, there are completely out of his size in the normal jeans. I found one pair of the right size but they were SEWN onto the display rack, so again, I had to get help. The woman acted like she was going to get help or ask if she could remove the sewn-on display, but she never came back. No TV, no stroller, no pants.

Down to the food section on the sticky, stinky escalator-mabob. Many stares and pointing along the way : )

Any meat products or produce needs to be weighed at a different station and you get a sticker for what you bought on the bag. If you don't get them weighed at the right station, you can't check out. Period. Since I assume they were telling me I had to go to a different weigh station for my bananas when I got my rice balls weighed, I spent a lot of time wandering around the meat and produce sections.

By the way, they don't refrigerate the eggs in China. Creeps me out. They also have the chicken eggs, which are usually dirty, right by the duck eggs, quail eggs, and various other fowl eggs. Sittin' on a shelf, waiting for bird flu or salmonella or whatever.

Well, I finally got a cartful of goodies and headed to checkout. I always attract an audience, especially when I'm trying to ask for help. The woman didn't want to accept my card, but she finally went over to a different register and came back with a receipt for me to sign. When I signed it, she looked at it for a LOOOOOOONG time before handing my card and receipt back.

Finally got out of there, without the chicken nuggets or frozen pizza. No such luck finding those things in China. I can get them, as well as Haagen Dasz and Ben N Jerry's in Hong Kong, but since it takes a long time to get to and from Hong Kong, all I can do is dream about frozen pizza and chicken nuggets and yummy ice cream.

I know, I know, I'm lucky as can be that I can afford to buy food to feed my family, and some import items that make us feel normal. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm lucky as can be.

I used to hate going to Wal-Mart. I was a Target Girl. But now, I am starting to really miss Wal-Martin' in the U.S.A.

I hope you can read this!

My whole blog turned Chinese when I signed on tonight! Yikes, I guess they know my computer's here now. Well, just so you know, starting Monday morning I did feel much better, and I really do appreciate the encouraging e-mails and blog comments from my friends. I miss you all very much. I guess Sundays will be hard for a while, and I also guess I really need to stick around on Sundays and go to the church that's right in my neighborhood. I think just plugging myself in will be helpful for me, emotionally, spiritually, and physically (because I have to walk down the hill...) : )

This past week went mostly well. I get a LOT of exercise going up and down the hill several times a day to pick up boys for lunch at different times, and drop them off at school, then pick them up again. After I drop them off in the afternoons, I usually head over to the market for the day's groceries. I then head back up the steep, long hill to my house. I could, of course, take a golf cart up the hill once in my neighborhood, but each time the security guard looks at me, it's almost like a dare. I know he's expecting me to ask for a golf cart, so....I DON'T. I trudge on up with my two sacks of groceries and I tell myself I will soon have the most lovely thighs I've ever had. WHEW.

Andrew is having a tough time adjusting to his new school. He and his old teacher really clicked, and there was a lot of love in that class. In this class, his teacher is fine but she doesn't know him yet, doesn't know how sweet and smart and funny he is. So, each day he's been crying about going back to school. I'm hoping that things will get easier for my baby.

We hired an ayi this past Monday. Ayi means "auntie" in Chinese - and it sounds nicer than "maid." She cleans the house and she also takes care of the kids if I need her to (but I usually don't). It's been very different having somebody live here, and having somebody clean up after us and do our laundry. Awkward and strange, but I think I can get used to it (can you say SPOILED??)

I think that helped a lot, too, having somebody around to help out, especially if Tim has a late night. I can really concentrate on having quality time with my kids instead of always having to clean something up or do laundry. I do the cooking still, because I know what my family likes to eat, and I like to cook.

This past weekend we took a ferry to Hong Kong and then a subway to Disneyland. The subway line that goes to Hong Kong is so cool - the windows are mouse-shaped and the seats are plush and curved; the handles you hold onto if you're standing are mouse ears and hang from red suspender straps. The floor has sparklies in it, and there are Disney statues throughout the train cars. We had such a fun day - we all rode the carousel together, and Buzz Lightyear, plus just had a ball together. We then met our dear friends for an evening in Hong Kong and shopping the following day. Had a great time, and got home very late. We do love Hong Kong, and we do love our friends who live there. I think, though, that we're going to STAY HOME next weekend and have some restful time together.

So, things are looking up. My mom and Wayne have plane tickets to come - yippee!! Thanks for checking up on us.

Today's not such a good day in resort land. I miss my mom so much it hurts to breathe sometimes, and I'm wondering just what I was thinking when I thought this would be a good idea. It's Sunday night here, and Sunday night has always been our night to have dinner with mom and Wayne and just be together before the week starts. It's Sunday morning there, and she's on her way to church. I miss my church, I miss my friends, I miss my kids' preschool, I miss my house. I miss my life. I hope I can be happy here.