Unjetlagged

FINALLY slept a normal night's sleep last night - yippee! It's a little difficult to function when you want to sleep all day and can't sleep at all at night because it's SUPPOSED to be day! Even the kids slept all night. It's a good thing.

Can I mention how absolutely refreshing it is to be able to buy things and not have to multiply by 7 to figure out how much they "really" cost in U.S. dollars?
And how wonderful it is to have cars stop for you if you're crossing the street or in a parking lot, rather than aiming for you and speeding up?
And how great this country is, that everybody actually lines up in an orderly fashion and doesn't shove in front of you then invite their 14 relatives and friends to join them?
And how nice it is to go the store and know what everything is, how much it costs, and be able to ask questions about it?
And to understand what sizes I wear in clothing and shoes and know they'll pretty much fit me?
The food here is fabulous - at least at my favorite restaurants.
Drive-thru windows are a luxury - did you know THAT?
People generally follow the rules on the road - no big giant games of "chicken" here.
It's nice to walk down the street and not have to watch where I step for fear of "snot-rockets", trash and food debris, for the most part?
About those snot rockets - it's also nice to be in public and not hear all the hawking and spitting and nose-clearing-out that is perfectly normal in China.
Having a phone book and being able to use it!!

It's good to be home for a while.

Irony

Would you believe I sort of didn't want to come home? I have made some super-special friends in China and our time together is limited by the fact that we're mostly there for just a few years. How funny compared to last summer when I was so miserable and lonely...it's a good feeling.

It's lovely to be in the U.S. - yesterday I went to my church and was welcomed by my big Faith family there. And then we went to my favorite pizza place, then to visit some very, very dear friends to just hang with them. Dinner with my mom and her husband last night...it really is nice here.

However, here are some things I did NOT miss while in China:
Pre-presidential election MUD-SLINGING...UGH! It was great to not be in the U.S. for the majority of that junk. Really, it's ridiculous.
Tomato scares
Having to drive everywhere instead of walking...I miss walking my neighborhood! Everything seems so far apart here! So funny...
Cheap stuff like pants from the J. Crew and Ann Taylor factory stores for about $5 each
Cheap manicures, pedicures, massages and hair washes - it's so expensive here!

But, it's nice to be here for a little while. I hope to see everybody this summer at some point if you can! Call me at my mom's - if you don't know her number, just shoot me an e-mail. Thanks for checking up on us!

Update

After a very, very busy end of the school year, and a reeeeeeaaaaalllllllyyyy long trip home, we are in the U.S.

We had programs and parties to attend before leaving, plus going-away parties for our dear friends who will not be returning in the fall. That is the difficult part of expat life - saying goodbye to the wonderful people you meet along the way. We had to say goodbye to some completely lovely people this year. We all know it's part of the culture of an expat community, but this was my first full year and therefore my first goodbye to true, real friends. So sad!!

Then we were all set to return home. The car picked us up in China at 7 Thursday morning and took us across the border and across the big bridge to Hong Kong. We checked in and shoved breakfast down the kids' throats, only to find our flight was delayed. Delayed 7 hours! So we killed a bunch of time in the Hong Kong airport - luckily they have a nice little playground in there. And a great restaurant where we loitered for a really long time over various salads, sandwiches, tea and sodas. Finally got on the plane and flew over the north pole, down to Jersey. Of course since we arrived so late at night, we had to stay a night in Jersey. The people at Continental Airlines were completely fabulous in handling things for us. We got off the plane and were met by customer service reps with room keys for a local hotel plus food vouchers. We were shuttled off to the hotel and headed straight to our rooms. Very nice service. We had a whopping 4 hours to sleep before we had to return to the airport to head home...it was a really long 36 hours of travel. I have to say, my kids totally rock. They were so good and so patient! People around us were amazed they had been traveling for 36 hours by the time we got here. Way to go, little dudes and dude-ette!

So, after discombobulated sleep patterns we are finally here for our first full day in East TN - yippee it's good to be home! Tim and I went for a walk around the neighborhood this morning - not quite the same workout as the hills of our China neighborhood but a nice walk nonetheless. I went to Curves with my mom, where we had another little workout - and we had a nice, normal lunch. So far, so good. I'm going to do my best not to turn into a pufferfish this time home! Wish me luck with that.

Party Photos

Here is everybody SURPRISING me and singing Happy Birthday

And the lovely "40" medallion. Sorry, my eyes are closed. Next to me is my friend Paty from Peru. She is either consoling me for the fact that I have to wear the obnoxious necklace or else admiring it....not sure which.

Some friends, both of whom happen to be from Scotland...guess which one is in the band.

Birthday Week

Last night Tim threw me a surprise birthday party! He'd been planning it for weeks and was really sneaky about it! My dear neighbor made me a cake, another friend helped with invites, and Alex helped him decorate the restaurant. Our dear Hong Kong friends came all the way over to share the evening. This was especially nice because they just had a baby 3 weeks ago, and we spent my actual birthday with them in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
I got to wear a beautiful necklace that said "BEHOLD THE AGELESS WONDER" with the number 40 all over it (it was really obnoxious!) . There were streamers and all sorts of decorations - he really did a it great job.
It was such a lovely surprise!
My multicultural friends sang "Happy Birthday" to me in four different languages - Swedish, German, English and Chinese.
He had an excellent buffet dinner for us including fish and chips from the Irish Pub the party was held at. The party was on the top floor, open-air, upstairs from the bar where my favorite local band plays. So after eating and relaxing and having fun upstairs, we all headed downstairs to dance the night away to the rockin' sounds of "Mind the Gap."

It's the rainy season here so it had been pouring all day - luckily the outdoor room was at least covered. The floor was wet but we were dry. Many people braved pouring rain to come to the party.

Everybody commented about what a great party it was - we all had such a blast! What a fantastic husband I have!

The Whining Zone

And what an...uh, exciting...week it has been! Tim left for the U.S. on Monday and is enroute back home to us right now - he's just flying over Mongolia, it looks like. Let me just say I am so happy I have help in the house, especially at suppertime! Domestic help is not only desired and expected and perfectly normal here, it's also necessary, believe it or not. Everything here gets so much dirtier so much more quickly here - must be due to all the pollution in the air and water, but if my floor is washed one day, it will be black again by the next day, and we don't wear shoes in the house! Even my Chinese friend who moved to the U.S. has commented on how you really don't need help there like you do here because you don't have to clean so much there! You need to spend a LOT more time cleaning in China (that would be a figurative "you"...meaning "Somebody Else"...)
On Tuesday I had a PSA meeting - this coming year I will be on the board for our school's Parent Support Association. Later that afternoon, I had lunch with some friends. During this time I felt sort of yucky...sore throat, a bit of a headache. Well, by mid-afternoon I had a screamin' headache, a really bad sore throat and even my skin hurt - I was really sick! Turns out I had tonsilitis, and it pretty much knocked me down for three days. Again, I am SO GLAD to have domestic help here because with Tim gone that would NOT have been fun...at all. It still wasn't fun...
Then on Thursday I still had to fulfill a cake order for a friend. This friend has ordered 2 cakes from me in the past and both times I had to cancel the day before due to some emergency or another...I couldn't cancel this time! So I got that done...and then slept some more!
Friday morning (I kept thinking I'd feel better "tomorrow" but...) I had another obligation I couldn't cancel - Ella was asked to model again and this time she wanted to. I couldn't cancel on her agent the day of the shoot so we went to that. Luckily it was a pretty short one and we were home in time to take a nice nap together. Still feeling pretty sick...
Saturday morning I FINALLY felt better - yippee! That was such a relief. Especially since domestic helpers have Sundays off and I really wanted to be healthy by today. Thank you, Auntie Biotix!
I was able to take Andrew to soccer...in the rain because it's the rainy season here...and then to his end-of-the-season soccer banquet. We had a nice time together and spent the day hanging around the house, playing and still taking it easy.
Today we made it to church here in the neighborhood. After church the kids were playing on the playground and I noticed Andrew itching away. There are many mosquitoes and horrible little black bugs that bite and ITCH for weeks here. There are also these poison caterpillars that give you a huge, itchy, bumpy red rash that makes you miserable. Guess which bug bit Andrew? Yep, the caterpillar...he was swelling up and bumpy and red and itchy...poor little guy! We got him home on a golf cart, slathered on the calamine lotion and popped a Benadryl into him. He had a little pizza picnic on the couch (way against the rules, usually) and some Cartoon Network. Now he's good as new, just a little pinker than normal thanks to the calamine.

OK, so I know this week will be exciting, too...after all, I will be turning FORTY on Wednesday. How much more exciting can life get than that? Hopefully it will be a healthy week for us, I know we will be so happy to have Tim back home. And in a mere 19 days we will be heading back home for a visit...

Another Disney Weekend

Yesterday we decided to hit Hong Kong for another Disney weekend, just to hang out together as a family. We met our friends that we got to know in Cebu for a few hours at the park. Disneyland Hong Kong has a brand new It's A Small World ride. We went on it twice, and Ella has been singing the Small World song ever since - so cute! They did a great job with this one, and put different Disney charaters into this particular Small World (the only one that uses characters). Lilo and Stitch are in the Islands part - Pocahontas is in the North America part. And the China part is HUGE, showing different parts of China plus the Hong Kong skyline.

When we got to our hotel (The Disneyland Hollywood Hotel - VERY NICE) we were told that we had been chosen to be MOVIE STARS for the day - I was hoping for huge things like leading the parade, maybe a new "movie star" wardrobe...but the perk turned out to be the use of a lovely Toyota van to cart us around to the front door and pick us up at our leisure. That was really nice, actually, to just hop into our a/c van after a HOT day at the park.

We spent the evening at the pool, taking a break only to eat supper in our suits. Goofy came to the pool and actually played in the pool, splashing around with the kids, a few times. It was pretty cool. I don't know what his costume was made of but it did NOT look comfortable. The kids had a ball with him, and Ella was actually brave enough to "high-five" him.

Today we'll be heading to church and then lunch with our dear Hong Kong friends. They just had a baby girl on Mother's Day! It will be our first time seeing them since she was born, though I don't think they'll be bringing her. People here tend to keep kids in the house for the first few months of birth - it's not uncommon to get chewed out in Cantonese or Mandarin for having a baby out in public that looks too young.

Then we'll head back to China for another exciting week of school, work, and play. Probably not as exciting as last week with the Elton John show, but exciting regardless, I'm sure.

Rocket Man

That's right - the photo below is an image of Sir Elton John, who we just saw in concert. In Hong Kong. At night. Morning is approaching awfully quickly but I wanted to post the picture.

He still rocks.

Foot in Mouth Disease

China is lately freaking out over some supposedly super-virulent strain of Hand Food and Mouth Disease - so far I think 34 children have died from it, and it's quite widespread. They closed all the public pools in our city, and even at our school, swimming is being postponed as part of the PE program until the panic calms down.

So this morning Ella started scratching her hand and complaining about itching. I looked and, sure enough, there were a few little blisters there. She also felt feverish and was tired. So, I took her to the doctor right away this morning to get her checked out.

The doctor blames the media for the panic. She also talked about how common this illness is in the States and in Australia, where she's lived and doctored (Australia), and how kids do not die from it there. She said she doesn't know what those children died from but it wasn't hand foot and mouth disease. Her theory is that it's possibly some Chinese herbal remedy gone wrong, or maybe dehydration. She said Ella's case is very mild but to keep her home from school until the blisters go away. When I asked her about the boys she said that, ideally, infected kids should stay away from other kids. She said "Well, I'll tell you to keep them separate, but good luck with that." She figured they're probably already immune to it or else they'll pick it up but she wasn't especially worried. She made me feel so much better! So, now you have the rest of the story about the China Childrens' Virus, at least according to my lovely and talented doctor.

Ella MacPherson

Since there are so few foreign kids here, it isn't uncommon to be approached by a model agent if you have kids. With all the clothing factories here, it's cheaper to shoot a catalog using local kids, pay them a little money, and send out your catalog to prospective buyers. If you fill it with Western-looking kids, the Western stores will buy from you.

Ella has modeled a few times, and Alex has done it once. I have some really nice catalogs with their pictures in. Lately Ella's been saying "NO!" when we get a call so I don't know if she'll do it again. But, the last time she did it it must have been a nice job. There is a huge billboard in the main children's clothing department store here with her on it! Several people have told me about it so today I went to check it out.

Department stores are much different here than in the U.S. They are usually two stories tall, although sometimes many more. There are different vendors that cover only a certain area, and they don't have anything to do with the vendor next to them - they are in direct competition. There is no common accounting system, either. So, if you want to buy something, you agree on a price - haggling is getting less and less productive here - and they write up a "fa piao" or receipt - all in Chinese, of course. For all I know it could say "This stupid foreigner just bought a load of crap for a ton of money. Ha ha ha. Smile nice at her, now." But, I digress. Then you take your piece of paper to a cashier - there are usually several set up around the floor. You pay the cashier, who then gives you more paper, duly chopped, and your change. You bring the new pink piece of paper along with the cash receipt to the vendor, who by now has bagged up your purchase and will hand it to you. It's a whole lotta hassle but that's the way things are done here...the old-fashioned, labor-intensive, paper-heavy way.

Today I couldn't help buy the dress she's wearing in the picture and said (in CHINEEEEEESE) "That's my daughter." They chattered on about how beautiful she was and how she looks like me ("Buy more stuff! Buy more stuff!") and then I left to take pictures of Ella's billboard.

We're fine

There was a big earthquake up in Chengdu recently - a tragedy. We didn't get much news about it but apparently you folks outside China are hearing more. Chengdu is quite far from where we live and we didn't even know about it, so please know we're fine. I don't in any way mean to trivialize what other people are going through in that area. Please keep the victims in your prayers.

Happy Mother's Day to ME...the best gifts...EVER

July, 1999

April 2002

November 2004

Again, Happy Mother's Day to all you moms...

Today we went to Hong Kong for my Mother's Day. Had an excellent church service, with communion and everything! Then we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for my Mother's Day Rockin' Lunch. It was fun and everybody ate well...it was nice to be back there. They have this pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw and baked beans....aaaaaahhhhh, it's a little slice of American paradise right smack dab in Asia. Very nice.

Did some shopping and picked up Tim's beautiful new suits. Took a cab home and had a quiet evening here. Great Mother's Day!

This morning we took a ferry to get there - they have started using these little old ferries that they normally use for the airport to go to the part of Hong Kong where our church is...last I heard, they were going to cancel our Sunday ferry altogether, so I was glad to have a ride to church! Well, this particular ferry had an interesting bathroom. I am sure you've heard of Asia's famous "squatty potties" which are basically a hole in the floor. Rarely do the bathrooms here have toilet paper or soap, but they have water and a bathroom attendant to "clean up" (with what, though???). To make things even ickier, people don't flush their paper here, the put it into the wastebasket that is in every bathroom. Gets a bit smelly really quickly. Anywho, this was a squatter, but it was a squatter on a BOAT so I looked down and saw water rushing under me. Nice to find out just how clean the Hong Kong harbor really is....ick. It did have tp, which was a nice touch, but no wastebasket and no, no soap. Luckily one learns quickly to carry tissues, gel and wipes wherever you go! It was one of my more interesting Asian potty experiences...

So, we start our week. This weekend our Women's Club is hosting a James Bond-themed end of the year party ("License to Chill"...very cool) but I don't think I can find anything to wear on such short notice. Probably we'll have to skip it, although Tim would look so handsome in his new suit! We'll see...have a lovely week!

My Son, The Warthog

Tonight was our kids' school's production of Rapunzel. They used a very funny script and the kids did an amazing job. Alex was the warthog, the caterpillar puppeteer, and the baby Rapunzel. He did great and he also has developed a severe case of the acting bug.

We went to the new IKEA store today (LOVE IT) but I only had to buy a couple of small pitchers. You can't buy gallon jugs of milk here - in fact, there is only one type of refrigerated milk that comes in one-liter sizes. Can you imagine how many of those we go through with three kids and a latte-lovin' mama? We buy the liter-size aseptic-container boxes of milk (like a large juice box) because they're easier to store (in the pantry). They are tough to pour out of though, with that hole on top of the box. So I bought a few pitchers to pour the box into. That way the kids can pour their own without spilling all around the cup. Dairy products in general are not especially popular in China. Cheeses are imported and expensive, as is most milk. Ice cream, too. The Chinese do like yogurt but it's more of a drinkable kind. There isn't as much spoon-type yogurt, and absolutely no thick and creamy spoon-type yogurt. All that is imported, and sometimes but not always, can be found at the import store.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I would like to take a bit of time to thank my mommy for being who she is and for making me who I am. You rock, Mom. And, to the other moms in my life who have had an influence on me, whether you realized it or not, thank you, too. And to my friends, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to you...aren't we a blessed lot? We have the best job in the world, and more love than our kids will ever realize until they have their own kids.

Andrew's Disneyland Birthday

Andrew's 6th birthday will be Tuesday. To celebrate, we went to Hong Kong Disneyland today to spend the day with our dear Hong Kong friends. We also invited some new friends we met when we were in Cebu, Philippines to join us. We all have a wonderful, tiring day, ending with a big buffet dinner featuring Mickey, Minnie and friends.

Ella is ready to party.

Andrew and Unnamed Friend, dancing to the parade music.

The Mouse himself was gracious enough to pose with us before helping Andrew cut his Mickey-shaped cake.

Just the family at the Happiest Place on Earth.

The Small World attraction opens this Monday...SUCH a bummer we missed it! We'll just have to come back...

In the meantime, stay tuned for more of Andrew's Birthday Extravaganza 2008!

So much more than shampoo

One thing my friends, (as well as Chinese folks in general) like to do is get the occasional hair wash. You go to a hair place - they have hair places and they have nail places and spas, and ne'er the two (three) shall meet - and into the "hair wash room" (I don't know what they call it it Chinese!). The hair wash room is a room off the regular beauty salon full of vinyl-coated cots attached to sinks. You lie down on a vinyl cot with your head on a base over the sink. They usually start with a little head massage first. Then, they work in some nice-smelling shampoo while giving you a scalp and head massage. This lasts for maybe 8 minutes, then they rinse you and shampoo again, with the scalp massage. After they rinse you a second time, they work in some conditioning oils, depending on your hair's needs (although most are really clueless as to the needs of Western hair - another blog post entirely!). After massaging in the oils, they let them soak into your hair. During this time you receive a really nice neck massage, then they work down your back. (There is usually a towel and a sheet of plastic inside the back of your shirt to protect it.) This part lasts another 10 - 15 minutes. Then they rinse you again. Sometimes they'll clean out your ears during this time (I know - wierd, huh? They really dig in with the cotton swabs to a scary depth. I don't do that anymore). Sometimes they'll offer you a face wash as well. Since I normally wear makeup ("normally" meaning Always, except for bed) I have never gotten one, but some friends have gotten little mini-facials while at hair washes. My friends have really enjoyed this as it adds to the whole relaxing-clean thing. They rinse you again and wrap your hair in a towel, really tight. Then you lie down on the cot part without the sink. They massage your shoulders, arms and hands. Some places massage your legs but that always hurts me so I have them stop (Westerners are notorious wimps). Then they turn you over, face down, and really work your back. The whole massaging, cleansing process lasts from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the place and on the person working on you. It's incredibly relaxing. Then they take you to the "beauty salon" part to blow-dry and style your hair. Again, they're pretty clueless about Western hair so my very straight hair usually gets "straightened" some more to the point that I could probably use it as a weapon. But it looks nice, clean and shiny. I have some friends who don't even bother to do their hair anymore, they just go to the hair wash place and have somebody else do it a few times a week.

This whole thing generally costs 25 rmb, though if you get a snappy new haircut like Tim did yesterday, it costs about 40 rmb. Please take note that with the exchange rate of 7:1 US$, that's about three bucks for a hair wash, maybe just a little more. It's a pretty sweet deal. Unless your hair gets stuck in the hair dryer like mine did yesterday - it's still a sweet deal but that was a bummer.
Another bummer is that the hair wash guys and gals make (so I've heard) about 3 rmb per hour. The above exchange rate can put that into perspective for you. We wimpy Westerners always try to make up for this with a generous tip of 5 - 10 rmb, which is really a lot of money to the hair wash folks. Everybody ends up happy and beautiful!

Sunday Foggy Sunday

This morning (Sunday) was reeeeeally foggy - I couldn't see anything when I looked outside the window. This did not bode well for our planned trip to Hong Kong, as I've been a bit anxious to go to our church there. I was thinking the ferry ride, if it happened, might be a bit nerve-wracking.

Well, it cleared up a bit as the 9:00 launch neared so we headed to the ferry station and to Hong Kong. As we got closer to HK, the fog cleared some more, although I was pretty nervous. Normally there are many, many cargo ships, ferries and fishing boats out - really a LOT of boat traffic between Mainland China and Hong Kong. Well, this morning we were looking at the traffic and suddenly we spotted an aircraft carrier loaded with planes and helicopters in the water! It was an amazing sight!! Andrew was beside himself - he has been obsessed with aircraft carriers lately and we've NEVER seen one of those! Once we did see the Queen Mary II docked - it's huge - but the aircraft carrier was certainly the cat's pajamas today. It was really, really cool.
When we arrived in Hong Kong, we made our usual pit stop at Starbuck's for a snack and placed our bets on how many men would approach Tim to sell him stuff on the way to church. Each Sunday, at least 3 - sometimes up to 6 - men try to sell Tim tailor services for custom suits, watches, and handbags in little hole in the wall stores nearby. I guess we have "TOURIST" written all over us, although you'd think they'd recognize us by now! (3 men approached him today - not too bad.)
Sadly, when we arrived at church we found out they'd changed the service time for this week because it's their annual meeting. They were already 50 minutes into the service when we got there...so, so sad. Especially since we missed it the past few weeks. AND, we had bought the round-trip tickets for the 6:00 pm ferry so we had some time to waste.
Well, Tim ended up talking to one of the suit guys on the way back and they are now in the process of custom-making him two nice, new suits. They had a storefront where they measured him, had thousands of fabrics to choose from, and designed the suits and dress shirts for him in about a half hour's time.
We ate at Dan Ryan, where I had a steak salad. Let me tell you that steak and meat in general is different here -different texture, different cuts, different flavor...it's just not the same. But Dan Ryan serves AMERICAN steaks - woo-hoo! It was an amazing steak salad. Just like being home. And in the restroom, they play all these old tv jingles - today I heard "My Three Sons" and "Mission: Impossible". Last time we went there it was The Jeffersons' "Movin' On Up". Aaaahhhh....so nice to hear (and EAT) stuff that makes me feel normal! (side note: whenever I say "Let's go to Dan Ryan", I feel like I'm heading to a big, huge highway...another side note: if you're not from the Midwest, the Dan Ryan Expressway is a major route through Chicago)
Then we took the Star Ferry across the harbor to the main Hong Kong Island side called Central. We stocked up on some healthy foods we can't get here (only packaged foods allowed across the border, though - no produce, meats or cheeses) and spent some more time wandering around Hong Kong.
Hopped onto the 6:00 ferry, had a rocky, jerky ride home - we did see the aircraft carrier again. But the boys were so tired and so sick from the rocky boat ride that it wasn't quite as exciting. I just did some research and found out it's the USS Ronald Reagan (gonna keep quiet here...), the latest in nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, carries 80 aircraft, and can go for TWENTY YEARS without refueling...and there are suggestions that it's on it way to establish a presence in Iran...again, I'm going to keep QUIET right now because this is not a political blog because I have dear friends on both side of "center".... *sigh*
I dearly missed church but it sure turned out to be an interesting Sunday!

Saturday Shenanigans

Chinese children have hours of homework every night. They are taught to memorize, memorize, memorize, follow the rules, be respectful to teachers, and memorize some more. That is how they are taught everything -math formulas, literature, and science - even music. It is a very different educational strategy than in the U.S., where students are taught problem-solving and creative thinking. It makes for good engineers and math and science people. It does not make for good free-thinkers, which really isn't conducive to the political structure here anyway.
Today my friend Kelly and I went to a tailor shop to get a dress made. It is fairly cheap to get clothing custom made here, though I've never done it. Kelly needs to get a dress made for an upcoming wedding. When she found a design she liked, she tried to ask to see fabric samples and get an estimate of what it would cost to make that dress. Between us, our Chinese was good enough to ask the questions. Unfortunately, the tailor's assistant was unable to think outside of the box, so to speak. Since they don't sell the particular fabric pictured, she couldn't help us. After one and a half hours of trying to find out if certain dresses were available in different colors, and what it would cost to make them, we left the store having found out nothing. She could not get it into her head that we could change the fabric color or fabric of a dress, even though it is a custom tailor. Very rigid thinking! Very frustrating for us Westerners - especially my free-thinking friend Kelly!

Then we went to another part of town, right outside the "expat neighborhood". China is full of these little storefronts on the ground floor with apartments that go several stories up above the storefronts. Skinny little streets full of bicycles transporting all sort of items and people - it's not unusual to see a family of 4 on one bike, or a guy with a stack of mattresses 10 feet high on the back of a bike. The skinny streets are lined with all these little shops, one after the other, all basically in the same building with the occasional narrow alleyway. They sell so many things in these little shops, though you sometimes wonder if it's new stuff, where it came from and how long it's been sitting there. And how clean it is. I've always sort of avoided going there because I'm not confident enough of my Chinese and I never know which shops sell what. I found some great little shops today with Kelly - she took me to this Malaysian shop that sells all these funky clothes and jewelry and knicknacks. We found some very groovy clothes and we were also able to bargain down a bit. I ended up with a beautiful, hand-beaded shirt, a skirt and a beaded tank top for under $60 - not dirt-cheap but certainly a bargain considering the quality of the stuff. We had a blast and we were able to really practice our Chinese at the shops. My new resolution is to get out of this neighborhood more often and USE my Chinese so it improves - it's so easy not to use it where we live, which is too bad because it never really gets better that way. Kelly's resolution is to run the Great Wall of China 1/2-Marathon next month. (Which resolution sounds easier?) I'm even going to get really brave and visit the wet market, which I've been avoiding due to fear of seeing Fido or Snowball there. I've found out they have live chickens but no domestic pets there - whew! They sell fresh, cheap vegetables and fruits and meats there. I will avoid the meats (uh, animals), regardless, because, brave or not, I am NOT going to kill, behead and pluck a chicken. I'd rather run the Great Wall 1/2 Marathon.

I'm back in the PRC

Today it was back to reality for us: back to school, back to work, back to Chinese lessons and dropping off and picking up children. Walking up the hill, down the hill...
Everybody here is still a bit tired. Andrew's teacher called at lunch; he was claiming to be "miserable" but couldn't quite put his finger on any body part that was actually giving him trouble. He ended up eating lunch with his teacher and staying for the rest of the day...I later found out three kids called mommies from that one class alone. I guess we're not the only tired ones.
I went to Alex's class today and read with some of the students - they have a parent come in each week to listen to a student read aloud, one on one. It's nice to be in his classroom and listen to the kids reading.
Ella was excited to go back to school, though she did ask to go to the beach instead. She was tired today but not tired enough for a nap. We laid down together and watched a Little People video this afternoon, but she didn't fall asleep (I nearly did). So at dinner tonight she fell asleep eating her gingered carrots.
It's nice to be back into our routine but I sure could go for another iced coffee with spicy crackers, with a cool ocean breeze blowing through my hair.

Sweet memories and sad realities

The kids had fun at the beach...

Our last night there we saw a show with dancers and drummers...

This is what the resort looks like...

This is what Cebu looks like outside the resort...