A Grade-school Halloween Lesson

Today was my day off, so Sue volunteered me to go to the boys' school to teach a lesson about Halloween.  I was to do two 20 minute lessons, one for each of the boys' English classes.  However due to the popularity of the subject and that it was Peter and Jack's DAD that was teaching, more and more people were invited.  Finally,  we had to change rooms to the auditorium and I was now doing 1 40 minute lesson to about 80 children.  So much for preparation!

I taught them such Halloween vocabulary as:

jack-o-lantern	zombie
trick-or-treat!	witch
black cat	ghost
mummy	goblin

I showed them the scariest pictures I had found on the internet.

Next, I asked the kids who would like to say "Trick or Treat" for some real American Halloween candy (Thanks again, Linda)!  They were very concerned about the authenticity of the candy.  I had many volunteers!

 

I also asked who was a good artist, and who could draw me a scary Jack-o-lantern on the board.  Once again, many volunteers!

 

Jack and Peter were my helpers in passing out candy to all of the children.

 

Peter demonstrated bobbing for apples and made it look so easy, but this boy just couldn't get one!

 

Some of the other kids were able to get an apple quite easily.

The kids had a good time as I tromped around the room acting out what a vampire, a mummy or a zombie does.  I attacked several children and I think they were a little afraid!  I think they will remember me.  Overall it was a fun time, and a Halloween to remember!

Happy Halloween!

Bobbing for Apples

Today I had the 4th class bobbing for apples as well.  Jack didn't come with me today as he had a field trip to go to for his own class that he didn't want to miss.  Peter also went on a field trip and they both had a good time.

Some of the students bobbing for apples...

This girl, Chen Ye tried several times and was finally successful.  I admired her temerity!

In the afternoon I stopped by the campus coffee shop and was  inundated by students - it was an English Corner that I had run into and I had a nice time visiting with all of the Chinese students before climbing on the bus for home.

Sue took Sophie to the doctor today and she has some mosquito bites on her face and ears and a respiratory cold, but otherwise she's fine.  The doctor is an Eastern meds doctor too, and he says she "runs hot" so she is prone to more skin problems with mosquitos.  Who would have thought that Sophie runs hot?!? :) 

Jack Goes to College

Today I brought Jack to school with me to do a lesson about Halloween.  My students loved seeing a real American kid.  I started the lesson by interviewing Jack about Halloween.  Once I was done with the interview, I asked the students what he had said for each of his responses.

Next, I prepared a tub of water and put some apples in, and Jack showed the students how to bob for apples.  They loved it, and soon many of the students volunteered to try as well, even some of the girls.  When there was 1 apple left, Jack said, "Don't you think the teacher should do it?"  This comment got a howl of approval and so I was also forced to bob.  I got a loud round of applause when I came up with the last one!

I showed pictures of ghosts, goblins, witches and trick-or-treaters.  When you try to explain Halloween to an outsider, it sure makes you realize what a weird holiday it is.  I also showed a website called www.hauntedhouse.com which had scary music and screams, and allows you to see by state lists of haunted houses.  They were amazed to think that we pay money to go into a house where people try to scare us!

I also shared some of the candy from the US (thanks, Linda, this was really invaluable) and it worked as a reward for a competition I set up for who could unscramble Halloween-centered sentences the fastest.  Some kids loved the candy corns and butterscotches, and some kids thought they were horrible :).  I also made all of the students shout "trick-or-treat" before they received any candy!

Here's a picture of Jack, my tiny-teacher helper from Suzhou yesterday.  Another of his "Gollum"impressions:

After some benadryl, Sophie's spots look much better today and we will be sending her back to school tomorrow.  She slept until 8am this morning which is very rare for her.  It was a very noisy day for Sue at the apartment as they were drilling on the side of the building all day, but she was a trooper and stayed home with Sophie, unpacking us all from the trip, doing our extra laundry and being an all-around great Mom!  Tomorrow Jack will come back to school with me for my last Halloween lesson and a new lesson on American songs.

Suzhou - Humble Administrator's Garden

This morning we said goodbye to my Mom as she continued on her tour of China.  The tour tries to insulate them from the small tourist shopping opportunities and all of the people that would be asking them questions.  When she was alone with Sophie and I yesterday she got a taste of what we have been experiencing - people getting right up in our faces and asking many questions about us and of course why we have Sophie!  She was a bit uncomfortable with it as the idea of personal space doesn't really exist in China. If you are looking for a bill in your wallet for instance, people are happy to look in your wallet with you just be be helpful :)

Today had a wonderful sleep-in, in our quiet, dark hotel room - quite a switch from our apartment in Hangzhou where construction starts around 5:30am! 

Our goal this morning was to go the Humble Administrator's Garden, roughly 5 hectares in size with beautiful canals, ponds, and vegetation.   Suzhou is known for its gardens, so we wanted to see more of them.  Peter particularly enjoyed the Banzai tree collection.

 On the way there we were accosted by a woman who wanted to sell us a ride on one of the canals.  We talked her down to 150 quai for the 5 of us which was still probably a rip-off for a 40 minute ride, but it sure was nice!

We rode on a boat similar to this one...

Some pictures in the canal.

Some of the little residences next to the canal.  All of their gray water comes out into the canal from their drains.  The kids really wanted to know about the "black water" and where does it go?  Not the canal, it was too clean.

More canal scenes...

Of course Sophie enjoyed being on the boat!

There were many residences and side streets with steps down to the canal for boating or doing washing.

 

... and so did the boys!

Peter finally lost one of his "eye" teeth a few weeks ago so he has a nice gap in his smile!

This jovial guy loved waving at the strange Americans floating by.  He had less teeth than Peter does.

Our driver sang us Chinese songs as we floated through the canal.

... Sue listened intently to the boatman's songs which were really lovely.

His songs even quieted down Sophie!  Music soothes the savage beast!

Next it was onto the Administrator's Garden.

Here's Peter contemplating his perfect state of Zen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made friends with this cute 8 year old girl.  I practiced my Chinese on her and she practiced her English on me. 

Jack found a rock formation to stick his head through.  "Take a picture, Dad!"

Jack and Peter both loved the Humble Administrator's Garden, however it was stressful to follow Sophie around.  None of the bridges over the water features had any railings or walls, so we had to be on top of her constantly.

 

Many of the walkways were constructed of carefully laid rock patterns.  We decided to see what it felt like without shoes.  Bumpy!

As I write this we are on a very crowded train back to Hangzhou.  It stops in Shanghai which makes it a very popular route.  We are anxious to get off but we have another 2 hours to go.  Don't worry, by the time you read this we'll be snug in our beds back in Hangzhou!

Sophie has more mysterious spots on her face and ears.  She slept in a different room with Sue last night, and she heard mosquitos so perhaps that is what it was, however no one else was bitten.  Maybe they just like Chinese people. They are not on any other parts of her body except perhaps one on her hand.  Sue will try to find a doctor tomorrow to determine what they could be.

Visiting Mom in Suzhou

My mother was on on an artist's tour of China where they have been on a rampage to see many artistic sights in 3 weeks - in the last 3 weeks she has been on 4 plane flights taking her all over China!  The closest leg of her tour to us in Hangzhou, was Suzhou, a 3 hour train ride away.  Suzhou is known for its beautiful gardens which is why their tour group is stopping there.

So, last night we went too early to the East Hanghzou train station to catch the train to Suzhou, to avoid Hangzhou crazy rush-hour traffic.  We were surprised to see that we were the ONLY Westerners around, and we soon drew quite a crowd!  There are mostly farmers and other people from the countryside who use this station so they were very surprised to see us!  We may have been the only live Westerners some of them had ever seen!

While waiting for our train, we bought some Ramen bowls of noodles from the shop behind us, and the shopkeeper pulled out a little table and stools and we ate there in front of the shop.

 

What a great marketing technique, as we soon had more than a hundred people in a circle around us all watching our every move, and buying things from that little shop to eat while they watched we strange Americans!  You can see the legs of the front row of onlookers in the photo below.  Next time we charge admission!

 

Peter and Jack were asked for several pictures; here are some college kids who wanted their picture with them.  The girls all told them how handsome they are.  :)    Of course they're right!

Next, we boarded the train, and we had sleeper beds which were very comfortable for the 3 hour ride from Hangzhou to Suzhou.  Sophie loved climbing up and down the ladder.  Who would have guessed?

Peter and Jack enjoyed spending part of their time on the top bunks, and fell asleep for a couple of hours.

Jack lodged himself between the top 2 bunks, and I was below him taking this picture.  We have just finished the Lord of the Rings movies and Jack has just finished reading "The Hobbit", so we think Jack looks particularly like "Gollum" in this picture!

Unfortunately for the rest of us, Sophie stayed up for most of the ride!

 

 

We arrived around midnight at the Bamboo Grove Hotel,  a very nice 4 star hotel in Suzhou - here are the kids the next morning with Grandma at a real Western Breakfast!  Yum.

 

We went with Mom and her tour group to the Garden of the Master of Nets.  The garden was laid out in the 12th century, abandoned, then restored in the 18th century.  Apparently the owner, a government official, had had enough of bureaucracy and decided to become a fisherman, using this garden as a hobby.  Some pics below of us in the garden with Grandma.

A very peaceful garden!  However, while we were there, a little Chinese boy of about 5 was leaning against a railing when it gave way.  He fell into the pond and an Italian guy jumped in and saved him.  The boy came out throwing up pond water, but he seemed to be ok after awhile.

   

Here is Mom's friend and roommate, Ingrid Turner.

Some of my Mom's tour group doing their painting.  The master is in front with a purple shirt.

Here is part of the scene they were painting.

... and the Master's result starting to take shape!

Many Chinese gardens have beautiful rock formations, such as the one Sue and Mom were inside of below.

Sophie enjoyed climbing on all of the rocks, next to the signs that said, "No Climbing".  We sent Grandma after Sophie to chase her all morning.  I think she got a good workout!

 

These two were dressed in period clothing and were quite a nice sight in this lovely garden.

 

 Peter, Jack and Sophie loved the circular doorways!

Sophie thought maybe she could walk all the way up the side of the doorway - with Grandma's help!

... Peter being 11 for the camera.

Peter bought a bottle that is painted on the inside, for a friend.  Sue found a bigger one for cheaper somewhere  else, so Peter was a bit disappointed that he didn't get the best deal!  Live and learn!

 

We took rickshaws back from the garden to the hotel.  My mom, myself, Jack and Sophie all piled into the other one.  It was very "cozy", and he charged us double what Sue and Peter paid - probably because we were twice as heavy!

 

Inside the Bamboo Grove Hotel.  Peter and Jack said they wanted to be picked up like Sophie, so I said - it's my turn to be picked up, and they did it!

    

Outside of the Garden of the Master of the Nets was - you guessed it- shopping!  This is Peter and Jack's favorite activity.  Probably Sue's as well.  I usually end up holding Sophie and try go away from them so they don't ask me for more money :)

 

... in case you had any doubt as to where the bargains are, this sign will tell you.  It's not in Chinese though - how do the locals know which one is the cheapest??

The hotel has a little bar that had a pool table, foosball and darts and we were the only people there.  This afternoon, Mom, the boys and I went to the bar and played all of these games while Sue and Sophie slept.  We felt a bit guilty about not going out and seeing more of Suzhou today but it was nice to visit with Mom and have some down-time.  Speaking of time - Chairman Mao can help you keep track of it, below...

The Bully of Xingzhi Primary School

The boys have been complaining about getting 'picked on' in school lately, so as the DAD and the Speaker Of Chinese (yeah, right!), it was my job to go in this morning and see what was going on and see who was bullying my boys. Papa Bear was ready to kick some little Chinese keister! 

Before going to the principal's office with both barrels loaded, I stopped by Peter and Jack's rooms to see if they could identify the perp.  It turns out the offending boy is in their 1st grade Chinese class (yes, he's a 1st grader), but he is very rambunctious.  He's the ringleader of a few other kids that are shooting spit balls, smacking them on the back and throwing odds and ends at them all in a bid to get their attention. 

I took Peter out of his class and he saw the boy doing exercises with the rest of the 1st graders in the courtyard.  He said, "Dad, that's HIM!"  So now I had the ammunition I needed for the principal's office.

I told the principal this boy had been causing trouble, and described what he was wearing and what he had been doing.  They pulled that boy out of class and took him to another office for awhile doing God knows what to him.  By this time, we had the principal, the boy's teacher, the vice principal, the secretary, Peter, myself, and the English teacher to help with translation. 

In walked this tiny little first grader, eyes puffy from crying, maybe half the size of Peter, that had been the source of my boys' frustration for the past couple of weeks.  Though he had been crying from all of the negative attention, you could tell from the glint in his eye that he was full of piss and vinegar!  The principal and vice-principal said they were very familiar with him.

The principal and teachers all took their turn berating the boy, then the boy he turned to us, very upset, and made a nice apology.  Peter and I each shook hands with him and I told him that now he could be our friend. So we shall see if this fixes the problem! 

Halloween at Pizza Hut

We took the boys to Pizza Hut and the staff was all dressed up for Halloween.  This is the only hint of Halloween we have seen so far in China (except on the boys' Runescape where they'll have a Halloween day, apparently!)

... and Sophie loved Ronald McDonald who was sitting next door to the Pizza Hut!  Aah, we can't get away from him, even in China!

 

Sophie is lining up at her school - can you tell which one she is?

 

... and here is a view of the playground at the boys' school, the Hangzhou Xingzhi Primary School.  The school dismissal time varies every day; it ranges between 2:30 and 4:30, so we just have to guess.  I think even the Chinese parents are unsure when it dismisses!  Sue was early today and took some pictures of the school.

 

... a view of the board!  You can see why it's difficult for P & J!  They have no idea what these announcements say!

 

Sue locked the boys' bedroom to keep Sophie out, but she didn't have a key!  Smart.  Jack's bike keys were in there, so he couldn't unlock his bike.  Here he is in the baby seat with Sue, as she had to schlep them and their bookbags to school!

This guy is cutting sugar cane and getting it ready for sale.  Sue watched him for awhile, but we haven't bought any yet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our little apartment, there is not much to do - no TV or anything, so the kids chose to pile on top of each other.  We can fit more people on our small couch if you stack them!

 

Here's an ancient temple by West Lake.  Guess how old?  Five years!  Still a beautiful area, and it attracts a lot of tourists, but this does  not fall into the category of "ancient" as many of the temples we have seen have.

 

This is a scenic little pond by West Lake where Sue sat after her espresso with her friends. 

These flowers are in bloom all over Hangzhou and smell very nice.  It is the city flower, however my botanical knowledge is limited so I have no idea what it is.  Any idea, dear reader?

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, many workers take a siesta. This businessman is taking a snooze in the park before getting back to work!

Things We Like about China

So to counteract the earlier "Bitch Session", we thought it only fair to make a list of the things we like about China:

Our Ayi!  Ayi is another word for "Auntie".  She comes every day and mops our floors, cleans our toilets, does our breakfast/dinner dishes, our laundry, and has dinner on the table at 5pm.  This is 5 days a week, 4 hours per day, for about $125 per month!

No Cars!  We can bicycle everywhere.  Things are close enough to walk or bicycle to - the school, the store, etc.  The kids have much more freedom here than they do in the U.S.

The Safety!  We give little thought to our personal safety.  China overall seems quite safe, and Hangzhou is said to be the safest city in China because it's the tourist Mecca for the Chinese.

It's a Rental!  Our little apartment is maintenance free, so we don't have to worry about repairs, we just call downstairs if something is wrong.  Also, no yard to maintain!  Very stress free!

Sophie keeps busy!  She's in school from 8:15 - 4pm every day and she is completely entertained by it!  This provides us with some freetime and sanity which we REALLY enjoy.  She is so high energy!

Incredible Kindness!  Everywhere we go, people are incredibly kind.  They go out of their way to make sure we have everything we need, that we understand, that we are thriving here.  Sue had locked the bedroom door without a key, and she told the 3 guys in the office.  They jumped up, and asked her to sit down while they figured out what to do!

Mental Stimulation!  Tim loves being able to study the language and the task of trying to communicate with the Chinese, and overcoming the daily challenges that arise.  We are all doing a huge amount of learning here; language, culture, history!  Also, there are so many beautiful, scenic spots that are thousands of years old

Great Prices!  Sue took 4 friends out to a nice lunch today.  The grand total?  92 quai - about $12 US!  Western items are still Western prices however.

The People!  The Chinese are such a  kind, warm, hard working people.  Overall, they work so much harder than we do in the U.S. We met a family whose daughter gets 20 minutes of free time per day in which she reads something that she wants to read.  Then it's back to mathematics and science; in high school, science is comprised of Physiology, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. To me, it seems like America is jogging, and the Chinese are sprinting.  When will they pass us?

Chinese Silk Museum

Here's Sue, looking chipper with her new hairdo, and after her morning coffee, on the way to the Silk Museum this morning.  Of course China, and especially Hangzhou, is known for its silk production and fine silk crafts, so a visit to the Silk Museum was definitely in order!

From 1100 to 771 BC, the Chinese people were unique in the world in understanding sericulture and silk production.  In the 6th to 5th centuries BC, trade caravans of ancient nomadic tribes crossed the deserts and wilderness of Eurasia bringing Chinese silk to the west; their route eventually named the Silk Road by a German cartographer.

Here are some samples of silk weaving we saw; some were over 1800 years old!

 

This woman was weaving a beautiful silk tapestry.  She had a strong light and good glasses - but still I think it would make my eyes go buggy!

... the individual strands of silk that are being woven on this woman's loom.  Incredibly fine strands like fishing line!

Jack, Sue and Sophie, watching the woman weave a silk tapestry on this huge loom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This woman was demonstrating the spinning of silk threads.

 

In the next room, models were showing off the various silk products.  Guess what - you could buy their silk products, right there in their gift shop!

Next it was time to go outside to burn off a little steam after being inside looking at exhibits.  It is a beautiful fall day today and everyone enjoyed being outside!

Of course, silk comes from the silkworm, which are cultivated in Mulberry trees, which we saw many examples of.  Sue and the boys are standing in front of some (lower right).

... a nice fishing pond on the grounds of the museum.

 We ate a wonderful lunch of Indian food.  They had a pool table in the restaurant, so while Sophie, Sue and I ate, the boys played pool and had a grand time.  Then it was the boys turn to eat, so Sophie and I went outside for some photo ops!

... so here's Sophie, hamming it for the camera!

As you can see, she's as docile as usual!

In America we say "Cheese!".  In China they say "Shiedza!" which means eggplant.

Sophie, say "Eggplant!" 

Hangzhou Clothes Shopping

We had a nice Saturday; here and Jack are in their natural habitat - playing Runescape with their friends back in America.  Today John G., Chris V,Cody W. and Garrett K. were online so they had a good time Runescaping with them!

At 5am this morning they started putting up scaffolding all over our building to somehow beautify the outside (paint, etc.).  They took all of the air conditioning units off of the outside of the building, so we have no heat or air for the next 40 days!  We went and bought warm clothes and long johns today in preparation!

 

 

 

Sue, Sophie and I went to the bookstore this morning to look for cookbooks and other reading material.  It was a gorgeous day, though a little cool this morning.  This is one of the many canals that run through the city.

 

Sue found this nice Shel Silverstein book in Chinese...

... and look at all of the bookworms in the aisles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two (blind??) characters were outside of the bookstore playing their instruments for coins.  They sounded pretty good!

 

And here is Sue with Sophie, proudly displaying her brand new PINK bike!  She thinks that maybe the pink color will deter thieves.  I think the child seat is more likely to deter them!

 

... more scaffolding around the entranceway to our building.  Amazing to have seen them put all of this up in one day!

 

Many items are delivered on bicycle; water, propane, recyclables, building products and much more.  We've seen everything imaginable being carted around by pedals!

 

Jack is picking out items for his soup - quail eggs, cilantro, mushrooms, noodles, and spices.  They were cooked up into a soup and he ate them with zeal!

 

Here are the boys on the street after shopping for clothes; Jack is sporting his new sweatshirt which he really likes.

 

The boys both needed haircuts so we stopped by and they each had a haircut with shampooing for a total of US $4!

 

Sophie hung out and waited and was served a lollipop by the staff which she heartily enjoyed!

 

Jack and Peter after shampooing; waiting for their respective stylists...

 

They cut Jack's hair into a mohawk before they cut it short.  Cute!

Sue put Peter's hair into a mohawk while it was wet. It was so long that it was quite a big one! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight we met some new friends for dinner after a hectic day of clothes shopping and haircuts.  Our friend Aaron has been here for 4 years, and Joyce, who's a Chinese girl from Wuhan, the same city that Sophie came from!  It was sure fun to hear about their lives here in Hangzhou and they're going to help us find other US families with kids that live here! 

A Cure for Hiccups

Today was another teaching day for me.  I was talking about illnesses, and asked the class what were examples of illnesses that would keep them home from school or work.

The expected list came up - cold, flu, head ache, stomach ache, etc.  Then one girl said "SARS" and I said, yes, please, if you get SARS, please STAY HOME!!  Then I asked what treatments they have when you get a cold.  They loved the idea that in the US we drink chicken soup when we are sick!  I also displayed how we cure hiccups.  I went up quietly to this shy boy in my class and shouted BOO! He jumped about 6 inches and the class thought it was hilarious.  It finally put a smile on the shy kid's face.

You can tell by the treatments they recommended that they are graduate students. They were shouting out things like "chemotherapy", and "gene therapy", or "organ transplant!"  I wonder when I'll be able to say those things in Chinese!  Hopefully I'll never have to!

One student's example of something that would keep him home was a heart ache.  I think he thought this was a real ailment, but I asked him if he had just broken up with his girlfriend and he got a surprised look on his face!  He said, "I've never had a girlfriend!"

Peter and Jack stayed home with Sue today and had a mental break from school.  They went out with Sue and her friend for lunch and really enjoyed a day off which they deserve.  Sophie's school shoes were in tatters so I went out tonight for a bowl of noodles by myself and followed it up with a shoe purchase.  When we picked Sophie up from school today, the teacher said that Sophie was starting to speak Chinese and that she now understands everything.  No surprises there for that little smartie!  It's fun to see her speak it so naturally! 

 Thanks for your recent comments!  We love to see them and we love to have your emails even if it's just a short hello!

More Hangzhou Street Scenes

Here are more views of the streets in Hangzhou.  Street food is perhaps questionable in content, but extremely yummy!  The secret is to pick a place that is very popular, and when you get close to the front of the line, listen for the price so that you pay the same as they do!  I hate paying "White Man" prices! :)

Sophie hanging out with Sue on the street, looking at some yummy noodle preparation.

 

This is the intersection near our house, which is quickly changing from old, antiquated China to sparkling, new, high end store China.  Kind of sad in a way!

 

During the construction, road crews have inconveniently blocked off the road. The Nerve!  But not to worry, these cars are just going around the blockade onto the sidewalk.  Pedestrians - watch out!

 

Sophie climbing our stairwell to our apartment for the millionth time!

 

... and more nearby construction.

 

Sophie needed a haircut again - here she is getting ready for her cut at the salon's sink.

 

If this barber was in the US, his name would be something like, Hermé.

 

Sophie enjoyed her haircut so much she fell asleep in the chair.  You can still see the red spots on her face from the virus she had,  but they seem to be fading fast.

 

... and here's the blogger in his natural environment.  It's nice to have a day off when the kids are in school!

Today on my day off I went shopping for Sophie.  I bought her a winter coat (which she loves - shown left), 4 long sleeve shirts, 2 pair of pants, a pair of long johns and a pair of  quilted pajamas for about $100 US.  Laying out over 700 quai is so hard because it seems like so much money.  But when I realize it's only $100 US it doesn't seem so bad.

I have been patting myself on the back all day because a) I found several stores by asking the taxi drivers recommendations, and b) I didn't have Sophie with me so I had to guess at the sizes, and it all fits, and c) - I didn't speak any English between 8:15 and 3:00 when I went to pick up Sophie!  Hurray!

Kids' Chinese

The kids are starting to pick up Chinese!  Last night, Sophie was very tired and she pointed to her blanket and said "Daddy, gei wo, gei wo" (give me, give me).  Today she said "Be Careful!" in Chinese and sang some Chinese song.

Yesterday at the boys' school I overheard Peter visiting with a parent - yes, in Chinese!  I only hear Chinese out of Jack's mouth when he's shopping for something. :)

 

An Old Cheater

Today an old woman cut in front of me in a checkout line I had been waiting in for some time.  I told her that I was there first and she said she was just coming back to the line after coming from somewhere else.  Yeah, right!  I told her she could get in line - behind me!  She held her ground and I called her a cheater.  She glared at me but did not move, so I let her go ahead, giving her the best evil eye I could muster.  I always wonder about this Chinese protocol - should I be a gentleman and never get my turn, or be rude and defend my place in line.  Today I did it the Chinese way and it sure felt strange - but oddly exhilarating!  :)!

China Bitch Session

Several people have emailed us and said how much they envy our lives and what a rosy, unblemished experience we must be having in China.  I realized that I must not be giving an accurate picture in our blog, so here's a long list of our complaints!

Language barrier!  Not being able to understand teachers, other parents, ask questions in shops, find books, etc.!  We walk around a lot feeling totally inept and stupid!  We feel totally dependent at times on other people and it feels strange to be so helpless!  We are lucky that the Chinese are so helpful and considerate to us!

Being illiterate.  We can't read a single street sign, advertisement, newspaper, piece of mail, food label, text message or anything else.  So we have to guess a lot and rely on other people.  It can be incredibly frustrating.

No towels or TP in the bathrooms!  No public bathroom, school, restaurant, university or store bathroom as any toilet paper for the backside, or paper towels to wipe your hands with.  You have to remember to bring your own tissue and if you forget it's SO inconvenient! Especially with Sophie who may have to poo at the drop of a hat!  You always see the Chinese walking out of the bathrooms with dripping wet hands, and now we do the same.

Low Flushability.  You cannot flush toilet paper in China, so you have to put used paper in a wastebasket next to the toilet.  This took some getting used to and it is a gross aspect of life in China!

The questions that people ask!  Everyone is intensely curious about us!  Why do we have a Chinese daughter? What do we do?  Where do we live? How much money do we make? How old are we? Why do we have 3 children? What is our religion? What is in our shopping cart? What is in the kids' book bag?

No parks to take the kids to kick the ball around.  In the city we haven't found any open fields for the kids to run around in.  They really want to go play soccer or something, but we live in a concrete jungle.  We can go out to the forests and other beautiful places but there's not really any place for the kids to play outdoors that isn't concrete.

Constant construction everywhere.  The constant noise from construction activity occurs all hours of the day.  The city is noisy and busy to begin with, but the construction is very loud.  Sometimes there are bad fumes that come from these sites.  What are they?  I don't want to know.

Our gross stairwell.  We come up 6 floors of tiring stairs everyday, carrying book bags, groceries, household goods, and of course, Sophie!  Most people don't bother to take their garbage downstairs so they leave trash and cigarette butts everywhere and it's really quite disgusting!

Shopping for clothes and everything else is so much work!  In the U.S., you go the store, get what you want, and go home.  Here, there is a lot of work explaining what we want, trying to find the right sizes for everyone, and fitting our US expectations into Chinese stores is very difficult!  Then once you get something you want, you have to schlep it home on your bicycle which can be an ordeal, especially in bad weather!

Kids don't want to do ANYTHING!  I'm not sure if this is just a China complaint, but the boys just want to stay home and play Runescape, while Sue and I want to go out adventuring.  They feel burned out from an entire week of school so they feel like they want to stay home and do nothing on the weekends and be "cave goblins" as they put it! 

The food!  The boys are sick of Chinese food and after going to the work of having our ayi cook something, or trying to find a suitable restaurant, they often turn their noses up at the result.  Very frustrating!  We break down many times and buy them Western food which they usually like.

Sleeping conditions!  Sophie sleeps in our room in our small apartment, and has had a couple of colds which leaves her hacking at night, or she gets up wanting juice, milk, attention, etc.  Sometimes she gets up 5 times a night lately leaving us exhausted. The  construction tails off about 10pm and starts up at 5am.  Our sleeping sucks!

So there you have it folks - the real poop!  Personally, I think our time here has been incredibly wonderful and I'm so glad that we get the chance to be here for a whole year.  Like anything, it has its ups and downs so I regret if I have made previous blog entries sound too rosy!  It ain't easy much of the time, but nothing that's "worth it" is ever easy.

Chinese Hooters? An Oxymoron.

This weekend we have had many visitors.  Some of the other teachers and other acquaintances have introduced us to many English speaking people and/or people that want to improve their English, so we invited them to our apartment.

Here I am getting a Chinese lesson from Ms. Wang who was very helpful.  She has a Masters in Chinese and writes Chinese poetry, so her level of Chinese is far beyond what I could use but she was a good teacher!

 

She was introduced to us by Ms. Li who is sitting next to Sue, so we had a nice chat with them.

This is Ms. Li's daughter, who is 13 and starting to learn English too.

 

We went with some of the foreign teachers to the Hangzhou "Hooters" restaurant where the pretty waitresses dress in very skimpy outfits.  They are known for having a delicious American breakfast so we went there to try it out, and it was!  Sophie enjoyed playing with the waitresses and we were the only people in the whole restaurant!

 

Sue and the boys went back out to Enrique and Olga's house to check on their fish again.  The ones that we saved still survive which I'm happy about!  As you can see it is a very nice neighborhood, and the houses rent there for about $5,000 US! WOW!  Our friend gets his rent paid by the US gov't since he works for the state dept, so I told him those were my tax dollars at work and we were moving in!

 

The kids stopped by a local playground in their neighborhood.

 

We went to the Maya bar last night for dinner and met this man, also named Tim who comes from Kentucky.  He is