The Friday 5

Okay, so I wasn't the biggest fan of this week's questions. Instead I am answering the list from a couple weeks ago (I really like to march to my own beat!)..... 

1. Who frightens you? This a tricky one.... maybe it would be better to say "who intimidates you?" because I can't think of anyone who frightens me. I think that when I let old insecurities creep in, new people can intimidate me. Not usually, but this is probably what can intimidate me the most.

2. Who regularly surprises you? All 3 of my children. They are a constant delight and surprise (well, at least most of the time!). Recently, I have been surprised and impressed with how well they have done with our big move.

3. Who calms you down? Andy. He is definitely my voice of reason when I become emotional and worried. I am so thankful for his level head!

4. Who inspires you? I think again Andy. He is man who lives all-out and thus inspires me to do likewise.

5. Who admires you more than he/she should? I am not sure that anyone should admire me.... I am just someone trying to love and serve others (and not always successful at doing so).

If you want to play along, just leave a message here, on your own blog, or email me. ;-D

UN Day

Every year on October 24th is the UN's Children's Day.... Who knew? Becca's school celebrates this day by having an International Day celebrating the many countries and cultures that the children and teachers represent. Each country has a booth where you can sample food, see a traditional dance or play, see some handicrafts, or play a game. There were booths from: Germany, France, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore/Malaysia/India (a combo), Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Australia. And not all of the countries were represented! Amazingly, we discovered that we are one of the only American families at the school right now. We had a great time as a family. Though we had been there only a few minutes when Becca disappeared with some of her friends to explore the festival.

Some of our favorite parts of the day:

Becca sitting next to 2 of her friends (who are from Denmark and Japan)

In Australia: the frog race. The frogs started out in the middle and the first one to leave the circle....

was the WINNER!

Tori loved the frogs! She really wanted to pet them. Becca's teacher was in charge of this game. He was telling us that they were going to release the frogs into the school pond which was an improvement in their lot in life. Especially since he bought them at Carrefour (a grocery store) and NOT in the pet section. Yes, they were intended for someone's dinner! ;-)

Visiting all the "countries"

In Korea: pounding rice into rice dough. A big sledgehammer and hitting something really hard - so who is having more fun, Andy or Josh?

In Australia: our little "kitty cat" catching fish. Isn't that the best look of joy?

The Friday 5

I read this on a friend's blog (which I enjoyed Missi),  but I thought I would change it a bit by posting a before and after.... Answer how I might have answered before China and then now that we are here.

First, before China:

1. Where's your favorite beach? Ocean City, NJ I just love exploring the boardwalk with our kiddos.

2. Where's your favorite place to spend money? Kroger or Meijer. I know that I am weird, but I really like to grocery shop.

3. Where's your favorite place to watch people? Any airport.... maybe its the traveler in me, but I love to think of where people are going and what they might be doing.

4. Where's a good place to be totally alone? The bathroom, though any Mom will tell you even that is not sacred.

5. Where's a place outside of work/school where you are likely to run into people from work/school? Either Kroger or the library.

Now that we are in China:

1. We haven't been to a beach since our arrival, but are planning to travel over Chinese New Year so I think I might have a new favorite.

2. My new favorite place to spend money is the Pearl market. Imagine a mall where all they sell are gems and the prices are amazing.... I have yet to leave without buying something. I definitely can have too much fun there!

3. For people watching, airports are still a favorite but I also like this park near our neighborhood. Lots of people gather there in the evenings.... there are couples dancing in one section, others doing tai-chi in another part, kids rollerblading. During the summer, we'd walk up get ice cream and just enjoy.

4. A good place to be totally alone.... hmm that's a hard one. I think that is one thing that is even harder to find here - a place to be totally alone. Though if I want a quiet moment in the midst of a crowd and a special treat then I love to go have a coffee at Starbucks.

5. I think that our city is too big to really run into people that I know. Once I did run into someone I knew at Metro (a grocery store). 

Now it is your turn. Either leave your answers in a comment, post them on your blog, or email me. ;-)

Voting Amazement

I take back all the doubts and wonderings I had about voting from China and am just impressed. Andy faxed our application in and that SAME DAY we had our ballots via email. Is anyone else impressed by that? Now we just print them off, fill them out and send them in! We are also excited that Indiana is a swing state this election and not the overwhelming red state that it normally is. As many of you know, Andy and I are swing voters and not tied to either party. As we are approaching 5 months of being in China, there are many things that I miss. But it has been rather refreshing to follow the presidential race from afar. We watch a bit of CNN (but it is the world version based out of Hong Kong) and have read a lot on both candidates, but still have yet to see a political ad. Yes, definitely a refreshing way to vote!

Voting

So, we are about to embark on the wonderful world of absentee voting. After a bit of research, I realized that we could fax in our vote but first we need to apply for a fax-in ballot. I filled out the form and AFTER it was filled out realized that we do not need your standard absentee ballot, but one specifically for military and those living abroad. I thought that the form I filled out didn't seem geared to us! We fill out our application, fax 'em in and then we should receive our ballots via fax. Then we can fax them back. This option is only for those living abroad (hence the different form). We also have the option of doing it snail-mail but I can only imagine how long that would take from China. ;-) We send off our applications tomorrow (Wednesday) as they have to be there 10 days before the election. So, I will keep you updated as to how it goes.... It seems straight-forward enough but with bureaucracy there is no telling! Truly, it cannot be as crazy as the last presidential election where I stood in line for over an hour!

Field Trip

This morning I went on a field trip to the Grand Canal with Josh's school. Josh and I had a lot of fun together! It was really a LONG ride - almost 40 minutes. Many of the Moms and Dads had brought along snacks and we ate as we enjoyed our boat ride. Some pics from the day....

Tour Guides

For the next several weeks, we will have various people visiting the company from the States. For many of them this is their first trip to China so we are acting as tour guides. Today we took our current visitor on a canal ride and to Tiger Hill. We had been wanting to take a ride on the canals as a family all summer, but were waiting for the weather to be a bit cooler. And finally, the past several weeks have been BEAUTIFUL!! Sunny (and I mean sunny where you can see the actual sun and not just the sun through a haze) and highs in the 70s to lower 80s. The only downside to this weather is that I am missing fall. You know, put a coat on in the morning but it warms up in the day, the leaves changing colors, pumpkins and apples. I have heard that the leaves won't actually change colors here, but there is a mountain nearby where they do. So, beginning of November, we plan to spend the morning hiking at the only place in Suzhou where leaves DO change colors. Wow, major digression! But with all the people coming to town and planning things for them to do and see, it has got me thinking about the city where we live. There is nothing like describing it to others to show you what you really think.... and I have just been realizing that I really enjoy living here (which is a good thing since we plan to be here for years). Yes, Suzhou has its faults - lots of people, so many stares, pollution, parts are dirty. But our family is really finding our niche here. For that, I am so thankful. I wouldn't trade the experiences that we are having for anything! ;-)

Aren't these "keyhole doorways" fun?! I am not sure if this kind of architecture is just found in Suzhou or also in other cities, but throughout the older parts of the city and in all of the gardens these are everywhere. This doorway opens to the Bonsai Garden at Tiger Hill.

Our flower children. I bargained for these cute flowers. I must confess a moment of Chinese pride. As I was walking by the stall selling these, the woman called out in English. I inquired how much they were (in Chinese) and she answered again in English. I responded with, "Name gui!" (so expensive - this is a typical response when bargaining). She countered again in English so I switched to English. She rapidly got confused when I was inquiring about how much for 2 or 3, as I tried to get a better price by buying more. When I switched BACK to Chinese, she understood me and we dickered over the price a bit more and came to an agreement - ALL in CHINESE! Woo-hoo! Score another point to Sarah in my ongoing battle with this tricky language.... (though seriously, not more than 10 minutes later we attempted to talk to our driver on the phone, had no clue what he was saying and had to call someone to translate. Ah well, like I've said before: nothing like learning a language to keep you humble!)

View of the canal from the boat.

Typical bridge

Taking a time out to eat some xiangjiao (banana). It is so funny to me how our kids' speech is becoming peppered with Chinese. Tori especially uses her own creative version of Chinglish.... a phrase in English, one in Chinese, all in the same sentence. I am sure this from hearing our aie (who speaks ONLY Chinese) and I talk to her all day long. They also are beginning to understand more and more.

An old friend moves to town!

I had heard a rumor that a family friend of ours had moved just down the street.... and was excited the other day to find it to be true! In the same building as Tesco (my main grocery store) and just a block away, look who came to town:

Yes, that's right the Papa came to town! To be fair, there is a Papa John's on the other side of the city, but they don't deliver. This is truly a Papa John's Chinese style. Yes, they have the familiar favorites, but there is one that we are quite scared of called Chinese Treasure. Let me read you the ingredients: grilled chicken, shrimp, mushroom, fresh tomatoes, PICKLES, and creamy alfredo sauce. They had me until the pickles! And it is not a Chinglish mistake because really they had a good translator and the English is quite good. Anyway, in front of the store, they have a small army of bikes with the pizza warmers on the back -- you gotta love that! Seems appropriate in a country that not only has almost as many bikes as people, but has the most electric bikes in one country. Yes, this friend will make frequent stops at our house!

Quite a Scare

Today Tori gave me quite the fright! She was running in our bedroom, when she slipped on a throw rug and skidded, hitting her head on a door handle as she fell. She cut her head right above the hairline and there was so much blood! I had heard that head wounds bleed a lot, but there is nothing like seeing it first-hand! I scooped her up, ran downstairs, and then tried to stem the flow. After a minute or two of applying the towel on the wound, the bleeding stopped. I was still concerned because she had bled SO MUCH and she looked kind of scary - I mean she had a 2 inch stripe of hair covered in blood from the top of her head to the end of her hair (and her hair is really long so that just added to the gruesome factor). Be thankful that I didn't take a picture at that moment, but I was more concerned that she might need stitches and obviously it wasn't really on my mind. I carried her to a friend who is a doctor and lives in our neighborhood. She cleaned it out, applied antiseptic, and said that the cut was small and not deep -- no stitches required. I was so relieved! She kept telling me, "Mommy, I am okay. I feel great!" I asked her to hold my hand as walked back because I was not feeling so great (you know, all that worry was still lingering) and she simply said, "Oh no, Mommy. You feel great, too!" But the best was in the midst of the craziness as I have a towel to her head to stem the flow and she was crying, she moaned to me, "I think that I might need a band aid!" Hours later, I can laugh about it.

My Caichang

So, I thought that since I have run out of new things to tell you as life has fallen into a rhythm here, I would start telling you some of the daily life stuff that is different than the States. Well, I may NEVER run out of things to tell, but much of the newness for us has worn off. Many of you have also asked about just what a typical day or week is like so I will attempt to share some of this. . .  As I have stated before, I go to the grocery a whole lot more here. I have found that I usually go to the grocery store about twice a week and the fresh produce market about two or three times in a week. I love the caichang (fresh produce market)! You can buy so much there! I could buy a chicken (live) and have them kill it for me, buy fish from a tank, so many kinds of tofu, spices, and let's not forget the fruits and veggies. Now, I don't feel brave enough to go the live chicken route (or even buying fish), but I really enjoy buying spices, tofu, fruits and vegetables. This is also a great place to practice my Chinese. I have gotten to the point where I can ask for what I want (I know quite a few vegetables in Chinese), can ask for suggestions and can understand how much I have to pay. Yes! A victory for Sarah in the ongoing Chinese battle! I have a regular veggie lady that I go to - so much so that I sometimes come by myself and she always then asks where the kids are. ;-) But the differences don't stop here - then when you get the vegetables home, EVERYTHING is thoroughly washed (in soap). This helpful piece of advice has kept all of our stomachs behaving normally throughout the transition. Here I am washing xi lan hua.

The Battle of the Squatty

So, the title should properly warn you: THIS IS A BATHROOM STORY! As I mentioned in another post, Tori has refused to use the squatty potties. I wondered how our trip this last week was going to go because MAJORITY of public toilets in China are squatties. Our trip was taking us a little off the beaten path. But we are NOT going back to diapers, so I just packed lots of extra underwear and was hoping for the best. Amazingly enough, Tori found quite a few Western-style toilets in Hangzhou. Huangshan was a little different story. We did find one non-squatty, but of course she didn't have to go then! We had just come down from the mountain and were off the bus and Tori informed me that she had to go pee and poop. I took her to bathroom in the restaurant and of course it was only a squatty. She then proceeded to freak out. I got her to calm down and explain to me what she was thinking. She told me that she was afraid she would fall down the hole. After much reassurances that I would hold her and NOT let her go, she was willing to try. Of course by this time, she had already pooped in her undies! But she did pee in the squatty! Woo-hoo! Small steps.... right? The next day we were driving back and she informed us that she had to go. Now rest area bathrooms are a whole new level of toilet. This time she peed in the squatty and the whole time she was sort of saying to herself over and over (almost under her breath), "I am not going to fall. It is not too slippery for me." She did her business, but unfortunately she is still figuring how to stand so her aim was off and she soaked her undies and skirt. Alas, maybe next time she will master it. I am just excited that she is now willing to try!

Bus Insanity

I mentioned in my last post that we had no trouble going up the mountain (waited only 20 minutes or less for a cable car), but going down was an entirely different story. Apparently, there are 2 cable cars in the same area - a new one (which is the one we took on the way up) and an older one. The newer one runs continuously, but the older one comes only 20 minutes or so and can take 30 people. We waited over an hour for the older cable car (there was quite a line). Well, I thought that the line was long for the cable car, but I had no idea what a long line was.... until we got off the cable car and saw this enormous crowd - all waiting for the bus. Just to give you a bit of perspective this is the line we waited in for the cable car to go up the mountain:

And then here is the crowd waiting in front of us for the bus (can you see the buses in the distance?):

And then all the people behind us:

Tori sleeping in the midst of it all!

Amazingly enough, Tori feel asleep while we were waiting in this crush of people. So, I was carrying Tori and trying to stay with Andy as the people around us were all pushing forward to get to the buses. Thankfully, we got to the bus without getting separated and made it safely down the mountain. As I was standing in the midst of the crowd waiting for the bus, a young woman turned to me and said, "Welcome to China!" I think that this might have been one of the few phrases of English that she knew and she just wanted to practice her English, but I found it incredibly ironic. Here I am, standing in the midst of this overwhelming number of people, having viewed nature all day in the midst of a crowd. As she said this, I thought, "Yes this is truly a China experience! A definite TIC moment!"

Huang Shan

From Hangzhou, we left and drove what should have been 3 hours but actually took us closer to 5 hours due to getting lost. Tuesday night we checked into our hotel room, got some food and collapsed into bed. Wednesday we were up bright and early and ready to tackle the mountain. As we were leaving the hotel Josh asked if we were going to climb all the way up the mountain. I explained that we were going to take a taxi to the bus station, a bus to the cable car and then a cable car up the mountain. Sounds a bit complicated, doesn't it? Getting up the mountain wasn't too complicated, but coming down is another story (and actually another blog entry). The day was beautiful - blue skies and good climbing temperature (mid 60s). We had heard horror stories about how National Week was the worst possible time to climb Huang Shan (The Yellow Mountains) for various reasons: crazy crowds, long lines, no chance to enjoy the scenery. Even with all of this in mind, we decided to brave it when planning our trip. While the crowds were at times overwhelming, the breathtaking views made up for it reminding us a bit of Yosemite. The kids were troupers trekking up and down the steps. We had only two meltdowns (which for an early day with no naps is pretty good I think). Tori flat out refused to put on her coat and was demanding to be carried everywhere. Finally, I won the battle of the jacket and lunch brought back our happy T. Josh's feet started hurting in the afternoon, so to distract him we started counting the steps. We would alternate counting one set in English and the next in Chinese (much to the amusement of the Chinese around us). What a great, tiring day!

The view from the bottom

Riding in the cable car - the ride up took almost 20 minutes

Tori was determined to climb this ledge. Can you see the safety chain before the great precipice? We were spotting her and demanding she hold our hand all day long (which she did  NOT always like).

There were these crazy stone mushrooms and the kids enjoyed climbing on them.

The day started out sunny....

but before long the mist rolled in. The kids were intrigued to be walking in a cloud. 

The stairs that never end! The kids counted these and there were 225! And Tori was determined to climb ALL of them (by herself).

West Lake Impression

Monday evening after dinner, we went to an amazing show - West Lake Impression. Choreographed by the same person who did the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, West Lake became the stage for a fantastic display. Words cannot describe it..... With the stands on the edge of the lake, the "stage" was just below the water so that the dancers looked as if they were dancing right on top of the water. Since it was done at night, special lighting was used to light the stage and the dancers - and the effect was incredible! In the picture above, the man is dancing on the platform just before where the water stage began and the woman is flying in the air. Becca sat on the edge of her seat and was dazzled by the whole show. At one point she said to me, "I never thought I would see something this wonderful in my whole life!" Kind of hard to top that, huh? We wondered how Tori would do since it started at 8PM and debated not going, but we were so glad that we did. All the kids were enchanted by the whole production!

Hangzhou

Hangzhou is considered one of the most beautiful cities in all of China. Located on Xi Hu (West Lake) and only 2 hours by car (or van as the case may be) away from Suzhou. It is amazing we haven't visited sooner! We spent a relaxing day walking around the lake, took a boat out to some islands, and had a delicious dinner.

We found some green space that you are actually allowed to walk on - a rarity in China. Of course the kids wanted to take advantage of it with a game of tag....

Tuesday morning before heading to the mountains, we enjoyed a leisurely cup of STARBUCKS coffee on a balcony overlooking the lake. What a peaceful spot.... we particularly enjoyed this because we can't go anywhere without drawing a crowd. At one point, we had sat on some benches near the lake to eat lunch and enjoy the view. But soon such a crowd had congregated to gawk at us that we couldn't even see the lake! We often joke that we feel like zoo animals. I know that I have mentioned the staring before, but I don't think that you can fully comprehend it without being here. They stare at the kids, they touch them (particularly their hair), they want their pictures taken with them.... did I mention we are like zoo animals? ;-)

Tori loved riding the boat to the islands.

The place we had dinner at was holding a wedding that night - so inadvertently (since we were a few tables away) we went to our first Chinese wedding! The table behind Becca which was right next to ours was the beginning of the wedding guests. Apparently, the actual wedding ceremony takes place in the restaurant. 

Our 1st Chinese Road Trip

This week we took our first road trip. Andy and the kids had the entire week off (for National Day) and we decided to see a bit more of China than just our own city. Yes, you did read that right - they had the week off for National DAY. I should clarify that the holiday is actually celebrated Wednesday through the weekend, but many companies (Andy's included) opt to work the weekend before so that they can then have 7 days in a row off. Anyway, we left Monday morning for Hangzhou and then went on to the Yellow Mountains. I will be doing a blog-o-rama tonight and describing all our adventures. Some memorable moments of our drive:

• Becca LOVES to play games while traveling (particularly the A-B-C game when you find all the letters of the alphabet, which is a bit of a challenge in China). She decided to make up her own game.... she called out, "Let's play, I spy the pollution." Now we are driving through factory after factory, so trying hard not to laugh I asked her to clarify. She told me that she would say if she saw something polluting the earth and we had to try and find it. Needless to say, the possibilities were many. Andy and I think it is ironic that we moved to China with our environmentally conscious 7-year-old!
• While driving from Hangzhou to the hotel we were staying at in the Yellow Mountains, we got really lost. We had directions, but the road that we were supposed to take was under construction. Now I am talking about driving 5 miles on a dirt road and passing cows (in the road) lost! Andy and I each were envisioning spending the night in our van parked in a field somewhere! Thankfully, we backtracked and found our way back to the highway. We then asked the toll operator how to get to the city of our hotel and found out that it would be only about 30 kilometers on the highway. Let me just state for the record that we are grateful that we had already started learning Chinese because between our limited Chinese and the man's little bit of English we were able to understand the directions. I also think that we are going to seriously think about investing in GPS before we go on another road trip. It is one thing to get lost when the signs are in English (and almost all of the highway signs are in both Chinese and English), but imagine being in a small town and all the signs are only in Chinese. Definitely adds a bit of challenge!