The Friday 5 - Middles

Okay, I liked this one all about middles. 

1. What usually marks the middle of your day?

Lunch. Though that is not the exact middle of my day, I think that is what I think of as the middle of my "Andy-gone-from-the-house-time."

2. From whom (or to whom) was your most recent middle-of-the-night phone call? 

Being that we are literally on the other side of the world from our friends and family, we get our fair share of middle of the night calls. I think that our last one was from Andy's boss. Nothing was wrong, he had just forgotten that we don't do daylight savings here (which meant that he had figured the time wrong). Thankfully, we hadn't been asleep long and were able to get back to sleep! :-)

3. On what social, political, economic, or moral issue are you in the middle of the road?

I often feel in the middle on many political issues/candidates - more conservative on moral issues (abortion) and more liberal on social ones (education and health care).

4. How likely are you to give someone the middle finger? 

Hmm, I don't know if I have EVER given someone the finger. At least, I don't remember doing so.

5. When were you last caught in the middle of a disagreement that really had nothing to do with you? 

As a mother of 3 munchikins, I am constantly in the middle of an argument that not only has nothing to do with me, often it doesn't even seem to have a point. Anyone relate?

If you want to play along, either email me your answers, answer them on your blog, or leave a comment.

The Ancient Town of Mudu

Last Saturday we (once again) were acting as tour guides. We took our guest someplace we had never been -- to an ancient town located fairly close to where we live. The town of Mudu has a newer part, but in the middle along a canal is a part that is hundreds of years old. We walked along and then discovered a garden and temple that we explored. Some pictures of our day....

The streets of the old town of Mudu

A buddhist temple - I had an interesting discussion with the kids about what this was.

Exploring the buildings in the garden

No garden would be complete without "rockeries" and caves.

A lookout at the top of the "rockery" that we climbed

At the top of the hill (in the picture above), we saw this sign. Isn't the picture priceless?

She's a Bad Cat

Becca came home from school today on the later bus since she had a club afterschool. She was practically vibrating with excitement! She then proceeded to talk nonstop for the half an hour before dinner and throughout dinner. She must have used up her words and shared her joy by the end of dinner because she was finally able to eat. So why was she keyed up you ask? The younger grades are putting on a play. Becca tried out for a part today and got the part she wanted! She is going to be the "bad cat"in a play about space mice. Don't you love elementary school plays? She has been practicing her "mean sounding meow"  (her words, not mine) for the last several days. ;-) Here are some pictures of our budding actress:

A Chinese Wedding

This evening we attended a wedding dinner for one of the women at Andy's company. I think that it is such an interesting cultural experience to see what traditions a wedding entails. Apparently, a couple goes through several wedding ceremonies and dinners. This was the couple's 3rd ceremony/dinner! One in each of their hometowns and then this one was for close friends and co-workers. These don't even include the procedure to get the official license! Yikes, doesn't that sound overwhelming (at least I would be exhausted as the bride)?! We had a great time hanging out with people from the company. The kids even tried some crazy foods.

The official cutting of the cake - with chopsticks. But what I found REALLY interesting is that we didn't get to actually eat any cake. They cut it and then it was whisked away. Hmmm, I feel like I missed something (literally).

Pouring champagne. Again we didn't drink any, it was more decorative. But I was amused because the groom intentionally shook it up trying to get it to spray everywhere. Then the couple poured it together.

Trying some crazy food..... Tori was quite worried about the hairy crabs. And, yes, the crabs are really and truly hairy! But I must confess that I side with Tori on this one, knowing how you are "supposed" to eat it, I am a little apprehensive as well! I won't go into the particulars because it is unappetizing. But they are a Suzhou delicacy and a must at a wedding.

Any guesses as to what Becca is about to eat? I will give you a clue, it is meat. I know that doesn't exactly narrow it down since the Chinese waste nothing of an animal. Okay, one last clue - it is pork. (look below for the answer)

Pig's ear. I kid you not! And Becca is having her second helping in this picture. Josh liked it as well and ate a couple. If you get past what it is, it tastes good and is quite tender.

Trick-or-Treat

Yesterday for Halloween, our neighborhood had trick-or-treating and then a party at the clubhouse. There had been much debate in our house about what all the kids were going to dress up as. I had thought that costumes were harder to come buy here so we raided the dress up chest. Here is are the final decisions:

Tori was a beautiful butterfly

Josh a superhero

And Becca a black lab

We had a great evening. Becca had a blast dancing at the party, but my favorite part of the night was...... 

having Andy home (doesn't Tori look happy about it too?). He was is Beijing for a couple of days. 

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?