Dragon Boat Festival

Last Thursday was Dragon Boat Festival and a national holiday so both Andy and the kids had the day off. We set off to find some dragon boat races. The marina on Taihu (lake Tai) sponsored races. We had a blast watching the races. The start and finishes were the best. We then came home and grilled out. Saturday we went to a friends house with a bunch of others. All in all a wonderful three day weekend. The only strange part of it was the timing of the days off. Since the official holiday is on Thursday, the official days off were Thursday-Friday-Saturday, and then Sunday was a workday. There are many Chinese holidays that end up working out this way.... we find it a little baffling. Actually, because of the weather and then grilling with friends, it felt a lot like Memorial Day weekend. 

Okay, I have more pictures than this, but the internet is being grumpy and slow. I will try to add them tomorrow.

That time of year again....

It started with a couple early scouts in March, but by mid-April the whole troupe of mosquitoes were back in full force. We promptly put up the kids' nets. Last summer, Andy and I didn't need one in our room. But we have been woken in the middle of the night every night this last week being attacked. So, tonight I went and bought a mosquito net for us as well. You might ask why we need our nets. Several reasons..... the screens in our house only slow them down and don't really stop them from coming in and I think they also come in through the drains. Each night before I go to bed, I check inside the kids nets. And still, sometimes in the morning I find one in their nets. I tell you, these are vicious little monsters!

This is just too pretty for words. As Andy said, "why do the kids get plain ones and we sleep with frills?" We are just not frilly people....  but honestly, because this was the plainest one for our size bed that I could find! :-D

A day for signs

It has been awhile since I have seen some blog-worthy signs of random English translations. When Tom (Andy's dad) was here we went to Taihu (Lake Tai) for his last day. We went to an "agricultural tourism" farm that had the most random assortment of things to do (but that is a whole different posting that I am promising is coming soon). That day we were graced with several great signs. Here are my two favorites.....

The lower half of the sign: "Dimly discernible peak scenic area" What made it even funnier to us was that the day was rather murky and indeed "dimly discernible." I can only imagine what it was like at the top of the hill.

a.k.a.... Petting zoo

Jaunt to Hangzhou

Last week we had the privilege of a visit from Andy's Dad Tom. Can I just state for the record that we love visitors!? And we have plenty of room in our house for people to stay with us..... so, if you have ever wanted to visit China....

I digress. On Saturday we drove to Hangzhou to spend the weekend. Hangzhou is beautiful city located on XiHu (West Lake). After a long drive battling traffic, we arrived and visited the tea museum. There is a whole lot more to the growing and even brewing tea that I ever imagined. The kids were interested to see what tea bushes look like and some of the machinery used for the pressing and drying of the tea leaves. After touring the museum, we went to the hotel to rest up, had a marvelous dinner, and then went to the show called Impressions. We had been before but it is an amazing show using the water as the stage (the actual stage is 3 cm below the surface of the water so the performers look as if they are walking on water). The show, which is choreographed by the man who did the opening ceremony for the Olympics, takes place in the evening and uses lights and music in a breathtaking way. But it made for quite a late night and we were more than ready for bed at the end. In fact, Josh and Tori feel asleep in the midst of the performance.

The next morning we spent some time just enjoying the scenery of the lake. First enjoying our coffee on Starbuck's balcony overlooking the lake. We then took a boat to one of the islands in the middle of West Lake. It was a wonderful weekend. Here some of the highlights in pics:

Outside the tea museum

A man working in the tea fields

Tori in a tea field.

We have so many pictures of our kids in these "keyhole" doorways. But they are always adorable, so I had to post yet another.

Becca and Grandpa having a discussion while riding on the boat.

I am still here!

Yes, indeed, I am still here! But I have been busy, hence the lack of posting. Hopefully, over the next few days I will update you all on that has happened over the last few weeks. If only life would slow down, so I have time....

Just in the last couple of weeks, we had a visit from Andy's dad, Tom, Andy and I were rather sick, and we FINALLY bought tickets for our visit home this summer. I am getting excited about visiting and hopefully seeing many of YOU. But I am also realizing the many things that I need to do here before we leave and then I have quite the list of things to take care of in the US. While this summer will be fun, I am not sure that it will be relaxing. Alright, let the updating begin!

Learning Chinese

It has been quite awhile since I updated you all on my ongoing battle with Chinese. Probably because it feels like there is nothing to report! Not that I am not progressing, but it is just slow and steady. I feel like the tortoise plodding along. But.... I have really been pondering for a some time about ramping up my language learning. So, I think that next year I am going to take classes full-time (which works out to be half-days) at Soochow University here in Suzhou. This means not only full-out more Chinese, but learning characters as well. This year has been wonderful meeting with a tutor and just making sure all the kids were adjusting well, but I feel ready for the next step. Now that I have decided this, the "American" in me wants to register for classes. Find out times. You know, figure everything out. But this is a more laid-back system, and I won't need to register until August. I will keep you updated....

Beautiful Suzhou

I spent most of last week sick. Feverish and just feeling lousy. Monday I started feeling like myself again. But I had a ton of errands to do this morning! Amazing how things pile up when you are not feeling well. I set off to pay for the gas, put more minutes on my cell phone, among other things. Of course as I was doing these things, I floundered along using broken Chinese (and at one point seriously needing the help of a bank employee to know which button to push on the machine that uses only characters). But as I was walking home, I was struck by how much I love it here. Yes, I don't always understand why something is happening. But I look forward to understanding culture more so I do. Yes, things are not familiar. But in fact, I am becoming accustomed to the unfamiliarity. I wonder how the U.S. will feel unfamiliar and different this summer when we visit. Yes, learning Chinese is hard... but also rewarding. Throughout the last 11 months, I have really come to appreciate where we live. While I am really looking forward to visiting the US this summer (less than 2 months!), this is home.