Uninspired

So, I have not blogged in over a month. And while the usual excuse (of busyness) is there. I think it is more than that. I think that I have just been lacking in inspiration.

But just to keep you somewhat updated, here is a snapshot of our last month:

• Hosted 2 Thanksgivings (one with almost 40 people, and one with a measly 25)
• Got family portraits done
• Hosted a Christmas dinner for our church's leadership
• Josh performed in the lower grades school musical. My quiet boy actually rapped. It was awesome to see!

And in the midst of it all, school and work continues. Today is the kids' (well, at least Josh and Becca's) last day before holiday break. Tori does not get a holiday break, but in the idea of family harmony, I will decide which days she can stay home from school.

Packed in

I have become used to taking the bus. So much so, that I really don't think about the crowds or other quirks of public transportation here in Suzhou. But like my other recent attempts to show you more of a complete picture of our life here, I thought I would show you a fairly normal sight on my morning commute:

While I am not the only foreigner on the bus, you can see that I am definitely in the minority. Today it was raining and so the bus was particularly crowded (some who might normally use a bike or e-bike in nicer weather opt for the bus in the rain). But there is a saying in Chinese that is commonly heard:

中囯人太多了.没办法.

(Zhongguoren tai dou le, Mei banfa. MEANING: The Chinese people are too many. There is no solution.) I think that pretty much sums it up!

Waiting in Line

I am trying to bring you more pictures that capture our everyday life. Here I am standing in line to pick up Tori from school. The school is ahead on the right (though not visible in the picture). When I pick her up, I scan a card on a machine (each family is issued several cards) and that way they know exactly who is at the school at any given time. Another thing that I think is a great idea is that to communicate with the parents, they send text messages (granted they are in Chinese, but it just becomes a way to practice what I am learning). That is often the way that I communicate with the teachers as well. But back to standing in line. . . I tell you, many times, this song runs through my head: "One of things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong..."

Morning Communte

Just another morning commute for all of these people (this photo was taken as I was waiting for the bus). . .

Even though there are more and more people driving cars in China, the bike and e-bike are still the most popular ways to get around. Did you know that there are estimated more than 120 million e-bikes used in China? Isn't that crazy?! It is estimated that there are about 200,000 e-bikes used in all of the United States. I have read that between 700,000 and 800,000 e-bikes are used in Beijing alone. This number is hard to gauge because there is no license required to operate them. I have been pondering buying one. But in the meantime, I have been borrowing a friend's while they are back in the U.S.. Can you imagine me (with several kids) on one of these?

AMAZING RACE: Unexpected Challenge

Unexpected Challenge: Stomach Virus

When living (and especially traveling) in a foreign country, you just kind of expect that sometimes your stomach is not always going to be happy. So when Andy's stomach wasn't doing the best one day, we chalked it up to any number of things (sanitary issues, iffy food, you name it). But then the next day both Becca's and my stomach were not happy. And I began to have suspicions that it might be more than just a "China tummy day." The following day when we were at Leshan seeing the Big Buddha, Josh began complaining that his stomach hurt. Uh oh. On the 2 hour drive back, Josh got really sick several times in the van. Yeah, my concerns were confirmed. He was one sick little man that night. We just stayed at our hostel (and I have never been more thankful for a washer than I was that night). He went to sleep super early and the next morning, thankfully felt fine. On the night he was not feeling well, Andy and I were talking and realized that our kids have gotten sick (aka thrown up) in all kinds of places in several different countries. Just one of the joys of adventuring with kiddos, I guess. I must say that I think that Tori is quite the hardy kiddo because she was the only one of us to make it through this episode unscathed. For which I cannot express enough gratitude because the Super T sick is a daunting thing.

As an aside, I am FINALLY going to finish blogging about this trip tomorrow. Only a couple more noteworthy things. And then back to our "normal life." :-)

One of those days. . .

Everyone has those days every now and then. Days where it just seems like everything is going wrong. Today it seems that our house had one of those days. Last night I noticed that our rug was wet in the kitchen. I thought that one of the kids had just spilled some water. But this morning there was no mistaking that it was more than that as part of the kitchen floor was covered in water. Our ayi (housekeeper), Xiao Lu called the maintenance department of our neighborhood. Someone came to see the problem, went to get a part and returned to fix it. I was out while it was fixed but apparently, they needed to move our oven out to fix the water line. But in moving out the oven, the hose going to the oven broke, and our gas started to leak. They quickly turned off the gas and aired out the house. I talked to Xiao Lu shortly after this and she informed me that there was no water and the gas was broken. [sigh] They fixed the water but she then called the gas company to ask them to send someone to fix the gas problem. They told her that since it was in the house it was not their problem. She next called the neighborhood maintenance department and they told her since it was an oven, they were not qualified to fix it. I called our landlord and she was going to send someone to fix it. In the meantime a different maintenance guy from the neighborhood came by and he was able to fix the gas. But by this time it was almost 5. Hmm, guess we are going out for dinner. We returned from dinner to find that the water was leaking again. Oh, yay! Does this mean we get to do it all again tomorrow?!

Seen on the Bus

I am rather used to seeing unusual things on the bus. People who sell things on the street get on with large baskets and the poles they carry them with. People traveling get on with luggage. I have even seem live animals (though that is not a usual sight). Today I saw an amusing sight . . . a man got on carrying a flat screen monitor. Not in a box. Not even in a bag. Just carrying the monitor. And the bus was PACKED! Not a seat to be had. So there he was standing, holding on, and carrying his monitor. Finally, a seat opened up near where we were standing. I offered it to him and he turned me down. Didn't see when he got off. Hope the monitor made it to its destination safely!