My Bright Shining Stars

The end of term is this week. Hard to believe we've already been here long enough for the girls to be finishing their first term of school. It's been a trying time, but the holidays are upon us and my parents will be arriving in less than two weeks.

We were treated to several performances this weekend. Each one of the girls was involved in an extracurricular activity, which culminated in a display of their hard work. Friday, Sarah's dance class performed during the general school assembly. So cute, she really is a ballerina. Not sure where she inherited her gracefulness as her dad and I aren't known for that particular attribute. Larry and I sat there smirking through the other class's routines. Once again, I was reminded of what my parents must have gone through. Those endless recitals where I thought our class was flawless, but were probably as filled with mistakes and wrong turns as these groups were. Still, our pride was plentiful and Sarah looked and danced like an angel.

Saturday proved to be trickier than anticipated. Both Sydney and Katie had their respective performances. Unfortunately, Sydney's Tae Kwon Do exam/presentation was almost at the same time as Katie's choir performance, which took place on the other side of town. Not a big deal if we were in Seneca as 'across town' is like a 5 minute drive. Here, 'across town' can be an hour away. We all were able to watch Sydney kick the crud out of a punching bag and show off some cool moves, but Katie and I had to leave in order to make it to her locale in time to sing. I did not get to see Sydney break a board in two pieces and move up to the next belt level. I told you she was the enforcer of the family.

Katie made it to the Sheraton in the nick of time. The Expat Association of Suzhou held a kids' Christmas party and it was the largest gathering of 'westerners' I'd seen since arriving to China. Cindy and I had gone to the Newcomers coffee earlier in the week and bought tickets for this extravaganza then. Not sure if this Expat group is for me. I'm still trying to adjust to not working and I don't think I'll last as one of the unemployed. This group seems to relish in their socializing. Another blog for another day.

I managed to locate a vacant table and tried to secure nine seats for our family and Cindy's. Katie and the choir soon appeared and I jumped up to get close enough to snap a few pictures. The choir did a great job and looked really cute in their scarves and santa hats. Larry and the twins were able to see/hear the last song while waiting in line to get in. The place was packed, but fairly well organized. The girls got to put their order in with Santa and made some artsy craftsy things before we called it a day. This week, there are more performances and parties. I'm pretty sure they will get to go to more parties than Larry and me. Oh well.

Seven? Are They Really Seven?

My little babies turned seven years old. I'm kind of at a loss. When they were six I could still kind of pretend they were my babies, but there's something about the age of seven that just sounds older. Oh, and the chinese culture dictates that you are already a year old when you are born, so they are trying to say they are actually eight. Nope, not going along with that one.

We've decided to hold off on a party until next month (Katie liked that plan since she had to wait) as there are so many events going on with school and lots of kids are actually leaving for the winter break this week.

Last night, we let the twins choose where they wanted to eat. Times Square has dozens of restaurants that we haven't tried yet, but where do they pick? Pizza Hut. Afterwards, we walked through the huge four story upscale mall in search of the arcade. We remembered seeing one, but couldn't quite remember on which level it was. Eventually, we found it and the girls played some games and won some trinkets. We also watched the outdoor "movie" and enjoyed the pretty sights.

Mr. Liu bought the girls a birthday cake, but was tired so didn't stay around for the festivities. I don't know if all drivers treat their drivees so well, but we are really spoiled. Wishes were made and candles were blown (twice so each had a turn), presents opened and played with, and finally around nine my angels went to bed.

Oh, Danny Boy, the Pipes the Pipes are Calling...

Every Friday at Dulwich, the students attend a school-wide assembly. The content of these assemblies changes weekly. Each Year may be in charge of presenting or there may be a holiday themed program. Parents are welcome to attend, but I've stayed clear until I was formally invited by one of my girls. The "Pavarotti Choir" as well as Year 10 was slated to present on Remembrance Day (Veterans Day), and then again on the First Annual International Schools' Music Day. I'd heard Katie singing a couple of songs, assuming she'd learned them in choir.

The auditorium is quite large, but even so the students fill up the lower section. Parents have to sit in the balcony. For Remembrance Day I managed a front row balcony seat, but forgot the video camera and had to use my phone to capture the moment. The kids did a good job with an emotional tribute to the British veterans. The Headmaster Mr. Magnus touted the hard work of all the students for both events. He's so proud of his school as well he should be.

The Music Day was for the Junior and Senior Schools' music students. Dulwich, along with five other International Schools from the area came together and made music. There's no better words to describe it. The band, orchestra and choirs from these schools practiced all day together, learning three to four new pieces of music and then performed at the end of the day for the entire school. You all know how choked up I get when there's music and my children involved. Add the fact that Larry was able to enjoy it as we'd just come from the airport after his long trip.

I'm still trying to figure out how to download a readable file from my phone to the computer. I did snap a couple of pictures of the days' highlights, but hopefully, tonight Larry can help me put the videos on here. Yep, he's actually home this week.

A Walk in the "Neighborhood"

As I've mentioned, walking is an integral part of our lives now. Yes, we have a driver and Mr. Liu has been invaluable to us, but to really experience the city and see what isn't necesarily meant for internationals to see we walk. Ok, so Mr. Liu comes with us to the trickier areas. He wards off the peskier folks and loves the attention the girls still receive. I was walking in the mornings, but it rained for almost two weeks straight. The trek would vary, sometimes around the park or maybe to the giant ferris wheel, but usually it was to the neighborhood center. It's hard to describe what these centers encompass. When I think of neighborhood centers, swimming pools, tennis courts, recreation-type areas come to mind. Well, those kind of places are "clubhouses" and are located in the compounds. Royal Peninsula has a nice clubhouse, but when it was being built somebody didn't fill out the proper paperwork with our friendly Chinese government and now it sits empty waiting for redemption.

Neighborhood centers are as big as shopping malls at home. These centers are all over the city, usually located in areas with many high rise apartment complexes or compounds. I did write about all the things that are in ours, but I keep learning new things about it. Each time I go, some new sight reveals itself. Just the other morning, I noticed how many grandparents were there with little babies playing in the park. Not a handful, we're talking dozens upon dozens. It's one thing to read about the culture and try to study it in classes back home, but to truly understand, or rather try to begin to understand, one has to witness it. The importance of family is not a lost concept on me by any means, but it is a different concept compared to the chinese people. But I digress yet again.

I finally worked up the nerve and enough chinese vocabulary to go to the fresh market. What a treat! I walked out of there with grapes, bag of oranges, onions, noodles, cantalope and fresh-from-the-chicken eggs. Oh yeh, remember my quip about how they probably butcher the chickens in the back room? I was wrong. They don't butcher them in the back room. First, you pick out the one you want for dinner, next they boil it, then defeather & debowel it (if you want)and finally wrap it up...all right in front of you. Nope, haven't done that yet, but lucky me, there was a woman right next to me who did.

The pictures are taken from our back door to the neighborhood center. I just love that walk.

Internet Access!

Good news! Larry worked his IT magic and I now have access on my computer to my blog, Facebook, US television shows and everything else that has been blocked since we got to China. That's a good thing and a bad thing. Updating this site will become more regular, but I must not get addicted to this machine like I was at work. There is too much out there waiting for me to discover. I've got a couple of videos I have to figure out how to add, and several adventures to document, one involving chickens.

A Life Lesson

I've been kind of blue these past couple of days. I tend to get like that when Larry goes away for one of his longer trips. My focus initially goes inward and things deteriorate from there. I'm still struggling with homesickness and coupled with the news that our S.C home sold this week, I was sure the "blahs" would take a strong hold.

My girls, thankfully, did not allow that to happen. Their constant bickering had my nerves nearing their breaking point, but today, as I wrestled with my Chinese lesson (another post for another day), I glanced over at my girls. They had two friends over; Katerina, a sweet little blond girl from Germany and Francis, a tall, striking eleven year old South American. The music was blaring Hannah Montana and my girls were trying to teach their guests the line dance from Hannah's movie. Katerina was clutching one of the twins' baby dolls, staring wide eyed with those huge blue Arian eyes, wondering what crazy planet she'd stumbled into. But then, she burst into the cutest giggle as Katie spun her around in a circle.

I felt suddenly like a fog had been lifted. I watched from the other room as these children played with, listened to, and learned from each other. Unfortunately, I was too slow to snap a picture of the dancing. My Chinese lesson was temporarily forgotten as the lesson learned from watching those kids had a much greater and needed impact.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Ok, so Katie's birthday was over a month ago, but she didn't have a party as that was also the start of the National holiday. She's been begging for a slumber party. I was able to hold her off saying we couldn't until our things arrived. Well, our things arrived and I no longer had an excuse. She showed me her list of friends and I about dropped dead right there as it was well over ten. I negotiated it down to five, thinking I needed to start out small if there was ever going to be any more slumber parties.

All but one arrived Thursday evening, ready to party. Marcella and Mariella, identical twins from Brazil, Amy from Wales and Sarah from Shrewsbury, MA, but oddly, she speaks with a nice British accent. Coupled with Katie, Syd and Sarah, the decibal level in this house went up tenfold. The accoustics are amazing and every sound was overwhelmingly clear. I started guzzling my high dollar diet pepsi as I knew what was in store. I had flashbacks to my 8th birthday and suddenly felt weary, getting just a small glimpse of what my parents had endured.

We had comedy from Sydney, we had horror as Larry scared the begeezus out of them with a Halloween mask and of course we had drama. Little girls sure know how to bring out the drama (I should know...)

They watched movies, ate pizza, painted their nails, ate more pizza, cake and ice cream, decorated pillow cases, had pillow fights, played hide and seek, ate popcorn at midnight, and finally at 2 am, there was silence. At 2:30, Katie came upstairs (they were all sleeping on the family room floor) and got into her bed, but at 5 she went back downstairs so no one would know she'd chickened out at her own party. At 6:45 they were back up, eating doughnuts. By 9 all were gone and I was left with a HUGE mess and an even larger headache. Thank god for May and Excedrin.

Catching Up

A whole month snuck by. It's been kind of a stressful one at that. "Issues" arose with Larry's contract and well, things just seem to take longer here to work out. Thankfully, it appears as if things are working out and we are sleeping a little better.

Our townhouse is starting to feel and look like a home since our shipment from the US finally arrived...88 days later. Only a few moving casualties, including two of my Madam Alexander dolls. The food even made it. The girls have enjoyed the Pop Tarts, grits and granola bars. Some of the uppity grocery stores sell those things (well, not the grits) but you pay DEARLY. I'm not willing to pay 45RMB (about $7) for a box of Cocoa Puffs. Besides, I really enjoy walking to the neighborhood center, which is about a mile, and trying to "communicate" with the folks there. This place has a grocery store, a gym, KFC (really!), candy store, bakery, coffee shop, camera/film developing, kitchen center, florist and a fresh market. When I say fresh market I mean it. I'm pretty sure when you ask for chicken breasts they go in the back and slaughter them right there. The fruits and vegetables are amazing as well as the fresh made noodles. I keep forgetting to bring my camera to capture the scene.

I must say moving to China was the best thing to change my attitude regarding exercise. That and the fact that I still feel like the largest woman in China. Slowly but sure, though, the weight is coming off and I haven't felt this healthy in a while. Our townhouse has four stories so I've got a built-in Stairmaster. The girls ride their bikes and/or their scooters everyday. I think Larry and I are going to break down and buy a couple for ourselves. I just don't know if I'll ever feel confident enough to ride with the masses.

No Posts For a Few Weeks

Well, I'll be without Larry (and his computer) for the next three weeks. He is going to a supplier in southern China, a convention in Hong Kong, then headed to Leeds, England for a week, and finishing up in Dailin to meet some folks from France (which means he doesn't have to go there). We sure are going to miss him, but can't wait to hear about his adventures. Oh, and the guys in Leeds told him to bring his golf clubs....rough life.

Stay tuned as I'll have my own stories to add. I begin chinese lessons and yoga this week.

It's a Small World After All...

We'd promised the girls a trip to Suzhou Amusement Land. Many of the locals told us that there were some good rides for both big and small. Mr. Liu accompanied us and made sure we bought the right tickets. He'd never been before and I'm pretty sure he had as good of a time as the girls did.

We went to the younger kids' rides first. It felt like Six Flags, and Chuck E Cheese and when we entered the "Small World" ride, it was as if we'd been transported to Orlando. As we were loaded on to the little boats I said to Larry that if we heard "It's a Small World" I'd scream. Well, I screamed. The ride was as close to the ride at Disney as the Chinese could come. However, I didn't look too closely at some of the dolls because it became really creepy as the humidity wreaked havoc with them. Bumper cars were next. I had to laugh, though, as I watched the locals bashing into each other driving cars with Lady Liberty painted on the front.

Another touch of Disney showed itself when the girls got cotton candy and they put it in Mickey Mouse bags. Larry, Mr. Liu and I enjoyed some squid-on-a-stick. Syd and Sarah tried a bite, but didn't come back for seconds. Katie and Larry paid extra and rode a couple of the bigger, more daring rides. The twins weren't tall enough and I've been fighting my dizziness and decided not to exacerbate it. While waiting, Syd took quite a spill and busted her hip. Good thing there were pony rides to distract her. They weren't exactly ponies and Sarah even galloped with the help of the rider next to her. Syd didn't want any part of that and took her laps walking.

We went on a low-tech version of Space Mountain. Katie and Syd did not enjoy the Haunted House, but I think everyone had fun. We didn't make it to the top of Lion Mountain as the rides closed at 5pm, but after seven hours we were ready for something other than skewers. I'd had a hankering for some good noodles, so Mr. Liu took us to a place frequented by taxi drivers. Sarah and her need to check out all public restrooms brought us next door to what I'd envisioned as "public". Single bulb, spiders, cracked walls, no door, mop for messes and distinct smells coming from recesses no one should explore. The noodles, on the other hand, were quite yummy. I did have a couple of pieces of mystery meat at the bottom of my bowl, which remained there. The girls did a good job on their respective bowls, too. In the words of Sarah,"Good times, good times!"

Every Day is a Holiday

Since we arrived in China almost two months ago, I have felt like I've been on vacation, a stress-filled one at times, but a vacation nonetheless. But you've never seen anyone enjoy a holiday until you've seen the people of Suzhou enjoy one. October 1 is not only Katie's birthday it marks the first day of the mid autumn holiday. National Day celebrates the anniversary of communism and this is the 60th year. The city spared no expense decorating with flowers, lights, lanterns, food, music and more fireworks.

Since many of Katie's schoolmates went away for the holiday we decided to hold off on the party until later this month. We instead went over the Sollars' apartment, where they prepared a feast of a meal. I did manage to order a cake (couldn't make one as our things are still sitting in some warehouse until after the holiday) with the help of John and May. I had no idea what kind of cake, what it would look like or taste like, but I knew it would say "Happy Birthday". When we unveiled the cake, it did say Happy Birthday, but it was written in Chinese. We then watched the fireworks from their 32nd floor balcony. I've never seen fireworks from eye level before. It kind of takes away the magic when you can look down and see where they are shot from . It was still pretty cool. Traffic stopped dead on the streets with folks just getting out of their cars to watch.

We were bound and determined to see the giant panda at the Suzhou Zoo before it got transferred back to its home zoo. So, along a few thousand others, the following day we went. The fee included entrance to the zoo and East Garden. All of the animals were active and out. We saw monkeys, giraffes, bears, zebras, birds, and, yes...the giant panda (ok...the panda was kind of lounging under a stump, but the girls got a good look at him). There was also this reptile cave we went down into. It was pretty sketchy, like something out of a horror movie, you know, with the single bulb lighting the way. Some of the cages were dark and you didn't know what might jump out at you, but we survived. Out of all the animals there, I think the girls were the largest draw.

Since we weren't all that interested in meat-on-a-stick for lunch, we went to a japenese/chinese restaurant. It was the same one Larry had gone to when he was in training, so I assumed it was edible. We walked upstairs and were seated on the floor, which the girls loved and thought was totally cool. With the help of Mr. Liu, we managed to order some good eats. Sarah enjoyed the shrimp, while Katie and Sydney stuck with steak and chicken, respectively. Unfortunately, bathrooms still pose a problem with some of us and without going into too much detail one of us left our mark there.