A Week Sans Katie

Since I forgot to download the pictures from the camera before I sent it with Katie, I won't be posting this week. Yes, our little Katie left yesterday morning for a week-long trip to Nanbeihu, which is about two hours south of here. Both the junior and the senior school kids are away. Sarah and Sydney had a hard time containing themselves this morning when they got on the bus because with the older kids gone they have the run of the school and back seats on the bus.
Katie was a bit nervous the night before she left, waking up a couple of times crying. I was quite fearful that we'd have a long and painful goodbye. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived and she teamed up with her "roomies". I was a mere afterthought, cramping her style. I asked if I could give her a quick peck on the cheek before being dismissed. She obliged but didn't give me a second glance as I left. I know I should be happy, but she could have spared one dramatic tear for her mother's sake.
Katie promised to take lots of pictures. She's even agreed to be a guest blogger and write all about her trip. Can't wait!

So Much History, So Little Time

The second part of our day trip took us to Luxiang, an ancient village that dates back to the Ming Dynasty. It was the hometown of the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, Wangao. There are over thirty well preserved buildings that serve as they did over seven hundred years ago. Shops, temples, homes and some are now converted over to displaying artifacts. The girls loved exploring the narrow alleyways and climbing the steep outdoor staircases that led to glorious rock gardens and meditation areas. Around each corner a new surprise awaited. Rosewood and mahagony carved furniture, stone-carved stovetops and ovens cramped in a kitchen area a third the size of my kitchen (and mine is pretty small). I passed one wooden-carved staircase that I'm sure was too narrow f0r me to ascend.
It was as if we'd stepped back in time. The local villagers went about their daily business barely giving us a second glance. The only vendors here sold tea, fruit and fish. There was an eighty-nine year old man who was taken in by Katie. He was sitting just inside one of the sacred thresholds, (which we found out after the fact that one should step over and not on) and couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her.
Wangao's residence was impressive, there were more carvings and a large Nine Dragon screen that was placed behind his chair. It is the most valued possession in the home.
We only spent an hour and half there as lunch ran a little late. I could have spent much longer. The girls were as impressed by all of the statues as they were by the chickens running freely throughout the village. History of this magnitude just doesn't impress them. I guess when I was their age and we visited Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts or Williamsburg, Virginia I was more interested in all of the potentially cool hiding places, too.
By the time we headed back to SIP, everyone was tired. It felt like we'd been to a distant land when it was still basically the same city. Will we even see all that Suzhou has to offer while we're here? I doubt it, but we'll sure try.

Tea Picking

Finally, there is a faint hint of Spring in the air...hopefully, to stay. After paying the last two month's electric bill, I understand now why the locals heat their bodies with layer upon layer of clothing and not electric heat. Flowers are blooming, trees are budding and the layers are coming off. It's also tea picking season. I signed the girls and I up to partake in some honest to goodness chinese tea picking. Again, I went on the assumption that it was the thing to do. Every expat should experience it. I mean, it is the national drink and the Lake Tai region tea is supposedly quite renowed. We boarded a bus and headed out to DongShan, which is about 60 km southwest. We passed rice patties and fish farms that date back thousands of years. It's hard to comprehend at times, these places with SO much history. All along the hillside were acres and acres of tea bushes. The main road, which follows along the lake shore, is single lane and is currently under construction. Our bus crossed over what can only be described as makeshift bridges, and I held my breath crossing each one. The narrow streets through the little villages were crowded with bricks and cement trucks and debris. Evidently, the island is going through an economic boom due to the new road, tripling the housing value.

Mr Ye, the tea farmer, led us through his village up the hillside to our plot. His workers showed us the proper technique for pinching the tea leaves off and which part of the bush to be picked. We diligently picked for close to an hour and each of us was given a large basket to fill. After the hour, all of our baskets (about 20) were combined to produce less than a quarter full one. Free labor as we didn't get to keep any. I did hide a jasmine blossom (there were a few bushes mixed throughout the hill) in my bag, but the gods must have been watching because it was crushed beyond recognition by the time we got home. What a painstakingly tedious yet meticulous task. Next stop was the production area, which consisted of two extremely small rooms. The first room was where the pickers brought their baskets to be weighed, and the leaves were separated. Two older women sat at a table and went through each leaf by hand, pulling out damaged or older leaves. The other room had two large wok-like pans set in stone, heated underneath by tea bush branches. The worker would turn the leaves over and over for forty five minutes in the wok, drying them out. And that's it. The leaves are placed in foil bags and sold for more per gram than gold.

We ate lunch on boat, a large restaurant that resembled a steamboat. I worried the girls wouldn't eat anything, but they surprised me by trying some dishes. Katie and Sydney even tried jellyfish. I had to as well. I must say the flavor was good, but we all agreed we couldn't get beyond the crunchy yet slimy texture. Sarah held out for the rice. I also must mention the restroom. We've been to a few hold-your-breath ones, but this particular one, I think, surpassed the rest. If there hadn't been a main door I would have mistaken it for a trough. So, still suffering from a bit of my inner ear troubles, on a rocking boat, trying to maintain my balance over said trough should win me some kind of award. Had I known I wouldn't have had so much tea.

After lunch, we stopped at Luxiang, an ancient village dating back to the Ming Dynasty. I'm reading up so to not get my facts incorrect and will continue this in another post.

Those Tigers are Everywhere

There are dozens of expat pubs around Suzhou. Last month, we read about the opening of Cheers, advertised not suprisingly as 'where everybody knows your name'. Whatever nationality you are, there's bound to be a cooresponding restaurant/pub; Aussie, German, Italian, Indian, French, Brazilian...you name it. Most of these places are kid-friendly, offering the standard chicken fingers and/or pizza options. We'd heard from our British friend, Carl, about the Drunken Chef. It's one of the oldest expat establishments having been around for a whopping twenty years. This place is tucked around the corner and off the beaten path in Old Town. Just when I think I'm beginning to learn my way around, I'm taken some place new. Word was the owner grilled like a madman and Larry was hankering for some good ol' steak. Upon entering I felt a kind of deja vu. Not so much by the look of the place, it was your basic sports paraphernalia, flag covered walls decor. The owner, Clive, is a huge Formula 1 fan, so it wasn't even familiar sports. That was until we'd been seated and I glanced over at one of the walls. There it was...an honest to goodness Original Tiger Rag. I about knocked over the chair getting to it to verify. Sure enough as it had the little hook in the paw. It had been there for over five years but Clive couldn't give me any more details beyond that. No other college flags were visable or if there were I was blinded by the orange.

Since I was already completely won over, it was up to Clive to win over Larry. He wheeled out his assortment of US steaks. They talked over rubs, seasonings, charcoal flavors and temperatures. An hour and many beers (wine for me) Larry was almost reduced to tears. His seven month steak drought was over. I dare say Larry probably would have sung the Clemson fight song if Clive had asked him, the steak was that good.
We'd sent Mr. Liu home after he ate dinner with us, telling him to enjoy the evening. We thought we'd be able to get a taxi home. We waited for over a half hour. It wasn't scary or anything but we were cold and quite lost. Once again, we were helped out by a friendly girl. We called Mr. Liu and she told him where we were. He showed up less than five minutes later, undoubtedly prepared to rescue us at a second's notice. I know southerners are friendly, but the chinese people just may have them beat.

A Date With My Husband

Last weekend the girls embarked on their first sleepover. Who would be so foolish to take on all three of them you ask. A brave soul with a kind heart. Well, actually, the truth of the matter is I kind of finagled the poor family. We'd agreed at dinner one evening to give each couple a kid-free "date night". Being in a jolly mood I'm not sure they realized we had three children until the deal had been made. The prior weekend their daughter, who is a classmate of Katie's, spent the night at our home. The week kind of dragged as we all were looking forward to the sleepover, except Wednesday when Sarah came home dazed, confused and sporting a serious goose egg (sorry, no pictures) on her forehead. While playing with the boys, she ran into...we still don't know what...and knocked herself out. Treating it as a concusion (yes, I know, I should have taken her to the hospital) I woke her up every hour that night and tried to make her rest the following day. That's easier said than done with Sarah. She recovered and the three of them were ready to go Friday. We drove to school since they had sleeping bags and other essentials. Next stop was Wuxi airport to pick up Larry. He'd been in Dalian, which was still bitterly cold. When he walked outside he basked in the warmer air, which in my opinion was still about 30 degrees too low.

We opted for an early lunch. My only criteria was the restaurant couldn't serve pizza or chicken nuggets. LiGongDi is a beautifully situated road that crosses part of Jinji Lake and houses probably twenty or so restaurants. Across from it are more upscale stores and restaurants in what's known as the Outlets (no outlet prices, though). Connecting these two areas are several bridges over a large canal. We strolled through marvelling at the sights and the emptiness. These places are slammed full with people in the evenings and the weekends, but this particular Friday afternoon not a soul was out. We had the entire place to ourselves. In a city of eight million people, it's a little unsettling to walk around in an area so large and not see any other people.

The restaurant we chose was also patronless. The menu showed no pictures of pizza or chicken. The dishes we did choose were great. So simply prepared yet delicious (or maybe we were just really hungry). Cucumers in vinegar with peppers, green beans with meat, not sure what kind, but still good, two kinds of dumplings and some wontons. The attentive staff reminded me of my childhood dog, Charlie. Both stood patiently staring and waiting to pounce..for different reasons of course. Charlie waiting for scraps, the waiters waiting...for anything. If I'd asked them to chew my food for me they probably would have. So VERY different from home. Service means something here.

Speaking of service...the repairman is here to scrape mold off a couple of walls...oh the joys. More to come.

Lantern Festival Festivities

The Spring Festival officially ended...finally. It lasts fifteen days after the Lunar New Year's. And every single, solitary day from early morning until late, late night the sound of fireworks could be heard. The final day is celebrated by the lighting of lanterns, hence the Lantern Festival. I'd read about the many festivals taking place in all the cities. Suzhou had one in Guxumen Plaza, which is in the Old Town.

I talked Larry into going. Once again, we really didn't know what to expect, but prepared for anything. There were thousands of people walking in the park along the canal. Larry said that these kinds of festivals are for the non-rich.Lanterns hung from the trees and were strung out along the paths. Displays set up for photo opportunities abounded; some were cool, others were just creepy. Take a closer look at Snow White and her dwarves. We came upon hundreds of folks standing around reading riddles and stories written on strips of paper hanging from flags. Unfornately, we didn't have a clue as to what they said, but it was still impressive. Since we had stopped walking, the locals began to take notice of us. Quite a crowd formed around the girls as they'd started entertaining a little boy. All they were doing was rolling a little toy car back and forth to each other, but it was as if they'd invented the wheel the way everyone was pointing, staring, smiling, taking pictures and wanting to talk to the girls.

I've come to the conclusion that SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park) where we live, is developed, marketed and priced with the expats in mind. Old Town is where the real fun is had; one can see, buy and eat...well just about anything. We met up with Terry and his family, which was helpful. Wendy translated for us a couple of times and we tried a couple of new food items. We also saw a couple of food items that in my opinion are not food items, but rather garden pests. When I was gawking at a cute little girl I noticed she was munching on a snack. Upon closer examination, I discovered her snack-on-a-stick had legs, lots of legs. We found the vendor who was frying up the tasty treats and stood dumbfounded in front of the table, which was filled with beetles, cockroaches, centipedes, lizards, tarantulas, sea horses, scorpians and a couple of other unidentifiable critters. All were speared conveniently waiting to be fried up while you wait. I don't think my gagging noises were heard by too many people and for one brief millisecond I actually thought about trying one...NOT.

After a few games and cotton candy, we opted for some TGIF food. I wanted to stay until it got dark so to see the lit lanterns, but it was blisteringly cold and we'd had our fill of new experiences.

Oh Yeah, The Reason We're Here

We've been here for almost seven months and I although I mention Sulzer, the trips Larry takes and his coworkers I've never written anything about the factory. I mean it is the reason we're over here. To be perfectly honest I kind of forgot about it. Well, not really, but Larry's been working in Dalian at the Sulzer plant and the guys have their little hole-in-the-wall temporary office here in Suzhou. Last week, however, I went with Larry to the construction site and, by God, there it was, the shell of it anyways. The weather has turned cold and rainy again. In fact, we only had a couple of decent days before the sun disappeared and freezing temperatures set in. Even with the pouring rain, the construction crew was hard at work. The site was basically a giant mud puddle, but they were pouring the concrete foundation. We didn't stay very long. Larry had to do his weekly safety audit and take some pictures. I took a few of my own.

At all of the major construction sites, there's temporary housing set up for the workers. Four walls and bunk bed cots with a communal sink constitute the housing. By housing standards, evidently, these were of higher quality than most.

My favorite sights were the safety signs. Larry can't take credit for them as they were already in place before we arrived. I've started a little collection of photos; signs that catch my attention. Translations from Chinese to English (and vice versa) sometimes get a bit distorted. A post for another day.