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.

Day with the Boss

When Larry and I visited China in April, I came to a hasty decision that Shanghai was not the city for me. Nevermind that we spent only a day actually sightseeing. It was just too overwhelming...or so I thought.

Martin, Larry's boss, invited us to spend the day in the big city of 18 million. We met his family and him at a popular restaurant across the street from Dulwich College Shanghai. The Sollars and another of Larry's co-workers, Bantu, joined the fun. We ate a nice lunch and then headed to the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. Martin has two sons, who were sweet and polite. They had been to the museum before and knew all the popular exhibits. Katie, of course, followed them. We took the twins to another section. This place was huge and we didn't get to see it all before it closed, but we did get to see a 4-D movie, starring US actors, dubbed with Chinese.

We also went to a "fake market" or "silk market", whichever you prefer. We were on a mission to find more Nintendo DS games and movies. We found both...really cheap. I really wanted to take a picture but that was frowned upon. The picture of Katie is taken out in front of the market. The place just went on and on, all of it underground. There had to have been 500 tailors, just waiting to make anything from a men's dress shirt to a wedding dress to a child's rain coat. I watched in awe again as Larry haggled with the vendors. We were going to stay for dinner but a lost phone put a damper on the evening. However, my opinion of Shanghai changed, so it was worth it.

An Invitation to Lunch

Larry's assistant, Eric, and his wife, Grace, invited us to a day on Yangcheng Lake. The lake is northeast of the city (but still in Suzhou). We had no idea what to expect and we are getting used to not knowing what to expect. Eric and Grace led us through the backstreets to the lakeshore restaurant, of which I do not know the name...not sure it had one. We walked inside and there were tanks after tanks of varying sea creatures and upstairs to our own private dining room with a balcony overlooking the lake. When asked if I wanted a drink I tried to order a white wine, but what I received was probably the chinese version of moonshine. I took one swig and thought my lungs were going to burst into flames. Needless to say, I switched to good ol' beer.

As the plates were brought out and placed in front of us I worried that the girls were going to start gagging or make some other unpleasant faces. Little fish, "bird" (WHOLE bird, which you can clearly see if you click on the picture of the meal below...when we went outside, Eric pointed to a beautiful little egret and said "bird we ate!" ACKKKK!!!), hard-boiled duck eggs, "meat", and vegetables made up the first course. A large white fish, complete with head intact and whole catfish made up the next course. It is said that the one who eats the tail manages boats well; the one who eats the body is a good swimmer, and the one who eats the head is smart. We watched with mouths agape as Grace ate the head. She popped that eyeball right out and chomped down on it. It was all I could do to keep from barfing right there. The girls remained pretty cool, but I guess it could have been shock. The final course was crab. The lake is well known for delicious crab and we were not disappointed. We all enjoyed the little critters, even Sarah.

The second part of our adventure was a boat ride. This was no pontoon ride on Keowee, but rather a jaunt with a local fisherman on his...vessel. These type of adventures can never be planned ahead, we just kind of stumbled upon it with the help of Eric's friend, Joe. He set up the ride for us. No tourist attraction by any means but rather exactly how I want the girls to experience China.

Sights of Suzhou

Suzhou is an amazing city. We are exploring new places every weekend. I keep asking Mr. Liu, our driver, "Still Suzhou?" He smiles and nods. Below are some pictures of our first weekend excursion.

We drove out to Taihu (Lake Tai), the third largest lake in China. Very beautiful and like with many things here, there is a lot of developing going on, but all in all, rustic. We drove over to a couple of the little islands that are now connected with bridges. I was still skiddish about getting too far out without an interpretor so it was a car tour only. We then went into the old town of Suzhou, where the canals link the streets (well, canals link the whole city, the country for that matter). Lots of little shops with deals waiting to be had. We went into one and the girls opened up some fresh water oysters. Katie's had almost twenty pearls in hers. Some were quite beautiful. We had pendants made for each of them and a couple for me.

We rode a water taxi up the canal and then walked the backstreets, catching a glimpse of the life the people of Suzhou live. Again, we were gawked at and photographed alot. The girls are used to being asked to pose for pictures. On the water taxi ride back we got into an accident, ramming into another boat. No one of course was hurt, but it certainly jostled us. We made it that day to the base of Tiger Hill, but everyone was pooped and we didn't have sneakers on. There evidently are lots of stairs. We decided to save that for another excursion.

Parents' Day

Dulwich College hosted Parents Day, where we could sit in the class and observe. The twins' teacher is Ms. Stacey. She is very sweet and patient and truly loves the children. Her assistant is Ms. Judy and just about every day, Sarah comes home with a pretty hair style, thanks to Ms. Judy. The little boys in Ms. Stacey's class are quite smitten with her and compliment her whenever possible. When I was there I heard one little fellow say "I love your smile", another one said "I love your eyes" and yet another took the cake and said "I love every part of your body!" That brought a flush of pink to her cheeks. Sydney was chosen that week as Golden Student for her abiding the Golden Rules and helping a new student.Being chosen comes with perks like sitting on the golden cushion all week and hearing one's name announced at assembly.
Katie's teacher is Ms. Randall. She and Katie get along superbly. I stayed during their numercy class and was thoroughly impressed. I didn't think I'd be happy with any school after Ravenel, but the girls are so happy at Dulwich and they are learning so much. The twins are singing a song in Chinese and Katie is practicing the violin and communicating with May better than me. They work on their own laptops every day and enjoy the after school programs. Katie is playing golf, singing in the choir and swimming. Sydney is taking Tae Kwon Do and Sarah is taking ballet. My biggest concern with moving here was a fear that the girls would be unhappy. Well...it looks like I can let go of that one.