Wednesday afternoon.

Suzanne and Deb went for a walk while Spot, DJ and myself took a nap.

An afternoon at the island.

The weather is starting to get a little warm here now so Sunday Deb and DJ came up to Ivy to meet me after my last class so we could go to the market to buy a fan. We walked as far as we could in the underground to avoid the traffic, crowds and heat. You can see in one of these pics how the streets are lined with people selling everything under the sun. The market was starting to close as we arrived and the first stall didn't want to haggle the price very much so we went to the next one and came away with a nice fan with remote for $24US. Today after we had lunch we went down to the river and crossed to the island. There are lots of carnival type games along with bumper cars, go carts, dune buggies and horses. It cost$0.60US each for a round trip on the ferry. It cost $1.50US for two laps on the dune buggy and $3US per person per lap to ride the horse. Suzanne had fun doing both. It was a little breezy and cooler today than yesterday. In one of the pictures you can see the rail bridge that crosses the river and if you zoom in, you can just make out the outline of the mountains to the West of the city. Another picture shows the tall apartment buildings that are between our apartment and the river. The girl holding DJ is one of the teachers at Ivy.

Beautiful ladies.

Open air market and river walk.

Suzanne wanted to show off her new room with the extra posters sent from home and her new cool blue hair. Spot was waiting by the computer for grandma to call on Skype. Yesterday Suzanne and Deb went down to an open air market and walked around. Today they showed it to me and we got them some badminton rackets and birdies. We also walked through the fish market. The entire walk there and the entire area is nothing but one store, stall or vendor after another. It was very crowded with about 15 to 20 thousand people out, and this was problably a slow day. After we left the market we made our way to the river, which only had probably just over 5 thousand people, and had ice cream at TCBY. We had our first walk along the river since it thawed out. The weather has been around 70F lately and when it isn't raining it is very nice. What grass there is has turned green and the trees have leaves on them. There are buds on the bushes and soon there will be flowers blooming. Normally this time of the year there would have already been flowers for the last three weeks but the winter was extra cold and long. While we were walking along the river we saw many people, around 200, in the same clothes performing organized marching to music. Before we went home we tried a new restaurant we found near the apartment but the food was not as good as it looked. We like to try something new each week. At least this wasn't very expensive. It was only around $7US. We paid $10US at TCBY. TCBY is a once a month treat. Destiny is playing with her new rattle we got her Sunday on the way home. It cost $0.45US for two. She loves it. While in the two story open air market, there was a stall that was selling hologram pictures and two of them showed Jesus. I forgot the camera today so I only could take a picture with my phone.

BLUE HAIR

Suzanne went to the hair salon the other day and got her haircut and had parts of it colored blue. It was $18US and almost looked like it was going to be yellow or orange but thanks to 'Mother Mei' translating over the phone, everything turned out okay. Her mom still has to get her hair cut but probably without the coloring but we will get that some place else. This place wants $30US just to cut hers. Today was a very nice day after raining the last several days so we went out back of the building and played ball with the dog. Later I took a nap with the dog while the ladies went for a walk. They went this way and that for about 2.25 miles and after getting tired and lost, took a taxi home. Last night we fixed chili and this evening we baked brownies sent from home.

All together again and just in time.

Yesterday we took Destiny back to the hospital because her bronchitis wasn’t getting better. We had to take her to a place were they put an I.V. in her head with medicine and waited for three hours for all three bags. We had to repeat the same thing today and will have to do it again tomorrow. This is a less expensive way than having to stay in the hospital. There also wouldn’t have been enough room in the hospital for everyone that was getting medicine by I.V. There must have been over a hundred people getting an I.V. most of them were small children, so they had at least one adult with them. One of the teacher assistants from school helped us with the process the first time. The total for Destiny getting the medicine this way was around $80US. This hospital is the best in the city, so it is very popular and busy. By American standards it looked like an emergency room, with trash and medical waste everywhere on the floor. People sit in large waiting rooms or if they are lucky they get a room with four beds in it. You can tell some people do this on a regular basis because they bring their own stick to hold the I.V. bag high while they go down the hall. The schools director made the appointment for us to see the doctor, which is very busy. The doctor wanted to get an x-ray and one of my students father and grandfather works in the x-ray department, so we didn’t have to wait. The teacher assistant has a friend in the admissions at the hospital so they got our paperwork done quickly. They really are taking good care of us. Now that D.J. is getting better, Debora and I, who are also sick, can concentrate on getting better ourselves. We received a care package from home yesterday which had half chocolate for Suzanne and some other things for Deb and D.J. I picked up Suzanne from the airport today. She brought with her another care package from our friends and their church in Beijing. It had lots more things we can use for cooking that we can’t find or get very easily here. Thank you Mom, Jenni and BICF. The past week has had ups and downs and it is good to be all back together again.

Amusement park and zoo.

We went to the city amusement park and zoo today. It is about 2.5 miles away so we took a taxi there and back. We got to see parts of the city that we had not seen yet. On the way there we even saw a pink dog. Yes, someone had painted their dog pink. We came back a different way that took us in front of the train station. It was the busiest place we seen since arriving in China. It was $1.50 each to get in and the baby was free. Right after going into the park there are many rides which cost extra, none of which we tried. There are two Ferris wheels, one bigger than the other and located on top of a large hill. We didn’t go up the hill this time because we were a little tired from all the walking we had done the previous days. Instead, we circled around and went to an animal show that is included in the price of admission. Although most of the people found the show entertaining, we noticed that the animals really weren’t into putting on a show. We felt it might be more entertaining if the trainers didn’t have stick and whips. We wouldn’t wish anyone to get hurt but it just didn’t seem fair to watch the animals being forced to do something at threat of pain for our enjoyment. After we left the show we continued to circle around and looked at several animal enclosures. There was one with some bears in it and one had figured out that when it sees people that if it sat up people would throw food. He was a real ham. There is another section next to the park that has many traditional Chinese looking buildings we would like to go back to some time. When we bring Suzanne back we would like to go on top of the hill and maybe even ride the big Ferris wheel. It was a pretty windy day and the baby was getting tired of sitting in the stroller so we went home. On the way home we stopped at our favorite restaurant and had some fried rice.

Six mile hike.

We went back to the park they wouldn’t let us in yesterday because we had the dog. First we went to the market to pick up a few things and then across the road to another mall to order Suzanne a basketball hoop to put up at the apartments. The park was very nice and we all enjoyed it and the beautiful day. After seeing the park we walked back home the way we came yesterday except this time we took a detour down a small street that has lots of farm venders. We picked up some tomatoes on the way home and took the long way around the dividing bearer they have separating the directions of traffic. After stopping at the hardware store for a file to file my nutmeg and cinnamon, we went to another produce market to see if they had any other kind of lettuce except Romaine. We finally returned home after 6 ½ hours and 6 miles.

The park has a lake and canals. There are paddle boats, inflatable canoes and bumper boats. There are two manmade mountains, a waterfall and many pavilions. On our way out I took a picture to post of my first ‘Chinglish’ which is a bad translation of Chinese to English. It says on the side of the trash can, “Protect circum stance begin with me”.

Almost a day in the park.

Destiny has had bronchitis again but was doing well enough to get out today. This is the start of five days off for me, except for one hour Tuesday night. The weather is supposed to be rainy some days, windy some days and a little cooler some days after today. We took a long walk through the city to a park that we had not been to yet. The walk was nice most of the way because there is a long narrow stretch of park like pathway leading to the main park. You can see Deb, the baby and Spot walking along the path. Destiny likes to go for walks and usually finds them so relaxing she goes to sleep. Spot really enjoyed himself and behaved very well, even when approached by other dogs or people. Half the people are scared of him and the other half really like him. As we walk through the city some people will make gestures or comments about the baby, the dog or yours truly, the American ‘Buddha’. We have found that some people that normally would not hesitate to stop us to see the baby will think twice when they see the dog. When we finally reached the park we were turned away because there are no dogs allowed. We will return some other time without him. The flowers should be blooming then anyway. We came back home a different way than we went. We found ourselves in the middle of town with about a million other people. That amount is not just a figure of speech over here; it really was close to a million people. We fought our way to a street one block over where it wasn’t as crowded and bypassed the worst before heading on home. The statue is of Chairman Mao at the entrance to the park. I took this picture of a building because it looked interesting. I think it must be a preschool because on the first three floors I could see play equipment. You can also see one of the Rickshaws on the left.

Going solo.

Today was a historic moment. My little girl is turning into a young lady. Suzanne took her first trip on an airplane by herslef. She is staying in Beijing for a week with friends and attending a weekend church conference camp. WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH SUZANNE. Have fun and come home safe.

Trip down memory lane.

I received a message on Facebook from someone I used to go to high school with. We went to Woodbridge American high school on RAF Woodgridge in Suffolk county, England. It was the sister base to RAF Bentwaters. We graduated in 1986 and I later found that the base had closed and for some time was being reclaimed by the surrounding forest. Now I have discovered it is being used in part by the locals for housing and in part by the British Army. There are several sites that talk about the Woodbridge Warriors. I had to leave behind my year book when I moved to China but can still recognize some of the names. When I think about Woodbridge I think of a quote that was used in one of my favorite movies, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture', "It was the worst of times. It was the best of times."

May Day.

The comment was made that Labor Day is a long time to wait to enjoy the summer. It would be too late if I was talking about American Labor Day in September but I am referring to the Labour Day or May Day that the rest of the world celebrates on May 1. I hope this will help clarify the confusion.

At long last.

It has taken over a week of temperatures above freezing but all the snow is almost melted. The weather has turned from cold and white to cold and wet with scattered nice days. I didn’t like working inside all day at CMC when the weather was nice and all I could do was look at it through an open door. Here, I can work a few hours in the morning and still have the whole afternoon to enjoy it when the weather is a nice day. I am told the city is very lovely in the summer with lots of flowers. They have been planting in the parks and along the roads all week long. Labor Day weekend should be very nice and we will take full advantage of it.

Nice day to get out.

Suzanne won a bracelet at the mall arcade and Destiny wanted to try it out. She just wanted to try it out in her mouth. The only way we would let her play with it was if her pacifier was in her mouth. She hasn't figured out how to spit it out to get something else in.

It is supposed to be raining during the week, so we decided to take advantage of the good weather today and went to 'Xilin Park', just one block away from Ivy. There were many people out doing the same thing.

The tree Deb is holding up is very unusual with its extremely long branch being supported by concrete pillars that look like tree trunks. Here is also a picture of what looks like it used to be a church of some kind. It is located one block off the main road through town in a part of town that is a little run down. The street it is on has apartments, small businesses, pool halls, massage parlors and nice restaurants. It seems odd to see new mixed in with the old.

The next chance we will have to get out will be next weekend and the weather should be nice. It will be the first time I haven't worked on Labor Day that I can remember. In fact, I had forgotten that I get three days off for Labor Day until some other teachers were talking about what they were going to be doing on their three days off. With Susan going to Beijing, we are just going to stay here and explore the city and enjoy the parks.

Lots of walking means new shoes.

Debora took Suzanne with her to buy some new shoes after we had lunch today. After they found some Deb liked Suzanne bargained with them to get there price of 680RMB, a price equal to $100US, down to $15US. Then after work Deb went with me so I could get some new shoes. The first place had some that were not the right size so they went in the back and came back with the same shoe only with a different size sticker put over the original. I walked away from them and continued looking. I found some others and after trying them on began to haggle. They started at 580RMB which is $85US. This of course was too much so I made a counter offer of 30RMB or $4.50US. They laughed at this offer but as I started to leave they began to come down some in price. After they came down a little, I went up a little. I continued to walk away and they continued to lower there price to 140RMB. I saw that they were now serious about making a sale and I gave them my final offer of 110RMB. They countered with 120RMB and I dropped my offer to 100RMB. She finally agreed to sell the shoes to me for 110RMB or $16.50US.

After we walked home we took the dog out to the park to play ball. It was 50F and DJ had a good time until she got hungry.

Busy evening.

To celebrate Suzanne's improved math scores we all went out to the arcade at New-Mart after I got off work at Ivy. Also, Suzanne is going to a church youth conference weekend in Beijing in two weeks and staying with our friends there for a week. I picked up the ticket today and Deb will put her on the plane on this end and they will greet her on that end. Then reverse the whole thing a week later. The church is going to reimburse us for the tickets so long as we pay the 500RMB for the conference. I think she will have a wonderful time and maybe will bring us back some gifts for Mother and Father Day's. (Ha, Ha) When she comes back she has to take SAT's. I will be able to give them to her myself instead of paying for her to go back to the states just for this. DJ will finally be getting her six month shots on Wednesday, six weeks late because she had been sick.

Hey! What happened to the water?!

We started off the day pretty much normal. I looked out the window to see what the weather was like today and saw a neighbor out front doing Kung-Fu exercises with a sword. I made sure he was finished before I took the dog out just in case. Debora took a shower and just after she got out I found out the water wasn't working anymore. There was some sort of notice put up on all the apartment entrances that must have let everyone know the water would be shut-off. Of course it was in Chinese, so it was a suprise to us. Someone told me it would be off for 12 hours. I found out later that it was a city wide water outage and these are frequent when the weather gets warm. We have bottled water to drink and will just have to keep a look out for more notices in the future. We can put some extra water in the tub for washing dishes, bathing or flushing. When we went shopping this afternoon there were a couple of gentlemen watching us and pointing like they had never seen a fat American and his wife shopping before. To us what was really strange was as we were leaving we saw a dog wearing clothes and jewelry in a cart. The water did come back on and after letting it run for a bet, it seems to be back to normal.

Spring snow.

It started snowing yesterday and has snowed or rained since. If it was just snow it would be about 10-12 inches. Instead it is now about 2 inches of slush.

Relaxing day.

Today was just another Monday for everyone. Carl went to work at the public school and had classes until about 11:30am and then went and picked up some rice for our lunch like he does three days a week. On the way home, he found a place that sold cotten candy. That was a treat since we haven't had that since we've been in China. After lunch, Suzanne and I had decided to go to what we called a mall and heard it's actually a department store between New-Mart and Fu-Mart. He had been in it the other day and noticed that they had a lot of baby toys in there. We walked down to it, and found DJ two toys that she has been playing with and loves. While Suzanne and I were gone to do shopping, Carl, DJ and Spot stayed home and napped and relaxed.

It has been predicted that it was going to snow tomorrow and then again later in the week. The weatherman just forgot to tell Mother Nature that though, because it had started to snow and then rain some today. Tonight, Suzanne is fixing tuna casserole for supper and then we are going to watch a Easter church service online from the church in Beijing that TJ and Jenni attend.

Room for 4 and no more.