Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (part 5)

January 22nd

We slept in on the last morning and checked out of the hotel at noon. January 22nd this year is the eve of the Chinese New Year, and the busiest travel day in the world. More people travel in China on this day each year, mostly by train, than there are people in the USA. All of our bags for this trip were carry-on, but we still had four carry-on plus a small backpack, two laptops and a stroller. On the way back we also had another backpack full of groceries we bought while in Harbin. Deb carried DJ and a bag. Suzanne carried a laptop and two bags. And I was the sight to see with five things to carry including the stroller. A big man with a big load is a real head turner in the train station. That start taking bets on when I pass out or have a heart attack. Thank goodness this big old man is in pretty good shape and made it without any trouble. We found the train ride back to Jiamusi seem to go by a little faster. It was especially nice to see the Chinese New Years fireworks over the city and down by the river as we passed over the river bridge coming into Jiamusi. Harbin is a much larger city than Jiamusi and even though we can only say this for another four weeks, Jiamusi has been our home for two years, and it was good to be home.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (part 4)

January 21st

Our last full day in Harbin started with going to the 'Temple of Bliss'. It only cost 10 RMB to get in and was much like the Bhuddist temple we have in Jiamusi. There was some fantastic art work inside the temple and outside there were many shops selling anything that had to do with Bhuddist, Confucius or Hindu religions. We went to the 'Dragon Tower' after lunch. The 'Dragon Tower' is the second largest steel lattice observation tower in the world at 338 meters tall. It has shops, offices, a broadcast station, museum, restaurant and three observation levels. The price to get in and go to the top was 150 RMB each. I feel the price is just as high as the tower itself, but the view is awesome. We finished by trying to go to our favorite little pizza place only to find they had closed for the holidays. We wound up going to Pizza Hut instead. It was almost like back home. It cost a little more than 'Great Pizza' but was a very nice experience.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (part 3)

January 20th

We went to a large supermarket called 'Metro' in the morning. We discovered this is a members only store, but a lady that spoke very good English let us use her card to enter and shop. Again we bought many things that we have been without since moving to China, such as brownie mix, parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, ground garlic and a few other things. We went back to McDonald's for lunch and then went to see what 'Wal-Mart' looks like in China. It was four floors and twice the floor space as any supercenter in the states. It basically looked just like any other large department / grocery store we have seen in China, except for being called 'Wal-Mart'. We finished the afternoon by walking down Center Street, which is nothing but a lot of shopping stores. We did find a nice bar called 'USA Bucks Bar' to sit and have some hot chocolate. We had planned to go to Zhaolin Park to see more ice and lights in the evening, but we didn't feel like another night surrounded by ice after the night before. Instead, we went to dinner at what was suppossed to be a very nice western buffet at the 'Holiday Inn at the Center of Harbin'. It took us two taxis to get there because the first driver didn't know where to go and took us to the wrong place. The price was 138 RMB each and the selection of food was small. This was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the trip. We should have stayed with going to 'Great Pizza'.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (part 2)

January 19th

We walked about a mile or two to what is called a 'Carrefour'. We visited one in Beijing but don't have one in Jiamusi. It is a grocery store with a selection of import goods. We bought some mustard, taco seasoning, Doritos and a few other things we haven't had in a long time. At 11am we went to the 'Siberean Tiger Park'. It was a long taxi ride across the river and again we had to pay a high price for the taxi. The park was incredible. We had a bus tour through the park and even saw a tiger jump on a truck to catch a chicken to eat. After the bus tour, there was a section of the park that we walked through and got to see the tigers up close and personal. Besides tigers, there were also lions, ligers, white tigers, white lions, white ligers, leopards, cheetahs and panthers. The 90 RMB for each ticket was the best money we spent and I would easily pay twice that for such an experience. We took another taxi to Zhaolin Park. We lucked out this time and got a taxi that agreed to the meter and it cost less than 20 RMB. We finally made it to McDonald's which was near the park. They didn't have Quarter Pounder's but they did have Big Mac's and double cheese burgers. It was good to eat dill pickles again. We walked down the street to Saint Sophia's Cathedral only to arrive after dark. It was still very beautiful on the outside. We finally went to the 'Ice and Snow World' back across the river. It cost a high price of 330 RMB each to get in and was very impressive. With it getting very cold and the the baby complaining, we returned to the hotel and had dinner at 'Great Pizza' again.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival (part 1)

January 18th

The six hour train ride from Jiamusi to Harbin wasn't too bad. DJ was really good. We took what is called hard seats, but they really aren't all that hard, at least not for the first four hours, then you just get tired of sitting. The difference between a hard seat and a soft seat is that a hard seat is a bench while a soft seat is like you would find on an airplane. And the hard seats are five across with an aisle between two and three, while the soft seats are four across. The windows were very dirty on the outside, but we still enjoyed the view. Some of the mountains reminded me of the Smokey's in eastern Tennesse. We passed through several small villages and made five stops along the trip. We left Jiamusi at 7am and arrived in Harbin at 1pm. A friend had told us there were several McDonald's around the train station. We had not had McDonald's for two years. There were no McDonald's, but there were three KFC's. KFC is the only western fast food we have had in Jiamusi for two years. We decided to wait until after we got to the hotel to find a place to eat even though we hadn't had breakfast and only snacks on the train. We payed an outragous amount of 50 RMB for a small closed in trike to take us to our hotel. The hotel was away from the high tourist areas. The rooms were only 166 RMB each per night and were small but nice. We didn''t have internet in our room because it was broke, but Suzanne and DJ had internet in their room. After putting our stuff in our rooms, we walked half a block and found a very nice mom and pop restaurant called 'Great Pizza'. They had pizza that was as good or even better than in the states and we payed just over 100 RMB. After dinner, we explored around the hotel for several blocks in every direction.

Clothes, tickets and buffet.

Classes continue and Spring festival is the 23rd, with our break starting on the 18th. Debora is picking up our return train tickets this morning for our trip to the Harbin international snow and ice festival. You can only get tickets 10 days in advance and you can only get three at a time with passport or ID. We will leave on the 18th and stay three nights, returning a couple of days before Chinese New Year. We will spend the rest of my two weeks off prepacking and getting ready for our big move to Quzhou. We now have finished the last thing we needed to do here to go, which was getting physicals. I would not have been suprised if we didn't have to be present to get the physicals. They basically just pencil whipped it. According to the papers, I grew three inches and lost 65 pounds. The way they check your eyes is very interesting. If you wear glasses, they will hold your glasses out to look through them to determine your eyesight, which is always passing. All this for $45 each for Debora and I. Now, all we need do is get train tickets to leave. The school we are going to already has a two bedroom apartment with a king size bed in each waiting for us. I think Debora is excited about being able to get out of the house and work. I know I will not miss working for Ivy. Having never taught before, it has been an experience beyond belief, but for many reasons, it is time to move on. For any that are seeking employment as foreign teachers in China, I would NOT recommend Ivy or even Jiamusi in general. Do your homework; there are better schools and cities.

Somewhere under all this is DJ. We all have to wear three layers on bottom and four on top with at least two on the head and cover the face plus gloves. Today, it will be -2F, and that is the warmest this week. The place we are moving to has a high today of 50F. It will be nice to be able to go outside without spending 30 minutes to get ready, making sure you have as little skin exposed to the burning cold.

We finally found a shop here that sells second hand clothes. They only had their winter clothes out of course, but we did find a flannel shirt and pants for DJ, as well as some bigger clothes for us. Deb got two new suits and I got some more warm things to wear when we go to Harbin.

DJ taking sissy for a walk around the apartment.

DJ and Archie in Spot's house.

Every Chinese restaurant I have ever been to in America was buffet. We have not seen a buffet in China since moving here until recently when a new restaurant opened not far from our apartment. It cost about $7 each which is about an average cost to go out and eat.

The first time we went, we were treated like VIP's and taken by hand and shown everything like we had never seen a buffet before.

They had both Northern and Southern Chinese dishes including some stations where they prepared food to order while you wait. They also had some western foods like pizza and french fries. You could also get small trays of shaved meat to cook at your table. Plus, there was a large variety of other things including desserts.

Most of the food was wonderful, while other things we will leave to the taste of the locals.

More Christmas pics and Suzannes short hair.

Suzanne came to me on New Year Day and asked if I would cut her hair. She said she wanted it short. She told me she wanted it shorter than this, but I told her to try this for a few days first to see if she liked it.

Visit from Sarah.

Sarah and her husband came by for a visit.

DJ loves to have company.

We gave them their late Christmas gifts.

He will be a loving father.

The happy mother to be.

This was taken at a different time. DJ said she wanted to use the potty. She just wanted to play. She still hasn't made up her mind to be potty trained yet. She was being silly standing on her head and then sitting on the potty.

Just like her older sister when she was young, there is no need for expensive toys when a simple box will work.

First day of 2012.

We invited LeAnn and her mate, Kim over for dinner. LeAnn brought her daughter, Alice and Alice's cousin, Cindy. Kim brought her son Mike. Mike is the only kid close to DJ's age that she has had visit here to play with her since being here. The two of them really have a great time. They helped us eat some of the left over pizza. We also gave them late Christmas gifts. You can see in the last picture how tiring New Years has been for DJ.

NEW YEARS EVE PARTY.

I hosted a New Years Eve party at our apartment. I invited the top three classes from Ivy. I was expecting around 25 to 30. We borrowed some slippers and stools from a friend. We bought snacks and drinks. I ordered 18 large pizzas the day before to be delivered after the party started. One came early and the others came exactly on time at 5pm. There were only 17 that showed up. The pizza arrived at 6:15pm. There were enough pizzas left that we had pizza for three days after. Three people brought gifts for us. DJ had a blast with all the people and was very tired at the end of the night. Suzanne had lots of fun playing different games including 'rock, paper, scissors - truth or dare'. The party was finally over at 9:30pm because most of them aren't allowed to stay out past 10pm.

2011 Christmas.

The great 2011 job search.

Last year we looked for another place in China to move to because we had been here and done this for a year. We finally had an option to renew my contract and decided to stay one more year to save the cost of moving. This year we decided that we have had enough of this place and needed a change. We wanted a place that will give both of us work, not just me. We wanted a place that was warmer and had more western things. We needed a place that would let us have an option to be off during the summer for travel. After looking for a long time at many jobs and places we have a new job for both of us. We will be moving to Quzhou, Zhejiang province. The city is about the same size or maybe a little bigger than this one; around 2.5 - 3 million. They have a McDonald's, a Pizza Hut and a Wal-mart. It is not far from Shanghai, so it is easy to travel to other places in China or international. It would only take two hours by train to go to Shanghai so we can go there on the weekends. It is also not too far from the coast, so we can go there on the weekends by train, too. Like most cities, it has a long history, but is a modern city. Just like here, the city is next to a river. It is located in a valley and there are very beautiful mountains to the north and south. I will be getting another pay increase to 8,000 RMB per month ($1,270). Debora will be making 7,000 RMB per month ($1,110). We both will be working at the same public high school teaching 25 classes every week that are 45 minutes each with no required office hours (18 hours and 45 minutes). We will be off in the evenings and on weekends.  In a month that would be $16.90 an hour for me and $14.80 an hour for Debora. The school will provide a free two bedroom apartment for us.

Playing in the snow.

Merry Christmas.

I wanted to write a Christmas letter again this year. I will update everyone on how everything is going of course. The first thing is to say Merry Christmas from China. I would write it in Chinese, but I don’t know what that is in Chinese, and also don’t know how to write in Chinese, yet.

I hope your last year has been great. Our family here has done very good. We have not even had to have DJ at the hospital for IV or anything this season. My side of the family, in the USA had a hard time this past year. My little brother died this year, so please keep his wife Tina, and daughter Kim in your holiday prayers.

Susan is 14 now. She is in her 11th grade year of school, and is still being home schooled. She is doing great in school. When we go back next year, then she will stay with her grandparents in Camden, and finish home schooling there. She will get her drivers license. She is also going to do her first year of college online. Then she can go off to college and study to be the Vet Tech she wants to be. She is growing up to be a beautiful young lady also. She helps out so much with her little sister. She makes sure that our dog, Spot is fed and walked also. I think he will miss her when she goes back.

DJ is growing so fast. She is 2 now, going on 4. She is at the age to repeat almost everything. She can do alot of things herself also. I wish that potty training was on her to do list for this year, but sadly I am not sure that it is. She is still in diapers, still wants her bottle (although she uses a sip cup a lot). She is starting to learn how to eat with a fork and spoon, but her hands are faster. I am hoping this Christmas will be good for her. Last year, if you saw the pictures of her with Santa, then you know that she screamed for him. This year, she has helped me put up Christmas decorations with pictures of him. She also has a stuffed Santa doll. I am hopeful that this year will be different. I guess we will not know until Santa shows up, if she will be scared or not though.

Carl is still working at a private school here in Jiamusi, and at a public school also. He has one day off a week. We are hoping to move to a warmer climate next year.

I am doing fine. I stay at home and watch Susan and DJ. I help with things etc. I got a teaching certificate this year online, so I can teach ESL (English as second Language). Here in China, you technically need a college degree, that certification, and 2 years of experience to be able to teach. I would only have one of the three criteria. There are some schools that will hire people with only what I have.

We are trying to find a job where I can work also. We also want a warmer climate. If it works out where I won’t be working, then I will try and take the girls and go back to the USA around the first of May to visit. I would like to have a Chinese person come in, after we come back from the USA, and start to teach DJ some Chinese. Then, when she is about 5, she would start in Chinese classes, but still home school her like we have done Susan. I think that will work better, than putting her in Chinese school. That would maybe make us learn Chinese better also. She can practice with us, and we will also be able to control what all subjects she learns.

We have posted pictures of the Christmas decorations here at home and at Carl’s school. I wish everyone a happy Christmas. See you next year.

Also, if you would like to see what all it has taken and will take to get home schooling things done in China, then feel free to go check out my blog at kitchens-homeschool.blogspot.com .

Merry Christmas

Carl, Debora, Suzanne, Destiny, and Spot Kitchens

Jiamusi, China

Getting ready for Christmas.

Debora and the kids have put up some Christmas decorations around the house and Ivy has also got ready for the holiday. We are just now getting our first good snowfall for this winter. Our friend Sharon had her birthday last week with the ladies making dumplings for her party. We are in the process of looking for the next place we will live. This time Debora and I both hope to sign contracts in a more southern part of China.

We were cleaning under the TV and DJ thought it was a good place to take a photo.

DJ learning to use chopsticks. 

Say ah.

Monkey see.

Monkey do.

Santa and the Christmas angel.

That is Ivy's new emergency fire exit that is completely blocked behind the tree. 

Santa's little helper after she ate the cookies.

It's the happy dumpling gang. 

 

With every birthday cake, there comes a birthday hat.

Just playing.

Some times we have a small drip under the main valve for our heat and DJ likes to play in the swimming pool.

Girls and their fashion.

Now that's sitting pretty.

Guess who.

Thanksgiving and Deb's birthday dinner.

DJ and May and Deb.

One of our friends from the thursday social meeting we attend was kind enough to come with us to a restaurant to help us order and celebrate Deb's birthday and Thanksgiving.

 May also got Deb a scarf for her birthday.

George and Connie and Roxanne.

 

Chloe and Adam and May and Suzanne.

Carl, May, Deb, Suzanne, DJ, Chloe, Adam, Connie, George, Roxanne, Debbie, Archie.

Windows.

One of the things that takes a little getting used to is the fact that most things are done in what seems to be a very backwards, illogical way in China compared to the United States. The heat in our apartment is very good, but there is no thermostat and we do not choose when it is turned on or off. We have to open a window to regulate the temperature. The heat is also very good at the private school where I work and they too open the windows, but for a totally different reason. They open the windows between classes to kill the germs with the cold air. The problem with this is they also do this in the summer. If we open our windows at home, they say that we are wasting heat, which is included in the cost of the monthly fees whether there is heat or not. The private school has air conditioners that are used during class time for one hour in the summer, but is turned off for the fifteen minutes between classes and what cool air was produced during the class is quickly wasted when they open all the windows after each class. We try to explain they could save energy if they leave the air conditioners on and not open the windows, but that sounds backwards and doesn't make since to the Chinese. The long and short of this is that non-Chinese are wasteful and Chinese always do things the right way.

Mid November update.

I have been busy the last month transfering our movie collection from DVD to an external hard drive for easier storage and use. It will be easier to carry a hard drive than a suitcase full of DVD's. Since we are adding to our collection all the time, I have also purchased a program to catalog our collection. I have also started looking for the next job. My contract here ends on the 19th of February next year. We know we would like to find a place were Deb and I both can work or at least a place that would permit her to tutor on the side. We also would like to move to some where that doesn't have such hard winters. We had our second snow the other day and more is expected tomorrow. We went to a birthday dinner for David, who turned 19, but forgot to take the camera. Everyone was there, including all the TA's and teachers. Everyone except Mei. Mei was in Beijing on business, but after she returned, she had a new teacher welcome dinner for all the Ivy staff. Again, I forgot to take my camera. Debbie's boys came over to our house while the teachers had their dinner. Last week, Suzanne home bleached most of the black out of her hair and then went to get it dyed blue. She came home with purple instead. DJ has been busy as usual playing until she drops and takes a nap. We are having a Thanksgiving / birthday dinner for Deb next week with a few friends. I won't forget the camera this time.

Two sisters at rest and play.