longwindedlaura

Calla lilies and sulfur smoke in Taiwan

2010-05-28T09:21:00.013+08:00

The four of us finally made it Taipei for Spring Break, the first week of April. Gene has been coming here for several years on business trips and was anxious to have us visit as well. We were very fortunate that his Taiwanese Xiamen colleague, Sam, was back in the city at the same time and offered to take us around. He and his wife took us on a tour of a mountain that is just outside Taipei, thankfully the rain cleared long enough for us to have a really fun day.

I have never seen calla lilies growing on a farm before so I was glad that our timing was perfect for their apparently short season. After winding along a narrow mountain road and enjoying a lunch at a famous outdoor restaurant, we walked among the fields of lilies. They were a bit like the "u pick" strawberries fields that we have back home, though less strict! We saw young ladies climbing through the mud to pick their favorite blooms. We stayed on the paths since we were not going to take any back to the hotel with us.

Lily fields on both sides of the stream.
My girls weren't as enchanted as I was, but they liked walking along the narrow paths.

The main road was further narrowed by the many stalls selling flowers. These beauties always remind me of my college roommate, Kate, as she had them in her wedding bouquets. Wish you could be here too, Kate!
Next on the agenda was the volcanic sulfur part of the mountain. A different kind of beauty?! I didn't notice much scent from the lilies (unlike other types of lilies that can be detected from far off) but the sulfur most certainly made its presence known through its awful stench. Funny how the flower fields were teeming with people but we almost had the volcano park to ourselves!
It is difficult to capture the size of this outcrop of volcanic rock but try to see the short segment of fencing along the bottom left of the photo...

Now, here is Amanda next to that fence. This was like a crater, except that it was along the side of the mountain. It looked like a giant landslide, though I couldn't read the signs to learn the history and it's been a long time since my freshman geology class! We were mesmerized by the swirling smoke and the little pools of bubbling hot water that emerged from the ground.
Looking back at the road that leads to the viewing area and the lovely farming village beyond. It was refreshing to spend time in this lush mountain park after living in a city of high-rises. Xiamen has lots of nice city parks, but it's hard to compare with this kind of natural setting. I'm sure he'll never read this, but I'll say it anyway...thanks, Sam, for sharing this part of Taipei with us!

Food and drink on Gulangyu

2010-05-04T17:30:00.010+08:00

Gulangyu is a small island (some call it an islet) off the coast of Xiamen, which is itself an island and a city in one. A book about the island, written by a friend of ours, Bill Brown, lists the size as 1.78 square kilometers...I still have no idea how big that is, what with the metric reference and all. Gulangyu has a very rich history as it was once the site of many foreign consulates and is also home to China's oldest Protestant church. It was home to Hope Hospital in the early 1900's which served as a nursing school. Apparently there were students here from our own Hope College back in Holland, Michigan. Judging by the many Dutch names that appear in the history books, they made quite an impact. Today the government buildings are no longer staffed by foreign dignitaries, in fact many of them are falling into disrepair. But the architecture
is varied and interesting. Now it is mostly a tourist attraction and shopping destination.

As mentioned in previous posts, a ferry must be taken to gain access to the island and, once there, travel must be done by foot or electric golf carts. Bicycles are not even allowed! As there are many restaurants, hotels and private residences, I have often wondered how supplies are transported. Recently I found myself alone on the island for a quick shopping trip (no friends were available to accompany me) and had the chance to see for myself.

But first, a look at some of the numerous seafood options...
From across the road those buckets look pretty small, but they can hold quite a lot of tempting lunch-time morsels. Actually, they don't tempt me at all since I am allergic to seafood. Sometimes I find myself feeling quite thankful for said allergies as they have gotten me out of some uncomfortable dining situations...
So the way it works is that you point to the items you like in the buckets, sit at your favorite table and wait for them to be scooped out and cooked. I can't even identify half of these things, but I know they include various types of clams, mussels and other shell-dwelling sea animals. I was unable to get any good photos of the numerous live fish and other large creatures as it was close to noon and potential diners were swarming the menageries excitedly.
During my stroll through the narrow, walled and crooked lanes, I found tomorrow's lunch. I believe these are mussels (or shelled long-neck clams) that are, for some unknown reason, drying in the sun. I didn't want to get too close or breathe my germs onto this food, though I doubt if anyone would have cared. It just seemed rude to lean in tight for a better photo.
Now for the answer to the transport questions. There are many long concrete piers extending into the water, away from the passenger ferry terminals. Here I spotted a well-bumpered long boat (perhaps the sea driving is as bad as the road driving...) that was laden with crates of beverages.
I watched from the boardwalk as men dragged carts up the steep ramp. (Xiamen island in the background)
Off to deliver a box of something, cigarette firmly between his lips. I have seen these types of carts all over the island, loaded with a large variety of merchandise, including a piano! (One nick-name of the island is Piano Island as it is home to many music schools)
Precious cargo. I'll admit, these over-loaded carts were the first to catch my eye. Those are cases of beer, each containing twelve large bottles, the type that are ordered for the table and shared among the many small juice glasses. I did not stick around long enough to watch anyone attempt to drag these heavy loads anywhere...it made me tired just thinking about it!

CNY lanterns at night

2010-04-23T12:00:00.017+08:00

As the end of the weeks-long Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival drew to a close, we knew we had to take advantage of our close proximity to Bailuzhou Park to see the lanterns all lit up at night. Liz decided to stay back, but Amanda went along with us. Little did we know that this was the last night of the festival...we found out later that there were 100,000 people in the park that night! (or 400,000 depending on which part of the article you believe! Either way, is was very crowded.) A quote from whatsonxiamen.com, "No incidences occurred despite the crowded conditions, for staff from Xiamen Municipal Works and Gardens Administration Bureau and Xiamen Public Security Bureau attended Bailuzhou Park to maintain order." What this also meant was that the closest pedestrian bridge from our side of the water into the main part of the park (the one my girls are crossing in their roller blades in the previous post) was reserved for people exiting the park. There were at least twenty security guys in green army-like uniforms stationed at this spot alone. So we were forced to follow the sea of humanity along the water to the car/pedestrian bridge and into the main entrance of the park. The photo above is a glimpse through the trees from the first bridge...looks like the place is on fire!
The main entrance with its giant 2010 lantern, though the number is not very legible.
This photo of our girls and their American and Danish friends was actually taken a week or so earlier while we were on our way to dinner. We didn't linger too long in the park that night because we thought it was too crowded...classic newbie mistake.
There were lanterns scattered everywhere, some in large scenes and others lined up along the walkways. We liked this peacock-type guy.
Lots of people passing under a walkway. Notice the traditional Sponge Bob Square Pants balloon on the left side...East meets West when it comes to selling junk that vendors know kids will beg their parents to buy. We resisted the urge to purchase light-up head gear and flying whirly-gigs.
More gateways and backs of heads.
We think this lady represented one of the many ethnic minority tribes found throughout China.
The "Great Wall." This was not in place during my previous day time trip to the park so this was from the day after our night visit.
The Wall at night--it was made of the same thick wire and fabric covering as the lanterns.

Smiling, upright tigers were a very popular theme as all of China welcomed the Year of the Tiger.
A very happy tiger at the entrance to the exit-only foot bridge. Many strangers also have this picture on their blogs as they took the chance to snap photos of my cute little daughter!
Night view of the floating water scene lantern.
One last parting shot. We were told that small lanterns would be lit with real flames and allowed to float into the sky during the nights of the festival but we never saw any. We were also hoping to see some of the world famous Chinese fireworks, but we read that they were being displayed out at the beach and we were unable to get out there. There is a ban on fireworks on the island of Xiamen but lots of people who live across the water were kind enough to "share" with us...in the form of extremely loud and echoing blasts that mostly occurred some time after midnight, even on the weeknights. All in all, Chinese New Year gave us lots of new and unusual experiences sites to behold!

CNY lanterns in Bailuzhou Gong Yuan

2010-04-20T08:10:00.015+08:00

We had some gloriously warm days in February and took the chance to do some rollerblading in the large park, Bailuzhou Gong Yuan, near our home. Well, okay, my girls did the rollerblading and I did the walking along behind them with the camera. We wanted to get over there to see the big "lanterns" that were being set up all over the park in preparation for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Crossing the rubber-coated pedestrian bridge over the lake to the main part of the park required side-stepping in the rollerblades!
Now, for your viewing pleasure, lot's of pictures of the lanterns! I didn't really get the "lantern" part of these wire and fabric sculptures until weeks later when we fought the crowds of tens of thousands of Chinese celebrators/picture-takers during an evening when these things were all lit up. Good thing my 6'2" husband was there to take pictures over the tops of the heads--I would've gotten no pictures at all! Night pictures will be posted soon...

This one looks like Winnie the Pooh pretending to be a Buddhist monk, but I'm pretty sure all these guys are supposed to be tigers, in honor of 2010, the year of the tiger.
The wide paths were adorned with tunnels constructed of more lanterns.
The main entrance to the park, with a massive 2010 emblem. This thing was at least two stories tall--can you see the tiny guy in the blue jacket in the middle?
These cranes were waiting to be placed in their rightful spots.

A close-up shot of the panda scene...this one's for you, Lexi!
Four of these guys are doing the same thing, can you tell which one is different? This was apparently an homage to gym class, I guess. Though the dog was a bit out of place.
Now for the floating lanterns that ringed the peninsula part of the park that juts into the man-made lake. We can see these from our balcony, though they are just colorful blobs without the aid of the binoculars.
Stay tuned for pictures of these babies all lit up!

Adventures in fabric

2010-03-30T09:38:00.007+08:00

The illustrious Xiamen fabric market--two levels of glorified stalls containing floor-to-ceiling bolts of fabric, row upon row of ribbon and many millions of sewing "notions" (that means buttons, zippers, clasps, etc for you non-sewers). One day I was waiting for my Danish friend to meet me here so we could have some pants (me) and some shirts (her husband) made by a tailor she has used previously. There is another tailor in town, the Shanghai Tailor as he is known by all the many expats who keep him in business, but it is more of a hassle for me to get there. It would involve taking a taxi to the fabric market (cannot figure the bus route to this place and it's too far to walk), finding fabric on my own, taking another taxi to his place and then taking a third taxi home again. So we decided to give this guy a try. I had some pants I wanted to have copied so I showed them to him and he went with me to find appropriate fabric from one of the stalls--I can say the colors in Chinese but not "I want a bit of stretch in the fabric" and other vital information. He was very good at understanding my needs! Then my friend noticed a fitted, wool coat (the kind we call "church coats") on display and asked him if he could make one like it for her. She noticed that it had a fur collar but wasn't sure she wanted it for every occasion. Enter my mad Mandarin skills...I was so proud that I was able to convey the meaning of "removable collar" to the tailor! Okay, what I actually said was "jin tian, wo yao; ming tian, bu yao" which means "today I want, tomorrow I don't want" while pointing at the collar. But we understood each other--victory!! I also had asked my teacher how to say "more narrow" so that he could make the new pants a bit more narrow in the legs...jump ahead to the picking-up day: the pants were not more narrow! He had me try them on in a back room in which a person (woman, I hoped) was sleeping not three feet from the changing area! Not comfortable. Anyway, I asked him to alter them into a better fit, even though that required returning another day to pick them up. My friend's church-coat-with-removable-collar, by the way, turned out fabulous!
Now for the sad and disturbing part of the story...While I was standing outside the market, waiting for my friend, I heard some very loud, very annoying music. When I looked around, I saw a mysterious figure coming toward me exceedingly slowly along the far side of the street.
I didn't want to be rude, but I just had to get some photos of this guy. Notice that this is the actual road, not the sidewalk, and it is quite busy. This guy was paddling himself along on a cart-type thing with a speaker tied to the top, blasting music to gain attention to his plight. He was wearing gloves to protect his hands but was also expending much energy to drag along a metal mixing bowl, in which he sought to collect donations.
While he struggled along, taxis, private cars and even large city busses swerved around him. I was amazed that the drivers could see him in time to avoid hitting him. It took him quite a long time to progress down the road and he paused to look up and get his bearings every few meters (trying to learn the metric system, along with Mandarin...)
When he had passed me, I could see that he was missing his left leg. I wished I'd had a spare wheelchair to give the guy...but I think part of his set-up was intended to draw the most sympathy. Not that I blame him, I know precious little about the social welfare/social security for the disabled situation here in China, but this was a pathetic situation. Anyone care to discuss the current health care goings-on in the US...just kidding I don't care to debate it!

Gymnasium murals

2010-03-22T09:47:00.007+08:00

Liz's 7th grade art class worked on large painted murals to spruce up their school gym. They plan to host a volleyball tournament with other international school in attendance in March so they wanted to liven up the place. The younger students and parents were invited to the unveiling ceremony. Not very many parents made the trip but I was glad that I was there to see it and support the kids.
Liz and her fellow designers and painters (Freddy, Matt and, oops-I-forgot-her-name). They went with water sports as their theme. I was impressed with the variation of theme and design between the groups.
A closer shot of their work.
There were seven murals, all told, including Olympic-themed and martial arts-inspired depictions.
Liz's friends AJ and Candy with their school sports inspired work. Thanks, Ms. Ogle, for leading your students in this project!

CNY @ XIS

2010-03-22T09:10:00.011+08:00

How's that for a cryptic title? Reminds me of my Army-kid days...in case you couldn't figure it out, it means Chinese New Year at Xiamen International School. I'm behind again on my postings as this event was held in early February. Chinese New Year landed on February 14 this year and the school had a two week break (lucky us, we got two weeks off at Christmas and another two weeks for CNY, but the school year is longer, so don't be too jealous). This celebration was held on the last day of school before the break. The school had hired special performers to put on the lion dance (at least I think that's what it is called) in the gym. This first picture isn't too great, but it shows the legs of the two dancers in the white lion outfit. There was much drumming and running around as a story of some sort was portrayed. As usual, I know nothing of the history of this spectacle, but enjoyed watching it anyway.

The lions caught up with the guy-in-yellow and pounced on his back...
Oh, no, don't eat me, lion!
Victory at last...man tames the lions. Or something like that.
The inner courtyard of the school had some traditional CNY decorations. It is difficult to see in the picture, but the rope knot hanging was probably three or four feet long, including the tassel. The end of the two-week-long CNY holiday is capped with the Lantern Festival, so lanterns are displayed for about a month. They were all over town and became quite dusty and dirty by the end! Most of the decorations featured red and gold as these are auspicious colors that depict good luck and good fortune.
Amanda's teacher and his cool, gold Chinese jacket. We were encouraged to send our children to school in their traditional Chinese outfits, but we do not own any.
Traditional craftspeople were on hand to create special treats for the children. This is spun sugar (not unlike that which Laura and Mary made back on the prairie, minus the snow!) expertly dripped and swirled into the shapes of the Chinese zodiac animals. This rooster represents the year of my birth, by the way.
Our fellow American was thrilled with his dragon candy-on-a-stick. Not sure what he had to do to get such a complicated and "lucky" animal, but it sure turned out nice!
Amanda welcomed the year of the tiger with a pin-the-tail-on game. Long live the Tiger!

Window washing

2010-03-10T08:22:00.009+08:00

Exterior window washing is never fun, in any type of dwelling (unless you're my friend Bonnie who gets a charge out of using her window squeegee and obsessing over, oops, I mean admiring, the results!). One day when I was visiting my recently-departed friend I saw some window washers at her apartment complex. There is a large courtyard between the buildings and this was my view as I approached her entrance. Look carefully for the two guys in the center.

The doorway to her "block" is right underneath the guys dangling from ropes and I couldn't resist getting their pictures. I often see workers using those long platform window-washing devices on a hotel near our place (in fact they seem to be up there pretty much every day. Seems a bit overzealous to me, but I guess the hotel is doing its part to keep some of the billions of people employed!) but this was the first time I'd seen the guys working from such tiny trapeze-type equipment. I was nervous just to walk below them...I don't know how they got up the nerve to actually use them. Notice how they each have a bucket hanging from their seats--it just occurred to me that the water must be beyond filthy given the amount of windows to be cleaned and the air pollution. They must've been just pushing dirty water around by the second story and there are a LOT of stories to cover!

Yikes...this is the looking-way-up view! I'm not sure exactly how many floors there are in this building, but I know it is more than 30. Can you tell that there is just one rope for each guy, extended all the way to the very top of the building (attached to what??) with the rest of it dangling below? Amazing that anyone would risk this type of work...especially for a job that will need to be repeated so often!
Another day, another kuai...

Earthquake and Chinese names

2010-03-04T14:46:00.003+08:00

I feel guilty for not having any pictures in this post, but the topic does not lend itself well to photos. This morning at 8:20 am 6.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan (not a very unusual occurrence, I've learned) and, given our proximity to that island nation (or rogue province, depending on who you ask) we were able to share in the joys of tremors. I was hanging around the house, catching up on email and drinking some terrible-tasting instant coffee (won't even go into the sacrifices in beverages I've made this year) when I realized that I should get dressed. Not five minutes later I heard a rhythmic banging sound near our front door. At first I thought someone was dragging something heavy down the stairs that lead to the roof as people often use our elevator and roof-access stairs to dry laundry. When I tried to peer through the peek-hole, I realized the banging was the door itself, rocking back and forth in its frame (it should not do this but the deadbolt is finicky and hadn't fully engaged when the kids left for school this morning). Then I felt the whole building swaying and stood there watching our Chinese New Year/year of the tiger good luck banner sway a good 8 inches in either direction. The realization set in that this was an earthquake so I grabbed the phone and called Gene--he answered with "you feel the earthquake too?" As the swaying was still going on and at least 20 or so seconds had passed, he told me to get out, by way of the stairs, of course! I was very glad that I had put decent clothing on just in time! I made it as far as one flight down when my friend called to see if I was feeling it too--she had run from her building a block away and was pacing the sidewalk. Our stairwells have large pane-less widows to the outside so I was able to watch the many passing pedestrians as we talked and none of them seemed the least bit fazed--seems that being up high really exacerbated the movements. We decided it was safe to stay inside as the shaking had stopped, but, much like the way I feel when I step off an amusement park thrill ride, I felt as though I was still swaying for 20 minutes after it had stopped! Thankfully the only "damage" we suffered was a towel falling from its rack in the bathroom and possibly a few minutes lopped off my life. I was surprised to find out later in the day, after talking to friends and reading facebook responses, that many of them didn't feel it at all. I found a really great website that documents up-to-the-minute earthquake action (earthquake.usgs.gov) and was just dorky enough to register my experience in the allocated section. Chalk up another "first" on our list of firsts for this "adventure" abroad!
Now for the funny part of the week...we finally started back with our Chinese lessons after missing several weeks for CNY, business trips and illness. As is our typical approach to the lessons, we were joking with each other during our xiou xi (don't know the spelling, but it means break) that we should really decide upon Chinese names for ourselves. Since we don't know any proper names, we had to use common words that we have learned (the list isn't terribly long or varied...). We decided that Gene's name should be "fei ji chang" (airport) since he travels so much, I was to be "da dian hua" (make a phone call), Liz gets to have "dian nao mi" (computer-crazy) and Amanda will be called "xi zao" (take a shower, which complements our favorite Mexican expression: te la banaste). Our 20-something teacher was laughing right along with us (or at us) as she usually does when we say ridiculous things to amuse ourselves. Then she says, "Chinese women who have small breasts..." uh, oh, where is this going and where did it come from?! She went on to explain that fei ji chang/airport is slang for a flat-chested woman! We were making a cruel joke without even knowing it...but the label fits my husband a bit better than it fits me. Good thing we were only joking about the names and hadn't actually told anyone to use them.

Shopping trip to Hong Kong

2010-02-23T11:03:00.009+08:00

This is the massive Hong Kong airport...I'm glad that I have always been with more seasoned travelers when I've had to use it! My El Salvadorian friend, Lupita, needed to take a trip to Hong Kong to close a bank account as she prepares to move to the U.S. and she graciously allowed me to tag along with her on a quick, two day trip. She knows all the great shopping areas and is a wonderful person--a great combination!
The famous view across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong island to the Kowloon side (if I remember correctly!) I never got to see this view at night, but it is reported to be pretty awesome when all the buildings are lit up. Hong Kong is a confusing mix of island and mainland components that I can never keep straight. Again, I like to travel with those who know more than I do and are not so directionally impaired.
Clock tower at the harbor. This place was almost deserted, though I imagine that's not always the case.
This is for my girls! Hong Kong is such a shopping and fashion mecca and it shows in the cabs. We only have green, blue, yellow and purple cabs in Xiamen, none that I've ever seen with advertisements quite like this. And, is it just me, or does this cab look like an English throw-back to the times of colonialism? Of course I benefited from this city's past as it left a legacy of spoken English.
Shopping at the night market, also called the Ladies' Market. We didn't find too much to buy here but did get some cute little things for the kids. This is the site of some terrible acid attacks, one of which happened when we were in HK for visa changes last October. A disagreement had escalated and a man returned to the market and splattered a bottle of acid across several stalls, blinding one man (with whom he had a money dispute) and injuring several bystanders. There have been other random attacks with people dropping open bottles of acid from windows onto the throngs of people below!
This is a long, narrow alley with stalls on both sides; we had to squeeze through the aisles at times. Sometimes we felt that the shopkeepers' knowledge of English was a detriment since they could then understand our discussions with each other! If I was more confident in my Spanish we could've used that language, but my vocabulary isn't great. Speaking of that, one day back in Xiamen we were having a pedicure together and were able to converse in Spanish when we didn't want the people to know what we were saying. I felt triumphant to be able to finally turn the tables--it really becomes tiresome to not understand what is being said all around me, no matter how hard I try to learn. Of course I get it that this is China and I should adapt to Chinese or suffer the consequences but it takes time.
One of the many malls we visited--I don't recall how many stories it had, but there were a lot! This is the inner courtyard, showing the corridors and the floating escalator. Lupita knew of many shops that I was not familiar with and we spent quite a bit of time looking for clothes. It was so great to find sizes that actually fit "Western" bodies and not just the under-100-pound frames that most Chinese women seem to sport. We were able to score quite a few good buys and I stuffed the extra duffle bag I had brought with clothes for myself and the rest of my family, cosmetics with familiar brand names, hard-to-find food items like lentils and split peas (and chocolates and cookies from Marks and Spencer!) and a few souvenirs.
We had purchased Octopus cards in the airport that allowed us to use the airport train into the city and then subways and cable cars throughout the city. We rode the tall, skinny cable car just once and it was fun. We took seats on the second story for a better view and I wished my kids could've come along for the ride! This was a quick trip but I think we walked about 50 miles judging by the state of my feet and were able to enjoy some lovely sandwiches the likes of which I've never seen in our part of China, did some successful shopping, saw a few sites and enjoyed a much-needed getaway!

What's all that noise?

2010-02-19T17:00:00.005+08:00

A few weeks back Amanda said she didn't feel well and needed to stay home from school...I wasn't so sure that she was actually sick, but decided not to chance it. Her room is located in the back side of our apartment or, as we call it these days, the cold side. I'm directionally impaired, but I think it is the north side and doesn't get any sunshine. She and I were huddled under her covers, watching Lost on my laptop when I heard a loud voice and music. When I finally looked out her window, I saw that there was some type of presentation going on in a seemingly empty lot that is next to a construction site behind our place. A lady was yelling into a microphone (that's the way it's done here) at a group of people seated under a temporary shelter. This is the view, with just a little bit of zoom, from the window.
A closer view of the action--of course I couldn't understand any of the yelling, but we figured that it was the ground-breaking ceremony for yet another apartment building. I could not tell how those giant gold lantern/ball things were suspended so high in the air, but I guess they were attached to the construction cranes.
Next came loud music and a dance extravaganza! We watched as these big puppet guys danced around and put on a show (I found out later that it was probably the traditional lion dance--will post pictures of the one performed at the kids' school for Chinese New Year soon).
It was hard to get a good picture, but several times there were loud explosions and tons of gold confetti was shot into the air. Here is the aftermath!
We went back to watching our show. When I looked again about an hour later, this is what I saw. Seems that the ceremonial stuff had to be taken back to the rental place right away! We will continue to monitor the progress of this building from our 15th floor vantage point, but we hope the loud banging at all hours of the day and night that usually means construction around here doesn't disturb our peace too much.

Hiking the weather station path

2010-02-08T18:15:00.010+08:00

Very near our home lies a high hill with a weather station perched atop. We'd heard that it offered a nice little hike and a great view but had not tried it ourselves until a beautiful Sunday in late January. (I refused to consider a hike during the very hot months of August, September and even part of October and then forgot about it during the more temperate months that followed!). This is the main entrance to the hiking path--we could tell that there were other entrances for both pedestrians and cars but are unsure of their beginning points. I suppose this place has a name, but we don't know what it is!
Oops, my head was not supposed to be in this picture--notice the round, white thing peeking over the treetops. That is the top of the weather tower.
This is the back side of the "mountain," looking out toward the shipping yards and across the water to the mainland. Even on this nice, sunny day only the closest buildings were in clear view as the distant haze shrouded the far-lying locals. But we know that our hometown tends to be gray for pretty much all of January and February, so we didn't complain!
About half way up the climb the tower loomed large. We had to walk in the road since the path only covered part of the distance, but not many cars came up this way. Many people we saw were wearing winter coats but I was down to my sleeveless shell by this point! The general population seems to focus more on the calendar than the actual weather when deciding on wardrobe choices...I could not disagree more!
We reached the plaza at the foot of the tower. Pretty anticlimactic as we couldn't find out much about the weather station itself, but maybe a reader of Chinese characters would have been able to appreciate it more.
See the smog? I would've called this a clear day before seeing this view. Xiamen is considered to be one of the cleaner cities in China, thanks to the proximity to the ocean (I guess?). I've heard that one can actually taste the air in Beijing and Shanghai and it's not pleasant, so we are certainly glad to not have that situation here, but we have noticed lately that we are congested all the time. We assume this is a physical reaction to the air quality or possibly our allergies flaring up. Either way, it is unpleasant but not unbearable.
Another close-up shot. Our daughters like to say that this is a giant golf ball and golf tee set up. I wish I knew more about this thing...
Gotta love signs like this...I know we have funny signs in the US too, but I couldn't resist.
This is apparently a tea cafe of some sort. There was a little stand that sold small, packaged snacks and tea (served in Xiamen-style sets made up of a tray with a receptacle underneath to catch the spillings, a small pot with a wire mesh insert to hold the tea leaves, tweezers to hold the little cups while sterilizing the cup edges in a cup of hot tea and a number of shot-glass sized tea cups). We don't really know how to order tea and all the tables were taken so we didn't spend much time here. Even though this is right in our neighborhood and people tell us that we live in the "foreigner" area, we were the only non-Asians to be found. It was a nice day and a nice walk that I might try a few more times before the heat begins to blast us again...

A hike in the hills of Xiamen

2010-01-25T15:52:00.009+08:00

One afternoon a few months back I went on a hike with some ladies I know. Three Western expats, three Asian expats and the teacher/owner of our Chinese language school met for a stroll over a mountain in the middle of the island. If I could read Han zi (Chinese characters) I could tell you the name of this place. Alas, I cannot, so I'll just call it a mountain. Apparently there is a military installation toward the top of the mountain, given its good vantage point and view, I guess. There were many reminders along the road to "enhance vigilance, guard against spy." I don't really understand what that means, but I tried not to look suspicious!
The sunny, clear day offered us a nice view of this lake part-way up the mountain. We have not had much rain for many months and this lake seems to be suffering. It might have been more of a reservoir than a real lake, but it was pretty anyway.
The city of Xiamen has lots of bougainvillea bushes all around but they are usually much less spectacular than the ones I've seen in Hawaii and Mexico, so I was glad to see this one with many flowering branches instead of just a few small blooms.
There were some residential areas along the way, complete with vegetable gardens. The lettuce looked so inviting! They were not rice paddies but the way they were laid out reminded me of the paddies we used to see in Korea. Seeing these gardens made me miss "our" farm back home even more than usual--I'm still paranoid about getting sick and, therefore, don't eat much salad. I plan to make up for it upon my return home!
Teamwork...this couple was not more than 5 feet tall and their bag was almost as big as their bodies! I don't know what was inside it, but it was clearly very heavy. They were making their way down a pretty steep grade and handling it well so I figured they must've had some experience in carrying large loads yoke-style. I'll say it again, these are hardy folks over here!
This cute little cafe celebrated the bikers who supposedly ride down this road. I took this picture for my bike-loving brother. I have no intentions of biking up or down this road, partially because I don't like steep roads, partially because I'm afraid of being hit by one of the millions of crazy drivers we have and partially because I don't have a bike! It's frightening enough to walk along the sidewalk, let alone try to manage riding in the roadway.
This is the view back toward the city. We try to relish the clear days here since we have plenty of over-cast, smoggy days too. Now that it's winter, we have many more cloudy days than sunny...but the steamy hot weather is also gone, so I have to count my blessings.

I tested the zoom lens on my small camera to get a snapshot of the big Buddha carving in the side of the mountain. It is hard to gauge the size in the picture, but it sure looked giant from where we stood across the gorge. Note the tree branch in the foreground for perspective, if that helps. We stopped toward the top of the mountain at a hidden restaurant for lunch. We shared green beans, eggplant, rice and the other ladies had chicken of some sort and had an amazing view. We would've never known this place existed if not for the Chinese teacher who seems to know everything about Xiamen! We were the only customers, possibly because there was a large, black dog that barked menacingly at us when we entered the long driveway. We found out quickly that she had a little of young puppies to guard, but she calmed down after the lady of the place gave her a talking-to. I was glad to find that this restaurant was not so different from the Sichuan place near our home, and not like the one further down the road that offered both cat and dog on the menu! Again, my understanding of Han zi is very poor, so I only know about the meat choices because one of the other ladies read the signs. Must be very careful here in the south of China! All in all, it was a good day and a nice way to spend a few hours.

Christmas decor--Asian style

2010-01-06T15:09:00.016+08:00

Well, we knew that Christmas over here in China would be different that what we are accustomed to in the US, but it was a bit sad to see so much plastic junk everywhere (okay, we see that at home too, but not exclusively). Apparently Christmas means snowmen and trees and Santa; again, not completely different than at home, but clearly there is no religious connection made whatsoever in the Middle Kingdom. Not so in the Philippines, which was part of why we wanted to go there during this time of the year. Not only do they speak English, the country is also predominately Christian and very into Christmas! Enjoy the following Christmas ornamentation... Since I'm not as tech-savvy as I'd like to be, I cannot get the pictures on here to change order once they've been uploaded. I do not like this...but I don't want to make it disappear all together. This is from our post-Christmas shopping trip to Zhongshan lu, a big pedestrian shopping street in Xiamen. We were on a hunt for Ugg/Bearpaw type boots for the girls and were thrilled to find them in the colors and sizes we wanted for a decent price. This lovely pink and silver monster of a tree is in front of the swanky PCD department store (of trick-or-treating fame...)
The PCD display in the front entry of the store--no crowd to dodge this time like we had at Halloween.
We decided that a tree was a must, even though it ended up being a rather small, plastic one. We really missed going through our large box of decorations, remembering who gave them to us/when each child made them as each is unwrapped and carefully hung. It has become tradition for us to do that each year, so hanging a few little cell-phone charms and star- and Rudolph-painted clothespins just didn't have the same feel! But it was better than nothing, as we told ourselves repeatedly.
The girls' school put on Christmas concerts for the parents (I was less than thrilled that the lower school started at 9 a.m. and the upper school at 2 p.m., meaning that I had to mill around the school all day long, but it gave me the chance to have lunch with Amanda and relax in the library between shows). Interesting that there were many Christian-themed songs sung...not sure how many religions are represented at this school, but I'm guessing there are at least a few.
Look closely and you....won't see either of my kids. Choosing the pictures requires a bit of squinting on my part as the thumbnails don't want to be enlargened. Why is it that I can delete a picture on accident, but not when I try to intentionally?!
Very prominent Christmas tree and sea of poinsettias displayed in the courtyard of the school.
More poinsettias in the Xiamen airport.
I don't think we're in China anymore...tropical nativity scene, set up in the Manila airport.
I know that nuns are not actually decor, but we see them so rarely in China or elsewhere that I couldn't resist. It also struck me as funny to see them making calls on the payphones, though I couldn't explain the joke if I had to!
The international school on Boracay's island hosted a Christmas bazaar right in back of our hotel and a sandal-clad Santa indulged us one photo.
Sand-sidewalk Christmas lights display at one of the hotels.
Our hotel lobby tree (as an aside, can you believe my 13 year old is almost as tall as me now?!)
Our apartment complex erected a tree while we were gone. We were so surprised to see it...it was cute but we didn't really love the big Santa heads!
Our little tree got a bit more festive after a last-minute trip to Metro (the French version of Sam's Club, stocking mostly Chinese stuff but also a good bit of Western things). We found a bucket of silver decorations that weren't too junky to help our tree be less anemic. Tree skirts do not exist here and I never made it to the fabric market to get a length of cloth as I had intended, so a newly-donated striped towel did the job (thanks again, Tina and Mark!). I can't help but think of our time here as being similar to camping--an ill-equipped kitchen, no central heat, primitive-ish clothes-washing, no dish washer, and the need for multi-purposing at every turn! But we like camping, so it's not completely unfamiliar.
Yes, that is a gift wrapped in a page from a magazine. We got desperate after running out of wrapping paper (the rolls are really tiny here and rolled so tight that the actual act of wrapping was beyond frustrating). Actually, we were quite pleased with the results!
We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas this year!

Holiday visit to Boracay, Philippines

2010-01-05T08:14:00.013+08:00

When we were contemplating living in China, one of our goals was to see as much as possible while in Asia. Given the fact that our children's international school has both Western and Chinese holidays, we thought we'd have lots of time to travel without taking them out of school. As is common in those before-you-know-what-you're-talking-about ideas, we found out after we got here that EVERYONE in China travels during the national holidays (especially Chinese New Year, February-ish depending on the lunar calendar, when schools are closed down for a month) making it not only difficult to get good tickets but also undesirable to stay in the country or in our "resort city" which can be inundated by visitors. Also, by the time December rolled around, we were really wanting a bit of a break from China. We justified a lovely vacation on White Sand Beach in Boracay, Philippines by telling ourselves that we will likely not have another chance to travel there; it's not China, but it's still new and exotic to us! I will not trouble you with all the trials of getting this trip planned but, suffice it to say, we were glad when everything was in order and tried hard not to think about what was going to go wrong at the next turn. We pulled the kids out of school a day and a half early so that we could spend a week on vacation and still be back in our (temporary) home for Christmas Eve. What we did not quite realize when booking a trip to one of the 7,000+ Philippine islands was that it would take us pretty much an entire day to get to our resort...a plane ride, a three hour lay-over in what must be the most boring capital city airport, another plane ride, a bus ride (mercifully booked in advance with the hotel and accompanied by guides who had our name on a placard in the airport--didn't you always want to see your name on one of those?!), a very dark ride on an out-rigger boat with huge orange life vests and one nervous 9 year old daughter and a van ride to the door of our place. Whew! Thankfully the restaurant was still serving dinner at 9pm when we finally arrived.
We did plenty of relaxing beach- and pool-side but also found time for some little adventures. Only the second half of the photos are on my computer so I'll have to start with the end of the week. We found the only place along the beach that offered sea kayaks and took turns paddling and enjoying the view of the supposedly less expensive and also less crowded end of the beach. We think we'll have to look for this kind of kayak once we return home--sitting up higher in the boat was so much more comfortable than the sitting-in-the-water type I've used in the past.
We had to do a bit of dodging of the other watercraft but managed to avoid any collisions.
Gene and Liz made it to the top of the highest peak on the island on their dune-buggy foray. The big mountains in the background are the island we landed on and took the 1 1/2 hour bus ride across, the strip of ocean in between was crossed in the dark. The island is sort of bone-shaped with a long skinny area down the middle and two larger sections at either end. This view is of the windier side, home to the kite surfers (see below) and a not so perfect beach (a bit too rocky to attract the tourists who don't kite surf).
Another view from the buggy riding trip. We so loved the clear skies and were thrilled to see stars at night! Oh, the things we hardly notice until they are gone...even though we live in a rather clean city by Chinese standards, I still don't see enough stars for my liking.
The pollution machine that Daddy really wanted to try--the two more sensible members of the family stayed back at the beach! Good thing, too, since I found out later that they drove the thing on the roadway for part of the time. They had a blast!
Along the walkway to the other side of the island there were several little fenced-in yards that housed numerous roosters, each tethered to a numbered sandwich board. I used my keen sense of deduction to figure out that these birds are used for cock-fighting battles. They also did a good job of making sure no one took a relaxing nap as they made noise all day long. We were glad to be far enough away from them to not have to deal with that, a benefit of staying in the "high rent" area.
The girls didn't want to make the trek but Gene and I were sure glad we did. The two ends of the "bone" made a protected cove of sorts that was a haven in the late afternoon for windsurfers and kitesurfers. I have no innate need for speed, nor the upper body strength, to try such a sport, but they were amazing to watch!
This is the "sidewalk" that ran the length of the island, right off the back decks of the hotels, bordering the beach. It was lined with all types of little bars and restaurants and, unfortunately, people hawking their various wares. We tried not to let it get to us too much, we all have to make a living after all, but it was quite tiresome to be asked repeatedly if we wanted to buy sunglasses, have a massage, go for a sailing ride, get our hair braided, etc. We found that walking along the beach was a little more peaceful, but it was also in the beating sun. One our 15 minute walk to the kayak place, Amanda counted 27 solicitations!
We had a family room, with a separate bedroom for the girls and a little front porch with a bistro set. Our balcony in Xiamen is nice, but the front porch was much more like home for us (and we didn't have to constantly wrestle with those nagging little thoughts: what if I forget that it's a bad idea to throw my coffee cup over the railing...what if I accidentally toss my wedding ring over the edge...I've heard that other people don't have these thoughts, but Gene and I both do!)
We said a silent prayer that none of us would need to avail ourselves of emergency medical care, and another for those people who have no choice but to use this place...I sort of over-looked the fact that there is rampant poverty in this area and we were all reminded to be thankful for the blessings we've been given.
We enjoyed glorious sunsets almost every night (and discovered that our camera has a "sunset" setting!) All in all, we had a great time in Boracay and had a bit of a hard time leaving.

Halloween in Xiamen

2009-12-29T14:45:00.017+08:00

Yep, now that Christmas is over, I'm finally getting around to posting Halloween photos...time flies. Xiamen International School had a special day of celebrating, even though there are less than 15% Americans at the school! We had a hard time finding costumes here--all we could find were the same two or three witch-type outfits--so we were thrilled when our friend Pam offered to lend us a bag full of costumes that her children had outgrown. Amanda was very relieved. First up at school was the costume parade. As we see at home, there were tons of princesses and witches, which was fine with us as it was better than party-pooper noncostume-wearers! At first I couldn't locate Amanda's teacher...
and then I spotted him! What a great sport! Even though it was the last week of October, it was still quite warm so I couldn't believe he could stand to wear that mask. I guess he was one of those wrestler guys like in the movie Nacho Libre. Funny.
Amanda nominated herself for "most interesting" costume in her class vote...and won! This will likely be the only Halloween that she wears flip-flops without freezing.
Lining up all the pre-K through 5th graders was quite a challenge and getting a photo of it all without filling the frame with the backs of other parents' heads was equally hard! Next came the trick-or-treating!
Each child was asked to send in a bag of treats so that there would be enough to share. We didn't mind helping supply the candy (it certainly cost less than the 10+ bags I usually hand out at home!) Notice Amanda has a cloth reusable shopping bag for her treats--some things never change. I tagged along with the class as they went to 5 different offices around the school. I think the other parents had left by now (we had already attended the middle and high school-sponsored haunted basement, listened to some scary stories and played Halloween bingo--I even won a round!) but I couldn't miss the trick-or-treating.
The evening celebration was more for Liz and the other older kids. A bunch of parents in the PTSA organized a school dance for them. Liz and I had found a picture of a "Harajuku girl" of Japanese teen fame online and had a similar dress made at a local tailor shop. I'm not sure if the other kids know what her costume was, but we thought she looked fabulous!
Liz and two of her friends, waiting for the school bus that will take them to the dance.
We celebrated again on Saturday, with a special Halloween party at the local PCD department store. I had swallowed my pride and called the mother of Liz's friend (on the far right) who is a buyer for the store and organizer of the party to beg our way onto the guest list...the things we do for our kids! I also asked if our friends could come along with us; the parents are originally from China but studied in the US and lived in NM for many years so the girls were both born there. They moved here in March when the dad took a job as the dean of the energy department at Xiamen University (he's a nuclear specialist). I used one of the on-loan costumes but got really hot in the felt jester's hat!
Amanda and friends making a ghost craft. The party was fun but so crowded...we left a bit early to get going with the store trick-or-treating. The department stores here are different than ours in that each section is a separate store with each brand in its own area. We formed a group of expats and made a spectacle of ourselves...
some more than others! Our friend John did us proud by dressing up like a bathing beauty. He found a kindred soul on the sales floor...and got a good many points and stares. He's obviously not shy.
How many times have you trick-or-treated at Gucci?! Or Hugo Boss? The list goes on and we had so much fun!
The main entrance to the store opens onto the most popular pedestrian shopping street in the city. There was a large pumpkin display that we posed in front of...and a hoard of Chinese people grabbed their cameras and cell phones and took pictures. The spectacle continued!
I think the store had 4 floors, but we got tired out after two...and thought we better leave some candy for the other kids who were still upstairs in the bridal section at the party. By now it was getting late and we were ready to get to our next party, this time at the beach! Our friend the bathing beauty agreed to give us a ride with his driver but we had to wait for him to return for us since there wasn't room for both families. We got lots more stares and photos snapped as we walked and waited. Liz opted for Pocahontas this time, again from the loaned bag.
Once at the beach party, we discovered that Amanda's teacher was in the band! Read his guitar carefully--no bad words, I promise! The band was set up on the sand and there was a big patio with tables and food and drinks for purchase...and lots of fun-loving people. We were glad to be with good friends and ran into more after we got settled in.

The girls spent most of their time running around in the sand with their friends and watching the bonfire. These two days of fun were most certainly a bright spot in our fall; the first few months had many hard days and we were so happy for the escape!

Birthday party on Gulangyu

2009-12-28T13:51:00.012+08:00

This info is a bit dated, but all my current pictures are on the laptop which is not cooperating with blogger at the moment. Amanda was invited, along with the rest of her class, to a birthday party at the island home of her classmate. We were initially very confused by the invitation since it told us to "get on a boat and go to the party." We were to go to "something, something matou ferry" and not be late. Ummmm, okay. We are not likely to miss a good party, so we asked around and finally figured out where to go. We met the birthday boy's daddy (a British man, married to a lovely Chinese wife, parents of three boys) at the terminal and accepted his offer of ferry tickets. When it was time to depart, we joined to mass of people...orderly lines just don't exist here, but don't get me started on that nonsense. Above is a picture of the ferry and below is the path we followed to board the boat.
Yep, we had to navigate our way to the fourth boat along bobbing boards set up between the boats. We were grateful for full use of our limbs as this would not have worked very well with a wheelchair or crutches.
Once on the boat we were treated to nice views of Gulangyu, the small, picturesque island off our main island that has become quite a tourist attraction. It is said to be one of the top ten destinations for tourists within China. It was home to early embassies years ago and also has a now defunct missionary hospital that was staffed by nurses from our own Hope College way back in the early 1900s.
A famous statue of a famous guy that looks out over the sea. If I were not a lazy person (and not feeling fed up with living here at the moment...) I would look up the information about this site. Perhaps at a later date. Regardless of the story, it was pretty cool to see from the water.
Once off the rocking boat, we walked down the long dock and down a sidewalk to the home. We felt very privileged to be invited to a private home on the island as not many people get to see this side of Gulangyu.
It felt like being at a backyard party at home! We are still not really accustomed to apartment living so this was a treat for us. The yellow building in the background houses a family room and full bathroom.
This nicely appointed kitchen was in its own separate building, right behind the main house. It had full-sized appliances, not commonly seen here, and was expertly attended by the family's ayi (household helper) who cooked all day long.
The back stairs to the house (kitchen is to the left, unseen). The dad told us that this was originally a missionary home, still owned by the church (can't recall which denomination just now). His company made an agreement with the church that they would fix it up (it had been sitting vacant for quite some time) in exchange for the rights to use it for housing at a low rent for the next 20 years. Our friends are the lucky occupants for now.
Amanda and Gene loved the outdoor ping pong table in the back corner of the yard. The children also took turns on the trampoline in the front yard and had fun running around the large, private yard that is shielded from view by lots of lush trees and other tropical foliage.

We took the long way back, walking through the center of the island to the main tourist ferry, since we missed the other ferry (couldn't miss the cutting of the cake, you know!). I got us lost three times but we finally made it back, just to be shoved and pushed onto the ferry by a huge crowd of weekend tourists. We intend to avoid crossing at this hour in the future as this was not a good ending to a fun day. As we are finding more each day, we must learn to hold tightly to the good things so that the bad don't overcome us (of course this is true in every corner of the world, but has been magnified for us here!).

Liz's 13th birthday party

2009-12-12T16:25:00.009+08:00

Of course, we are not nearly old enough to have a thirteen year old daughter, so I don't know how this happened...believe what you will. Liz and some of her school friends gathered on a Friday night in mid-November to celebrate her birthday. Here are AJ, Liz, Justine, Sherou and Silke waiting for our ride. We were not happy that the night turned out to be rainy since we had planned to walk to the restaurant for dinner, but this turned out to be an advantage in the end. (you'll have to keep reading to find out why) Two of the moms offered to have their drivers run us over to Me & You 2--the outdoor restaurant/pub with a boardwalk and ocean view where we planned to eat. Good thing we had two vans offered to us since we had 10 people. The original plan was to eat pizza and then come back to our place to play games, etc...
We brought along the cake we had purchased earlier in the day, figuring it was easier to eat around a large table than to try to all fit around our small one.
Thankfully the cake ended up tasting pretty good. We were a little leery but decided that it was a must-have item, even if it didn't taste good! Notice the "happy birthday" in English and the pile of fruit--they insist on putting fruit on all cakes, sometimes even cherry tomatoes! We fought over the chocolate and white chocolate discs...they were yummy!
We also brought this bouquet of daisy-type flowers we had purchased from a little shop in our neighborhood. I was a bit nervous to try to negotiate ordering a bouquet with extremely limited language skills, but, once again, my pointing and nodding skills came in handy and we ended up with this nice arrangement for about $5! They have an ingenious way of wrapping the stems in a big sheet of thick plastic and securing it all with tape (and covering it with decorative paper) that precludes the need for a vase. The lady was an artist, I tell you.

Little did we know that Olf, the Swedish owner of the pub, and his wife had ordered TWO DOZEN roses for Liz! When we dropped in to tell him that we'd be coming with a party, just to make sure we had a table reserved, we did not have this in mind! He got on the mic (one of his favorite things to do) and announced that there was a new teenager in the house...don't remind us! It was very sweet. Then he told us that the band was going to be starting soon and that they would sing a birthday song for Liz. So we had to stick around for that and the girls were having fun so we didn't mind changing our plans a little. By the time the band came out and sang to her, it was past 7pm and other patrons were showing up but, since it was bad weather, the crowd was pretty sparse. Lucky for us because it meant more special attention for our group.

The band members came over, one by one, and stood on this little area, right by our table, and sang songs from the huge list the girls had made for them! Cordless mics helped make this work, even though I think they had a bit of a hard time timing their words to the music because of the distance. The girls were a little embarrassed at first but they warmed up quickly by singing along, loudly! Of course, the natural progression was for them to be invited onto the stage to sing with the band!
Wow! We never expected this kind of treatment...but they had a ball! We thanked the band and Olf profusely and his response was, "Hey, you want a party, I'll make you a party!" Not sure how we're going to top this in four years when Amanda turns 13!

Tulou/Hakka houses

2009-12-03T17:43:00.022+08:00

Well, I thought I had posted pictures of this trip a long time ago...guess I just thought about it, but never really did it! One day on our October break we took a bus tour to see the famous Hakka houses of Fujian province. After much debate (nothing seems to be easy here, or maybe we're just too indecisive at times) we decided to tag along with one of Gene's coworkers and her visiting-for-the-holidays sister on a Chinese tour. Yes, we were the only foreigners on the packed bus. We secured seats in the back row, a slightly elevated view of the rest of the bus, but no more leg room. Thus, we sat sort of sideways so that our long, Western legs had a bit of space. Pretty funny that my 5'4" frame is on the "tall" side! The ride was quite uncomfortable which was too bad for us since it was 3 hours long! The first two hours were unremarkable except for the miles and miles of banana farms (orchards? groves?) that we passed. We enjoyed some nice samples when we stopped for a quick break and I was feeling pretty good about eating local, until I realized that bananas seem to be a mono-crop in this area. Just can't win sometimes! The last hour of the ride offered some great views along very winding and increasingly high mountain roads. Our driver was not exactly steady and was very heavy on the horn-blowing...we were glad we didn't eat large breakfasts that morning.
Our first views of the houses. Here's a bit of info, lifted from a local travel site since we couldn't understand our tour guide and we didn't expect our friend to translate every word. The earthen buildings (tulou in Chinese) were mostly built between the 12th to 20th centuries (very precise!). They can be round, square or half-moon in shape, with an open courtyard in the center. They are built with up to 6 foot wide walls, made up of "earth" packed onto a wooden skeleton, three to five stories high. Depending on the size, they can house up to 80 families. The structures have just one main entrance, a heavily guarded gate. Apparently they were built this way as a means of defense against attacks. There is some evidence that the US authorities thought these round structures were missile silos and saw them as a threat. Some people think this is funny, but I'm sure they look quite curious from the sky/satellite!
After the very long bus ride, we stopped at a large, rectangular Tulou that is a restaurant and hotel/guest house. We were placed at an outdoor table while the rest of the group went into private rooms. We were fine with this since our table was in the shade and we wanted some fresh air after being in the bus for so long. Our sweet guide, Jenny, and her identical twin sister, Jenny, were kind enough to secure a vegetarian lunch for our table. We had a vast bowl of rice, some "green vegetable" (we call it bokchoi), tofu and some other vegetable dishes, all arrayed on the handy-dandy lazy susan in the middle of our round table. Gene and I also shared a nice, tall, cold beer.
Our girls finished lunch first and then wandered around the Tulou, taking pictures from the upper floors, while we finished our food. Notice the cobble stone floor--looks cool but made scooting the chairs in and out a bit difficult!
Liz and Amanda posing for pictures for the two Jennys in the courtyard. Notice the well to the far left side--we also saw laundry hanging around the top levels, so we think the people who run the restaurant and guest house also live here.
The inner corridors, complete with good-luck Chinese New Year lanterns and freshly washed laundry.
Next we walked about 3/4 of a mile down the road to the entrance of the giant, tourist Tulous. Amanda made friends with the only other child on the tour. This little girl ran right up to her and held her hand as we walked! Very sweet. We did a lot of smiling and nodding as we had no language skills whatsoever at that point (and can't do a whole lot better now--okay, maybe a little better, but we still do a lot of smiling, nodding and pointing, along with gesturing wildly now and then).
We spotted this interesting truck along our walk...the Jennys thought it was funny that we don't tend to have exposed-engine trucks in the US! I thought it was pretty bad of this guy to just dump the truckload of who-knows-what over the edge of the hill, but this is not uncommon here, even in places that are crawling with tourists! We shudder to think of what must go on in more private areas.
This round Tulou seems to be more modern and sleek. Don't have much information about it, but I liked the look of it.
After our tour guide paid the entrance fee for our busload, we entered into a wide yard with this giant Tulou. Since the tour was conducted in Mandarin and all the signs and brochures were also Chinese, we don't have much historical information to pass along. Good thing a picture is worth a thousand words. (feel free to google Hakka houses, the Hakka people built the tulou) We did manage to learn that this big house and some others like it are now under protection by UNESCO (I think that's the name of the organization, anyway!).

We went inside this big Tulou, but I much prefer the exterior pictures. The insides were, regrettably, filled to the hilt with crippity-crap for sale. I realize that is not a proper word, but it's the only one that fits here. We were terribly disappointed to see every square inch covered with stands selling the same junk as all the other stands lining the narrow hallways.
I believe this is a type of altar for making burnt offerings. It was not being used when we were there.
Drying fruit the old-fashioned way. We had no info about the extent to which these Tulou were inhabited, but we surmised that the people selling plastic replicas, etc are the residents. I couldn't figure out what type of fruit this was, though.
Liz checked out the goods at one of the fancier stalls, but we did not buy anything. Notice the website posted above the bracelets--you can order yourself some genuine Hakka memorabilia!
Some of the houses were double-packed, with smaller structures inside the courtyards of a bigger, outer house. They felt very close and crowded and I don't think they would be very pleasant in the rain, what with all those roof-lines to drip on the people below.
A warn stone path along the outside of one house. The trough to the left is for drainage, we think. Or sewage...thankfully it was dry!
We continued to snap photos through the bus windows on the long ride home...still like the outside views better than the inside and the homes look so beautiful in their natural surroundings (as opposed to the tourist surroundings that we left behind). We also saw rows and rows of tea bushes, planted on narrow terraces along the mountainsides. The guide said something about which type of tea it was, but we are not tea connoisseurs so we did not ask for a translation.
We stopped at another banana stand on the way home--nice specimens!
The lovely ladies--the middle Jenny is Gene's coworker . It is hard to tell in this picture, but both the twins are wearing 3-inch wedge heels! As is common with most tours of historical places, we walked many miles, mostly in the beating sun. I guess they are accustomed to it because they never complained. A side note about the Jennys: the visiting twin had chosen the English name Jenny when she was in high school, our Jenny was assigned the name by one of her college teachers! Must be a twin thing. Overall, we had an enjoyable day but we were glad to be off the bus and thankful to have made it home in one piece. The bus driver's mad technique defies description so I won't even try, just know that we were very glad to be back on solid ground (and away from the woman whose stomach was a bit weaker than ours on the winding ride home...)

12 Vauclusian Springs/12 Dragon Falls, Tong'an

2009-11-19T14:23:00.011+08:00

Impressive name, right? Even the native-English-speaking writer of our guide book had to look up "vauclusian." (though I cannot find it in any dictionary, bound or online!) It supposedly means "a spring rising up a deep, steeply-inclined, water-filled passage into a small surface pool" (quoted from Magic Xiamen, William Brown, also quoted from an unnamed source in the book!). So, this sounded interesting and was said to be located "near Film City," see previous post. We hoped the driver would be able to find this place since we wanted to see some more sites while we had the chance and also were ready for something natural after all the Chinese replicas. Well, apparently, "near" is a relative term since we got a bit lost and had to ask directions three times before we finally arrived at the waterfall park. As in many locations around the world, the powers that be were not content to just let nature be the main attraction. Hence, the first photo of a huge, stone gate that is being erected, replacing the smaller, painted gate where we entered and paid our buck or two entrance fee.
This appears to be a new path, nice and wide, and all to ourselves! Amanda and Gene forged ahead to get a closer look at the new statue that is over-looking the new gate. A bit of culture that we did not expect to see at a waterfall site. Notice the long shadows of late afternoon. Still quite warm but not so crazy-hot like the summer months. This early October day felt like a middle-of-the-summer Michigan day!
We made it to the giant statue and I wish I could tell you something about it. Alas, I cannot read Chinese characteres, so the pictures will have to suffice. This guy (I don't think it's a Buddah, but may be Confusious?) must've been pretty great because the statue was immense!
Here's the perspective shot--Gene is 6'2", to give you an idea of the size. Kind of puts Albertus Van Raalte's statue in Centennial Park to shame...but that's a free park, so we won't complain.
On with the hike. Another wide path and view of the top of the mountain. Looked pretty daunting to me but none of us knew what to expect or when we'd reach the waterfall, so we just ambled along. By the way, the driver, Mr. Chen, joined us on our trek. This was pretty exciting because he usually just stays with the van and reads or naps or something. We feel a bit guilty about that and were glad that he seemed to be enjoying this outing, though we had to judge by his body language since at this point we still only knew about 3 words of Chinese, none of them terribly useful.
We came upon the first of the shallow pools after climbing some steep, uneven, concrete stairs and promptly took a rest. We inadvertently shooed away a young couple from the area. It was pretty, but we thought this couldn't be all there was to see since the guide book said the falls were 1 km long (along with not speaking or reading Chinese, I also do not speak or understand kilometers, kilograms or celcius!!).
So we climbed more stairs. Liz did not enjoy this very much but she was a trooper and mostly kept up with the group.
Aha! More falls and more pools and tons of rock. I did not get a good picture of it, but there was also a small temple on a rock outcrop overlook, along with a metal basket contraption along the handrail. We watched as people placed lit ropes of firecrackers of the loud-noise-making variety into the basket. Then we retreated as the smoke choked us and the firecrackers deafened us! The noise echoed across the rocks and down the mountain and hopefully pleased the gods because it did not please us! Sort of ruined the peaceful scene, actually. There was also a hut of sorts for burning pretend money, sending the smoke upward towards the gods (obviously I don't know much about these traditions and I mean no disrespect, I just didn't like all that noise and smoke!)
More beautiful rocks and falls. We came across a few more groups of people and, as is typical here, observed the women teetering up the stairs in 3-inch heels. I was getting pretty woozy in my walking shoes so I don't know how they did it, but it explains the nicely shaped calves they all seem to have.
A bit closer to the peak...this was about as far as we went. We surmised from the map that there was quite a bit more trail up ahead and Gene said he would've liked to go all the way, but the rest of us were not game for that and we knew it was going to be getting dark before too long. I found out later that some teachers from the international school had gone camping up there and shared a camping area of sorts with some local campers, snakes and rats. No, thank you! (I'm sure the people were fine, but not the creatures.)

One last view down the mountain. I wish the pictures had captured the beauty better. It was a worthwhile trip, though tiring, and we're glad we were able to visit some nice local places during our mid-Autumn vacation.

Film City, Tong 'an

2009-11-12T20:54:00.013+08:00

This is dated material, but thought I'd share a little more about our October "staycation." One day we took the company up on their offer of a driver (we usually just have him take Gene to and from work and other special occasions like airport runs). We also asked a young co-worker, Wendy, to join us both for fun and to help us with the language! We first went to a place called Film City in the village of Tong'an which is about a half hour drive from here. We were able to get discounted tickets since there was a promotion for "golden week." They didn't cost much to begin with (about $4 per adult) but we always like discounts anyway. Here we are at the main gate of the park, dwarfed by the massive traditional structure. We had a lovely, summer-like day and were glad to see that there were very few other people--we don't enjoy crowds and they can be very hard to avoid in this densely populated country!
Long-distance view of the replica of the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) in Beijing. It was massive, though still a scale-model of the original. Supposedly many Chinese movies are filmed here when it's either inconvenient or undesired to go to the actual historical locations. No films were being shot on this day, though.
We had to cross over a large pedestrian bridge to get to the site of the palaces, complete with long rows of the red Chinese flag. This was early in the day, so Amanda was still up for some running!
We took turns with the other tourists posing in the pedicab. We have yet to see any of these here, but saw plenty in Hawaii! Maybe other cities in China still use these, too.
Right next to this huge outdoor film studio, we saw men fishing in a very tradtional way. Not sure what they're catching in their baskets and nets, could be frogs or turtles or fish or who-knows-what (I've seen lots of "interesting" seafood in the outdoor markets, so I try not to assume too much. Just yesterday, I saw cages with pigeons in them and they were not meant to be used for carrying messages! I tried to explane to my Chinese companion that those birds are considered rats with wings in the US and she thought it was pretty gross too.) Notice the triangular straw hats...they're not just from the movies, people actually still use them.
Burning in the hot sun on the replica Great Wall. I'm pretty sure the real wall is a bit wider than this one...but it was still fun to try it out.
This is one of the guard towers at the far end of the "Great Wall." There were quite a few brass (?) statues of ancient-looking soldiers, cannons and huge horses that didn't photograph well. They were also hot to the touch and we couldn't spend too much time up there as we were getting too warm.
This is a very long path, a replica of the Summer Palace path and garden. The ceiling was very ornate and we liked the benches all along the sides for resting. We, however, declined to take naps as some locals did. Sleeping in public is fairly common here, and not just for those who have nowhere else to go. We've seen a number of park-sleepers, most notably the guy who was using an empty water bottle as a pillow! We've discovered that there is a bit of a "siesta" culture here in which the lunch hour is also used as a resting time. Gene's co-workers all use the first half hour to eat and the second half hour to sleep at their desks! I'm pretty sure I'd sleep for two hours, drool all over the desk and end up fired if I were to ever try this!
The front of the Forbidden City, complete with huge Mao poster. Now we've sort of "been there," with the photo to prove it, just in case we never get to the real place! Haha, there would be at least 20,000 others in the photo if this was the real place!
Snow? In southern China? No, just a really odd and sort of creepy indoor winter replication. This is actually white sand and they keep the place very dark. It was like a huge warehouse with a few fake trees and white walls and white sand on the floor.
The girls pretending to be cold in front of the not-very-convincing ice cave. Notice the large seam/crack...I can't imagine that filming in here would look at all real, but maybe they have talented camera operators and finishing crew who know how to make it work.
Since we were a bit off the beaten path, we were more of an anomaly than usual, being a white family and all. We got even more stares than we typically do (our theory is that foreign business men have become pretty common, but families are still out of the norm). Our girls were asked repeatedly to pose for pictures--so we turned the tables and took pictures of the photographers. Some people are offended by repeated requests for pictures but we were in no hurry and the girls are still flattered to be asked, so we didn't mind. Thankfully no one was aggressive and our kids are old enough to not be freaked out by it all. I talked to an Australian woman recently whose darling, two year old white-blond daughter is approached many times each day and was reminded that it is not always a great experience to look so different from everyone else.
After our several-hour tour of ancient Beijing, we set off for a mountain/waterfall park that was listed in our Xiamen tour book...more on that coming soon.

Family Cai ancient village

2009-10-29T08:11:00.014+08:00

One of the ladies had found out about a traditional housing complex of sorts that was (is?) inhabited by a family clan named Cai. We are not sure if these are the current dwellers or not, but the place was available for self-guided tours once we paid the 15 kuai (about $2.15) entrance fee. We were not sure what to expect...the first point of interest, right inside the walls, was a stone picnic table. As we had just finished our hot, three mile bridge hike, we were ready for some snacks. This is my friend, Amy, who had brought along a chopped salad to share with the group. We sat at the very low table and ate our various crackers and salad and chugged water before venturing further. The one story buildings, all nestled together, were surrounded by a brick wall. There were narrow alleys between some buildings that formed a maze of sorts. I was glad to be here in the daylight!
Down the lane we found a taller picnic set. The big, stone pavers look a lot like the surface of the bridge we just visited!
Inside courtyard of one of the homes. We didn't know if we should go right inside these areas, but there was no one to ask and we had paid our fee so we had a look. Each section seemed to be set up in the same manner with a main gate, courtyard in the middle, temple area to the back and rooms all around the outside. One of the ladies, Katy, is from Taiwan and said her grandparents lived in a place similar to this and that she never liked visiting as a child! It seemed so old-fashioned and rural, I think.
One of the alleys where we saw livestock milling around (if a duck is considered livestock). I guess when a door no longer has a purpose, it is just closed off with brick and mortar.
Time to head back to school after lunch break. I wonder how they felt about us wandering around their home? Perhaps it is now more of a neighborhood than a big, family dwelling but it did seem a little strange to be lurking around.
There were several open wells throughout the area. The big sink/trough in back might be for laundry. Notice the plastic buckets--they must have used wooden barrel buckets at one point.
Fred Flintstone-style barbell found in an alley. Need to have strong muscles to fetch water from the open well.
Random doors that looked cool to me. I peeked in the far window but it was very dark in there. Then I heard a sort of groan like someone was sleeping in there and I didn't peek in any more windows after that!
We climbed some stone stairs to get a better view. Had to duck under the drooping power lines, but the site of the roofs was worth it. It was pretty hot up here so I didn't stay for long.
The alleyways toward the back of the complex had dirt paths and a bit of overgrowth. We just kept walking around, seeing what there was to see. Got lost a few times.
One last hall way, leading out to a wooded area. This village was interesting to see but was a bit lacking since we had no tour guide or map or information of any kind! I'm sure there was much more to learn beyond what we took in with our eyes and cameras, but it was still a worthwhile visit just to see how different some people live.

Anping Bridge

2009-10-26T07:43:00.006+08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures and notes about my first field trip with a group of wonderful expat ladies. At the end of August we took two van loads of ladies (many thanks to those who shared their drivers!) out to Anping Bridge. The history you are about to read has been lifted from Apple Travel's website (with some revision by me): This bridge was first built in the eighth year of the Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty (that's 1139 A.D. to you and me) and took 13 years to build. It is made of granite and was once the longest bridge in ancient China at one and a half miles. It is supported by 361 piers and is 3 to 3.8 meters wide. The length of the stone "bricks" vary from 5 to 11 meters long, the heaviest weigh in at 25 tons! The notes say it has "handrails on both sides" but unless you are only three feet tall, I'd say they are more like shin-guards!
The first picture is of some of the piers, I really liked their boat shapes. Some of the piers further down the bridge were less artistic--I think maybe the stone cutters got tired of all that carving and just went for function over form after a while (or, since it took 13 years to complete, times and workers changed). We all thought it was pretty funny that this historic bridge had no markings from the road at all. We could have easily passed right by without seeing it. There was new construction (no surprise there!) in front of the opening gate and was very unassuming from the roadway. Luckily the drivers had sharp eyes and good directions.
So we all piled out of the vans and commented on the beautiful day and nice breeze. Because of this good fortune, I left my sun-umbrella and water bottle in the car...I would come to regret this decision. We set off to walk the length of the bridge, chatting along the way. We represented the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the Philippines, Taiwan and Norway. This was the first time I had met many of these ladies and was glad to get to know them along the walk.
Oops, my photos are a bit out of order (it's hard for me to remember which to download first since they must be done in reverse order and I don't know how to switch them around. I'm sure there's a quick and simple way to do this, I just don't know it!). This is actually the opposite end of the bridge, approaching a village street. The gate at the end opened up onto a dusty alley where a little boy and two women were wandering about. They were surprised to see a bunch of foreign women emerge from the bridge, cameras at the ready!
The views along the bridge were quite nice, especially when I was able to sort of block out the high rise buildings in the background. Apparently the span runs between Anhai Town of Jinjiang and Shuitou Town of Nan'an...but I don't really know what that means! I do know that it is in Fujian province, about a 45 minute drive from Xiamen. The sides of the river were lined with small farms that reminded me of our time in Korea in the early '80s. There were several little pavillions along the route that were meant for resting but they were quite small and didn't have too much to offer.
This temple was roughly in the middle of the bridge. Notice the group of men sitting toward the back. We don't know what their story is or why they were just sitting around on a weekday morning, but they sure got a kick out of our group. Wish I could've understood their comments (or, actually, maybe I don't want to know!). We saw burning incense and stone ovens meant for burning pretend money offerings by the temple but didn't linger too long as it seemed a bit rude to gawk and also it was dark inside there so we couldn't see much.
Along the way there were numerous stone carvings that have really begun to show their age (not surprising, given the time lapse!). I think this was meant to be a lion of some sort but most of its face has eroded away. Now it just looks like a blob.
In front of the little temple we saw twin statues dressed curiously in red sequined capes and halter tops! It's been too long since my World Religions class to even attempt to identify these guys (or maybe they are just guards of the temple) but I certainly would not have expected to see them draped in dance costume fabric regardless of their origin.
So, after we walked the length of the bridge and lamented not asking the drivers to meet us on the other side (had they been able to find it) we turned around for the second mile and a half. By now the wind had died down and we were getting pretty hot. This is where a little shade and some cold water would've come in handy, though it was refreshing in retrospect that this historic place did not have an ounce of commercialism, no trinket shops or little plastic bridge replicas for sale. A three mile walk on somewhat uneven pavers in the bright sun was fun and interesting, but I was grateful to enter the air conditioned van and enjoyed the cool ride to our second destination, the family Cai ancient village (to be described in the next post or whenever I finished the pile of laundry and studying my Chinese lessons!).

Zhongshan Park--Xiamen's oldest park

2009-10-13T10:53:00.011+08:00

We had a week and half off school early in October...tried to plan a trip and, after several misfires and much disappointment, decided to stay in Xiamen and see some of the local sites. The girls are in school all day and Gene works fairly late so they haven't had much chance to see this place. After consulting our handy city guide, we decided to ride the bus to Zhongshan Park. According to the book, most Chinese cities have a park with this name, named after Sun Zhongshan who sought to free China. It is right off a main road and centrally located, but was not too noisy and not too crowded. We were glad to see that it looked quite well maintained as maintenance doesn't always seem to be a priority here. The girls were dwarfed by the giant dragon topiary!
After trying out some of the playgroung equipment and swearing off the rickety-looking carnival rides (and getting many curious looks--I guess not many laowai venture into this park), we noticed a winding canal of sorts. We decided to give it a try and enlisted Liz to attempt to ascertain the price of paddle boat rental. She did a good job with "duo shoa jian si ren?" We think this means, "how much four people?" It was close enough and we paid our $7 for an hour rental.
The four-seated, canopied boat had us facing each other and taking turns at the pedals. There was some learning as to the stearing device, but we figured it out without any major collisions!
Isn't this serene? I doubt that the water is terribly clean, but it wasn't too stinky. Look closely toward the bridge to see a man standing in a long boat...
Here's a closer look. There were several of these guys, spread out along the meandering "stream" who were on clean-up duty. The long pole extending toward the back of his boat is not his oar, it's actually a net support. As he paddled along, the net made a sweep of leaves and other debris and he periodically scooped them into the basket at the other end of the boat. These guys were mostly friendly but one gave us some scowls when we had to attempt a 3-piont turn at an intersection. Oh, well, no one was hurt or got wet! By the way, have I mentioned the unreal balance everyone here seems to have? I see examples of this so often and am constantly amazed. I attribute this skill to the very early exposure to fast-moving vehicles without the benefit of carseats and the like. We daily see ladies riding side-saddle on the backs of bikes and motor-bikes, they are almost never holding onto anything. The ladies also seem to prefer high heels, no matter what the activity. Even a day trip to a mountain in which hundreds of stairs will be climbed is occasion for high heels! Now for the early exposure: it is very common to see said ladies holding very young children on their laps, riding side-saddle, speeding down the road, not holding on. Yikes! Once the kid is old enough, he or she usually gets sandwiched between the driver and passenger. Never in a million years would I do this! Keep your eyes open during the next Olympics for the Chinese gymnasts, divers and any other sport requiring great balance, it's just uncanny!
After all that exertion the girls wanted a treat. Check out the fluffy cotton candy! If I remember correctly, it was less than a dollar each. Of course, cotton candy isn't worth more than one dollar, but it usually costs far more at home. We don't usually see the white variety, but I much prefered it to the color- and flavor-enhanced kind. So artificial. It was also wound around a wooden chopstick of sorts instead of the paper cone.
There was a small display of bonsai trees, by now the girls didn't want to be near each other any more, so they used separate rocks! We have lots of these bougainvillea bushes around here, but they are less spectacular than in Hawaii. Still nice to see colorful plants, though.
Last stop before trekking back to the bus stop was this cute pagoda thing. It was very simple, just used as a resting spot. We climbed up to the second story to see the nice view. There I saw some people eating a large pomelo. This is the largest of the citrus fruits and is native to this area. Local people are very good about eating what's fresh and in seaon (a good lesson for those of us who have grown accustomed to having whatever we want, whenever we want it, thanks to importation. Get it while it's fresh and you'll get the best taste!). So it is pomelo season and friends have told me how great they are but that there is a certain way to eat them. Hmmm. Not sure what to do about that, so I tried to watch what these Chinese college-aged people were doing. Guess I stared too long because they offered me some of their snack! I declined, but it was nice of them to offer. [We eventually tried a pomelo that I bought at the market and then another with our friend, Wendy. More about the day with Wendy later...]

Things you don't see everyday (but we do!)

2009-10-10T09:12:00.006+08:00

Want to keep strangers from scaling your wall? Short on cash for barbed wire? Into repurposing stuff? Why not cement your old, broken beer bottles to the top of your wall? I don't think I'd try to climb over this one! We actually saw this type of home-defense in Mexico too, but are still in awe of it...just how did they mount all that broken glass without chopping off a few fingers? Or maybe they did and it was worth it!
One Sunday Gene, Amanda and I went for a walk (in search of food) in the neighborhood of our church while Liz was in her youth group meeting. After finding a local grocery store and purchasing some packaged snacks, we took a self-guided tour of a traditional residential area and took in the sites. We didn't have time to play a round (match? game?) of pool, but were interested in this outdoor pool hall. Notice the after-thought of wooden steps in the front. Wonder what this building was originally intended for, showing plays, perhaps?
We have taken to riding the bus to church (and many other locations, actually) as this is easier than trying to communicate with taxi drivers, is much cheaper (more cash for buying trinkets to take home to our friends and family!), allows us to see the city sites for future reference, provides entertainment for the other bus riders and offers interesting conversation starters. Take, for instance, this lady driver's unique way of extending her reach for the gas pedal...that green thing is a chunk of sidewalk. She rested her high-heel clad feet on it when it was time to accelerate. No wonder the sidewalks around here can be treacherous, we have lots of busses on the roads!
Another installment of local vehicles...above are two handy delivery/collection bikes. The olive drab color always makes me think of old war relics but I think these are actually fairly new. Might be handy for my trips to the farmer's market back home...
Local street cleaner. We have been pleased to find that Xiamen is quite a clean city as far as sidewalks and streets go. I see these little street-sweeping carts often on the side roads and the main sidewalks and parks are always full of people dressed in yellow long-sleeved jackets and long blue pants sweeping the stray leaves with big brooms made from tree branches. They are followed closely by guys driving carts like the one below, so he can collect the debris. (Now if we could only get the locals to quit spitting great gobs of gunk all over the place and teach the little children to go potty in less public spaces, we'd be even better off!)
Garbage and recycling collection...this guy lost half his load in the street. Can't imagine why, perhaps because it was so overloaded?! There are large garbage trucks too, but these small collection bikes seem to be more common. In fact, we don't have dumpsters at our apartment complex, just small garbage barrels (less than half the size of our weekly pick-up container at home, and we have the smallest that is available) around our courtyard for everyone to use. There are a few ladies who empty them constantly and also sift through the stuff for recyclables
that they take to the corner hole-in-the-wall. This system seems to work pretty well and we don't have to look at piles of garbage around our place. Hope you like these interesting sites, we have become immune to them already, but are trying to keep fresh eyes so we can share them all with you!

Bo Bing take 2, birthday-style

2009-10-09T11:50:00.005+08:00

At the very end of September we were invited to attend a BoBing party hosted by Gene's company. This was a celebration of the Mid-Autumn festival and National Day. It was on a Saturday afternoon (changed at the last minute from Friday evening, planning ahead is apparently unheard of here) at a large restaurant. Most larger restaurants, and even some smaller ones, have private rooms of varying sizes to accommodate parties or groups. I had let slip at an earlier party (when we were very new to the country and culture and I just didn't know any better!) that my birthday would coincide with National Day, so when we got to the party we were ushered to the head table where this giant birthday cake awaited me. It was as big as my wedding cake, I think! Once everyone had settled in, the general manager made a speech and announced our presence (as if anyone had missed the American family!) and told everyone that we were also celebrating my birthday. I think he probably told them that it was my 40th, but I don't know for sure. So then the karoke screen came on and I had to stand up while I was serenaded first in Mandarin, then in English! I was mortified. The mood was lightened, though, when a coworker's little boy took over the mic and sang to me. Then he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I was so grateful to have the attention directed toward him and it also gave me someone to look at instead of all the tables full of strangers who probably resent us!
Then I got to cut the cake. The top layer was chocolate with white icing and chocolate shavings, and a little white chocolate plackard with "Happy Birthday Laura" written in red. That pink flower-shaped thing is a multi-candle holder that sings a little tune! Middle layer was green tea with fruit garnish and the large bottom layer was taro with grape garnish and lady fingers around the outside. I cut a slab and took it to Sammy, the boss, and thanked him. Glad that was over, I got to sit back down and the feast began. Piles and piles of food were delivered to each table. Notice the cake is resting on a darker glass circle. This is the lazy susan that facilitates sharing the many dishes that were served. They were mostly seafood but also some vegetables and fruit and flat bread. As usual, there was an absolute ton of food left over, but we had eaten our fill.
On with the Bo Bing part of the party. Each table of ten people had a stack of boxes containing the prizes for the dice game to unload. These prizes were of greater value than the kind we had at our little party, that means no little packs of tissues! Our table had the four in our family, the big boss and three other people. We had 50% of the table and ridiculous odds of cleaning up! As is tradition, we took turns tossing 6 dice into a bowl and winning prizes accordingly. Around and around we went.
Here I am, giving the gift card I won to another guy who out-rolled me! When we ran out of the smaller prizes, we got little cards to spend at Walmart. We're not sure how to use them but we think they're like vouchers worth different amounts of money. Don't know how we'll use those!
We were each given plastic bags to haul our winnings home...the smallest prize (for rolling one 4) was a three-pack of toothbrushes. When all the prizes had been won, ours totalled: 36 toothbrushes, 8 tubes of toothpaste, 9 sets of shampoo and coconut-scented bar soap, 3 large bottles of body wash, 2 big jugs of cooking oil (Amanda won those!) and 700 Yuan to spend at Rainbow mall (that's a little over $100 US!). Not a bad day...and will really cut back on the shopping for household goods for the year! {We made gift packs for Amanda's teacher and teacher's aide from some of our winnings and will surely have some left to pass along as our time here draws to an end} It was a fun day!

Hairwashing

2009-10-05T17:04:00.005+08:00

One day after school Liz's friend Justine told us she was heading across the street to the Marco Polo Hotel with her ayi (nanny/housekeeper) to have her hair washed. Since Amanda had an after school program and wouldn't be home for another hour, we asked if we could tag along. Luckily there were two hair-washing stations so Liz and her friend could both be pampered at the same time with no waiting. Justine translated for me that the price is usually 45 Yuan, but they would give us a discount because they know her there. That brought it down to 35 Yuan, about $5. I think it's cheaper other places, but we'll cover that later! The ayi and salon staff got a good laugh at my picture-taking but I'm accustomed to that by now. After the girls we settled onto the beds, the washing ladies sat on tiny little stools behind them and got to work.
Liz enjoyed a nice head massage that lasted at least 20 minutes and included a bit of a neck-rub as well.
The shampoo was nice and sudsy but I didn't notice any conditioner so I was really hoping there wouldn't be too many tangles to deal with after all the massaging!
After the wash and rinse, James, the resident hairdresser, dried Liz's hair with the help of a round brush. This was the first blow-dry her hair has had since the first week of August since we didn't bring any driers with us! Good thing the a/c was working...still too hot to use a blow drier if you ask me. James speaks some English and I told him that we didn't have time today, but that next time I would have my turn with the head massage. He encouraged us to return to his salon since we are assured to have nice, clean towels that come from the hotel laundry, unlike other places that may have questionable cleansing practices. I realize that it is to his advantage to have return customers, but that bit about the towels really got me thinking! Before we left he said that I should come back soon and he could color my hair...another example of something that should not be said right to my face by a perfect stranger! Yes, my "silver" roots are growing longer by the day but I don't really need to be reminded of it. I asked him if he's sure he knows how to color my type of hair (read: not Asian) and he said that yes, he's familiar with naturally wavy hair. Hmmm, I'm still not entirely convinced and have read about extremely toxic, known carcinogenic chemicals showing up in Chinese-made hair color. Some one please tell me why I didn't know to bring store-bought color kits with me...I don't indulge in lots of luxuries (by American standards, anyway) but I do get my hair done professionally. This has actually caused a great deal of angst (one of the many nightmare-inducing circumstances of my life here...) and if you think that's trivial, you must be blessed with younger genes than I am!
The finished products! Both girls seemed happy with their clean, smooth locks (hence, the moms are happy too since there are too many hard days in China, we have to hold onto the fun and relaxing moments!)

Bo Bing party!

2009-09-24T23:10:00.009+08:00

Mid-Autumn Festival is upon us here in China which means it's time to celebrate in a uniquely Xiamen manner. I'm not sure exactly when "mid-autumn" falls, but it seems that any time during this two week period is good for a party. The festival is celebrated throughout China as one of the Golden Weeks of the year, meaning a week off school and work! Like some American holidays, I think people tend to forget exactly what we're supposed to be commemorating and just enjoy the time off! The way to celebrate in Xiamen is to have a "bo bing" party with friends,coworkers, neighbors, anyone at all. In fact, I've seen the bowls set up in stores and we even saw someone win a big bottle of cooking oil at the bank yesterday, but we don't know how to ask if we can play along so we just smile and nod as we do to most everything! Bo Bing is a game in which six dice are tossed into a large china bowl, in hopes that you will roll a four or combination of fours. The host of the party will have purchased many prizes, 63 to be exact! A roll of one four gets one of the 32 smallest prizes, two fours one of 16 prizes, three fours one of 8 prizes, four of a kind (not fours) gets one of four prizes, a full straight gets the second prize and four fours gets the grand prize. Clear as mud? Basically, the prizes start off quite small and build in value up to the grand prize. The history of this game has something to do with a general wanting to keep his troops from growing bored and restless while waiting for the next battle so he created a game to stimulate their brains . The prize levels are intended to represent the different levels of ancient scholars. Apparently smarter people roll more fours?! Also, traditionally moon cakes in varying sizes were the prizes. The word "cake" means different things to different people, mind you, and these cakes can be tasty but are certainly not like the type of cake we'd have at home. Now on with the party.
We hosted Gene's department from work as we were told that team-building within a work department is very important and also we like these young ladies and like any excuse to have a party! We took them to a small Chinese restaurant near our home for enough food to feed twenty people--it's just the way things are done here. We tried to explain that it would be seen as very wasteful in America to leave so much food on the table when we were finished but I guess that's just one of the many cultural differences. How a country with such a large population and relatively small proportion of arable land came to behave this way is beyond me. Though I'm quite sure this custom is just for eating out and food is not wasted so much in the home. We feasted on spicy tofu, marinated cucumber, sauteed eggplant in sauce, scrambled egg with tomato, sauteed green peppers, bok choi soup, spicy slivered potatoes, Kung Po chicken (chicken in sauce with peanuts) and some huge fish and cabbage dish. Oh, yeah, and rice! We shared orange juice, big bottles of beer and tea. All this food totalled around 22 USD!
I had purchased a Bo Bing set several weeks ago in anticipation of taking this tradition home with us to Michigan when this term is over and it's been waiting for the maiden party. I was glad to find a very traditional red and gold bowl (even though it cost more than I thought it should, it looked a lot better than the white one with bulls on it that I found later!). Turns out it's okay to use any old china bowl, but I liked the official set. Here the ladies, Jenny, Ivy and Annie are studying the rules/dice combinations that are printed along the side. Much harder to lose the game directions when they're right on the side of the bowl! In preparation for this evening along with buying the stacks of prizes and fretting mightily over them, I got a reusable shopping bag for each of the ladies so they could easily haul home their goodies. I had really hoped that they would win the bulk of the prizes and had purposefully gotten girlie type prizes: small tissue packets with cute designs on them, scented soap, toothpaste (nongender specific!), Pantene shampoo/hair care sets, and the famous red envelopes--more on this later. One of my mistakes (I'm unfortunately getting accustomed to making lots of them) was to get three different patterns of bags, one brown with swirls, one green with blue globes and one hot pink with purple globes (my girls both got blue with penguins). Apparently bright colors are good luck and everyone wanted the pink bag. There was some good-natured kidding about who got this bag and Ivy ended up with it. Part of the local lore about this game is that first-time players are lucky. Ivy is approaching the one year mark of her life in Xiamen and we had the privilege of hosting her first Bo Bing experience (ours too, of course, but we're not quite as superstitious!). .
So we took turns tossing the dice and not eating the little cupcakes I had purchased for dessert (guess I should've served some of the moon cakes we've gotten as gifts?! Actually, Jenny had told me weeks earlier that she didn't like moon cakes so I didn't want her to feel obligated to eat any). Round and round we went with Amanda acting as the prize getter. Gene was the least lucky and didn't end up with much but that's the way it should be since he is their boss and the evening's host. Jenny ended up with most of the soap and Liz got most of the toothpaste! We were told that there is a special rule about stealing prizes: the number two and three prizes can be stolen if the same roll is made after the prizes have been claimed up until the grand prize is won--then all stealing stops. Well, lucky Miss Ivy was the first to win a red envelope as second prize. We were advised to get gift certificates for the top two prizes but I just couldn't manage that without enough language skills so we put cash inside. The top prize was 300 rmb (about 45 dollars) with the two second prizes containing 150 rmb each. Many rolls and many packets of tissues later, Annie won the other second prize. We were glad since she hadn't been winning much. Along the way Gene won and lost the shampoo set and I won and lost another (also very glad for this as I wanted the ladies to get the best prizes!) Then super lucky Ivy rolled another second prize and was able to steal from Annie! I thought for sure she'd refuse but that's my Western thinking (Christian thinking? Keep the peace at all costs thinking?) So now just some toothpaste and the grand prize were left. One guess as to who won it...Ivy! Amanda chimed in "Ivy won all the money!" and we all laughed. She tucked it carefully into the coveted pink bag and was very happy! I joked that in the US we'd all say that she had to buy lunch tomorrow. Again, I had hoped each lady would win a red envelope but I guess that just wasn't meant to be. Gene said that amount of money is pretty significant (heck, I'd be glad to win $100 too!) and that it would be sort of like us winning $1,000. I think I might head back to the cute gift shop I found yesterday and stock up on hot pink shopping bags!
Here is Amanda with her two sets of hair care items, tube of toothpaste, seven tissue packets, penguin bag and the cute stuffed animals the ladies brought for our girls. The gift-giving culture over here is going to kill us, if not financially then mentally for sure as we try to sort out the when, who and how much of the custom!
Gene's paltry two tissue, one soap winnings!
The lucky winner!! (as an aside, the design on the red envelopes is usually reserved for weddings--another mistake I was sure I was making in the store, but had no way of really knowing!) All in all it was a fun night and we look forward to more parties at our home here and also to future Bo Bing parties when we return home...but don't expect lavish gifts since our home parties won't be subsidized by the company! PS--we will attend the work Bo Bing party on Saturday morning and then head right home to our apartment complex party! I won't feel guilty winning prizes at these parties...so cross your fingers for me!!

Random observations

2009-09-23T17:01:00.002+08:00

It is so hard to get pictures of all the strange and interesting things we see here, so I'll try to describe a few without pictures. This country has as much income disparity as at home and it can be startling at times. Today as I walked to the bus stop I noticed a fancy-looking car parked on our street. I noticed a "B" logo but wasn't quite sure what that meant so I looked closer. Turns out it was a Bently! I thought those only came in drive-the-Queen-around-London, tall, sedan type car but this one was low and sleek and reminded me a bit of the newer Jaguars. Mind you this car was parked less than a ten minute walk from where we observed people literally living underneath a bridge in concrete bunkers not fit for a stray dog. I realize this happens all over the world, but it doesn't mean I have to like it! Some other interesting things we've observed include a young mother holding her toddler child over a garbage can in the middle of the supermarket so the child could "eliminate;" foldable drying racks set out on public sidewalks, loaded down with bras and underwear; little doggies who have been so well-trained (or are so afraid of being eaten...) that they just follow their people down busy city sidewalks without the benefit of collar or leash; children covered with burn scars begging on the street; women of all ages lugging heavy fruit-filled baskets on poles, beast-of-burden style; all kinds of fruit being sold out of the back of mini pick-up trucks; pizza with egg as a topping; an obviously wealthy lady whose child goes to school with our girls who gave birth in Hong Kong in order to get a foreign passport for her child who drives a convertable Mercedes and only wears each article of clothing three times before passing it along. It's actually pretty amazing that we have become immune to many of the strange sites so quickly. We have a week and a half off work and school starting October 1 (this is National Day, the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party). Because of the lunar calendar, National Day is followed quickly by Mid-Autumn Festival which is one of the Golden Weeks. Seems odd to be preparing to celebrate mid-autumn when it's still 90-some degrees out, but we're looking forward to it anyway. We did not make any travel plans so we hope to be able to explore our city and maybe some outlying areas during this break. We'll have to fight the crowds, I'm afraid, but we will try to get lots of pictures of the night parade, Bo Bing parties and whatever else turns up.

White water rafting

2009-09-17T13:09:00.002+08:00

I have no pictures of this wild adventure and you'll understand why if you continue reading...I have been blessed with the friendship of a number of expatriate women; the benefits, if you will, are numerous. First off, friends who can communicate easily in English are invaluable in this foreign land. Gene was very worried that while he was at work and the girls were at school I would be left home alone to wallow in my loneliness. Thankfully, this has not been the case. Our internet, blog-writing friend, Tina, has introduced me to a bunch of women whom I've gotten to know over the past few weeks. Some of the ladies live in my neighborhood so we are able to meet for short outings, like coffee and conversation, foot massages, lunch, shopping, etc. They come from all over the world: the Philippines, Norway, Canada, El Salvador, England, Australia, Italy, the US, China ("overseas Chinese" mostly) so it is very interesting to spend time with them and share in our common experiences. Many of them also have children at the same international school that my girls attend. A few days ago, when I was terribly shaken and reduced to tears over bug situation, I sent a pleading group email and was almost immediately comforted by words of encouragement, offers of information and, the next day when we met for a luncheon of the official expats' club, gifts of repellent. I can only hope to be half as helpful to them and to others in the future.
Several of these ladies have drivers with minivans so we are able to carpool for "Wednesday Adventures." How wonderful they are to share with all of us! (Two weeks ago we went to see an ancient bridge and a traditional housing village--I have pictures of those so will write about that once the pics are downloaded.) Yesterday we planned to meet after taking our kids to the bus stop but I was not sure the trip would come to pass since it was raining. We went ahead with our plans and the rain stopped not long after we left. One of the brains of the operation, Pam, had researched a place that is about 40 minutes away from here that offers many so-called "tourist projects." I was initially under the impression that we would be kayaking, which to me is a slow and calm type of activity. Not so...we were actually headed for some white-water rafting, Chinese-style. Most of us grew increasingly nervous as we waited for the bus to take us "up the mountain," as this would appear to indicate that we'd be rafting back down the mountain. We were told that we would become wet "from head to toe" and should leave cameras, phones, everything but the clothes on our backs and the shoes on our feet in the care of the faithful drivers. Luckily, we had come prepared with a change of clothes, but we had no idea how wet we'd actually become. We rode the bus, along with about a dozen Chinese tourists, to the drop station. Along the way, a young woman spoke at the speed of light over the bus intercom, presumably about safety instructions, etc. Again, we sort of laughed along and made up our own translations like "try not to get killed 'cause we're not responsible" and other not-so-funny things. At the top, we were each outfitted with lovely yellow helmets, complete with scratchy chin straps, and thin, orange life vests. We were also told to take one long bamboo pole per boat. That's right, not an actual paddle that might offer some way to control one's own destiny to some extent, but just a big stick! Another round of instructions, basically, we were to have two passengers per rubber boat and were to face each other since the boat would be spinning around as we barreled down the river. Ummm, okay. I paired up with Olivia, a young woman from Australia whose husband teaches at XIS. We were about the last boat to shove off...thought we'd get a good look at this thing before taking the plunge!
We were shoved into a narrow channel and were off! Turns out there is a dam at the top of all this so that the water can be controlled somewhat. We haven't had much rain so the dam had been opened before we got there. About three minutes into the ride we descended down a rapids and were splashed to the point of filling our boat with six inches of water! Sitting cross-legged in a tiny rubber boat in questionable river water with two and a half hours of river-riding ahead of us was pretty daunting. The next fifteen minutes or so were pretty harrowing as we tried to figure out how to use the bamboo pole and remember which way to lean so as not to capsize the boat. When we reached a calm spot we tried to relax and enjoy the scenery and soon became more adept at working our equipment. Of course, we took on water every few minutes and were soon completely soaked. We were usually the last boat in the procession and we're pretty sure the river guide who was at the very back of the pack thought we were complete idiots! We got him to help us dump the excess water several times and were very glad for this since there was always another rapids up ahead to replenish the supply. Luckily we did not fall off the slippery rocks or fall headlong into the water. Still further along on our ride, we started to be able to notice when the barely-submerged rocks were upon us, though not after we each "found" them with our behinds. We started to yell to each other "lift up" when we saw one coming. (Olivia texted me later in the day to report a big bruise where she collided with a rock). By the time we neared the end of this journey, we were hot and tired and my hip joints ached from sitting cross-legged for so long, but reflected upon our success and the fun we had. We even saw some water buffalo toward the end of the river (remember the part about the questionable water?!). Another ride in the bus brought us back to the visitors' center where we were surprised and thrilled to find showers, complete with privacy curtains, warm water and shampoo! We also had the opportunity to purchase action photos taken from the shore and, unlike tourist spots in the US, they didn't cost a fortune. Just 10 kuai (about $1.45) bought two 5 x 7 copies! Too bad I don't know how to use our scanner...maybe some day you'll get the chance to see how lovely we actually looked bouncing down the rapids! If you feel so inclined, you may Google "fjdyp" and click "translate this page" on the google listing. Here you will see pictures of the rafting along with multiple other activities offered at and near this site. Plan your trips soon!

the beach

2009-09-10T17:56:00.006+08:00

Since Xiamen is a coastal city, it has a long beach along the east (south east?) side. Liz had spent the day at the beach to celebrate a friend's birthday. This beach is a short walk from our church and her friends also attend the church. We asked for a driver for the evening pick-up and he waited for us while we went to find Liz. Like most parks around here, the "playground equipment" is meant more for real exercise for adults and children, rather than children's leisure play (or thinly veiled large-motor skill enhancement tools!). We watched in awe as this very fit, gray-haired man did numerous large sweeping push-ups, for lack of a better term. He had to have been a gymnast in his younger days, but clearly still had much strength and stamina. And I was sweating just standing still!
Amanda took her turn on a structure that is meant for leg-lifts, as far as we could tell. Perhaps Michigan should integrate some of these "machines" into our state and county beach parks instead of the greasy food stands. Might do us all some good, if only we'd use them!
There is a long a lovely boardwalk (we've read that it is incredibly long and rivals boardwalks around the world in length and possibly beauty) along the beach that we will explore further once the weather cools a bit. We would've liked to walk along the sand bare-footed to look for Liz and her friends but the sand was not so clean and we did not want to risk stepping on glass, sharp can tabs, cigarettes or anything else. Never know what you might see on the beach, especially since there seemed to be quite a few naked children of various ages running around. Apparently, you either just go naked if you're under the age of 12 or swim in regular clothing--bathing suits are optional. I've seen this swim-in-your-clothing thing happen in Michigan, too, usually by very young children who've escaped their parents or people speaking a foreign language.
Along with the exercisers and naked swimmers, there were brides and grooms. Of course I wanted to get a closer look and watched as the photographers helped adjust the dresses and pose the brides, and the grooms stood around waiting to be told what to do; a familiar scene.
I was amazed that many of the brides sat right in the dirty and wet sand in their wedding gowns! Was this before or after the actual wedding, what is happening to their shoes, how will they ever get all that sand and dirt out...the questions flooded my mind. We were told later that these are rented gowns, but some questions still lingered. I have to think that these are just staged photos and the actual wedding was some other time, but that's just a guess. Interesting that the grooms also wore white. This is a recent, Western-influenced trend since white is traditionally for funerals and mourning in China. So, this whole bride thing captured my attention and seemed a bit idyllic until I started counting the brides...
I counted more than twenty! It was hard to keep up since six or seven piled out of a van as we left the beach to cross back over the road! I can't imagine what that place must look like on a sunny day! I'm very curious how the pictures turned out since it was so overcast and hazy.

When we finally found Liz and her friends, in a little drink and ice cream shop across the street, we found out that they had moved further down the beach to a cleaner swimming spot. It's nice to have friends who know the lay of the land, otherwise we would not have wanted her to swim! She had a nice time and the water must not be too bad since she didn't get sick or develop a rash. We all lived to see another day in Xiamen.

Outside gates of our apartment

2009-09-05T13:20:00.006+08:00

This is the front gate to our apartment complex (our place is in the middle of the building on the right, way at the top and not visible in this photo). I've never seen the big gates open and I'm not sure what kind of occasion would call for them to be opened, so I guess they just stay closed most of the time. This is not a drive-up type of place; the tiled part in the foreground is beyond the sidewalk. Luckily, there is a spot along the road right in front of this front walk that is kept free of parked cars so taxis can pull up easily. There is an underground parking garage (-1 on the elevator keypad) that we have no business using. Some days Gene longs for a little car to call our own, but I'm not so sure that's a good idea given the lack of orderly driving around here. I'm a by-the-book type of driver so I spend a lot of time looking out the side windows, ignoring the chaos and near-misses whenever I ride in a car!
This is the pedestrian doorway, to the right of the large gate. There's a small desk to the right and a guard's room next to it. There are always several blue-shirted guards milling around or sitting on folding chairs. One night we came back from dinner at 9 p.m. or so and were told that we had to sign some sort of log book with our name, apartment number and phone number. We had only been here for a few days and didn't have our home phone number memorized yet (okay, it's been three weeks and I still have to look it up every time, but Gene knows all his numbers!). We just shrugged and did the best we could. That has only happened once so we have no idea what it was all about. The small blue square above the black handle (actually a flat plate that we push to open the gate) is a sensor. We have small, plastic things about the size of a quarter on our key rings that we wave in front of that square to open the door when it's locked.
This is the view of the front gate from our balcony. Some mornings I stand out here and watch Gene and the girls walk to the bus stop which is out the gate and down the street to the right. Notice our shared "lawn." The pathway is tiled and the green band running down the middle is made up of open tiles with grass. Looks kind of cool but is a nice way to twist an ankle if one is not paying close attention! Not sure how the grass is trimmed...
Here's the back gate, it is directly opposite the front gate (our place is to the left from this direction). We go out this way when we are going to our little convenience store for ice cream cones, beer, jugs of water, tape, batteries, mop, garbage bags, screw driver, etc. Will post a picture of this tiny, eclectic store soon! We've given them quite a bit of business already since they're so close and easy to use.
The door to our section of the building, three steps up but also has a ramp to the left that we used to drag our suitcases when we first got here. This door is security coded--the small silver thing on the left door is the keypad. We punch in the code, which opens the door on the first try on our lucky days. We sometimes have to put in the code three times, usually when I'm juggling three bags of groceries! The key pad may also be used to call up to an individual apartment to be "buzzed in." We have phones in the apartment for this purpose--I had Amanda stay downstairs to experiment so we would know how to buzz it open from inside. Everything must be decoded! I kept pushing buttons on the phone until the gate opened for her! From here we enter a small hallway that contains the mailboxes and, usually, several bikes. The bikes are always right in front of our mailbox, but we rarely have anything to retrieve so it's not a big deal. Why the owners can't put the bikes on the other side of the hallway is beyond me. This is also where numerous notes have recently been posted. Obviously I have no idea what any of them say, but have noticed that some have specific apartment numbers listed. I scan carefully each day, hoping that our number isn't listed. I can imagine lots of things that they might say, mostly unpleasant like: your water will be turned off at a certain time or we'll be spraying noxious chemicals to ward off bugs tomorrow at noon so be sure to evacuate. Ignorance is bliss? We should be very blissful these days, then! So, a few long strides down the hallway, we turn right to get to the elevator. There is a sensor for the overhead lights but we often find ourselves standing in the dark since it doesn't stay on for very long. This is especially true right outside our apartment since we are on the 15th floor and must wait for the elevator to get up to us from the first floor each time. We feel fortunate that there are only fourteen apartments that share this elevator and haven't had to wait for it for more than a few moments. We have adapted quite quickly to apartment living and don't really mind not having a yard to tend! Next up, photos from inside the apartment (after I tidy up, that is. Funny how even with a paltry amount of possessions we manage to look messy much of the time!)

transportation

2009-09-01T21:02:00.004+08:00

Ah, the many and varied modes of transportation we see every day in China...while I'm mostly walking and riding in taxis, the rest of the population is finding lots of ways to get around. In the three weeks that we've been here, I've already grown immune to sights that made me shiver the first few times I saw them. Take, for example, this little girl riding on the motorcycle. This is an everyday observance for us and actually a bit rare in that there are only two people on the bike, not more! I won't even consider getting on a motorbike of any kind myself, let alone allow my children to ride (and without helmets!).
Upon closer inspection, the little girl has a death grip on the flimsy little bars that hold the mirrors--not so sure this would do her much good in a collision. The guy in the background with a proper helmet is quite a rare site!
This is a more typical use of a motorcycle (or motorized bikes, as those are very popular too). The more, the merrier, I guess, but notice that no one bothers to hold on except for the driver and they sometimes don't either!
This curious photo (cut off a little by the edge of the car window) is what happens when you are peddling along on your bike on a very hot day and you catch site of a friend on a swifter-moving motorcycle. Not wanting to continue your own sweaty pursuit, you jump on the gas-powered machine in your straw hat, leave the helmet dangling from the handlebar and roll your bike alongside, all at 50 miles per hour! At least that's my take on the situation...perhaps he had a flat tire or something!
This is not a perfect photo, as it was also snapped from the back seat of a minivan, but I think it captures the umbrella built for two I mentioned earlier. Seems to be used for a sunshade as well as rain shield by some. I believe this is a motorcycle taxi, though that's just a guess. I saw these fellows while traveling along a highway--notice the driver's hair blowing in the wind. That's one sturdy umbrella!
Here's my favorite of the bunch, taken along the path to the two grocery stores I sometimes use. This is a motorized bike--they are all over the place, can be pedaled or helped along by electrical charge (I think!) and are very quiet. They've snuck up on me and made me jump many times! They are but one of the many wheeled vehicles to dodge each day. This guy was taking a break and watching the cars and buses go past from his spot along the buffer zone between the sidewalk and the road. It's quite a nice walk, with the lake along the left side and the garden-bordered road on the right. At the end of the block I have to navigate several large intersections, but they have traffic lights with walking count-downs that actually leave enough time to cross the road before traffic starts zooming past again.
I have yet to snap a good picture of a lady riding side-saddle on any one of the aformentioned contraptions, though we see this every day. Such balance! Will post one as soon as I can; it's a site to behold.

laundry

2009-08-31T08:21:00.005+08:00

I know that all my mom-friends will understand why I feel compelled to share my adventures in laundry--it takes up half our lives in any living situation (the other half is filled with preparing meals, serving meals, cleaning up after meals, ferrying the kids all over the countryside and the occasional cup of coffee, oh, yeah and fetching groceries!). Here the task is a bit more time-consuming due to the lack of a drier. Okay, we actually have a drier but it's quite small, not hooked up, has indecipherable labeling and most likely will generate even more heat than nature has already given us, so it's not being used currently. Above is my cute laundry sink, constructed of some kind of stone. It was difficult to get a good picture, but that small slab on the left side is actually a washing-board with ridges for scrubbing the clothes! I'd only seen one of those in use on Little House in the Prairie until last week when I watched one of my neighbors using hers. Did I mention that all this equipment lives on our balcony, 15 stories up?! I know it's not right, but I just can't keep from looking onto other people's balconies to see what's going on...usually not too much, but I keep looking anyway.
Now for my Chinese drier--I have two retractable bars that can be cranked up and out of the way when not in use or, as seen here, down lower so I can reach. Seems like a lot of people hang their clothes on their bars and then crank the bars back up. This may help the clothes dry faster as they are more in the breeze, but I'm not convinced that the clothing will actually stay on the bars and I really don't want to find out where our underwear would land if it was swept away! Also why I have yet to use the bar that is so close to the edge of the balcony, I stick to smaller loads that can fit closer to the wall. Notice the lime green contraption on the near end--it is a handy-dandy little wrack with dangling clothes pins, meant for drying socks, undies and other small items. I spent many long minutes in the laundry aisle deciding which one to buy. They come in all different colors and configurations, mostly made of very flimsy plastic. I considered a more sturdy looking metal model but decided just to go with the plastic since I knew it would be staying outside in all kinds of weather.
Now for the best part, the cute little washer. How lucky am I to have a "laundry room" with a view? At home I'm stuck in the basement...but have lots of room down there for baskets and such. This machine has two little lint traps inside that I try to remember to empty often. Seems strange to have them in the washer, not the drier as we usually have. Makes me wonder where the lint goes in my washer at home? I decided to go with Tide for the first round of detergent since I knew for certain that it is meant for laundry--reading the labels is quite a challenge! The bottle on the top is for stain removal. Had a fun time in the store pantomiming that one! I should have taken a photo of the controls on the washer...all in Chinese with no translations. One of Gene's coworkers in Michigan is from China and we sent him a photo taken with the phone that he graciously translated for me. He thought it was very funny. Now I'm off to remove the wet clothes and hang them to dry. Takes most of the day for things to dry here, even though it's very hot. I guess the humidity hinders the process. Should be interesting to see how this all goes in the winter months when the temps are in the 50s...maybe we'll hook the electric drier up then.

Funny, but still better than my Mandarin!

2009-08-27T14:48:00.002+08:00

This is in no way meant to mock or make fun of anyone, I just found the following package comments to be humorous and thought I'd share them. Some people call these types of translations "Chinglish," which reminds me of my hopeless Spanglish when we visit our friends in Mexico! I'm sure this is about how I sound and why I get such funny looks when I try to communicate when we're down there. Here's the cute one, on a purse-sized package of tissues: "HAPPY TIME I am you friend. Best wish for you. Friends are the best blessing of all. They give me sunny smiles." And for the odd, found on what we thought were dish-cleaning scrubs since the front of the package says "housewares," the back reads: "Clean the Fouls Deeply. The product can remove skin patches quickly, promote the metabolism of the skin and maintain healthy skin. Cleaning supplies skin. Bathing with liquid soap and use of products to large bubble, so that the skin clean, smooth. Save dry after use. The use of dried preserved, and the repeated use of." The part about the "fouls" is our favorite. Apparently the brand name is "Happy Life CEO." This thing is pretty much a bath poof (I guess that's what they're called--not even sure in English!) but seems to be working just as well to get the fouls off our dishes! I'm eternally grateful for the food packages that list ingredients in English, even if the word choice and grammar aren't always perfect, so I'll just leave those alone lest karma decides to get me back!

Beatrice--your friendly community store

2009-08-26T20:37:00.002+08:00

I was so proud of my first solo grocery shopping excursion (other than a convenience store with it's 9-slice "loaves" of bread!) that I took a picture of the spoils. Yes, I'm a dork, but I'm also trying desperately to learn my way around Xiamen and feed my family! I had done some on-line research (thank God for the internet, I don't know what I'd do without it) and found out that there are Beatrice stores all over this city. It brought me back to watching the Olympics about 15 years ago when Beatrice was a sponsor and just about every commercial was about them--I had never heard of that company before! Now they were saving my life. I had recalled seeing a sign for my "friendly community store" one day while riding in the company van and decided to try to find it on foot. My timing was terrible since I had been doing laundry and researching all morning, so by the time I left the apartment at 11:30 it was blazing hot outside. I made my way to the main street, Hubin Bei Lu, frogger-style; ie, dodging cars, taxis and busses and praying the whole way across. I took off down the sidewalk, bobbing and weaving in an attempt to stay in the shade and out of the puddles (this was only our third day in the apartment, before the umbrella was purchased!). I was dismayed when I took a wrong step on a loose sidewalk tile and filthy water (at least I hope it was water...) splashed all over my feet and up to my knee on one leg. I pushed forward, squishing with each step. Must feed my babies! I was attempting to appear city-savvy, head up, steps swift and sure, eyes obscured by sunglasses so as not to attract any more negative attention than was necessary. No one has bothered us yet, but you just never know when someone might be looking for a hapless victim! Fifteen minutes into the brisk walk, after passing a giant governmental building, I was starting to doubt my senses of memory and direction, but I knew I shouldn't turn back yet. Five minutes later I found the store--I felt victorious! It was pretty small, as far as grocery stores go, but bigger, better stocked and better lit than the convenience stores near our home. I filled my basket with three types of noodles, soy sauce packaged with spicy garlic sauce to enhance said noodles, a strainer of sorts to drain the noodles, toasted black sesame seeds for garnish, four cute little spoons for the girls, a package of chocolate-coated snack cakes for their lunches, quick-cooking oatmeal along with powdered soy milk packets and dried bananas for Gene's breakfast, a grain and rice combination that looked interesting, dish cloths, clothes pins, bag clips and some handy-dandy scissors that double as a bottle opener. Whew! At the check-out lane I threw in two bottle of "bing shui" for the walk home--cold water! I avoided the entire frozen section that ran down the middle of the store, partially because it was covered in cardboard and also because it was a bit scary to try to decipher the packages. Also, anything I got would've been completely defrosted and half-way cooked by the time I got home. My purchases carefully jammed into two Chicobags (they don't freely distribute plastic grocery bags here, for which I applaud the powers-that-be!) I now had to get myself back home in one piece. I estimate the walk to be about a mile or so, but please remember that it was extremely hot and humid...cut me some slack! After I made it back home (still too nervous to take a taxi all alone) I triumphantly photographed my purchases and then cooked myself a lunch of multigrain noodles with soy sauce and sesame seeds. I can't recall a more satisfying lunch, even if it wasn't exactly nutritionally sound! I was so pleased that it didn't dawn on me until the next day that I didn't see any of the cheese or milk products that had been promised in my research!
Now that I've found other shopping options, I'm not sure I'll frequent the Beatrice store but it sure saved me the first week in our new home.

city views

2009-08-25T14:20:00.002+08:00

The view from our balcony at night; this is straight across the u-shaped complex, looking over the building that runs parallel to ours at Yuang dong Lake (I've seen many spellings for the lake's name, it's pronounced something like this). Either that building is slightly shorter than ours or we're on a slight slope which helps with our view. The pinkish building to the left (Rosewood Plaza, I think it's called) is just too tall and sort of wrecks our view! The girls' bus stop is right in front of the pink building.
We're very thankful for the shade-giving trees along our street! I saw this lady and many more like her on one of my early shopping expeditions. Notice how much she is carrying, in 90+ degree heat, without batting an eye. She has a yolk-type thing across her shoulder and one of the baskets is full of some sort of fuzzy, cherry-sized fruit that she is selling. The day we went for our health exam we stopped into Gene's office first and Wendy had a big bag of the fruit. We had to maintain empty stomachs so we did not try any, but were able to amuse the whole HR staff when Tracy asked me how to say the name of the fruit in English. Their jaws dropped when I said I'd never seen such a fruit in all my life! It's apparently very popular all over China. Notice also the "sunbrella" she is carrying. Very dexterous, these folks, and with good reason. I purchased my own umbrella, dual purpose for shielding both sun and rain with a silver inside lining to deflect the rays, on a shopping trip last week. I'll have to admit that my carrying hand starts to go numb after a while but the shade really helps me stay a bit more comfortable. We initially thought that all the ladies carried them just to keep from getting darker skin (so opposite from most women I know!) but have come to appreciate their many uses. We are waiting for the next rainfall so we can get pictures of the motorcycle-cabs with their double-long umbrellas that protect both the driver and the back-seat passenger! I'm thinking both hands on the handles is a better way to go, but there's something to be said for staying relatively dry too.
This is the view off the right side of the balcony, on a very hazy day. I took another one just like it for today's sunny view (but I'm awful at all this downloading business, so it'll have to wait for Gene to get home!). You can see the closer lake and then another body of water. I think they join up in several spots but I'm not sure if they have separate names or not. We are pleased with our neighborhood as it's on the quite side and it's easy to get cabs but it is not terribly close to grocery shopping. I'll fill you in on my many shopping adventures soon!

Health exam, China-style

2009-08-24T19:01:00.004+08:00

One of the bellboys with all the stuff we lugged from Michigan (he's our new bff for all his help!)
This bruise looked so much more gruesome in real life!

The following is a recap from our first week in China: We arrived, very jet-lagged on Monday, had an appointment to visit the girls' new school (Xiamen International School) on Tuesday morning and were informed Tuesday that Gene and I would have to submit to a health exam on Wednesday morning, on an empty stomach, accomanied by a sweet, but non-English-speaking lady from the office. We begged to have a bilingual helper and were rewarded with Wendy. Her English isn't totally perfect, but it's sure better than our Mandarin! I was most worried about the blood-draw since I usually pass out during them...but I didn't pass out or even get too sick. Had to sit up, across a narrow table from the nurse (?) who drew the blood, no place to recline, but Gene squatted down beside me and I did okay. Little did I know that I'd sport a three-inch bruise on the inside of my arm for the next week and a half! Apparently there's not much concern about blood-born pathogens since we all just tossed our blood-soaked q-tips (cotton balls were not available) into an open garbage can. I sure hope the needles, etc were sterile! Also had an ultrasound of my ribcage area, some sort of ekg of my heart with sensors on my arm, leg and chest, vision test, height/weight and blood pressure and a full-body x-ray while standing on a giant machine in a metal-encased room--glad I've already had my children since I'm fully radiated now! The urine test was interesting--just put the very little cup on a tray with all the others, no lid or anything. I pray there's no cross-contamination with anyone else's sample! We had to go room-to-room for each of these tests and wait our turn with the 20-or-so other people getting tested. It was a long, narrow hallway, tiled white with metal bench-type things along one side. Each room had a sign sticking out from above the door frame with Chinese characters and the English translation. I started to get pretty nervous when I saw signs for "surgery," "injections," "counseling" and "gynecology." Thankfully we did not have to go into any of those! At first we thought that my exam was more costly than Gene's and that made me very wary of what they had in store for me! (we had to pay cash, up front, before the exams--about $100 apiece).
We were told on Friday that our results were in and that we had to go pick them up. This time the girls went with us and got to see the clinic (I was so glad they didn't have to have the exam too). We were floored by the long list of results; I think it was probably the most thorough exam I've ever had and I've had two babies! Funny how this supposedly backward country can get the lab results returned so quickly...doesn't seem to happen at home. We had a lot of fun in the van trying to figure out our results as we are not health care professionals, nor do we read Chinese. Seems that we had a few blood tests (out of about 25!) that were slightly out of normal range, but not enough to cause problems, we're both HIV negative, Gene can't see worth a darn without his glasses, our hearts are normal, kidneys are fine and a whole bunch of other stuff! All of this so we can apply for a one year residency permit (along with numerous other documents that I may detail later, after a long nap!). I don't think we even got to keep a copy of the results for our records!
By the way, we were told on the night before the exam that we would need to bring along four passport-sized pictures of each of us. Ummm, okay, how exactly do we get those?! We were desperate, so we asked the hotel staff to help us. After much banter between many people (the front desk, the concierge, some manager-types) we were able to get our needs across. They were so gracious as to offer (force the poor kid, actually) a bellboy to go out onto the busy street with us, after dark, to find the photo place. Turns out there was a little photo hut place almost directly across from our hotel (who knew?) and the bellboy was able to communicate our needs to the lady working there. We decided to go ahead and get eight pictures each, just for good measure. We sat for the pictures and then she proceded to doctor Gene's up, taking out shadows, clearing up a glare on his forehead, etc. Guess she thought my prisoner-like look was adequate because she didn't even try to fix mine. Perhaps she thought I was too far gone. Can't say as I blame her since I hadn't been sleeping enough, but she could've at least tried to fix some of the frizziness of my hair! We saw the bellboy at the grocery store the next day and took his picture when we left the hotel for good--he's our new bff. This experience is likely a portent of our time here--us asking for lots of help and (hopefully) getting what we need even if it takes a long time.

our stuff arrives!

2009-08-24T08:24:00.002+08:00

Well, we didn't get our shipment delivered on Friday as we were promised. After hearing that some paperwork was "lost," Gene forwarded that email to the boss here and back home. Seems that some not-so-happy words were shared...and we're pretty sure the boss here made some phone calls or visits or something because as we were out attempting to shop on Saturday afternoon, we got a call on the cell telling us to get home because the shipment would be delivered at 3:00. We flagged a taxi just as quickly as we could, mango sorbet in hand, and rushed home. Seems that Sammy has much more "guanxi" (relationship/clout) than we do, which is no big surprise! We have no idea where the movers parked or how the got into our building (the main floor door requires a code; good thing, since our girls always need something to fight over) but they arrived with a pile of boxes right on schedule. We spent the next few hours putting clothing, games, books and kitchen items into their new homes...and discovering that we were not as careful as we had thought with checking the voltage (wattage? hertz output?) on many items. Thus, our two ipod alarm clocks, wii, coffee grinder and keyboard will not work without some kind of adapter! Boo hoo. We also had a few moments of abject panic when Gene plugged in the grounded power strip that we use for the computer and printer. A loud popping sound echoed through the concrete apartment and all the power on the upper level went out. Yes, this includes the precious a/c and the water heater for the showers. Resetting the breaker did nothing. Gene immediately got on the phone with Annie, the HR lady who is in charge of helping us, who called the rental agent, who called the maintenance department of the complex (we think). Apparently something had to be reset somewhere (I'm so mechanically inclined!) and we were back in business. I'm sure the maintenance guys think we're a bunch of idiots since we've already had them over here to fix the drip in the bathroom sink (he recaulked underneath, but it still drips!) and to get the hot water in the girls' shower working properly. I discovered this morning that the downstairs bathroom sink also drips onto the floor. Oh, the joys of renting never cease.
Now that we have our shipment, even though we still can't make coffee, the girls can participate in gym class with the shoes they sent from home and we will hopefully be able to play our video games some time soon. It seemed very silly to be unpacking sweaters and jeans in this high heat and humidity but I guess we'll be glad to have them during the damp winter months. We can now also cook meals that require more than one pan...maybe this shipment thing is a mixed blessing after all! This morning I'm off to attempt some more grocery shopping with the masses before the temp hits the 90s again. Wish me luck, all you car-driving, English-labeled-food-buying, single-family-home-living people!!

how the other half lives

2009-08-23T18:27:00.003+08:00

We just returned from a 9-year-old's birthday party...and now we know how the other half lives! Amanda was invited to the birthday party for one of her classmates, to be held today, Sunday afternoon. We did not know what to expect, as the party was held at a hotel pool (thankfully, the hotel is a very short walk from our home). So we went to drop her off and intended to meet Gene's coworker for another attempt at buying a soft mattress/bed topper. Turns out the whole family was invited to the party so we completed our errand (still no mattress, but we'll keep looking!) and went back to the party. When we returned, Amanda was swimming with a bunch of kids from school and we had the chance to hob-knob with the parents, sip champagne, eat desserts from the buffet and enjoy the breeze from the 3rd floor roof-top pool deck area. All the people were very nice--we met families from Spain, the UK, Canada, the US and lots of areas of China. Many people offered to help us get settled in Xiamen and wrote their numbers in my little notebook, since I don't have a cell phone yet! We met the general manager of the hotel who offered to help Gene obtain some soft mattresses from his source, the local expat golf-outing organizer, the French pastry chef of the hotel and many parents from our international school. Not sure we can keep up with the Joneses (the Changs?) as far as parties go, but we sure enjoyed ourselves and were very glad for the invitation. Perhaps I should keep secret that my big 4-0 lands on the next big Chinese holiday--the 60th anniversary of the Communist party!

Getting here was half the fun

2009-08-22T09:05:00.005+08:00

The last leg of our initial trip to Xiamen--first two characters say Xiamen.
You know it's bad when you can actually SEE the humidity!
Ice cream with toppings and fruit for dessert, served in real dishes!
Don't get too spoiled Amanda! She loved the seat-to-bed feature!

We had thought for several months that we would be leaving Michigan for China some time in early August since the international school's starting date was August 17. Though we had to change the actual travel plans two or three times (leave out of Chicago on NW, no, leave Chicago on Korean Air, no, leave Grand Rapids on NW...) we eventually settled on Sunday, August 9. I had been pushing my family to pack their actual suitcases in July before the air shipment was sent so that we could be sure everything we wanted to take would actually fit. (I remember well moving back to the states from Korea when I was 12 years old; we had to buy several huge and hideous suitcases to fit the rest of our junk and then haul them all across the world!) Mostly they heard blah, blah, blah, I guess, since we ended up with each of our rolling suitcase/carry-on bags jammed full and each shoulder bag equally jammed and two large suitcases that we checked stuffed full. I had visions of zippers bursting and various items flying all over the airport as we shuffled between four flights. Hauling all this stuff must have been practice for my future grocery-getting trips! Big city living is not quite the same as having to walk only from my garage to my kitchen with my purchases.
We had splurged and used loyalty miles/points to upgrade our tickets to business class. We figured that we'd treat ourselves to a comfortable ride (and also try to diminish the complaining from the kids) and decent food before our lives got turned upside down. Northwest business class is very comfortable, complete with a closet to put the bags in, seats that recline all the way into a bed of sorts, individual on-demand movies on a flip-out screen, comforters instead of tiny fleece blankies and more food and drink than we could finish. We tried to stuff some of the help-yourself snacks into our bags for later but it wasn't easy to find space! First travel glitch: the counter lady in GR said we couldn't check our two bags straight to Xiamen without getting them in Hong Kong (and elsewhere?) as Gene had arranged. She was not exactly pleasant. Gene got on his phone and contacted the NW elite desk and got the lady to discuss it with them. Thankfully, they talked her through it and all was in order again. We went from Grand Rapids to Minneapolis (lounged in the world club for a little while) and then had the long (11 plus hours, due to favorable winds) flight to Narita, Japan. Our friend, Jen Kroll, had made a care package for the girls full of small, wrapped packages for them to open along the way! This kept them busy and happy all the way to our hotel in Xiamen. Thanks, Jen! We did plenty of eating, relaxing and watching movies. From Japan (where there was the threat of a delay, but turned out okay) we flew to Hong Kong. Stand in lines for customs, dig around for the quart-sized bags, remove the laps tops, etc and then ride the shuttle van to the hotel. Glitch two: we had booked two rooms in Hong Kong for the night and had specified one room with two beds for the girls and one room with one bed for us, rooms very near each other, please. Got up to the floor and found rooms across from each other but only one bed each. Eventually a guy came up with a key to another room, way at the opposite end of the hall, with two beds, but we decided it was too far from us so we kept the original rooms. We slept fitfully and then rose for breakfast before our last leg to Xiamen. For this one we did not have the upgrade and were going on China Southern Airlines. We stood in line with everyone else, crammed shoulder-to-shoulder into an airport van that took us across the tarmac to the plane and then stood in line again in high heat and humidity to climb the stairs up into the plane. It was very full and only one hour in duration, but they managed to feed us an interesting meal along the way. Liz and I had some sort of greasy rice with vegetables and chunks of chicken that we picked out and a foil packet (like a ketchup packet but a little larger) labled "appetizer." Turned out to be some sort of brownish goo that smelled salty--we passed. Amanda was given a kids meal, wrapped up in a smiley-face package. Looked cute but she didn't want to try the ravioli-type stuff or the jello.
Now for the best part of the initial trip: when we finally got off the plane and filed down the escalators in the Xiamen airport to turn in our "health forms" that declared us free of the H1N1 flu, Gene and Liz seemed to have some sort of problem and were hauled off for a further health check. There were portable curtains set up in a maze-like configuration staffed with people wearing those attractive surgical masks. All Amanda and I could do was stand around waiting and worrying and getting onto our tip toes to try to see over the curtains. We were worried. After about 15 minutes, which felt much longer, they were released. Turns out they had registered just barely one degree above "normal" on the clandestine temperature-taker that all passengers must walk past. Then came the fun of trying to find the proper form that must be filled out in order to claim our air shipment, whenever that will arrive. After pantomiming our needs to several officials, we were able to get the quarter-sheet sized paper filled in, signed and sealed (and tucked into Gene's bag with all the other crucial paperwork).
We were greeted eventually by a nice lady from Gene's company (nice, but zero English skills) and the driver who crammed our bags into the minivan and drove us to our hotel. After 36 hours of travel...home at last!

shipment woes

2009-08-21T17:56:00.002+08:00

I've decided to take the advice of the scrapbook gurus and "keep current" on postings, but will also recount earlier experiences as I go. Today's challenges: shipment woes. We very carefully planned our air shipment before we left Michigan, stacking items on our dining room table, adding and deleting over several weeks as new information about customs became available. Always conflicting information, but we tried to sort it out as best we could. We did what we never do and checked two suitcases, crammed full of things like pain medication, cold remedies, dish towels, pillow cases and the like. After changing shipping companies to save some money, we packed up a four foot by four foot container with winter clothes, kitchen essentials, board games, some books, desk top computer, wii video game, shoes and, very importantly, coffee grinder and coffee press. It left our house Tuesday, August 1. The shipment arrived in Xiamen on Friday, August 14...here we are on Friday, August 21 and the shipment was due to be delivered to our apartment this evening. Meanwhile, we've been living out of our suitcases and getting by on the few staples we've been able to purchase here. Gene has been emailing the shipping liason all week and she told us that the paperwork has been making its way through three tiers of government. Then, at the eleventh hour Gene got an email stating that the air-something-or-other paper has been misplaced and our stuff will not be released to us. Bye, bye, have a nice weekend, we'll look for it again on Monday! What?! We are trying to be patient but are growing weary...guess we'll continue to cook from our one pot, wear the same clothing (thankfully I've been able to decode the washing machine and perfect the hanging-to-dry-on-the-balcony-rack system), chop vegetables with my new tiny and not so great paring knife, drink tea and wait! I sure hope no one is dancing around in my sweaters or damaging my beloved coffee supplies!

First post from China

2009-08-21T12:47:00.000+08:00

This is my first try at this blog thing, so be patient! At first I could only get the Chinese language version, so I've succeeded in tackling one problem. The idea here is to chronicle the life and times of my family while we're living in Xiamen, China without burdening uninterested folks with my many emails. Here's hoping I don't write anything that's verbotin in the "Middle Kingdom!"