Splashing around

 

 

 

There's an amusement park not too far away from us . . . provided the traffic doesn't pile up too bad . . . but we don't go too often. It's a standard amusement park in China . . . some rickety rides and some great rides! Until last year, it was a "pay per ride" park and with two kids, that added up quite quickly. However, now that they've switched to a "pay one price" (POP), it makes it harder to find excuses not to go. I guess the main one for us is the crowds and the heat. There's not much shade for people not riding rides!

In the three years we've been here, though, the place has been upscaling. It has an ice skating rink and a swimming pool, as well as a bowling alley, etc. Once again, traffic is usually horrendous (about an hour or more to get there) so we don't go very often.

Yesterday, Rachel and I met some friends at the skating rink. Had a couple of hours of fun (she skated, I watched!) and gratefully walked back into the sunshine afterwards. As I walked by the swimming complex, I decided to go in and check it out.

I. was. amazed! Look at these photos! This is in OUR town . . . a somewhat rural location . . . with world class water entertainment! The kids got so excited and just begged to go today since it was a holiday. Now, my mantra is "I don't do swimsuits," so they switched over to begging Daddy to take them. (He does the water sports.) I said if they went swimming, I'd stay home, clean house, wash clothes and make dinner. It was a deal.

I just got a call and they were so happy. They all had a great time and now they are on their way home. I got the house cleaned (including mopping the floor), almost all the laundry done, and made scalloped potatoes for the first time in my life. No one ever told me they were so easy to make! They will go well with the crock pot Italian roast beef I've been cooking all day. Now I'm off to make some biscuits to go with the meal and we'll all be happy campers.

Meat Market

 

 

 

I really should take more photos of daily life here. Things I take for granted still catch visitors by surprise.

Pork is by far the most popular meat here in China. I'm not that keen on it so I don't buy it very often. Additionally, we have many Muslim friends and students who don't eat pork, so we don't have it in our home that often. I must admit, though, that bacon is a weakness!

At any rate, we eat a lot of chicken. However, I've been trying to increase our natural iron intake so I started to buy beef more often. There's one particular beef seller that I like to go to. He's a member of the Dongxiang minority group (see http://www.china.org.cn/e-groups/shaoshu/shao-2-dongxiang.htm) and he and his wife have always treated me well. I can choose my meat and he trims the fat off for me or grinds it for me, depending upon how I'm going to use it. I've discovered that his grinder doesn't make the meat very fine and that it tends to be "grisley" so as of late, I just buy the roast. I cook it in a crock pot and go from there.

Last week was the first time I got there early enough to see his selection of bones for soup stock! They are HUGE! The local Muslim restaurants buy them for their stock.

Culmination of a Dream

 

 

 

 

For all the hoopla in China about getting into university in China, there is surprisingly little fanfare about getting out. There are a multitude of reasons for this, none of which I'll go into here. That would mean writing a research paper on the topic.

At any rate, my university doesn't have any graduation ceremonies. The students rent caps and gowns and have their own pictures taken when and where they want. If their parents aren't from the area, then they usually don't have any family members with them to take photos.

I ran into three of my students from my first year in the northwest. I was so excited to see them and to actually recognize them (I have now taught over 1300 students and have also been exposed to Art's 1300+ students). I was on my way to class and didn't have a lot of time, but I quickly whipped out my camera and we snapped away.

The job market in China is difficult so I was pleased to hear that two of the three have already found jobs. The third girl (the short one) is considering getting a PhD and didn't seem too worried about her options.

Their smiles were infectious and their joy was so obvious. Congratulations to all my students!

Children's Day 2010

 

 

 

 

June 1 is Children's Day in China. Personally, I think every day is Children's Day, but what makes this day stand out is that the children actually get a day off from school AND the teachers don't load them up with homework to do on that day. (True holidays are unknown here . . . the kids always have a lot of schoolwork to do during their winter and summer breaks.)

At any rate, while the kids had the day off, we, the parents did not. Fortunately, we work a "flip" schedule . . . Art is home when I have class and vice versa. He was home in the morning, I was home in the afternoon.

However, the kids didn't want to just stay home. There wasn't enough time to go to the local amusement park (free entrance on Children's Day, but can you imagine the bedlam?) and the weather wasn't that great anyway.

I decided I would take them to KFC. KFC is the only western fast food restaurant in town. We don't go very often as it's not that convenient to where we live and because we think it's expensive. However, it's a big hit with children and it's kind of a tradition to go on Children's Day.

We hopped on the bus and rode the 25 minutes to get to our destination. The first photo shows what was waiting! Yes, those lines were up to ten people deep when we got there and it took 30 minutes to get through the line. The kids went upstairs and found seats while I stood in line.

After enjoying our meal, we walked down to the Yellow River. Yes, it really is yellow! (Weeeellllll, I guess it's more of a golden brown!) This is due to the silt and sand that gets washed down from upriver. The currents are quite swift and they are fascinating to watch. The Yellow River runs through our town and the iron bridge over the river is a major tourist attraction. It's reportedly the first permanent (iron) bridge built over the river back in 1909. It's now a pedestrian only structure, although motorcycles are allowed to provide taxi service from side to side.

It was a fun day, but now the kids are back in the real world. School. Less than six weeks before the end of the semester and their summer vacation!