Thanksgiving Weekend in Hong Kong

Our Thanksgiving weekend was fantastic.


Christmas decorations everywhere! It felt like home for a weekend (well, sort of). The kids really loved the Science Museum and Disneyland (of course). Damon finally got a real vacation! It was hard coming back to Dalian, but visiting the USA is less than three weeks away!

Hong Kong Disneyland

Surprisingly, Hong Kong Disneyland was the least crowded of any Disneyland we have been to. Tokyo and California were both crowded and we waited in long lines. Here, our longest wait was 20 minutes! The park is smaller, and there are very few fast passes (and they were not needed for us). We guess that the park in California might have been similar to Hong Kong Disney in the 70's. Much more relaxed than now days.

The park looks exactly the same, a lot of English speakers, and very clean. We loved seeing "It's a Small World" decorated for Christmas. They had Christmas songs mixed in with the usual song, which was also a nice treat. I think this is the only visit I didn't have the Small World song in my head for hours after the ride.

Seoul, South Korea

October was crammed packed with fun events and fantastic memories. We went to Seoul for Chinese National Holiday-October break. Our friends the Smith's joined us on our adventure. We always have fun with them, Doug and Brandi are both science teachers at Dalian American International School where Nicole and Trejan are LOVING school. The Smith boys are among Trejan's best friends, they play roller hockey almost daily and if they aren't outside they are at our house playing. We go to church together and have a lot in common, they are from Seattle, and are UW fans.

We have spent many hours at the airport in Seoul, Korea (sometimes we have a six hour layover coming from San Francisco) but this was our first trip to really visit the city. Seoul is VERY different than our small little city (small for China only 6 million) Dalian. While living in China we get use to strange things, like hearing people spit and seeing people pee on the side of the road or on sidewalks. Leaving China we were reminded of how so many of these these things have become "normal" to us. The Koreans are very respectful, polite and friendly. Seoul is very clean and has organized traffic like other big cities we have visited outside of China. There was not honking and spitting we needed to ignore. It was very refreshing.

Our three days in Seoul were great, except that Damon got sick. He had an infection and we weren't sure if he needed to be treated immediately. After talking to the International SOS doctor the decision was made to wait until we got back to Dalian. Damon was sightseeing in pain, and with a fever but this didn't stop us from keeping busy. We visited the Changdeok Palace and took the subway all over the city so we could walk around different areas and eat delicious food.

On Sunday we thought we were going to a "water park" called Lotte World, but it was not a water park, it was a Disney type amusement park. The kids were in heaven since this was a complete surprise to all of us. I didn't read enough information before we left about Lotte World, but we had a great time.

The subway system is great in Seoul, but at times it was crowded. With eight people trying to get on at the same time it was a challenge. We made sure that the kids were always sandwiched between the adults. Thank God we made sure to follow this rule, because once Damon got the door shut in his face, and he had to wait for the next subway. We told him through the window to get off at the second stop. Luckily the subways are only about 5 minutes apart so we were not separated for too long. Overall we had a great trip, except for poor Damon (being sick, and getting left behind).

Fourth Grade Harvest

The Dalian American International School arranged a field trip to harvest corn, sweet potatoes and dates at a local farm. The entire fourth grade (two classes of 16 each) joined in and had a great time. Many of us are excited to go back to the farm in the spring to help with planting. It was the first time I used a machete, it was fun to hack corn stocks, but it is exhausting! Growing up we had a small garden, and we helped my dad harvest corn, but this was an entirely different experience.
The kids learned how much time and effort it takes to grow vegetables. It is easy to forget what it takes to get the vegetables to the market where we buy them so easily. I learned first hand how the machines farmers now use save hours of back breaking labor and the inventions have changed farming forever. It is interesting that China is so far behind in many things.

Halloween

Nicole was a wii remote control for Halloween this year. I made the costume out of cardboard box, white paper and tape. Trejan was Woody from Toy story and his costume was put together with help from friends and some small purchases. Damon didn't dress up, but I went to a party as a "crazy Swedish football fan" with some help from Susanne, my creative friend from Sweden. Halloween here in this community is celebrated more than I have ever seen in the states. Some of the kids and adults have custom costumes made, they are amazing! Our neighborhood hosted a big party, and people who came from outside our parked their cars for "Trunk or treat". Some very generous people even handed out imported American candy, most people rarely buy it because it is ridiculously expensive or impossible to buy here. Obviously, that was a HUGE hit!

Happy Birthday Nicole and Trejan!

Trejan turned eight this year and there is little left of the shy and timid little boy who moved to China in kindergarten. He has even become a leader in some ways, and he is very confident and outgoing. There are days when up to eight boys are playing at our house because so many kids come ask if Trejan wants to play. He is thriving at school and full of life. For his birthday he had friends over to our house for a "webkinz" birthday party. The boys threw stuffed animals all over the place, had a scavenger hunt and ate pizza in the webkinz "club house". This was under the ping pong table (we bought one since we live in China we thought we should get good at ping pong).
Nicole's 10th birthday party was celebrated at a hunting club, where we played laser tag. So much for the anti gun mom....we played kids vs. adults and had a blast. We were all exhausted when the 2 1/2 hours of running around outside and climbing up hills was finished. Nicole is doing great in school, has fun babysitting, playing soccer, learning to play the guitar and emailing and chatting with her friends. Sometimes it seems that she is a teenager already. She is loving it here and even says she wants to stay in China for 5th grade!

Hong Kong-Asian Games, Gaelic Football Tournament

Just returned from Hong Kong for a long weekend to play in the Asian Games - Irish Gaelic Football tournament. It was and incredible weekend. Hong Kong is an amazing city. The first day I walked around by myself for about five hours exploring on my own. The city is very developed, nothing like Dalian, China. I don't know if I would want to live there for a long period of time since it is SO crowded, but it was exciting to visit.

The Asian Games are a pretty big deal! There were more than 700 players who played in what is the largest amateur team event in Asia. They had 65 teams play on five pitches, and 1,400 spectators. Players were from 14 Asian countries, including India, Qatar, Singapore, Dubai, Korea, Japan, and many teams were from China.

This new sport I am learning is similar to Australian Rules Football or Rugby played with a ball that looks like a volleyball but is heavier than a soccer ball. I get to use the skills I have from soccer and basketball. It is not too dangerous, since the women's game is "non-contact". I do have a few bruises, but nothing major. The men's game however is a contact sport and I witnessed a huge number of injuries. Our men's team from Dalian won their division! A bunch of amazing Irish athletes live in Dalian, many of them work with or for Intel. I feel so privileged to learn the game from some of the best, our coach played in front of 60,000 people in Ireland. Amazing!

First Day of School

Second grade and Fourth grade...here we come!
We started school again this year at Dalian American International School. When you live as an expat, a year and a half in one place can feel like a long time. Many friends have moved away and new people are moving in, it feels like we are the veterans this year. The kids have grown up and they are so comfortable here they don't need me to walk them to school at all this year. Mixed feelings come with the realization that they are getting so independent and responsible. On one hand I am so happy and proud of them, on the other hand I see glimpses of pre-teens with attitude. They are doing great, and they love school.
Trejan was a little nervous to start this year, he hadn't met his new teacher. However, Nicole was not anxious at all, here she is relaxed and comfortable as can be.

Trejan lost his front teeth!

Toothless big smile.

China's largest reported oil spill

The beach I walk to (look at last blog post) was hit with the oil from the pipe that burst only a few miles away from our home. We have neighbors who were driving in the area and saw the fire, they said it was really scary. The flames were up to 10 feet high.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38337393/ns/world_news-world_environment

Extracts from one of today's news reports:

....a pipeline explosion caused the oil spill that spread across more than 183 square kilometers (70 square miles) of sea.

Walking around JinShiTan (Golden Pebble Beach)

We live a couple of miles from this beach, I walk here often and love the beauty of it. We live about an hour from the city, about half an hour from the suburbs, but only a few miles from this fishing village.
Picture a nice sunny day, clean air from a thunderstorm the night before. It smelled good! If you have ever been to China, you know that this is a huge blessing for a day in China. I was walking with my friend and we noticed a huge bus barreling toward us. The driver was going too fast on a small road,and passing a small car just to show off. This is common for drivers of big rigs or big buses. They own the road because the biggest car wins. (Drivers in China are crazy!)

Anyway, I did NOT notice the huge puddle that was on the road. We were walking right next to it. Well, the driver timed it perfect to splash us just as we were walking by. We happened to be stuck, on the boardwalk, with a railing blocking a get away. I am positive that the driver loved giving us a shower, and there was a group of Chinese men who got a good laugh at our expense. The disgusting water was dripping from my hair, soaking my shirt and dripping down my legs! Gross. Hopefully it did not contain urine or spit or who knows what else. (People here spit and pee anywhere, so these thoughts are not random.)

Enjoy the beautiful pictures of the beach, the interesting pictures of the fishing village and think about my story so you won't be too jealous that I live here.
There are times I am so grateful to be near this beauty. However, there are some parts of the culture that are just different and hard to get use to. My friend tripped while she was running. She was laying flat on her face with blood on her hands and knees, and the people who saw just laughed. They did not help her up. People here think it is funny to laugh at others, when in America we teach our children NOT to laugh about things like this. Living in China is a blessing, but there are times I am looking forward to living in America again.

Recent Family Photos

Pounding Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake, and my kids and I love it! Damon is not too crazy about it, but he was a good sport this past weekend joining us on this outing. For years we have watched or participated in this Japanese tradition in the United States. When I was about 14 years old, my family drove all the way from Bend, Oregon to Los Angeles, California to pound mochi at my Uncle's house. We used the family heirloom that my grandfather had brought from Okinawa, Japan to America. My cousins, aunties and uncles all gathered to celebrate the new year by pounding and making mochi. My other experiences making mochi have been with my Dad in Portland, Oregon with the Japanese American Cultural League, or the Neikki legacy center. Here I am in China, thousands of miles away from my parents making mochi, being reminded of my Japanese heritage. I don't know if anything in my life has made me miss my Dad so much.
When pounding mochi you need to have teamwork. The person turning the rice needs to be very quick and move their hands out of the way before they get pounded themselves.

This past weekend in Dalian, China, we made Japanese Mochi with expat friends from all around the world.

Biking Hutons in Beijing

We moved to China in January 2009, so we have lived here about a year and a half. I was very afraid to bike the first year, the traffic is horrific! But, I went biking with my friend for a couple of hours in Beijing. It was so much fun that when she left to go to the airport, I biked for another three...BY MYSELF!!! Wow, I have come a LONG way baby! I NEVER would have done this a year ago.
Here I am biking in Beijing. The alleys were interesting, and really fun to bike through.
Since I was moving, this one is a little blurry.

I did it! Great Wall half Marathon

Pre race jitters. Chinese lead the crowd in aerobics to warm up before the race (however I passed on this, to save energy for the race).


Made it to the top of one of the hills.....look at what was ahead though!


Getting ready to climb the steps, here I am psyching my self up "I feel strong!"


While passing through a small village I posed with the crowd cheering us on.


Over 40 people from Dalian went to Beijing (an hour flight). We had a fantastic time!!!!

Nicole Playing Soccer

Third through fifth grade co-ed soccer. Go Nicole!

Just a slice of life

My friend and I took a walk and enjoyed taking these photos of "a day in the life".
We were invited in to this sweet woman's home and given apples while we chatted for a few minutes. Her home was very clean and tidy. I kept thinking "in the winter this place must be SO cold!" I was amazed by how deep her well is.

Days like these are fun, and make me realize how much I have, yet how happy people can be with so much less.

I love the smile on this gentleman's face! Right before I took this, my friend had told him he was "such a handsome man!"