What a wonderful, relaxing day!

We spent the morning at the pool, then headed out to the beach where we listened to good music (via iPod speakers) and splashed in the water, built sand castles, and relaxed. Lunch was at a beachside restaurant (standard Chinese fare) and then we took a family 3 hour nap.

A little playground time and a buffet dinner rounded out the day… very nice, very relaxing.

The day in photos:

(friend Mia is featured with the girls in several of these- she is in Libby’s class)

This is one of Keith’s students…. one nice thing about living here is that we truly do live in community with each other! We all work together, play together, vacation together, fellowship together, it is really nice!

And this is the elementary school principal who was building sandcastles with the kids today….

And this is our view at night from our room, quite lovely!!!

Off for more wonderful wonderful R&R!

Ahhhh, the sweet beach! (This is the view from our hotel room today)

Before I go “there” I just have to fondly recall that one week ago today we were sitting in our hotel room listening to the funeral wailing. It is a pleasant thing to listen to the crash of the waves on the sand instead tonight.

Because life in China is *never* as planned, our trip here was full of humor and patience. Our bus trip to the beach was a caravan of 3 large commercial buses plus a school van. It is interesting to note that along with 3 drivers, the company also provides a mechanic for all of their trips. This is probably not the case in the US, because we don’t expect to *need* a mechanic in a short 4 hour or so trip from the city to the beach. But, my friends, this is not the US.

Soooo, not too long into the ride, one of the buses had a teensy little engine fire problem. So we stopped for a bit while they sorted that out. Of note, we stopped on top of an overpass area, which I thought was a unique place to stop a bus for an extended area of time, but then, I’m just a silly American, so what do I know??

We were laughing about that bus having to get off, stand around outside, and reload. This is a fatal error. Not 30 minutes later, we heard a pop-kabang. That would be one of our tires…. so we stopped- unfortunately it was an “inside” tire (I guess there are 2 tires per set on the buses) so we got to stop at a special place to have that fixed. (Photo taken on cell phone)

Seven hours after leaving our home, we did eventually make it to the beach!

Libby was saying “YAY! We are finally here!!!” This is the girls’ first time to any beach of any kind, so they are totally enjoying it. It isn’t exactly “beach-swimming” weather- as it is in the 60-70 degree range outside or something ridiculous like that. Not that this stops the locals- this guy was gearing up to run straight into the sea and swim- he was out there for quite awhile- brrrr! Yes, the local fashion is indeed the man-speedo. We would prefer some trunkage- and NO, Keith is not going to “go local” in that area of life!

We love these little boats they have on the shore- we opted not to take them- our friend Dan says it might be a “one way” trip… we weren’t sure just how sturdy they were!

Well, we didn’t intend to get “wet” tonight as we were due for dinner soon after arrival….. but….. our friends have 4 kids and all 4 of them ran out in the water…..

Our parenting philosophy on this was “Well, if all of your friends are doing it, we can’t really tell you not to….” (This rule only applies at ages 3 and 4 to things trivial like going into the sea fully dressed- not at age 16- just fyi!)…..

So out they went, in long sleeves and pants and all, squealing at the top of their lungs with glee…

Brothers Zach and Noah (our friends’ sons) were especially cute!

We gathered quite a crowd of watchers- all of whom were probably thinking “What in the world are those crazy Meiguoren (Americans) thinking??”

So there’s the beach- we’re off to happy dreamland now….. and tomorrow we plan to spend the entire day unplugged from the computer and drifting away to a sea of sweet beachy memories…… at the pool, the awesome playground here, and the beach.   We are hoping to really refresh and renew……

First off, to Keith’s Grandma Rose- thank you for the cards you’ve been sending!  I don’t have an email address for you, and I wanted to make sure you know we appreciate them!  If anyone has her email (Patty?) can you send it to us?  Thanks!

Second, no pics again!  I’m sooooooo lazy this week!!   We spent last night out with a local friend.

Tomorrow we head out to the beach for our sweet paradise retreat!  It should be very fun!

Katie had a weird allergic reaction yesterday.  We picked up some little cookies on our way to Chinese class and she was eating them during my class.  A few minutes into class she came running in crying that her hand itched and she showed me a few little spots.  No worries, right?   Well, over the next 15 minutes or so she got hives all over her face and arms and her little face and arms and lips got all puffy and red.  So I ran home and got allergy medicine and she’s fine.  But now I’m wondering what in the world was in those little cookies???  I, of course, can’t read the package, but my teacher translated it and said it was just flour, egg, margarine, sugar, etc…. really normal stuff.

Cute Katie story- Last week we had to have our Chinese class at our house because there was no power in the building we normally have it in.  <Side story: Some tenants in that building hadn’t paid to get more electricity, so they just turned off power to the whole building.  Gotta love that!>

I put her in her room with toys and books and told her she HAD to stay in her room and she couldn’t come out and bother us during class.  Halfway through class I look up and see Katie tiptoeing down the hall with her hands over her eyes.  Apparently if she can’t see us, we can’t see her??  I was dying laughing as I plucked her up and returned her to her bedroom.

Ok, I now win the prize for the dorkiest blogger ever!  I will try to be a little bit more entertaining in the coming days!  Surely a little trip should give us some blog fodder!

I am so excited to have company over now- I feel like our living room is truly a “living” room!!

I need to stain the end tables, and the kitchen chairs in the corner will eventually go on the pingtai, but currently our old couch and 2 chairs and glass coffee table are out there until we get them hauled away…. along with all of our suitcases we store out there!

But this is our new living room furniture! Woohoo! I want a few more throw pillows to brighten it up, but I love love love love love it!!!!!

The two chairs closest to the couch are recliners- they were on sale for nearly half off and I really really like them!!

This is such a HUGE blessing to have nice furniture- we both feel like we have many “things” here that are nicer than we’ve ever had in the States. It is such an odd blessing- we didn’t come here for “stuff”. But to be showered with blessings that we didn’t expect, but truly appreciate…. it is just a reminder that we have a Dad who loves us so much, even when the things that we worry about and think about are silly and unimportant in the grand scheme of life- He still hears our hearts and loves us and blesses us.

I now want to invite over everyone I know, just so we can sit in the living room on the furniture and enjoy it!!! I keep walking out there and sitting for a second and going “KEITH! It is so comfy!!” And he’s like “mmm, hmm, honey.” (i.e. “Didn’t we just have this conversation? Are you gonna yap about this all night??”)

OH- when the guys showed up to deliver (at 8:00 p.m.) they were yelling like crazy about not being able to get it in the door- it was some kinda show! I was like “I have 2 small children in bed, please, not so loud!” I’m pretty sure those were expletives that I don’t know in Chinese…. just guessing from the tone of voice- it was pretty crazy!

Funny Libby/Ayi story: Ayi made cinnamon rolls today.  Libby is eating one and on a couple the bottom got burnt (which was actually my fault as I took them out of the oven) and Libby says “MOMMY!!  Ayi makes even BETTER cinnamon rolls than you do!  Hers are even black on the bottom just like chocolate!!!”  I thought that was pretty hysterical.

I can see the light!  I think I am finally getting over this stuff!  Thank you for thinking of me- I truly appreciate it and I know Dad hears us when we ask Him for help in this stuff!

I’m excited to announce that we officially have better weather than Texas in the upcoming 10 days- our average high is like 74… and the highs in Texas are like 91?   Yeah, I think I’ll pick the 74!    However, soon it will be like -50 here and our Texas friends will be enjoying sunny 70 degree days.  Sooo, I will enjoy my bragging rights for the little pinch of time that they last!

I picked up clothes from the tailor last night.  WOW!  Amazing- I am just blown away by her skill.  This is a new (to me) one that does just clothes and she is amazing!  I gave her a dress of Katie’s and some material and wanted a dress for Libby and for Katie in that style.    I love how they turned out (sorry, this the world’s worst photo!)…. I want to do pictures of them at the beach in these this weekend during our retreat!

She also duplicated a pair of my jeans- amazingly accurately!  I was blown away when I saw them- they fit sooooo nicely!  Since I am not a very tiny girl with no rear-end (seriously, the pants here have like a millimeter of space for the whole backside!!) I am not able to purchase jeans here- so this is a big deal to be able to have new clothes made for me!

I’m just so happy to be feeling a little better!  We’re heading over to school to say farewell to a student in Keith’s class who is moving back to Korea.  We will miss her!!  One of the realities of an international school is the constant farewells as students and teachers move “home” and transfer to new places.

Ok, I need to get a move on- I am always embarassed when ayi shows up and I haven’t showered- she doesn’t come till 9:30 so there is no excuse for it!

Tomorrow (the 25th) is the Mid Autumn Festival and we will be hopefully avoiding all mooncakes!

Not familiar with the sweet “goodness” of a mooncake? This is your unofficial guide to the “joy” of mooncakes!

*Note: All images are shamelessly ripped from google and are not my own, as I have not left the house today*

This is a mooncake- very pretty on the outside, with a shiny pastry crust and pretty decorative top….

But what do you think lurks inside that sweet pastry crust? Let’s have a little guessing game, shall we? If we were in America, and we bit into a pastry, we might find- baked apples, sweet cherries, or even a lemony custard!

But now, we are not in America anymore, Toto! So what is our guess for the Chinese mooncake? Maybe some hidden red bean of doom? Maybe a little corn?

The real hidden culprit of tastebud terror? Lotus seed paste (extremely sweet!) and egg yolk- the yolk is boiled in sugar until solid and then it is buried in a mound of lotus seed paste and wrapped in a shell of pastry and baked.

Why is the moon cake important? A long time ago when the Ming dynasty was formed, the Chinese sent secret messages hidden inside the moon cakes to plan their coup to overthrow the Mongols. If that is historically inaccurate, well, I tried- I’m not a huge history person, but it is something like that. Anyway, so they hid the messages inside the mooncakes and now they eat them every year in honor of that. Too bad they didn’t have chocolate chip cookies way back in the Ming Dynasty!

There are now many many varieties of mooncake- including a Haagen Dazs ice cream variety (this is the one and only acceptable version in my eyes!). But now you can get red bean, green bean, lotus seed, green tea, etc…. flavored ones both with one yolk, two yolks for double happiness, and no yolk for the yolk-haters.

There are many “accepted” stories of why and what and how the Mid Autumn festival is celebrated, but basically it is in the middle of autumn (shocker!) and it is a day people go out and burn candles and eat mooncakes and spend time with family. I’m sure I have missed about 99% of the cultural accuracy of the holiday, but that is my attempt for this year!

As you might notice, I’m not a huge mooncake fan! When we were in Hong Kong, we tried many varieties- we hoped we could find one that was tolerable. And then I found out they have like 450 calories in 1/8th of a mooncake??? Um, hello!!!! I will never ever waste a single calorie on a mooncake again!

I have also invented several varieties of mooncake I think should come out next year-

1. The peanut butter mooncake- Dark chocolate shell- peanut butter inside- with a fudge truffle egg. Tell me, does that sound more appealing or what?

2. The angelfood mooncake- Angelfood cake- a strawberry inside for the egg and some nice chocolate sauce on top. Mmmm.

3. The Klondike Mooncake- Dark chocolate shell- chocolate ice cream inside- big hunk of cookie dough for the egg.

4. The Savory Pizza Mooncake- Pizza crust shell- cheese inside- and fresh chopped tomato and basil for the egg.

5. The Tamale Mooncake- Tamale masa outer shell- spicy shredded pork inside- and the “egg” is a blop of spicy queso.

Sooo, what’s your pick for mooncakes? Lotus seed? Angelfood? Pizza? Tamale?

Have a happy Mid Autumn Festival tomorrow!

And yesterday was 2 months here for us!  Yay- happy 2 monthiversary to us!

So I stayed home from fellowship today.   I’ve been trying to get over some stomach problems- I guess this is day 6?  I don’t know- I try not to blog about that stuff because well, no one wants to hear about that!  Anyway, after yesterday’s big day out,  I was feeling so sick I thought I should stay home and try to nap.

So, the morning funeral started off at around 8 I think?  The band and wailing took turns back and forth, and then today we added in the extra bonus of fireworks- hundreds and hundreds of them….. a neverending cacophony of pop-pop-pop.

Here’s a brief overview of what I could see:

All of the mourners had on white strips tied around their heads with a big red splotch on it (as my mom would say- like Karate Kid)…. today was some of the loudest wailing yet, as they really let loose- people laying on the ground wailing, falling over wailing, etc…

Some men in colorful robes came out with long wooden poles with yellow streamers hanging from the end and did some very tribal-sounding yells and waved the poles around.    Then a casket came out from the house with the body in it.  The casket was opened and everyone wailed and a big gong drum was brought out and they beat the drum for a bit and more wailing.

Then they closed the casket and lifted it high and carried it around the building, letting off fireworks (huge huge huge strips of the red firecracker kind) behind them as they walked.  Three guys had huge plastic bags full of the firecrackers and would pull out a strip of maybe 500, light it and drop it and then walk 3 feet and drop another….. so you can imagine this was really really loud….

And now- 10:15 a.m.- the tent is being taken down and I guess this is the end.

Wow, that was really really unusual to witness something like this…. and I am so thankful that when I die, no one will do that.  I hope when I die, people are happy knowing that I’m in a better place with a Dad who loves me!

I didn’t take any photos as I thought it would be really insensitive- videoing is silent, but photos are a bit more obtrusive.  It is a hard balance- wanting to share and observe and such, but then also not wanting to be disrespectful.  After all, this is a real loss for them and I don’t want to make light of it.   At the same time, it was also a window to something I most definitely had never seen before!

Lots of you asked questions and I don’t know the answers to any of them- I have just as many questions!!

I made a “quick” trip up to Beijing today to buy a couch (Ikea’s prices are just unbeatable for the quality compared to other stuff- I gave in and made the trek!). It was such a deal, even including the cost to have it delivered- I was balking at the delivery price (about $125 US for a couch, overstuffed chair, and 2 recliners plus the “other” stuff I bought that was not furniture) but seriously, for having it delivered about 2 hours away that is not bad!! I had a local friend, Ada, go with me. We left at 8 a.m. and got home at 9:30 p.m.!

We took a train up- the new “D” bullet train which will eventually go lightning fast and make the ride to Beijing like 40 minutes?? It used to be 2 hours, and right now it is just over 1 hour! It was very nice- here is Ada and I on the train…

Here, we are laughing about “why is it an air sickness bag if we’re on a train?”

We rode “second class” and it was very nice- like comparable to the inside of an airplane, very nice seats, good leg room, etc…. the first class was soooooooooo nice, we walked by and drooled!

We met up with her friend in Beijing after going to Ikea, and he drove us home in his car (he lives in Beijing but was going to TJ to visit relatives, so we just rode along). So the new stuff will be delivered on Wednesday! Yippee!

Tonight I have a special video to share- this is the view from my window tonight at around 8:00 (Keith made the video while I was gone). I’m not sure, maybe he was worried I’d miss out- but no worries- by the time I got home it was still going full fledged! It is 10:30 and we appear to be in for a short break- not holding my breath that it will last!

So, this video- the first part is the “band” that is playing and then in the middle it switches to the wailing and then back to the band. I hope this gives you a glimpse of what it is like- this is taken from inside our apartment…. umm, I can’t really say “enjoy” because it is a funeral…. but I hope it is insightful!

Sooooo, our tent has been transformed into a shrieking and wailing shack. For the majority of the night, people were moaning and wailing in agony in the tent and around the tent. And this morning, we have an addition…..

A paper mache booth thing and a paper mache cow! Of course!

I have TWO theories:

1. This is a funeral or wake. My reasoning for that is that many people here burn paper mache things so that their ancestors will receive things in their afterlife. They even have money that says “Bank of Hell” on it and they burn it.

2. This has something to do with the mid-Autumn festival. My reasoning for that is that the Mid-Autumn Festival is on Tuesday, so with it being so closely timed it could be related to that?

All I know for SURE is that if people wail the entire night again, I’m gonna go insane!

**Ok, update- I called a friend who explained that yes, it is a funeral. It is a cow, therefore the person who died was a woman. Guys usually get horses, women usually get cows.  They will continue wailing for 2 more nights. Sometimes, professional mourners are hired to show their love and dedication for the deceased. It will primarily be at night that the wailing happens. I am so very excited about this, as I’m sure you can imagine.

In 2 days, they will remove the tent and the body and the wailing will cease.

And yes, in case you are wondering, I do feel rather classless for having taken a photo of them building a tent for a funeral. Had I known that is what it was, I wouldn’t have been sitting in the window with my giant flash.

Alright, I haven’t blogged about the whole keeping the peace thing- but yesterday there was a round of nonstop fireworks and it was totally insane- but you know, maybe it was a very special occasion somewhere, I don’t know- I can ignore that.

But please someone, ask me why I am awake at midnight when I laid my sweet head on my little pillow at 8:30 tonight (was absolutely exhausted, 8:30 is not our normal bedtime)?  Thank you for asking, friend.  The reason is that our neighbors have decided that midnight is a fabulous time to build things outside!  I fully agree, by the way, seeing as how all the pesky daylight is gone and you can’t see what you are doing!  It really helps keeps things safe when it is pitch black out!

And hammering through metal at night- well, it is like a gentle rhythm bathing your neighbors in a coccoon of sweet music, right?

Here’s a lovely shot I took out my window with my giant external flash- they are staring at me cause they saw my flash!!  Oh and I’m sure no one was thinking that they stopped after they realized people could hear them- but if that thought flashed through your mind, you are so very very wrong.  Pardon the picture quality- but y’know it was the middle of the night and it was dark out, so I can’t be too picky!  The blue structure is what they are building- it is much larger than pictured, just couldn’t lean out the window far enough w/o falling and dying.  There are more workers working on it on the other side…

I gotta find in my “Understanding Exposure book” how to take good pics in the middle of the night while perching out the window!  Cause something tells me, given the fact that we now have a tent in our “backyard” that we might have more melodious sounds out our window in the future!

Off to find some earplugs….