I’ve been loving this new telephoto lens.  Some of these are taken outside and some are taken from our balcony window.  I’m still getting used to the size/weight of it, so some of these are a bit blurrier than I’d like, sorry about that!

Average Joe (or would that be Zhou?) biking through the courtyard…

I love the cigarette tucked behind this guy’s ear.

The super-popular power visor.  These are worn by ladies of all ages to protect themselves from the sun and dirt and dust.  The best ones cover not only the eye area but go “down” in the front and cover the entire face.  They are pretty much the ultimate fashion statement.  I love the Chinglish phrases on many of them… “sportive” indeed!

Nothing says summer like shirtless dining al fresco!

Split pants… oh how I love thee.  I just can’t get enough of those little baby buns!    They never fail to make me smile.  Speaking of baby buns… in Beijing, Cindy and I were in a taxi and a taxi in front of us stopped in the road and the passenger got out, went behind the taxi, held a 2-year-old-ish boy up to pee, shook the kid up and down a couple times for cleanliness, and then hopped back in the taxi.  It was priceless.

Hanging out in the courtyard…

Love this little guy’s hat/glasses get-up.  He lives in the apartment above us.  He doesn’t like to sleep.  Ask me how I know this?

What a great question!  Well, that would be because sometimes at around 11:30 p.m. we hear this little pow-pow-pow noise from the floor above us. One day his grandparents saw me outside and said “Are you in apartment 302?” When I said yes she apologized.  I asked why, and she said “Our grandson doesn’t like to sleep, he just likes to run.  Sorry for the noise.”  It completely explained the noise, which we had previously determined was either an elephant or an Olympic hurdler.

A vendor on the street, selling his goods.

A Katie-bug…

A grandma with her grandbaby… in the morning our courtyard is FULL of grandmas and grandpas with their grandkids.  Custom dictates that the mom goes back to work after a few months and the grandma and grandpa do the childrearing- specifically the father’s mother.  We’ve had many people ask us why Keith’s mom isn’t here raising our girls.

Eliza & Katie.

We’ve had some crazy thunderstorms lately.  The last round of them left the “basement” of our apartment building flooded.  No one lives on that floor, but the majority of the basement is a paid bike parking garage where we park our “minivan” electric bike cart.   The empty part is the part that flooded, and there’s a whole slew of stuff floating in it- a mop, a couple buckets, and some random stuff.  Mosquitoes are swarming over the standing water.  It’s raining now as I type.  I’m sure that’s a situation that isn’t going to improve anytime soon!

So, we have an electric bug zapper going and we have lots of cortizone cream.

Every once in awhile, we come across a new item of produce that we haven’t consumed in the west that we *love*. One of these is the pomelo, a large grapefruit-like yellow fruit with a white citrus interior that is not-as-sour as a grapefruit, yet not-as-sweet as an orange. It is delicious. We eat these all the time when they are in season.

About a month ago, we met the >> waxberry <<. I’d never heard of a waxberry (yang mei in Chinese) before. They’re grown in very tropical areas of China and a few other countries in Asia.

The outside of it has the texture of a human tongue. I know that sounds odd, but the little bumps on it remind me of the feel of taste buds. If you think that’s too gross, just forget I said it ok? Just imagine a really bumpy raspberry or something.

Inside is a seed that you spit out, the whole fruit is about as big around as a US quarter or maybe a tinch bigger. They’re the perfect size to eat in 1 or 2 bites.

The inner flesh is tangy, sweet, and juicy. It is close to the texture of a raspberry or blackberry.

Health experts are claiming that this could be the new “superfruit” and it is actually going to be marketed in the US as a “Yumberry” in juices.  For more info, check out >>this article<<.

As for me, I’ll keep picking them up when they are ripe and in season, for $1 a pound, from my local fruit guy.

Oh, speaking of the local fruit guy… guess what other fruit I recently found?  I’d been given a bag of these strange, hard, purple things with white sections inside.  They were kind of a pain to eat, but pretty tasty.  Then I found out what they are- mangosteens.  Those bad boys go for ridiculously high prices in the west, as they are touted to be chock full of antioxidants and other good things.  I had no idea!  They’re not my favorite fruit, but they’re cheap, so I try to eat at least one a week.

Living in China most definitely has its perks!  If you see a waxberry/yumberry/yang mei or any other variation of this yummy little treat, give it a taste!

Today, I was at lunch with my Chinese teacher. We were chatting about all sorts of random things when she mentions “Ke lin dun”. I didn’t know who Ke lin dun was, so she explained, “You know, he was your president!! He gave a famous speech about ‘I have a dream for black and white people to be friends.’”

This is the point that I nearly peed my pants.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Clinton! Yes, I do not always know the Chinese for our leaders- but yes, Ke lin dun is Clinton! Yes, of course.”

Slight pause. Awkward pause. I think about what to say.

“Um, but the ‘I have a dream’ speech was not by Ke lin dun. It was a long time ago, and it was by a man named Martin Luther King, Jr.” I scan my Palm’s English-Chinese dictionary for the Chinese name for MLK, Jr. It doesn’t have one. I’m at a loss for words. How do I explain who he is? “He was a famous black person who fought for black people to have the same rights as white people and wanted people to live peacefully. But he was definitely not Ke lin dun!”

Sometimes these China-fied names for things confuse me to pieces. I am good at remembering Texas now (De ke sa si), but Dallas always trips me up (Da la si) because I can never remember where the extra syllable is, so I always just say “Dallas” really slow and that works.

But things like San Francisco (Jiu Jin Shan- Literally old gold mountain) have no transliterary base and then I’m completely lost!

Random names you might want to know:

Barrack Obama (Ao ba ma)

Hillary Clinton (Xi la li) - since she is the second Clinton she gets her first name.

George Bush (Bu shi)

John McCain (Mai kai en)

Because it is easier and safer to discuss the politics of another nation vs discussing the politics of our host nation, many people ask us about the upcoming election and who we like. I’m not going to get super political here, and you are free to vote as you wish (just be sure to vote if you are a US citizen!), but here is a true conversation I had.

A: Who will you vote for?

Me: Honestly, I do not like either candidate, but I plan to vote for McCain.

A: Oh, because Obama is black.

Me: No, not because Obama is black. I think it would be good to have a black president. But I do not agree with Obama on some things.

A: But I heard he is a good speaker and very handsome.

Me: We don’t pick our president based on if they are a good speaker or not. Also, I think that Obama’s trade policies will hurt China.

A: Oh, this is bad. Please do not vote for Obama.

So there you go. That’s Political Conversations About American Elections 101.

*I should clarify that this conversation was with an average person on the street.  There are actually many people who are VERY educated about worldwide politics and can discuss them on a very deep level that surpasses the vast majority of Americans.

Yesterday marked 11 months in China for us.  In this time, we have only been in Beijing and Tianjin (and 2 weekends in nearby towns- Qinhuangdao and TEDA/Tanggu).   It is a bit surreal to us that we’ve managed to make it almost a full year without even stretching our limbs outside this general vicinity.

When relatives visit, we always reflect on the last time we visited with those relatives and the profound difference in our lives in the interim.   We lived with dad & Cindy until the day we flew to China, so those reflections take us directly to last July 23, when we moved here.

The girls have grown so much from the first days in China, when they were completely afraid and emotionally topsy-turvy.  The first time we visited the Great Wall, we had to come down on the ski lift because the girls were crying too hard and they wouldn’t allow us to use the slide!   Now, instead of crying and wanting to be carried on the wall, they run ahead of us, giggling and directing our path.

Keith and I have seen so many changes in each other, in learning to trust each other, depend on each other, and strengthen each other.  We’ve seen the unique ways that He molds us to fit together as a pair, with each one’s strengths supporting the other’s weakness.  This year has brought us closer together than we’ve ever been.

A year ago, we were filled with questions, concerns, anticipations, and fears.  It is a true testament to His faithfulness- He has provided for us in every way, from our emotional needs to our physical needs to the needs of the little ones among us.  We are so thankful for that.

I’m so thankful we’re here now.  I’m thankful we have come full circle from the emotional upheaval of the move and are now settled in and ‘at home’.  Perhaps not culturally at home at all times, but certainly we are in the only place that is “home” for this season in our hearts.

The girls have exchanged squealing about Dora for squealing about the 5 Olympic mascots, and instead of chicken nuggets they request jiaozi for dinner.  Life isn’t the same here, but it is good.

11 months down, many more to go, Dad willing!

We had a bittersweet farewell at the airport with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Cindy today.

They had a great visit- we all walked for ages on the Great Wall, shopped a lot, ate way too much delicious food, and slept as little as possible. Cindy and I took advantage of the man/kid naptime and visited the Forbidden City and Silk Street during the afternoons.

Photo highlights of our week:

The three brown-eyed ones… I am my dad’s only brown-eyed child, and Katie is his only brown-eyed grandchild. Actually, we all have the same shade of hazel-brown. Katie is also dad’s only left-handed grandchild, so she is special to him.

I found a great deal on a 3-bedroom furnished apartment in the heart of Beijing that we rented for our time there- it had a washer/dryer, oven, fridge, living room, etc… It was so much nicer than being crammed into a tiny hotel room!

And we had a great view of the city from each of our FOUR balconies! Some of the many views…

The city definitely never sleeps…

At the Forbidden City…

At the Great Wall… we went to the Mutianyu location again (same one we’ve been to before) and went up in a cable car and walked along the wall until we got to the alpine slide to come down (soooo fun!).  I don’t think we anticipated what hard work it would be to walk along the wall!!  It was really cool though, and we got to see a lot!

The girls rested along the way…

So, now we’re back to Chinese class and normal life… but we have 6 pounds of Velveeta and 6 boxes of cereal to make the landing back to reality a little bit softer!  Thanks for a great week, Dad & Cindy!

Since I’ll be teaching photography this fall, I had my dad bring me a new 18-250mm zoom lens from the US.  I was standing at the window of our apartment playing with it for the first time today.   I can’t wait to play with it more!!

I was standing there (on our 3rd floor balcony) talking to Keith, when I realized what the little girl I was watching through my zoom lens was doing…  Sorry if this offends anyone, but I think this is priceless.

How fun is that to get so up close and personal from so far away???

Then this crazy driver came ripping through the neighborhood…

Cindy drove around our apartment complex and then dad actually went all around the area on the electric bike.   It is actually a bit scary to watch someone else driving and narrowly avoiding cars!

We ate lunch at a restaurant that is set up like Tianjin in the 1920’s… it has very cool decor and is a massive restaurant- the waiters wear roller skates to get around quicker.   They had a Chinese opera performance during the meal that was quite interesting.  The guys here are playing traditional Chinese instruments.

At Ancient Culture street, shopping…

And the girls, Keith and I, and dad shopping…

I think their main comments are that they can’t believe how big Tianjin is, how many people there are, and how truly insane the traffic is.

We’re off to the Great Wall on Friday, then we’ll spend a few days in Beijing and they head home on Monday.  This week has flown by so far!

One fun thing about having visitors from the US is that we see China through fresh eyes when we slow down and look at things for the “first time” all over again with them.  We have had a crazy first two days, going everywhere from a side-alley meat and fish market to an ultra-modern downtown shopping street.

Highlights:

And because they are Jack in the Box lovers… they had to visit “Jack Hut” which sells fruity drinks like matcha & red bean sorbet.

And that’s the first 2 days!

We had such a cool father’s day!  Spending it with my dad in China has to be one of the coolest things ever!

Grandma Cindy & Grandpa Bill with the girls and I…

They have been so extremely adventurous- we just have to keep an eye on my dad because he wanders off and starts talking to people and investigating things.  We were walking out of our apartment complex when we realized we didn’t have dad… we turned around and saw that he’d wandered over and asked someone to look inside their minivan because he wanted to see how they look on the inside!  They have very narrow, tiny minivans that just barely seat 2 people side-by-side… and he wanted a closer look.

It is very fun though- we are having a great time!  We had street food for dinner, peking duck and local standard Chinese food for lunch, and went to fellowship this morning.   We toured the night street market by our house, too.

They are keeping us on our toes!  They might know China better than we do after their week here!

In 30 minutes I head to the airport to get my dad & Cindy! Yippee!

We’ve had a slew of fireworks this week and didn’t know why. We have stopped asking why on the fireworks for the most part. I mean, someone gets married- fireworks. Someone dies- fireworks. A store opens- fireworks. Holiday- fireworks. Etc… There’s not always a clear reason why someone is blowing up a wad of firecrackers outside your window. That’s just life!

But this week, it has been a significant amount, and a local friend shared the reason.

See, in the 70’s there were a series of earthquakes here- one in the Sichuan area, one in Tangshan (close to Tianjin), and some others as well. So, in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, people have gotten worried about one hitting again in Tangshan. There were even internet rumors of a “known” earthquake threat there.

Lighting firecrackers is believed by many locals to send the “bad spirits” away. It is believed that the spirits of the dead from Sichuan could be basically haunting our area and by lighting firecrackers they can send them away and prevent an earthquake.

Now, when I hear the firecrackers, it is an even stronger reminder to be thankful for Hope that surpasses lighting things on fire to win the favor of a higher power.

Completely unrelated, but we like to share a good deal when we find one!

We’ve been skype users for quite awhile, but sometimes, our girls prefer to talk on the “regular” phone. We have found a great pre-paid calling card service called >>OneSuite<< with very reasonable rates. To call from the US to China, if you use their 1-800 number, it costs only 3.7 cents a minute (no connection fees). Not bad! If you live in an area with a local access number, you can call a local number to connect, and then it only costs 2.2 cents a minute! Sweet!

So, today, we tested this out and had a great connection from Indiana to Tianjin and talked to Keith’s parents.  This is all regular phone (landline or mobile) to regular phone (landline or mobile).  There are no computers involved, so it is not like VOIP and you don’t have to be connected to your computer to use it.

So, if you are our friend and you want to call us for a cheap price and have a GREAT connection, please let us know and we’ll pass along our phone number!

Oh, and whatever you do- do NOT make the mistake I did! I signed up for an account for my parents and Keith’s parents using the same mailing address (since we were buying them the card as a gift we had to use our address for the credit card information). Soooo, that triggered their fraud department and they deactivated my parents’ account. If you just have your own account you should have no problems, but in case it crosses your mind to buy a card for someone as a gift…

The girls’ friend Rose had the coolest birthday party today.

Yesterday, their family moved apartments, so they had a unique chance to have a very cool party at 2 houses… we started at the empty “old”apartment, with all of the girls in “rags”.  They all got mops and brooms and the “evil stepmother” told them they had to clean the apartment before they could go to the royal ball.   So all the girls grabbed their mops and brooms and giggled and scrubbed.

After they finished their “chores”, the transformation began… they all changed into “princess” dresses and got their nails painted.

The transformed princesses awaited the “royal carriage”…

The royal carriage arrived (an electric bike cart driven by Rose’s dad)… and it whisked them off to the palace (the new apartment, exactly one apartment gate away from the old apartment)…

the birthday girl (on the right) and her baby sister (far left)…

At the royal ball, the girls all danced like crazy…

And then cooled off with the royal feast (i.e. punch, heart-shaped pb&j sandwiches, fruit, veggies, and cupcakes).

I think all of the Cinderellas thought it was a royal occasion to remember!

Just about 43 hours till my dad arrives!  We’re counting down- the girls can hardly stand their excitement!!