Days Going by...

Here is my update for Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Well, looking back this week and being off from work allowed us to do things we haven’t done since we got here. No real tourist like activities, but just normal everyday routine things. Nothing worth noting. We celebrated Valentines Day and Chinese New Year simultaneously. I spent most of my day in bed with sinus congestion. Watching a DVD and sleeping.
THIS PAST WEEK:

Friends and food

We have had visitors to our apartment and have been sharing various cultural similarities and differences with our new friends. I ate my first Tianjin cooked fish from Phoenix’ husband Ling. She said that it was called a hairtail and that it is from the sea. Lotsa little bones but it was cooked and seasoned well. Chopsticks allow you to pick at the fish in a better and more efficient way.



Common food (off of the top of my head) familiar with us in the USA would be eggs, all fruit, milk, Coke and the like, water—only from the tong, not faucet- bread….bacon, seafood and Lay’s products, French fries. What would I like to have? American hot dog….yellow or brown mustard. I can find mayonnaise, ketchup, even thousand island dressing but cannot find mustard, maybe at Jenny Lou’s (caters to expats--expensive imports). We are eating way too much bread, and there is so much good variety, IMHO. Pasta can be found, tends to be a little pricy but you can find it cheap too if you know what aisle to look.

Home Depot Shopping Trip





I almost forgot. Susan and I went to The Home Depot of Tianjin. There is one. Apparently, a company copied Home Depot so well that the real Home Depot bought them out here. It even smells like a HD, signage is also almost similar. I bought some Stanley products like pliers, screwdrivers and whatnot. We also bought 2 lamps and a small carpet….all without language skills. Yippee! I do have a pic or two here.



Merry Water World

Susan and I with Kelsey and Andrew, went to Beijing one day with a hired driver named Jeff to Merry Water World. We went with another family who were in a different car, the Brents. After several failed attempts at finding the place, including some back alleys that were quite interesting, we finally found the place. Everyone must wear swimming caps!

Pre New Years Eve

On Friday night we headed to the Emart (Magnetic Shopping center) to eat at a Pizza Hut. Yes, just so you know this was our first trip to the local Pizza Hut. The only real difference is that they don’t put very much pizza sauce on their pizzas, otherwise you can tell that it is a Pizza Hut pizza. We met up with the Culps—Jeff is my boss—middle school principal—this year. In July, Jeff takes over for Dr. Finnamore as the head principal for TIS and Scott Finnamore becomes the superintendent over all 6 ISC. Jeff bought a bunch of fireworks that we lit up when we went back to their new apartment. The aerial fireworks that you can buy for about $12 are the kind you see at professional displays back at home. The one Jeff lit had about 20 mortars in a rectangular box. Quite the show, but that was only the beginning on Friday night. Saturday night was the beginning of New Year’s Eve fireworks. I will try to post some of the clips on here. I am writing this on my MacBook but will transfer onto my PC laptop where I file my video clips. I just found out that I can't upload video on this blog :(


NEW YEARS EVE: Fireworks as posted in Facebook Click here.(soon)
Monday Morning Feb. 15th

Out in front of our apt building: Selling fish and fruit.
The fruit vendors take over a lane of traffic until they get kicked out.


Anyway, it is Monday morning here and I am fighting sinus problems for the second day. Kelsey is fighting a 102 degree fever. Aaron has a little bit of a throat thing and Susan is fighting a runny nose. Acclimating to the urban environs has had its drawback and hopefully He will help us through these typical hurdles. Tis the season for sickness.


Entertainment and Edification

During the break, I have watched a DVD/ TV series called Wooster and Jeeves, from the BBC back in the early 90’s. Takes place during the roaring 20’s, corny but fun; I had not even heard of it ‘til I found it here. Anyway, I have been listening to Carl on podcasts as well as Alistar Begg. I have also been listening and working on my Mandarin language. I have it on the laptop, on my IPOD and in the streets, as well as with new friends. I am picking up some, and losing some, but after break we will begin formal instruction.



This week ahead:

This Tuesday I am scheduled to Skype with my niece’s Karleigh 6th Grade social studies class. I must remember this! I also have to read for my English class and communication skills class. I am hoping to have a reunion with several of my Beijing friends and that will have to happen after the 16th I believe.

Our Kitchen-Our Classroom!

The pictures below will show you how we have used our kitchen tiles. We use a dry erase marker to
write down our language work and also use it with Wu Mae --our ayi--or auntie!






HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

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