We are finally beginning to have some 80 degree days in a row. It feels more like summer here than a sauna! According to the Lunar Calendar, we are in the White Dew mini season which will last until September 23rd and then we will enter the Autumn Equinox. Apparently, come the end of September we should have, on average, 70 degree days! I'm not so sure I believe the accuracy of this, but it is very nice to think of the possibility of spending more time outside!
Danny made it safely to the United States on Saturday! He spent his time on Sunday finding a Target (probably the store I miss the most!!) and filling up a suitcase with essentials like Wii Fit, Wii games, new Leapsters for the kids, children's tylenol and ibuprofen, swim diapers (you can't find them anywhere here!), razors for our friend here, and who knows what else!! I would have had a more extensive list, but I am waiting for our sea shipment to arrive to see what I packed 3 months ago!! He will be spending the rest of the week in meetings and I'm sure enjoying some American food!
The kids and I have been keeping busy since Danny left. Saturday Ellie went to her first birthday party here! She had a ball and I was completely impressed with my friend Jen's creativity. You can't rely on Party City or Factory Card Outlet to plan a party here so you have to create everything yourself. Rachel had a puppy party and they played all sorts of puppy games, had a fashion show with their stuffed dogs, and barked Happy Birthday to Rachel! How cute!! The boys and I went to a restaurant that serves Western food and has toys and games to play with! When we got home we browsed at my neighbor's yard sale! That is correct, our neighbor had a yard sale - I never thought I would see that here! Don't worry Jenny, it was not nearly as big as ours! It was more of a social gathering than a yard sale so it was fun to meet some new people! I was able to meet quite a few mom's from the kids' school!! After the exciting garage sale, we settled in to a nice night at home with pizza and a movie!
Sunday we went for our Sheraton breakfast - yummy! It's a treat we all look forward to during the week! After breakfast I took all three kids to church. The kids did great and I even got Coop to go to the nursery without too many tears! At the end of every service, they always ask people new to the congregation to stand up and introduce themselves. This week there were about 30 students who just arrived in Tianjin from all over the world, primarily Africa - it has been a wonderful experience to worship with people from such diverse backgrounds! You truly never know what to expect each week because all of the different components (music, sermon, Sunday school, etc.) are organized by different people. It is very unique!! After church, Jen (her husband is away also) and I took all of the kids downtown for lunch and ice cream! Of course we had our usual ordeal while trying to order...on this day, we ordered 5 children's meals and they didn't have enough food to make all of these - remember the one child policy here!! We finally ate and had ice cream and then went home to wait for our cable to get hooked up. Right now I am watching Wheel of Fortune - yea!!
Today, Coop and I went to IST to attend a coffee for the new parents. Once again, I am in awe of the different nationalities I am surrounded by daily. There are very few American expats in Tianjin so this is truly a learning experience for me! Today I met parents from Korea, Brazil, Denmark, Germany, France, and New Zealand. We are all bonded immediately by the expat experience so there is rarely a lull in conversation! One funny story that came out of this morning was when I was talking to my neighbor about the upcoming school picnic. She was telling me about it and completely serious she said, "There is no alcohol permitted this year." I thought she was joking, so I said, "Well then I guess I won't be going!" She looked at me for a minute and I could tell she was thinking, "Maybe I shouldn't go either!" Like I was serious, I mean it is a school function on a Sunday at the school. I guess they do things a little differently in Brazil!!!
We are in the midst of a construction zone here in our compound. Not only is there a hole beside our house, but there are holes all over - they are installig new water pipes (thank goodness) and doing it with pure manual labor. It may be completed by Christmas, but I'm not counting on it!!
These pictures are of what remains of our "back" yard and the playground (thank goodness the Sheraton has a park!)!
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