I Want to go Back!!!

I’ve decided after being back in Tianjin for almost three weeks that it is time to go back to Bali!! We have been reminded several times over the past couple of weeks of why we do in fact get rest and relaxation (R & R’s) trips. Living in China is not easy!

We experienced some very sad news upon returning to Tianjin. An expat family was involved in a car accident in which two of the family members were killed. We did not personally know this family, but our thoughts and prayers go out to their family and friends as they grieve. This was a big reminder for all of us in the community of how dangerous the roads can be here. Most of us are not allowed to drive (due to company policies), but it really doesn’t matter who is driving, rules are not followed by other drivers and this is typically what causes the accidents. We also have just entered into fog season which means parts of the road are perfectly safe and then out of the blue you can come upon a big patch of fog which completely impairs visibility. I plan on being more vigilant in checking the weather before I set off to Beijing for my shopping trips, and I have asked my driver to check also so we make sure the road conditions are safe from fog!

As if that was not enough, my dear friend broke her left ankle and badly sprained her right ankle which left her completely immobile for 6 days until they could fly her to Hong Kong for surgery. This was a freak accident that could have happened anywhere (I guess it didn’t help that the steps were not the same size and the lights in the surrounding area were not working). However, the scariest part was how the evacuation was handled. We all have emergency medical plans set up in the hopes that we never ever need to resort to them. The first step is to call the SOS who arranges transfers and sends the doctor on duty to help. If it is an urgent emergency, we will have to be transferred to a Tianjin hospital, but if we are stable, we can go to Beijing. In the case of a break that requires surgery, we hope to be taken out of the country to have the surgery performed by a foreign doctor. This is exactly what my friend wanted done. Evacuations are covered on all of our insurance policies and they are organized by the SOS. My poor, sweet friend had to wait for 6 full days to be flown to Hong Kong. I felt it was completely unacceptable, but we are dependent on other people, so she was helpless. Thankfully, once she arrived in Hong Kong, she had her surgery and is now on the road to recovery. Again, this was just a reminder that we have plans in place for an emergency, it is not as easy as calling 911 in the states!

The good news is, we are anxiously awaiting Danny’s parents coming to visit us!! We are excited to have family stay with us. The last time they came, we had only been living in China for about 2 months - we were complete newbies and we had no idea what to do and where to take them! This time we are a bit more experienced and we have planned a trip to Chengdu to see the pandas! We are all very excited and hopefully this will help cure the homesickness that sets in right before the holidays!!

To boost my spirits, I have been perusing through our Bali photos! Here are a few more to share with you!! I’m going to pretend I’m back on the beach with a drink in hand watching my little munchkins frolic in the sand!!!

Yes, those are Danny's feet being eaten by fish!!

Cheers!!
I am one lucky lady!! So thankful for all of the wonderful memories we made!!

Will we see the Wall??

Apparently not this time!! On Saturday we loaded up the children and planned to take them to see the Great Wall. Ellie got to go a couple weeks back for a school trip, but the boys have yet to see this magnificent structure!! We decided that we would make it a little weekend getaway and stay at the Jing Jin City Hyatt with our friends!!

We got on the road and within minutes we were sitting in stand still traffic. We found out that all highways to Beijing had been closed the night before due to fog and now everyone was trying to get on the highways. We were pretty much stuck, so we couldn’t turn around. It was a bit entertaining as we could watch the locals get out of their car and relieve themselves. Sometimes one person in the car would have a little walk up the road and then the car would meet them. Then occasionally we would encounter a car coming towards us. I only was able to giggle because we were going so slow that I was not scared!!

We finally made it to the hotel to check in and have lunch a mere 3 and a half hours after we had set off (this drive typically takes between 45 minutes to an hour!)! We were all starving and enjoyed big burgers and Eens ate his entire bowl of spaghetti! After lunch we made an executive decision that we would not go to the Great Wall - the thought of being stuck on a Chinese highway due to road closures from fog was just too scary and real!! Instead, we decided to explore the grounds of the hotel because the temperature was so pleasant outside! The kids enjoyed the fresh air and were amazed when they stumbled upon a huge pile of ice. We are assuming they were testing the equipment for artificial snow making, but in China, one never knows!! Regardless, the kids had a great time “skating” down the hill!

When the weather gets colder, this will be an ice skating rink!! For now, it was a great place for the children to run!!

Karen and I somehow squeezed in a massage while the boys watched the kids!! Then we had a very relaxing dinner followed by a serious game of bowling - children versus adults!! We only had one little mishap the next morning! The kids were taking a shower and part of the tile fell off from the bench! Thankfully no one was hurt but the noise scared us all!!

Although we didn’t get to see the Wall as intended, we had a very relaxing weekend!! It’s always nice to skip out on the cooking and cleaning over the weekend!!

Preparing for Halloween!!

The kids have been busy preparing for our Halloween festivities over this past week!! Danny went back to the US after our trip to Bali, so he brought even more goodies for us! We made petri dishes full of worms (jello with gummy worms), a cookie graveyard and our pumpkins! I enjoyed watching each of their pumpkins take on a personality, much like it's creator!! We are hosting a small party this weekend for some of the kids' friends and then we will be trick or treating in our compound! We are all looking forward to it, especially Eens, since this is his "favorite month!"

Happy Halloween from the spooky St. Martin Family!!

Raise your hand if your global!

This was the question raised at the end of the day assembly Friday at school!! We celebrated United Nations Day with all communities showcasing their individualism, but coming together as a school to support world peace! United Nations day is one of my favorite days at the school and this year, because I am on the PFO, I was able to be very involved!

The morning began with the Parade of Nations where all students participated in their national costumes. I love the Asian costumes - they are so elaborate and colorful. We dressed in red, white, and blue. El had on her flag skirt and the boys had their baseball caps on - that’s the best we could do! After the parade we all gathered on the field and had a school wide picture taken. They always put us into cool designs and this year we were in the compass model (which I will explain in a bit). After the picture, we proceeded to the gymnasium where there was a concert with different acts from many of the countries represented at our school. The acts this year were quite good - the kids all loved a can can dance done by some of the French girls - it was very high energy and involved a bit of flashing there bottom sides!! After the concert the children all went to workshops where they discussed ways to be responsible global citizens. This year they focused on the compass model which suggests that when making a decision we think about how that decision affects Nature, Society, Economy, and Well Being.

The PFO sponsors an International lunch that feeds the entire school and some members of our neighboring Japanese School. In total we fed about 700 people! It was amazing to see all of the food that the different nationalities brought to share! I tried to be adventurous, but after serving food for 2 hours, I really just wanted some comfort foods!

It was a great day and fun to see everyone come together!!

Our Last Day in Paradise!!

On Saturday afternoon we moved to the Westin, which was two hotels down from Club Med. We booked our hotel stay first back in April and then the airline tickets. We were unable to fly back on Saturday, so we decided to try a different resort for just one night!!

The kids were thrilled because there was a small waterslide at the pool, so up and down they went, hundreds of times!! We spent all afternoon in the pool and at the beach enjoying our last bit of paradise! We enjoyed a nice dinner and then fell asleep nice and early after packing for our return trip back to reality!

We had an amazing 10 days away from Tianjin!! We were so fortunate to spend our holiday with friends who we can completely be ourselves with and relax with!! I imagine we will spend many more getaways with them - how lucky and blessed we are that we have friends we consider “family” experiencing this crazy world of China with us!!

Where in the world will we go next Coop??!!

Dolphin Watching!!

Very early on Saturday morning, Emily and I go up early and went out on a raft boat to see the dolphins playing in the early morning! We were on a small boat that went very fast and took us far out into the Indian Ocean. They do not guarantee that you will see dolphins, but the guide told us there was a 99% chance that we would! Em and I both had our cameras ready for the action. Once we were far enough out, the guide stopped the boat and we saw many dolphins! They are beautiful animals and it was so much fun to see them in their natural environment. We were able to stay out on the boat and follow them for almost 45 minutes. I only saw one jump all the way up, and of course I didn’t catch it on the camera! It was a lovely way to spend the morning!

Barf Cruise II

Towards the end of the week Danny and I decided to take the kids on a boat cruise to a small island off of Bali. We were very excited to see some parts of Bali outside of the resort. We had to leave early in the morning to reach the boat dock. The boat left at 9:00am and we happily found a table and sat to enjoy coffee and pastries! The beginning of the journey was fine and steady. We all decided to go to the top level to enjoy an outside view-this was a big mistake. We were in the open ocean at this point and the water was very rough. I could hardly stand up while walking-imagine how Eens was feeling!

Still enjoying the novelty of the boat cruise!!

We stayed on top for a total of 10 minutes and decided that we should go back down to our table. Immediately when we sat down, Eens complained that his tummy hurt, then Coop started to complain. It was Barf Cruise II and we were the culprits this time. Eens went through several sick bags before he felt better and Coop spent a lot of time in the bathroom before he finally gave up and fell asleep in my arms! It wouldn’t have been too bad had a storm not blown in as we were trying to dock at a platform a ways from shore. The waves were so strong that we could not dock, which required us to turn around and wait for the storm to pass. It seemed like hours, but it was only about 20 minutes! We finally got docked and then we had to get on a small boat to go to shore. At this point Danny and I were wondering if this little excursion was such a great idea!

These are the waves hitting the island we were going to! As you can see, they were coming in very fast and strong!

But, we were stuck so we tried to make the best of it! There was a pool for the kids to play in and we had a nice barbeque lunch. The rest of the time the boys and I spent watching Ellie and Danny ride the banana boat! They tipped completely off once, but El loved every minute of it!! We also walked along the beach, but Eens cried most of the time because he was convinced a crab was going to attack!! (The crabs were the size a fingernail!!) We also went into a semi submersible boat. The concept of this boat was great, we would go below and see the fish as the boat sailed through the water. Unfortunately, due to the storm that had occurred earlier, the water was completely cloudy and we didn’t see any fish. I guess the experience was fun for the kids!!

We finally got back to the platform and boarded the boat to go back!! We all took Dramimine and the trip back was pretty uneventful for us, although we did see a lot of other families reaching for the sick bags!!! I do have to say that we were very happy to arrive back at the resort and see the smiling faces of our dear friends!!