So I haven’t blogged for several weeks…sorry about that. I’d like to say that I have been so busy doing really exciting things here in China that I just have not had the time. But I cannot really say this because it would only be partly true. :) I/we have been quite busy with work, travel, sightseeing, just life in general I guess.

It is very interesting to me how my life here in China seems rather normal. I have developed routines and a sense of normalcy here. Going to work, finding things to occupy the evening hours, hanging out with the boys, going to Starbucks, making plans for the weekend. Normal kind of stuff. When I first arrived here, I thought that would never happen. Just the other day, I reflected on how I felt as we first drove into Tianjin late on the first night here. (It was about 1:30am.) I couldn’t believe what I had gotten myself into! I was very intimidated and rather freaked out to be honest. The city was so huge and everything was so unfamiliar. I couldn’t read a single sign, lights and neon signs everywhere and I couldn’t understand a single word. I thought I would never be able to venture very far without getting so utterly lost and confused. It would be a disaster. I remember thinking it would be a long and lonely summer just hanging out in the apartment with the boys. To add to my apprehension, I took the bus a few times and desperately tried to remember landmarks so I wouldn’t get lost since I couldn’t read nor remember street signs. I remember experiencing many of these same feelings (albeit to a lesser degree) when I first moved to Ann Arbor from Sioux Falls. Though everything seemed strange and scary when I first arrived in China and Tianjin, I knew in the back of my mind that it would only be a matter of time before I started to feel at home. And now I have been here in Tianjin for almost 7 weeks and my initial fears and apprehensions are a distant memory. Time has gone by so fast. I cannot believe I have been living in China for almost 2 montsh! In the first weeks, everything was so new and exciting. Yet, just a few short weeks later, things are still different and exciting. But the novelty has worn off in a sense. My surroundings are no longer unfamiliar and scary. I even have a sense of direction. I know where I am in relation to other landmarks and places I know. It really gives me a sense of accomplishment. I’ve never been that great with directions, but here I am in China and I kind of know where a couple things are. Well, enough to know that I’m not lost anyway. :) And in my book, that certainly counts for something.

Tomorrow (Saturday) a couple co-workers from the TJCDC have invited Jeff, Keith and me over to their homes for lunch and then dinner. We are going to learn how to make Chinese dumplings, called jiaozi. They are absolutely delicious. I’ve had several types of jiaozi at many restaurants here in Tianjin. I’m excited to learn how to make them. Though I do not cook and I am rather bad it even when I try, I may try to make these when I am back in the states too. No promises though. :) We’ll just see how this cooking adventure goes…

I will post some pictures of our trip to the Great Wall and other Beijing sightseeing this weekend. I know looking at pictures is the most interesting part of this blog. So I don’t want to disappoint. :)

Dragon Boat Festival Weekend

This past weekend was quite busy and adventurous here in China. We had Monday off because of the Dragon Boat Festival. This festival remembers a patriotic poet. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, a poet named Qu Yuan was exiled from the country because the government officials were jealous of his wisdom and popularity with the people. Though he was in exile, he remained very patriotic. When he heard that a key battle was lost, he threw himself into the river and drown. The townspeople loved Qu Yuan and tried to save him with their boats and distracting the fish from eating the body. That is the basic story behind the holiday. Well, the way I understand it anyway. People also eat rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. Some very kind co-workers have bought and shared some of these dumplings with Keith, Jeff, and me. In northern China, the dumplings are filled with sweet red bean paste or dates. However, in southern China, the dumplings are usually filled with meats and more salty, spicy foods. My favorite is the date rice dumpling.

To celebrate our long weekend, we went to a soccer game at the new Olympic Stadium, Shui Di (meaning Water Drop in English). It was amazing. The stadium is unreal, so beautiful, especially at night. I saw the stadium during my visit to Tianjin in February, but this was my first time in the stadium. It is huge. And we had pretty VIP seats as well, which some CDC co-workers helped us purchase. Though China lost 0 to 1 to Qatar, it was an awesome game. I have never watched a soccer game. Well, I guess we’ve been watching some on TV. But back in the states, it is not a sport that I pay much attention to, like most Americans. :) Anyway, we made some friends at the game, as you will see from the pictures. It was awesome…and you can’t beat getting 8 beers for less than $7 and watching a sporting event at an Olympic stadium. Yeah, it was great.

Peter (Keith's friend who came up to Tianjin to visit us while on a business trip in Shanghai), Keith, Jeff, and me getting ready to go watch the soccer game.

We had second row seats for a World Cup Prelim soccer game...awesome.

On Sunday, we took a train to Beijing. Considering the language barriers, it was a pretty easy process to get our tickets and to get to train. We left right on time and the ride was very pleasant and relaxing. Traveling by train is great; I highly recommend it. After arriving in Beijing and grabbing something to eat at a KFC, we went to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag lowering. We had to wait for a quite awhile because the ceremony was not as early as I thought it was. We waited around for about an hour and a half, but we made some friends too. We started taking pictures of each other just sitting around and we attracted a small crowd that wanted to take pictures with us as well. It was pretty funny. Next time we may start charging for photos. Keith was even offered some cigarettes in a kind, friendly gesture of friendship. The activity before the ceremony was actually a bit more exciting than the actual flag lowering.

Olympic Fu Wa outside the train station. Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying, Ni Ni.

At Tiananmen Square.

Waiting for the flag lowering ceremony to begin...we were the center attraction. The woman in the black and white top just sat next to Keith so her friend could take a picture.

This girl asked me (in English) if I would take a picture with her...very sweet.

As we were about to cross the street, the crossing guard handed me his flag and motioned for the boys to take a picture of the two of us. I was kind of surprised, but it turned out to be a pretty good photo op.

A couple of monuments at Tiananmen Square.

This is the actual flag lowering ceremony...it lasted about 10 minutes or so.

We relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the evening and got a drink at the hotel bar. I had to convince our server to give me a vodka tonic because she had never heard of it and thought I was absolutely crazy for wanting to drink it. She kept saying ‘vodka and tonic is no good. It will taste bad. Gin and tonic.’ It took some doing, but she did finally just make it. I really like vodka tonics, reminds me of good times back in SD. Plus, I hate gin unless it is the really expensive non-juniper tasting kind. I thought my Absolute and tonic was quite lovely and refreshing. Culturally differences abound.

On Monday morning, Keith, Jeff, and I went to the Temple of Heaven, which was a short walk from the hotel. The Temple of Heaven was built in 1420 used during the Ming and Qing dynasties to pray and make sacrifices for good harvests and food. The temples are very representative of architecture of the time and depict the symbolism represents the relationship between heaven and earth. I’m sure wikipedia can give a much better description of the place than I can. It was kind of like a huge park area with temples and historic buildings. There were people simply just hanging out as well, eating lunch, talking, practicing their spear fighting, having dancing practice, and playing hacky-sac, the usual I guess. It was really interesting to see the mixture of people, the locals and both domestic and foreign tourists. And though it was an extremely hot day (it was about 90 degrees), we enjoyed ourselves.

Me standing on the Circular Mound Altar at the Temple of Heaven.

The main temple...the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. This is where the emperors would pray for good harvests.

Just some senior citizens dancing...very cute.

Me standing at the entrance to the Echo Wall and Imperial Vault of Heaven.

We went back to the train station via the subway. Jeff and Keith did a great job of navigating. It was surprisingly easy considering the language barrier. Beijing has done a lot of work on the subway in preparation for the Olympics; some of the ticket agents even speak a bit of English. We had some time to kill before our departed, so we wondered around a nearby mall and followed the signs to a Papa John’s. That’s right…a Papa John’s pizza restaurant in a Beijing mall. It was fantastic! They served the peppers and garlic butter sauce too. Delicious! It is very comforting to eat a familiar food, a comfort food if you will. :)

All in all, it was a really great weekend. We had a lot of fun and none of us really wanted to go back to work on Tuesday. We are going to Beijing again this weekend. Some co-workers from the CDC arranged a trip to the Great Wall for us. That should be pretty awesome. Jeff and I have been there before, but we thought the Great Wall is something that Keith should see too.