Chandeliers and Wallpaper? Check.

Our old landlord decided to move back to Taiwan and sell the apartment.  This meant we had to move out by March 15th.  So a few months ago, I started dropping by realtors in the neighborhood seeing if anyone spoke English and could show me some apartments.  I found different levels of English and varying levels of apartments.  After seeing about 10-12 apartments, I found the winner. It's in the older "phase" of our same compound, just across the street.  Not as fancy, smaller apartments, no door ladies in the buildings and not as obsessive landscaping, and cheaper.  And as a bonus, it comes with awesome chandeliers and wallpaper.  It also came fully furnished and with toys.  Check it out.

Oooh shiny.

Back in Business

We've had much to post about but technical (and political) difficulties have stopped us from our blogging work.  Since January, the Great China Firewall has grown in size and strength and made getting on blogspot harder.  We also moved apartments and were temporarily without internet.  We have internet at last, but it is slower and we're only now discovering which parts of the apartment get the fastest connection.  It seems to change throughout the day.  I'm flirting with the idea of switching to tumblr. but I seem to have found a blogspot sweetspot and will try to stay here for now.

We reached a big milestone recently.  March 14th was both Naomi's 12th birthday and our one-year Chinaversary. The year went so fast, but then I look back at pictures like this...



Chinese New Year

 

I think it's been a whole 24 hours since I last heard a firework.  They were so frequent and so loud and so a part of our life for the past two weeks, that I didn't really notice them any longer until they stopped.  BUT, I understand they will come back this Sunday for one final bang -- the 15th day of the lunar month, the Lantern Festival.

New Year's Eve was Saturday, February 9th.  We flipped on the CCTV five-hour New Year's Eve extravaganza, gathered some snacks, and got ready for some fireworks.  With hours of acrobats, skits, kung fu performances, Celine Dion, and Psy on in the background, we watched out the window as the fireworks began at sundown.  Slow at first, they got closer and louder.  And then closer.  And louder.  I was impressed.  Then midnight drew near.  So did the fireworks.  So close in fact, that we heard and saw shrapnel bounce off our windows.  We have an amazing video on Facebook, but we have trouble posting big files on blogspot.  It involves a lot of gasping and swearing in the background as we watched our security guards carry refrigerator-sized boxes of explosives to the street at the base of our building.  Five boxes at a time.  Again and again until there were 35-40 charred boxes on the street.  More fireworks on our block than our state capitol of Montpelier uses during its Fourth of July celebration.  Then firecrackers in rolls the size of truck tires. 

And this was just on our block.  Similar size explosions were taking place two blocks over in every direction.  They finally stopped around 1am.  They started up again at 6am.  The air was thick.  We saw ash fall from the sky.

That spike is from the fireworks.  Cough.  Cough.

 

A Day at the Farm

Matthew's colleagues hosted an outing to the farm a few weeks ago.  Matthew got stuck in Detroit, but the rest of us went and had a great time strawberry picking, grilling, poking people with sticks, getting muddy.  As you can see from the photos, the kids have so much fun there.  The husband of one of the ISC staff took most of these great photos (Thanks Hunter!).

Naomi trying to remember how many strawberries she'd eaten...

 

Still Breathing in Shanghai

Living in Vermont for so long, I thought we were prepared for a dark and cold winter.  And for the most part we are, but boy is it dark and gloomy with that wet cold that seeps into you.  And the air.  While not the "airpocolypse" that they're having in Beijing, it has been bad in Shanghai.  Lots of "pollution days" at school where the kids aren't allowed to have outdoor recess or PE.  Makes us long for the fresh air of home. 

Sadly, that's smog not fog.

But on the upside, unlike Vermont, there are already signs that spring is quickly approaching. 

Vacation in Vietnam, Part II: The City

We only spent a very short few days in Saigon, but wow, it made an impression on us.  I'd love to go back when the kids are older, or at least a lot better at crossing streets. 

Sidewalks are for losers.

 

Vacation in Vietnam, Part I: The Beach

I posted a ton of photos on Facebook of our trip to Vietnam over Christmas and New Year's, so I'll try to post some different ones here.  First of all, I just want to say that if you ever find yourself in Mui Ne, Vietnam, than stay at the Grace Boutique Resort.  It was the lovliest, family-run boutique ever.

Our time in Vietnam was dreamy.  The weather was perfect, the food amazing, the people friendly and welcoming, and the non-stop tropical fruit smoothies delightful.  I know for a certain generation of Americans, a vacation to Vietnam seems odd, but it is such a beautiful country that feels like it is really going places.  People are on the move, busy, getting stuff done. 

Our drive from Saigon to Mui Ne.  It wasn't far but took 5 hours.  Mostly because of scenes like this.