All My Bags Are Packed And I'm Ready To Go!

Can you say Excited???   Yes, I've been packed for about a week now and in less than 24 hours I will be leaving for the airport.   Then it'll be another 18 hours of travel time and I will arrive in the USA!   It's been a long 3 months in China and I'm ready for some fresh air and family and friends time!

This will be the last post from China until August 1st.  I might post some USA stories, can't promise anything, but I plan on eating a lot of food and drinking a lot of good American beer.  You've all seen that before so I'm not sure it'd be nearly as exciting for you as the crazy China stories so the blog will be on a summer hiatus for awhile! ;-)

Happy Summer to all!!!

The Price is Wrong Bobby!

Question:  What happens when you start to build a massive unnecessary skyscraper in China but then go broke half way through the project???

Answer:  The Chinese government will help you pay to close up all the windows so it looks finished but it will sit empty until you can sell it.

Yep, seriously this building is going to be an empty pair of pants!

The picture above is what we refer to as "The Pants" because this building looks like a giant pair of pants.  The real name for this complex is "Gate of the Orient" and it is suppose to be a shopping mall, hotel, apartments, businesses, basically a massive complex and landmark in Suzhou.  However, through my expat sources, we've found out that the developer has gone broke in the midst of this project and can't afford to finish the building.   We were starting to wonder why progress had slowed in the installation of the windows because here in China construction moves SOOO incredibly fast and it was odd that this building had just "stalled out".

 So we found out the truth, the guy is broke but the government wants to help him "save face" and doesn't want an open empty building becoming an eyesore in the city so they are going to pay to have all the windows installed.  Then the building can sit empty until someone buys it or the developer gains more funds to complete the inside.
Seriously?!?!? A big giant empty pair of pants.  What a waste!  

It's a bit scary to think about what can/will happen with all the construction around here when the bottom falls out.  At the moment there are tons of complexes and buildings going up but no one is living in them or using them.  They build so fast and then things just sit empty.  I certainly hope we're not in China when the real estate market goes bust here! 

Shirts Optional?

Up until now I didn't realize that in China you have an option of wearing a shirt at the gym?!?!?!

Okay, I apologize for the picture being so horrible however I was on the treadmill running and was trying to be really discreet about taking a picture.  When I first saw him out of the corner of my eye I did a double take, actually more like a triple take, and it took me a few minutes to process that he didn't have a shirt on so I slowed to a fast walk, picked up the phone pretended to push buttons then turned and snapped a pictures.  Then right back into a run.  I hope no one noticed!  

So anyway in the middle in the blur there is a middle-aged Chinese man with only shorts on!  See I'm actually really doing you a favor with the blurry picture... you can get a glimpse of the fact that it's a guy with his shirt off but you're spared from witnessing the beer gut and hairy chest bits of him!   Yep, no shirt and just going about his business like he was hot stuff.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I mean come on man, seriously we don't want to witness you with your shirt off.  I was baffled to say the least, I've been going to gyms for quite a some time and NEVER EVER can I recall where men (even super fit buff hot dudes) would work out and lift weights without shirts?!?!?!   I know it's hot in the gym but I didn't think it warranted going shirtless.  
But hey this is China, you can do what you want!

Dragon Boat Festival

Yesterday was the public holiday in honor of Dragon Boat Festival here in China.  Dragon Boat Festival is always held on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar and is often referred to as The Double Fifth or in Chinese "Duanwu".

The sun is considered to be at it's strongest around this time of year and the summer solstice.  In Chinese the sun is like the Chinese dragon and represents masculine energy so the summer solstice is the peak annual moment of male energy.  Thus the dragon is associated with Duanwu and was given the name Dragon Boat Festival as it is a highly popular day to race boats across the lake.

In Suzhou the race was held very near to our apartment and a few of the expats we are friends with were on teams actually racing so we walked down an area called Moon Harbour to watch the festivities with other expats.  The pictures aren't great as we were a bit far away and it was a cloudy day.

 There are 13 members on a team and in the boat.  6 on each side and a drummer.

 There are at least 4 boats in this picture.

 The boats are VERY tippy according to our friends and as you can see this one capsized!

 The white pontoon boat was suppose to be a "life saving" boat however as you can see the pontoons started to sink while the team members were trying to get on it.   WHOOPS!!!
We are told you DO NOT want to swim in the lake.  #1 it's illegal by government standards.  (If you were to drown they are not responsible.) and #2 the people we knew in the race said there were dead fish all over the lake and it's quite green and nasty.

 The lady to the right was invading Bill's railing space so he didn't have much of a view or much room to sit and enjoy the races.   In China there is no sense of personal space!!!

Happy Dragon Boat Festival - hey we'll take a day off during the week anytime!

Fog or Smog?!?!

I like to tell myself that it's Fog, because to me, waking up to fog seems much better in my brain than smog.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but the air quality is just part of life here and something I didn't realize how much we took for granted before.  I like to call most mornings "foggy" as waking up to smog is just depressing and it seems to burn-off towards the afternoon/evening so it kind of resembles fog. :-)  
About a month ago I made the big mistake of downloading an air quality app on my phone and it gives me updates - good or bad as to the air quality changes throughout the day.  Typically we're pretty inline with Shanghai's air quality and we're pretty "Moderate" in air quality as the app says.  That's a good thing, we're not nearly as bad quality wise as some of the cities in China.  Whew!

Today the China Air Quality app has been going bonkers and Suzhou is the worst I've ever seen it!  Suzhou from the Chinese site is at 219 Heavily Polluted, that's HORRIBLE by my standards!  Probably one of the worst days in the past 3 months.  You know it's bad when the US Consulate in Shanghai is saying that 179 is Unhealthy and we're over and above that.

See this app has Shanghai by the Chinese government monitoring site and then Shanghai US Consulate which is the US monitoring system at the consulate building in Shanghai.  Since Suzhou and Shanghai seem to have similar numbers I typically just look at the Shanghai US Consulate because I'm not quite sure I trust what the Chinese are really telling us.

Here's a picture off the balcony from today at 2:30pm in the afternoon:

Here's the same picture on a clear sunny afternoon:

No wonder I've taken 2 naps today and haven't been able to find motivation to go to the gym!

I'll also let you make the call on Fog or Smog!?!?!?!

Rainy Day in Shanghai

Let me tell you, when it rains in China, IT RAINS!!!  Yesterday was a wet and rainy day.   My friends Nicole and Marie and I had planned to take the train into Shanghai to do some shopping and putzing around in the big city and to just have a day out away from Suzhou.  Let me tell you rain in China is not like rain in the US or the UK where it rains, lets up a little bit, rains again, lets up a little bit, NOPE this was a full fledged down pour ALL day long! 

Next time we go to Shanghai in the rain we'll be sporting these pant protectors(aka- garbage bags around the legs):

Or on second thought we'll just change our tickets and come back a different day!

Even in the rain we managed to have some fun though!  New glasses anyone? 

 Bloody Mary for lunch, yes please!

 Halloween costumes here we come!

 Hmmmm, not sure what one would use placenta cream for???  Any ideas???

Something Sweet

I must have some sweet Western blood in me because the mosquitos here just seem to latch onto me.  Yesterday afternoon (4pm) I went for a run outside (Yes, I know it was a mad idea to think about that in the heat, with the air quality, etc., etc., I thought of every excuse but went anyway) and well 3.5 miles later I came home with arms, fingers and legs full of bites!!!

 Yep, even managed to get bit on my knuckle!?!?!?!  That one hurts the most.

 And the other elbow.

I'm a Wisconsin girl and I've spent plenty of summers in the U.P. which in turn means I have had tons of mosquito bites, and never, ever, have I had a reaction that I can remember like I have had here in China.  I certainly didn't think that in the middle of the afternoon especially while running there would be mosquitos chasing me.

Today's adventure involved picking up bug spray!   I went with the Raid since I know the Johnson's brand vs the off shoot Chinese brand.  We'll see if this helps at all with future bites.   

I also decided that since I was out I should pick up something sweet and actually try baking in my oven today.   BROWNIES!   So far they look like have turned out, I'm just not sure how they taste yet!

3 Years, 2 Countries and 1 Deportation Later!

 It's really hard to believe that it was 3 years ago we got married and a week after hopped on a long haul flight to start an adventure in England.   What were we thinking?!?!?

Now 3 years later we've managed to experience the sights, sounds and tastes of 4 continents and 19 countries...  We're not even going to try to count the flights!!!
I'd love to recap all our countries and adventures but I feel like that would cover a novel so I'm just going to throw in a few pictures.

There have been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of trials and tribulations but we've worked through them all and we've managed to not kill each other!!!  That's the important thing right?!?!?

I can't begin to express how grateful I am and We are for the opportunities we've been presented with and the experiences we've been able to enjoy together.  It's truly been an unforgettable adventure that will continue for many years to come.

Cabinet in the trunk, Sure No Problem!

Hi All!!!   Happy Monday to you, I don't have too much interesting today, we got up early, went to Mandarin lessons and then it was a "typical Monday" for me... coffee, lunch, swimming, laundry!  Bill's afternoon was much more exciting than mine though so I figured I'd tell you about it!   

Charter has finally moved the warehouse space from Wuhu to Changzhou.  Wuhu is a 2.5 hour drive south of Nanjing, and Nanjing is an hour train ride from here.  Bill has been going to Wuhu about one to two weeks a month since March when we got here so it will be very nice that the warehouse is now moved to Changzhou and he won't have to leave Monday to Friday every week.  Changzhou is an hour and 15 minute drive from our house and also the same building that the new plant will be in.  So with this move from Wuhu to Changzhou ALL the old office furniture was shipped and Bill decided he wanted to take a cabinet that no one was going to be using for his home office.  Him and Mr. Fu managed to fit it in the trunk of the VW Passat ghetto style with tape and towels and it actually survived the crazy drive home! 

Now Bill gets the exciting job of unpacking his boxes and setting up his office! 

 As you can see.... he's thrilled!!!

Cluck Cluck

 I'm not going to lie... Bill and I really enjoy eating chicken wings!   We have pretty much stayed away from all chicken since the bird flu outbreak back in March here.  However, last night (after a day of drinking at the EAS summer picnic) we had a weak moment and went for it!

They were so tasty delicious it was definitely worth it! 

We spent the day at the Fairmont Hotel in Kunshen, a city about 20 minutes from ours, with 100 other expats and their families.   Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, they had a pretty nice setup with BBQ burgers, skewers of lamb and squid, salads galore and even an ice cream bar!   There was a man selling artistic name drawings so we decided the apartment wall could use some color.

After the picnic we continued on with a few others to a local establishment to watch some rugby.  Which is where the chicken wings came into play!  

Other than the picnic we haven't gone anywhere or done much this week.  We've been slowly and steadily unpacking the boxes and organizing all our things here are the apartment.  

Bill is so happy he has his golf clubs!  He's already made plans to golf with another expat on Wednesday evening.