Monday, September 29, 2008
Zachary's Personality
We went to the neighborhood Kodak Shop because we had to get Visa photos taken to submit with our application for China visa renewal. As always, we had onlookers as we marched in with our 5 small kids. The older ones went smoothly as they sat on the stool, backs straight, looked at the camera and gave a stiff smile. Then we got to Zach (almost 4 yrs old). There was NO WAY he was going to sit still on the stool and look serious on one side of the room, while everyone else was crowded at the other end trying to make him smile. I'm not sure he completely understood why we all stayed at the far side of the room, but it was like a dream come true for him to be able to have such a captive audience and do whatever he wanted to do. He noticed the more he acted silly, the harder we tried to motion, cajole, plead and beg for him to sit up straight and look normal. He had the time of his life! When all was said and done, the camera guy gave us a CD with a few of Zach's poses so that we can pull them out whenever we want to be reminded of his funloving, crazy sense of humor. By the way, I never knew he could cross his eyes until now! Enjoy the photos below..................
Friday, September 26, 2008
Typhoon
We had a typhoon here a couple of days ago. Now when we Americans hear 'typhoon', we think of a massive storm with a possible tidal wave. Unfortunately, it's not quite that exciting here in China. The Chinese words for typhoon are "tai feng" which means 'big wind'. They rate these typhoons, or strong winds, from 1 to 8 in severity, 8 being the biggest. This means typhoons can range anywhere from regular rain with some gusts of wind all the way up to a hurricane.
This past 'typhoon' was a 3 which means it had strong wind. Maybe Californians would've been impressed, but being a Texan, it was nothing! (does this mean things are truly bigger and better in TX like the saying goes -- even storms?)
If we were in the mid-West, you would've said to your friend about this 'typhoon', "Hey, did you notice that strong wind last night with the (regular) rain?" They may or may not have noticed it or thought it noteworthy to even mention! I used to get excited and run outside to play in Texas during a 'typhoon' like this #3.
I (unfortuately) took Zach to Disneyland on Tuesday and they'd closed the outside rides because this typhoon was "coming in the next 24 hours". There was no rain and no wind, but it was 'coming'! They are very conservative here...maybe because so many people have housing that is more susceptible to the elements than our US houses? or maybe so everyone can rush home and get their laundry off the lines that hang out their windows and not lose their clothes? I really don't know.....
We are fine for those of you who may have heard about our 'big typhoon' and enjoyed a nice mid-western-style rain. It came down pretty hard -- you could hear it from indoors, you'd get soaked if you didn't use an umbrella. But it wasn't anything like the storms in Texas where I remember having the windshield wipers on as fast as they would go, rain coming down in sheets, and BARELY being able to see the car in front of you.
This past 'typhoon' was a 3 which means it had strong wind. Maybe Californians would've been impressed, but being a Texan, it was nothing! (does this mean things are truly bigger and better in TX like the saying goes -- even storms?)
If we were in the mid-West, you would've said to your friend about this 'typhoon', "Hey, did you notice that strong wind last night with the (regular) rain?" They may or may not have noticed it or thought it noteworthy to even mention! I used to get excited and run outside to play in Texas during a 'typhoon' like this #3.
I (unfortuately) took Zach to Disneyland on Tuesday and they'd closed the outside rides because this typhoon was "coming in the next 24 hours". There was no rain and no wind, but it was 'coming'! They are very conservative here...maybe because so many people have housing that is more susceptible to the elements than our US houses? or maybe so everyone can rush home and get their laundry off the lines that hang out their windows and not lose their clothes? I really don't know.....
We are fine for those of you who may have heard about our 'big typhoon' and enjoyed a nice mid-western-style rain. It came down pretty hard -- you could hear it from indoors, you'd get soaked if you didn't use an umbrella. But it wasn't anything like the storms in Texas where I remember having the windshield wipers on as fast as they would go, rain coming down in sheets, and BARELY being able to see the car in front of you.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Olympic Opening Ceremonies and Nutcracker on Ice
I missed the opening ceremony of the olympics when I was in the states this summer so I bought a DVD of it. WOW! It was neat even though there were a few slow spots. I was impressed how it appealed to my western taste, but had so many Chinese elements in it. I reminded me of many Chinese shows I have seen here, but was missing (thankfully) the loud MC blasting the dramatic chinese speaker.
I took my three oldest kids (10, 9 and 7) to a Russian troupe doing Nutcracker on Ice. Don't know why it was in Sept. but we'll take it anytime we can get it. It was different, pretty, and fun for the kids. Life is so different for the chinese now that it was 15 years ago. When Scott was here in the early 90s, he only saw gray and blue clothing without much variety. Now, here I am sitting in the theater thinking, "I am in China (although Shenzhen functions capitalist), watching Nutcracker on Ice with people wearing elaborate costumes and sticking their bare ballet legs into the air. This never would've been allowed back in the 70s or 80s. It would've been considered evil Western influence". China has come so far and the government seems to be trying to hold a balance between keeping things stable and letting the people take care of themselves.
They do block some internet sites, like Wikapedia and blogspot (although we can post, but just not see). These have been unblocked for the past couple of months (for the olympics?) so we'll see what happens when the ParaOlympics are over next month if they revert back.
I took my three oldest kids (10, 9 and 7) to a Russian troupe doing Nutcracker on Ice. Don't know why it was in Sept. but we'll take it anytime we can get it. It was different, pretty, and fun for the kids. Life is so different for the chinese now that it was 15 years ago. When Scott was here in the early 90s, he only saw gray and blue clothing without much variety. Now, here I am sitting in the theater thinking, "I am in China (although Shenzhen functions capitalist), watching Nutcracker on Ice with people wearing elaborate costumes and sticking their bare ballet legs into the air. This never would've been allowed back in the 70s or 80s. It would've been considered evil Western influence". China has come so far and the government seems to be trying to hold a balance between keeping things stable and letting the people take care of themselves.
They do block some internet sites, like Wikapedia and blogspot (although we can post, but just not see). These have been unblocked for the past couple of months (for the olympics?) so we'll see what happens when the ParaOlympics are over next month if they revert back.
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