Smooth Sailing

Our first cruising experience was really great.  There really was something for everyone in our family to enjoy.  The girls loved swimming and the idea that they were sleeping on a boat.  They got a lot of attention from all of the staff and I think our girls reminded many of the staffers of their children back home.  The girls also consumed large quantities of ice cream and maraschino cherries!

The adults enjoyed watching the waves and everyone got some reading done.  The food was fantastic too!  Because we were staying in a suite, we had the option of bypassing the buffet for meals and could eat in the formal dining room for every meal.  

Mmm, tea!

Giggling after doing a dance!

A few afternoons I joined the other Kindle readers and sat by the indoor pool reading and relaxing.  Jamie and I went to one of the evening performances and got to see an impressive pianist, Linda Gentille.  More impressive than her musical skills were her language skills.  She is American, but has lived in China for many years and she personally greeted all the different groups in the audience.  She spoke French, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, German and many other languages and it wasn’t just a memorized greeting, she was nearly fluent!

Another evening Jamie and I saw True Grit on the big screen.  It was a great movie and yes I know it’s been out for a while, but for some reason it hasn’t made it to China yet, hmmmm.  

LBean asked to go to the kid’s clubhouse, which is a really nice feature on the boat.  The club house is a play area for kids over the age of 3 and who are potty-trained.  There were games, movies, crafts and lots of toys.  LBean really liked it and I think would have gone every day if she could.  She went in the afternoon during EBean’s naptime, which meant that the adults could also nap or read.  On the last night of the cruise the clubhouse sponsored a family scavenger hunt.  We roamed around all the decks of the boat looking for things that started with every letter of the alphabet.  The girls, who were slightly less than enthused about the activity, were given a lesson on perseverance and were rewarded with hats and octopus toys from the clubhouse staffer when we finished the game.  


We all enjoyed the cruise and I have a feeling we'll do it again!

What's That? Wednesday: 12/7/2011

Oh the wonders never cease!  Some things here so obviously make sense.  Removing your shoes before entering a home is a brilliant idea when the outside can be so dirty.  And, along that same line, I can respect the women that wear high-heels where the heel is made out of metal.  Not necessarily my taste, but when you walk around the city so much, the metal heels hold up so much better than any other material.  Other things still don't make so much sense.  Why, oh why, is okay for grown men to pee in the bushes or along the road-side?

This mystery also remains...

Sorry about the darkness of the photos.  It's dark here by
4:30 or 5:00 and even with the highest ISO, I still couldn't
take a good photo.  Listen to me throw around
some photography vocabulary!

Why is it necessary to paint the lower half of all of the trees in the city?  Jamie and I have asked around and we've done a bit of internet research and there is no definitive answer.  Some say it is for aesthetics or to protect the trees from bugs.  Jamie has even heard that it "keeps the trees warm".  Something about reflecting light and preventing large temperature shifts.  But, my counter-point is that if the trees are native to this area, shouldn't they already be equipped to handle the weather?  So, I think I will go with choice "D", which is that the government/city/apartment complex needs something for all of their workers to do.  There is very little grass clipping, water fountain maintenance or leaf raking that can occur now and there needs to be a project to keep everyone busy.  Why not paint the trees?

Taipei, Taiwan

If I keep up this pace, it might be 2012 before I'm finished posting about our October holiday. Enjoy the next installment!

Coming into the harbor.

After sailing through the night from Okinawa, we docked in Taipei, Taiwan.  We decided against going on a formal tour so we could move along at our own pace.  However it was a quick pace as we only had a 1/2 day in Taiwan.  I’m glad that we traveled alone because when we got off the boat there was a taxi/tour company and we hired our own taxi driver for the afternoon.  Before we got in the taxi we circled the stops we wanted to make and confirmed what time we wanted to be back at the boat.  Then, we climbed in and off we went.

Large container ship in the harbor

Temple on the hill

 

We raced around the city trying to soak in as much as we could.  I really, really need to brush up on my Asian studies.  I know that Taiwan’s history is complex and there is a lot to learn.  The different historical sights that we visited will mean so much more after I’ve done some reading.

As you can see, the girls were thrilled to be there!

The first stop we made was at the Martyrs Shrine.  The shrine is dedicated to the 330,000 Chinese Nationalist soldiers who died during the Sino - Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. It was built in the classic Chinese style, but I noticed that the colors were different than what I was used to seeing in mainland China, it had more green and blue hues.  It really was beautiful.  We got there just in time to see the changing of the guards, which is stirring no matter where you are.  We had an interesting conversation with the girls about whether or not the guns were real and why the soldiers had them.

Changing of the guards ceremony

 

Grandma Callie

LBean is still absolutely thrilled to be there.

Jamie and his girls

Standing in front of the Grand Hotel

We drove by and took a quick picture in front of the Grand Hotel.  It is the one the world’s tallest Chinese classical buildings.  It was really impressive and from what I’ve read, many foreign dignitaries have stayed there.  LBean decided she could do without the photo opportunity and stayed in the taxi with Grandma Callie.

Next was the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, also known as the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The building is dedicated to the memory of the former leader of the Republic of China, General Chiang Kai-shek. The National Concert Hall and the National Theatre are on either side of the open square in front of the memorial hall.   Again, I noticed the colors used in the buildings, lots of blue & white, which I think reflects the colors in the Taiwanese flag.  The memorial hall was very impressive and beautiful.

 

 

 

We drove by the Presidential Building on our way to a market with Taiwanese goods from all over the island.  I’m glad that we did drive by because once we got home I saw a commercial for a special documentary on the Presidential Building.  It was so great to point it out to the girls and say “remember when we drove by that?”

We did a bit of shopping (of course), I picked up some lacquered chopsticks, and EBean picked out this crazy black and red warrior mask pin before making a quick stop at the Taipei 101 building.  The 101 building was one of the tallest buildings in the world until recently.  The girls were pretty tired by that point, so we passed on the opportunity to go up to the top.  In fact, LBean said she would never go to the top, but EBean was excited about it.  

On our way back to the dock, the taxi driver drove us past one of the night markets.  I had an idea in mind of what they might be like, but I wasn’t prepared for all of the neon lights.  It really looked like a lot of fun with neon sign after neon sign and little stalls selling all kinds of things, jeans, scarves, knick-nacks, household goods, etc.  I guess we need to go back!

Our cruise ship at night

What's That? Wednesday: I love Technology! 11/30/2011

Technology has been a huge blessing!  Emails, blogs and websites gave me an opportunity to learn about Suzhou before we arrived and make new friends.  Now that we are here, Skype and Google video chat have been great to talk to keep us connected to family & friends.

I knew that some websites would be blocked and I was fortunate to discover the power of a VPN (virtual personal network) before we checked out of the hotel.  Once we moved into the apartment I would lose our secure connection and my personal link to Facebook and our blog.  The VPN basically filters everything through a secure connection and I choose the destination of the filter.  If I choose a city in the US, then my internet connection is essentially coming through the US and nothing is blocked.  On a side note, someone I know dressed up for Halloween as the Great China Firewall, hysterical!

Skyping with my dad during our first weeks in Suzhou.

Technology has also bridged the huge language gap.  Our driver speaks no English and, almost five months later, my Chinese is pretty limited.  But cell phones have made up for the lack of verbal communication...almost.  Both our driver and Jamie have applications on their phones that take English/Chinese and translate it to the other language.  Some things do get lost in translation and you have to step back and look for the jest of the message rather than looking at the specifics. Even then I've been known to text "I don't understand" and I have received a few texts like that too.  Now I've learned that if I get a text that says "I went to", that means that our driver is waiting in the garage.  I'm not sure how an essential piece of the text is missing, but it happens every time.

We've also used Google translate to make lists or clarify things for our driver and our Ayi.  I try to stick to simple sentences with subject + verb + object in the hopes that it will translate better.  And most recently, we set up a Vonage account which uses our internet connection for our phone service.  We now have a local Peoria number that people can use to call us without international charges.  For us, we just pick up the phone and call, no dialing country codes.  For some numbers I don't even need the area code.  It's been really helpful when making doctor's appointments or leaving contact information with people in the States.  The best part is that when a caller leaves a voice mail it is transcribed and emailed to me.

For our next piece of technology, Jamie and I have our eyes set on a Slingbox.  The Slingbox would allow us to hook up a box to a cable connection at someone's house (a paid connection, nothing sneaky) and then use our computer to control what is recorded on our DVR.  We could watch whatever we wanted from back in the States.  No more missing The Amazing Race or Illinois football (maybe it's okay to miss that).  Do you think Santa delivers Slingboxes?

I'm so glad that technology has allowed our family to stay connected with friends and family back in the States.  What would I have done if I had to rely on letters and the Pony Express?  Now, if we could only do something about the 14 hour time difference and the middle-of-the night phone calls...

Anchor's Away

The second week my mom was here, we went our first cruise.  I tried to explain the significance of this trip to the girls.  I had to wait 31 years before I went on my first cruise and my girls were going at the ages of 2 1/2 and 5 years, but I think my lecture was lost on them.  When I told some other expats about our upcoming cruise, they would politely ask if we were taking a Yangtze River river cruise (a famous and near-by river), but when I said it was an American cruise line, their eyes would light up.  Ohhh, American standards of service!  

We departed from the downtown Shanghai cruise terminal, which is right along The Bund.  We boarded in the middle of the afternoon and set sail during dinner.  The cost of the cruise was almost worth it just for the cruise out to sea while we watched downtown Shanghai go by.  It was a stunning view of lighted skyline and we could have literally just sat there and looked out the window for hours.  As we got closer and closer to sea we could see the workers in the dry docks welding and building some enormous ships.  For this land-locked girl, it was fascinating to watch.

Getting ready to check-in for the cruise

Looking at The Bund & the Oriental Pearl Tower

Apparently our children were not happy
to take a family picture

Starting to light up

Our first towel animal

A dry dock; can you make out the hulls of the two cargo ships?

Since we had my mom with us, we had a family suite with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living area with a fold-out bed.  It was enough room for everyone to have their own sleeping area and the girls could run around a bit too.  I loved looking out the balcony windows and watching the sea, it was so relaxing.

We spent one day at sea before we docked in Okinawa, Japan, early on a Monday morning.  The day started with a traditional Japanese performance on the dock.  The girls were not completely won over with the traditional drums at 6:00 a.m., but it was a fun for the adults.  We boarded a tour bus and headed north of the island to the aquarium.  The Okinawa aquarium is one of the largest in the world and it is beautiful.  I really, really wished we had more time there.  By the time the bus arrived we only had about 1 1/2 hours to run through the aquarium.  Our first stop was the touching pond, where we were able touch a starfish and a sea cucumber.  We walked by the tank with the whale sharks and watched the dolphin show.  EBean requested to see the sea turtles and she really enjoyed looking at the baby turtles.  

Walking down to the aquarium

Getting ready to go into the aquarium 

EBean looking at the fish

Two happy little girls

LBean collecting information cards at all the stations

We got to touch a starfish and a sea cucumber

Watching the dolphin show

Some amazing tricks

EBean's request, to see the sea turtles

Baby sea turtles

We really loved the baby sea turtles

We got back on the bus and went to a restaurant for a traditional Japanese meal.  I’m not big sea-food fan, but I did really enjoy the noodles, carrots, and broth!

Our last stop was a re-built castle.  I need to brush up on my South China Sea history, but I do know that Okinawa was heavily bombed during WORLD WAR II.  Much of the island was reduced to rubble and therefor many historical sites were lost, but there is an effort to rebuild the lost buildings.  I was talking to a friend about our trip and I said that the physical beauty of the island is wonderful, but the architecture was not wonderful.  Everything was rebuilt after the war and most buildings are made of concrete because Okinawa has a termite problem.

The castle was really interesting.  Okinawa was actually under the protection of China for many, many years.  It wasn’t until recently that Japan claimed Okinawa.  For that reason, the castle was built in a traditional Chinese manner.  The gardens around the castle were very Japanese.  LBean and I had great discussions about how this castle was different than what she had been expecting (she was thinking of an English castle or Cinderella’s castle at Disney) and what parts of the castle were similar (throne rooms, crowns, etc.)

What I enjoyed about the cruise was after spending a day of being tourists, it was great coming back on the boat and having a wonderful meal.  In China I miss the taste of grain-feed beef, fountain pop, and cheese, so I made up for lost time while on the boat!  


I'll post more about the cruise and the rest of our trip in some upcoming posts.  Stay tuned!