We've had a quiet few days here in anticipation of our trip to Hong Kong.  We fly out tomorrow at noon for six days of fun.  We put off starting art and electric guitar lessons until we come back from our trip.  Our wonderful relocation gal, Rebecca, has researched many activities for the kids to do over the summer to keep them busy.  We went swimming a few times at the gym we joined, and visited with some friends.  Doug got the Wii running, and that's been a big hit with the boys (Nintendo's newest video game system).  But sometimes games are only one player games.  So I have two kids saying, "I'm bored," while their brother plays Wii.  I decided to look through our board games to keep them busy.  For some reason, my hand grabbed the "Racko" game.  Have you ever played Racko?  It's great for all ages.  Now we have Racko fever, or I should call it "Racko Wacko?"  We've gotten so bored by the regular rules, that now we've added a variation to it....we have to have 3 numbers that are consecutive before we yell out "Racko."  I think everyone loves Racko because it appeals to the autistic streak in all human beings.  Nothing feels better than lining things up in their proper order.  It just gives us a warm, tidy feeling that all is right in the world when our numbers line up as they should.  In some ways, playing this game reminds me of my youth.  There weren't a lot of summer camps when I grew up, so we played board games with our family, friends, and neighbors.  It's nice to have the time to enjoy these small things.  During the school year, it's hard to find time to do something as simple as play a board game.  There's usually homework looming over someone's head.  I sure hope that we have a lot more Racko Wacko days.  Thanks, Parker Brothers!

 

I gave Ayi and Driver the day off today.  The forecast was for some ferocious storms (thunder, lightning, rain, etc.) to hit Tianjin.  I can't remember the last time it has rained.  Well, the forecast was right, and we had a nasty storm come in at around noon today.  Lots of rain, too.  Then my doorbell rang, and it was my favorite neighborhood "workerman."  He's been at my house a few times to fix things.  In the past, either Ayi or the landlady has been here while he is here.  He doesn't speak a word of English.  But I've noticed how smart and polite he is.  He fixes things quickly, and he is always so courteous.  When he rang my doorbell today, he told me a big story in Chinese and kept asking if my Ayi was here.  I told him that she wasn't, but I waved him in, as I trust that he knows what he is doing.  He kept pointing at the rain and the sewage drains on the street.  He wanted in my garage.  He looked at some giant circuit breaker box, got a co-worker to look in a sewage thing, and they both said, "Ok."  But I remembered my landlady showing me and Ayi a similar box in our basement, and showing us a button to push if there was ever a lot of rain.  Then a pump of some sort would be turned on to drain the water out of our backyard.  So then I phoned the landlady and put her on the phone with the workerman.  He chatted to her a bit, and then gave the phone to me while he tinkered with the box in the basement.  She told me that he was indeed turning on the pump for the backyard so that we wouldn't have a flood back there.  So now I have a noisy pump going off in my yard, and the rain is subsiding.  No one told me how to turn off the pump and when to turn it off.  This is why I shouldn't give Ayi many days off.  I can't live without her. 

 

While we were eating lunch, there was a car accident in front of our house.  Only two drivers, but somehow there were about 10-15 people involved in trying to figure out who was to blame, how to drive away from the accident, and many other things that are beyond me because of my illiteracy here.  It even got physical a few times.  An older man and a younger man were going at each other.  Well, mostly the older man was beating up on the young guy.  The guards came over, then a bunch of workermen, some garbage people, etc.  Car accidents and fights draw big crowds here.  Me and the kids peaked through the curtain a few times.  This craziness went on for over an hour, then the two of them drove away, and left some parts of their crashed vehicles in front of our house.  I wonder if they'll be looking for those bits later?

 

We got some new posters in our neighborhood.  Some of the same spiels on them...about the papayas trees and the squeak, squeak stuff.  But some of the pictures look kind of new.  I like the one with the German writing on the tower.  Why German writing?  There are no Germans in our neighborhood.  I'll have to invite my German friend over so that she can tell me what it says.  I went to her place last week for coffee.  Very interesting woman....her husband and her met at university in East Germany, while they were both studying for their engineering degrees.  She was one of three women in a class of 300.  This was before the wall went down, so the government paid for her education.  She grew up learning Russian.  I have a few DVD's that I've bought here that are in Russian.  The cover will say that it is an English DVD, then you pop it into your machine, and it's all in Russian.  Now I know someone that I can give those DVD's to.  She has 3 young children that attend the same school as my children.  She is now a stay at home mom.  They arrived here a couple of months after us.  It's been very hard for her....her English isn't that good.  So her children go to an English school, and they must all learn English to talk to classmates and teachers, plus Chinese to survive here.  Her house wasn't ready for the longest time, and they had to live in a hotel for quite awhile.  But they are smart, nice people, and I know that they will do well here in the end.  I met her because she looked lost in the parent lounge one day.  All of the mom's were chatting to each other with their friends in their various languages, and she was standing there with a half-smile on her face, looking around.  I ran up to her and said, "You look like you need a friendly face."  Now we are both stuck here for the summer....I've told her that people need people, so we should get together.  She thinks that she will join the same gym as us for the summer, and the kids can swim together.  She said that she likes to talk to me to practice her English on.  She said that she understands my English well, because it's not heavily-accented.  There are a lot of interesting accents here.  It's taken me awhile to catch the nuances of the English accents from other countries.  I even struggle sometimes with some of the New Zealand accents here.  Not to mention that every country uses different words for similar items.  A target is a bullseye, swimsuits are togs (I think), gambling is a flutter, bbq is a grill, sucker is a lollipop, soda is pop.  I love learning all of these new terms, but I can't imagine how difficult that would be for someone who does not speak English as a first language. 

 

Oh, the doorbell just rang.  My favorite workerman was there.  I let him again.  He ran right downstairs and turned the pump off.  So glad that he did that.  I wasn't sure what to do next.  The rain has stopped.  Now there are all sorts of neighborhood workers sweeping water with large corn brooms into the sewage areas.  Our streets flood horribly here when we get a lot of rain at once.

 

We're off to Hong Kong in two days.  We're all getting very excited.  Please be sure to check back in about a week or so for all of our photos and stories about Hong Kong. 

We're still fighting the ongoing battle that has besieged our tender skin...the dreaded mosquito bites.  These are not normal bites.  Nick and Sue have been having some hideous reactions.  Nick swells up and Sue's bites look like blood clots.  Both have been to the doctor, and reassured that they are just bites.  So Sue and Nick just keep slapping on an antihistimine gel and take their daily antihistimine tablet.  There doesn't seem to be any end in sight.  Sue asked at the doctor's office today when the mosquito season ends....the Chinese nurse there told her that it goes on until the fall, and that some Chinese think that the mosquitoes are worse in the month of September.  Sue gasped in horror.  No one in our family is allowed to go outside after dark (anti-vampirism....or is it anti-gremlinism?).  I wish the workers here would stop watering our plants with sewage water....that might put an end to this onslaught.

Doug was in southern China last week, and picked up the June 14th edition of the "The South China Morning Post" to bring home for me to read.  I found an article in there that makes our Hong Kong trip seem even more appealing.  Here is some of the article:

 

 

The Chinese characters of zhong guo ren - which means "Chinese" - will be projected across the sky in a HK$16 million fireworks extravaganza on July 1 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the city's return to mainland rule.

 

It will be Hong Kong's biggest and most costly fireworks display, and the first to celebrate the handover since 1997. 

 

Starting at 8 pm, the display, together with "A Symphony of Lights", the light and sound show with rooftop pyrotechnics effects, will last for 37 minutes.

 

Four barges moored near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre will fire 31,888 fireworks shells on to a 300 metres by 1,000 metres "air screen" over Victoria Harbour.

 

The show will be divided into 10 scenes starting with "Salute to our Motherland".  Other themes include "Pearl of the Orient" and "Olympic Dream", and will be accompanied by soundtracks from classical anthems to Canto-pop.

 

The second scene - "Chinese" - will see a new technique used to put up Chinese characters over the sky.  It represents the footprint of Chinese all over the world and their unrelenting spirit.

 

The extravaganza would showcase the joy of ong Kong's return to the motherland and highlight the industrious spirit of Hong Kong people.

 

It will be the biggest fireworks display in the city ever, with record spending and number of fireworks shells.  "A Sympony of Lights" would continue to be shown from July 2 to July 8.

 

They have urged spectators not to crowd the Tsim Sha Tsui (where we are staying....our room has a great view of the harbour) and Wan Chai waterfront, saying the display would be visible from many points and that the soundtrack would be played on a local radio station.

 

 

I'm sure our three sons will find it all quite exciting.

Yesterday, Doug and I realized that we had to go to the Fabric Market to pick up some clothing that we had made for us.  We had to bring the children with us (they weren't too enthusiastic about that), but off we went.  It was a beautiful, sunny day in Tianjin.  But the women here do not like the sun.  They want to have pure white skin.  On the tip from a friend before I moved here, I stocked up on facial creams, because most of the facial creams and lotions here have bleach in them....an attempt to get that pure white skin.  On top of these creams, the women shy away from the sun.  Actually, shy away is not a good term.  They do everything in their power to cover up their extremities when outside on a sunny day.  Which can't be very comfortable, because it's also very hot here.  They will wear long visors, often with transparent scarves wrapped around their heads.  They also wear long gloves, reminiscent of something that Marilyn Monroe wore in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."  On a crowded street, there are a sea of umbrellas marching up and down the road, and there isn't a raindrop in the sky.  Then there's me, exposing all of my bare parts to the sun, because I'm so hot.  I've got open-toed sandals (that gets a lot of stares), shorts, and sleeveless tops on.  But those short days are now coming to an end, because the vicious mosquitoes did a number to my right leg the other evening, when I sat on the deck with my husband.  My leg looks so horrible, that I've had to take to covering it up and wearing pants until it heals again.

 

The Fabric Market was an interesting trip in that Doug and I had been there a few times by ourselves and have gotten to know a few of the vendors and tailors.  It's forced us to use our Chinese and get stronger with it.  Somehow, we've been able to talk to these people and share a few jokes.  When we brought the three boys with us on Saturday, they went crazy there.  Note to self:  Do not dress the twins alike when in public, crowded Chinese markets.  We felt like Brangelina.  All of the Chinese people go crazy with excitement when they realize that we have 3 sons ("san ge erzi"), but they go even crazier for twin boys.  I haven't learned how to say twins yet, because it's about 3 long words strung together that don't want to stick to my brain.  But I know what they're asking me when they come up and ask us questions and point at Phil and Tom.  I often nod yes, point to each boy and say, "Jiu, jiu" (9,9...they're ages), then point to my tummy with 2 fingers.  Then there are the odd few people that won't leave and move on after that (see photo at right).  They'll just stand beside my twins and openly stare at them with a smile on their face.  I just saw a television commercial for an upcoming documentary on multiple births, and it stated that twins are the rarest in Asia. 

 

We then went to the biggest tourist trap in Tianjin, Ancient Culture Street.  I bought another fake Burberry purse (no "s" on it this time....a better fake....very roomy purse for my upcoming Hong Kong trip), and we stocked up on future gifts for family and friends back home in North America (when we see them again....when will that be?).  A lot of silk trinkets....liquor bottle covers that look like ancient emperor outfits, compact mirrors for lady's purses with beautiful stitching on the outside, tissue box covers, etc.  After shopping for about a half an hour, we came across a vendor that had better English than some.  He asked us where we were from, and when we told him that we were Canadians, he started giving us better deals.  So Doug kept trying that line all day with other vendors, "Janadaren," he kept saying.  Then he kept telling the vendors that we lived in Tianjin, and that we'll come back.  I think he got better deals than we used to get when we were fresh off the boat in January....using these ploys, but also because he could converse with them a bit.  Our children have gotten into the bartering, too.  Nick is as ruthless as his father now.  He just won't go down in price and meet them in the middle.  It makes me laugh out loud.  Thomas is the sweet barterer, like me, he says "okay" the first time a vendor goes down.  Philip gets so excited, he says "okay" at the first price quoted. 

 

We chatted to a family at the market who were tourists from San Antonio, Texas.  They had a tour guide with them, because they didn't know any Chinese at all.  They were watching us converse with the vendors and barter.  They remarked that our Chinese was very good.  As a whole, our family of 5 can get by....Doug knows some words, I know other ones, Philip has a few tricks up his sleeve, then Nick pipes in, and then Thomas will add his 2 cents.  Doug's good with curse words (he got his co-worker's to teach him), I'm good with numbers, days, and time (I've had to, in order to give the driver instructions), Philip and Tom are good with the basics (polite greetings, numbers, colors), and Nick has a different Chinese teacher than the twins, so he knows a bunch of other stuff.  Collectively, we can survive on the streets of Northern China and get what we need.  But there is still so much to learn.  I feel frustrated at times and want to learn more.  I hate that feeling of illiteracy that plagues me sometimes here.  I think I'm going to phone up my tutor and re-start lessons for the kids and I over the summer.  I had ended them, thinking that we needed a break from it all over the summer.  I think it was the monotony of learning from a book, lesson by lesson, and learning stuff that I would never use.  For the summer, I'd rather have informal lessons, that the kids and I sit around the table with her and ask, "How do you ask for this or that?"  I've realized that Nick was plunged in deep at his school with his lessons because of his age, and never learned the basics like numbers.  His first Chinese homework was "find out what this kangi character means."  Yikes! 

 

I'm off to rub some more hydrocortizone on my leg....wish it luck. 

After much debate, we have decided to go to Hong Kong for a week-long vacation.  We fly out on June 29th and return July 5th.  I wonder if there will be Canada Day celebrations on July 1st, and U.S. Independence Day celebrations on July 4th?  There are a lot of expats in Hong Kong, so I expect we'll see quite a few fireworks while we're there.  Doug has left it up to me to book the hotel.  Which is no easy feat.  I have never been to Hong Kong before (except for a 5 hour delay in their airport in November), so I don't know the city well enough to know what area to stay in.  I think I have it narrowed down to the Kowloon area...it has the most western restaurants and a lot of acitivities for the kids.  There are some gorgeous properties there...some hotels have rooftop pools that look like a tropical oasis.  I'm hoping to score on some summer clothing for myself.  I can't seem to find anything to fit me here in Tianjin or in Beijing.  Apparently you can cross the border back to mainland China and go shopping in Shenzhen, where there are factory outlets of western clothing chains (many of the clothes we wear in North America are made here). 

I've been able to have some plain, sleeveless, cotton blouses made up for me at the fabric market.  I had one made first, liked it, and ordered a couple more.  I still have to pick those up, plus a couple of sheath-like silk dresses that look like I'm going to a British garden party to have tea with tai-tai's (that's the name for a Mrs. here). 

Okay, we're starting to get really bored now.  I'm sure that there are things to do here for kids, but I'm basically illiterate, so I'm having trouble figuring out what those things are.  I have an e-mail into my relocation agent, Rebecca, to help me find a few of these things.  Today, Philip and I toured a couple of gyms with swimming pools.  Just as in North America, any gym membership is crazy/expensive.  I have a lot of decisions to make....whether or not to get monthly memberships, yearly memberships, or a punch card that sort of pays as you go.  I've heard rumors that they might fill up the Original County pool by the end of thise year, so I don't know if we want to pay for a full year at another place that we'll stop using in about 6 months. 

 

Philip got so bored today, he made a journal entry into his book.  I asked him if we could put it on the family website as part of our blog, and he thought that would be okay.  Here is what he wrote:

 

"This is my journal (Philip Johnston).  I kind of like China but I have only been here for 6 months.  The only restaurant I like in Tianjin is T.G.I.Friday's.  Everytime I go there, I order mozzarella sticks.  I like the Chinese potato chips called Oishi.  I know for a fact that China has made some changes.  I hope to see a lot of better stuff in the future.  I have one new friend named Alex.  He likes Yu-Gi-Oh! too.  I went exploring for swimming pools with my mom to swim for the summer.  I wish I could do something right now.  But I don't know what.  Sincerely, Journal."

 

Tonight we go for a little get-together at one of the Kiwi neighbor's houses.  One of the families is leaving for the summer tomorrow, and we want to give them a proper send off.  It is also the birthday of one of the Kiwi children. 

Well, school has ended and all of the expats are heading back to their home countries for the summer.  They've had their flights booked for months now with big X's on their calendars.  We're not sure where we're going or what we're doing.  There has been talk in our house about just exploring China, maybe going to Hong Kong, or a flight to the Pacific Rim of North America (Vancouver or San Francisco) via AirChina - that carrier is having some good seat sales right now.  We decided to have a summer farewell bbq to say goodbye to Doug's co-workers' wives and kids.  Terri and Kris showed up with a lovely "summer survival" basket for us....full of magazines and various western food stuffs.  We didn't last too long outside because of the mosquitos.  The mosquitos are vicious here.  Nick is covered with bites and had some sort of allergic reaction to the bites.  He had to take a trip to the doctor's on Friday to get an oral antihistimine and an anti-itch ointment.  We'll take Ayi's advice and stay inside after dusk from now on.  The evening ended with a dominoes game at our new poker table.  I think Kris won (it was a close call between her and her husband) and chatty Sue lost soundly.

Last night, Doug and I probably went to bed a bit later than we should have.  It was around 11:00 p.m. when we finally nestled in for the night after a long day.  Just as we were about to start sawing logs, the strangest noise woke us up.  It was a plaintive wailing.  I murmurmed to Doug, "Animal or human?"  He mumbled, "I dunno."  Then the noise started up again.  I said, "I think it's a woman crying.  Someone has cracked in tent city, those poor people."  We listened intently to try to identify the noise and the source.  Then I said, "I've got it.  The woman on the other half of our duplex is hysterically crying."  We dozed off again, only to be woken up minutes later by her crying, and then a man's voice yelling.  This went on for the longest time.  She would cry, he would yell, she would cry harder, he'd yell louder, and on and on.  Doug and I were so tired.  It didn't matter that the language was different, but I knew what was going on.  I said, "Dude, just say sorry already, and she'll stop crying."  Doug and I had a good giggle over that.  The dude must have said sorry eventually, because the crying stopped.  But then the dogs on the other side of us started howling and didn't stop most of the night.  Needless to say, we're going to sleep very well tonight.