Shortly after I moved to Tianjin, I heard that a place existed called "The Eye Hospital."  Maybe I have too vivid an imagination, but whenever I heard that string of words, I'd conjure up horrid images in my mind of what was going on inside those walls.  We drove by it once, and I shuddered (kind of like when my dad used to pull his false teeth out when I was little - I thought it turned him into a monster).  I hoped that I would never have to visit there for any reason at all.  Nick has been complaining lately that he can't see out of his glasses that well.  I know that he has Johns and Parry blood in him, and that it was highly likely that his prescription had changed again.  None of the kid's eyes had been tested since August of 2006.  I knew I had to find him a vision test.  But where would I find him one that was conducted in English?  I asked around, and the consensus was that I had to bring my children to the Tianjin Eye Hospital.   Yet again, I shuddered.   I got the school nurse to help me.  She is fluent in both English and Chinese.  She phoned the eye hospital and found out their hours for vision tests (only weekday mornings and all day Saturday), wrote out the instructions in both English and Chinese (so that my driver could get me there), and told me that both the optometrists and opticians had good English (which I later found out they didn't).  I would have brought a translator with me had I known.  Anyways, I gave the instructions to my driver and off I went with the kids today.  Doug was busy at an all day golf tournament.  My driver drove us almost an hour away, to the other end of town.  He parked the car in some back alley and we walked forever through car and bike traffic that was horrendous.  We ended up at something that said something about eyes and outpatient clinic.  But the two doctors shook their heads no to my driver, gave him some directions and we then had to walk back to the car.  Off we went again.  He drove around for about ten more minutes, and we finally arrived at the Eye Hospital.  Usually I give my driver a time to pick us up, but this time I asked that he come in with us.  Thank goodness I did.  Mike (our driver) led us to a reception counter where they asked (I think) what we wanted done there.  I pointed to Nick and said, "maiyou kan."  Which I think means, "he can't see."  Then I pointed to the twins and said the same thing.  So we went to a reception counter and paid 8 RMB ($1.07 U.S.).  Then Mike led us upstairs.  He asked around, and then directed us to a little dr.'s office.  Mike asked me for $30 RMB ($4.00 U.S.), he sat us in some chairs while he went and paid that and got a receipt.  I guess that gave us admittance into the little dr.'s office.  So off we went into her little office, to have our eyes tested.  There were many people in there.  It looked like a regular optometrist office in the U.S. or Canada, except for all of the people.  There were people walking in and out with their receipts, disrupting the dr. while she was conducting eye tests.  There were people sitting in there, too.  One woman was sleeping, and had several bags of groceries at her feet.  Another woman was talking on her cell phone.  Finally the doctor tested my 3 boy's visions.  She asked me a few questions in fairly good English.   "How old is he?" How many years has he worn glasses?"  But at the end of each exam, she's ask me, "Do his eyes have fenders?"  I was completely baffled by that, so she wrote out the word "fenders," in English, thinking I would understand better.  Each time she did it, I'd say, "He has healthy eyes, but he needs glasses."  She would nod and accept that answer each time.  I'm now thinking that fenders might mean astigmatism.  Still not sure what eye fenders are.  After visiting with that doctor, we were sent a floor below, where we lined up for a visit with many optometrists, who would test our eyes further.  But that wasn't before we walked by the "Child Eye Pupil Dilating Area," whereby many children were lined up in chairs with their heads thrown back, cotton balls on their eyes, and groaning.  I pointed to these kids, and told my kids, "I'm not letting them do that to you."  So at this 2nd optometrist, she put on these crazy glasses on my kids, whereby she could change the lenses.  She put various lenses in there, then told my kids to walk around and see if they could see and if they were "comfortable."  My kids were walking around then, saying, "I'm the Eye Hospital Zombie," in these crazy glasses.  I didn't have my camera, but I sure wish I did.  There was a bit of English (Chinglish) on various signs, so I thought I would test their new zombie glasses myself.  Philip read the Chinglish correctly from far away, "Eye Exam Nation."  Correct!  Nick read the sign that didn't really need to be there, like, "Air conditioner Room."  (And we need to know that because......?).   I figured maybe these zombie glasses were right, because my kids could read the bad English signs.  Then they wanted to send my children to the "Child Eye Pupil Dilating Area."  I told Mike "Boo hao!" (Not good!)and made some crazy gestures.  So we didn't go there.  Then we got sent off to pick out eyeglasses.  It took awhile, but all of the children picked out frames that they were happy with.  Each pair of glasses cost about 600 RMB ($80 U.S.), which I figured is a bit of a deal compared to North American prices, and will be ready tomorrow.  We left the house at 1 p.m., and got home by 6 p.m.  Yup, it takes forever to get anything done here.  There goes another day!

 

   

I like to make Mexican food.  Cumin is an essential spice for making Mexican food taste right.  It's hard to find here.  However, I was recently surprised at the supermarket when I found a package of cumin.  It was packaged and sold by a company in Beijing.  I read the package tonight, and burst out laughing at the Chinglish on it.  Best Chinglish I've seen so far.  I have to type it out here for everyone.  Please note that I am typing it completely as it appears on the packaging.  I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't turn out that well.  The writing was too small.  So, here it is:

 

Name:  Cumin powder

Made up materials:  cumin power particles

Edible illmination:  mainly used in the machining of beef and mutton.  It can also be mixed with other seasoning to bloat barbecued food.

Manufacturer:  Beijing Victor Industry and Trad co., Ltd.

 

Thank you to Beijing Victory Industry and Trad co., Ltd. for giving me such a good laugh!  Made with power particles by a trad company!  Machining of beef and mutton?  Bloat barbecued food?  I thought it was used mostly in Mexican food.  I'm so excited to learn that cumin has so many other uses that I never knew of.  I need to find out what an illmination is, though. 

 Well, things got a bit tense around here when I heard that there was a typhoon heading for Shanghai last night.  Nick's class is dangerously close to Shanghai.  I talked to the director of the school today, and he spoke to the lead teacher of the trip today.  The whole group is in Hangzhou right now, and they're all doing well.  Whew!

 

We're off to Phuket, Thailand next Saturday, September 29th.  We're going to go to Beijing the night before, and spend the night at a hotel near the airport.  As an added bonus, our dearest friend from western Canada will be in the same hotel.  We're all looking forward to seeing Joanne Crook after 6 long years!  I know.....Phuket?  After that plane crash on Sunday?  We figure it will be the safest airport in the world.  There's no way that they'll let an accident like that happen twice in two weeks!

Here's an update on Nick.  He's on his school trip this week.  He left yesterday at around 1 in the afternoon.  They took an overnight train to Shanghai, and then they were going to take a bus today to Suzhou.  They'll spend a couple of days in Suzhou, then they are off to Hangzhou.  The kids then take an overnight train back to Tianjin on Thursday.  We'll pick him up on Friday.  He's never been away from his family that long (not that he can remember....Doug and I did a few trips when the kids were very small....thanks, Doris).  Nick has a cell phone that covers all of China (a necessity here, because of safety).  He sent us a text message yesterday afternoon that he was okay.  Then a couple of hours later, he sent me a picture (his cell phone has a camera) of himself with his thumb up.  A few hours later, he sent the thumbs up picture again.  Then just before bed, he sent a text message saying "Yes!"  I think our son is having the time of his life. 

Nick is getting ready for his "Week Without Walls" trip.  We're trying to help him get ready.  He leaves in two days.  Notes keep coming home from the school, with tips on how to prepare the children for the big trip.  He will be away for 6 days.  We've been advised to pack light, but a list came home with about 30 items that they should pack light with.  We are going to be spending a lot of time tomorrow, trying to pack light.  It suggested that the kids pack two pairs of sneakers, in case their one pair gets wet or something else happens to them.  Nick currently has a favorite pair of sneakers that he wears everyday, but we had bought Nick some "back up shoes" before we left the U.S., so I pulled them out.  None of them fit his feet anymore!  We bought them about 9 months ago.  When we left the U.S., his feet were the same size as mine.....size 10 women's, about 8 1/2 men's.  He couldn't get his feet into these brand new shoes.....and we had even estimated up a size because we know our boys grow like bad weeds.  So Doug finally offered up a pair of his sneakers as Nick's 2nd set for the trip.....size 10 1/2 men's.  They fit perfectly!  How does a kid go from a size 8 1/2 to a 10 1/2 and 9 short months?  Answer:  he's got male Johns feet!  My dad and my brothers are about a size 13.  Every generation gets bigger and taller.  If this kid has size 10 1/2 feet at the age of twelve, and boys are usually done maturing at age 18, I'm frightened as to the possible size of his feet as an adult.  We've been teasing him and calling him "Bigfoot" and "Sasquatch" the last couple of days.  Although as of today, he is no longer a sasquatch.  He finally agreed to have his hair cut very short.  He was growing it out into some horrible style that made me fret.  I explained to Nick that he had to get a good cut before this trip, because he doesn't like to comb or brush his hair after a shower, and his hair looks absolutely horrible without some grooming.  Plus this is a whirwind trip....he takes a train from Tianjin to Shanghai overnight on Sunday, spends a night in Shanghai, then he goes off to Suzhou for a couple of nights, then he's off to Hangzhou.  That is southern China.....very hot there still...he needs a fuss-free haircut for such a big trip.  He went to the hairdresser tonight and asked the hairdresser to cut it all off in a normal man haircut.  He looks so handsome!  He looked so dark before, hiding behind his bush of hair.  I'm very proud of him.  I think he's going to have an excellent trip.  His two roommates are Asian kids.....Tomson and Ree-O-Way (I've spelt it wrong, I'm sure....but that's how you say his name).  Nice, easy-going kids from Singapore and Taiwan with very good English.  This is hard for me....my oldest leaving me for this long.  I turned down an adult invitation for a 40th birthday party on Saturday night, so that I can spend some time with my son before he goes.  Nick seems very excited.....he's the kid at the age of 5 who chose Discovery channel over cartoons.  Now he's going to live a real-life Discovery Channel experience.  I said to Doug last night that this reminds me of my childhood...we used to have week-long school trips away at a young age.  It just isn't done in North America anymore, because of liability and lawsuits.  I'm glad that my sons will be able to experience these things while we're in China.  But don't think that I'll be gleefully enjoying myself while he's away.  That's just not me.  I'm the fretting type of mom.  So, of course, I'll be sending Nick off with a cell phone that covers all of China, in case he needs to phone us. 

 

We're trying to organize a trip to Phuket, Thailand for the first week of October.  I thought that we could hold off on a trip until December.  But I pouted to Doug last weekend that staying in China all summer was hard....in that we couldn't swim outdoors anywhere, because there are no outdoor pools (pollution issues) and you just can't swim in the lakes and rivers here (again....pollution issues).  It was stinking hot all summer, and we had to stay indoors.  Just doesn't feel right for kids.  So the kids have the first week off in October.  I contacted a travel agent on Monday, and we've been hashing stuff out all week via e-mail.  She sent our reservations off to the airlines and the hotel, but doesn't have any confirmation yet.  We should find out on Monday whether or not we've got everything confirmed.  By coincidence, our American friends in Beijing are staying at the same resort that we're trying to get into at the same time.  I phone Jenn last night to make sure that it was the same resort.  She was so excited.  Her husband, Scott, phoned Doug today at work, all excited that we might be going to the same resort at the same time.  I've got fingers crossed that everything lines up as it should!  Our kids all get along great, and us adults always have a great laugh together.  The resort we're trying to get into has a baby elephant that walks around on the grounds (you can watch her bathe in the lagooon and pet her even!) and a waterpark with waterslides for the kids.  Not to mention, there are organized water volleyball games, a kid's club with activities, and a swim-up bar.  Plus many restaurants on the property.  I sure hope it all works out.  We really need this right now. 

Thomas has finally returned to school this week.  I'm still convalescing at home, taking it easy, and trying to nurse this nasty virus.  Poor Ayi sounded all stuffed up by the end of the day.  She has tomorrow off, so I told her that if she ends up getting this horrible virus and doesn't feel well Friday, I'd completely understand if she phoned me and told me that she couldn't make it to work that day.  She shook her head "no" at me, but I know that if anyone caught this virus, there's just no way that they can put in a full work day.  I had to cancel going to the weekly editorial meeting at the magazine on Monday, and couldn't attend the PFO Meeting today.  I'm the Secretary of the PFO, and I should be sitting there for 3 hours so that I can type up the minutes of meeting afterwards, but I had to phone a couple of other members on the executive and ask them to take some good notes for me instead.  Didn't think I'd be much use, sitting there blowing my nose, sneezing, and coughing.  No one would have heard a thing.   Sadly, I had to miss the elementary school student council election speeches at the end of the day.  Thomas is running for President and Philip is running for Treasurer.  Here are their speeches:

 

"Good afternoon.  My name is Thomas Johnston and I am in Mr. Sherratt's 4th grade class.  I hope that you will vote for me as President of your student council.  I'm a hard worker, with a good imagination for new activities.  I will be a good communicator about your issues.  I am well organized and responsible.  Vote me for President!"

 

"Hello.  I'm Philip Johnston and I'm from Canada.  I am in Mr. Walsh's 4th grade class.  I hope that you will consider voting for me as Treasurer.  I am responsible and accountable.  I am well organized... I always know where everything is in my desk.  I am also good at math.  I will not squander the profits from ice cream sales, but I really like that orange flavor!  Remember to vote for Philip for Treasurer!  Thank you and good bye."

 

The assembly was at the end of the day.  When I went to the school to pick up the children, many parents came up to me, with glowing reviews of the twin's speeches.   This seemed to be the consensus:  Thomas came across as sweet and shy, and Philip came across as confident and funny (I think he gave the adult audience a good chuckle).  Hmmmm.....the apples don't fall too far from the trees, huh?  I'll let you guess which child reminds us of little Susie and which one reminds us of little Doug.  It sounds like I missed a gem of an event.  I even had to send a text message to Doug afterwards, with the parental reviews and the comment, "Little versions of us, huh?" 

 

Even if neither twin wins (there are a lot of contenders... the speeches must have taken awhile), I'm proud that both even wanted to run for anything.  I didn't push either one into it, they decided to try for these positions all on their own.  In fact, Thomas had tears in his eyes one sick day at home, worrying that he had been gone from school so long, that he wouldn't be able to stay in the election and conduct a proper campaign.  He made posters from home, and Philip willingly posted them all over the school for his twin.  How's that for brotherly love? 

 

The students vote tomorrow, and they'll find out the results.  Then out of the pool of students that didn't get voted in, the teachers choose some "ombudsmen."  I'll have to keep you posted on how that all works out.  Hope there aren't any hurt feelings with any of the children that don't get positions.

Sorry that I haven't been blogging lately.  Just very busy with school starting up again.  I am also a working girl again.  I'm writing and editing for a local real estate magazine.  I'm also busy with volunteer work at the school.  I am the Secretary for the PFO (Parent Faculty Organization) this year.  So juggling family, work, and volunteer work should keep me out of trouble.  The three boys have all gotten off to a great start this school year.  The twins are in 4th grade (separate classes).  Philip has the same teacher as last year, who he adored (and still does), and who has moved up a grade.  Thomas has a new male teacher from England who has a fantastic sense of humor, according to the kids.  There are some new children at their school in their classes that they have made friends with. Nick is happy that he has his Aussie pal's dad as his homeroom teacher.  The 7th grade class has an upcoming trip (3rd week of September) to the south of China, in Suzhou.  They go there by train (a long train ride,  I think....I'm waiting to hear more details) and stay there for a week.  It's called the "Week Without Walls," trip.  How about that for bonding with your classmates and teachers?  No walls indeed.  First time Nick will be gone that long from his family.  But an adventure of a lifetime.  Have to go now and pick up the kids from school.  I'll add more later.

Okay, now here's my blog on Thomas.  Sorry for the delay on photos and blogs.  Please direct all complaints to windows live spaces.  They updated everything to make it easier for us to use these web pages, but it took me awhile to figure out how to download their stuff for their "new features."  Personally, I don't see many changes.  It was good both ways.  Oh well.....now about Thomas.  He has become quite the reader this summer.  He has become engrossed in a series of novels created as a spin off of The Pirates of the Caribbean series.  Thomas has also developed some new food tastes this summer.  He absolutely adores cream of mushroom soup now.  Which is a good thing, because I'm able to buy the Campbell's cans and this soup flavor seems to have been embraced by the Chinese.  Again and again at local restaurants, we are astounded when the soup of the day is cream of mushroom soup.  Sometimes it is in the guise of other names, such as four fungi soup (doesn't sound as appetizing), but it tastes pretty much the same.   He loves egg salad sandwiches, but he smears them up with ketchup (a habit gleaned from his father).  Won't eat the crusts, though.  Right now Thomas is happy that his best friends in China, Alex and Louise, have arrived back from their home leave.  The kids are all riding bikes back and forth between the two houses, overjoyed to be reunited again.  Nick has started the idea of their being rental shops in the O.C.....kids can rent toys, games, and books off of each other for very cheap profits.  This idea has taken off in the community, and there are rental shops popping up between the two houses.  I believe that some partnerships have even been formed cross-family.  Last I heard, Philip and Louise had an unlimited partnership.  Or was that limited?  I can't keep up with it all.  I'm waiting for one of them to go public, so I can buy stome stocks. 

Here's my blog about Nick now.  I've seen a lot of maturity in him this summer.  He can handle our scooter/moped all on his own, and he takes his new cell phone with him in case there is any sort of emergency.  Yes, kids get cell phones at a young age here.  It's a wise idea, in case of an emergency, like getting separated from your parents in large crowds and then you're unable to speak to anyone around you to get help.  Word of mouth amongst the expat crowd is that you should get a cell phone for your child here when they're about 12 years old.  I can't believe how good Nick is at navigating around on his cell phone.  It has a small camera on it, so he takes pictures once in awhile, then downloads those as his opening picture on his phone.  He played around with it the first day he got it, and had everything all figured out....the games on it, the camera, how to make calls, how to text message, etc. 

 

Nick has two new passions this summer.  One of them is his electric guitar.  He really likes his lessons a lot.  He comes home and practices, with no nagging from his parents.  He's just drawn to it all on his own.  His other new passion is cooking.  It all started kind of small since we moved here.  He wanted to make package mixes that had easy directions to follow....like jello and Betty Crocker cake mixes.  Now it's gotten a bit more complicated.  His favorite soup is Campbell's Cream of Potato soup.  We can't always find it here.  He got figuring that he could make it from scratch.  So this morning he got on the internet and searched out a few recipes.  He finally found one he liked, but he simplified it, by taking out the onions and some of the spices it called for (which I didn't have).  He assembled all of his ingredients, then got cooking over a big saucepan.  Doug and I are blown away by how good his soup is.  Maybe we have a future chef?  Nick wanted to share his recipe with everyone, so here it is:

 

 Nick’s Cream of Potato Soup

 

 

 

I love all of my children equally.  But I had to take a moment to write a bit about Philip's behavior this summer (I will write about Tom and Nick at a later date).  Philip is our social butterfly.  So living here this summer has been the most difficult for him.  Tom and Nick are happy to read their books, watch DVD's, and play their video games.  But Philip needs other people to be okay.  I just "get" that about him.  He sees social things that other kids just don't see.  Prior teachers have talked about his social skills.  He worries about the left out kid in his classroom, making sure to include them.  That threw him for a loop this year, being one of the younger kids in a split grade.  But somehow he did his best to keep up with the social standings.  I knew this summer would be hard for him, with his deep need to socialize.  Yet all of the western kids that speak English are gone.  I did what I could.  Whenever I went grocery shopping, I would ask all of my sons who wanted to go with me.  Tom and Nick never did, saying that they'd be happy staying home with Ayi.  And they were happy staying home with her and doing their own things.  Those two are homebodies.  Philip would jump at the chance to go out and about with me, practicing his Chinese and giving all of the locals a good giggle.  Not only is he social, that boy is a charmer.  He'll need a flyswatter some day to keep those girls away.  When I socialized with some of my western friends, Philip sat right beside me.  Almost like a sweet lapdog.  He'd rather socialize than hang out with his brothers.  He's all about meeting new people and coming across new experiences.  I've had a lot of socializing in the past couple of weeks with adults only.  That's because the only other 2 western families that have stayed in our community don't have young children.  Again, Nick and Tom are off doing their own thing (tv, DVD's, video games, etc.).  But there is Philip right beside me.  People are charmed by him.  He's sitting and watching all of the adult social skills, and then trying them out on everyone else.  I told him tonight, "I'm sorry that you miss your friends in the U.S., but it's really neat how you've become like my best buddy and constant companion.  I just adore you."  He's even charmed his mama.  He even charms Chinese people that can barely understand what he is saying.  After the magazine interview, the sweet lady who interviewed us e-mailed us afterwards and reported how charmed she was with Philip.  The whole article kind of took on a "Philip" slant.  Something he said during the interview caught her attention and became the title of the article.  Also, the last paragraph is devoted to Philip.  How he ended up sitting there beside me during the interview is something that you'd have to ask Philip some day.  Again, the other two brothers were off doing their own thing.  When Philip goes rollerblading (he took it up 4 nights ago, and is now bound and determined to be the best rollerblader ever.....man, that kid is driven).....but, whenever he puts on those rollerblades, 2 little Chinese girls across the street run and get theirs on even though the 3 kids can't talk to each other very well.  I believe that their mother is in Canada for the summer studying.  I met her awhile back, and she told me that she would be in Canada studying for the summer, but couldn't tell me where.  It appears that the grandparents are watching the 2 girls for the summer, and the dad comes home very late.  The grandmother has held her arms out to Philip, in hopes that she can hug him.  But he's a little freaked out by that.  He says that he doesn't know her that well.  I explained to him that she thinks he's pretty cute, and that she's watched him a lot when he's been playing with her grand-daughters.  Had they spoke the same language, more of a bond would have been built by now.  But there is a language barrier.  So it slows the progress down of a friendship a little bit for Phil.  But it doesn't slow it down for the grandma.  She has watched Phil, and likes what she sees.  In fact, the Chinese grandma is charmed by Phil, too.  Who wouldn't be? 

I guess since the O.C. heard that Airbus was coming, they hired many extra workers to get this community in tip-top shape.  Almost all empty houses are being worked on internally, to set up electricity, plumbing, and to decorate.  Partially constructed shells of houses and apartment buildings are hastily being finished.  Workermen are busily planting many trees and flowers.  The kids went for a bike ride today and came back all excited, telling me that there was not just one new playground in our community set up, but two!  Night was starting to fall when I got the kids to bring me to the playground, but I took a look around at all of the new improvements, smiled and said, "this place is going to be better than I thought it would be."

Well, we sure hope that Doug's co-worker hasn't been reading the headlines in North American newspapers lately.  Media baron Conrad Black has just gotten into a lot of trouble.  Kind of smears the illustriousness of the name Conrad, don't you think?  How did I not see that one coming?  I didn't even know that he had been charged with fraud.  I turned the tv on to CNN a couple of days ago, and was surprised to hear the news about him.  I was so surprised...he used to epitomize "high society" in Canada, appearing in Chatelaine magazine with his beautiful wife at big shindigs, then getting the title of "Lord" in England.  What a strange coincidence that we should choose the name Conrad during the week a famous Conrad (there are so few) is getting sent to jail.  Even stranger that we didn't even think of him when we chose the name.  Here's a sampling of some of the headlines that I've been reading:

 

 Convicted Conrad Black no longer welcome in Canada

 

Fall of an arrogant fraud: What really brought down the empire of Conrad Black?

Not that many years ago, Conrad Black seemed to have everything he ever wanted: a major right-wing newspaper, a beautiful wife, and homes on two continents. But it wasn't enough. He and Barbara Amiel were millionaires who wanted to live like billionaires. Christopher Silvester tells how Black's scorn for shareholders, regulators, and the law led to the humbling of a newspaper tycoon

Tycoon Black awaits sentence

 

Okay, I spoke too soon.  This morning I got a phone call from Susan, the owner of the relocation company that helped us have such a smooth transition here.  It's Susan's employee, Rebecca, that helps us out with everything here.  The expat community has been in quite a buzz for awhile, with the knowledge that Airbus was building a plant in Tianjin to build their airplanes.  We have heard that many Europeans will be moved here to work in the facility....people from England, Germany, and France.  So we've all been trading stories of what we've heard, speculating on what school and what community they will choose to live in.  We think now from what we've heard, that they've chosen our school.  Susan told me this morning that they have chosen our community.  We will have more neighbors...hopefully with children that will be playmates for our children.  Funny how much can change in a few days.  They aren't slated to come for the beginning of this school year, though.  Some of them will arrive in January, and others next summer.  But at least we have something to look forward to. 

 

When Susan told me this news, she pointed out that now many of the local landlords and media's eyes are on Original County.  She asked if I would mind being interviewed by a local Chinese language only magazine, called "Hi Class."  They wanted to know what challenges expats face when moving here.  She said that they wanted an honest first-hand account.  I agreed to the interview, but then I was a bit nervous afterwards about how to word everything diplomatically.  We set up a time for this afternoon.  Ayi and I were running around making sure the house was clean, because we weren't sure if they were going to bring cameras or not.  At the last minute, I was changing my clothes and fixing my hair. 

 

At 2 o'clock, Rebecca arrived with two women from the magazine.  Rebecca came to act as the interpreter.  The one woman explained that she was the editor-in-chief of the magazine, and that she just learned that I used to work as a freelance writer.  She then asked if I would be interested in writing some articles for her magazine, as they have been wanting to expand their magazine to include some English articles as well.  We discussed some prices, then I suggested that we could all give it a go once with one article, and make sure that both the magazine and I were pleased before we committed to anymore articles.  They have a deadline looming, so I'm going to write an article for them for next Friday.  Then the editor-in-chief had to leave, so the interview with the second woman began.  As the interview progressed, she mentioned that maybe I could write all I was saying to her better than she could, and that this may be the material for the first article.  That seemed like a good solution.  They have given me a copy of the magazine, and it is all in Chinese, so I can't read it.  But what I do gather from flipping through it is that it is a local real estate magazine, with articles and advertisements about the various neighborhoods in Tianjin.  My hunch is that they wanted to interview me because we've been fairly happy here.  This is due to the fine work of a lot of wonderful Chinese people in our lives....Susan's relocation company, her employee Rebecca, Ayi, Mike, and our landlady.  But some expats have a completely different experience than we do.  I talked about the difficulties of moving somewhere, suddenly becoming illiterate and having to depend on other people.  That's hard if everyone's not doing what they are supposed to be doing.  I think that we were especially lucky in that our Ayi speaks some English, and our landlady speaks excellent English.  When I contact my landlady and tell her something isn't working right, she's on top of it and gets someone here immediately.  That doesn't always happen with other expats.  They sometimes get a runaround story that goes on for a few weeks and frustrates them immensely. 

 

I wasn't expecting to work again, but sometimes opportunities just come your way that seem so interesting.  The vibes I got today from all of the women involved was that the local landlords not only want to lure us to their houses, but they want us to stay and have a good experience while we're here.  They want to know what pleases us about a house.  They're just not sure who to ask.  What sort of furniture and decorations do we like?  How many elements do we want on a cooktop?  Sure, the landlords probably got into this for the monetary gains, but maybe I can make some small changes with an open discussion on both viewpoints.  Please don't buy us a large, jade cabbage that takes up half of our living room.  First of all, it costs way too much money, and it may not be to our taste.  Wait and ask us what we like.  Get some design magazines out and pour through them together.  Through communication, every party can be happier.  Both sides need to be easy to work with.  The expat has to remember that they're not going to recreate their own country here.  We are in China, and things are done differently.  Enjoy some of the differences.  It's a once in a lifetime experience.

Doug came home from work the other day, and I asked him if Edmund and his wife were pleased with the English name Elliott for their son.  Doug told me that Edmund went home to his wife with our email about the name Elliott, with all of the research we had done.  She looked at it, then said something along the lines that a son should be before his father, so she thought that the child's name should begin with the letters C or D.  I joked to Doug that this probably meant that a future grandson could have a name that started with A or B, so we should try to stick to the letter D, so that the grandson will have more options.  We joked about the name "Doug."  Probably she just didn't like the sound of Elliott.  But they were going to let Doug take another stab at the name, so off we went on the net, researching again.  I pulled up a few baby name sites, and clicked on "boy", then the letters "C" and "D."  We shortlisted about 20 names that we liked the sound of.  Then we looked up their meanings.  So many of them had horrible meanings....crooked nose, a black/brown color, son of marsh-dwellers, etc.  But then we looked up the name Conrad, and it had a wonderful meaning and a lot of illustrious historical figures named this.  It means "brave counsel," many German kings were named this during medieval times, 9 saints were named this, the founder of the Hilton hotels was named this, and author Joseph Conrad penned "Heart of Darkness," a classic, almost a century ago.  So we compiled an e-mail about why this was our choice.  Doug printed it off for Edmund, who brought it home to his wife.  Today Doug phoned me and said that they were very pleased with his choice, and that their child's English name will be Conrad.  They still haven't given him a Chinese name yet.  I think that's a long process, because extended family members get involved.  So, in the future, if you ever come across a Conrad Zhang, you'll know that he was named by Doug.  A big honor indeed.

 

Nick went to his first electric guitar lesson.  His teacher is a very young, hip Chinese guy.  The teacher doesn't speak much English, but he's somehow able to still teach Nick.  The two of them plug their guitars into the same big amplifier, and the teacher sits beside him and shows him where to put his hands and fingers.  Once in awhile the teacher says yes to encourage him, then other times he says no, then places Nick's hands and fingers in the right spots.  Nick came out of there looking pretty happy.  I went out grocery shopping with Phil today.  Tom and Nick opted to stay home with Ayi.  I came home and saw Nick's guitar out of its case.  He told me that he had practiced while I was out.  I thought that this is a good sign that he likes it.  I didn't even have to remind him to practice, it was something that he did all on his own.  Funny side story here....the day we bought the guitar, our driver was really chatting up some of the girls in the store.  Of course, we couldn't catch what they were chatting about.  My driver grabbed a couple of fliers in Chinese.  He's a young, cool guy.  I could tell that he was pretty impressed with Nick's guitar.  So on the day of Nick's lesson, Driver Mike goes up to the 5th floor with us.  I had told him to pick us up an hour later, so I couldn't figure out why he was following us.  Again, my Chinese is pretty limited, and his English is pretty limited.  We wish that we could converse with him more.  But there are still gaps.  So I get Nick all settled into the lessons, and come out to find Mike giving some money to the girls at the counter.  Through charades, I asked him if he was taking music lessons too.  He told me yes.  I now joke with Nick that he will be forming a rock band with our driver someday. 

 

I was grumbling to Doug a few days ago that we still don't have any new neighbors.  Moving into a new community was a bit of a risk.  Risk of isolation, that is.  I was worried that we would feel all alone out here.  It's been a pretty quiet summer.  There are 3 Kiwi families here, and two of them went back to New Zealand for the summer.  One of the families has stayed, but they are pretty busy right now with their three university aged children visiting for a few weeks.  So there I was grumbling to Doug...."All of these empty houses.  I thought for sure we'd be seeing other people looking at them in the summer to move in for the next school year.  We're right beside the school.  If you build it, they will come."  And I mean a lot of empty houses.  There must be over a hundred of them here.  Well, imagine my surprise when my doorbell rang tonight and there were two westerners at the door.  The wife is from the U.S. and the husband is from Finland.  They just moved here from Finland.  I had met them in the spring when they were house-hunting, and talked the place up, but kind of forgot about them.  So when they appeared at my door, I was like, "Oh, good!  You decided to move in!" I had them in for awhile, a very lovely couple.  I don't think they have any children, though.  That's what my kids want.....more kids in the neighborhood.  Oh well, as I said before, "If you build it......"

Doug has a Chinese co-worker who he admires very much.  His English name is Edmund.  Almost everyone here who works with westerners chooses an English name, probably because we'll be more apt to remember the name and pronounce it properly.  Edmund and his wife just welcomed their first child, a son, to their family.  Doug asked around at work, and learned that they still needed a stroller for their baby.  So he went out shopping, and picked out a dandy looking stroller.  He took up a collection around the office, and they all presented Edmund with the stroller at work.  Edmund was very pleased by this gesture.  A little time went by, then he approached Doug and asked him to choose an English name for his son.  When Doug told me, I was like, "Wow, that's a huge honor.  Choose wisely."  Doug was just kind of throwing out names.  So I asked him what Edmund's biggest strength is at work, because often the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  His son may be a lot like him someday.  Doug said that everyone knows that Edmund is very good with the English language.  So I suggested that Doug look through historical figures that are known for literary achievements.  Obviously, Shakespeare was out of the question.  Too long a moniker.  I also suggested that he look for names that start with an "E", like his father.  I heard once that Chinese people often choose their English name while at public school.  Their teachers will go around the room and give everyone a different letter from the alphabet.  Then the student must research and choose an English name starting with that letter.  My guess is that Edmund was given the letter E.  Doug then thought of the name "Elliott."  He was thinking about the author, T.S. Eliot.  So we did a search on the internet, and sure enough, T.S. Eliot had won the Nobel Prize for literature in the 1940's.  I then mentioned that Pierre Elliott Trudeau was probably the most charismatic Canadian Prime Minister in history.  So we did a search on him.  He was named by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as one of the top ten most influential Canadians of all time in a recent poll.  We compiled all of our research, and put it into an e-mail to Doug.  He printed it off yesterday, and gave all of the information to Edmund.  He told him that if him or his wife weren't pleased with the name, that they could choose one themselves and he wouldn't be offended at all.  Edmund thanked Doug.  I guess we'll have to wait and see if him and his wife like the sound of Elliott Zhang (Zhang is pronounced as Jang). 

 

We're starting to get excited at the prospects of visitors this fall.  One of my dearest friends in Alberta, Joanne Crook, is coming to Beijing on a girl's shopping trip in September.  I told her that I'd love to meet up with her.  I haven't seen her in over 6 years.  Doug's parents are looking into flights for a visit in November.  It will be nice to have company, and show them all of the sites, since we've had time to pick through what's worth going to and what really isn't. 

 

I have to go now.  I'm off to bring Thomas to the doctor (lingering cold that won't go away), and then Nick to his first electric guitar lesson.  Philip has opted to stay home with Ayi.  She's making chicken fingers, rice, and veggies for the whole family tonight.  Her chicken fingers are delicious.  She keeps telling me that she likes to cook for our family, so I usually ask her to cook about once a week when I have a crazy day.  Today's one of those days.  I don't expect that I'll get home with the two boys until around 5 p.m. 

Our much anticipated trip to Hong Kong started out kind of shaky.  Doug came down with what we now think was a bout of food poisoning a couple of days before we left.  Poor guy was in the washroom the whole night before we flew out.  Then on the day we flew out, typically dry Tianjin was raining cats and dogs.  We sat in the airplane on the runway for 4 hours before we got clearance to take off.  That kind of defeated the whole reason for us choosing Hong Kong as a quick getaway.  We had liked the idea that it was only a 3 hour flight.  So our 3 hours flight turned into 7 hours.  Good thing we packed the Racko game!  Thanks again, Parker Brothers.  When we arrived in Hong Kong much later than usual, it was too late to do anything.  Our kids were hungry because they didn't like any of the food served on the AirChina flight (I don't blame them), so we got the bags in our room and we were off to the crowded streets of Hong Kong looking for a bank machine and a McDonald's at 11 at night in heavy rain.  After we ate, we went to sleep at midnight.  We had to crowd 3 in one bed, because the staff neglected to leave bedding for the pull-out couch.  The hotel was a bit more traditionally Chinese than we would have liked with 3 kids....lack of western food outlets and hard mattresses.  Doug and I could eat more exotic fare, but the kids balk at it a bit.  So off we went to explore Hong Kong.  We went shopping and stocked up on much-needed amenities that we can't find in Tianjin.  I was able to buy hairspray (the hairsprays here don't work on my hair....just make it greasy), and facial creams (no bleach!).  We got shoes for the entire family, and a lot of clothes.  I even found a woman who made beautiful linen outfits in my size at the Stanley Market.  Doug then brought the kids to the Fantastic 4 movie while I did some more shopping.  I really enjoyed picking through everything at Marks & Spencers.  Sadly, their sizes were a bit on the small size.  England must ship all of their teensy weensy sizes to Hong Kong.  On one of the days we went to a large amusement park and seaworld show called "Ocean Park."  It was gorgeous there, but far too hot.  As our day neared to a close, all of the boys decided to go on the river ride that promised them a cool splash at the end.  They waited in the hot line-up forever.  Just as they were about to step on the ride, a dark cloud swooped in off the sea and opened up over them.  It was like a monsoon!  The park ended up closing just as we made a mad dash for a taxi back to the hotel.  We would visit Hong Kong again in a heart beat.  What a beautiful city, with lots of fun things to do.  By far, our most favorite things about Hong Kong were....people use garbage cans, no one spits in public there, blue skies (when it wasn't raining), fresh milk, and food we can trust not to give us a tummy upset.  I think we had our funnest day at the top of Victoria Peak, viewing the Harbour below.  We visited Madame Tussaud's wax museum up there, and had one of the best meals in ages at The Peak Restaurant.  We then watched the celebratory fireworks marking the 10th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong back to China.  The day before we left Hong Kong, I decided to get a good haircut in a big city.  I walked into a hip-looking shop, and tried to communicate to the hairdresser as best I could.  But here's the problem....the Hong Kong people speak Cantonese, and I only know limited Mandarin.  I came out with a typically Asian haircut....too short and spiky.  I was devastated at first, but now that I've gotten home and have had a chance to style it myself, I'm thinking, "Wow, this is a really good haircut for the summer, with the intense heat here."  Doug thinks it makes my face look slimmer. 

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.