Time Square in Suzhou

We decided to visit a new area of SIP (our neighborhood in Suzhou) called Time Square today. It was clear, sunny, and a high of zero. The area is still under construction in some parts but it looks like it will be quite something when it is done. There is already a Toys R Us, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC (they love KFC in Suzhou - it's all over the place), some big department stores, Crocs, Nike. In the future there will be a Dairy Queen, Starbucks, Subway and a huge ferris wheel and roller coaster. It's quite futuristic looking and was completely empty today so it was fun to walk around. Apparently this place has the biggest LCD screen in China set above one of the walkways and at night they have images of all sorts of things including aliens and shooting stars. So we'll have to go back at night. Here's Abigail excited to be in Toys R Us and James enjoying a whopper a Burger King.

The whole area was (of course) decorated for Chinese New Year. I'm not sure why but there was a staircase with dwarfs and toadstools. Not quite sure how that plays into the whole theme but I wanted to take a picture of it, so here it is.

I'll bet you've never seen such cute oxen! Oh, I forgot to include Papa John's pizza in the list of restaurants in Time Square (you can see it above). That one wasn't as big a deal since we have one across the street from our apartment.

So after we walked around Toys R Us, ate lunch at Burger King and debated buying a flat screen tv (decided against it in the end), we dropped the kids off at their friends' apartments and headed for the fruit and vegetable market. I decided that I wanted to buy some big plants for the apartment. In the big fruit and vegetable market across the street the vegetable stands are downstairs and the fruit stands as well as some flower shops are upstairs. I figured out the hard way when we first moved here that each stand is an independant seller. You can't buy your potatoes at one counter and then move around and buy your carrots at the counter behind you unless you want to tick people off! It helps to have the kids with me when I shop because they know the numbers when the ladies tell me how much I owe. You should see the smiles when the kids translate for me! Anyway, we bought these great plants for the apartment and carried them home. I picked one of them up after I paid and the gentleman at the flower shop said (in Chinese) "no" and told Mark he was to carry the heavy one, not me. Here they are in my dining room with a picture I bought a couple months ago at a stationary store! It's floor to ceiling.
Abigail's friend Emma is sleeping over tonight. We just had some chocolate fondue to go with the fruit we got at the market and are heading to bed. We are planning a trip to Tiger Hill tomorrow with another family and will most likely have more photos to share.
Good Night from China!

Happy Chinese New Year!

We are officially on break! One day early actually since school was canceled today. We were supposed to have early dismissal at noon but the local government announced that an ice storm was due to hit on Thursday night and it would not be safe road conditions. As it turns out, we woke up this morning and not much had happened. It is quite windy and the temperature has dropped below freezing but no precipitation whatsoever so we could have gone to school. Oh well.

Since I last blogged we've had our first trips to the doctor here in Suzhou. Mark was motivated to go after suffering from a horrible cold for almost 4 weeks. 3 days later I took Abby in and it turned out that she had strep throat. So she was on antibiotics and missed 3 days of school. James suffered a bad cold but not until the end of the week and was able to recuperate over the weekend. Everyone is feeling better now. I feel really good about the doctor at the expat clinic. He was professional and seems to know his stuff. Not to mention very good with children but not over the top.

On January 14th Mark and I attended the staff Chinese New Year Party. We were told that the food served would be "traditional Chinese delicacies" so we arranged for James and Abigail to stay with some friends. The night was very festive. The Chinese staff performed a few songs and there were a lot of door prizes. No one at our table won anything which was kind of a bummer. In all fairness though, the prizes were tupperware, a pressure cooker, and a soy milk processor so it wasn't too heartbraking. Dinner was pretty good. We heard from some other teachers that this year was much better than the past. Dinner was served on a turn table so you could just select whatever you were brave enough to try. Mark had to take some pictures.


I didn't try the chicken but I did have some of the soup. Just the broth though and it was pretty good. We all had a good time.

So this is the year of the Ox. James and my Dad's year...not sure if there is anyone else I know of or what exactly it means if it is "your year". James made this in Chinese class, I thought it was really neat so it is my first Chinese New Year decoration for the apartment.
It's funny because you hear westerners saying that it is the year of the cow instead of the ox just like last year everyone said it was the year of the mouse instead of the rat. I guess because it sounds cuter, but I get a kick out of it.
SSIS was all decorated this week and some local vendors set up tables with Chinese art, toys and candy. There were dragons intricatly woven from banana leaves that were really neat. This is the view from the third floor (where my classroom is).
Well I guess I should say my former classroom. I had my last day covering as an english teacher yesterday. Three months has flown by and I really enjoyed it. The high school principal stopped by my homeroom yesterday afternoon and gave me this bouquet of flowers which I thought was really nice.
Anyway, onward and upward (or whatever it is my dad says). Our plans to go to Malaysia fell through (although we will get there eventually). We are spending the first week of our break in Suzhou. We have made plans to visit a couple of gardens here with some other families and the kids want to play with their friends. Tomorrow the plan is to locate the Toys R Us and burger king we have heard rumors of but never actually seen. A week from Sunday we are flying to Hong Kong and will stay for 5 days. We plan on seeing some temples, taking the ferry to the island of Macau and of course doing Hong Kong Disneyland! I have, true to form, already written out our itinerary for all 5 days.

So most likely I will blog again before we leave. When we heard a storm was going to hit and were informed that most places close for chinese new year and it can be hard to find groceries we stocked up. So we are resting and staying warm with some new dvds and games for the wii. I am off to make dinner for the family (including my 11 year old who seems to ask for a snack every 20 minutes!) The kids got their report cards yesterday and I am proud to say they are both doing very well.

Lots of love from Suzhou..........and Happy Anniversary Trudie and David, we wish you lots of love and happiness in coming years.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!
We are back from Calgary after a wonderful Christmas vacation. 2 weeks of playing in the snow, eating all sorts of goodies, sleeping late and playing with Mason - who is shaping up to be quite the character! James told me on the flight home that it was "the best Christmas ever".
I'm going to try to include some Christmas pictures...

Yaay!! It worked..look at that monkey. Mason refused to say my name the entire time I was there. I have waited for so long to be an aunt and everytime I asked Mason what my name is he just laughed! Apparently he said it when I wasn't around... what a turkey!
We went up to the mountains for a couple of days. Enjoyed some good sliding, lots of hot chocolate and some time at the spa with Mum and Tara. Mark and James went on a GPS adventure hike in the mountains and were told to watch out for the cougar that had been spotted not too long ago! Here's James at one of the lookout points.


We had a ton of snow, apparently more snow than Calgary has seen in years so we had to take advantage.


yes... that is my Dad going down the hill.
Mark, unfortunately, was sick the whole time we were in Canada. But he was a good sport about going out into the cold in the mountains and on a very cold New Year's Eve at the zoo. His highlight was playing guitar hero with Tara in Mum and Dad's basement - a present from James.

So now we are back in China. We have a week and a half left before we go on another break for Chinese New Year. Another 2 week vacation. It seems ridiculous to be going on another long break but we'll take it! We don't get any more time off until May after that. We are hoping to fly to Malaysia the second week of our break. We want to have 2 or 3 days in Kuala Lumpur and then some time on the island of Langkawi. We are having some trouble booking tickets so it is just a maybe right now.
The school is having a Chinese New Year banquet for the staff tomorrow night. It is apparently bigger and better than the Christmas dinner which was really nice so I will be sure to bring my camera and take pictures.
Sadly my teaching assignment will end when we go to Chinese New Year. I can't believe 3 months is up already. I have really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I didn't know I could actually enjoy being around teenagers all day! It does look like I will be signing a contract to teach at SSIS next year. I talked to the director before we went on Christmas break. He is currently hiring people for next year at various recruitment fairs around the world. It has to happen quite early in order for visas and paperwork to go through. So I will be most likely teaching the younger children. Not sure what age yet.
Before I wrap this up I wanted to post some pictures of the new comforter Mark and I bought for our bed. A little Christmas present to each other. It's wonderful - silk on one side and cashmere on the other. We decided to get a cashmere throw blanket for the living room as well. We went to the tailor's and picked out the silk and cashmere and it was ready in 2 weeks!
I folded it over so you could see the cashmere side as well. This is our throw blanket - we picked out a silk trim with bamboo.
I'm home with Abigail today. She caught what Mark has and is running a bit of a fever. So I am off to make some chicken soup. Hope everyone is well rested after the holidays and all the best in 2009 - it's going to be a great year!