Livejournal returns

I've enjoyed my stint at Blogger, but now that I'm back in the States I'm going to switch back to Livejournal. I'll keep my Blogger for the next time we head back to China (as LiveJournal is blocked in China.) I have no idea if I picked up any readers here, but if so, feel free to go to my livejournal site to read. I'll update it much more often than I did Blogger. Hope to see you there!

The Monkey king

There are always plenty of opportunities to pose with some sort of wild/tame animal at these touristy spots in China. This little guy is dressed as the fabled monkey king. After the boys posed with him, we noticed that his butt looked red and swollen. Yuck, funky monkey butt! Luckily I carry anti-bacterial hand santizer in my purse, so everyone slathered up with it.

I had a wonderful Mother's day. Zack folded the laundry for me, and Petey built me 3 lego spaceships as well as drew me some Kirby pictures. Chris made sure I got a long nap (my favorite Mother's day tradition). It was a peaceful day, all and all.

We are still waiting to get our ticket situation straightened out. We're wanting to return to the States earlier then planned, and hope to change our tickets today. I'm trying to sort through our stuff, what to take back and what to get rid of. How did we amass so much stuff in only 10 months time!! Amazing.

rural bathrooms

Although this bathroom may strike you as primitive, it was very, very clean. The stalls are only about waist high, and door-less. With the combination of no roof, one gets the unmistakable feeling that anyone walking by outside can simply peek over the wall and take a glimpse of you doing your business. The way this works is to straddle the trench and squat. Simple and effective. I don't mind squatting anymore.


We stopped at this bathroom on our drive from Dali to Lijiong. It was at the top of a mountain, overlooking a very scenic spot. Perhaps you can tell from the pic that there were no English signs or pictures depicting which was the women's side and which was the men's. I'd learned the characters for both in my Chinese class, but well, they hadn't quite stuck in my mind like they should have. I was fairly certain which was which, but not certain enough to boldly walk into the one that I thought was women's. I just sort of wandered-drifted towards the one I suspected to be women's and looked back at the bathroom attendant, hoping she'd point me in the right directions. She did :)

Speaking of the attendant, there was a lone woman sitting outside by the bathroom. We suspect her job was to make sure people didn't come and help themselves to the water intended for handwashing. This was a rural area, and somewhat arid. Water is a valuable commodity, and she's there to make sure people don't steal it. I wanted to take her picture, but I felt silly enough as she watched me photograph the bathroom.

I really enjoy playing Mahjong, although my understanding of it is pretty elementary. Nanny Zou says that I play the "old people's" version :) That's ok, because it's still pretty complex. I've been learning additional rules little by little. I'll miss playing it when we leave China. Perhaps I can find a Mahjong group wherever we end up next? This guy in the picture actually has a really good hand.

strolling in dali

Although Dali largely caters to tourists, it was still a wonderful place to visit. I really enjoyed my time there. I'm trying to overcome my shyness about photographing strangers. After all, we , as foreigners, are often photographed by people who don't ask our permission. These are a few of my attempts at such.

Jims guest house

Jim's Tibetan Guest House

Jim's was the coolest place we've stayed during our whole China adventure. The kids favorite part, of course, was the courtyard complete with bikes and skateboards for them to play with. There was also a swing, and a sandbox. This place was so kid friendly, which seems to be the exception in China (as there are less kids then adults).

It was a bit chilly at night and no heater in the rooms. However, each bed had a gigantic heating pad which could be turned on and quickly warmed up the occupants. I woke up sweating more than once, switching the heat on and off all night long. The breakfast there was also quite yummy: fruit, yogurt and muesli.

We loved Dali.

I don't feel motivated to blog any longer. Perhaps it is because I miss LiveJournal, or maybe I just have other things on my mind. A large part of me is focused on returning to the States. Sometimes it seems like I can't think about anything else. All my problems will be solved when we get home to the States!

As if...

I need to remind myself that we've been very happy here. Money has been a non-issue while we've lived in China, for the first time in our 10 years of marriage. We are already stressing about money problems once we return, primarily because as of now we will be unemployed come August 1.

Still, I can't help but daydream about driving myself to the grocery store, being allowed to take the cart out to my car, and driving my groceries home right to my front door. This is not to mention the plethora of good eats that will abound in the store. No more turtles, bullfrogs and cuttlefish stinking up the whole meat department. I won't have to look at pig brains, hearts and intenstines when I'm looking for pork chops. No one will be pointing at me, staring at me, saying "look, a forienger!" I'll just blend in with all the other oddball Americans. No one will gawk when I buy $50 worth of groceries (*gasp!*) Heck, no one will gawk if I buy $200 worth of groceries! The fact that I have three kids will be commonplace, and no cause for comment. And no matter how crowded the store is, whether it be the 4th of July or Christmas Eve, it will never, ever be as crowded as the Nanjing Wal-mart is every single Saturday.

Yes, I know. I'm looking at the States, and grocery shopping, with rose colored glasses. I don't care. It will be a joyous occasion.