Temple of Heaven

We headed off to the Temple of Heaven after we completed most of our school work. We wanted an early start so we could be back to meet our new friends in the park at 4:00.


The Temple of Heaven was used to ask God for a good harvest. The emperor would come here and read the special tablets at certain times of the year.

This temple had a handful of main buildings, but the grounds surrounding the double walled temple were very large. In fact the area of the Temple of Heaven is four times that of the Forbidden City, or so my automatic guide told me.

The grounds surrounding the main buiding were full of very old juniper and cypress trees. Some were over five hundred years old! There were also a lot of people on the grounds just out enjoying the day. It was a picnic atmosphere. Some people were grouped together and dancing. Others were using a long outdoor corridor for singing in. And others seemed to be just out for a stroll.

We saw the main buildings of the temple, which of course were very ornately decorated. There were a lot of people out so it was difficult to get a good view of the inside of them. By this time we kind of feel like one building is similar to the others, and we actually enjoyed strolling through the grounds better.


We stopped and let the kids play with a tai chi racquet and ball that we got conned into buying. We listened to some music and singing. The weather was warm so it was perfect to just enjoy the day.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the subway and make our way to our nearby park where we were to meet our new friends. We were a bit late, but they were still there waiting for us. We played a lot of tag, and we taught them how to play SPUD. The kids loved tag, but always wanted me to join in the game, so between the walking and the game of tag, I really got my exercise today!

We headed home and finished our school work and then we went out for dinner. After looking through the menu, we decided to skip the beef hoof, toad, and grilled donkey meat. We were tempted by the frog, but the server thought it would be too spicy for us. We settled on a peanut chicken dish, shrimp and asparagus, deep fried pumpkin coated with egg yolk, and sechuan chicken. It was all very tasty and we walked home with full bellies and some left-overs. I thought I might have been losing some weight with all this walking, but perhaps I gained back what I might have lost during supper tonight!

CM

Puppet Theatre and Friends

We did home schooling as usual this morning, and then ventured out to find the China Puppet Theatre after lunch. This was a bit more of an adventure than planned...

We decided to make our way to subway line 8 rather than line 5 as it seemed like a shorter trip. Line 8 was used for the Olympic venues. Off we went and after about 25 minutes of walking we found line 8, but it was closed! Ahhh.

We ended up having to walk there. So after an hour and a half from the time we left the house we eventually arrived. We stopped and asked directions but the guy didn't speak English, of course. Nadim was starting to act out "puppet theatre" (kind of entertaining), but a passerby stopped. He could speak English and was able to point us in the right direction.

Eventually we went to our show. It was all in Chinese, but we kind of got the gist of it and the puppets were really entertaining. They were so detailed, and they could make them look so life like!

The girls seemed to enjoy it, although Yasmin was trying to convince us to get them to switch it to English. A little difficult!

The trip home was much shorter. We stopped at the park on the way home and for the first time there was a group of kids there that were Yasmin and Roya's age. Yasmin was quite excited about it , but too shy to make friends. Within five minutes the group of kids left and Yasmin was very sad. She said she missed her friends back home. She had tears in her eyes and it nearly broke my heart. After a hug, I suggested we play tag. This seemed to cheer her up, and then there was a little boy at the park and the girls started to play follow the leader with him.

The best part was that after about 20 minutes the older kids came back! The girls were still shy but eventually we got the kids to start playing tag with us. Our first couple of attempts failed because they didn't know how to play! After we told them how the game works, things went much better. We played tag and climbed on the play structures until it got dark and it was well past supper time. The girls were so happy to have some new friends that I didn't have the heart to stop their fun. As we were all leaving, we managed to make plans to meet in the park again tomorrow.

We got home and I made tortillas from scratch, and we had burritos. The sauce was also from scratch. The girls were quite happy because this is one of their favourite meals, but we hadn't been able to find refried beans or flat bread. A lot more work than at home, but well worth it. The kids went to bed with big smiles after such a great day.

CM

Explora Science

Nadim and I were still sniffling this morning, but decided that we were well enough to get out for a bit. Thankfully the girls are still healthy. Hopefully it will pass them by.

We made our way to Sony Explora Science. It's a hands on science centre. We did experiments with light, and sound. We saw our shadows in different colors of the light spectrum, had a demo of how they make color TV, went in an echo room where we spoke into a microphone and could hear what it would sound like if we were speaking from a mountain top, a subway, a church, or other spaces. We also had a visual of our voices, and could replay bits and clips of it. We stood at a table and made shadows on it with our hands, and depending on the shape of the shadow a different image of an animal would come onto the table. Pretty cool stuff.

We also saw some experiments. Try this: Fill a glass with water. Put it on top of a coin. Look from the side of the glass. You can't see the coin that the glass is sitting on. Then put some water on the coin and put the glass on top of the water and coin. This time you can see the coin when looking from the side of the glass! It was a fun and educational experience. The kids had a great time.

CM

Olympic Stadiums

Tonight after supper we went for a walk. I wanted to see the Water Cube up close. It's a ten minute walk from our building, but the Olympics site is still fenced in. We walked around the outside of the complex and eventually found a spot where people were being let in.

A volunteer gave us a voucher to get into the complex so we went in. It was amazing. The Bird's Nest was first. We could get up quite close to it, but couldn't go in either building.

In between the buildings there was music playing and there were strips of light in the plaza walk way. The light kept changing colors. Very cool.

There was also rows of fountains coming out of the ground. These fountains were moving with the music. We watched some people taking pictures and running into the fountains. Before we knew it, it was too tempting. We had to see if we could get to the other side before they changed directions and sprayed us. The girls had great fun.

The Water Cube is a pretty unique building. It is actually bubbly on the outside. Nadim (Mr. Engineer) figured that they had metal framing for the wall skeleton, but the skin is made of heavy plastic with air blown into it.

It was great to get out for a stroll tonight, and amazing to walk the grounds where so many of our Olympic heroes went before us.

CM

The apartment

This morning Nadim and I woke up with the sniffles. I had a sore throat and a very runny nose. Nadim was a bit congested too. It's nothing serious, but we didn't feel like sight seeing, so we stayed close to home. We went to the park, did some groceries and played Yahtzee at the dining room table.
I thought I should post some pictures of our apartment so that you can get an idea of where we are staying.

This first picture is of the girls' bedroom. Our bedroom is similar, except it has two beds pushed together. The beds are very firm, but that's the way we like it, so it works for us.

There isn't much space in the bedrooms - just enough for the beds and a small dresser.


Our living room and dining area are combined. In the picture you can just see the back of the chair where our dining area is. We've got a TV and a desk too. We get a few English movie channels, which Nadim enjoys and the desk has been great for organizing the school work for the kids.

The girls usually have their Polly Pockets, and Littlest Petshop toys spread everywhere. Or at least until I get annoyed and make them clean it up a bit.


The kitchen is pretty small. We have a gas stove and a microwave. There is also a hot plate that we've not really used. It came equipped with plates, bowls, glasses, cups and cutlery for four. No dishwasher, so we're washing up after each meal.

We also have a clothes washer in the kitchen. That's been handy. We don't have a dryer so our dry fit clothes are working out really well. The cotton clothes dry overnight too, so it really hasn't been an issue.

We really like the location of our apartment. It's a 15-20 minute walk to the subway station, which is convenient for getting around, but it's also far enough from downtown that there are a couple of parks within a 5-10 minute walk. The shopping center and post office are also within a 10 minute walk. We're certainly getting our exercise without a vehicle to get us around.

Hopefully we'll feel better tomorrow and will feel like going out adventuring again.

CM

Tiananmen Square

After the morning home schooling session, we set off to find the ExploraScience Centre, so we could check out dinosaur bones and other fun things. On the way to the subway station, we stopped at the "ping pong park" to do some exercises on the equipment. After a 10-minute exercise break, we headed off again. The information we had found said the science centre was at the Oriental Plaza, so that's where we went. However, far from being a science museum, it was a high-end shopping mall! We asked at the mall information booth and they had no idea what we were talking about!

We went out on the street and a passerby, who must have seen our bewildered faces, asked if she could help us. She too had no idea where this crazy science centre was, and she even "called a friend", but the best she could do was to direct us to the Museum of Natural History. By this point, we had realized how close we were to Tiananmen Square, so we decided to go there instead and go to the science centre another day, after we figure out exactly where it is!


Let me start by saying that Tiananmen Square is HUGE! The square is surrounded by China's government buildings and the National Museum. On one side was a sculpted garden depicting the Olympic mascots, and on the opposite side was another sculpted garden. We had a liesurely walk around the square and were stopped 10 times (the kids were counting!) by people who wanted their picture taken with Yasmin and Roya. We were teasing them, saying this is probably how Hanna Montana feels when she goes out! Yasmin was particulrly enamoured with being famous!

On the way home, the subway was busy, and we took some pictures of the crowds, so you can get a feel of what it's like. This shot is taken at 2:30 on Friday afternoon. I can hardly imagine what rush hour must look like.

NM + CM

A walk in the park

We decided to take it easy today and just hang around the neighbourhood. After some home schooling, we walked to a nearby park - the same one where we had seen the ping pong players. We used some of the exercise equipment and watched the ping pong games for a while.


Then we moved on to another area, where we noticed people were dancing. We did not recognize the beats of the first song, but then they played what sounded like a cha-cha. So we used our dancing lessons and did a little cha-cha. We felt like stars because we gained quite an audience! Someone even video taped us dancing :-) This offered an opportunity for us to speak to a few people. One of the ladies came over and invited Christina to dance with her. They danced a Chinese style dance and Christina was pretty quick to pick it up!

After the park, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. I saw packages of frozen meat on skewers that looked interesting, but wasn't sure what kind of meat they were. So I asked the attendant if it was beef, but he did not know English. He was about to go get someone to help, but I stopped him and said "Mooo?" He lauged and answered "No, Baaa!" I guess they were lamb skewers!

After lunch and some more home schooling, we went to the nearby park with books in hand. The girls played and we read our books for a bit. We ended up meeting an older gentleman who was learning English. He was happy to practise with us. Although retired, he has taught himself to read and speak English by listening to voice recordings and following a Beijing University English book. He dedicates 3 to 4 hours a day to English practice. Our English lesson to him did not come free - we asked him to teach us how to say and write numbers in Chinese. We had a good laugh over our attempts to pronounce the words with the right tone. He also wrote Yasmin and Roya's names in Chinese, and told them they had to learn their Chinese numbers.

NM + CM

Train Tickets

It was rainy and cool this morning so we had a slow morning of home schooling and then we decided to go book our train tickets to Hong Kong. We don't leave until Oct 13, but we wanted to get them booked because Nadim was afraid of the train filling up. We couldn't book them from home because they only go on sale 20 days prior to the departure date.So, off we went to the subway.

It was a long trip because we were going from the northeast end of town to the southwest part of town where the train station is. Once we exit the subway there are no English signs as usual, so we start following a guy pulling a suitcase. Sure enough this leads us to the train station. We find our way to a sea of people waiting in line to buy tickets. China's national holiday is coming up and everyone seems to be going somewhere.

We wait in a line that says "English speaking agent". Excellent, we thought, until we get to the agent and she doesn't speak English! She directs us to another line that claims to have an English speaking agent, and we think we're in luck because this one speaks broken English. We try to get our tickets, but she tells us that they don't come on sale until 7:00 tonight. It's only 1:30 at this point.... Do we stay around for another 5 hours, or do we go home and make the 1 hour and 20 minute trip (that includes walking to and from the subway as well as the ride itself) again tomorrow. Uggg!

Off we went for some lunch, and to study our map and make a plan. On the way to lunch we stopped at a large hotel and got a concierge who spoke English fairly well to write down in Chinese our destination, departure date, and the type of tickets we wanted (soft sleeper, which is two bunk beds in a private room). We weren't leaving anything to chance for our next visit to a ticket agent!

There was a KFC across the street and the girls were interested in that so we thought we'd see if the food was the same. It was NOT! The bun might have been the same and perhaps the fries if they had have been hot, but the meat quality and crispiness left a lot to be desired.

After a quick look at the map we decide to walk back towards the subway where there is a park. It's stopped raining by that time, but it was still cool. We stopped along the way to check out some shops and burn some time.

The park had an exercise area where they had places to stretch, bars, some interesting equipment that you use your own body for the weights. The girls had a great time and we enjoyed people watching. I think they enjoyed watching us too.

Beijingers seem to exercise for a few minutes on their way to where ever they're going. They are often dressed in work clothes or other non-workout gear when they do their exercises. Funny to think of us North Americans and all the work out and sports gear that we invest in.

Eventually we made our way back to the station and booked our tickets. By this time it was fully dark outside. We walked back to the subway and made our way home arriving just before 9:00 pm. The kids went straight to bed. They were really tired, but this is a good thing because it means that they probably won't wake at 4:00 am as they had been because of the time change.

Tomorrow we are planning a slow day. I think it's supposed to rain again.

CM

Lama Temple

We went for a site-seeing tour, but came back feeling more spiritual. The Lama Temple was previously a palace, but was later converted to a Lama Temple. The emperor wished to unite the country and saw this gesture as a means of doing that.

I felt that the buildings were very similar in style to those in the Forbidden City, or at least to the smaller ones. I could certainly see that it was previously a palace, which made it difficult to view as a temple. However, there were many people paying respects to Buddha by lighting incense and praying. I had been unaware that there were so many differnt Buddhas. It is really a station as well as a person.

There were many gold statues of Buddhas representing the past, present, future, healing, virtues, etc. The most impressive was a standing, golden Buddha that was 55 feet tall.

On the way home we stopped at a different park and watched some people spinning tops using two sticks with string attached. As they spun faster and faster the top would make whistling sounds. They would almost dance with the string and top. Check the video below - it was very interesting to watch. We also stopped to see ping pong players. We were invited to join, but declined because they looked too good at it. Maybe next time.

CM + NM

Zoo & Aquarium

After our regular chores of school work we headed off to the Blue Zoo and Aquarium. The subway ride was old hat by this time. Not even the slightest bit of panic. We got off and headed for the zoo, picked up a lift from a bicylce rickshaw. It was another hot day, but th zoo had a fair bit of shade so it was okay.

The zoo itself was a bit dated and I felt sorry for some of the animals that seemed overcrowded or in cages that seemed a far cry from their natural habitat.

We didn't make it all the way through the zoo because we wanted to get to the aquarium which had such great reviews. It was a lot of fun. There was a huge shark tank with a few concave bubbles that you could stick your head in and then you felt like you were in the tank too. Very cool. Yasmin and Roya made some pretty funny fish lips for some of the displays, and they really enjoyed the dolphin show at the end.

Fun was had by all and I was a bit worried about getting back before subway rush hour started. We got to the subway by about 4:00, but the first train we got was almost empty! It soon filled up, but at least we got seats. We took it to a stop near where Arthur owns a Vietnamese restaurant and he picked us up there. We had to borrow a phone from some young men, because the public phones wouldn't take our calling cards. The guys were really friendly about it, so all worked out well. We gave them some Canadian flag stickers to say thank you! They were pretty happy about them.

Tonight's meal was wonderful. We had spring rolls, sugar cane wrapped with shrimp, other rolls, rice with chicken, Vietnamese soups and special fruit drinks. All was delicious. We ate too much yet again.

Afterwards we went to this cool square where high above our heads there was a huge horizontal screen that looked like an ocean with fish, dolphins, sting rays and other ocean life swimming in it above our heads. Kind of freaky but a lot of fun. We also took a drive through Beijing at night and saw the Forbidden City all lit up, with coloured lights behind the fountains. The sky scrapers have really interesting architecture. Nadim was admiring the engineering of them. This city is enormous. I read that it sprawls to the size of Belgium! You can drive for half an hour and the sky scrapers are just as big as where you started.

Well, I'm feeling the time change again, time to go find my PJs.

CM

Beijing Roast Duck

We had an awesome night out in Beijing. We had a ton of food of different sorts. Our friend Arthur invited us to a very nice family restaurant, which specializes in Peking / Beijing Duck.

Arthur was a great host and ordered the food for all of us. There was way too much food for us to eat it all, perhaps this is the Chinese custom. We will describe the menu for all you Canadians:

Appetizers: Cold sliced duck liver, and duck feet in mustard sauce. The liver was great, and the duck feet tasted good, although the consistency was a little chewy.

Soup: Beef strips, bean sprouts, other sprouts, carrots and sliced jalapenos in a spicy broth. We all enjoyed the soup very much.


Main courses: Famous Beijing roast duck, sliced at the table. This was eaten on a flat bread (similar to a fajita), with a really tasty brown sauce, onion and cucumber strips, all rolled up. The skin was crunchy and the meat was quite tender. We all enjoyed very much. Roya was having a particularly good time making her roll. They brought the best part of the duck (from the head) on a separate plate for us to enjoy.

Sliced duck in a brown sauce, including duck liver, gizzards and hearts. Very tasty!

Steamed broccoli, with some kind of seasoning which we are not sure what it was, but quite good.

Shrimp, with the shell and head still attached. Arthur was much more skilled at peeling them than we were!

Dessert: pastries with a sweet, custard-like filling. Arthur got them mainly for the girls, but we enjoyed them too.

We were served Chinese tea throughout the meal. The girls enjoyed having a lazy Susan on the table, and liked trying out the chopsticks. Roya is particularly adept with them now.

The food was very rich and filling. Certainly different from the Canadianized Chinese food we get at home! I can't believe Arthur's generosity. He was the perfect host. I hope that we can repay him in some fashion.


CM + NM

The park nearby

We explored the park near our apartment this morning. It's a combination of bamboo-lined pathways, gardens, and small pools of water. There is also a small play park in one area. There is something for all of us to enjoy. There was a man-made waterfall that was quite beautiful (see below).



We found a beautifully painted, ancient-style gazebo wth gold dragons painted around the ceiling. The picture doesn't do it justice.



The girls enjoyed the monkey bars. They pretended they were firefighters, and slid down the poles to their fire trucks, and off to rescue kittens caught in trees. It was a very busy fire department! At the play area, we chatted with another Chinese family and everyone was very friendly and interested in the girls - the attraction is not only their western looks, but also their being twins.



Later in the day, we went to the market again and had a rather lazy afternoon. It was raining, so we didn't feel bad about not being outside.

NM + CM

Forbidden City welcomes Canadian family

We ventured out on the subway today, to find our way to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, etc. We walked for about 20 minutes to get to the subway line 5, paid our 2 RMB per person and went in (pretty good deal for about $1.60 CAD for the whole family!). We switched trains to the line 1 at the 9th stop, and then got off at the 2nd stop, which was at Tiananmen Sq. The entire subway ride took about 35 minutes, and the trains were quite crowded. The trains were mostly standing-room only, with very few seats installed, and some cars had no seats. It was so crowded on the return trip that we had to rely on other passengers to keep us standing, since there was no hand rail either. It was exciting to be able to find our way through the streets, underground pedestrian walkways, Chinese street names, etc. and manage to get back to the apartment without incident!

The grounds of the Forbidden City are huge! There are several gates, outer buildings and annexes, and it took us a good 3 hours to go through it. And we skipped many of the side buildings because the kids were getting tired of walking. You could easily spend the whole day there. It was also very crowded. You could really get an appreciation of the population of Beijing by being there.

We were stopped at least 3 times by people asking if they could take their pictures with the girls! I said "Okay, but we want a picture with your family too!" And we did take a photo with them. Everyone had a good laugh. At one point we were sitting on benches near the Imperial Garden and the kids were eating ice cream, and a lady sat down beside Roya, put her hand around Roya's shoulders and asked if she could have a picture! We get quite a few looks when we go for walks, especially Christina and Yasmin with their light-coloured hair. The people are super friendly and ready to help. If they don't speak English, they will find someone who does!

Now we are back in the apartment and everyone is tired out. Stirfry and rice for dinner, then off to bed. More updates to follow - stay tuned.

NM (is that better, GS?)

Settling In

This morning the girls woke up at 3:00am and started playing. I told them they had to try to sleep longer, but they were not too happy with me. Eventually we all got up around 5:30. The morning went really well and we all felt great, but by lunch time we were all feeling the time change. We had shortish naps and the kids went to bed before 7:00. Poor Yasmin was so tired she could hardly eat her supper.

With the early start, our school work was done early and we went off for a walk and then to the shopping centre. On our walk we saw the bird's nest from the Olympics. It looks quite strange up close.

At the shopping centre we found a map of Beijing and then made our way through the grocery store. We bought some noodles that had no English writting on them. The picture looked good. It was one of those that you just add water to. We later enjoyed them for lunch. The rest of the store was strange in many ways as well. They had fish heads and silk worms, although we didn't buy any. We didn't find any cheese or sandwich meats, so we may just go out for lunch tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I think we will try the subway for a trip to the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. We think we found oursleves on the map and we've got our address written out in Chinese characters so we should be okay.

CM

Hello Beijing

Take two was successful. There was a slight delay in Vancouver, but we arrived safely in Beijing although it was a day and an hour behind schedule!

We did have a great surprise at the airport. Nadim's friend gave us a contact in Beijing and he managed to track us down and pick us up, even though we were a day late. He borrowed his friend's car to pick us up because there are still restrictionson how many cars can be on the road and today it was a even number day, meaning only cars with the last number on the license plate with an even number are allowed on the road. Arthur, our new best friend in China has even invited us for dinner one night this week. We're pretty excited to get into the real way of life of the Chinese, rather than just see the tourist sites.

The apartment is nothing fancy, but it is clean and functional. The kids have their own room. We just put them to bed so we will see how they sleep tonight. I'm sure we will all be off for a few nights as we adjust to the 12 hour time difference.

Nadim went out to a nearby supermarket and bought some bottled water and breakfast goods. He was excited about the fruit prices - Cheap and lots of variety! Nadim's loving this country already. I stayed back with the girls and got some things unpacked. I'm looking forward to getting out to explore tomorrow.

It's very warm here, and I thik I can notice the difference in the air quality. I'm sure we'll adjust. It's supposed to be high twenties for the rest of the week. A little warmer than Ottawa!

The flight was really long. We were on the plane for 13 hours including the wait on the runway. It was really, really, really, long. There's only so many movies, or TV shows you can watch and reading only keeps you happy for so long. I didn't sleep much, but the kids had a couple of hours and Nadim slept a fair bit too. I guess the lack of sleep will just help us get back to the right time schedule that much easier.

CM

False Start

We said our good-byes last night. Emotions were running high. Roya spilled a few tears and I was a little teary eyed myself. We woke up early this morning the mood was a combination of nervousness and excitement. Off we went to the airport and onto the plane we went. Then the captain announces a 25 minute delay. We only have a one hour stop in Vancouver to change planes so this makes us a bit nervous. Then we get another message - another delay of 30 minutes. The flight attendent says that we might be able to make up some time in the air, but by the third message we know we're not going to make our connecting flight to Beijing. Eventually they unload the plane and replace it with a smaller one and we try to get on a flight to Toronto and from there to Beijing, but then that flight is canceled too! They announce that the plane is too small for everyone and that the Beijing passengers get to stay behind. Ahhhh

Perhaps surprisingly we're still smiling. Take two happens tomorrow morning, but this time we leave on a slightly earlier flight, giving us 3 hours to make our transfer in Vancouver. I'm really not that upset. We're all packed, we've said our good-byes, so take two will be a little less stressful (I hope). So tonight we put the kids to bed early, and have a good night's sleep, and try to remain calm and relaxed. Hmmm... I wonder what's on TV tonight.

CM

Packing

I hate packing! But the house is now packed up and so are our bags. The house wasn't too bad because Krista and Pat are taking the house furnished so most of it is staying, but of course there needs to be room for some of their personal items and our dressers and closets had to be cleaned out.

So most of this was done last week and today was the day we stuff all the things that we're taking with us into suitcases. Those few remaining items that seemed like nothing as they hung so lonely in the closet seemed to expand and explode as we tried to squeeze them into suitcases. So how many did we end up with? Three medium suitcases, one small suitcase (a carry on that won't be carried on), and three back packs.

It's done, I'm tired, and the plane leaves tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Seems impossible that the journey is finally beginning.

CM

Hair cut

About a year ago I thought I thought I should grow out my hair so that while away I wouldn't have to worry about getting it cut so often. This seemed like a good plan at the time, but the in-between stage lasts so long and here we are a year later and it still wasn't long enough for a pony tail.

So this morning I was fussing in front of the mirror (something I don't induldge in too often), and asked Nadim if he thought I looked younger with shorter hair. Without pause he answered "Yes" and that sold me. Enough with the long hair. Time for CHOP, CHOP! This afternoon I headed off to see Sarah, my hair stylist. She asked me if I was sure, .... and then if I was really sure.... I was, so you can see the before and after pictures. I'm not regretting it yet.

With short hair, I like to get it cut every six weeks or so... I wonder what kind of cut I'll get in China or Vietnam. We'll find out in six weeks or so, I guess!

CM

Saying bye

Good bye's are too hard to say. Lucky we can say "See you next year"! Even that can be emotional. We've said bye to Nadim's family, non of whom are in Ottawa, and to my sister and her family who are in Toronto. I've said bye to my co-workers and Nadim will be saying bye to his next weekend at a BBQ.

We had a really nice time last weekend. We had invited some friends and neighbours for a dessert party. It was a bit last minute so not everyone could make it, but those that are particularly close to us showed up and it was such a relaxed and fun time that we'll be sure to take those memories with us. We also invited Krista and Pat, the couple who will take over our house while we're gone. It was a great chance for them to meet their new neighbours.

Next week it is Yasmin and Roya's birthday so we will be having a sleep over with some of the friends. It will give them some nice memories to hold onto as well. We've also got a BBQ with friends from Nadim's work. That will be held on Saturday and on Sunday we have dinner at my sister's house. Time is running very short now. Before you know it we'll be on our way.

CM

Visas, Done

Last week Nadim stood in a line-up of about a dozen people looking for Chinese visas. As the individuals in front of him were being processed, he was checking how many would be accepted. Most were missing one item or another and only one of those proceeding him was actually accepted. So Nadim steps nervously to the booth... He's asked for his flight to Beijing. He hands over the one way ticket to Beijing and the clerk is about to reject him because it's only one way, but he provides her our flight info from Hong Kong to Vietnam, and the clerk settles back in the chair. Then she wants the hotel info and Nadim is able to provide that. Then she needs two pictures for each individual, and Nadim provides that. Then she needs the passports and he's got that too. At this point Nadim's hoping she doesn't have more questions, because he hasn't any more papers in his hands for answers.... He thinks "please, please, pick up it the pink pick-up slip", and sure enough she does. Yay.

We now have our visas for China, Vietnam, and Thailand, and we will pick up our visa for India today at 4:30. Looks like we're all set. Comforting and scarey all at the same time!

CM

School work

I've started home-schooling the girls. I'm finding that we can complete our lessons in about 3 hours per day. So far (just two days) it is going well. Math lessons are very easy so far. English is a little harder, perhaps because the girls were in French immersion last year so their english spelling is not that good yet.

Yesterday we had a field trip. I have relatives visiting from Holland and we took them to Upper Canada Village (a town based on the 1860's). The kids had a great history lesson. It was a very hot day, so the girls were quite tired of all the questions we were asking by the end of the day. I think their favourite thing was learning how to milk a cow.

CM

Last week of work

I (Christina) finished work last week. My group and I had organized a technical workshop with about 30+ participants coming from Ottawa and other parts of the country. It made for a busy last week, but it really was a great way to go out. The work that we are doing was well received and in many ways it was a nice wrap up. It was comforting to see the group that I lead as leaders themselves. I am confident that they will continue on with the work that we had started together. I'm leaving it in good hands.

Nadim's last week is this week. He is still busy with handing things off and settling some issues before he goes. For me it felt so strange to be finished. I'm sure for him it will feel the same.

CM