Fresh air anyone?

While Ellen and I are watching trees get drug down the road, Casey witnesses little kids with their heads out of the moon roof.......of a moving car!  Do you think this passes car seat safety?

Cutting down a tree in China

Back home the tree would get cut into smaller pieces so it would be easier to be transported.  Not in China.  They cut it down, put it on the back of a truck and just drag it down the road!  Ellen and I were with Jacky in the car and her exact words were , "that is kind of crazy".  Boy was She right!

Jessica, our language instructor!

Not only is Jessica a great language instructor, she also plays a great patient for Ellen.  Ellen had Jessica laying on the couch playing patient for like 10 minutes.  It was hilarious and Jessica was such a good sport!  Again, so lucky to have met so many great people here so far!

My first hair cut in China...what a different experience!

Yes I am laying down getting ready to get my hair cut.  If you can see the lady next to me, it is actually a sink under the pillow my head is on.  For 30 minutes I had my head massaged, my hair washed and my ears cleaned with a q-tip.  Yes, I think in this picture he is getting the Q-tip ready.  My hair turned out ok, but I am afraid what is going to happen when it starts to grow out.  He thinned it from close the my scalp and not how I am used to at all!  Before he started to cut it I had to pick whether I wanted a 38RMB, 68RMB, 98RMB or 168 RMB haircut and he ranked them with check marks.  So, I could get an ok haircut, so so haircut, a good haircut or a great haircut.  I was so confused I just pointed to one.  I ended up with a 68 RMD haircut, which is like 10 bucks and it was definitely so so.  Casey said he likes it, but I think he liked that it was so cheap compared to what I normally pay!  So, needless to say, this may be the one and only hair cut I get in China.

Custom made tuxes!

It was pretty amazing that these guys had these tuxes made personally for them.  I think they are going to look pretty good on the night of the ball.  We may need to work on  Steve a little!  Debbie is trying to straighten him out!

Thanksgiving 2012

Even though Casey and Joe had to work on Thanksgiving we still wanted to make a traditional dinner.  Karen and I found a turkey at one of the stores we go to.  It was not cheap at 600 RMB, but so worth it!  I also made green bean casserole, homemade applesauce (thanks to Molly and my new crockpot cookbook!) and blueberry cobbler (thanks to my sister Stacy's awesome recipe!).  Karen made cheesy potatoes and pasta salad.  We had a hard time cooking in such a small oven and in a toaster oven, but everything was great!  On Saturday night we went to the Hilton for another Thanksgiving dinner.  Ellen is standing next to a Christmas tree made with panda bears that was in the lobby of the hotel.  

U of M vs. OSU

There are a lot of expats here from Michigan and Ohio.  So, it only seemed fitting we have our own tailgate party!  Of course we couldn't watch the game as we all would have been sleeping rather than having a good time enjoying eachother.  Please notice Joe and Steve are wearing their Michigan shirts written in Chinese.  Casey has one too, but he didn't get the memo to wear it!

Picking out a gown for the ball!

There is a  charity ball coming up on December 8th, so most of us wives decided to get dresses made. I went with Five other women on this day as another group had gone a different day.  I ended up picking a dress at the shop and just getting it made in a different color.  A lot of women took in pictures and asked them to make it from scratch.  That was too scary for me.  Chrissy, who you see eating with me at lunch decided to pick a dress straight off the shelf.  The best part is we waited an hour and the did the alterations right then and there.  The photo is of the ladies sewing are altering Chrissy's dress.  It was too crazy!  We ended up going to eat while we waited.  I finally got my green beans and some dumplings....some real local food!  Ellen stayed with Karen, so I got to indulge and eat what I wanted.  The guys are also getting suits and/or tuxes made.  Do you like what I picked out for Casey?  Actually, we all went to a neighbors house the other day and the Taylor came there and took all the guys measurements.  We got to pick out the fabric for the pants, jackets, shirts and ties.  It was pretty cool! I go back this week to try on my dress and on Sunday Casey has a fitting for his suit.  Only in China!

The Pandas!

Wow, what an exciting day we had!  We stayed the night in Chengdu so we could get up early to go the Panda Breeding and Research Center.  They say it is best to go in the morning because that is when the pandas are most active and eat.  They eat bamboo and then once they are stuffed, they sleep.  We got to see some pretty cool things, but we have already decided to go back.  You can pay to hug a panda, but of course they were not doing it this particular day.  It is something I definitely want to do while here though....Ellen too!

Stanley was the only one who checked out the local food!

Here is Stanley on Jinli Road in Chengdu.  He was the only one who wanted to check out the local food.  He opted for meat on a stick and some chicken, head and all!

Chengdu

We arrived in Chengdu via the fast train from Chongqing.  The fastest we went was about 195kph and it only took two hours.  

Here we are on Jinli Road.  This was our first stop on our trip.  This road is known for Chinese souvenir  shops and local Chinese food.

Casey gets a haircut!

For those of you that know Casey, he is not real picky about where he gets his hair cut.  Yes, Meijers is his salon of choice and is the only place I have known him to go to since I met him.  Well, as you know, there is no Meijers here in China, but Casey needed a hair cut.  I offered to take him back to the side of the road, but he opted for a salon down the road from us.  For just 38 RMB ($6) he took in one of his passport phots and got a hair cut.  We went with him and it seriously took an hour.  He got his hair washed, a head massage, and then they cut his hair.  When they were done cutting it, they re-washed his hair and then blow dried it.  We were seriously there for an hour!  I think it turned out good and Casey finally realized there are better places to get your hair cut than Meijers.  Too bad we had to move to China for him to realize that!

Bobbie and Susie

Just a few weeks ago we welcomed two new members to our family, Bobbie and Susie.  Takila had remembered me mentioning one day that I planned on getting Ellen a fish because she loves animals so much.  I feel bad I did not get pictures up sooner, but I am sad to share with you that Susie went for a swim down the toilet tonight.  I noticed she was floating after we can home from being out for the evening and told Casey she was dead.  Casey got up and looked and said, "are you sure she is not sleeping?".  Seriously do fish sleep on their side while floating at the top of the bowl?  The best part was when he shook the bowl just in case she might wake up.  Needless to say I hurried up and got Bobbie out and into fresh water while we disposed of Susie.  So not looking forward to explaining this one to Ellen in the morning!  Ugh!

Hair cut anyone?

I have always laughed at the fact that Casey gets his hair cut at Meijers, but after seeing this, I think I prefer Meijers!  Ellen and I saw this on our way to the Qijiang district.  This area is about two hours southeast of Chongqing.   Please notice one person is an adult, the other, only a child!

Qijiang School

I have seen some pretty amazing things since being in China, but this experience has by far been the most meaningful.  I joined the Chongqing's International Women's group upon my arrival here.  Part of the money we raise and contribute is to help a local school.  The Qijiang School has been supported by this group for the last 8 years.  Upon our arrival they were doing a clothes and toy drive for the kids that live and go to this school.  Ellen and I did not have things to donate so we went and bought some hats and earmuffs to donate.  Once the donations were complete our group took the items to the school.  Ellen and I went on the two hour car ride to the school.  Most of the students live at the school during the week as their families cannot afford to transport them there on a daily basis.  Their housing is the green building you see in the photos.  Their beds are on top of plywood and their bathroom is an open room with shower heads and drains.  It was amazing to me to see that these kids live like this.  They performed dance routines for us upon our arrival and they were amazing!  These kids were so glad to see us and we were so glad to be able to provide for them.  The girl with the blue earmuffs chose one of the items Ellen and I donated.  Ellen noticed right away and I knew at that moment we were experiencing our best moment yet in China.  She and I realized how fortunate we are!  Thank you to everyone that is and has been a part of our lives!  We are very fortunate for each and every one of you!

Our sweet little trick-or-treater!

It is so hard being away from family and friends on days like these, but I am so thankful there are enough of us here to provide the same experiences for our children and families!  Ellen had a blast running around and trick-or-treating!  I finally caught her to steal some of her candy!  

Dumplings at Harbin's

Here we are at a local restaurant near Fragrant Garden.  Fragrant Garden is another housing community that has a lot of expats.  Most of the expats that live here have been here for close to a year or longer, with the exception of Steve and Kathy See.  There are also a lot of kids.  So before trick-or-treating on Halloween in Fragrant Garden, a group of us went to eat here.  It had a turn style table and their specialty is dumplings.  They were very good, but so was everything else.  As you can see, Ellen put crackers in her dish and thought it was fun to put them on the table and spin them over to Steve on the other side of the table.  Steve may have ate more crackers, goldfish and raisins than Chinese food.  Here she is siting with Doug and Kellie Johnston.  Kellie loves animals so Ellen was showing her pictures of the horses.

Stanley meets Jacky!

Jacky is such a trooper!  I don't think he had any clue as to what I was having him do....he was just thrilled that I asked to take his picture!  Cheese!