Caitlin in Tienanmen Square
Tienanmen Square
Handicapped girl writing in hope of receiving money.
A bicycle cart full of buns...
Part of the Temple of Heaven
This week started off busy, and just kept getting more crazy! I went to a town called Yixing on Monday, with some friends. It is a town where they make ceramic dishes. There are many factories. Well, there is a small shopping street, where you can buy dinnerware. But each of the little stalls just have bits and pieces of a set. There was a relatively larger store that had a couple of whole sets. This store was the store that my friend and I found the set we wanted, and of course, it wasn't in any of the other shops. I think they knew this, and wouldn't come down in price for us. Unfortunately,we walked away. I did buy some cute mugs and a serving dish. I am learning many lessons about shopping in China. First, I left the shop and realized they had given me nine instead of the ten I paid for. I got another one, but when I got home, I found 9 of my mugs and a Christmas mug! I thought I was watching so carefully, but there were about 3 ladies wrapping them in newspaper, and boy are they tricky!
Wednesday was Student-lead Conference Day. This is where the teacher stays right out of it, and the student takes their parent(s) around to see what they have been doing. I spent the entire day at the school! It was wonderful, though, going from class to class with my children, and seeing all of the hard work they have been doing in school. They were good at showing me where they are succeeding, and even pointing out areas for improvement. They did a great job.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Doctor we have been seeing, told us that we needed to go to Beijing to have her ear looked at. There was a lump of something close to her eardrum, and the ENT specialist in Beijing thought he should look at it. We made arrangements to go on Friday. Anna, from our Church group watched Eli for me. Caitlin and I left on Friday morning early, and flew up to Beijing. We got to the clinic about 10:30, and they got her in right away. We got some great news! The lump in her ear is scar-tissue, not infection. The infection is cleared-up and she doesn't need her daily treatment anymore! It was wonderful to hear this from a specialist. He had the equipment and expertise he needed to get a close look. After the Doctor gave us the OK to leave, they couldn't get us return tickets until Saturday morning, so Cailtin and I jumped in a taxi and went to check out some of the city. We had a terrific time! We saw the Temple of Heaven, and Tienanmen Square. We did some shopping, and even found a book shop (with some English books). The highlight was the Subway sandwich store they have there in Beijing. Yummy! We are looking forward to getting a better look when we go to Beijing next month with the family.
I like to write down funny phrases or words that I see. Here are a few I saw in Beijing:
Please show your cash and receipt to your face.
Uncomplimentary: 36rmb (this was on a can of tea they had in the hotel room)
Hospital for Anus and Intestinal Disorders (yes, this is for real...A huge sign)
And the gigantic block letters on the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing...NO DRUGS OR NUCLEAR WEAPONS ALLOWED!Is this on all of the Hard Rock Cafes now? I've been here too long, and I can't tell if it's Chinglish, or the real thing! Either way(????)
On Saturday, Rachel did the 13 mile walk with her soccer team to raise money for their trip to Hong Kong. It was right after a game! She is a little stiff today!
An Eli learning moment from this week: "Mom, are we there yet?" "Almost" "what does almost mean?" "It means not quite." "I HATE ALMOST!"
