This Great Work

 If we ever see a sunset, it looks something like this: That's my view out of my kitchen window. If you are on the ground, you rarely see much because there is always a building in the way. On this particular night, however, I decided to get my selfie stick and put my phone out the window as far as I safely could to get a bit of a better shot.   After doing that, I decided to climb on top of my kitchen counter to go out even farther.  As I did this, I caught a small glimpse of something else.  I changed the direction of my phone and shot these photos: I had no idea that you could see the sky on the other side of that building from here.  (Well, you can't actually see this without unsafely hanging out the window.....) This doesn't seem like much to you, but this is as much of a sunset I've seen the whole time we've been in China.  So while I couldn't actually see the full skyline, I was thankful to enjoy more of it with my camera. This was a sweet night 😊. I rec

There is a bamboo forest nearby.  A few weeks ago we paid it a visit. It was about an hour drive and after we got off the freeway it was a meandering road through some cute villages.  I started getting excited for some hiking and a lovely nature experience. I should have known better.  This is China.  If people will come, they will find a way to make some money.  The bamboo forest was no different---it was a tourist trap. That didn't mean we didn't enjoy it.  We did. It was a lot of fun.  But our expectations were shot down yet again.  (Pro tip, Darcee, drop all expectations, you're in China!) At the bamboo forest, you can see shops,  get a hot dog at "Fatty Dogg WestCoast Hot Dog",  (perhaps I should try it, my expectations may be happily surprised; but I highly doubt it) get measured 3 times,   (in China, children's prices are determined by your height, not your age.  When we came to China, both girls were under 150cm so they got the child price.  Now Tessa

It seems that every day we see something new, (although not new--just twists on things we've already seen). Here are a few of these things just from the last few weeks.   Yesterday Wang Jian took us grocery shopping.  At a very busy intersection an old lady full-on jay walked--opposite corner to opposite corner-- while traffic was coming and going both ways.  Wang Jian didn't think anything of it and apparently other drivers didn't either as no one honked at her and everyone just slowed down to avoid hitting her. On the same shopping trip, while stopped at another busy intersection, I saw a tricycle type vehicle stopped in the middle of the intersection while the light was green and vehicles were going both ways.  Okay!  I found some watermelon toothpaste.  It says: "Contains high power watermelon, cream active ingredient +, Honeysuckle + Snowgrass, anti inflammatory and clear fire,  Clean the fire, protect your gums, reduce plaque and strengthen your teeth." Let

We were invited to a dinner on Sunday by someone at Tom's work.   We already had plans for a family to come to dinner, so we had to reschedule that.  We weren't quite sure what the dinner was, but one hour before it (during Church) Jacky started messaging Tom telling him that it was a baby shower and that we needed to take ¥2000 in a red envelope ($280).  Thankfully we had a red envelope and the cash on hand.   We were greeted by the grandfather (who had invited us) and we were ushered into a big room with 60 tables with 10 people at each table. We were ushered to Our seats were front and center. 😕 Here are some of the decorations:  the baby's head on the kid's body cracked me up. It was a traditional Chinese meal with 20-25 dishes.  The cold dishes were on the table and as the meal progressed more dishes were added.  Here is a sampling of a few of the dishes. Noodles, shrimp and scallop in a shell. A whole chicken in broth. I don't know if anyone at our table ate