• July 5, 2008 - Our Fourth of July Meal
For Independence Day dinner, we went to a fancy restaurant. No hot dogs and hamburgers for us! We celebrated Chinese style!
I really wanted some chicken soup, so I asked the waitress what they had. She offered a bitter melon chicken soup and another chicken soup with a vegetable I had not heard of. I chose the mystery soup, and this is what I got!
Notice the green hue? That's because the vegetable is flower buds! I think they are lily buds! They were quite tasty!
The highlight of the meal was the Beijing duck! This is one of Sprite's favorite dishes. It's quite dramatic.
A waiter comes out with the duck on a cart and carves it right in front of you.
 
Sprite can't wait to dig in! The duck meat is served with a sweet sauce, sliced cucumbers, sliced scallions, and a tortilla-like wrapper.
 
No liberty for the duck! But horray for the Red, White, and Blue!
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• July 4, 2008 - A Good Friend
Isn't this a great photo? Two women going crazy over ribbon, of all things! I was so giddy with the assortment of ribbons at such cheap prices that we had to get a photo!
Beth is another blogging buddy turned IRL (in real life) buddy! I never thought making friends via blogging would be a reality for me. But I am so blessed to know these ladies! Beth lives in Hong Kong and blogs at Beautiful Feet on the Mountains.
Not only is she a total brainiac who knows Hong Kong like the back of her hand, she's kind and crafty! Like the great hostess that she is, she took us to Spotlight craft store again as well as taking me and Sprite to this fantastic sewing notions market. We reveled shop after shop of beads and ribbon! Here is Sprite in front of one of the shops. She blogged about the craft supplies at her blog.
Thanks, Beth! You're awesome! I look forward to hosting you when you come to China!
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• July 3, 2008 - Chinese Characters and Some Great News
This neat image I scanned from the newspaper shows how Chinese characters transformed from pictographs to their modern forms. Quite fascinating! Horse is one of the easiest to "see."
Thank you, readers, who prayed and who left kind words here at my blog. The very afternoon after I posted that, we put down a deposit on a wonderful apartment. We looked for only two days and found IT -- the "perfect" apartment. We've never found an apartment that quickly. It was an amazing answer to prayer. We sign the contract this weekend.
It was one of those times when all three of us KNEW this is the one! There was no discussion among us, just our secret glances trying not to show how much we loved it.
In China, you look first and then discuss price. So if it's obvious that you adore the apartment, the landlord will not be so willing to bargain. We have what we call the Eyeore strategy. Since we can speak in English and those around us generally don't understand, we can say what we want but we have to say it in a tone that expresses dissatisfaction. Just imagine Eyeore saying, "I love it. This is the best apartment we've seen. It's just what we want. Can we move in right away?"
Here is a list of what makes it the "perfect" apartment:
- The location is such that Sprite can play outdoors safely and in the midst of some semblance of nature.
- We will have both a guest room and an office/homeschool room.
- The kitchen (by Chinese standards) is large and well equipped with storage cabinets and room for more.
- It's on the second floor. (That means not a lot of stairs to climb.)
- The landlord's furniture is acceptable.
- Best of all, the view from my kitchen window, right above the sink where I'll wash many dishes, are green trees! That was one of those tiny requests that I made to Father as we were praying about a place. But He was so kind to give even that to me.
Of course, I know there is no perfect apartment. And time will show all the problems and quirks at this one. But it fit all of our requests.
There is a light at the end of the suitcase, er, I mean, tunnel! Next week I'll give you a photo tour!
Happy Independence Day to all my
American friends all over the world!
America -- the land of the free
and the home of the brave!
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• July 2, 2008 - Only Six Words
Gayle tagged me for this fun meme, and although I'm not fond of memes, I found this one very interesting. The idea is to write a six word memoir of your life (I suppose meaning my life thus far). She posted her meme on May 1. It's taken me two months to figure out what to do for this one, but now I know the answer:
PLEASE HAVE YOUR TRAVEL DOCUMENTS READY.
The last seven months of my life have been a whirlwind of traveling -- Thailand, USA, China, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong, China. Oh, and within China there was quite a bit of traveling from province to province and city to city. Yes, I like traveling. But when I say that I like traveling, I mean that I like to plan a trip, go have fun, and come home within a week or two. These past months have been nothing like that. Instead, much of the time, we've been living out of suitcases and have no real "home." Right now, we're living in a hotel in a new city in China. Our things are in storage in another city (at least that city is only four hours away).
I try hard not to complain on the blog. For one, it's just boring to read about someone's troubles. For another, I realize that I am, in the grand scheme of things very, very blessed. But, to be honest, things have been so hard that I've not felt like blogging. There's not been much homeschooling to blog about either.
So if you are the praying type, could you lift up a prayer for me and my family? We'd love to find a home fast. (We're apartment shopping right now.) Could you please ask for some roots too? I'd love that.
Enough of that. Now to tag five more people for this meme. (If you hate memes, just disregard. Or if you need time to think of an answer, take as long as you like. I took two whole months!)
1. Carisa at 1+1+1=1
2. Dana at School for Us
3. Jamie at Life and Love in Rose Cottage
4. Melissa at Lilliput Station Adventures
5. Keeley at Wanderer in a Strange Land
The rules
1. Write the title to your own memoir using 6 words.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Link to the person that tagged you.
4. Tag five more blogs.
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• June 27, 2008 - Hong Kong -- Clean and Sanitary as Seen in its Signs
• June 21, 2008 - Online Freebies! Homeschool Launch & Homeschool Catalogs
Homeschool Launch has loads of great files created by other homeschool moms just like you! More and more moms are joining and sharing their skills with others. I invite you to browse the files and consider sharing some things you've made with the homeschool community!
Notebooking pages are especially abundant there. (Ever wondered how to make your own notebooking pages? I've just finished a tutorial for that very thing, using MS Publisher.)
For example, I recently uploaded a file I made for my daughter. We use the Wordly Wise vocabulary workbooks, but I found that she was encountering spelling errors as she looked back a page or two to copy the new word. I simply typed all the words into a word document and printed it out for her reference. A few moments invested like this at the beginning of the year make for a much easier experience later. I uploaded the Wordly Wise C word list to HS Launch since there may be others who could benefit from this type of document. Why redo it if someone has already done the work? My page with all my uploaded files is here.
And another freebie --catalogs! Anyone still looking for curriculum? Or if you're like me, you're a chronic curriculum browser, always on the prowl for the latest new title or project idea. When I went to USA last fall, one of my preparations was to order a lot of HS catalogs to be ready for me once I got there. I passed many an hour in the car reading through book descriptions in these catalogs. I've listed my favorites on a new Squidoo lens Homeschool Catalogs. The links will take you directly to the catalog request pages for my favorite ones. If you have favorites I didn't list, please feel free to comment there with your addition.
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• June 11, 2008 - Crazy English
This post is an extravaganza of wild and crazy English!
Yeah, it's blurry. I was running to snap a shot of the side of the bus.
To say "get off the bus" in Chinese, you say literally "down bus." Thus this crazy English at the back door.
Anyone you know suffering from trauma? No problem. Let me ship you some spray to take care of it.
What a waste. This picture would've been the perfect complement to the Icky Mouse cup. At any rate, here it is now. It is the year of the rat, after all!
I sure hope that the T.P. Cafe doesn't serve T.P.
Care for a cup of tea, dear? I guess it's similar to drinking prune juice.
Above a toilet. A toilet. Not a sink. I have no idea.
Another one that leaves you shaking your head in utter confusion.
This picture is a double whammy. Not only do you get to enjoy the special English, you also get a peek at the common "airing stomach" that men do constantly in the summer. Look to the right. Yes, it's culturally appropriate to do this in public. No one stares (well, except us) and thinks, "What a redneck!" People would just think, "Oh, he's hot and wants to cool off." I would prefer he fan himself, but I don't make the customs, folks.
I am a stranger in a strange land. I'm working on a whole blog entry on this most intriguing of topics.
At a museum in China -- an exhibit about dino footprints.
The English phrase -- Caution; floor slippery when wet -- just doesn't seem to translate well into Chinese.
Maybe it's just my quirky sense of humor. But when I saw this, I pictured myself as a crazed villain seeking to rule the world! Ultimate power is now mine! I have the key card!!
So which one is your favorite? Which one made you laugh the most?
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• June 10, 2008 - Sketching Bridges Like Monet
When you're coming to the end of your artist study of Monet, you can't pass by a scene like this one without making a reference to the Japanese bridge at Giverny. I was thrilled when Sprite asked if we could sketch it just like Monet did.
She happened to get a bit sidetracked by some children who kept peering over her shoulder, so she spent most of her time like this.
And here is her finished portrait sketch. I thought it was fabulous! Even more so, I was proud of her attitude. She said as we were walking home that some people said her art was good. Others said it was bad. Some said it was so so. She laughed as she realized that everyone has a different opinion (which they seem to feel so very free to openly express) and that it made no difference to her what they thought. She was drawing for herself, not for them. (As a side note, she is not always so confident. But I was thrilled to hear this from her that day!)
I reminded her that those people more than likely would never risk drawing in public for fear of the kinds of comments she received. But then again, they will never know the joy of relaxing with pencil in hand before a lovely view, the satisfaction of working over a particular curve or line, the joy of being an artist. We are artists if we create art, no matter the results or the opinion of others.
Another blog post about our study of Monet is here.
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