Happy Children's Day

When I was a kid, we used to hear "every day is children's day" but today in China it was the real thing. Sophia came home in a crown and new t shirt, and both girls with new toys foam ping pong sets) and little cakes.

Glad someone knew about it because I didn't!

Tomorrow we say good bye to Gary who is on his way home via a tour of Beijing. It has been great to have a friend visit us here.

The lizard is missing.

It is raining and thunderstorms off and on every day.

But tomorrow we have a baby sitter -- something indeed to look forward to!

A busy week...in which we find chili fries, acquire a lizard and give Thomas a haircut

Here we are at midday on Tuesday -- working hard as you can see, with our friend Gary, the visiting prof from Syracuse anticipating what is rumored to be the best American food in Xiamen, at a new place along the island ring road.

There was plenty of outdoor beach ambiance to the place, including this little guy. We are experiencing what can only be classified as an insect "bloom" here -- overnight the heat and humidity have exploded the insect population and affected our lives..more on that in a minute.

First we must celebrate the arrival at our table of not only real hamburgers not made with preformed patties, actual burritos with sour cream....just when we thought it could not get any better...chili cheese fries. I mean we are talking not just about American food here, but almost Detroit Coney Island chili cheese fries -- except the cheese was too high quality for Coney Island. Above you see the happy sabbatical professor..and below another happy professor while teaching abroad! Could it be the beer with lunch?!?!?!?



If you are ever in Xiamen and need real American cuisine (at real American prices by the way) -- here is the place. I told my classmates about it and they are all psyched..

OK -- now the lizard. With the increased population of our apartment on an insect level (although no cockroaches yet, thank heavens, just ants, mosquitoes and for 2 days dozens of moth pupa crawling around) it stands to reason that a predator might find its way in as well, in the form of the house gecko. He took up residence in the sink one morning and we have taken to him and are allowing him to roam freely, provided he 1) eats bugs 2) stays in the kitchen 3) stays out of the bedrooms 4) does not run across my toes while I do the dishes. Helen has named him Wushu (like the martial art?!?) and although she has been warned that a free roaming gecko is not likely to make a long term commitment to us, she has rushed home from school to see him the past 2 days (oh yes -- he is still here after 2 days -- he sleeps in a quiet corner in the day time and does his roaming at night) and has made him a water cup out of the lid of the toothpaste tube. It think she misses the cats.

This picture is here because this is a very cute child, don't you agree?!?! Still working on the "V" sign, though..we are killing time waiting for Helen's bus, which one of us does with Sophia every day because her school gets to at 4:30 and Helen's bus doesn't arrive until 5. It is Sophia's daily public appearance on campus -- she does get tired of the attention sometimes and declares "Why is that lady LOOKING at me?!"

Finally..the haircut. Over the last week Xiamen has become a very hot, but especially humid place. We have A/C at home and in my classroom (not Michael's or the kids though) which helps. But it is hot and we are all slowing into the tropical rhythm of slowing down in the heat of the day and expecting rain every afternoon. Then Thomas agreed to have haircut...now you know its gotta be hot. We started cutting and just couldn't stop. Here he is at dinner tonight...

And at bedtime with his head a lot lighter! Now you know it must be hot for T. to give up his beloved long hair. Or I guess he decided it was time for a change. By the way he wanted me to wait to post this until he had time to email Uncle Dave and see if his uncle would give him $5 if he got his hair cut.


The blog is celebrating its 10,000th visit this week. Wow! Lots of loyal readers from family and friends and some new "e-friends" too! If you make a comment and want a personal reply -- include your email address if I do not have it. I do not need to post the comments if they contain personal info.

Please continue to hold the people of China and Sichuan province in your thoughts. The death toll form the earthquake, not to mention the injured and homeless, is staggering. And there is some political trouble brewing over the fact that so many of the buildings which collapsed were schools. Some grieving parents have begun protesting quite angrily in the hardest hit areas, contending that officials knew that some schools were unsafe-- a serious allegation which will hopefully be taken seriously and investigated.

Odds and Ends

Just a quick post to catch up. After my long Yongzhou post and all our travels -- I haven't had too much that was noteworthy -- just trying to get back into normal life. My Chinese classes have gotten really really hard. I passed the midterm, but not by much! We are learning so much new vocabulary and have entered the realm of truly unfamiliar grammar. But I like going, so I keep showing up, even if I am lost a lot!

Both girls have been sick with mysterious ailments that have not amounted to much...Helen had what I like to call the 24 hour mumps. She came home Thursday with one side of her face really swollen in just the right spot. We were exposed to mumps while in Japan, but having had the vaccine I didn't think much of it. 25 days later, here was Helen...she stayed home one day while I consulted with my sister in law the pediatric PA...and the next morning -- mumps are gone! Guess that vaccine kicked in after all.

To add to the fun, Sophia was sent home from school on Friday with coughing and the teacher said she had a sore inside her mouth. Every one is being very vigilant about Hand, Foot and Mouth disease this year, so they sent her home. She has not really been acting very sick other than a slight cough, but we laid low this weekend and today I took her to the clinic at the hospital to be checked so she can return to school. More or less a waste of time, as the doctor barely looked at her and didn't even listen to her chest, just ordered a blood test (not sure what for), the results are available tomorrow. So I guess I'll find out something then....? Doctor says she doesn't have HFM, though. I guess she bit her cheek or something!

In the US I wouldn't have worried, as neither girl was acting or looking very sick, but I always want to do the right thing for the teachers' expectations, even though I don't like going near Chinese health care unless we have to! I guess the overpriced system in the US is something to look forward to.

Our friend Gary is here from Syracuse, New York with a group of students (they were originally going to Chengdu before the earthquake). It has been great to have another witness to our lives here and the beauty of Xiamen! We are also looking forward to welcoming Michael's brother and his family in a couple of weeks.

We'll try for a more interesting post soon!

The time is going by very fast. It is almost time to begin to think about packing, or at least sorting this mess. I feel no more ready to leave, but as the time keeps going by I am slowly making my peace with it, and eager to see our family and friends back home...

Yongzhou trip

We traveled by bus from Guilin/Yangshuo area (which turned out to be a lot longer bus ride than you might think from looking at a map -- over 5 hours for under 200 kilometers-- because we stopped in every small town and there was a traffic tie up (typical of bus travel in China, by the way).

We stayed at the Great Wall Hotel, which was fine, and met up with our guide, Oscar. The guide turned out to be just fine, very good English and good with the kids, although he didn't know much about the city, being from Changsha.

Here we are arriving at the orphanage.

There is a new director (new to me at least -- I think she has been on the job for 1-2 years). She is called Director Qiao. She has worked there for a long time in different capacities and was there when Helen was a baby (although not involved in baby care then). There are now very few of the old staff left, and in fact very few staff at Lengshuitan at all because there are now only 15 children there. The numbers of babies peaked in 2003 and has been falling, and now more of the infants are in foster care. We were a little disappointed not to meet any of Helen's ayis, or the nurse who accompanied her to Changsha for the adoption because the nurse is on maternity leave. We had brought a scrapbook made by one of our travel group families (Kathrin -- thanks!) and some other photos sent along from other group members. The business office staff and driver came in too to look at all the photos. They were especially interested in the ones of Helen in Xiamen, at school, the Forbidden City, Chinese New Year, etc. The director served fruit and showed us her office where lots of photos sent by adoptive parents were displayed under glass on her desk .



I am choosing not to post the photos from the inside of the orphanage, to honor the agreement we signed, but it was very interesting. We only saw a few rooms, but they included a play room , a baby room, and the room where Helen was cared for as a baby.

The staff told the baby, "here is your Jie Jie (older sister)"

The children's laundry..

The director and some staff accompanied us on a tour of the Lengshuitan district of Yongzhou. Above is the municipal building.

Some older style housing..

An apartment building..

They took us to the finding site described in Helen's paperwork. The Fenghuayuan Central Flowerbed turns out to be a monument to commemorate the area becoming an economic development zone under Deng Xiaoping. It was a busy area, with lots of people about, which I ws glad about.

Afterwards we took them to lunch. We ate some local dishes including Dong'An chicken, with a strong vinegar and ginger taste,

And Helen's favorite -- Wu gu feng deng : made from corn and duck egg yolk deep fried, topped with nuts -- delicious!



After lunch the restaurant presented Helen and Sophia with presents -- giant stuffed rats..pink ones!



We took the staff shopping to buy something to give the orphanage and picked a washing machine for the babies laundry.

Helen saying goodbye to Director Qiao.

The visit was smooth, everyone friendly and interested in the kids, Helen spoke a little Chinese, which pleased them and us. But I could hardly wait to get back to the hotel room to lock myself in the bathroom and have a good cry. Hard to explain. I think it was relief and also coming to grips with reality that there is so much we will not know about Helen's early life. I asked the director about whether she thinks the girls usually come from the country side or not. Helen's finding site is close to the railway station, which prompted me to ask. The director answered that maybe the babies born in the hospital and left behind might be from the city, but the rural preference for boys is much stronger now days than in the cities. So although we walked around Yongzhou for the rest of the afternoon, calling it Helen's hometown -- its probably not.

We spent most of our time at a playground on the river. There was a little carnival with a few rides and games, such as fishing for eels (!) So we did the 6 year old tour -- Helen liked this place so much we didn't leave until dinner time.


This is the Xiang River which runs through Yongzhou.

And here is the playground! A 6 year old's tour of the city would be incomplete without it!






Helen catching eels...

And the catch!

Thomas roller skating at the park...

We also spent time hanging around while Oscar went to get the bus tickets and once the locals figured out I spoke a little Chinese they had lots of questions. It pleased me to tell them that Helen was from this area and we had come back for a visit. It felt like an act of positive publicity for international adoption. Who knows...maybe some birth parent will hear by word of mouth about us and feel a little better about the decision they had to make.
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The next day we left early in the morning . On the bus ride on the way back to Guilin, it was a beautiful day, and we marveled at the beauty of the countryside of southern Hunan -- the rice fields are so green in the spring time that even though the mountains are not as impressive as Guangxi province to the south, it was a treat to drive through, although I could have done without stopping every few minutes to try and lure passengers onto the half empty bus-- negotiating the price at every stop!






It was a powerful but tiring weekend and we are glad to be back in Xiamen and back to regular life. No more traveling until we leave, I think!

We've returned from Hunan

Tonight I am too tired to begin the monumental task of sorting the dozens of photos we took in Yongzhou and Hunan and tell our story of returning to Helen's home province. I will soon. It was a very successful trip in that many of our hopes were realized in touring the city, visiting the orphanage, meeting the staff etc., but it was also a little emotional, maybe even more for me than for Helen.

China has been an emotional place this week. Yesterday was the one week anniversary of the earthquake in Sichuan, and at the precise time of the earthquake there was a national 3 minutes of silence (signaled by the ringing of sirens and horns throughout the country). We were in our hotel in Yongzhou when we heard the sirens go off, and out the back window I shot this photo of the troops at the military headquarters in formation after lowering the flag to half mast. We spent so much time riding through the countryside by bus on our way to and from Yongzhou that I was reminded that most of China (about 60%of the population) is still rural, living in small, somewhat isolated communities like the ones devastated by the earthquake.

Li river cruise and Sanjie light show

Yesterday was not quite as auspicious as our first day here -- for one, in began with some rain, although it did subside and leave us with a hazy humid day for exploring the river. We thought we had booked tickets for a 2:00 cruise on a small boat from Xingping, town about 30 minutes away by bus, up the river through the most famous section and then back. When we arrived we were told -- no 2:00 boat, "we'll leave at 3:00", at 3:00 "in 5 minutes" and at 3:35 finally we were taken to the boats. I did have my first argument in Chinese, although futile.

Once on the boat it was very nice, but we had such fun fishing the night before that the kids were a little bored until we started counting water buffalo..had stop around 30 or something...


The purpose of the cruise is to appreciate these unusual mountains all along-- of course there are names for the oddly shaped ones in Chinese...it was hazy, in no small part from the motors from all the boat engines.

We stopped for some forced shopping opportunities with the locals, but Helen managed to get herself on top of a water buffalo for a small price. When I saw her up there it occurred to me that Helen's alternate life, had the story been different, might have been to grow up on a farm near here..it made me see everything in a new light.


Almost right at the end the sun broke through the clouds for a dramatic moment..

And we saw a lone chicken near the banks of the river we named Daisy (see previous day's post).

We had a ride back to Yangshuo on an overcrowded bus, and at night we went to the Sanjie light show...it is a blend of theatrical staging and the music of the local minority group. The designer of the show is doing the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It was on a grand scale with the river as the stage and the mountains as backdrop and a cast of hundreds of dancers in and singers in ethnic costume. The girls really liked it and we all thought it was worthwhile.
This morning we leave for our trip to Yongzhou by bus. I hope it goes smoothly. We are meeting our guide in Yongzhou, which is the way I wanted it, but I am a little nervous about making the connection and all with my primary school Chinese! We do have the guide's cell phone number if we need it. It will be a long day I think --and little chance of posting until we return to Xiamen on Tuesday night...

Yangshuo, Guangxi province..views, fishing and fun

This was the view which greeted us from the rooftop patio of our hotel in Yangshuo...and I instantly knew we had done well to come here...thanks Deborah and Kate for the recommendation!
Yangshuo is just about 60 km south of the more famous (and popular) Guilin along the Li River. With only two days to tray and experience the wonders this area has to offer, we decided to stay on the river itself, which necessitated over an hour ride from the Guilin airport. But let me give this Aussie owned place some free advertising...great room, clean and spacious with a patio overlooking the river where you can order anything off an enormous menu from 8 am to 9pm. The western food tasted western and the Chinese food terrific.


It about a 20 minute walk outside of the town of Yangshuo, with a very rural feel. By contrast, Yangshuo offers all the trekker ambiance you could hope for (lots of cafes and bars), plus plenty of Chinese bric a brac for the tourists. So we had a relaxing dinner on the patio...


With Sophia in high photo taking mode..."Mama its sooo booogifal (beautiful).


Here is a child who has been living in China too long?!?!? That's pizza she's eating with kuaizi (chopsticks).

Th owner of the inn also owns this bar, which is where we met our guide for the evening fishing trip...think we'll remember the name of the place?!?! But are there Buffalo wings?!?The waitresses were amused when I told them it was the name of our city..but pointed out that it is water buffalo which is the symbol here, and we sure saw those on the way to Yangshuo from the airport, Mostly wandering around grazing I think, as the rice seemed to be already planted for the most part.

I know many of the blog readers are familiar with this book, its quite popular in the Asian adoption community. Its a children's story which we just love, about a little girl who raises chickens, and it is set right here, on the banks of the Li River. In this story a cormorant fisherman find one of Mei Mei's hens floating down the river in a basket while he is cormorant fishing. So our kids are actually aware of this quite ancient method of catching fish.

We paid 50 kuai apiece ($7 per adult) to "watch" the fisherman. We didn't realize just how close we would be, or how exciting. They fish at night and attract the fish with a light out over the water.

Then the cormorants get involved. They are sleek and powerful birds, larger than I expected. They are able to hold up to 5 fish n their mouths at one once without swallowing. The fisherman ties a string snugly around their neck so they can't swallow the fish. Then he uses his pole to scoop them up and bring them to him, and gets them to cough up the fish they are storing. They dove again and again while we skimmed along side his boat in the water. It was really quite exciting. It was a good long ride, and then we beached and talked to him, and took some fun photos of Helen and Thomas befriending the birds...


A closeup of the boat...


This one was a show-off!

The fisherman e showed us how he gets the fish out of the mouth, and did assure us that he lets them eat when they are done working..all that effort for a few fish!
My camera actually shoots better video than photos at night..so I hope you can open these videos and watch the whole thing...to use a Chinese expression...it was tai bang (too great!)





Michael and I loved coming back to our hotel and being able to order drinks and sit outside while the children slept, but now it is late and I am still blogging!
Tomorrow we will have a leisurely morning and then take a bus upriver to meet a boat for a daytime river cruise of the most legendary part of the river..the part where all the Chinese paintings are set..I just learned the type this week in my painting class-- water, mountain, tree. These "karst" mountains are quite stunning and you can see why they draw so much attention. We are hoping the 30% chance of rain in the forecast holds off.

Sunday we will pay for all this fun by spending a good part of the day on the bus, getting to Yongzhou, Hunan. Its about 3.5 hours away by bus, but we'll have to change in Guilin. I do feel great about visiting this area as part of our "return to hometown tour.." Its making a very positive impression on all of us.

Please continue to pray for victims of the recent earthquake, where the death toll has continued to rise. There are lots of efforts at fundraising everywhere we go.

Visitors...we love them!

This month a series of visitors will come to Xiamen...fun for us, although since I would rather socialize than study, my level of Chinese comprehension is suffering! (Maybe also the beer we had at lunch!?!?) This past weekend we welcomed Nancy and Tom, who are living in Jinan, Shangdong on the Fulbright program this year. Nancy was giving a lecture here at the law school, but we all found time for touring the campus...

and a grown ups only night out downtown overlooking the harbor...

While walking downtown we encountered some popular art you would only see in China..a Rat playing ping pong (拼盘球）pin pan qiu.

And of course we had to do the truly Fujianese thing and taste tea for them to bring home.

I love seeing Xiamen through the eyes of others..helps me keep it fresh. This week some more Fulbrighters have arrived from Wuhan, and next week it looks like our friend Gary, who we were supposed to meet up with in Chengdu, might be bringing his students here instead.

Tomorrow we are going to Guilin and then on to Yongzhou to see the orphanage Helen once lived in. Mixed feelings of anticipation about the trip. The weather forecast is for rain, I'm afraid, but we'll hope for the best. Not sure if we will be able to blog or not from Guilin - in Yongzhou definitely not.

Thanks for all the emails about the earthquake. I also have had some bad news in the last week. My mom, whom many have you have been praying for, has taken a turn for the worse, and the cancer has spread beyond the ability of the doctors to intervene. It has been so difficult for us to be apart..now we are praying for as much time as possible, in particular time to spend together this summer. It think now the reluctance I feel to let go of China is being tempered by my desire to be much ,much closer to my family at this time.

More earthquake news

I know many people have been following the news of the devastation in Sichuan province as it unfolds. For once we are getting fairly consistent information here..a death toll expected at nearly 12,000, and numerous aftershocks continuing the destruction of structures already weakened by the quake. All our friends around China are safe, but the thoughts of everyone in China are on areas isolated by the quake where the full extent of the damage is not known...even the famous Wolong Panda reserve, which we were supposed to visit a week from Saturday, is completely out of contact and located in the county which was at the epicenter...

Of course we are glad this didn't happen while we were there...in Xiamen we did not feel anything...

Quake comes to China and the Torch to Xiamen

By now most people have probably heard about the earthquake this afternoon in west-central Sichuan province (see map below). It was a pretty big one, above magnitude 7, and there have been casualties, although the numbers are wildly conflicting. The center was about 800 miles from us, so we felt nothing. But we join people all over the world in the hope that not too many people have been hurt and life will not be too disrupted in those areas. A much smaller tremor was felt west of Beijing a few minutes later apparently.

At that time, we were fighting our way through an exuberant, if a bit pushy crowd of college students and staff of Xia Da to watch the Olympic Torch run past the campus on its way downtown. Classes were canceled and a very large crowd gathered, we and some other foreigners were shepherded by the overseas faculty office to a place near the front..we think to put us near the CCTV cameras..








It was a bit sunny but we were rewarded for our endurance by a great view of the torch being handed off right in front of us..as you can make out in the video ...the buses have the next torch bearers in them, then you can see the flame being passed off. It was a bit jumpy because we were in a very tightly packed crowd who were all jumping up and down.

Knowing that the torch relay has been controversial abroad..I gave some thought to my own feelings about doing what we did -- going out in our full Olympic attire, waving and cheering with the rest. For me, it boils down to having a great admiration for the Chinese people, and my own corner of China in particular. For Chinese people the Olympic Games has become a symbol to celebrate China's progress, a source of pride in their nation's growth. Regardless of my feelings about Tibet, and anger over the ways in which China still cages its citizens, I could not help feeling pleased and proud along with them -- if you think about what China was like just one generation ago -- there is really a lot to celebrate, besides of course the notion of the Olympics as a celebration of youth and oh yeah ...sports, remember?!?!? The world community has done a thorough job in recent weeks of pointing out all the ways in which China's progress remains incomplete...especially when it comes to the Chinese government's lack of tolerance for dissent. But seeing the torch was not about politics for me -- but about joining in the local spirit of fun and optimism...

..Which was nice because lately, there has been a general tightening of the mood here ahead of the Olympics--nothing in particular or frightening really, just noticing how much stricter the police are being about everything, how the church is keeping a lower profile, how some foreigners are having trouble renewing visas,as the rules are tightened, etc. I have been feeling a little moody about it all, also because of reading more 20th century Chinese history and fiction lately after an influx of books not available here ...Mao, the untold story by Jung Chung, brought by my sister and Beijing Coma by Ma Jian, a novel set in Beijing during the democracy movement of 1989, which I bought in Hong Kong. I recommend both of them.

The longer we are here the more we come across people who want to talk about politics, religion, and other sensitive topics -- and it does make life quite interesting.

Hong Kong days

We arrived in Hong Kong on a beautiful afternoon. Its so easy to get around on the MTR, that we were checked into our little hotel and on the Star Ferry across the harbor by 5 pm. Hong Kong has that breathtaking kind of urban beauty...but it does not feel like China! I called it China Lite...Michael disagrees...but we both marvelled at both its Chinese and Western feel...its easy to see why westerners like coming here so much...so much English and yet a great pan-Asian feel too.

Here's something you won't see in the rest of China...a pseudo-demonstration of sorts by Filipino domestics...my classmate who is an anthropologist tells me that this "picnic" is held downtown every Sunday and is more social than political...apparently the authorities have tried to stop it but it just keeps recurring..

We were wandering in the central business district in search of affordable food and ended up getting the kids a quick burger at McDonald's...in honor of my nephew Joseph, who was amazed by the fact that HK has them (well, all of China actually....).

Old and new Hong Kong skyline....foreground is St. John's Episcopal Church...when we walked by it Sophia shouted and jumped up and down..."I have been there!!"

Our goal was to ride the tram to Victoria Peak at dusk to see the city lights...good thing we got in line when we did, because a few thousand other tourists had the same idea. The tram takes you straight up the mountain at a 45 degree angle.

And at the top, some stunning views that my little camera is just not capable of capturing.
After wandering around on top of Victoria Peak, we made our way back to Kowloon (where we were staying) and forced the kids to go to the night market on Temple Street...ignoring their whining about being tired...

It was a good thing too. Thomas was thrilled to find a video game he has wanted for a long time at a bargain price, and we picked up some trinkets before enjoying the coldest beer and spiciest crabs at table set up in the street..great fun...

The next day dawned clear so we set out without telling the kids on the MTR headed for Disneyland. Thomas had already figured it out, but it was not until our last train change...when we boarded the train with windows shaped like Mickey, that Helen piped up and asked..."MOM...are we really going to DISNEYLAND?!" She then proceeded to do a celebration dance in the aisle of the train...ah happy parent moments. Knowing we can't escape at least one Disney visit in life, we were happy to get the bargain of going here..its smaller but was big enough for us. Interestingly, there were far more teens and adults than young kids here.



Tarzan's treehouse...

The Dumbo ride..

Sophia was a little overstimulated by the first hour or so, and refused to go anywhere near Pooh...

One benefit of Hong Kong Disney...Noodles for lunch! After lunch we watched the parade..Helen says the parade and fireworks were her favorite parts.


Remember the Toy Story guys? Micheal and I like the Buzz Lightyear ride where we shot lasers at Emperor Zurg the best...Sophia insisted on going in 3 times, although she kept her eyes covered the whole time.

I am proud to say that I convinced the big kids to go on Space Mountain together (so I didn't have to -- I am a big chicken). Helen was just tall enough for her first roller coaster and reports that she wasn't scared at all. Thomas said he would like it more if he was just SURE that he was not going to fall out and be killed. :)

We saw a musical revue from High School Musical and Helen was invited up to dance. Michael nominated this for the "cultural dislocation" award of the day. As Americans watching Chinese teenagers imitate American cheerleaders to an audience of people form all over Asia..it was a bit weird...do they think this is what high school in the US is really like?????

Our last day we ate dim sum in a restaurant the hotel had suggested -- no tourists, just folks enjoying a good lunch..and spent some time in Kowloon Park before flying out. A rather quick tour of Hong Kong, but I am glad we got to see it..

This is our travel month...with plans to visit Guilin and Helen's orphanage mid month and hopefully Chengdu at the end of the month...plus the torch is coming to Xiamen on Monday so stay tuned for more blogging.

Recapping...our week in Japan

1st day--Nara Park...after a very late arrival, we rose late but were thrilled to see it was a beautiful, picture perfect day for a walk in Nara Park, the centerpiece of the city. Nara is not a big city, but it was the first capital of Japan, so a lot of historic sites are located here, in and around the park.



The tame deer in Nara Park have become a symbol for the city...the park is quite large, but the deer are numerous, and are pretty dedicated to being fed the snacks that the vendors sell.

Sophia finally found one which was the right size for her.

There are some people that you can go without seeing for years, but within a few hours its like no time at all has passed. That's how I felt about seeing my Okasan again...Of course I wish I saw them more often, but after just a few hours it was comfortable to be with her again. We were always able to talk about any subject, and it was a real pleasure for me to watch her get to know my children.

Day 2 -- Meeting the Japanese "cousins"..the children of my host brother and his wife. The whole family came over for dinner, and the kids had a grand time playing Wii and Rock, Paper Scissors (see video clip) despite the fact that only the oldest has any English (and not much), and my kids don't speak Japanese.



Day 3 -- Daibutsu-den at Todaiji Temple. Okasan went to work so with a few reminders I was able to navigate us downtown on the train. The Daibutsu is a gigantic image of the Buddha, the largest indoor one in the world, if I remember right. The Temple is an important one for Japan, and the design is quite old. Thomas and I were intrigued by the similarities and differences with our Buddhist temple next door in China, with its ornately painted designs, and this one -- with its simplicity and use of the natural coloring of wood and stone.




This hole cut in the pillar is supposed to be the same size as the statue's nostril...fitting through it is some kind of a good sign -- Thomas and Helen had no trouble and the older members were wise enough not to try this time, although I know I did it long ago!

Quick shot of Japanese kindergartners in their uniforms -- almost all the school children wear uniforms here.

Traditionally the temples had wells considered to be the most healthy and beneficial sources of water, so we all had the obligatory sip, and Sophia really got into the spirit.

Afterwards we headed off to lunch, and I remembered one of the things I like about Japan...being able to see the food a restaurant has in the window before you go in.. makes ordering easier, too. Nearly every restaurant has a display of plastic food like this one.

Day 4 -- the Samari Park, as we nicknamed it, but it really is a theme park in nearby Kyoto. Kyoto, which was the capital of Japan for 1500 years, is a city filled with history, It is also the setting for period dramas shown on TV all over Asia. One studio has designed a full scale model of an 1800s Japanese town, and films a lot of shows there. The rest of the time, this set along with some theaters and other displays is like a small theme park of Japanese films, marital arts, etc.

Okasan was not feeling well, so she went with us as far as Kyoto station and then we were on our own. That turned out to present some challenges, as there were not a lot of English signs and we missed some events and got lost a fair bit. But we had some fun in between..Helen rode a pony of course...


We watched the other visitors walking around in the costumes they had rented..

And made friends with some cast members after the martial arts movie secrets show. don't you just love the little guy who snuck into the picture?

Michael in "fake" historic Japan, and Thomas and Helen faking it in the "jail."


There were action figures to pose with as well, not sure who this one is, but I do know what a Power Ranger is..


Dinner that night was Sukiyaki, a favorite of mine -- where you cook beef, vegetables, tofu and noodles at the table on a hot plate and everyone keeps taking what they like until its gone...I did feel like we ate so much of their food, but they were very tolerant and generous with the intrusion.

Day 5 -- shopping in Osaka. We were in the mood for an easier day, so we went into Osaka ( a bit closer than Kyoto -- 25 minutes on train). Had a great time shopping, including a toy store for the kids and lots of window shopping, Starbucks for Mom.


I guess we wore them out? We rode trains every day while in Japan -- the easiest,cleanest and safest way to get around.

Day 5 Heian Shrine in Kyoto. Since we had already seen a temple, we opted for a visit to a famous shrine in the Shinto belief system, which is the native religion of Japan, primarily concerned with ancestor and nature worship. Michael and I were here 10 years ago with my mother in law and --- we talked about her many times this week and remembered what a good trip we had.


This arch is the hallmark of a Shinto shrine, although rarely this big!

The Heian shrine is surround by a lovely Japanese style garden, which we walked through.

spotting a Helen...

and a graceful bird in the water..a crane maybe?


The lines in a Japanese garden just lend themselves to photos, I think.

Afterwards we walked through Gion, one of Kyoto's oldest neighborhoods. Here is a street side shrine with the ancestors images wearing little clothes.

A rickshaw along the canal.

Walking the narrow lanes lined with shops and tea houses. All of Gion looked newer and more touristy than I remembered.

Last Day

May 5th is Children's Day in Japan. On our last day, although it was a few days early, we set out to have a kid friendly day. The traditional festival was in honor of boys, with the flying of carp flags to signify strength ( since they swim upstream). We went to a big park in Ikoma for a picnic where the older kids did an obstacle course with Okasan while we took Sophia to the playground. Afterwards we went back to the house for some Japanese green tea and traditional May 5th snacks made from sweet glutinous rice wrapped in leaves (some also contained red beans). Can you guess which ones are to signify boys?


I am so glad that we had this chance to be together, even though it was very brief. Hopefully we can visit again in a few years -- at least Thomas is likely to go since he has been invited to come in the summer on his own, and the older cousins invited to come to us. We had dinner with the whole family at a sushi restaurant where the food rolls by on a conveyor belt and you can just take it...it was a blast and everyone ate a ton, as you can see.


I even got a rare photo of Otosan .

So hard to say goodbye to friends who live so far away. Saying goodbye at the bus station to the airport was very emotional for me, as was talking on the phone to me host sister in Tokyo that I did not get to see...I vowed to return. We all enjoyed our time there very much.

Leaving Japan..arriving in Hong Kong

Well we have arrived in Hong Kong one day behind the Olympic torch...apparently it was a mostly quiet and patirotic visit here, according to the local papers, but some are saying the police were too assertive in heading of free speech by spectators with Tibetan flags...Hmmm.

I had been hoping to post some photos from our week in Japan..but the per hour charge on the internet and the unfamiliarity of the computer is deterring me a bit.

We had a wonderful and relaxing week with my beloved Okasan and Otosan (Japanese for mother annd father) in Nara. I first met them 23 years a go as a summer exchange student in the Youth for Understanding program. This was my fourth trip to Japan to see them, and this trip we kept pretty close to Nara. We were last there when Thomas was 2 and travelled all over from Tokyo to Nagasaki, and points in between. We took some day trips to Kyoto and Osaka this week, and had hoped to get up to Tokyo to see my host sister, but the bullet train was sold out due to a holiday weekend. My host brother now has 3 kids, ages 5-10, so all the kids had a great time together. I will post an enormous blog of Japan pics in a couple of days. We enjoyed being there very much , and found it very relaxing -- its a much more orderly view of Asia than living in China..

Now we have 2 days in Hong Kong, and big plans to go to Victoria Peak to see the skyline, ride the ferry in the Harbor and weathter permitting MAY venture to the Empire of the Mouse tomorrow (we are not telling the kids in case it doesn't work out). Seems a shame to waste a day in Hong Kong at Disney, but I have no money for shopping anyway, and who wants to drag three kids window shopping all day! I am sure we will find lots of time for walking the city -- my other goal while here...so far it looks fantastic and the hotel in Kowloon is reasonable and nice, though no harbour views for us!!!

Message to Brett, my recent commenter -- I need your email address to contact you and would love to answer all your questions about Xiamen. Post your email address to the blog -- I will keep it private and not publish it!