Odds and Ends from Winter

Despite the abundant snow and cold weather that last winter brought, we had some nice days as well . . . some more Kentucky-like winter days, as it were. In January, we did some urban hiking and started geocaching, something that the kids really enjoy.

Lutece is standing on the ice in the fountain, thus proving that it really is winter.

The Arboretum has a couple of geocaches, so that was a good destination.

We also rang in the New Year with fondue. Natch.

And since this is a random post of "odds and ends from winter," I need no transition to write about my own MOST MEMORABLE event from last winter. In February, I smashed my face against a plaster wall in our house and ended up with some pretty nasty bruises and a gnarly black eye.* Here is a not-so-scary picture of me about a week after the incident.

This is the scary picture I took of myself because the plastic surgeon told me to take one without make-up just in case I needed any further work done. Yup, this is me in all my 44-year-old injured glory . . . for posterity. I really need to get better at taking selfies :).

* I was running up the stairs in an attempt to straighten up the house before my visiting teacher arrived. I tripped near the top of the landing and stopped my fall with my face (cheekbone and brow). It was excruciatingly painful and I honestly thought I had shattered my cheekbone, or at least fractured it. If I hadn't already been in shock, I would have been scared witless . . . well, I think I was that too. Luckily, I have a friend at Church who is a plastic surgeon. He checked over my face and told me everything seemed fine, that the swelling would be worst on the third day, that the bruising would go away after about three weeks, and to call him if I was still worried. Everything happened just as he'd said, except that the pain persisted for at least two months. I must have severely bruised the bones in my face. I still have a small hematoma on my brow fully FIVE months later. Unreal! 

Red River Gorge

Labor Day weekend was a lovely three-day weekend in Kentucky, and it was also Phoenix's birthday weekend, so we tried to make the most of it. On Saturday, we tagged along with our friends the Kotters to hike Natural Bridge at Red River Gorge.

I'd prepared the kids for this day trip all week long since it was going to be a fun day. We would hike up to Natural Bridge and explore a little before heading down. Then, we planned to enjoy pizza at Miguel's Pizza before going swimming at the lodge located at the base of the trail. Super fun, right!?!

I thought so, and I think, at some point, so did the kids. Sadly, they were so dang grumpy that Saturday morning that we spent half of the hike having to discipline them for unkind (and UNacceptable) behavior.

Sleep deprivation? I have no idea, but Phoenix was annoying and Lutece was annoyed. At one point, as she was crossing over this famed natural rock structure, I saw her pass Phoenix and punch him in the chest. When I caught up with her to put her in a time-out (yes, on the top of the mountain), she told me she was just getting back at him for bonking her in the head with his backpack. Sigh. So. Much. Fun.

Needless to say, we had to separate them for a long portion of the hike, and I was a little mortified that our friends had to witness our discord (even though they claimed ignorance of any contention).

We tried to distract them with the promise of wasp nests and giant spiders.

They finally settled down a little by the end of the hike and we were able to enjoy the beautiful view of Natural Bridge at a look-out point on the way down.

At least Stayc and I were happy together.

After a good meal of pizza, we changed into swimsuits and headed for the pool, which is, as I mentioned, at the base of the trail. We've seen it on our other numerous hikes at Natural Bridge, but never actually thought of going swimming there.

It turned out to be fairly inexpensive and a wonderful end to a hot day. Not to mention the fact that the pool is located in a beautiful and peaceful setting. The outing ended much better than it began . . . and you can bet the kids got an early bedtime that night.

The Great Wall Fiasco

I've already mentioned that this trip to Beijing was easily our worst vacation in China. I've talked about our failed attempt to visit a different section of the Great Wall on Saturday. I've even mentioned tantrums, emotional breakdowns, and yes, dirty germ-ridden hands. Believe me when I tell you that this is a sugar-coated version of our trip. There's other stuff I've simply blocked out.

Our SECOND attempt to visit the Great Wall is one of those parts I wish I could block out, but haven't been able to. So here's the sugar-coated version.

On Monday morning, our last day in Beijing (our flight left China at 6:30 p.m. that evening), after much more research, Internet searches, discussions with hotel staff, and assistance from our Chinese-speaking friend and fellow Branch member, Brother Puckett (who also happened to be in Beijing for the weekend), Stayc felt prepared to make another attempt at getting to the Great Wall at Juyongguan (I was not convinced). Oh, that we had left well-enough alone!

We took the subway to a bus, which took us to another bus, which then took us to the Great Wall. The middle bus was an unexpected surprise, and the last bus took twice as long as we expected. By the time we arrived at the Great Wall, three hours after we'd left our hotel, we only had about one hour to explore before we had to turn around and take the long journey back. Ugh. Double ugh. I do not have enough "ughs" to adequately express how depressing this thought was.

We had enough time to climb the wall for about 20 minutes, up to the first high guard tower, before heading back down again.

Fortunately, when we got back to the parking lot to catch the bus back, we were accosted by a man and his car trying to make money. He offered to drive us to the closest subway stop for 150 yuan. We talked him down to 100 yuan or $15.00 (even though I was ABSOLUTELY certain we would pay whatever was necessary) and bypassed the buses altogether. It cut about 1 1/2 hours off our journey back to the hotel. Whew! It was so worth it.

The take home lesson? Learn from our mistakes! Next time you go to the Great Wall of China, pay the money to hire a private car and driver like we did in October. Do not . . . I repeat . . . do NOT attempt to get there on your own!!!!!

Of course, from the pictures, you would never know anything went amiss. Ahhh, the deceptive nature of photography.

Oh yeah, and the Wall was pretty cool.

p.s. Once again, the kids were amazing travelers throughout the whole experience. They read their Kindles since Stayc didn't want to waste the batteries on their iPods. Remember, we went from the Great Wall to our hotel to pick up our bags to the airport to get on a 14-hour flight. Honestly, I don't think the kids complained at all, which, now that I really think about it, is astounding. Our kids may be all kinds of annoying in some respects, but as travelers, they are unrivaled.

I Have Two Little Hands

. . . and that's where the similarities between Phoenix and the Church's Primary song end.

"Please don't touch the walls in the subway Phoenix." "Please don't run your hands along the park benches Phoenix." "Stand up straight and get your hands off the sidewalk Phoenix. People spit on that. Small children pee on it." "Stop running your hands on the wall Phoenix!" "PHOENIX!"

Sigh.

There isn't enough hand sanitizer in the world to handle the combination of China and Phoenix.

Temple of Heaven (and Hell)

Where do I even begin to describe our visit to the Temple of Heaven? Much like our previous day in Beijing, it was riddled with good things, bad things, and even worse things.* Still and all, it was a beautiful place and I'm glad we were able to see it, despite the tantrums, miscommunications, and travel fatigue that seemed to plague us on this outing.

I think we were all tired and not a little worn out from the previous day, not to mention anxious and emotional about leaving China. Phoenix had his first and only tantrum of the weekend in the subway en route to the Temple of Heaven. Poor kid. Poor parents.

While Stayc and I listened to the impromptu Chinese choir in the park, Lutece and Phoenix played on the rocks surrounded by signs that clearly stated "No playing on the rocks."

When in China, do as the Chinese do.

Instead of describing the rest of our visit, I think I'll just show some lovely pictures of the Temple of Heaven. That's what I would prefer to remember anyway :).

 

 Ah yes, what a lovely Temple.

* I actually just wrote the most depressing blog post based on this day and then decided to delete all of it. It was simply TOO real. Not even I want to remember how difficult this day was. Sigh. But look how pretty the Temple is!

p.s. I think this is why it's taking me so long to post the pictures about this trip. I keep waiting to give myself distance from our last visit to Beijing, hoping it will help me forget all the bad parts. Not yet. My new tack is just to post the pictures without the commentary :).

Odds and Ends

These photos were taken three weeks ago during the freak Spring heat wave.

This is truly one of my more odds-and-endsy "Odds and Ends" posts. I have a lot of random thoughts jumbled up in my brain:

1. There is no heat in our apartment anymore. We knew that the heat would be turned off for most of the city on March 15, so at least it wasn't a surprise. Still, there's no way to prepare yourself for weeks on end of being cold. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely Spring here, but what does Spring really mean? It means nights in the 30s and 40s and days in the 50s and 60s. This would be lovely if those temperatures stayed outside. It's not much fun when the inside of your home is just 10 degrees warmer than the park. No doubt this is a contributing factor in #2.

2. Homeschool has been beastly lately. It's always hard the week after we return from a vacation, however short or long that vacation is, but there's no accounting for how terrible the kids have been lately. Words cannot begin to express how tired I am of schooling my children. I will be so, so happy when this part of our year is over.

3. The kids have become accustomed to life in China. It unnerves me sometimes to see how comfortable they are here. Phoenix has certain "favorite" seats on the bus that he watches for and hovers over and snatches when he can. He was lucky on this particular bus ride. Sometimes, we get separated (you take a seat where you can find it), and the bus gets so crowded that I can't see him, but he's good at finding me, and I worry much less in China than I ever would in the US. China feels so much safer.

4. We will be returning to the United States on May 6 for Stayc's Dad's funeral (on May 9). Most likely, the kids and I will stay in the US while Stayc returns to China to finish out the school year. We are very excited to see family, but also sad to leave China (and Stayc) behind. It is bittersweet.

5. I'm feeling the urgency to see everything and do everything we can before we leave. We have trips to Qufu and Beijing in the works. This is going to be a busy month.

Traveling with Kids ~ Shanghai Edition

After eight months of "traveling," we have hit our stride. We can fit everything our family needs into two medium-sized backpacks, and it generally takes me no more than one half hour to pack for a weekend trip. The kids are well accustomed to traveling on planes, trains, buses, subways, and in taxis.

There's always room for improvement, but our four-hour train ride to Shanghai last weekend was about as good as it gets.  The kids had seats by themselves, which meant that the parents did too. There were iPods and iPads a plenty. The high-speed trains have plugs on every row so you can even charge your device while you ride. I packed a reusable bag with apples, sandwiches, drinks, and cookies for the long train ride. I felt so Chinese. We were all surprised to arrive in Shanghai so quickly.

Tip #1: Bring along lots of electronic devices and food.

Living room at the New Harbour Hotel

Another 1/2 hour metro ride brought us to our hotel, where Stayc's brother Shawn was waiting for us in the lobby. It was all so pleasant and easy. The culmination of multiple months of traveling with children, or divine assistance? I like to think it's a combination of both.

Tip #2: Pray.

Hall with two bedrooms. The kids' room had two twin beds and their own flat-screen TV.

We have learned that in Asia, serviced apartments (sometimes called apart-hotels) are the way to go. For one thing, they are generally the only rooms in a city that sleep more than two people. They also contain small kitchens, which allows us to prepare food, especially breakfasts, in our rooms. Our "apartment" in Shanghai was in a nice area of town, just a couple of blocks from the subway, and walking distance from all the sights. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, a dining area, and a kitchen. We thought it was perfect . . .

. . . until we visited Shawn's swanky hotel the next morning. He was staying at the Pudong Shangri-La, right on the river, and it was a NICE hotel . . . like, $400-a-night nice, for two twin beds.

 

Still, it's hard to beat a hotel room the same size as your apartment, with enough nooks and crannies to play a good game of hide and seek.

With two messy kids who wake up at the crack of dawn, a kitchen and dining room are irreplaceable. No, it is fun to visit the fancy hotels (more on that later), but it is more fun to stay in the average, but large and kid-friendly, apart-hotels.

Tip #3: Book apart-hotels and be content with what you have.

We didn't quite follow our kids-choose-one-meal-parents-choose-the-other-meal rule on this trip. It was a short trip and we were going non-stop. We just made sure everyone got fed. On two different days, we simply let the kids choose their meal, and then Stayc and I went somewhere we wanted to eat. Once again, iPods came in handy.

Tip #4: Don't worry so much about eating "family meals." Just get fed.

A stroll through the People's Park.

We do lots of walking in China. Lots and lots of walking.  We do even more walking when we are traveling, and we did an exceptional amount of walking in Shanghai, since much of what there is to see in Shanghai are the famous streets and neighborhoods.

Lutece and Phoenix have gotten extremely good at walking miles on end without too much complaining. Friday was our main walking day. We stopped here and there to break things up, and we ate snacks. People can do wondrous things when given sufficient snacks.

Tip #5: Don't feel guilty about ice-cream breaks.

Like I said, there's always room for improvement, but our weekend in Shanghai was much more fun than I anticipated . . . mainly because of my low expectations to begin with. I couldn't have been more wrong. Shanghai was delightful! Stay tuned for details from the weekend.

Odds and Ends

1. I have been getting a few of my minor medical needs met at the local pharmacy in China. The above medicine will hold special meaning to the Hendricks side of the family, as nearly all of us suffer from the horrible malady of fever blisters. It is over-the-counter medication here and costs about $3.00 for a prescription. This is something I will miss.

2. Stayc brought a boat-load of candy back from the United States last week, including a huge bag of Haribo gummi bears, a personal favorite of mine. After a few days of unexplainable depression, irritability, and anxiety, I have realized that my mood swings are directly related to my vast intake of gummi bears (i.e., pure sugar). I am now detoxing from my sugar high and have hid the bears in a random location in the house wherein I will try to forget about them. Sigh.

3. We are headed to Shanghai today for a weekend trip. Stayc's brother Shawn is speaking at a conference there, so we planned our visit to overlap with his trip. It is a long train ride (3.75 hours), but it should be a fun weekend. Our iPads are loaded with books and movies. We are ready to go!

Big City Living

We've lived in Jinan for nearly seven months now and we've gotten used to the place. It is a huge city by American standards, and we have certainly not seen the entire thing, but we have done our fair share of exploring. We are familiar with multiple bus routes, many shopping areas, and most of the touristy sites in town.

Sometimes I look around and realize that not only did we move from the US to China, but we also moved from a cozy neighborhood setting to big city living. Jinan is certainly not Beijing or Shanghai with their looming skylines full of skyscrapers, but it is definitely a CITY.

Sometimes I wonder if it will be jarring to return home to the quaint neighborhoods of Lexington and the expansive rolling hills of Kentucky. Jarring, yet wonderful. I'm not ready to leave China just yet, but neither has Jinan convinced me that I am a big city girl. I'll take my quaint neighborhood any day.

The REAL Face of Chinese New Year

When we returned home from Xi'an to Jinan two days after Chinese New Year, we found a ghost town. Our once busy marketplace was closed up for the New Year. There were some people out on the streets walking dogs or children, but for the most part, the streets were deserted and quiet.

Our neighborhood food market was also locked up tight with no signs of opening. (In fact, it didn't open back up until a full week after the holiday.) Since we had just come home to a nearly empty refrigerator after a six-day vacation, this was a little alarming. Fortunately, we had many food staples in our cabinets, and Stayc's lead teacher had given us a large batch of homemade dumplings for the New Year that were safely tucked away in our freezer. Still, a family needs some fresh food!

The only shop open was a fruit store. They were selling packaged fruit ready to be gifted.

We scoured the stores and markets within a two-mile radius of our apartment and found none open, but more than the usual amount of fruit and alcohol vendors on every corner.* Both items, it would seem, are common New Year's gifts. Vegetables, however, were in short supply, and by short supply, I mean non-existent. We finally found a small green-grocer open, and we greedily loaded up on fresh vegetables. It was an answer to my silent prayer.

For a full week after New Year's Day, there were fireworks every night. The kids were excited the first couple of nights, but they quickly lost interest after about the fourth night. There are only so many fireworks a person can take, especially when they start right about the time you are trying to go to sleep.

Thankfully, there was a lull in the fireworks during the second week after New Year's, but on the last day of the official holiday, the Lantern Festival, the firecrackers went off all day long and the fireworks all evening and into the night.

We had great plans to take the kids out on the night of the Lantern Festival to see all the children running around with their lanterns and to carry some of their own. Great plans, I tell you. However, even the best plans can go amiss. Alas, we all contracted the worst stomach virus we have ever experienced as a family on the weekend of the Lantern Festival. Stayc and I were the last to get it, and on the day of the Festival, we lay in bed all day long trying not to throw up while the kids (thankfully) played peacefully in their room. While we tried to get some much needed sleep, there was a war zone of fireworks going on in the streets below. It was, without a doubt, our worst day yet in China.

If I have to hear one more firework, I might just cry. Two full weeks of celebration is TOO long.

* The large supermarkets like Tesco and RT-Mart were open, but with slim fresh food offerings. In fact, so picked-over and unsavory were the vegetables at Tesco that I couldn't bring myself to buy any.