Wednesday, September 2, 2009
















Hello hello hello! Or I should probably say Ni hao! We have been in China now for seven weeks. So sorry we have not been able to keep you all posted; we were unable to access this site until yesterday.

So anyway we are doing great!! Got here late on the 14th of July and have been settling in. Darryl is hard at work; the kids are in school, and I (Mindy) am keeping busy teaching Alaina at home and making friends and learning Chinese. It is a very hard language, but any language is learnable if you are forced to speak it to survive. Fortunately we do have some people around us who speak English and who help us when it's really necessary.

Darryl and I celebrated our 19th anniversary on Aug. 17 by going out to a business dinner with his staff and some visiting colleagues. Not very romantic, I admit, but fun. On the 28th I celebrated my 42nd birthday (43rd in China; they count you one year old when you are born.) Our Ayi (part-time housekeeper/cook) made an elaborate and delicious dinner, and some friends came over to play cards. I got to spend the day with my friend Heidi too. Over all a very nice birthday (sheng ri in Mandarin).

We have spent some time exploring the areas around where we live. It is a beautiful city. The area we live in is called Kaifaqu. We are right on the yellow sea, and we have several ocean beaches, one very near our apartment. We've walked down a couple of times and explored. There is also a big hill behind us with a UFO-really!-that Darryl and I like to climb in the evenings when we get a chance.

The weather has been hot and humid but is finally cooling down. They tell us we are headed into autumn now, and we are grateful for the relief.

Now that we can access this site I will try to keep you posted regularly. Enjoy the photos and leave a comment if you'd like!

2 comments:

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  2. It is SO great to get an update from you! It would be wonderful to keep track of your grand adventures in China. If you get some time for reading on this website (while you have access), check out my blog for updates on my life http://emosback86@blogspot.com. I'm just about to start my student teaching and am very excited/scared! Hope all is well and the adjustment to life in China is not too jarring.- Lizzy Mosback

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