Crunchy Leaves

Fall is quickly turning to winter, and the leaves are beginning to fall off the trees. It seems like we only had a couple of days of the leaves in yellow. I think they went from green to brown overnight. The great thing is that the leaves are falling so quickly that the street sweepers can't keep up... You see, for some reason, the Chinese are obsessive about clean streets. At least three times a day, a truck spraying water all over the street drives past, followed an hour or so later by a truck that brushes the streets. On top of all this, there are tons of men and women whose sole job is to sweep the sidewalks, lest any leaf or trash hit the ground. (One day, I even saw a sweeper lady stick her broom in the tree to shake down all the loose leaves before they could even fall! And this was in a grassy park... Not even a sidewalk.) The sidewalk sweepers are so good that until now, they swept up the leaves so quickly that the sidewalks never quite had that "fall look" with brown leaves covering the ground.

But, back to my point... Now that the leaves are falling so quickly, the sweepers can't keep up! And even if it's a month or so late, it looks like fall outside. And today when walking around campus, I got to step on all kinds of brown, crunchy leaves. Maybe you aren't one of those people that appreciates walking on the crunchy leaves during autumn; but if you are, you will completely understand why this made my day!

And then comes the Christmas Season...

So, as is tradition in my family, we put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving here. Finding a Christmas tree in China is an adventure, but there were several options at a couple of the supermarkets here. Instead of buying ornaments this year, I decided it would be fun if my friends and I made them. So, here are some pics of decorating night. We had a great time listening to Christmas music, eating popcorn, making ornaments and just chatting! Matt's designated job was popcorn popper, at which he was great! :-)

Thanksgiving in China...

We've just celebrated our first Thanksgiving in China. It took us a while to "feel" like it was Thanksgiving, without all the hoop-la, parades, football and family. Thanksgiving day was a work day here for us, so Matt just had Chinese food with his students. A couple of the girl teachers and I had a small Thanksgiving meal with barbecue chicken, potatoes, even pumpkin pie; and it was quite yummy, but still not quite Thanksgiving.

But on Friday, we had planned a second meal with some other foreign teachers since many of us have Fridays off. We began the morning talking with family back home, and then I spent the day cooking cornbread stuffing, a cake, and pie crusts(all from scratch!), as well as cleaning the apartment. And Matt spent the day running errands and licking the spoon from my chocolate icing. Yes... it was beginning to feel like Thanksgiving.

By the time six o'clock came around, we were definitely in the holiday spirit (with a little help from the "autumn leaves"-scented candle from my mom and the Thanksgiving napkins from Matt's mom). We had a delicious traditional Thanksgiving dinner with stuffing, green bean casserole, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, apple pie and cake (minus the turkey, plus some KFC buckets of chicken). We even followed dinner by watching the season's first Christmas movie!

Winter and Holiday Times!

This week has definitely turned cold and reminded us that winter is on the way. Matt has a toboggan permanently attached to his head, and even I have resorted to wearing the long-johns a couple of days. The amazing thing is that it is actually colder inside than outside. I'm not sure how this can be, but it's true. The rain that brought the cold also brought clear skies for a day. (Well, it's still a bit hazy, but it's what we call clear.)


With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, it seems a bit odd to be here and not at home. It really doesn't seem like Thanksgiving at all. Nonetheless, we've been teaching our students about the holiday and its significance both in the 1600's and now. I'm mostly excited that Thanksgiving means that Christmas is right around the corner! We have our Christmas tree and have plans to put it up and decorate on Saturday, along with some students. We'll post some pictures once it's up!

Fun and Games

Last week, the students on Amy's campus had a carnival, of sorts. There were booths with games and prizes (tissue paper and laundry detergent). The object here was to blow the ping-pong ball hard enough to land in the fourth cup. I couldn't do it, but my student did!

My Famous Husband

So, we live in Hangzhou, but Matt actually works in a city called Xiasha, a suburb of sorts. Xiasha is considered an economic/educational zone of Hangzhou. Basically, the land is cheaper in Xiasha, so businesses and colleges have moved there to cut costs.

In any case, Xiasha has its own monthly magazine of things going on around town, etc. And who is going to be on the cover of the December issue? That's right... Matt. On Thursday, a photographer came to his class to take some pictures of him with some of his students. The actual photograph will be turned into an illustration and used for the magazine cover. It's funny what being one of the few foreigners in a town will do for you!

New Looks...

So, I recently got my hair chopped! It's about an inch or two below my ears in the front and a little shorter in the back. It's super easy in the mornings... and I feel very trendy!

Oh, and Matt cut his hair, too. No new style for him... Just a funny picture! (Notice how he is squatting like the Chinese people do!)

So Many People

No surprise, but there are lots of people in China. This is Bus 25, which we ride at least once or twice a week. The bus is a pretty popular one, as it goes into the heart of downtown. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near the most crowded we have seen it.

What a Fun Week!

Both Matt and I have had lots of fun this week! We've realized that students love playing games! We both spent much of Wednesday afternoon and night teaching students Uno, Spades, Golf and lots of fun camp games, like Slap-Clap-Snap and "Honey, if you love me...." How great that we also love to play games! It's like it was meant to be. :-)

The Street Where We Live

So, this is the street where we live. Looking at this picture, our school is about half a block to the right. This street is called BaoChu Lu. We love this part of the street... It is very convenient for us.


The store with the black sign on the very left is a camera shop that can also develop pictures. Two shops over is a shop where I often buy this yummy onion/sesame bread. It's a great snack for the afternoon! Next to that is our favorite milk tea shop. (I have tried many milk tea shops and can definitely say this one is the best!) Next to that is a yucky restaurant. But then we have a second-hand store that sells just about everything... We've bought everything from screwdrivers to plungers to kitchen utensils and lighters there! After that is a store that sells eggs, flours and beans. And then the big store with the orange sign is the fruit market.

LongJing Tea Village

On Fridays, we usually try to spend the day together, just the two of us, since most of the week is pretty busy with everything else! Yesterday, we went to LongJing Tea Village, which is in the south of our city. The tea is the most famous type of green tea, and the people here are very proud of it. It is a beautiful area with a waterfall and mountains!

Click the picture below to see a photo album of more pictures.

LongJing Tea Village

What Great Friends...

Wow!

Thanks so much to our friends for sending some yummy treats, a video of a UT game, some encouraging notes and the Sports page from Knoxville. This picture doesn't even include everything! We are grateful, and we miss you. (Also thanks to the family members who have kept us in good shape.) We truly have more than we could have asked for!

Good Morning...

It's 6am here, and I'm up early putting some finishing touches on my last mid-term for the week. I thought I'd start the morning with a cup of coffee and a little Chinglish...