Amy's Birthday

I had a great birthday. On Friday night, we celebrated with friends, complete with a cake! And on Saturday, Matt took me out to buy fabric and to the tailors to get a traditional Chinese dress made. It's called a "qipao". I'm pretty excited to see the finished result next week!

We love Spring!

In addition to the warm weather (and in spite of the allergy problems), we love Springtime and the flowering trees it brings! It just makes smile! We'll admit that we miss the dogwood trees from home, but the cherry blossoms here are really amazing! Even the fresh flowers have a spring feel to them! This is the bouquet Matt picked up on his way home yesterday for my birthday. I love all the colors!

Easter in China

As part of our celebration, we had a picnic at a park. It wasn't ham, but our egg, tuna, and PB&J sandwiches sure were yummy! We enjoyed just laying out in the grass on such a beautiful day, as well as playing games with some kids and dogs in the park--until we accidentally deflated one kid's ball...Oops.


And, my friend Joni was really excited about biting the ears off the chocolate bunny that my mom sent!

100-Year-Old Fish

There are two students that I had last semester. We always run into them at our favorite restaurant. Last time, they commented how we always eat the same foods, everytime they see us. We told them that we like these foods, and our vocabulary is pretty limited. They invited to take us out for "real" Chinese food.

So, last night, we all went to eat 100-year-old fish. As scary as it sounds (especially since I'm not a fish person), it was actually really good! It's called this because Chinese people have eaten fish this way for hundreds of years. And I can see why. After we ate most of the fish out of the wok, they filled it with water and added vegetables, mutton and tofu. We had a great time eating our "real" Chinese food and hanging out with friends.

Also, spring has come to Hangzhou! Here are a couple of pictures of the trees near our house.

Back to Normal...

Well, our friends have all left China and are probably settling into their beds right about now after a very long series of taxis, trains, subways and airplanes. We had lots of fun while they were here and appreciated them coming!

We are getting to know our new students and enjoying them very much! We are also staying in touch with some friends from last semester. These are the guys from last term that Matt still plays soccer with on most Saturday mornings, as well as the handful of girls who come to watch!

Friends Love at All Times (even if it means coming to China!)

What a great few days! We were so excited to have some friends visit us from home this week! Thank you to our friends who came all this way... just to say, "Hi" in person. It means more than we can explain.

So, here's a quick recap...
They arrived on Saturday and spent most of Sunday trying to catch up on sleep and touring around West Lake. They quickly mastered chopsticks and actually enjoyed the food (that's what they told us, anyway). Other than that...

They met some of our friends.


They ventured into the veggie and meat markets.

And, yes, they even danced in the streets of China.

No idea what this means; although, I am tempted to go in sometime and find out.

PB & J

We LOVE Chinese food. And, as everyone says, it is nothing like the Chinese food back home. It's much better here, and we actually eat a lot healthier than we ever did in the States. Of course, we have our favorites: spicy fish soup (Matt's), eggplant and tofu (mine). And while there are still some dishes we don't touch, it's pretty much delicious.

However, I say all this to preface just how grateful I am for peanut butter. Only a few years ago, there was no peanut butter in China. None. And as much as I like tofu and veggies, I still love my weekly peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It's like being a kid again... eating lunch and drinking kool-aid at my blue, Smurf picnic table on the back porch. :-) And although Matt is skeptical, I've even convinced myself that my sandwiches are somewhat healthy (peanuts have protein, jelly has fruit!).

Springtime and History

It's Amy here...

We are definitely loving Hangzhou in the springtime! I guess it's not technically spring yet, but it sure does feel like. We've even had blue skies for more than a week straight! Good-bye long underwear, Hello sandals!

I was reminded this week how much I didn't like studying History in school. It's amazing... I think I've learned more this week in preparing to teach British history than I ever learned when I was Dr. Bast's Western Civilization class at UT. I still find remembering all the dates tedious (luckily my students do, too!); but my husband, aka: the Walking History Book, has been very helpful. What a team...