Subway Collapse

Don't know if this made the news in the US or not...I found it quite disturbing.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/30/content_5917218.htm

What to do?

on a bright, sunny, beautiful RARE day here in Beijing, with three children, no husband and no ayi...go to Chaoyang Park! This is a wonderful park which has some great amusement rides for the kids. I wouldn't say that everything is in great condition (I mean, we are in China!), but most of them are rideable. The girls had a blast in the big jumpy castle - they probably ran around for an hour or so, while I tried speaking Chinese to lots of elderly Chinese women who ohed and ahed over our "pong" (Fat) baby boy. He was sitting in the stroller and got lots of attention. One lady was very attentive and kept speaking to me over and over again, but I could not understand anything she was saying. Luckily, a Chinese woman from England who spoke both English and Chinese, was able to tell me that the woman was from Shichuan (not sure about the spelling) and had a very strong accent for that region - so it wasn't just me and my bad understanding of Chinese, it was her strong accent!

The girls had lots of fun going on rides at the park - Ashley even went on her first real roller coaster ride - it lasted about 20 seconds - but it counts in my book. We walked a ton and got to see some cherry blossom trees blooming, which are beautiful. All the kids were exhausted when we got home.

I probably shouldn't have walked so much on my leg, but being cooped up in the house surely would have driven me more insane than I already am. I saw the doc today and was informed that I stretched the ligaments in this last fall and may have even tore some of them - we'll have to wait for 3 more weeks to see how the healing process is going. It still hurts quite a bit and I don't have full range of movement on the ankle. I'm supposed to stay off of it as much as possible, keep it elevated and wrapped for another 3 weeks. Fun, fun, fun. Not so easy to do! Especially now that the weather is finally turning nice - it's sunny and bright and getting warmer.

Funny China Story Time

Dog in hospital after mating(China Daily)Updated: 2007-03-27 09:22

A male dog in Chengdu, Sichuan, had to receive an intravenous drip in hospital after being given Viagra and made to mate with three female dogs on a single day.
Wang, the dog's owner, has been very busy since mating season arrived. Her dog is considered handsome, and many owners of female dogs want her dog to sire puppies with their pets. Wang can earn more than 1,000 yuan ($128) per breeding session, so in order to boost her earnings she fed her dog Viagra and made it mate with three female dogs last Sunday. The effort was apparently strenuous enough that the dog had to be taken to hospital.

(Chengdu Evening News)

She can ride on two wheels

Ashley can ride a bike without training wheels! We are all so excited for her. She’s wanted to do this for months and has been trying, but she’s been scared. We knew she could do it, if she got enough confidence in herself and her abilities. And this weekend, she did it. At first, we needed to help her get going, but then she figured that out too. We are working on going around corners and bumpy paths. She fell on the way to school this morning, but I made sure she was wearing pants on the way, so she didn’t skin her knees. Her friend, Kathleen, gave her a card congratulating her on riding her bike without training wheels and Ashley just beamed.

Day by Day

Anthony has started his job in Shanghai. He flies there on Sunday evenings and comes back to Beijing on Thursday night. It is hard having him gone for the week, although we stay so busy with the kids after school activities that it does go by quickly.

Things got a bit hairy last week when I took a fall (yes, again!) and twisted my ankle. I thought it was allright, but once I tried to stand up afterwards, I couldn’t put any pressure on it. So, off I went to the doctor. Thank goodness for the ayi and for friends as they were all able to take care of the kids at the last minute so I could go. They did Xrays and determined that nothing was broken, just a bad sprain. My foot swelled up and is now mostly purple and yellow. I was on crutches for a few days and did a lot of butt crawling up and down the stairs. It’s getting better, but it’s definitely a day by day thing. I’m hoping soon I can fit it into a regular shoe and can stop wearing my slippers everywhere.

Ashley and Liz are both taking swimming lessons now. We had a major breakthrough 2 weeks ago when Liz put her head in the water while wearing goggles – because Liz did it, then Ashley did it – so we have finally gotten past that part. Liz is much more into learning how to swim and enjoys putting her head in and swimming around – she’s trying to see how long she can stay underwater – if she can beat her swim instructor. Ashley, on the other hand, is very much ready to just doggie paddle her way through the water without getting her head wet in anyway. So, the instructor sure does have his work cut out for him.

Some Videos

I've posted some videos on Youtube...

Ryken's First Attempts at Walking

Liz taking video without me knowing it

Watch This Movie

Today, I was privileged to be able to watch the Oscar Winning Movie “The Blood of Yingzhou District”. Although what I watched was not the original full length movie that won the Oscar – it was a modified, shortened version that has been released in China – only for viewing by private audiences and not for distribution (at least I think that’s what was said) – apparently the gov’t here wouldn’t approve the full version (about 10 minutes longer) for viewing because it shows the gov’t here in a bad way. Anyway, the film is great, very sad and disturbing. It’s about AIDS orphans in remote villages in southern China. I am glad that attention is being brought to this horrible situation. If you get a chance, please go see this film – it is so amazing that this has happened and is going on in the present day and age. I was told today that the movie is being released across the US in small theatres and this summer, in June, the movie will be shown on the Discovery Channel. Keep an eye out for it, definitely worth watching.

Let it snow, let it snow

photo from http://www.china.org.cn/english/environment/201455.htm

It snowed last night here in Beijing! We went out for dinner at Hatsune, our favorite Japanese restaurant - I absolutely LOVE sushi now - and then went out to a "cuban" bar for a few drinks. While sitting in the bar, I kept looking outside, thinking how the raindrops were so big, I could see them really clearly through the window. That's when I realized it was snow - and it quickly piled up. It was a beautiful drive home through the snow. The ground is warm, so it was mainly just slush - no real fear of it turning into ice as it wasn't cold enough. The girls played in the snow today, making snowmen, until some boys came and knocked the snowmen over (boys are MEAN!). Most of it melted by the end of the day. It was nice to see some snow though - it's the first precipitation we've had here since December 31st. Hopefully, it will clean some of the air up for a few days.

And the Fireworks Continue...

http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/200697.htm

Just read this article online, after listening to the fireworks here nonstop, insane for the last 2 hours. Took a long time to get the kids to bed tonight it is so loud - well, Ryken and Liz anyway. Ashley is the heaviest sleeper I have ever known so it doesn't bother her. So, according to the article, this should be the last night of fireworks 'till next year. I am really hoping so as I am seriously tired of the constant barrage of noise every night!

Ryken's One Year Stats

Ryken went in for his one year checkup and got his height, weight and head circumference measured. For those interested, here are the results.

Weight 12.5 kg or 27.5 lbs

Height 79.2 cm or 31.2 inches

Head 48.8 cm or 19.2 inches

Basically, what all that means, is that he's a big, happy and healthy boy. He's above the 90th percentile for everything.