Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Things We Miss...
By being expats and living overseas, we often have to miss things we would rather not. Like, my sister's HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION! I am so proud of her and want to say "CONGRATULATIONS sis"! I wish I could have been there, but she'll have to wait for a congratulatory hug until July.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Truck Overload
This is a COMMON site here in Beijing. This truck was going by our house - and stuff started to fall off the back. I took the picture when they were starting to pile stuff back onto the truck. The end of the truckbed is right at the left side of the gate.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
No censoring?
I'm sitting here watching CNN International and they just did 2 stories on China that did not get blacked out. Occassionally, the TV will go black when there is a story on CNN or the Australian Channel (ABC) that the censors don't want to be shown in China. I am quite surprised that one of these 2 stories made it through the censors - as it does not make the government look good. One story was about some rioting that has been going on in rural villages regarding the enforcement of the "one child policy". Apparently, there have been government officials going around trashing peoples houses and belongings if the women don't agree to forced sterilization or birth control, along with fines up to 10 times the annual salary of these villagers.
Guardian Unlimited Story on Riots
The other story was interesting and funny as it was a CNN reporter going into one of the major "designer" markets to buy knock offs (looked like Silk Street Market to me). It was funny to see him haggling and dealing just like we have to everytime we shop at a market. He was able to buy a whole "designer" outfit for around $100, uncluding socks, underwear and a "rolex" watch. One reason I love shopping in the States, even if it is more expensive - I know I'm getting something that is going to last longer than one wash.
Article on Silk Street This is an article I found doing some searching on silk street market. The only reason tourists go there is to buy fake designer labels at a cheap price. I find it hilarious that there are people reporting less fakes being sold. Two years ago, the market was sued by some international brand names. I believe they don't sell those fakes anymore (although if you bring a picture of anything you are looking for, I bet there is someone there who can show you the same "fake" piece either in "the back" or "under the table". I mean this literally.).
Guardian Unlimited Story on Riots
The other story was interesting and funny as it was a CNN reporter going into one of the major "designer" markets to buy knock offs (looked like Silk Street Market to me). It was funny to see him haggling and dealing just like we have to everytime we shop at a market. He was able to buy a whole "designer" outfit for around $100, uncluding socks, underwear and a "rolex" watch. One reason I love shopping in the States, even if it is more expensive - I know I'm getting something that is going to last longer than one wash.
Article on Silk Street This is an article I found doing some searching on silk street market. The only reason tourists go there is to buy fake designer labels at a cheap price. I find it hilarious that there are people reporting less fakes being sold. Two years ago, the market was sued by some international brand names. I believe they don't sell those fakes anymore (although if you bring a picture of anything you are looking for, I bet there is someone there who can show you the same "fake" piece either in "the back" or "under the table". I mean this literally.).
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Ashley's birthday!
Ashley's birthday is tomorrow - she'll be SIX years old! She is growing up so fast. We had a party for her on Friday, after school. We'd invited her whole class (24 kids!) at her request. Luckily, the clubhouse here is able to cater kids birthday parties, including bouncy castles, so I didn't have a ton of work to do. I got her a cake from a wonderful bakery here called Exquisite. The price was HIGH - but the cake was GORGEOUS. A pink and purple castle. She loved it and it tasted wonderful. Reminded me of the cakes my mom made when I was growing up. The cake was strawberry flavor with buttercream icing. Yummy. We had the party in a small park across the street from our clubhouse - next to a little pond. It was a beautiful sunny day and just perfect for a party. Anthony did some games such as "Simon Says" and "Hot Potato" and "Musical Chairs". I think Musical Chairs was the favorite. The kids really seemed to enjoy that one. It was pretty overwhelming to have 20 kids (I think that's how many showed up) at the party but it turned out well and Ashley was thrilled with her party. We started a new tradition of not opening up gifts at the party - from what I've seen, only Americans do this at parties - it worked out really well. We were able to slow the process down and have Ashley open up a few at a time over the weekend so she could really enjoy them.
I've had a cold, so that hasn't been too fun. Luckly, Anthony was home this weekend for the party and for letting me get some much needed rest. He just left this evening to go back to Shanghai. It sucks when he leaves and we are definitely getting tired of this back and forth thing. I will be so relieved when we are all together in Shanghai.
I've had a cold, so that hasn't been too fun. Luckly, Anthony was home this weekend for the party and for letting me get some much needed rest. He just left this evening to go back to Shanghai. It sucks when he leaves and we are definitely getting tired of this back and forth thing. I will be so relieved when we are all together in Shanghai.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Cute Video from Thailand
I posted this video yesterday. It's a few months old, from our last trip to Thailand. Whenever I watch it, I am so proud of Ashley. She's such an outgoing brave little girl who isn't afraid of much. She was thrilled to get to go up on the elephant and she was so happy when he did a little trick - turn your volume up and listen closely at around 7 seconds she squealls with delight.
Liz, on other hand, was cowering in fright as close to me as possible - trying to make herself as small as possible. She's not a big fan of animals - big or small! Oh, the differences between siblings!
Liz, on other hand, was cowering in fright as close to me as possible - trying to make herself as small as possible. She's not a big fan of animals - big or small! Oh, the differences between siblings!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Ryken loves to dance
Here's a video of Ryken dancing in the car to his favorite music - the soundtrack to Curious George - Jack Johnson & Friends. He makes me smile and giggle everytime he dances.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
And on a lighter note...
Liz can now ride her bike WITHOUT training wheels! She decided she wanted to do this last week and she did it. Anthony only had to help her out just a few times and she got the hang of it rather quickly. She's still a little wobbly in her steering so no tours just yet. Maybe another "L Armstrong" in the making :)
Where does it come from?
Where does the product you are using come from?
This is something that has become an important question to me. While in the States, I didn’t really ever think about this. I simply trusted that anything being sold in the States was of good quality. It never occurred to me that it would matter. But here, in China, this is a big question. And in light of the recent event of contaminated pet food across the world, which came from China, I would say it is also a big question all over the world. It is amazing what gets exported here into the States and other countries, with little to no quality control. In China, anything can be faked, forged, replicated, reproduced, changed, etc. If it costs them less or makes them more money, they will do it, no matter what the cost. I do believe that this stems from a lack of education and not that these people really want to harm others.
Click on this to read an article from the NYTimes. This is one extremely sad case where someone decided it would be easier and cheaper to substitute a lethal product for sugar in medications, which was then shipped out over the world.
Being here in China, I hear all sorts of horror stories about China. Some examples of things I’ve read or been told (possibly just gossip) are (this is just from my memory and may or may not be completely true):
The pollution is so bad that metals are sinking in the ground from the air and contaminating farming fields.
Don’t trust your bottled water, even with a name brand on it, it could be fake (one company here has set up a number system on stickers where you can go to a website and check to make sure it is a real bottle that hasn’t been used before).
See that man spraying “water” on the side of the road? It’s not water, it’s “medicine” for the insects or pesticides, which is now all over your car because you drove past him as he was spraying it everywhere.
Be careful of medicines you buy here in China, even from reputable pharmacies, they may be fake or sugar pills.
Name brand liquor sold here is often diluted down with cheaper liquor or water.
The furniture you buy that is made here could be harmful to you and your children as it’s possibly made with toxic paint, toxic wood and toxic glue.
Shrimp farms use antibiotics to treat the shrimp, along with banned pesticides in the water to prevent algae buildup (figures I’ve seen are roughly 70-80% of the WORLDS shrimp comes from China)
Now, it appears that with all the export business going on with China, these sub-standards are going out across the world. Along with my most recent post about challenging yourself to go “greener” and think about your impact on the world, I would also challenge you to think more about the products you use, not just food. Although it is IMPOSSIBLE to know exactly where everything you have is coming from – just being aware of this and trying to buy some things locally is a good idea. I find it a bit ironic that many people with only buy American made cars, claiming that they want to support the local people and not foreign industry, but there is no big push to buy locally made food, grocery products, clothes etc. I do understand that the cost of buying locally made items tends to be higher and in order to save money, people need to buy the cheaper items which are usually imported in from other countries. I am not saying never to buy imported items, just to be aware of what you are buying and where it is coming from.
I also find it quite interesting that all those items you buy in the States that are “made in china” are usually impossible to find in the country itself. And when you do find something that seems like a great product you could find back home, it is often either a forgery or something that doesn’t work right or has problems. So, the government here allows quality control on items that are being exported but if it’s being sold in the country, there is no quality control. For example, I’ve heard that if there is something that doesn’t pass inspections or quality control on the way to export, it just gets turned around and sold here in the country. So, a piece of furniture may have paint used on it that contains lead – this wouldn’t be allowed to be sold in other countries, so they just sell it here. It doesn’t matter what gets sold here. There is so little education here about the quality of things, they have no idea that what they may be using could injure or kill them.
I’m sure this probably just seems like a big ‘ole ramble – at least it seems rambling as I write it. Hopefully, it comes across better than I feel I’ve stated it.
The next question I’m sure to hear is “why do you continue living and working over there then?”! At some point, I’ll try to address that question.
This is something that has become an important question to me. While in the States, I didn’t really ever think about this. I simply trusted that anything being sold in the States was of good quality. It never occurred to me that it would matter. But here, in China, this is a big question. And in light of the recent event of contaminated pet food across the world, which came from China, I would say it is also a big question all over the world. It is amazing what gets exported here into the States and other countries, with little to no quality control. In China, anything can be faked, forged, replicated, reproduced, changed, etc. If it costs them less or makes them more money, they will do it, no matter what the cost. I do believe that this stems from a lack of education and not that these people really want to harm others.
Click on this to read an article from the NYTimes. This is one extremely sad case where someone decided it would be easier and cheaper to substitute a lethal product for sugar in medications, which was then shipped out over the world.
Being here in China, I hear all sorts of horror stories about China. Some examples of things I’ve read or been told (possibly just gossip) are (this is just from my memory and may or may not be completely true):
The pollution is so bad that metals are sinking in the ground from the air and contaminating farming fields.
Don’t trust your bottled water, even with a name brand on it, it could be fake (one company here has set up a number system on stickers where you can go to a website and check to make sure it is a real bottle that hasn’t been used before).
See that man spraying “water” on the side of the road? It’s not water, it’s “medicine” for the insects or pesticides, which is now all over your car because you drove past him as he was spraying it everywhere.
Be careful of medicines you buy here in China, even from reputable pharmacies, they may be fake or sugar pills.
Name brand liquor sold here is often diluted down with cheaper liquor or water.
The furniture you buy that is made here could be harmful to you and your children as it’s possibly made with toxic paint, toxic wood and toxic glue.
Shrimp farms use antibiotics to treat the shrimp, along with banned pesticides in the water to prevent algae buildup (figures I’ve seen are roughly 70-80% of the WORLDS shrimp comes from China)
Now, it appears that with all the export business going on with China, these sub-standards are going out across the world. Along with my most recent post about challenging yourself to go “greener” and think about your impact on the world, I would also challenge you to think more about the products you use, not just food. Although it is IMPOSSIBLE to know exactly where everything you have is coming from – just being aware of this and trying to buy some things locally is a good idea. I find it a bit ironic that many people with only buy American made cars, claiming that they want to support the local people and not foreign industry, but there is no big push to buy locally made food, grocery products, clothes etc. I do understand that the cost of buying locally made items tends to be higher and in order to save money, people need to buy the cheaper items which are usually imported in from other countries. I am not saying never to buy imported items, just to be aware of what you are buying and where it is coming from.
I also find it quite interesting that all those items you buy in the States that are “made in china” are usually impossible to find in the country itself. And when you do find something that seems like a great product you could find back home, it is often either a forgery or something that doesn’t work right or has problems. So, the government here allows quality control on items that are being exported but if it’s being sold in the country, there is no quality control. For example, I’ve heard that if there is something that doesn’t pass inspections or quality control on the way to export, it just gets turned around and sold here in the country. So, a piece of furniture may have paint used on it that contains lead – this wouldn’t be allowed to be sold in other countries, so they just sell it here. It doesn’t matter what gets sold here. There is so little education here about the quality of things, they have no idea that what they may be using could injure or kill them.
I’m sure this probably just seems like a big ‘ole ramble – at least it seems rambling as I write it. Hopefully, it comes across better than I feel I’ve stated it.
The next question I’m sure to hear is “why do you continue living and working over there then?”! At some point, I’ll try to address that question.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Vacation Week Over
We had a great week with Anthony home on vacation and the girls off of school. I got to go away for some much needed ALONE time for 2 nights! Anthony put me up at the Hyatt downtown for 2 nights. I spent a lot of time reading, walking and window shopping. It was enjoyable, even with the masses of people around due to the May holiday.
Anthony and I also got a night away by ourselves - without the kids! The first time since before Ryken was born (unless you count the night we spent in the hospital while I had surgery on my nose, not exactly romantic, but hey, there were no kids). We left the kids with the ayi and went about 1.5 hours away. It was weird not being right there with them, but we trust the ayi and she loves our kids so much. They did great and had a good time without us. It was also wonderful to have a super happy excited greeting by the kids when we got home.
We stayed the night at a place on the wall - in a little "cabin" made to look like a little cave. Other than lots of bugs in the place, it was a really nice place. To walk about 1 minute and be on the wall was also pretty cool. It was a neat part of the wall, not restored, so harder to climb and but cool to look at. I didn't climb as much as I wanted due to my still sore ankle.
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