May 1st was my last post. I don't remember for sure when blogger got blocked but it must have been sometime in May. It's still blocked but God bless the men and women who create proxy sites. However, it usually doesn't take long for good proxy sites - like the one I'm using to post right now- to get blocked. Then you have to take the time to search for other proxies and use them until they are blocked. Beat the system, baby.
So this Sat morning I'm on my lovely porch. It's off of our bedroom and looks down in to the garden of our complex. Our new complex is nothing like the old one in Xi'an but it is still nice and since we're on the 4th fl I have lots of green to look at plus some old buildings with character. If you know much about this country you'll know that they aren't much in to restoring and keeping up the old stuff. It usually gets torn down and replaced with tile covered high rises or shiny new office buildings. So when you find an old building with old style architect it is a gem. I should point out that our apartment complex is one of the new tile covered places but gives views of some of the old styles.
I haven't had the chance to go on and on about how much we like the neighborhood we live in now or how much of a blessing this new place is since Sore Thumb has been blocked. The newness of it has started to wear off now but it really is a wonderful new home. And home means everything - like the steamed bread places just up the road and the seamstress about 5 shops up the street who made all our curtains and the fresh market that literally sits on the first floor of our building. A good sized river is a block away with a nice path all along the edge. We found a man made wetlands area in a park beside the river. There's an enormous swimming complex (3 or 4 pools) that takes about 15 minutes to walk to.
We are the only foreigners living in this area of CD (Chengdu). This is an oddity since CD has a lot of foreigners. So when we started moving in and the girls were drawing the kind of attention they draw when we go to the countryside (where lots of folks have only heard of the allusive blonde baby doll), I knew something was different. When we went to the International Fellowship and people asked us where we lived and folks that had lived here in CD for years said, "Wow. I've never known of any foreigners living in that area." Our suspicions were confirmed.
The biggest advantage I see in this is that our Father knew this and wanted us right here. We also have a great feeling of community. Since the neighborhood is teeming with life by 7am and just winding down at 10pm, everyone knows us. When I go to the fresh market with only one of the girls everyone wants to know where the other girl is. When I don't check at a local store for milk for a few days and then run into one of the shopkeepers he'll ask if we need milk today because they have a couple boxes left. The mantou (steamed bread) shop owners, seamstress, dumpling shop owners, noodle makers, breakfast bread sellers, hardware shop guy and barbershop stylist, wave, nod or speak to us every time we pass by. We love it.
The disadvantage is that we are far from other foreigners which has meant that making friends for the girls has been difficult. We would love if our girls had tons of local friends and we're working on that but kids need other kids just like them to be with, too. Madeleine is taking an hour long Chinese class on Mon and Fri with 4 other little foreigners. It took the 2 of us 45 minutes to get to her class (which is held in a beautiful bakery-foreign run) because of waiting for a taxi (CD is really lacking in taxis) and then being in traffic. The bakery is in the area of town where most foreigners live. So to make play dates is difficult at best and to invite people out to our place is asking a bit much when you barely know the person. This has been one of the hardest things for me, wishing I could find more friends for Maddie. It is hard on her sometimes.
Lilian has started to walk. This past Monday she took 4 steps and then stopped. Then yesterday evening (Fri) she started again. And she started with vigor. She kept standing up on her own and taking those wobbly steps over and over. The bigger 3 of our family were so excited about it and this just made her almost giddy with pride over her greatness. We were so excited that we forgot to take pictures or video but there's always today. Unless of course she's done for a week or so.
Phil and I celebrated 9 years of marriage last week. I looked at our wedding album and noticed how young we looked (especially Phil), how that one of my bridesmaids, Emily, just got married about 2 weeks ago (she's probably 13 or so in the pictures), how my dress could have been hemmed up an inch or so more, how we didn't take a big family shot (every Aunt, Uncle, cousin), how we didn't have anywhere for people to sit at the reception. Then I thought about how much Phil and I have grown over these 9 years that we've lived in 9 different places, we have 2 children, we had a puppy for a month, we are doing what we hoped to do 9 or more years ago and we are honestly more in love now which we could have never imagined possible 9 long years ago. All of a sudden the length of my dresses hem just doesn't seem important.
Glad to be back.
So this Sat morning I'm on my lovely porch. It's off of our bedroom and looks down in to the garden of our complex. Our new complex is nothing like the old one in Xi'an but it is still nice and since we're on the 4th fl I have lots of green to look at plus some old buildings with character. If you know much about this country you'll know that they aren't much in to restoring and keeping up the old stuff. It usually gets torn down and replaced with tile covered high rises or shiny new office buildings. So when you find an old building with old style architect it is a gem. I should point out that our apartment complex is one of the new tile covered places but gives views of some of the old styles.
I haven't had the chance to go on and on about how much we like the neighborhood we live in now or how much of a blessing this new place is since Sore Thumb has been blocked. The newness of it has started to wear off now but it really is a wonderful new home. And home means everything - like the steamed bread places just up the road and the seamstress about 5 shops up the street who made all our curtains and the fresh market that literally sits on the first floor of our building. A good sized river is a block away with a nice path all along the edge. We found a man made wetlands area in a park beside the river. There's an enormous swimming complex (3 or 4 pools) that takes about 15 minutes to walk to.
We are the only foreigners living in this area of CD (Chengdu). This is an oddity since CD has a lot of foreigners. So when we started moving in and the girls were drawing the kind of attention they draw when we go to the countryside (where lots of folks have only heard of the allusive blonde baby doll), I knew something was different. When we went to the International Fellowship and people asked us where we lived and folks that had lived here in CD for years said, "Wow. I've never known of any foreigners living in that area." Our suspicions were confirmed.
The biggest advantage I see in this is that our Father knew this and wanted us right here. We also have a great feeling of community. Since the neighborhood is teeming with life by 7am and just winding down at 10pm, everyone knows us. When I go to the fresh market with only one of the girls everyone wants to know where the other girl is. When I don't check at a local store for milk for a few days and then run into one of the shopkeepers he'll ask if we need milk today because they have a couple boxes left. The mantou (steamed bread) shop owners, seamstress, dumpling shop owners, noodle makers, breakfast bread sellers, hardware shop guy and barbershop stylist, wave, nod or speak to us every time we pass by. We love it.
The disadvantage is that we are far from other foreigners which has meant that making friends for the girls has been difficult. We would love if our girls had tons of local friends and we're working on that but kids need other kids just like them to be with, too. Madeleine is taking an hour long Chinese class on Mon and Fri with 4 other little foreigners. It took the 2 of us 45 minutes to get to her class (which is held in a beautiful bakery-foreign run) because of waiting for a taxi (CD is really lacking in taxis) and then being in traffic. The bakery is in the area of town where most foreigners live. So to make play dates is difficult at best and to invite people out to our place is asking a bit much when you barely know the person. This has been one of the hardest things for me, wishing I could find more friends for Maddie. It is hard on her sometimes.
Lilian has started to walk. This past Monday she took 4 steps and then stopped. Then yesterday evening (Fri) she started again. And she started with vigor. She kept standing up on her own and taking those wobbly steps over and over. The bigger 3 of our family were so excited about it and this just made her almost giddy with pride over her greatness. We were so excited that we forgot to take pictures or video but there's always today. Unless of course she's done for a week or so.
Phil and I celebrated 9 years of marriage last week. I looked at our wedding album and noticed how young we looked (especially Phil), how that one of my bridesmaids, Emily, just got married about 2 weeks ago (she's probably 13 or so in the pictures), how my dress could have been hemmed up an inch or so more, how we didn't take a big family shot (every Aunt, Uncle, cousin), how we didn't have anywhere for people to sit at the reception. Then I thought about how much Phil and I have grown over these 9 years that we've lived in 9 different places, we have 2 children, we had a puppy for a month, we are doing what we hoped to do 9 or more years ago and we are honestly more in love now which we could have never imagined possible 9 long years ago. All of a sudden the length of my dresses hem just doesn't seem important.
Glad to be back.