USA USA!

As part of my International assignment I am given an allowance each year established specifically to travel home, visit family/friends, and take care of any appointments which are necessary in the United States.  We elected to travel home this year in July to take advantage of the beautiful Michigan summer and also to accommodate the boys summer break from school.  Our planning for our trip home began at least a month in advance as we filled the calendar (yes I literally had an Excel worksheet) with doctor appointments, social events and where we were planning to stay with family each week.  I was able to take a three week vacation with sporadic visits to the office while Natalie, Cooper and Brady stayed in the United States for approximately six weeks. 

There were so many highlights from our visit home it is hard to share them all but I will touch on a few.  Foremost we had such a wonderful time with family.  Cooper and Brady loved staying at their cousins home which included many late nights, swimming at the pool, running around the house and just having a great time at whatever they were doing.  Time with Grandmas, Papa, Great Grandparents, Aunt, Uncle and all Cousins was so refreshing and almost felt like time had stayed still as we all picked up where we left off prior to us leaving for China.  Furthermore we were able to spend so much quality time with our friends and just relax with a few laughs.

Without hesitation we placed our Pontoon boat in the water for a week of relaxation at our family cottage in Brighton.  The moments we had on the water and with friends is a part of living in Michigan that we miss very much, as a result we soaked up plenty of sun that week and the weather was amazing.  

Thanks to Aunt Stacey and Uncle Mike, Cooper and I got to go to a ball game.  Cooper and his cousin Connor even were picked to appear on the scoreboard!  As I headed back to China, Natalie and the boys had three more weeks to enjoy visiting with everyone.  I took the opportunity while away from the family to travel for work again to South Africa.  During this time they took the opportunity to visit Grandma and Papa at their home in Tennessee. Thanks to Grandma and Papa, Cooper and his cousin Connor got to travel to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and also go fishing for King Salmon!  Additionally they had a great time at the Knoxville Zoo, going on an animal safari, and relaxing on the boat amongst many other things!

 They had so much fun visiting their Grandma and Papa whom they love very much…..

Shopping, oh boy did we shop!  A few months back we made the hard decision to not travel home again until July of next year and instead visit Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji over the coming Christmas Break.  As a result we had to buy clothing for summer and winter seasons, shoes (school and leisure) for current size and another for future growth, food items hard to find in China and the list goes on and on….

So in conclusion there is so many people to thank.  Our family is amazing and we owe so much to my Sister/Brother-in-law, Grandma Joan, and Grandma Cindy and Papa Jim for opening their homes to us during our stay.  We also have some many friends to thank for making our trip home so much fun many who extended help in various forms through lending vehicles, taking time out of their busy summer schedule to spend time with us, and simply making our home visit feel so familiar and enjoyable.  We are truly blessed for all those in our lives back home in the US and also in China.  So in closing I thought I would list a few things that you may find interesting….

Things we enjoyed while in Michigan:

·         Family and Friends (always a given and I really cannot stress enough!)

·         Staring up at the blue skies and white puffy clouds, no air pollution

·         Ability to shop in one location for Groceries

·         Less people!

·         Driving a vehicle and freedom of a flexible schedule

·         English speaking population in our commonly visited places

·         Little building construction

·         Golf! OK maybe that was just me…. ;)

Things we welcomed in our return to China

·         Continuing to experience a new culture and learn each day

·         Travel, Travel, Travel… Bali in October, and in the coming year Australia/New Zealand/Fiji, Philippines, and Malaysia to name a few

·         Seeing our wonderful friends and the boys best friends in China!

·         Returning the boys to school (a little breather for Natalie) and all their extracurricular activities (as I said only a little breather for Natalie…).

·         Golf! (Ha, if I can find the time…)

·         Returning back to our international home

Suzhou – Venice of the East

I have fallen a little bit behind in my blog so this is my attempt to travel back in time to mid-June when we traveled to Suzhou, China.  This trip we explored with our great friends the Jdali Family (Pepe, Keran, Cameron, and  Kyle).  Suzhou is a major city located southeast of our home city of Nanjing and adjacent to Shanghai.  The city has a rich history and the city's canals (hence the nickname Venice of the East), stone bridges, pagodas and meticulously designed gardens makes this a tourist attraction in China.  First let me explain the term “garden” for everyone as it is not what you think of in Western terms.  The classical Chinese garden is enclosed by a wall and has one or more ponds, a rock garden, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries.  By moving from structure to structure, you can view a series of carefully-composed scenes which appear as if they were paintings brought to life.  They are beautiful places to visit and is what many would idealize in their head when they think of the beautiful and cultural elements of China.

 

So our first Stop on Friday was Master of the Nets Garden.  This is referred to as one of the finest gardens in China.  The Garden was first constructed in 1140 by Shi Zhengzhi the Deputy Civil Service Minster of the Southern Song Dynasty government.  As evident as you walk through the gardens and structures, Shi Zhengzhi was inspired by the simple and solitary life of a Chinese fisherman.  The structure of the garden consisted of four halls, one tower and three courtyards.  We went in the evening where they perform varies theatrical skits, traditional dances and music as we moved from room to room.  It was a great start to our trip.

On Saturday we began the day at Tiger Hill.  In case you were wondering it is a hill know for it scenery and historical sites.  The hill is so named because it is said to look like a crouching tiger.   Another legend states that a white tiger appeared on the hill to guard it following the burial of King Helü.  The landscaping and surroundings were beautiful.  We stopped at the Yunyan Pagoda which is seven stories high and know for it’s lean.  

 Next we traveled to the Lingering Garden built in 1953 during the Ming Dynasty.  This is known as one of the four most famous gardens in China.   It was amazing the landscapes that are creating in such little space. 

After lunch we took a Cruise on the Grand Canal which is the longest (man-made waterway) canal or artificial river in the world starting at Beijing and going to the city of Hangzhou (which we have visited, reference previous blog).  To give you an idea of the engineering accomplishment it is 20 times that of the Panama Canal.  It was so rich with history, the oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC although the various sections were finally combined during the Sui Dynasty (581–618 CE).  It was a well-deserved rest for the boys.  The canals throughout the Canal is where the city obtained it's nickname, the Venice of China.

  Our next stop was the Pan Gate which is a famous historical landmark dating 2,500 years old.  The visit entailed three famous landmarks. These are the Ruiguang Pagoda, (the earliest surviving pagoda in Suzhou and built in 247 B.C.), the Wu Gate Bridge (at that time the highest bridge in Suzhou and the entrance to Panmen Gate by water), and Panmen Gate. Pan Gate is part of the ancient city wall (built in 514 B.C.) that surrounded and protected Suzhou.  

 Last stop for the day was the Silk Factory.  China is known for its silk and Suzhou is most famous place for silk producing.  Our tour provided the knowledge of the whole life of a silkworm which the boys were very interested in, especially because they got to touch them!  Additionally the boys got to help the workers hand stretch a silk quilt.  

 On our last day we began with a visit to The Humble Administrator’s Garden.  This is the largest garden in Suzhou and is generally considered to be the finest garden in all of southern China.  Along with the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Mountain Resort of Chengde in Hebei Province and the Lingering Garden in Suzhou, it is considered as one of China's four most famous gardens.  The Humble Administrator's Garden was originally built in 1509 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Next we moved along to Pinjiang Road ( a historical street) for a Rickshaw Ride.  Part of Suzhou ancient city in Song Dynasty, the Pingjiang Road was regarded as the main route (800 years old).  Pingjiang Road is essentially a stone road with a river flowing along it.   There are bridges across the river and many small houses, it was a good place for a short rickshaw ride.

After this short stop we returned to the Master of the Garden of Nets to see the site during the day.  Afterwards we traveled to Shantang Jie for our last stop.  Here we walked along a canal lined street which was contained many interesting souvenir shops.  By this time I think the kids were completely exhausted from our travels.  In summary it was a great trip with friends and an opportunity for us to see many cultural significant Gardens in China.  It was a refreshing break from the not-so insignificant daily city living that we all needed a break from.