Cupping

Cupping is a ancient Chinese form of medicine. The idea is that they use glass cups along with heat inside the cup to form a suction which draws the toxins to the surface of your skin along with blood.... This is a picture of the result.

You may be asking.... Why did she do this? Well, I was actually fighting the flu and I thought if there is any time to try this healing process then it is now... I actually slept very well that night and I have recovered from my flu. Not sure if the cupping helped but it seemed to do something.

What did it feel like? It felt like someone was trying to pick you up by the skin on your back. It lasts only 10 minutes but they are not relaxing minutes....

Would I do it again? Of course. I would have to see if I was actually recovering from the flu or if it actually helped!

Australia!

We have been on holiday in Australia's east coast for the past 3 weeks! It has been a vacation of a lifetime. We spent a week in Bondi beach outside of Sydney, then rented a R/V camper for 10 days and drove up north (where it is warmer in the southern hemisphere) and enjoyed the endless number of beautiful beaches, and now we are ending out trip in lovely Sydney where the wharf is outside our hotel door with views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house. Paradise.

George's favorite part was definitely the surfing. He surfered almost everyday until I made him return his surf board yesterday. Of course he got up at 5:30 to get in as many waves as possible until he had to return it at 9 am to the surf shop. He finally has some photos of himself surfing so awesome waves.

Savannah's best memory was being woken up our first night of camping by the stangest sound which was a cross between a pig snort and someone burping... turns out it was a koala in the tree above us with her baby. She also learned to surf in the ever forgiving waves of Australia surf. Enjoying the warm sunshine and beautiful sunsets was also high on the list.

Tyler will never forget when he got to pet a wild kangaroo. They were in our campsite when we were at Crowdy Bay. The mama had a mid-sized joey which decided to take a nap so he crawled inside his mama's pouch but his leg were so long that they hung out of the front. He was not shy and walked right up and just petted them. He also taught many Aussie's how to say "hello" in Chinese!

My favorite memory was camping together and hanging out together playing games. The Aussie people were very friendly and it was a joy to be here with my family. I love the beaches here. There is just one after another of natural beaches without tourist or many houses for that matter. We have enjoyed the campsites which have common "kitchen" areas which include of course a grill but not the kind of grill we have in America but a flat grill like McDonald's. It was a little strange and first but I ended up loving them as you can pretty much make your whole meal on the grill.

We met MANY people from Germany. Mostly young couples who are traveling for 3-6 months in the land down under. They were in anything from backpacks & tents to vans with tops that popped up. Most of the towns we went through had signs that said "Backpacker's Welcome". It was wonderful to see many friendly faces and people who were on the same journey.

We will be back! George and I have decided to spend our 20th Wedding Anniversay here. 2014 will be here before we know it. Next time, we will be heading north to the Great Barrier reef and then of course to some surfing locations!

Back in China

Well we made it back to China in one piece minus one bike box with George's training wheels. We were an hour late getting in Beijing so it was tight to get all of our luggage from the baggage claim, go through customs, let the dog use the restroom after in tranisit for 14 hours, and convincing the airlines that she was OK to bring on another one of their flights. We were of course the last ones on the plane again but we did make it. Needless to say we have been quite sleepy and tyring to back into the routine here. It is HOT baby! Wow. I guess they broke a few records this summer so we are in the cooling weather of mid-90's. I guess that serves me right for complaining about Seattle's cold summer.

Thanks to everyone who helped us right before we left. Dad and Donna we could not have done it without you!

Blessing and I will try to write more often since some people do read this! Please comment so I know you are reading!!!

Chinese New Year

Well, we survived Chinese New Year. It was just crazy with all the fireworks. It was mid-night when the whole thing took off. It really sounded like a war zone here. We have a neighbor who must have purchased a mini van FULL of fireworks. 5 nights before the eve he was setting fireworks off in his drive way... After the security guards came out with fire extinguishers to put the fire out that he started on the grass, they made him move his operation out to the driveway next to the street and our house.... Chinese make the most fireworks and use the most fireworks. We are not talking about bottle rockets or small packs of firecrackers but 4th of July professional fireworks. The firecrackers come rolled up in 10 foot long lengths and they are domino together to light in a continuous fashion..... The gate is about 20 feet from our house... Take a look.... It's long but I wanted to give you just a glimpse of the longevity of the fireworks in China... I can still hear them going off tonight... Everyday for the past 2 weeks..... Good thing Beth is completely calm!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1-f3dQWbR0

Tyler bowls a whole game!

This posting is not really China related but we are so excited that Tyler was able to bowl an entire game without help and he even scored a 41! Very exciting after years of helping him every time. It is somewhat China related because we have a bowling alley which is right next to our house. We are able to bowl for free on Mondays and so that is our afternoon activity. Of course Mom also bowls and has improved her game as well. I bowled at 142 with my left hand. I'm not sure if it really counts because I think I may have used the bumpers once during the game. The lanes are hilarious as well because they have absolutely NO oil on them. You can just walk down the lane if your ball gets stuck. They don't require bowling shoes and you have to know the lane because some of them curve slightly at different points. Certainly not nearly as "Official" as American bowling alleys but we love it just the same.

Fa Piao- Chinese Invoice

China is very funny about their receipts..... Some things must have at least 3 pieces of paper to make them official but others need so papers or identification..... For example...

You can buy a new sim card from a grocery store for your phone without any identification or anything BUT if you want to change your calling plan you must go to the mobile carrier, have your passport and a resident ID to change your calling card plan...

If you want to get a propane gas tank for your gas grill then you need your passport, your residence ID and show up in person otherwise they will not work with you. Of course, they don't speak English so you have to bring an interpreter with you as well.

Don't even think about returning things in China.... You may exchange or get a store credit but you cannot get your money back once you have purchase something.

Doing taxes in China gets even more complicated because they have 2 kinds of receipts. The official one and the "normal" one. If you want to get any kind of deductions then you have to get a 2nd receipt each time you leave the grocery store. I have even had people come up to me and ask for my "long" receipt. She wanted to claim my purchases on her tax form.

I sure miss the American easy return.... Next time you have to return your items just think of me and what a PAIN it is here in China!

We are back in China

I knew we were back in China when I went to the grocery store and the guy in the line next to me had about 20 lbs of pork (all different parts) all laying in the bottom of his cart... Did not have my camera to get a good shot but I am pretty sure there was a whole leg, some pig trotter (front legs) and so other unidentified pieces squishing through the wire squares of the cart.... Uhh the smells and sites of China are never boring.

Just to give you an idea of the "rawness" of meat here. The lady at the wet market was nice enough to lift the head for an appropriate shot of this pig's last photo....