Trip to Hangzhou

While Ali was here the family decided to take a day trip to Hangzhou.  I was in Taiwan so I didn't make the trip but from the pictures it looks like they had a great time.  I have posted some of the photos (Mason took over 400 shots!) on the blog so you might want to visit in order to view the pics.  They took the high speed rail to reach Hangzhou in about 45 minutes - the drive would take around 2 hours.  There Cynthia had arranged for a tour guide and driver to take them around for the day.  Hangzhou is situated on a lake and bordered by mountains.  It is really well maintained and filled with pagodas, temples and gardens.  At night they have a light show that is choreographed to music and directed and produced by the same guy who did the Beijing Olympics opening & closing ceremonies.  You can imagine how spectacular  it was if you saw any of the the olympics.  They got home about 10:30 that evening after starting the day at 7:30am.  They were exhausted but had a really good time.  I am sure we will make the trip again in the Spring which is supposed to be the most beautiful season to visit and I will be sure to make the trip. 

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2010 Travel - done!

Ended my travel for the year with a trip to Taiwan.  Spent most of the time in Taipei meeting with one of our distributors.  We took the high speed train one day about 2 hours south to visit a potential supplier and had a great lunch at a local restaurant that specializes in beef.  They actually butcher the cow in the morning and serve it for lunch - hot pot style - which is thinly sliced portions of beef served raw and then you dip them into a boiling pot of broth (think fondue without the oil) and cook them to your liking.  I took some time on Saturday to do some shopping for Christmas but didn't really find too much that met the lists I had.  Got to to see Taipei 101 which is currently the tallest building in Asia.  It really stands out due to the fact that there are not a lot of really tall buildings in Taipei.  Quite an amazing sight - next time I hope to have some time to go to the top floor observation deck.  Got back home on Saturday evening and spent some time with the family before crashing.
Mason and Ali have been having a great time exploring Shanghai, shopping and going to Mason's classes together.  Ali is here until the 23rd when she heads back home to spend Christmas with her family.  We are planning to spend Christmas eve with another Pentair expat family then go to the evening church service.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Enjoy your notes and e-mails as it helps us still feel connected during this time of year.  Take care and have a great week!

Cricket anyone??

For those of you who check the blog site regularly for new photos may be wondering about the pictures from India.  Our new Managing Director for India is big on team building and there is no better way to do that than through sports so he organized a monthly Cricket Match for the entire factory.  The second test match happened to fall on the same weekend that I was there so I got to participate in a 10 over match.  We divided up into three teams and I got to draw for which team got the first round bye and as luck would have it I drew our team.  As a result we were automatically in the final round and had a chance to scope out the other teams.  The field we played on was an open clearing near the factory and actually had a road that ran through the middle of it that was used by farmers, bikers, motorcycles and the occasional water buffalo.  We even had two cows and a water buffalo as mascots throughout the match as their owner was grazing them on the field and he decided to hang around and watch the match.

The game of cricket is similar (sort of) to baseball in that there is a bowler (pitcher) a batsman (batter), runs, hits, outs and fielders.  That pretty much sums up the similarities.  From there it deviates quite a bit.  An over is 6 balls bowled.  The bowler's objective is to hit the stumps (wickets) that the batsman is trying to protect.  If the stumps are hit it is called a wicket and the batsman is out. If the batter hits the ball (in any direction) he may choose to run from one set of stumps to the other which scores a run for each "lap" between the stumps.  The fielders then field the ball and throw it to the catcher who tries to hit the stumps before the batsman reaches the safety of the batter's box. If the ball is hit and goes outside the circular boundary on the ground it is an automatic 4 runs, if the ball goes outside the same boundary but in the air it is a "homerun" and counts for 6 runs.  If a fielder catches a batted ball in the air - the batter is out.  Each side bats for 10 overs (60 balls bowled - not counting "wide bowls" and "no bowls") consecutively or until they get 10 outs. 
We played the winning team of the first game and won 68 to 63 in 9 and 2/3rds overs.  Our final batsman won "man of the match" by hitting two "fours" and a homerun to seal the win.  All in all it was a very fun afternoon in the mid seventies with plenty of sun.  I came back to Shanghai with quite a case of sunburn but it was well worth it to experience India's national past time.

What a difference some paint makes!

Well it has been a while since I have been able to sit down and put together a few words so I hope none of you are giving up on the Smith blog!  Funny how my least productive week on the blog corresponds to one of the busiest weeks I've had so far! 

The painters have left and the color remains and it looks great!  Each of the boys rooms are two-toned with a main color on 3 walls and one accent wall.  The living room is a light blue with a brownish-tan accent color in the kitchen and main entry.  I arrived home from India on Sunday afternoon to a beautiful house in the midst of Christmas decorating!  With the paint, pictures on the walls and Christmas decorations it really feels like home.  All we need now is a little bit of snow although from the sounds of it Minnesota and Europe are hogging all the snow this year. (Regan just showed me the video of the Metrodome roof collapse!) We are having quite a bit of rain these days but we really need the moisture.

Ali, Mason's girlfriend, arrived on Sunday evening but I was well into slumberland due to my red eye flight from Bangalore so I have yet to see her as of this blog (Monday night China time)  She accompanied Mason to school today and we will all be having a nice homemade Chinese dinner that Cynthia and Mrs. Jin prepared - dumplings, spring rolls, rice and salad.  Yum can't wait.

Tis the season...

No matter where you are in the world it seems that this time of year is truly the busiest.  Cynthia went shopping today for Christmas decorations and came home with lots of greenery and even a Chinese Christmas tree (aka Norfolk Pine).  It is about 6-1/2 feet tall and we planted it in a large ceramic vase.  We even had the traditional "Is it straight?" argument just like setting up a real tree back in the states.  Tomorrow night we are going to a champagne tasting and dinner being sponsored by Elle magazine.  A former 3M colleague's wife is an executive with Elle and extended the offer to us - we are looking forward to the evening.  This past weekend marked the final football weekend culminating in the awards banquet on Saturday night where each of the boys received a nice trophy along with a framed team and individual photo.  Sunday was the final final game of the season against a newly formed Chinese team.  They had only been playing for a few weeks so our coaches switched all our boys to new positions to try and even the playing field.  Although the Chinese team put up a gallant effort they were no match for red blooded football loving 8, 9 and 10 year olds.  Landon got to play fullback and scored a 2 point conversion from the five yard line!  The weather was beautiful - blue skies, sunny and in the low 70's which is actually well above the norm for this time of year but we'll take it.  The Cub Scout pack meeting was also on Saturday and Landon earned his Whittling Chip award, table tennis belt loop, football achievement pin and football belt loop.  They also handed out the coveted Pinewood Derby cars for the big race in February - now we just have to come up with a winning design.  I am off to India on Wednesday and Ali arrives on Saturday.  We are busy getting the house ready for her arrival - including having all the rooms painted.  Should make for an eventful week - actually glad I will be on a business trip!

From Cynthia

Hi Everyone!
We are all doing well. Landon has a Christmas concert tonight and Regan's was earlier this week.  Scott was able to attend Regan's concert but will unfortunately miss Landon's as he is away in Japan.  Last night Mason and I hid in the hallway as Landon practiced "Away in a Manger". Wow! Can he hit the high notes! It's so sweet to hear a little boy sing in his room.

Regan is spending a lot of time doing homework, which really impedes on his social time! He is going to his first dance Friday night and he is on the decorating team. That ought to be interesting!

Mason is making friends. His classmates are from all over the globe. He seems to have settled in with three that all speak French. He spends a lot of time playing the keyboard that we brought from home. He and his friends have been going to a studio and renting instruments to play and record.  For a very affordable price, they rented a piano, upright bass, Chinese harp and a guitar. He also wants to take piano lessons, which I think would be great. We are getting ready for our first guest, Aliza, Mason's girlfriend. She arrives Dec. 11th - the 23rd and we are scrambling to get the apartment painted and accommodations ready.  We are planning some fun site seeing around Shanghai and to a city called Hangzhou.  Should be a great time!

Football Finale

This past weekend was the final game of Landon's football season.  Landon is on the Green Dragons and going into the day they were 4-1 against the Red Dragons.  The game went back and forth until finally the Green Dragons scored towards the end of the first half.  After the break, while the older boys played their first half, the Dragons went at it again and the Red Dragons tied up the game with a march down the field and an easy score against the tired looking Green Dragon defense. The second half saw each team score one more time and so the game went into overtime.  Each team had the chance to score from the twenty yard line.  Both defensive units held their ground and the game ended in a tie.  So for the season the Green Dragons had a successful record of 4-1-1.  After the game we all headed to The Big Bamboo which is one of the team sponsoring restaurants in Jinqiao and enjoyed a feast of burgers, wings and fries.  The coaches have organized one post season game with a local Chinese team for next Saturday.  Landon will be playing full back on offense and guard on defense.  The boys are all excited about this international game and we are all looking forward to it as well.  The big football banquet will be held on Saturday night to celebrate the successful third season of the Shanghai American Football Club.  Should be a great weekend.

I travelled to Qingdao on Sunday night and returned to Shanghai Tuesday evening where our driver rushed me to Regan's Christmas Choir Concert.  It was held in the school's theatre and included groups from 3rd grade to 8th grade singing songs of the season.  It was very impressive and Regan did a nice job singing as a bass.  Mason has been spending more time at school socializing and seems to be enjoying his new friends.  Yesterday he was asked to fill in as a singer in the Fudan American Idol contest being held.  Apparently someone in a group that was to perform couldn't make it and Mason got the call.  Not sure how it went but he said "It was interesting"  I will let you interpret that.  He also had a bit of excitement on the subway the other day where he assisted in apprehending and detaining a guy who was chasing a young girl.  The police were not far behind and took the culprit away in handcuffs.  It was quite an exciting story - one you will have to ask Mason about.

I leave for Japan today until Friday night and then off to India towards the end of next week and then to Taiwan the following week which should be my last trip for the year.  Take care and check out the new photos of Landon's football game.

Biking around Shanghai

Today was a beautiful fall day with temperatures in the low 60s and lots of sunshine.  After a breakfast of Cynthia's homemade french toast she and I decided to take a bike tour and explore beyond the reaches of our normal routines.  The boys were all busy - Regan was at a skateboard park, Landon had a friend over to play Nerf Wars and Mason was tired from having been out with friends the night before.  So it was just my lovely bride and I off to explore PuDong.  We headed out to Thumb Plaza, named for the large stainless steel sculpture of a guy holding his thumbs.  It is kind of an odd sculpture and a bit awkward but it is known by all who live on the PuDong side of the river.  From Thumb Plaza we made our way to Century Park where vendors were busy selling foods, toys, kites and balloons.  Along the way we started to hear very loud noises that sounded like race cars in the Indy 500 and as we came closer we learned that there was a street race being held.  They had barricades up so that you could not see the cars.  Tickets were 280 rmb ($42) each and we decided to pass.  We made our next stop near home at a plant vendor that Cynthia has come to know and ended up buying a large plant that he would deliver to our apartment later in the day.  Our final stop was to Cynthia's fruit market where her and Mrs. Jin go to buy fresh provisions on a regular basis.  Some small kids and a mom were selling these little round fruits called something I can't remember  but are absolutely sweet and delicious.  We bought a bagful and they are already gone.  We finally made it home around 3pm and had a nice rest.

If you are reading this from an e-mail, I would encourage you to head to the blogsite to look at the latest photos from the day.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and that your favorite football team won!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving in China is a little bit different as are most things here.  I spent the day at work, the boys had school and Cynthia made... reservations!  We decided to pass on trying to cook our own meal as a 20 lb frozen turkey goes for over $100 at the western grocery store.  We chose to try a buffet dinner at the Crowne Plaza hotel where Cynthia and I had stayed during our "look see" trip to Shanghai back in May.  They were offering "turkey and all the fixings" however we found out that they need some clarification on what "all the fixings" really means.  The deal was 228 rmb (35$) per person and included one glass of red wine, beer or soda and a full buffet including seafood, lamb, beef, duck, salads, fresh fruit, vegetable, pies, ice cream and what is that other thing? oh yeah - turkey.  However, when we approached the meat buffet we could not recognize anything that looked like turkey until we read the small sign that indicated the turkey breast.  It was seasoned with rosemary and other spices and was actually quite delicious.  Regan feasted on the duck leg and lamb chops until he was stuffed.  Speaking of stuffing - there was none nor was there sweet potatoes or cranberries.  See what I mean about needing some definition of "all the fixings".  Traditional Thanksgiving fare aside, we had a great time together as a family and in the end the boys were very satisfied - even picky Landon found things that he liked.

Sunday night at the Smiths

Yes, work, go, now, come here Regan, brush your teeth, pick up your room, why is this plate in your room, are you done eating, put it in the dishwasher, ohhhhhhh, my stomach hurts, where's Landon, go to bed, set out your clothes, bring the dirty laundry here, do your homework, turn out the lights, be quiet - these are the sounds of Sunday night.  We had a fun-filled day beginning with football and ending with a shopping trip to Carrefour.  In between we attended church, a wedding, ate out, bought Cynthia a new phone and took a long walk.  I am ready for bed. 

Big week ahead as I am planning my travel for the next three weeks - Japan, India, Qingdao for 2011 strategic planning.  We are trying to figure out what to do for thanksgiving and may end up eating out but haven't quite decided yet.  Wishing everyone a great week and a thankful attitude.

Date Night

It all started with a 10 minute scooter ride to the subway.  Date nights in China are a bit different than in the US and in the course of the evening we drove our scooter for 20 minutes took 4 four subway trains and walked for a total of 40 minutes!

Landon and I got home from the Christmas Bazaar fundraising event in the mid-afternoon after having sold our share of popcorn for the scouts.  Regan soon followed having returned from a victorious Soccer Tournament where he played goalie and Mason - well Mason had just woken up.  I tried to rally all the troops to go out to a Chinese restaurant by my office called Dong Bei Jia Ren (literally - North East Family) that I have been to several times with co-workers.  After pleading my case that it would be an "adventure" and that "No, the food is not spicy" I still had no takers.  Then Mason sprung into action and said "Why don't you two go on a date night! I'll watch Landon and make dinner for the boys!"  It didn't take much thought from Cynthia and I before we made a mad dash to get ready and head out the door before anyone changed their mind or attitude.

After securing the scooter outside of Yunshan station on Line 6 we made our way through the crowds to the first train.  It was rush hour and to get on the train we had to push and shove our way to a place inside the car where it was SRO - sardine room only!  6 stops later found us at Century Avenue station where we changed to Line 2 and headed toward our destination of Jiangsu station.  In total it was about 45 minutes on the subway one way.  You don't see many Westerners on the subway although they are scattered here and there.  It is a great time for people watching and often times someone will try to strike up a conversation with us in Chinese and we try to communicate but poorly and usually it just ends up in mutual smiles and silence.  From Jiangsu station we had a 20 minute walk through the heart of the city - busy roads, honking horns, street vendors selling fresh fruit, roasted chestnuts, and bouquets of flowers, cars passing above on elevated highways and scooters weaving their way along the sidewalks and roadsides.  It really is an adventure and I can see why big cities like Shanghai are referred to as "the concrete jungle" 

We arrived at Dong Bei Jia Ren restaurant around 6:30pm and were welcomed by a host who was waiting for guests on the sidewalk.  Upon the opening of the large colorfully painted doors we were greeted by two hostesses dressed in brightly colored jackets and the familiar "Huan Ling Guan Ling" chant, but here at what seemed the top of their lungs!  We were quickly seated at a table on the first floor and soon had the menu in hand ordering our dishes.  The menu was in pictures (as in most Chinese restaurants) but also had both Chinese and English descriptions - things like Private Place Meat Pie (which we ordered and it was delicious), Would Need a Lake Shrimp and Deep Fried Silkworm Chrysalis (did not order these although I offered to get them for Cynthia)  Besides the meat pie we had fresh vegetables, cabbage & pork dumplings, and a Flaming Dragon Fish which was neither on fire or spicy but did sort of look like a dragon.

After dinner we walked a short distance to a place to have a foot massage.  Cynthia's knee has been bothering her so I ordered the Ginger Paste treatment.  They place paper towels spread with a ginger paste over each knee then put a wet towel over that and wrap the entire knee in plastic.  The heat from the ginger paste penetrates into the joint and is very restorative - think Chinese BenGay.  We also ordered "cupping" which is where they take a glass cup and put a flame inside of it then quickly place it on the sole of your foot creating a vacuum.  They rub the glass cup around your foot and then pull it off with a loud "POP!" This procedure is repeated several times and really feels wonderful.

By 9:00pm we were heading back home and arrived around 10:00pm.  The boys were still alive, the house was in tact and all was good.  Not bad for a Chinese Date Night!

On your mark...get set...GO!

It takes a few days but the jet lag eventually passes as your body catches up to the pace at which you crossed several time zones.  And just as you get feeling back to normal - the weekend is there to welcome you with a host of extracurricular activities.  It all begins on Friday with football practice from 5 - 7pm then followed up on Saturday with the "Christmas Bazaar" held at the school where Landon and I have vendor duty from 12 - 2pm selling popcorn and soda.  Sunday is a football game followed by church and then usually a dinner out with friends and before you know what hit you - it is time to head back to the office!  Whew!  I am already tired just thinking about it and it is only Thursday.  I guess that is what this particular stage of life is all about - hustle, bustle and somewhat organized chaos!

Cynthia made a nice American dinner last night - hamburgers!  We mostly enjoyed them although the ground beef here leaves a bit to be desired.  We also had instant mashed potatoes in place of french fries.  It was good but we all got a bit melancholy for burgers on the grill back home.  It did help to remember that back home it is in the 30s (F) with snow cover while here we are enjoying temps in the upper 50s and low 60s with sunshine.

What do you miss?

On my recent trip back to Minnesota the most frequent question I received from friends and family was "Besides the people, what do you miss the most?"  I didn't have a great answer at the moment but now that I am back I have been giving some thought to it and have come up with the following things:  I miss the Garage Logic radio program with Joe Soucheray; Buffalo Wings at Applebees; listening to sports talk radio in the mornings.  I miss driving! I miss our church services on Saturday nights; our dog Huntley; putzing in the yard and the garage and really the thing I miss the most are the people.  You really can't exclude them from the list.  When you boil it all down it is the people in our lives that make it all worth while.  We are making some new friends here but it is a slow process with the exception of Mrs. Cynthia "Woo" Smith who seems to befriend everyone.  Take care and give someone close to you a hug!

Home at last

I finally arrived home late on Sunday evening after a VERY long day of travel.  The best part of the trip home was seeing Regan and Landon at the airport to welcome me back.  The rest of the trip I could have done without.  Leo and I got back to Minneapolis late Friday night from the most beautiful weather in San Diego only to be welcomed by temps in the upper 30s and rain.  As we drove to the hotel the rain turned to sleet and by the time we were checked in it had fully changed over to snow.  It was 11:30 pm and the news was forecasting 1 - 3 inches by morning - no problem!  But as they say in Minnesota - "If you don't like the weather just wait 15 minutes and it will change"  By 6am there was already 3 inches of snow and no signs of letting up.  The news was reporting that the current Winter Storm Warning was calling for continued snow, heavy at times at over 1"/hour with total accumulations from 6 to 12 inches.  Our flight was scheduled to Detroit at 8:20am then our connection to Shanghai was to leave at 3pm.  We checked our bags in and headed for the gate, got on the plane, sat through 2 de-icings during which they found a "problem" with one of the tail wings and decided to head back to the gate for inspection at which time everyone had to de-plane and then race to get re-booked on another flight.  It was now 10:15am.  We got booked on the 11:30 flight to Detroit which would leave us about 30 minutes to make our connection - again, no problem.  The snow was getting heavier.  By 12 noon they cancelled our plane to Detroit and so it was back to our friendly Delta rep (no, seriously.  Her name was Gerri and she was great!) to get rebooked.  This time we really changed things up and got onto the 1:10 pm to Tokyo with continuation to Shanghai.  We were thankful to be on a flight but had given up all hope for our bags.  We finally arrived in Shanghai and were waiting patiently by the baggage claim when I decided to check with the luggage service department and lo and behold our bags were there AHEAD of us!!  Not sure how that happened but it did - must have been the "Priority" tags due to my Medallion status - finally a benefit from the Sky Miles program.

On the way home

Currently waiting in the Sky Club lounge for our connecting flight home from San Diego.  Cynthia and the boys are missing having Dad around and I am ready to get back home.  This has been a good trip filled with meetings, customer visits, and making connections that will serve our business in the future.  San Diego is a beautiful city although we really did not have time to see very much.  Had lunch today in a Mandarin restaurant as Leo was very homesick for some good Chinese food.  We got bumped up to first class on the first leg of our flight so that will be nice, however, the long portion from Detroit to Shanghai will be in the back of the bus for 14 hours.  Can't say I am looking forward to that ride.  I arrive back in Shanghai on Sunday evening (China time) and then back to work the very next morning.  A very busy week is lined up but no travel is scheduled.  I will try to get some new pictures uploaded to the blog page next week.  Mason has several hundred photos that he took during our Anhui trip many of which are fantastic. 

Catching up!

Hey everyone!  Sorry for the long absence but I have been travelling in the US for the past 10 days.  Cynthia has her hands full with the boys and I just haven't been able to find the time.  A big change has occurred on the blog in the last week - the absence of Google Ads as they disabled my account.  I am still looking into the reasons but regardless we are still committed to donating to the Bao Bei Foundation.

I started my trip to the US at a trade show in Orlando Florida - spending two days there then heading to Minnesota last Thursday where I was able to "pop in" to our small group for a quick "Hello"  It was great to see everyone and I am glad to hear that the group is continuing on strong.  Friday I jumped into my truck and drove 6 hours North to Lancaster Minnesota where I hunted for two days returning to the Cities on Sunday evening.  I had no luck this year as the conditions were too wet and too warm for good hunting.  I did see lots of wild life however (including deer) - a weasel, eagles, owls, and the best was a bobcat.  I got some shooting in, had a good time visiting with our family and friends up there and was really glad to get away in the woods for a few days.

Monday through Wednesday was spent at the factory in Minnesota where Leo (National Sales Mgr - China) and I visited some customers, had some training and met with our colleagues.  Wednesday afternoon we flew out to San Diego to visit our plant that manufactures Calmark & Birtcher products (PCB cardlocks) then we fly back to Minneapolis on Friday then fly back home to Shanghai on Saturday morning! WHEW!!!!  I get tired just thinking about this whirlwind tour.

Fu Yang - Sunday

Saturday night came upon us quickly and it is amazing the appetite you can work up delivering rabbits.  We shared a huge Chinese meal back at the hotel and most everyone retired early to our typically hard Chinese hotel beds.  However, even the backboard I was sleeping on didn't disturb my slumber as we really were tired from all the walking and activity of the day.

Sunday broke to another beautiful fall day with clear skies and temperatures in the 20s (C) and no rain in sight.  Our schedule for the day had us visit a school that was home to over 500 students from middle school through high school ages.  The cost of the school is 6,000RMB (USD$900) per year and includes room and board!  The kids are from all over China as this school has an excellent reputation.  We shared about one hour of time with the students and their leaders singing, talking and praying together.  It was really a neat experience and was amazing to see how God is working in this part of the world.  Mason and Regan got involved in a pick up basketball game and Landon was the "cute" star of the morning and they were standing in line just to take his picture to which he has gotten very used to since coming to China.

Our final stop on this trip was to a nursing home.  The Religious Affairs Officers had arranged for the local media to be present and included a TV station, radio and newspaper.  We were welcomed to the elderly home with a flurry of firecrackers which is very common here.  Our South African friends upon hearing the barrage of explosions said "If this was in South Africa we'd all be on the floor right now taking cover!"  As the smoke cleared from the 2 minute continuous fireworks display we all walked into the old folks home carrying a gift bag for each of the residents.  They welcomed us very warmly and we helped them open their gifts and put on the new red scarves to "show off" for the cameras.  We had about and hour to spend talking with them and learning of their lives.  One gentleman that we met was a government official in the Cultural Revolution and made sure we knew that!  We also met a man who was visiting his mother and was so happy that we had come to spend time with them that he kept repeating the same words over and over in Chinese and must have introduced me to his mother a dozen times.  Many of the residents were very impressed to meet my three sons and they would get big smiles and say "Hen hao" (very good).  We finished the visit with a Chinese song that we had been practicing to the big smiles and tear filled eyes of the residents.  They seemed very happy to have had our diversion to their normal routines and I hope that someday we can return and see them again.

Fu Yang - Saturday

We began the day with a hearty Chinese style breakfast (which is code for "there was nothing I recognized at the buffet") and headed off for the two buses that would be transporting us for the day.  We had to divide into two groups as the roads in one part of the village could not handle the full size bus in which we arrived.  Our first stop was to the site of a future college that is being started.  They have already secured the land (which has a couple of partially erected structures) and are looking for the additional funding to complete the transaction.  The school will offer three majors - music, English and cross cultural translation (Chinese interpreters)  The first classes are slated for this spring and ground breaking will occur next month. We spent about an hour touring the grounds and walked up into one of the structures to get an overview of the property where we prayed for the future students and all of the work that would be taking place in the next several months. 

We then met up with the Religious Affairs officers in the small town center where we enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant.  We came to learn later that the government officials bought lunch for our entire team.  While we were having lunch we learned about our "project".   Joshua (our leader) informed us that we would be delivering rabbits to several pre-determined families.  Now, I was not thrilled by this news as I am TERRIBLY allergic to the long eared critters.  The other groups from last spring got to deliver baby ducks and even a couple of cows - I'm not allergic to them - but nooooo.... it had to be rabbits.  God truly has a warped sense of humor.  The rabbits arrived via - by what else but -  a 3 wheeled scooter (although this was gas powered and super sized).  In total there were in the neighborhood of 250 to 300 fully grown white albino  bunnies divided into fours - 2 mating pairs for each family.  The program is one that has locals raise the rabbits and then harvest them for their fur which is then used in the manufacture of rabbit fur lined gloves and other accessories.  The company provides the rabbits at no charge and then in one year will pay the families for all of the pelts.  The locals gain a source of food and income from the program.  So in effect I guess you could say we were delivering the rabbits to death row - "Dead bunny hoppin'!" 

In the village area we had lots of kids gather around us while Mason, Regan and Landon handed out small toy cars, balls, crayons and other gifts.  There were several in our group who spoke Chinese and they would interpret for us and we would try to pray for each child or group of kids.  We all got the opportunity to deliver the rabbits and just as I could have guessed it would have to be my family that wanted me to pick up the rabbits out of the cage and put them into a new pen.  I did this haltingly and made the transfer but suffered later with a rash on my hands and a stuffed-up nose.  (Okay, I will get off my pity wagon now. But I really don't like rabbits.)

Fu Yang

Four hours on the high speed train found us in the captial city of Anhui province - Hefei.  The train station was bustling with people coming and going, street vendors surrounded the square selling various foods and sundries.  Our group numbered 25 and was comprised of 10 nationalities - German, American, South African, Singaporean, Malaysian, Dutch, Vietnamese, Indian, Australian and Taiwanese. We were hard not to notice as we waited in the square for our next mode of transportation that would take us 3 more hours to the city of Fu Yang where we would spend the next two days serving the people of the region.  Onlookers began to gather while we waited for the bus making some of us nervous while beggars with small children on their hips plied us for a few spare coins.  Westerners are rarely seen in this region of China as Anhui province is one of the poorest in the country so it was not surprising all the interest that we aroused.  Anhui is the home province of the current president of China, Hu Jintao, and it is expected that he will direct a high level of funding to build the region up before his term of office ends.  In fact the construction has already begun and the infrastructure is beginning to take shape as evidenced by all the cranes, roadwork and the ever-present dust in the air.  The Chinese government just completed the draft of their seventh 5 year plan which covers from 2011 to 2015 and one of the objectives is to begin developing the interior cities of China like Hefei, Chengdu, and others.  When the Chinese set out to do things you can be sure they will complete them and in no small way - everything is done on a mind boggling scale here with no detail omitted. 

Our bus arrived right on schedule and we quickly loaded up our belongings and set out for Fu Yang.  What we expected to be a 2 hour drive turned into 3-1/2 hours along both highway and side roads eventually leading us to the MaoGuo Hotel.  The government dictates in which hotels that westerners can stay and this hotel was the only one with such "approval".  It was listed as a 4-Star hotel but we decided that it must be an entirely different set of "stars" they were using.  However, the price was right at 220RMB per night (about $33US)  We all settled in for a good rest around 10:30 pm in anticipation of a busy Saturday in the villages outside of the city.

Journey to Anhui

The weather has turned much cooler over the last few days with lows in the single digits (Celsius) and highs in the teens with lots of wind and rain.  We are preparing to leave Friday for a two day trip with our church to a small village in the Anhui province to deliver some needed supplies to the local orphanage and elderly home.  We will also be bringing some donated funds that will help students to pay for their final two years of high school education.  The state funds education up to the 10th grade and then students must pay for the final two years which are required in order to take the national college placement test.  The church has been working in this area for a couple of years and the people really appreciate the support.  Our whole family will be going on this trip and we are praying for good weather (specifically no rain) as the infrastructure is mostly dirt roads as well as opportunities to encourage those we meet.  We will visit several families homes who have been selected by the local church as having the most need for support.  The boys have purchased some small toys, crayons and balls to give to the kids we will meet.  Should make for a very interesting weekend and we would appreciate your prayers for safety, and that we will be used to make a difference in the lives of those we meet.  Look for photos coming early next week! 

My new pets

I am now the proud (?) owner of two yellow fighting crickets.  If I can figure out how to get the box open I might even think about feeding them but so far this Chinese "puzzle" box has me stumped - doesn't seem to affect their chirping however.  Cynthia elbowed me in the ribs this morning and said "What is that sound? Turn off your alarm!"  To which I sleepily replied - "Its just my crickets, honey."

Huang Ling

We were driving to football this weekend and I heard a noise in the van that I couldn't quite place.  It was coming from the front of the van and sounded like the squeaking from a fan whose bearings were going out - sort of a high pitched, rhythmic chirp as the fan turns.  I asked Mr. Dong to turn the fan off - which he did - and thought the annoying little squeak would be gone - it was not.  So now I had to explore other options - such as a piece of styrofoam insulation having been knocked loose and vibrating from the movement of the vehicle.  I looked, poked, pressed and banged all around the areas where I thought this incessant squeak could be coming from to no avail.  By this time Mr. Dong had taken notice of my quest and asked me what I was doing.  I pointed to my ears and tried to emulate the chirping noise and then made the universal sign language for "I dunno?!"  Suddenly a broad smile erupted across Mr. Dong's face as he reached into the breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out a small acrylic box containing two crickets!  The squeaking stopped (thank goodness as it was driving me crazy).  I asked what they were (okay I knew they were crickets but I knew he would respond in Chinese and I wanted to learn the name) to which he replied, "Huang ling!".  For the next several minutes Landon and I inspected the rectangular container holding 2 little yellow huang lings.  The container was divided into two cells lengthwise with a feeding station at one end and a ventilation screen on the other (which served nicely as an amplifier)  "Huang" means yellow and "ling" means .. um .. ling so the name is nicely descriptive of these 1/2" long critters with antenna that are twice their body length.  Upon noticing our interest Mr. Dong offered to make me the new owner of these small annoyances to which I immediately declined.  The entire time we were holding the box the crickets were quiet but as soon as we returned it to Mr. Dong and he put it back in his breast pocket  - chree, chree, chree, chree all the way to football!  The next morning I realized my mistake in showing interest in the "lings" and my further mistake in not accepting Mr. Dong's offer to become their new owner and savior.  As soon as Mason and I set foot in the van and said our good mornings....chree, chree, chree, chree....to which Mason replied "Dad, I think the fan in the Buick needs oiling"  To which I replied, "No son, let me tell you about huang lings"  My ride into work is one hour long and that is after we drop Mason at Fudan University.  As I finally arrived to work my head was spinning from the high pitched chirping which by this time seemed to me to be some sort of Chinese driver ex-pat torture.  I am hoping today for a quiet ride to work but I am afraid I am going to have to share it with a couple of insects who are clearly "morning" bugs!

A Chinese Wedding

This weekend I had the chance to attend a Chinese wedding while I was in Qingdao.  Our HR Director, Jack Ouyang, got married to Duan Ning.  In China, the couple each retain their family names unlike in the US.  Duan is Jack's brides family name, Ning would be her given name.  (The family name is always listed first followed by the given name and the family name is how you should address the person.  Only very close friends or family use the given name.  Many Chinese in the business world, especially those with lots of dealings with western companies will take a western name - like Jack - to facilitate business and make for easier pronunciation for the western colleagues or business partners.)  Okay - back to the wedding.

Chinese weddings are often held in hotels (so I am told) and are quite lavish affairs including a grand entrance with fireworks, dragon dancers, drum corps and music.  At Jack's wedding they had 12 cannons which fired off explosions of rose petals as they entered the hotel.  Outside my hotel that same morning a couple entered to the sounds of a 30 piece percussion group who dressed in traditional red and gold costumes along with two (actually four) dragon dancers performing some sort of dance that I am sure has deep meaning and symbolism but for me it was simply curious.  

Chinese couples take the majority of their wedding photos weeks in advance of the wedding in a studio as well as on location by the sea or some other romantic setting.  These photos are then displayed throughout the reception hall both in print and digitally.  The actual wedding begins early in the day (again, so I am told) as the groom visits his bride's parents home and asks permission to wed their daughter.  He brings gifts to the family as a "dowry" of sorts.  There may be some other official stuff that happens between that time and when they arrive at the hotel but I didn't get filled in on that part.  The wedding (at the hotel) began at 11:58am as the Chinese are very serious about numbers and times and the number 8 is especially important as it stands for wealth and good luck.  The guests are seated at round tables that surround a runway stage (think Fashion Week) and are set with bottles of soda, juice, wine, water, Moutai (53% alcohol), chocolates, crackers and cigarettes (just in case you left yours at home I guess)  The food service begins right away and multiple courses continue throughout the next couple of hours as the wedding proceeds.  There is an emcee who hosts throughout the afternoon and begins with an introduction of Jack via fanfare and spotlight.  After a few words all attention is cast to the back of the room where the bride enters on her father's arm and he escorts her to the center of the room where Jack takes her from the father.  At this point Jack got down on one knee to the thrill of the audience and said something of which I had no idea but everyone seemed quite impressed.  After the couple sachets down the runway they then proceed to center stage to exchange rings and are introduced as the new couple.  There is now a break in the action as the guests dive into the latest course of food.  When the activities resume, the bride has now changed into dress number 2 of 3 for the day.  It is a blue number that is very striking and the couple pours the champagne fountain and then listen to a couple of speeches.  Jack had his former boss give one speech and his current boss (and mine) give a speech in Chinese!  Chris did a great job and the Chinese really appreciated the gesture.  Finally, after another short break to eat more food, the bride entered once again in another dress to cut the cake and then go around to all the tables and exhange toasts.  The tradition is for the bride an groom to toast a drink with all the guests (This could be quite daunting with the Moutai) however they pour coca cola into the wine bottle from which the couple are drinking so that the only fear becomes the random belch after scores of tiny shots of carbonation.  The final speech was from Jack's mother who I think was the happiest person in the room as she smiled hugged and beamed all over the place.  By about 2:30 it was all over and many of the guests were leaving and I had to catch a flight back to Shanghai.  My guess is that many of the guests who partook of the Moutai continue the celebration elsewhere while the bride and groom head off to take even more wedding photos.  So that was my experience with a Chinese wedding, one that I am sure is a bit skewed and misinterpreted as so much was lost in translation but it was very enjoyable nonetheless.

Bao Bei Foundation Milestone

Thanks to your "ad clicking" we have reached our first milestone in funds raised for the Bao Bei Foundation - $102.11.  Our goal is to raise $400 for donation to this organization that cares for babies with various medical conditions before and after medical treatment.  $400 is the cost for one cleft palate surgery that will make a world of difference in the life and future of the child who receives this procedure.  Thank you for the "clicks" on the ads found on our blog page.  Each click earns a small amount towards our goal and costs you nothing but a small bit of time as you are surfing the blog site.  I have included a link on our blog page to the Bao Bei Foundation website if you would like more information.

Thanks again and keep on clicking!

Regan in Beijing

Well I have been trying to get Regan to post a blog on his recent school trip to Beijing but with no luck so I will try my hand a recapping his adventure. 
Regan's class was divided into two groups for their trip to Beijing.  One group travelled by train and took about 7 hours to arrive at their destination.  The other group travelled by plane.  Regan was in the latter group.  The purpose of the trip was to explore Chinese culture from the rural setting to the very modern city life.  Regan's group began in the countryside at a small village where they had to work for their meal by harvesting corn and doing other chores.  They stayed in the village for the evening and experienced local homemade cuisine.  The following day they visited an "off the beaten path" section of the Great Wall where very few tourists visit and the highlight was the chance to rappel off of a 10 meter high section of the wall!  Wow!  The next day they started heading toward the city of Beijing and visited the site of the Olympic white water rafting and kayaking venue.  They toured the facility and even got to raft in the rapids section.  As Regan's group got closer to the city the train group was heading to the countryside.  The next stop for Regan was at the Summer Palace adjacent to the Forbidden City.  They also visited a performing arts center and met several students their age studying dance and other traditional Chinese art forms.  Regan even got the chance to "cut the rug" with one of the local dancers which made his mother and I raise our eyebrows when we saw the picture! 

In all the trip was 5 days long and I have only hit on some of the highlights that I am aware of.  I am sure Regan could fill you in much better and probably even "correct" Dad's version of things.  Hope you are all doing well and look forward to hearing from you via e-mail or skype.

Day by day

Mason, Regan and I just got back from dinner.  Cynthia and Landon were at football practice when I got home and we were very hungry so we headed to one of our favorite spots - the DIY Butcher Shop.  Now you don't actually have to butcher your own meat but you do pick it out of the deli case and they grill it up for you at a nominal charge.  Tonight we had lamb and beef kebabs - mmm mmm good!  Afterwards I treated the boys to a foot massage and now we are all settling in for a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow I head for Beijing to attend a trade show then on to Qingdao for some meetings and then I will stay over the weekend to attend a Chinese wedding for our HR Director.  Cynthia was going to join me but we couldn't work it out so I will be on my own.  I am having to learn quickly about Chinese wedding etiquette so I don't offend anyone.  The traditional wedding gift is a red envelope, called Hong Bao, in which you place cash for the newlyweds.  I guess I will learn as I go - it should be an interesting experience.

Mason is getting along well in school and is beginning to feel comfortable with the language and can even converse with his classmates.  He has found some friends who all speak French and he has been able to spend some time on breaks and at lunch talking with them in French.  Nearly everyone in his class speaks at least three languages with English being the common link among them all.

Cynthia has had some scooter trouble and had to drive it all the way to the shop where we bought it.  She didn't know the way so our driver Mr. Dong would drive alongside her and then wait as she caught up.  She told me she felt just like a local and was only missing the pile of recycled cardboard on the back of the bike to complete the deal.  The first trouble with the scooter involved one of the wires disconnecting from the batteries when I hit a bump.  I tried to repair it (which I did after I put the fire out)  but the fire damaged some other wiring and then it was in need of some serious overhaul in order to get the lights working.  I did get it to run however and Cynthia would just wear her "Light up the Night" lanyards that blink in blue and red hanging over her back in order to travel safely at night.  All is better ... for now.

Pack 88 Campout

This has been a busy weekend.  Landon and I just returned from the Cub Scout camp-out held on the soccer field of Concordia school.  There were about 100 families camping together and it can only be described as organized chaos!  Landon is in Den 11 with 9 other scouts.  His leader is Mr. Martin -Leung and I am sort of an assistant which basically means that I am in charge of trying to keep order while Martin leads the activities.  During the last few weeks Landon earned his Bobcat badge and received it during the awards ceremony around the campfire.  His den acted out a skit called The Ipod Cub Scout in which I got to star as the annoyed Ipod Cub Scout owner.  The boys did a great job and the rest of the evening you could hear various scouts from other dens reciting lines from the skit.  Dinner was an assortment of BBQ'd hotdogs, hamburgers, veggies and corn on the cob!  The evening wouldn't be complete without S'mores which was quite the production as you can imagine with 100s of kids all trying to roast marshmallows over two small fire pits.  Landon also earned his Wood Chip badge and kinfe safety award during the camp-out.  They learned how to properly handle a pocket knife and even got to carve their own arrowhead out of a bar of soap which actually accomplished two things knife handling and hand cleaning!  I got to meet quite a few other dads while the kids played and participated in activities.  We broke camp by 9am on Sunday morning and now we are getting ready to head to Landon's first official football game.  Following the game we will head to church then attend a meeting for a mission trip to Anhui province and then out to dinner with another family from church - whew!  I can't wait to get back to work just to get some rest! 

Shopping with Cynthia

I'm going to ask Mrs. Jin to take me to the wet market to shop for groceries.

It's called the wet market because the floors get hosed down before the market opens each morning.  The Chinese can't believe we westerners eat chicken breasts that are cut up and wrapped in plastic! How could you know when they where 'processed'?  They prefer, the wet market, where you know the food is fresh.  You pick out your chickens, ducks, turtles and frogs LIVE!  In the states, the high end grocery stores bag your groceries ,  provide you with a choice of paper or plastic bags at no charge. You can even have them escorted to your car.  Here the services include: they'll kill the chicken for you!  They'll even de-feather it!  I'm not sure if there is a service charge for head and feet removal.  There is a charge for bags, so most people bring their own. You then either; walk , bike or scooter your groceries home. 

Most people know how much fun grocery shopping is for me.  I could, and do, spend HOURS, not just shopping, but connecting with people.  When I walk into a grocery store I think; Who will I meet?   Where are my new friends?  What's goodies will God have in store (no pun intended) for me today!  This experience has put me over the edge!  This puts grocery shopping on a whole new level.  We're not talking Chinese food aisle, we're talking Chinese grocery store, Disney style!  The sights, the smells, the products, the people, the culture!  It is so hard to not be able to speak the language.  Facial expressions and noises can only get me so far.  Sometimes they only serve to get me misunderstood!  Fortunately, God has provided me with coping skills; humor and a high embarrassment threshold.  All right...enough for now...let me close this note with and invite....COME TO CHINA!   I"ll guarantee memories, adventure, and fun!  And that's just at the grocery store!

Chinese Cooking 101

One of my goals is to learn to cook Chinese food. There are many cooking classes, from which to choose, but Mrs. Jin (our ayi - see yesterday's post) is 48 and she has a husband and an 18 year old son. You know the woman can cook! So I found a menu from a local restaurant that delivers. Their menu is in English and Chinese. I pointed to the spring rolls and asked Mr. Jin if she would cook them and let me be her apprentice. Mrs. Jin loves to cook so I'm taking cooking lessons every Monday. Scott and the boys are thrilled!

Welcome to Chinese Cooking Class 101! Featuring the famous Mrs. Jin and her sidekick ( more like side show,.. more like freak show-Cintia, they don't pronounce the 'th' in my name.) So Mrs. Jin is whipping up a concoction of pork, cabbage, mushrooms and various spices, and sauces. She asks me if I have paper. After assessing the situation, I conclude she needs... paper towels. Now, paper towels in my world are expensive and wasteful. They are a bit of a treasure. However, I did tuck one glorious roll in our shipment and hid it from the boys. When I pulled it out, Mrs. Jin frowned, "No, not that paper."  Okay, okay....I've got other options...I know, maybe she wants post it notes! Ta-da! How about this paper?!.. "No, no....You have cooking paper? ...Ah, cooking paper!...Wait...Yes!.. Oh I'm so sure now! ... I run to my kitchen drawer, and pull out a plethora of cooking paper! I've got wax paper, I've got parchment paper, I've got cling wrap, and aluminum foil, (which are cousins' of cooking paper!) I'm so hopeful that my Chinese cooking teacher will be so pleased! She will smile and bow and praise me, "Oh Cyntia, you good student" Instead she shakes her head in total frustration. She picks up a small bowl of salt and says," Do you have salt and .......paper?!  I know, I know.... You think you'd hear the angels sing!....Come on...For crying out loud I packed wax paper.... Can you believe I forgot my salt and pepper grinder in America!

Mrs. Jin didn't need me in her way. Nor did she need my PEPPER. She danced around my kitchen with grace and finesse, and this Minnesota family ate Chinese spring rolls on an autumn night! I need to learn the Chinese word for delicious! For now "yum" seems to do the trick. Stay tuned for our second cooking lesson.

Cynthia's first blog post!!

Chinese food in China is very affordable.  It is western style food, whether bought at the grocery store or eating at  restaurants, that will crunch your wallet.  For example, cereal is between $10-$12!  Isn't that insane!  Knowing the prices of some of the foods, I did pack as much as customs would allow us to bring in our shipment.  Then again, how long do you think it takes for three boys to polish off a box of cereal? I've requested they eat cereal with chop sticks. The cereal lasts longer that way!

Some things here in China are VERY inexpensive.  For example, I have an ayi ( translates auntie and is pronounced i-ee) don't ask me why, this language is VERY HARD! Personally I rely on my pantomiming skills. (different story , different day).  In any case, for $3 an hour I have a maid!  Her name is Mrs. Jin.  She speaks a little English, for which I am grateful, and she has experience working with 14 western families.  She can clean, cook, shop, iron, babysit, do errands and I'm sure there is more, I think she might  even do magic tricks!  For our family, Mrs. Jin cleans  on Mon., Wed., and Fri. afternoons.  The apartment complex also provides two ayi for an hour per week.  These two, clean all our window and three balconies.  What is so insane, is that we live on the third floor of a 12 story building and they tip-toe around the outside window ledge to clean the windows without ANY safety devices!  NO WAY could I do this,  I'm so afraid of heights......I don't even like standing!  One time I decided to face my fears and get a job painting houses.  I climbed ladders to the third and forth floors, trembling and praying out loud the whole time.  Face your fears... that's a bunch of poo!  I'll leave windows  to the sweet little cleaning ladies that prance around on my window ledges!

Church in China

We have begun attending Abundant Grace International Fellowship (AGIF).  The church meets on Sundays at 3pm in a contemporary but traditional church building much like any you would find in the US.  The service is about 1-1/2 hours and begins with families all together for a time of singing and worship.  After about 20 minutes the kids are ushered out to their programming for the remainder of the time.  The Sr. Pastor is from the US and reminds me of John Russell from our church in Kentucky - he has a deep velvety voice and a very clear and proper manner of speaking.  This is contrasted with the associate pastor who is from South Africa and has a very distinct accent that I thought was at first Australian.  The pastor of Outreach is an Indian and he also has a very distinct style of speech.  So you really have to attune your ears to the accent of the day which at times can be difficult.  The attendees are from all over - US, Australia, UK, Germany, Korea, China, Singapore etc etc.  It is a very unique experience to be attending with people from all over the world and I imagine that it must be what heaven will be like - a kaleidoscope of races all getting along. Imagine that.  (Okay so much for my John Lennon moment)

I would describe the church as contemporary as well as relevant.  They are affiliated with Willow Creek Church in Chicago, they value small groups, outreach and personal transformation.  The most recent 9 week series was all about the family and what makes a family strong.  The two messages we caught were very relevant to our lives at the moment and it was refreshing to know we can still have good teaching and church so far away from the US. 

We are currently considering taking the entire family on an outreach event at the end of this month.  The church supports a small village in the Anhui province and brings them assistance in the form of rice, ducks, goats and scholarships.  The animals as well as some micro-loans help to get people started in a self-sustaining business upon which they can support their families.  

All in all, God has been very faithful to us in our adventure here so far - providing for our needs and keeping us all safe and healthy.  For this we are thankful and also thankful for all you who remember us in your prayers.  Don't forget Cynthia's advice - "Whenever you see a 'Made in China' label say a little prayer for the Smiths"

Spicy dinner

One of my Chinese coworkers recommended a restaurant to me that was located about 15 minutes from our house in PuDong.  The name of the restaurant is Ba Guo Bu Yi and it serves traditional Sichuan fare and at 7pm each night they have a performer known only to me as "change face" which basically describes his act.  Cynthia and I had just finished shopping for a new camera in the electronics marketplace for Regan's trip to Beijing and picked up Landon from a friend's house when we decided that we should try out this new place.  Now, I knew that it would be spicy but none of us knew just how spicy it would be - WOW!  As you can see from one of the pictures that I posted Cynthia and Mason were diving for relief in their drinks.  At one point we were all sniffing from the hot spices and had tears in our eyes.  Landon was the only one immune to the whole experience as he wisely stuck to rice and dumplings.  After making a valiant effort to finish all that we ordered we were waiting for the usual watermelon slices to arrive at our table.  When they did not seem to be forthcoming I decided to try and order them from one of the waiters by using a translation program that Mason had downloaded onto his i-Touch.  The Chinese word for watermelon is xi gua which I requested from the waiter.  Several minutes later a pitcher of freshly blended watermelon juice arrived at our table - warm watermelon juice - not exactly what we were looking for.  I then resorted to drawing on my napkin a picture of watermelon slices - which were being served to every table around us and finally got the message across.  We had a great time overall and they even ended up taking the watermelon juice off the bill even though we drank all of it. 

I want to thank all of you who have been clicking on the Google ads.  We have raised over $60 so far for the Bao Bei Foundation.  We will be donating the money once we reach $400 which is the amount needed for one cleft palate operation.

Lao Shi Landon

The Chinese word for teacher is Lao Shi and Landon is becoming our Chinese teacher or Lao Shi Landon.  While driving in the car he enjoys giving lessons in counting.  He can give his entire birth day, month and year all in Chinese.  He is also picking up the local dialect known as Shanghai-nese.  As he is imparting all his daily Mandarin learnings to us, our driver Mr. Dong is listening in and every once in a while will turn around and give a big smile, thumbs up and a hearty "Hen hao! Landon" We are very proud of him.  Of course Mason and Regan are also quickly surpassing me - no surprise there - in the local language.  I still have one up on my lovely bride however. 

Regan's class trip to Beijing leaves on Monday morning and they will be gone for 5 days.  In preparation for the trip the teachers asked the students to bring in their digital cameras for some lessons in photography.  Regan did a really nice job on some of the shots and I have posted some of them here.  I am looking forward to what images he will capture in and around Beijing. 

Missing Home

The weather in Shanghai has become very nice with daytime highs in the 70s and low humidity.  At night you need to put on a light sweater or jacket. Fall was always one of my favorite seasons in Minnesota with the crisp chill in the air, leaves beginning to change color, fall baseball and the football season just getting underway.  We are all missing something from home. 

Landon misses his school friends and seeing Grandma and Grandpa.  Regan misses Huntley and Roscoe along with his friends.  Mason misses Ali and Cynthia misses everyone.  However, we are adjusting to this new life and there are many things that have been added which we would never have had back in Minnesota.  We spend a lot less time watching TV and a lot more time together as a family going out to eat or spending time at the gym.  Regan has a school trip to Beijing this weekend and Landon plays on both defense and offense for his football team.  Mason gets the opportunity to study at the most prestigious college in Shanghai and Cynthia is making many new friends and is enjoying long lunches with lots of laughter. We all attended church together last week and found it to be a great message on families and forgiveness that we all needed to hear. Afterwards we rode our scooter and three wheeler to a restaurant and had a nice meal. 

Cynthia has a new e-mail address if you would like to drop her a line without the whole Smith clan having access, it is crsmith@live.com.  I am sure she would love to hear from you.   If you have Skype you can find us by searching rssmith0214.  We would love to hear from you and if you call remember that we are 13 hours ahead of CST or 14 hours ahead once daylight savings time ends.  Sorry for the melancholy tone of this blog post but it can't be wine and roses all the time.  Take care and stay in touch.

Kopi Luwak

Okay, for all of you who didn't find the time to google Kopi Luwak you can find a web link on the right side of the blog page.  The link is from the movie "The Bucket List" and does a great job of defining the coffee's unique origins.  Enjoy!  Thanks to my friend Pete for sending me the link!

Have a great day!

Expo 2010 Day 2

The family set out for the Expo at 7:30am on Tuesday - Mason and Regan on the electric bike and Scott driving the three wheeler with Cynthia and Landon on the back.  I am sure we were quite a sight for the early rising Chinese.  It was only about 3 kilometers to the metro station where we caught the subway to the PuDong side of the Expo.  The view of the China Pavilion filled the horizon as we joined the thousands of fellow Expo-ites for a day filled with walking, walking and more walking.  In total we took in 39 pavilions over the course of two days.  One of our favorites was Indonesia where we partook of the worlds most expensive coffee - Kopi Luwak.  One small cup was $56.  However, by purchasing this most rich cup of coffee you were treated to a luxurious coffee lounge with soft leather chairs and specially made Indonesian coconut treats. The coffee was prepared table-side in a most elaborate process that reminded me of Chemistry lab.   I would tell you what makes Kopi Luwak so special but I think you will appreciate it much more if you were to Google the term and learn first hand why this is such a delicacy.  (Yes, this blog requires a bit of homework!) We drank the coffee black and it was silky smooth in texture with just a hint of berries.  Mason and Regan even tried it but we couldn't persuade Landon.  Another favorite was the Caribbean pavilion.  It was just like going home and brought back lots of good memories.  We visited Dominica (our favorite of all the islands we visited during our time in the USVI), Jamaica, St. Kitts, Belize, Antigua and many others.  The displays were manned by local natives of each island and we had a great time talking with them and reminiscing about our days in the sun.  The Jamaican folks were especially friendly and offered us two small airport bottles of rum.  Cynthia made an off the cuff comment of "Oh thank you, we really missed this" which then brought a reply of "Well den dear you mus have de whol box den"  She disappeared for a minute in the back room and came out with a dozen bottles of rum for us (airport size of course).  We also met someone from the Shanghai Caribbean Association and got invited to their annual get together being held next month.  Apparently there is quite a large Caribbean population in Shanghai - go figure.  Mason and Regan decided to part ways with us and head back home around 2 pm.  They had no problem finding the exit gate, making their way to the subway, changing trains once, finding the scooter at the final stop and heading home - whew!  I must admit it is a bit unnerving releasing your kids to travel halfway across Shanghai but I guess it really speaks to how safe and easy it is to get around this huge city.

Cynthia, Landon and I finished the day at the New Zealand pavilion and really enjoyed all the flora and fauna that was exhibited.  I would really like to visit there someday.  We finally left the Expo around 5pm but not before Landon posed for literally 20 photographs with various Chinese.  Landon was the only 9 year old westerner for miles around and it seems the Chinese think he is sooooo cute!  Landon is a bit camera shy but he obligingly and patiently posed for all the pictures.  We finally met a young girl on the subway home who was also 9 years old.  We started talking with her in Chinese (her Dad helped translate) I was using my very basic words like counting to ten, reciting and pointing to colors.  I would count to ten in Chinese then she would count in English. I would say an animal name in Chinese and she would reply with the English name.  This went on for several stops and we became quite the source of entertainment for those around us.  An elderly Chinese man had been observing this entire exchange and finally addressed me and said that he was glad I was speaking Chinese and that the US and China are very good allies (this all came via the little girls dad translating). It was fun and made me realize how much I really want to be able to converse in the local language.

Finally, I wanted to let you know the name of the orphanage/foster care facility that we want to support with the funds raised by all of you clicking on a Google Ad on our blog page.  The group is called the Bao Bei (bao-bay) Foundation.  BaoBei Foster Home in Shanghai is a temporary home for orphans from other provinces. These children come to Shanghai to receive medical attention or to undergo medical procedures that will save their lives or restore them to health. Before and after a medical intervention, the children receive loving care at Baobei Foster Home which prepares them physically and emotionally for an intervention and helps them recuperate from it. The services of BaoBei Foster Home are free but not the medical procedures. Therefore BaoBei Foster Home depends on its volunteer network for financial support.


Once the children recuperate, they can either be placed in local foster homes or they can be returned to the orphanage from which they came. One way or the other, the children will leave BaoBei Foster Home only once they are fully recovered from the operation they needed.

I have also included a link on the blog so you can get more information - to date we have earned about $35 from the blog ads.  The price for one cleft palate operation is $400.  I would love to be able to raise that much to impact the life of one child.  Thanks for your support.

Shanghai Expo 2010

Yesterday we (Mason, Landon and I) visited Expo 2010.  The Expo is the world's fair that is held every four years in various cities around the world.  The theme of this years Expo is "Better City, Better Life" and all of the pavilions from cities around the world display their latest plans and technologies for creating greener, more sustainable cites.  The Expo grounds are expansive and are split in the center by the Huang Pu river with the East side being referred to as the PuDong (literally "river east") and the West side is PuXi (poo-shee) Cynthia and Regan chose to stay home as Regan was extremely tired from his weekend retreat and Cynthia was just tired from being a wife and mother of three boys.

The day started out with a three wheeler ride from our apartment to the subway line.  On the way we stopped to participate in a bit of morning tai chi.  The master helped Mason and Landon strike the correct pose after several terse commands that none of us could understand.  The master finally gave up and I took the picture.

On the subway we met one of the Expo workers, Sally, and she guided us to the ticket gate and made sure we were on our way before heading to her assignment.  As we were walking to the gate a Chinese girl in front of us dropped her map and Mason picked it up to return it to her.  We thought nothing of it until a few minutes later the same girl asked Mason if she could accompany us since she was travelling alone.  She spoke limited English and we agreed to have a local companion to tour the Puxi side of the Expo.  Our new friend's name was Kimi, she is 23 and works as a graphic designer for a construction company in Fujian.  She was enamored with Landon and must have taken 50 pictures of him and with him. She had travelled to Shanghai to visit her sister and take in the sights during the National Holiday. We finally parted ways around 3:30 as she was heading to The Bund to continue her sight seeing there. It was nice to have someone who spoke Chinese help us get around and we all felt good that we could be her "friends" so she didn't have to be alone. 

Speaking of photos - Landon was a hit!  During the course of day we had several Chinese come up and want to take our picture - okay - Landon and Mason's picture.  One little Chinese girl even thought Landon was pre-teen pop idol - Justin Bieber!  The average daily attendance for the Expo is about 400 thousand and on the day we were there I could count on two hands the number of westerners visiting!  We really were a minority and that probably accounted for some of the keen interest by the Chinese.

We are now out the door with the entire family this time to head to the PuDong side of the Expo.  This is the more crowded and popular venue where the major country pavilions are located.  Will have more to report tomorrow.  Enjoy the new pictures on the blog and don't forget to click on an ad or two in order to generate funds for the local orphanage here.  I will be posting a brief story on the orphanage so you can get a better idea of how the funds raised from Google Ads will be used.

Chinese National Holiday

October 1st marks the annual celebration of Chinese National Day.  I would liken this to the Fourth of July in the US.  The official holiday is for three days however it is stretched to a full 7 day holiday.  Many companies will have the employees work the weekend prior to the holiday and then take all 5 days of the work week as vacation. Most Chinese use this time to travel back to their hometowns to visit friends and family.  Others plan trips abroad to sight see or just simply relax.

I have heard this time also referred to as Mid-Autumn Festival, New Moon Festival or as Landon says, "It's Moon Cake Day!"  One of the traditions around this time of the year is to give moon cakes to your friends and families.  Moon cakes are hard to describe but the best I can do is liken them to the holiday fruitcake that Americans re-gift, I mean gift, to each other around Christmas time.  More important than the actual cake is the presentation and the gesture of good will.  The moon cakes are packaged in very elaborate gift boxes and each cake is then individually packaged in its own intricate little box. We were advised that we needed to give moon cakes to both our driver and our ayi (maid) or else they would lose face among their fellow peers.  So Cynthia got the scoop on the best ones to purchase from some friends that have been here longer than us and we made sure to not allow any "face" to be lost on our watch. 

Now you are probably wondering what exactly IS a moon cake?  Well, essentially it is a marzipan type center that has been coated with a pie-like crust with some sort of intricate Chinese pattern pressed into the surface.  The filling varies from red bean paste to an actual egg yolk (hard boiled texture) which I think represents the full harvest moon - hence the name as well as the association with the Mid Autumn festival.  We were given a lovely gift box of moon cakes from one of my co-workers.  We have tried them but found them to not be exactly pleasing to the Western palette.  In fact, when I ask my Chinese friends most of them say that they really don't like moon cakes but that they have to buy them every year or else they would be considered being very rude by their families (who really don't care for the taste either but you had better give them to me anyway).  Now that I think about it this whole Moon Cake phenomenon sounds like some sort of a scam run by the Chinese moon cake industry - kind of like Hallmark cards manufacturing fake holidays like National Garbage Collectors day then run sentimental ads that guilt you into buying a card for Gary the Garbageman. (Not sure where that came from - I guess I have some suppressed anger towards Hallmark)

Anyway I want to thank those of you who send notes and comments regarding the blog.  I am glad that you are enjoying these random journal entries.  I think it will be fun to go back a few years from now and recall all the experiences being documented.  I am trying to get you-know-who to try her hand at this as I think she would offer an entirely different perspective.  We'll see.

Random items

Landon has joined the cub scouts and we had our first meeting this past Wednesday.  He is in Den 11 and his Den Leader is Mr. Leung.  Both Cynthia and I attended the den meeting and really enjoyed the time.  Landon is very excited to get his uniform and start working on achievement badges.  We tried scouts with Regan back in the US but the troop was so unorganized that we quickly dropped out.  This troop seems very well organized and should be a great experience.  We even have a camping trip planned - should have brought our tents after all.  Oh well. 

Regan left this Friday for a three day retreat with Abundant Grace International Fellowship (AGIF).  This is the protestant church near our house.  He was rather nervous about going because he only knew two kids.  they have over 150 attending and I am hoping he has a great time and meets some new friends.  It may not have helped that he and I wheeled up on Cynthia's electric trike while all his classmates came by their chauffeured Buicks.  (Our driver had the day off to observe the first day of the National Holiday)

We have only made it to church one time.  They only offer one service and it is at 3pm on Sundays.  Landon's football practice and games go until 2:30 on Sundays and it is very hard to get cleaned up and back in time.  AGIF will be hosting the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit and we are planning to attend.

Cynthia has been battling our appliances and having a hard time getting the upper hand.  First, we had them replace the washing machine as the old one had rust on the outside.  Then the dryer started acting up and you have to jiggle the door handle to get it to turn on.  We called the service center (SC) and they promptly send out the maintenance man (who speaks no English) and he proceeds to explain to Cynthia the "correct" jiggling technique and "Voila" he has solved the problem - (not so much).  Then came the stove - it has two temperatures OFF and BURN.  Even at the lowest setting the temp rises to over 350 degrees.  The Chinese do very little baking so there is correspondingly very little "oven knowledge".  Again the SC sends over the maintenance man, he turns on the stove, it heats up, No Problem!  "I fix"- "You sign here".  Now the only temperature rise is the slow burn that Cynthia is feeling as the SC man leaves.

Mason has been studying Chinese, filling out college applications and doing his best to stay in touch with friends back home.  He and Ali (girlfriend) speak at least once a day and she has even started studying Chinese.  Ali will be coming for a visit just before Christmas and we are all looking forward to her time.  She will be our first visitor unless someone else can beat her to it.  Mason has also made a few friends at Fudan University but it is hard to stay connected as we are about 45 minutes from campus. 

For those of you who receive these posts via e-mail - please go check out the blog and see the new pictures that have been posted.  While you are there be sure to click on an ad or two.  We are going to use the earnings from the Google Ads to donate to a local orphanage.  Each click through earns a small amount and costs you nothing.  So please consider clicking an ad.

On India

I just returned from a one week trip to India with two colleagues from the US.  We began the journey at our facility in Bangalore then travelled to Mumbai and finally ended up in Chennai.  India is a country of contrasts to say the least.  You can find some of the finest 5 star hotels situated next to shantytown slums.  India has some of the best IT infrastructure in the world but has some of the worst road infrastructure as well.  You can look out the car window and see Bollywood stars walking down a 5th Avenue style boulevard only to have your view suddenly blocked by a 11 or 12 year old slum dweller holding and infant and begging for food or money.  India is a vibrant country however that is in the midst of incredible growing pains.  There is activity everywhere as the country tries to keep pace with the huge amount of growth and investment that is flooding into the region from foreign companies.  Its like India is a teenager that has had a growth spurt over the summer but has yet to update its wardrobe so none of its clothes fit quite right.  To be sure, the Indians are a very industrious and hardworking people.  They pride themselves on their rich cultural heritage and are always more than eager to explain the multiple religions, gods and temples that you come across in the course of the day.  Temples and shrines are ubiquitous even to the point of them being set up in our factory.  They place incense and matches next to a statue of Ganesha (the elephant headed God who is a lessor god that handles all troubles in this world) for use whenever they feel a need to pray.  During our time in Mumbai there were two very much anticipated events taking place.  The first was an ominous one as the entire country was awaiting a verdict in a years old court case regarding the destruction of a Islamic mosque by the Hindus.  The judgement has been years in the making and the tensions were very high as the government closed schools for the day anticipating a violent reaction by the "losing" party in the case.  Fortunately, the judgement was postponed due to the Commonwealth Games and all the troubles they have been having there.  I guess the government wanted to limit their "crisis management" to one major issue at a time.  the second event we experienced in Mumbai was of a very different and festive nature - the annual Immersion of Ganesha ceremony.  For this tradition everyone in Mumbai (okay NOT everyone but literally hundreds of thousands) constructs or buys a clay or plaster of paris Ganesha statue and parades it through the streets until they reach either the ocean or lake then proceed to walk the statue into the water where it dissolves away.  This is symbolic of giving all of your troubles to Ganesha and he washes them away in the water - I think.  the statues come in all shapes and sizes with the largest being 20 to 30 feet tall!  Bands of people throng into the street and traffic is all but stopped for hours as the celebration moves toward the water.  The Times of India estimated that over 190,000 Ganesha statues were immersed on this particular occasion!  India's tourism board has coined a slogan that I find absolutely fitting - Incredible India!  I look forward to returning later this year - probably in December or early January.  I just hope they get the verdict settled before I return!  I have added a couple of web links on the blog that pertain to India if you are interested.

Home Again

Just got back from a week in India. For those of you who check the blog on a daily basis - sorry for the inactivity but it was hard to find the time on this latest trip.  However, that is not to say we didn't have an action packed week.  It started out with Mason having to get his student visa finalized along with Cynthia and the boys visas extended.  I think we are all legal now as far as I can tell.  I flew to India on Saturday to join up with some colleagues from the US.  We had a full week consisting of customer visits, a trade show, and meetings with potential distributor partners.  We began our trip in Bangalore, flew to Mumbai on Wednesday and then to Chennai on Friday.  During the course of the week I was able to stroll along the coast of the Arabian Sea (Mumbai) after dinner one evening and one day later walk down to the shore of the Bay of Bengal (Chennai).  We had some time left late Friday afternoon and were able to tour the temples of Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu.  My flight departed from Chennai at 12:01am on Saturday to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia then connected with a flight to Shanghai.  I finally reached home on Saturday at 3pm which means that I had been in the same clothes and without sleep since 5:00am Friday morning!  I was so ready to just relax in the newly organized home that Cynthia had worked on for most of the week before I was told that we had to go with Mr. Dong to replace Cynthia's new ride which had been not-so-affectionately nick named "The Electric Hummer".  I was just coming off my own episode of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and really wasn't looking forward to yet another drive to the part of town to exchange trikes but off we went anyway.  By this time I was going on 34 hours with only a cat nap here and there on the planes.  When we arrived at the bike shop the owner was waiting for us as Cynthia and Mr. Dong had arranged the exchange the previous day.  Well nothing takes the amount of time that you would expect it to here in China.  By that I mean it always takes much longer.  While Cynthia and our driver pointed out every small detail of the new bike and the shop owner fixed each and everyone,  Landon and I took a stroll in the area where they really don't see alot of westerners.  Landon is a big hit and gets lots of stares and the occasional thumbs up.  By the time we got back to the shop Cynthia had befriended a two or three year old little boy and was exchanging pretend gunfire - she with a finger and he with a plastic AK-47.  It was quite the scene as they battled it out in the street with several amused onlookers.  Finally, the bike was finished after spray painting blemishes, fixing lights, wiring the batteries and the piece de resistance - chinese stickers including flames, flowers and phrases (in Chinese of course which we think say something like "Keep your distance from this one")  We again repeated the drive and follow method to get the trike home - this time with the shop owner as the driver.  We exchanged the bikes (trikes) at home and finally I could rest - after we went out to eat.  Needless to say, I slept very well Saturday night.

Cynthia's New Ride part 2

Our story so far...Scott and Mr. Dong have arrived at the shop of the Scooter dealer after a comedy of errors in getting there.  The shop owner was more than happy to see us and finally Mr. Dong understood what I wanted and the purpose of the mysterious phone number I had given him.  There were three models to choose from and I test drove them all and decided that one of the models was just too small and one of the models was too big but the third model was juussst right!  (Sounds like The Three Bears story)  Anyway, the store owner had a couple kids put the finishing touches on the trike - installing the rear view mirrors,  batteries, and a new speedometer cover (the original was cracked) and I took it for a final spin just to make sure it met my high standards of trike buying - (no Dad, I did not check Consumer Reports)  The next step was to get the thing home!  No problem - one of the kids who helped put it together would drive it to our apartment.  So we set off toward home with the guy in the trike following us.  We would have to stop for traffic periodically or simply to wait for him to catch up to us but he always appeared.  Remember the traffic here is absolutely crazy and but it was obvious that he was a real veteran of maneuvering in and around any and all obstacles.  Thirty minutes later we arrived at home and Cynthia was standing on the stairs of our building and when she saw the trike the air pressure around us dropped several points as she mad a huge gasp and said "Is that mine?!"  I paid the guy the final amount and he was gone like the lone ranger amid all the excitement.  All the expat drivers like Mr. Dong were hanging out near their vans (as they always do awaiting the next trip to wherever with an expat wife and kids) and they were quite amused when Cynthia invited all of them for a ride in her new wheels!  The trike actually has a reverse and instead of a gentle beeping sound like on a golf cart this has a nasally sounding Chinese women repeating some phrase that we can only assume means "Watch Out - Crazy American Woman Backing Up!"  We all got a great laugh out of this.   We store it in the underground garage where we can also charge the batteries.  Our next mission is to get the maintenance department to widen the ramp up the stairs in the basement so that getting it into the charging area doesn't require two people and a hernia.  Oh well, one thing at a time!

Cynthia's New Ride

Well as you can see from the latest blog photo - Cynthia is on the move!  We wanted to get her a scooter to get around the neighborhood to visit friends and make grocery runs but she was a bit uneasy on two wheels and besides the carrying capacity for groceries is somewhat limited on a scooter. She had mentioned to me that she really wanted a three wheeler and I of course kind of put the idea on the back burner.  I was walking in our neighborhood one evening and came across a woman driving a three wheeler.  We had a short chat and she gave me the phone number of the place she bought it.  She could not remember the name of the place, its location and oh yeah, they don't speak any English. (pretty much a given)  The next day I climbed into the van with our driver and told him that I was going to call a number and that he had to talk to them and find out how to drive me there - now remember our driver doesn't really speak much english so I am sure he had no idea what I wanted other than I wanted to go to the place associated with the number I dialed.  Much shouting and directing later we ended up at a dead end - the highway just stopped - must have run out of money or cement or maybe both.  Anyway, we called the number back, described where we were and they sent a guy on a scooter to direct us to the location.  It was a small hole in the wall shop... literally.  TO BE CONTINUED

Cynthia's Debut

Well, it did not take long for Cynthia to start impacting the community!  (Not that this will surprise anyone) She has been asked by the Service Center staff to emcee the New Moon Festival celebration on Saturday night.  The service center for Green Court manages all of the apartments in our complex which I guess must number near 500.  From day one, Cynthia set as a goal to make sure she was known by the service center staff so as to be able to get special favors when it comes to maintenance and other things that come up.  She quickly befriended Grace, Mandy and Agnes who work the desk.  When she first called the SC after arriving the response she got to her question "Do you remember me?" was "Ma'am there are so many people it is very hard to remember them all".  Well that was motivation enough for Cynthia to march down to the SC and meet face to face with the team and make a BIG impression in only the way that my wife can do.  She turned on all her "woo - power" and won them all over.  Yesterday, she got a call from Mandy who explained that they were having a community get together to celebrate the first day of the moon festival and that they would like Cynthia to be the emcee along with another Chinese host.  When Cynthia inquired "Why me?" Mandy replied, "Because you are a good talker, you have much talent in this area and you are friendly!"  Cynthia asked if she could have an hour to think about it to which Mandy replied, "No, you only get 30 minutes"  (the Chinese can be very efficient and direct when they want to be.)  Needless to say, Cynthia will be the Expat emcee for the kick off of the New Moon Festival!  (If they only knew what they have done.) It is Saturday morning and Cynthia just left for rehearsal.  I  leave for India today so I will miss the "performance" - which might be okay now that I think about it.  Landon has a sleep over birthday party to attend and Regan has found a good friend who he is spending lots of time with.  Mason went with a college friend to a get together last night and had a good time.  Oh, and our shipment came!  Woo hoo!!  Landon's comment this morning was, "I got to eat with silverware today!"  Oh to be thankful for the small things in life.  Have a great weekend and keep those cards and letters coming.  Until next time.

Visa Trouble

When you move to China you are required by law to let the authorities know where you live at all times,  even when you are travelling every hotel is required to fill out a temporary residence form and file it with the government.  Cynthia took all of our paperwork to the local police station along with our Driver - Mr. Dong to file our new address according to this rule only to find out that her and Mason's visas had expired.  Now this is not a good thing.  The fine for overstaying your visa is 500 RMB per day.  We were 6 days over the limit and therefore 3,000 RMB in debt to China.  Needless to say, all this is taking place as I am travelling.  After lots of phone calls to our HR person in the US, the Immigration Services company in Shanghai and lots of negotiating - yes, even this is negotiable in China - we were able to get everything straightened out. (I think)  The final step is to make sure Cynthia and Mason's names are not black listed with Chinese customs so that they don't show up as "visa scofflaws" when travelling back to China.  The moral of this story is:  ALWAYS know your visa status and DO NOT overstay beyond the indicated period.  We won't be letting that happen again.

Mason is busy with Fudan University and has his first Chinese test today.  He has also been keeping busy with writing Thank You cards for graduation as well as completing his college application for the University of Chicago.  Would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers for him as he is quite anxious about many of these new experiences here in China and was especially affected by this whole visa ordeal. 

I am at our factory in Qingdao today and we have the Pentair Board of Directors visiting. It has been weeks of daily work on our slide presentations and I will be really happy when this is over.  Enjoy your day today and be glad you don't have to register your every location with the US government - yet.