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.