Hello from Beijing.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Okay, so I don't have time for a real update. But I do have this: Scavenger Hunt pictures! See. Laugh. Enjoy.
Monday, July 12, 2004
down the third ring road, the street on which i live in a tiny dot of a building on the lefthand side
Last week, we had four glorious, unprecedented days of blue skies. Four whole days! (Of course, by the time the weekend -- and our weekend trip with a bunch of friends to a nearby mountain resort -- rolled around, it was gray and then pouring. Oh well.) The four days themselves were quite lovely, and the bike and I jetted around town, avoiding adult responsibilities and checking out the local public pools and parks and sunning spots. Now we're back to reality: The forecast for this week calls for gray and busy.
completely indicative of beijing: construction sites everywhere
and also many, many cars
the odd sculptures, i kind of like
as tempting as the state leaders planting forest sounds, i headed off to the international friend ship forest
Monday, July 5, 2004
Adam amassed enough brave souls willing to test out an inaugural overnight at the summer house, which is located north of the city in the village of San Cha, sort of near the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. There was bbqing, and cards, and many bottles of beer taken down and passed around. There was also an enormous thunderstorm smack in the middle of the grilling session (which also dispersed the small crowd of villagers hanging out near our house), but it meant the next day was bright and clean and clear and sunny. I was sorry to come back, although Beijing seems to be having -- for the first time in weeks, it seems -- a blue sky, white cloud kind of day here too. Yay.
i cannot get enough of the donkeys
we climbed up a steep hill to sit at the pool at the top, kind of a man-made waterfall.
of course, then you have to climb down (adam is the dot in red)
more donkey action
here's the house!
it was business as usual around town
i think i am in love with this kid, a tiny little wisp of a girl who is just. so. cute.
Friday, July 2, 2004
Oh my. Is it July already? I know I promised birthday pictures -- and they're coming! -- but I have to compile them all from outside sources and stuff. Truthfully, I am being lazy. There is really no excuse.
I'm just back from the Toy Market, which is a huge mall full of cheap plastic crap. We're heading up to the summer house this weekend (went last weekend and cleaned it up somewhat so it looks purty) and we wanted to bring
a bunch of sporty toys and school supplies to kids in the village. I am in charge of that. (Yay!) But, really, navigating the toy market is not all that fun. I was not in the mood to bargain hard, so people were haggling me left and right and
laughing at me when I overpaid and it's just very frustrating. You can get great deals in China, but sometimes you start craving fixed prices and no-hassle shopping. My kingdom for a Wal-Mart!
Still, we're pretty stocked up, gift-wise: Frisbees, a soccer ball, badminton, jumpropes, crayons, notebooks, pencils, and more. I bought chalk, thinking it would be fun to draw on the road with them, but then I realized that the road is probably dirt, not asphalt. Whoops. Maybe we can draw on the buildings?
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