Today Leah and I went to a local park called Guhua Park (pronounced Goo-ha). A wonderful lady named Sammy, who works at Ace, accompanied us and gave us a tour. I did not try to keep straight the names of the different buildings and bridges, just enjoyed it. So, here are some pictures for you to enjoy also. Many people were talking to Sammy and I had no clue what about until finally after awhile she said "Leah, I think I should have made a sign to hang around your neck that says " I am 9 years old and am from the United States!" ... read more

At first glance, the large grocery stores look much like those in the USA, but, upon closer inspection - there are definitely differences! Leah has enjoyed taking pictures while we're shopping, so I'm just going to post some. We definitely attract attention when we are shopping, especially Leah. Picture a guy walking through the mall with 6 inch spiked green hair and a multitude of piercings and tattoos - you know the kind of attention he attracts? Well, that's about the amount we get just walking through the store! Only it's surprise and curiosity, and the women often tell Leah how beautiful she is. Just like at home, you usually encounter the produce department first, I've been able to find enough things I'm used to using that I haven't tried much different yet, except some bright ... read more

On Saturday, 5-16, we took a tour of the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, one of the top four gardens in China. The azaleas were finished blooming, and the Lotus hadn't started yet, but it was still very beautiful! We had a guide named Danny who was fantastic. He spoke very good English and made everything very entertaining, not just dry facts. The Gardens are 500 years old and cover almost 13 acres. The four main elements of an ancient Chinese garden are the water, rocks, plants and buildings, and this garden had plenty of them all! He started the tour by explaining that Chinese painters were the ones who designed the ancient gardens, so he said to pretend we were walking through a 3-D painting! What a neat idea!... read more

We are living in an apartment building within the guarded gates of the company Jim is working for. Looking out the front of the apartment, we see the business building. We can look to the right and see Jim's office windows. To the left is a river behind the fence, and between the fence and river are gardens. They may grow some of the food that they serve the workers in the cafeteria. Between the apartments and the business is a soccer field, a basketball court and some gardens. Nearer to the business is the "parking garage" for all of the bikes and scooters. Nobody living in the apartments owns a car. Outside the back of the apartment is a grassy area and then some other businesses. Tuesday morning, Leah was going outside and came back ... read more

For our first full day in China, we were celebrating Mother's Day and our 29th Anniversary. Horton had said the night before that he would like to take us to the Sentosa Hotel for their breakfast buffet. This is the hotel where Jim used to stay when he was working for Tyco. Although it had been almost a year since he was last there, one of the waiters recognized him. We enjoyed breakfast, which had traditional Chinese items as well as some American things, including an omelet bar. Leah and I tried Congee, which I would describe as a watery rice porridge. I had read about it as a common breakfast for many Chinese and was able to teach Horton the American name for it! After breakfast, we went shopping at a store called Lotus, probably ... read more