Thanks! Dawn - thanks for coming back to Iowa and this great weather! Your right this has been a great two seasons so far. Great job at the decorations!
Chinese Christmas decorations can't be beat, that's for sure! In fact, I brought a few things back that I definitely need to pull out and display in all their sparkly loveliness! I spent one Chinese New Year with friends traveling and we stopped in Qingdao for the actual New Year's Eve and it turns out everything in Qingdao shuts down for the holiday and we had to eat McDonald's for every meal for 2 days. But the firecrackers and burning paper were cool!
Ah yes Ah yes, Thanksgiving is an important holiday and one not to be muddled with half Halloween and half Christmas. It is much more like Chinese New Year than the New Year is like Christmas. Family, family, family was the theme for Chinese New Year in 2001 in Xi'an. I was blessed to be adopted by a Chinese family for the holidays or I would have been sitting totally alone in a room with no one around for a whole week.
Did you find that Christmas in China was like Halloween, Christmas , 4th of July, and Mardi Gras all thrown together? I was taken to the Christmas night (eve) parade in downtown Xi'an and the students bought me a mask with feathers (like New Orleans) a Tiara with flashing lights (like Halloween) and we were assaulted by fireworks so often that one of the students had an asthma attack from the filthy air. There were over 1,000,000 people dancing in the streets and throwing fire crackers on each other and wearing costumes! It was really wild. Like nothing and like everything with Santa Claus in the store windows too.
But New Year was noisy with fireworks and yet peaceful and calm with love and good food and plenty of family time.
Hope you enjoy the library! I am a retired librarian and about to be off to Prague to work for another 5 months in a library there.
njpl
American University Hey Dawn,
This is Zack Kassim from American University. I am now living in Des moines, Iowa. Listen email me if you are around. I would love to catch up. The last I know....you told me you were headed to China. Welcome back. I was in Sudan and so many other places
Actually South Africa is much colder that most people imagine. Here in Angola there are no penguins, but there are pigs, chickens and lambs running all over the streets alongside their friends, the angolans...
Zionks!!!! Holy crap!!! How did I NOT know you were back?!?!?!
Anyways...drop me a line! We can do dinner or something like that...I'm sure I can "dump the kiddos" with your ma! lol
Nice! It seems that you are enjoying yourself quite a lot, great, I am jealous for you can relax now, share so many things with your family and stare at that beautiful leopard. Good luck with the job hunting, I am sure you'll find sth very quickly, experienced professional!!!
Want to go now Lovely description, Dawn. I went to Thailand but didn't make it to Phuket; yet, after reading your blog, I want to go back and spend some time there. Nice of you to inspire people to travel. And the baby elephant? CUTE!
Defining "caput" According to the dictionary, "caput" is a synonym for "head." It also means "a headlike protuberance on a structure" and I believe that is the more common usage.
Don't worry, I had to look it up, too.
The Host I saw that it won all those awards. I stick to my opinion about the movie and openly express my confusion about the awards. But then, I often feel confused about the movies that win awards in America, too.
The Host As hilarious as we Americans thought it was, that movie won four awards at the Asian Film Awards 2007-Best Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. Makes you go "Hmmm".
Thank you Thank you for your comments and the advice about the pictures. I hope when I'm in my sixties that I'll still be traveling and experiencing new cultures, just like you!
I'd like to push it too Hey, Dawn: Even though I've been to the FC, I don't remember having so much fun as you both did; your description is very lively and inspirational, in fact, it just encourages me to go back and push that button a thousand times to see if it gets me more cups of coffee at Starbucks. Excuse me, did you say last year in China? I hope not.
Frank
Great blog As two folk who have worked in China too we like your blog. You are getting good pictures. My husband says save all the digital images and when you have time use Photoshop or Paintshop pro and all your images will be even nicer (like the one of your friend taken by a random Chinese helper). With the one click enhancer you will be able to see her face, etc. We are now home after working in Prague again. 4 times in China and now 4 times in Prague. We are 66 and 67 and still enjoying other cultures. We are so glad you are doing it when young and can have all the rest of your life full of good memories.
Movie's name is "The Host" and hey, chocolate is only a small part of my valentine present pack, you never mention the cool stuff I give ya (like 3 pairs of 200 dollar jeans) :P
After 3 years in China, I've decided to move back to my small hometown in Iowa. Some people might think that the adventure stopped when I moved back, but I disagree. The real adventure is just beginning...
... full info
Cori
non-member comment
Thanks!
Dawn - thanks for coming back to Iowa and this great weather! Your right this has been a great two seasons so far. Great job at the decorations!