Happy Labor day to all at home. We do have to work on monday, but we will celebrate in spirit with the folks in the US. Don't feel bad for us, we have some good holidays coming up later this month. From September 22-24th we have the mid-autumn festival where we don't work and people traditionally give moon cakes (lotus paste infused pastries that are the chinese equivalent of a christmas fruitcake). After that from October 1-7 we have Golden week which starts with the 61st anniversary of the PRC and 7 days of no work. Not sure exactly what we are doing yet, but no worries here...we'll figure something out. Now this is a good time to explain the really screwed up way the Chinese organize work and school schedules to maximize continuous days off (so people can travel to home provinces). Often to get the 7 days off, the Chinese will work the Saturday and Sunday prior to that week and then have off Monday through the next Sunday. So that means work 7 days, get 7 days off...follow? Now no westerner really likes this. Outside of necessary work emergencies, weekends are sacrosanct. Now if the 4th of July was in the Middle of the week (say a wednesday for this example) and we adopted the Chinese vacation style, we would work that Saturday and Sunday and then take Monday through Wednesday off...to get the three days in a row. Now most westerners would prefer to take the weekend and then just have Wednesday. So each major holiday (chinese new year and the Golden week) has this saturday sunday bullshit. For the two holidays I mentioned above the schedule is like this: Off 9/22 - 9/24 work 9/25-9/30 Off 10/1-10/7. the holidays are nice, but i'd rather work the 23-24 and get my weekend back. No religion and no emphasis on sports gets you this lack of significance in the day of the week.
The kids survived the first week of school with no problems. Teachers are great and homework has already started.
This past week we said goodbye to our cook Xiao Zhong. She was with us for a year and helped Ivy with cleaning and covered for us on Sundays. With the kids going back to school, and us getting more accustomed to a non-serviced apartment, we were finding that 2 people to help us out was a little overkill. Also amy and I have been changing our diet and we haven't been eating her food (its super delicious, but not great for watching what you eat). Amy also wanted to expose the kids to some more healthy western food for dinner. The two little ones have a very advanced asian palette, but they don't really know western food. We want to condition them to this style of food in preparation for wherever we land next (including the possibility of home). It was sad because she was so great, but we posted ads for her and she's not worried about finding another job. Amy gave her a nice album of pictures with the kids and just gave them boatloads of candy upon her exit. She will be missed.
Last night some friends from the states passed through, and Amy and I met them for dinner. We had a nice time catching up with Vibhat, his wife and his daughter. Remember - we have an open invitation for anyone in the neighborhood!
Today we went to the park and had a picnic on the boat with the kids...lots of fun. We tired them out in the bouncy castle beforehand and they all passed out this afternoon.
Happy Labor Day!
