Kung Fu Master

Over the past several years, Juliet has taken both ballet and tap dancing lessons. She never really took to it and, in fact, when she was 3 ½ she was quoted as saying “who signed me up for this?” Nonetheless, we wanted her to stay active and meet other kids. Thus, this September her mother once again signed her up for ballet lessons here in Shanghai.

However, after the first six week session was over, she pleaded with us to not “make her do it again.” We obliged, but told her that she was to find another activity. When we received a flyer in the mail advertising upcoming Kung Fu lessons at the compound, Scott jokingly asked Juliet if she wanted to become a Kung Fu Master. She immediately responded affirmatively. So beginning last month, our sweet, dainty, quiet Juliet began her training to become a badass.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

The year-end is often a time of reflection for many people, and this year is no exception for us. We are shocked by how fast our time here in China has gone and how much our lives and perceptions have changed. When we look back 18 months ago to where we are now as a family, we can’t believe how much we’ve changed:

• The "Three Amigos" (Annie, Scott, and Juliet) have morphed into the "Fab Five" with the additions of Lillie and Shanna
• Mr. Chen and Xue Feng are effectively members of the family … despite the fact that we primarily communicate via “charades”
• We went from eating “American” Chinese food about once every 6 months in the U.S. to eating “real” Chinese food five times a week
• Men peeing on the side of the road aren’t seen by anyone as “out of the ordinary”
• Juliet is reading chapter books
• We’ve learned that Thai food (which none of us had EVER eaten) is fantastic and helps scratch the spicy food itch we have from no tex-mex
• Instead of having “can’t miss” shows every week, we just wait until the day after the season finale, buy the full season for $4 and have a “Grey’s Anatomy” marathon over the course of 28 hours
• As much as the quote “you can take the family out of America, but you can’t take America out of the family” applies to us, we have developed an immense appreciation and respect for the people of this very mysterious and interesting country. Nonetheless, we’ll take a Chili’s Old Timer with Cheese over sautéed cow balls any day of the week.

Songtime with Lillie

In our house, ever since Juliet was born, it seems as though someone has always been singing ... as Annie says "My life is one big musical!" This has not stopped with Lillie. She's thoroughly enjoyed learning new songs at school and making up new ones at home. However, no matter how hard she tries, they often are just a bit off. Here are a few of our favorite "Lillie versions" of some of the all-time classics:

1. "Baa Baa black sheep how are you? Yassir yassir 3 bags full. One for my master and one for the little girl that lives down the street." Who knew Yassir Arafat doubled as a shepherd?

2. "On the first day of Christmas true love gave to be, a partridge in a tree. On the Tuesday of Christmas, true love gave to me ... something else."

3. "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Chistmas, and a Happy New You!" Apparently she's sending a shoutout to those of us looking for a little plastic surgery in 2009.

4. "Old McDonald had a farm, and on that farm he had some whores." We wonder if Mrs. McDonald knows what's going on out in the barn?

The Sunny Shores of Thailand

After being robbed in late September, our planned vacation to Thailand the first week of October was a welcome respite. We spent a really great week on the beaches of Phuket, Thailand (about 2 months ahead of the current military coup currently underway there). We enjoyed the food, the weather, the elephants, etc. Here's a snapshot of the fun.

This is "Jumbo" - the resident baby elephant at the JW Marriott. Jumbo roamed the premises with his handler giving rides, taking pictures, etc:


After over an hour, a few tears, and multiple women's hands cramping up, here's the final product of Juliet's hair getting braided:


Mom and daughter by the pool:


Juliet and Jumbo giving each other a high-five:


Juliet taking a break from swimming:


Scott and Anne posing for Juliet:


Here's a pic from the elephant trek we went on:


Juliet enjoying some Reduced Fat Cheez-its (she's trying to keep her girlish figure):


One of the more curious aspects to vacationing in an area with a lot of Europeans was the prevalence of the Speedo:

Crime Scene Investigation ... In our house

In late September, one of the low points of our ex-pat assignment occurred when our house was robbed. While we were out for dinner on a Friday night enjoying our favorite authentic Italian food restaurant, a "perp" entered the house through a window he pried open and stole our laptop and cash.

We called the police and they sent a Crime Scene Investigation team out to do a detailed investigation. After a few hours of thorough investigating and lots of mumbling in Chinese, they determined our house was robbed by a man about 6 feet tall ... so basically the investigation did nothing except narrow down the suspect list to about 100 million people (about 1/3 the population of the United States). Nonetheless, two months later our case "has gone cold" and we're not expecting the return of our computer any time soon.

Early September Happenings

September is typically one of our favorite months (highlighted by Scott's birthday of course), and 2008 was no exception. In early September, we began fostering another child from China. When Annie was asked by a friend why she agreed to take in another child, she responded, "One, I just can't say no. And two, you have never lived until you've seen the shocked look on your husband's face when he gets home from work and you greet him at the door with a screaming infant and say "Hey guess what? ... we got another baby today!"

Shanna came to us when she was 10 days old. She was born with spina bifida, but after spending a month in the hospital for surgery in late September, she's doing quite well and has a terrific prognosis. Juliet and Lillie adore her and Scott thoroughly enjoys the fact that whenever he yells out "Her name is Shanna," Lillie responds at the top of her lungs wherever she is in the house "It rhymes with banana."

Here are some pics:

Back to Blogging

Greetings ... we apologize for the hiatus from blogging, but today, in honor of the day that OJ finally went to jail, we decided to jump back into the swing of it. We'll add a series of updates in chronological order over the next few days to catch you up on what has been going on the last few months.