From Grits to Chopsticks

If you’ve never been to China, here are a few photos that we took this past week of things which might catch your eye. One of the few stores that sells some Western products (Metro) is quite crowded on the weekends.  Interestingly, a major contributor to the crowding are pallets, stock clerks, and forklift trucks (in spite of the fact […]

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Unless you have been here, it is hard to comprehend the pace of growth in China.  Many things have changed during our six month absence.  Here is a nearby school that didn’t exist when we left: Last summer, I shopped at some popular 2 kwai stores in this district.  It is now condemned and being demolished: With the addition of many […]

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On our first night back in China, our dinnertime conversation with friends was interrupted as “Lantern Festival” fireworks began erupting right outside of our restaurant door: Chinese people are generally frugal, but not when it comes to fireworks.  Many of them are blasting away on the streets: They start very young: And even before it’s over, the street cleaners try […]

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Before heading back to China, we had a taste of another culture right within the USA–the Amish who live in our daughter’s hometown.  The local stores even have dedicated parking spots for their buggies: 

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Here are a few of the things that we will miss when we return to China this week: Although it can get quite cold in our city, we don’t have central heating or air conditioning systems.  (But we do have long underwear!) We have really enjoyed using a car in America, even when we have to […]

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At 12:42PM on Tuesday, January 8th, our newest family member took his first breath!  Samuel Luke was 8lbs, 3oz andwas 21″ long: Laurie went through the painful process without an epidural – but survived.  When Elijah met his new little brother for the first time, he quickly came to the realization that his entire world was about […]

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After a year of our family being scattered around the world (China, Australia, and a couple of States), we were blessed at the end of 2012 to have our entire family all together for a belated Christmas celebration.  During our evening devotionals, we kept our focus on the greatest Gift of all.  We also traded […]

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Since we returned to the States in August, we’ve spent a lot of time visiting family and friends.  According to our calendar, we haven’t stayed in the same place for longer than two weeks over the past four months.  We’ve seen a lot of North America out of the window of our car, including farmland in […]

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With over 3000 locations in China, KFC is the market leader among fast-food restaurants.  And fortunately for the Colonel, chickens are easy to find around town.  But most locals don’t look in the “chilled food” section of the grocery: If you don’t like today’s selection of hens, you can “bag” a rooster: Some folks have them prepared […]

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Stephen (our oldest son) has been living in Perth this year, working for the Boston Consulting Group in support of the west Australian mining industry.  Jessica (his girlfriend) has been visiting him this winter (remember: southern hemisphere) and recently made the long journey to spend some time with us in China.  She had the privilege of flying into the new Kunming […]

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