My apologies for not making more of an effort to keep this posts flowing. To say that we have been extremely busy just doesn't cover it, but that’s no excuse!
Well, I think we have finally settled into our lives here in Chengdu and have even begun to travel a bit.
In September I turned 40, so we took a weekend trip to Mt. Emei Shan with our driver Tony and his wife Vivian, and our friend Richard and his 9 year old son, Max.
The area is lovely, set high in the mountains southwest of Chengdu. We did a lot of walking and exploring through the Buddhist Temples in the area at the base of the mountain, and then continued our trip with a ride/walk to the summit to experience the Temples and golden Buddha. The views through the mountains were breathtaking and we were lucky to have gone on such a clear, bright day. Hot springs were available to us back at the hotel and we made good use of them the following day. While heading back to Chengdu, we made a stop at Ten Fu tea stop, where I picked up a few new items and the kids ate green tea ice cream... YUMMM!October brought another birthday, with Dad turning 41. We celebrated in high fashion by having some of our friends meet us at the Hooters in Chengdu!
It was a great surprise because it is definitely NOT our usual thing, and our friends really helped to make it a very fun and memorable evening.We also took another trip with our friends Richard and Max, this time to The Giant Buddha in Leshan.
It was carved into the side of a mountain by Buddhist Monks to help keep those who travel on the perilous waters below safe, and it is truly a sight to be seen. We took the trails up to the top of its head, and then walked down the “stairs” to touch the toes for good luck. After we made our way back to the car, we drove over to the docks and caught the boat to see the massive creation from below. It was definitely our favorite day trip by far!Halloween was really great in Chengdu, and the expat community celebrated with true style! Harley’s school, QSI, had their annual Fall Festival event and it drew just about every student and their parents. The Roots and Shoots Club kids made napkins to sell and colored quilt panels, which were lovingly put together by Karin Noll, and which produced two wall hanging quilts!
All of the kids creative contributions brought in a lot of money for the Roots and Shoots Club, as did the wonderful baked goods made and provided by the women of The Chengdu International Woman’s Club. Being the Co-coordinator of the Roots and Shoots club, and the Website Administrator for the CIWC, I was on double duty… and having a ball with all of it. I and another Mom made cookies the kids could decorate and eat so that manning the cookie table was my duty for the evening. Dad on the other hand ran the popcorn machine. He and the kids had a really fun time making creepy popcorn hands using clear gloves stuffed with popcorn and bits of red licorice for fingernails. It was a big hit and the popcorn booth took in more money than any other event/booth! The trick-or-treat event in China Garden was organized by Kim Dallas, and was without a doubt that largest Halloween gathering we have ever been a part of. 
There was easily 250 people and most of them were dress in costumes, which are easy to have made and cost next t nothing. It was a great night and are glad we will be here for it again next year!November has been a very busy month in terms of just the normal life stuff. I had a couple of big projects due for ASU and Dad’s work kicked into high gear.
Super Tuesday was a very big deal here, and all of us Obama supporters gathered at the Shamrock to watch it all unfold. When the west coast polls closed, we all just about lost our minds with joy and elation!! I would be hard pressed to describe the feelings of the day, there were tears and laughter everywhere you turned, and it was great to look around and see nearly all of friends (not just the expats) join in the excitement! Without a doubt, one for the memoirs! November has also been our biggest travel month by far. We were in Hong Kong the 9th thru the 15th and are now in Shanghai at the moment, with our return set for this Saturday, the 29th.
We arrived last Friday and Harley was able to participate in the Shanghai 7’s Rugby Tournament on Saturday with his CRFC mates. t was great and, although the Pandas didn’t win, it was a bunch of fun. Harley III and I dressed up in our Panda costumes (which all Panda supporters proudly don!) The event itself was a pretty big deal, and the Chengdu Rugby Football Club (CRFC) was the only team sponsored by Guinness!!! Next year, guys… NEXT YEAR!!!I thought I would be able to enjoy the idea of spending Thanksgiving in China, and if we were in Chengdu I’m sure it would have made things a bit easier, but Shanghai is a different pot of potatoes. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and Thanksgiving has always been my favorite Holiday. But Christmas is right around the corner and we will look forward to it this year with great anticipation!
December will bring us home for three weeks, from Dec 20th to Jan 10th, and we will be joined by our wonderful friends Richard and Max!! I know there are talks of us heading to San Francisco and Los Angeles, but we may have to throw a trip to Missouri into the mix and so I’m not sure how things are going to play out exactly at the moment! I WILL keep everyone posted on our “where’s and what’s” once things are concrete because we want to see all of you too!! ;)
Well, I hope I was able to bring you all up to speed. I tried to cover everything but in a very condensed form. I plan to write more about our trips to Hong Kong and Shanghai in my next post because we did quite a lot in both places! For now though, it’s dinner time, so I’ll close and hope to hear from all of you soon! Take care of each other and enjoy your holiday!! HAPPY THANKGIVING EVERYONE!!!!
Peace and Love,
Lisa, Harley & Harley
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