No email, no internet, no Chinese cable television–we’re heading out to the countryside this weekend to visit with some friends who work with our company.  It will be fun to get away for a long weekend.  Anna is looking forward to playing with our friend’s rabbit.  Sarah began crying because she thought we were taking…

Something I don’t recommend (illustrated here): Yes, it was bound to happen.  After my brief three-week comeback, I sprained my ankle playing basketball yesterday.  It couldn’t have come at a worse time.  I was starting to get a little bit more stamina on the courts, my "stroke" was coming back, and my language buddies were…

Most days in Xining (China’s quaint, backwoods Louisiana equivalent) it’s easy to feel as if you have been transported back in time to the 1980s.  Maybe it’s the knee-high leather boots the girls wear.  The Cyndi Lauper-like multi-pattern post-punk skirts. The new-wave envious hairstyles.  The guys, unashamedly, donning hot pink sweat-suits.  Whatever the tell-tale signs…

Even though I may tower over the competition here in Xining, I’m no Yao on the basketball courts… It’s amazing how (unintentionally) taking 6 months off (when you are already a 33 year-old who is physically WAY past his prime) makes such a difference.  Especially at this altitude.  It felt like I hadn’t played since…

Tongxue means classmate in Chinese.  Christa and I became classmates today for the first time since we’ve been here.  Our marriage will probably never be the same (ha-ha).  Probably the last time we were "classmates" together was when we went through pre-marital classes/counseling…oh yeah, let’s not forget childbirth classes after that…  Thankfully, we were able…

What ever happened to "Engrish Fridays"?  Yeah, well…that didn’t exactly take off did it? Well, in recognition of the "good idea" that was Engrish Fridays here’s some laughable language for you.  This is the label verbiage on a bottle of TibetanDry dry red wine I saw here. Shangri La is the last unpolluted place on…

The Chinese love fireworks.  And when I say they love fireworks, I mean, THEY LOVE FIREWORKS! The latest indication: last night was The Lantern Festival  which means yet another holiday to light things on fire and make loud cannon-like sounds.  Since Anna had school this morning we didn’t venture out in the evening to see…

Well, the good (warm) weather we’ve been enjoying in Xining took a turn today.  The sun is hidden behind overcast skies AND subsequently the temperatures have dropped.  Today the high is supposed to be 39 degrees Fahrenheit.  This should be the norm (actually much colder), but we’ve had a nice warm spell since returning from…

You know that TV series where somebody decides to re-decorate a room of their friend/family member’s house while they are away.  Well, in Xining we have the opposite process.  I typically am a little leery to even leave our apartment for weeks at a time because I am fearful of how the place will be…