Forgive me friends. It has been 14 day since my last blog entry. We are approaching the start of Motor Grader production at Caterpillar Suzhou and one of my duties is to organize a "Production Readiness Review" to assess and report back to the U.S. on the readiness of our product, factory, supply base, product support systems, and dealers to launch the new K-series motor grader in Asia. The review is Tuesday and many of us have been busy these last few weeks getting issues closed and the review prepared.
Nonetheless, there was time this weekend for several fun activities. On Saturday, Kathleen took Juliana to Shanghai for a soccer match (they call it football here). Juliana's team got beaten badly, but the day was a beautiful one to be outside playing sports. October is the best month of the year in Suzhou. We have had blue, sunny skies and comfortable temperatures for several weeks now.
The other three kids and I went to the Caterpillar Sports Day in a gymnasium at the Suzhou University East Campus. A group of employee volunteers organized some competitions in basketball, badminton, a running relay, and a "5-Legged / 4-Person" race. The event was fun and the kids did well. Maria spent the afternoon with my friend Shelley who gave her the one-on-one attention that she likes so much. Marco and Joseph found a couple of other boys to hang out with and join the competition.
To add another element of fun to the day, we took city buses to go out to lunch, travel to the sports day, and return home. We do not have a car available on Saturdays because our driver has the day off. I have started deciphering the bus network ever since someone pointed out to me that the little red numbers on my city map are the bus numbers. We are finding it is very cheap (30 cents US) to ride the bus, kids are free, and you can ofter find a bus sooner than a taxi cab outside our housing compound.
Nonetheless, there was time this weekend for several fun activities. On Saturday, Kathleen took Juliana to Shanghai for a soccer match (they call it football here). Juliana's team got beaten badly, but the day was a beautiful one to be outside playing sports. October is the best month of the year in Suzhou. We have had blue, sunny skies and comfortable temperatures for several weeks now.
The other three kids and I went to the Caterpillar Sports Day in a gymnasium at the Suzhou University East Campus. A group of employee volunteers organized some competitions in basketball, badminton, a running relay, and a "5-Legged / 4-Person" race. The event was fun and the kids did well. Maria spent the afternoon with my friend Shelley who gave her the one-on-one attention that she likes so much. Marco and Joseph found a couple of other boys to hang out with and join the competition.
To add another element of fun to the day, we took city buses to go out to lunch, travel to the sports day, and return home. We do not have a car available on Saturdays because our driver has the day off. I have started deciphering the bus network ever since someone pointed out to me that the little red numbers on my city map are the bus numbers. We are finding it is very cheap (30 cents US) to ride the bus, kids are free, and you can ofter find a bus sooner than a taxi cab outside our housing compound.
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