#95 Mosquito Nets

Summer has arrived in Suzhou and along with the new season, the mosquitos have also arrived. Chinese mosquitos are not unusually big, but the are numerous and ferocious. Though we do our best to keep the doors shut, the mosquitos still get into the house and one bug can do enormous damage in a single evening.

On separate occasions this month, Maria and Marco both had extreme reactions to multiple mosquito bites. First was Maria. She awoke one weekday morning with her face swollen like Robert Deniro in Raging Bull. She had a dozen mosquito bites and the doctor prescribed a week's dose of prednazone - a steriod. A couple weeks later, we had a similar incident with Marco. He woke up with hives all over his body and red marks on his face, again from a collection of mosquito bites during the night. Again, a presciption of prednazone.

A strongly recommended action from the doctor and our neighbors was to hang mosquito nets over the kids beds. Kathleen picked these up at Auchan, the grocery store. Kathleen marvelled at the extensive selection of bug and mosquito related countermeasures available - three full aisles worth !

So we have had the mosquito nets up now for a couple of weeks and have experienced no further extreme reactions, but everyone in the family is walking around scratching a bite or two.

#93 Beijing Duck

Tonight we took the kids out with some friends and colleagues for Beijing Duck - a roast duck speciality named after the capital city of China. Beijing duck is made from a special breed of duck which is slaughtered after 65 days, seasoned, then roasted by hanging in a brick oven over an open fire. The skin becomes crispy and the meat tender. The chef slices the duck at your table with a specified sequence of 130 precise cuts. It is served with a Chinese version of the tortilla, sliced shallots, and a sweetish sauce. It is considered one of China's national foods and is quite delicious.

The other highlight was that this dinner was set and served in the same way as so many of my business dinners in China have been - round table, lazy susan, wave after wave of food, and lots of Qingdao beer. I believe however, this was our kids' first such banquet. We were very proud of them because the tried many new and unusual dishes that you wouldn't necessarily expect young children to attempt. Nothing crazy, but delicious vegetables, dumplings, soups, and meats.

The other guests tonight were our colleague and friend, Gary, his children, and two Caterpillar colleagues in town for business and staying the weekend. It was a good time and if anyone out there is interested in trying this place out, it is called Quanjude and it is located at 1168 Renmin Lu, Suzhou.

#92 Dragon Boats

This weekend is another Chinese national holiday - called Dragonboat Festival. Some of Kathleen's Tai Tai friends participate on a Dragonboat team that competes each June at the Mercury Marina on Taihu (Tai Lake) west of Suzhou.

Dragon boats are believed to have been around for more than 2,500 years, having originated along the Yangtze River. The celebration is an important part of ancient agricultural Chinese society, celebrating the summer harvest.

These Taihu dragon boats are propelled by seven paddlers with an 8th team member beating a drum to set the cadence. The team of expat women won the women's division finishing the 1km course in about 7.5 minutes of intense paddling.

The Mercury Marina was an interesting facility. Apparently, recreational boating in China is an unknown pastime, but Mercury and Brunswick, U.S. makers of powerboats and motors, built this marina as a sales office and showplace to demonstrate to the growing affluent people in China what a yacht club has to offer. I am not sure how successful they have been, but the festival today was certainly well attended and there seems to be some affluent folks showing up. As we arrived, a red Lamborghini and a yellow Porsche pulled into the club.

#92 Trip to Beijing

Sunday morning after the Cazzato party blow-out, I had the challenge of getting up in the morning for a flight to Beijing for work. Feeling as I did, I would have rather thrown myself into Jinji Lake from the top floor of the clubhouse. That not being a reasonable option, I had no choice but take the hour car ride to Shanghai and the two hour flight to Beijing.

The trip was required to attend a workshop at Cat Asia-Pacific headquarters, shown above in the first picture. Caterpillar occupies three floors of the China Life Town in downtown Beijing. The building is distinctive because of the "witch's hat"-shaped structure on top.

I travelled with two people from my group, Catherine and Stanley. We just hired Catherine and she is my first Chinese employee. She seemed enthused for the workshop and is looking forward to her new job at Caterpillar.

After two nights in Beijing, we travelled by train to Xuzhou. We had some good Chinese food in the dining car of the train. After a day of meetings in Xuzhou, Catherine travelled on to Qingdao for a training class and I returned to Suzhou. Stanley stayed on in Xuzhou for two more days.

I left Xuzhou on Wednesday night and had a "Soft Sleeper" ticket on the overnight train. This was my first overnight train ride and it was interesting and novel. Each sleeper compartment has four beds and a door that closes. The bed was not so soft, and the motion of the train prevents deep sleep, but nonetheless it is a good way to go and something I think the family should experience. Perhaps soon we will try a weekend sightseeing trip to Beijing with the kids.

#91 Party at Cazzato's

Living as an expat family in China carries with a significant obligation to attend many parties hosted by co-workers, neighbors, and friends. There are two factors that seem to contribute to a much greater number of social activities here than at home. First, I suppose, is that with everyone isolated from the families and homelife, people seem more available to socialize with friends and neighbors. Second, is the greater availability of child care. Most families can rely on their "Ayi" or Chinese Housekeeper to watch the kids on any given night.

We have been to many such parties and events and decided it was our turn to play host. We had a good turnout with a wonderful mix of Caterpillar colleagues and neighbors - many of whom are both. We also invited our Chinese teachers who know most of the other invitees because so many of us go to the same Mandarin language school.

The party lasted until the wee early morning and was a significant blow-out. Things got off on the wrong foot when colleague Bill brought a bottle of Russian Vodka that his wife had just smuggled back from a visit home to the Ukraine. Midway during the night, Kathleen and friend Leslie started mixing Cosmopolitan martinis which got them off on the wrong foot. Later in the night we danced in the living room to downloaded 80s music and did some hanging out on the patio with my buddy Bill and teacher Isabel. My memory gets sketchy at this point, but apparently a woman whose husband had an affair with his Chinese secretary last year sat me down for a lecture about dancing with the Chinese teachers. By 3:00 AM, the party was mostly over, and a good friend and neighbor, Jim, helped me off the front steps and up the two flights to my bed. A good friend indeed.