#159 Christmas Day

We had a delightful day as one can only enjoy with four children dying of excitement for Christmas morning. Juliana called the reveille at 4:45 AM, rousing and alerting the other children that Santa had indeed made his way to Suzhou. The kids were promptly told to return to the beds and maintain silence until at least 6:00 AM.

You can see above some of the big gifts that made headlines this year. Maria got the coin collection for which she was inexplicably yearning. Juliana was strongly lobbying for a digital camera and she received one. Kathleen bought me a globe made of abalone shells - a popular item here in China. Marco's big gift was a skateboard and Joseph's an acoustic guitar. You can see Marco standing amid the widespread fallout of wrapping paper and Christmas gifts.

Later the kids participated in the nativity play at our Suzhou church. Joseph played Joseph, Maria played the archangel Gabriel, and Marco and Juliana were shepards (read as "extras"). Poor Joseph was too busy this month to memorize his lines, so you can see him reading from the script during the performance.

For Christmas dinner, we hosted our Caterpillar friends Bill, Stanley, Camilo, and there families. In fact, Camilo's family had just moved from Brazil to China five days earlier. They will live in China for about two years and have two young children with them. It was a great Christmas and though we miss our family and friends in the U.S., we are blessed to have had family and friends here in China to share the day with.

#158 Santa in Suzhou

Believe it not, Santa found time on Christmas Eve to visit our Caterpillar office in Suzhou. He dropped by at lunchtime in a somewhat form-fitting version of his red suit. Santa handed out candy, invited employees (primarily female) to sit on his lap, and posed for some quick cameos. You can see the big red man himself pictured above with a group of Cat Suzhou employees and also with me.

Thanks Santa and Merry Christmas !

#157 Christmas Eve

We had our traditional Christmas Eve decorating session with each child doing their assigned job. Joseph sets up the train, which unfortunately we could not get running this year through the foreign voltage transformer. Marco hung the stockings, Juliana placed the angel on top of the tree (almost tall enough this year), and Maria put out cookies for Santa Claus.

We invited our friends Robert, Julie, Sophia, and William over for Christmas Eve dinner. Robert and Julia are the folks we met back in Blog entry #123 at the Dulwich College cocktail hour in September. They live in a nearby expat compound and are spending their first Christmas in China. We learned over the course of the evening that Robert spent a good part of his childhood in Lexington, Kentucky - Kathleen's hometown. They graduated the same same year from different high schools, had mutual acquaintainces, and lived not far from one another. Small world.

#156 Dulwich Shows

The kids were involved in some great performances at the school Christmas shows. Dulwich has separate performances for the older and the younger kids. Juliana performed multiple times with the orchestra and she appeared quite professional as she swayed and bowed her viola to the beat. Maria had a speaking part in the nativity play - she was the innkeeper who offered lodging in the stable to Mary and Joseph. The boys had lower key parts in the chorus.

Overall, we were very impressed with the quality of the performances of all of the students and thought is was wonderful the number of students who play instruments at this school. Hundreds of kids played violins, percussion, guitars, and traditional Chinese instruments. Also, it was the most religious school production we have ever seen. There were traditional Christmas carols, a full nativity play, and countless references to the occasion of Jesus' birth. It was an unapologetic and wonderful Christmas show - not a single "Seasons Greetings" in the script.

#154 Test Dummies

Joseph and I took his friend Owen out for a canoe ride. We paddled across the lake to the construction site of the new SIP amusement park. The ferris wheel is fully constructed and other rides and buildings are in various states of completion.

About halfway across the lake, Joseph noted with excitement that the roller coaster was running, and there were people riding ! As we got closer and Owen checked through the binoculars, we realized that the riders were not people, but crash test dummies. The coaster is apparently operational but still being tested.

We also watched with interest one of our familiar Suzhou work boats doing some dredging work just next to the amusement park. The boat had a Hyundai excavator on the deck which was reaching overboard to pull muck off the lake bottom and load it onto an adjacent boat. Very interesting.

#153 Pan Men Gate

While Kathleen was home nursing a hangover from last night's Dulwich Ball, I took Juliana and Maria downtown for some shopping and sightseeing. It was a great afternoon of exploring Suzhou, one that made me feel glad to be in China seeing things that you don't see every day.

Our first errand was to get the Dulwich Ball silent auction win (Marco's Year 1 class art project) put into a proper frame. Unfortunately our old reliable framing shop on Renmin Lu appears to have moved. Upon arrival at the shop, we found the building had been demolished and reduced to a pile of rubble ! I have been wishing I had stopped to take a picture of the rubble because it was startling. You will just have to imagine a good sized pile of rocks at the corner of a busy intersection and no frame shop anywhere in sight.

Next stop was a pottery shop to do some Christmas shopping. This was another strange experience, because as the shopkeeper showed us around the store, she kept stopping her commentary to issue a loud belch. She did this repeatedly. It was not subtle and Juliana asked me if I thought maybe the woman was sick.

The burping lady gave a recommendation for a nearby framing shop and we went there next and we helped by a nice man who smiled a lot and didn't burp once. The low cost of custom framing in Suzhou is remarkable. We had Marco's oil painting and one of Maria's crayon drawings custom framed for about $25.

Next was our sightseeing excursion to the Pan Men scenic area which includes a bit of the old city wall that used to surround Suzhou 2500 years ago. The Pan Men Gate is located in the southwest corner of downtown along the main canal and is surrounded by several old pagodas and some beautiful garden walks. I have posted a collection of pictures from the Pan Men gate on Snapfish. This was one of my favorite Suzhou garden experiences because the area was much larger than the others which allowed to stroll and wander for quite some time.

We finished off our Sunday excursions with a stop at the Holiland Bakery and a local flower shop where we picked up some items to bring home to Kathleen. I loved walking around the city and seeing the people, shops, and sights. I think, if we didn't have four kids with us, it would be a lot of fun to live in the city center rather than in the more sterile outskirts of SIP where our home is located. It was great to experience the convenience and diversity of the city streets.

#152 Dulwich Ball

Saturday night was the annual Dulwich charity ball sponsored by the kids' international school. It was held at the new Kempinski hotel on Dushu Lake, the same place Maria and I were boating alongside of last weekend. As you can see the event is formal with tuxedos and evening gowns - Kathleen had her gown custom made last month on "Wedding Street" in downtown Suzhou. Many of the men this year also had tuxedos custom made in town. Mine is still the model I bought for the Kiss a Pig dinner back in Peoria in 2003.

The ball was a great time with a champagne and chocolate martini cocktail hour, a sit down dinner, free wine and beer all night, with a DJ and dance floor as well. During the evening, there was a silent auction to bid on works of art created by each class in the school. You can see Kathleen claiming the piece donated by Marco's Year 1 (kindergarten) class. Also, the last picture is one of me with Maria's preschool teacher.

Last year, the ball raised about $5,000 which provided educational resources for the children of migrant workers in Suzhou. All over China, migrant workers from the countryside come to cities like Suzhou to work and support their extended families. The Chinese educational system only allows Children to attend public school in their own home town, so when migrant workers bring children with them to the city, there is no formal education available to the children.

#151 EAS Xmas Party

Saturday afternoon was the Expats Association of Suzhou (EAS) annual Christmas party for the children. While Juliana was at her soccer tournament, Kathleen and I took Joseph, Marco, Maria, and Joseph's friend Owen to the party. The party had a great spread of food, ice cream, cotton candy, entertainment, and the obligatory appearance by Santa Claus.

There are some priceless pictures of the kids. Remember Maria's miserable picture last year wearing the holiday dress. Well, we did much better this year with a happy smile in the red dress. And check out Marco busting a move in the group shot next to the big Christmas tree.

#150 Jinji Hu Boats

We see a lot of interesting work boat traffic on Jinji Lake adjacent to our housing compound. I wish I could somehow learn more about the commercial and social life associated with these boats.

The two boats in the pictures above are typical of the work boats crossing everyday on the lake and adjacent canals. I have seen them carrying a variety of payloads including dirt, coal, packaged products, construction materials, and one even carrying a full sized excavator on the bow. Almost always you see a man and a woman, presumably a married couple, that obviously live on the boat. In the one picture above, you can see laundry hanging outside the cabin which is also very typical.

What a strange and interesting life it would be to live and work on one of these boats traversing the waterways between Shanghai and Tai Hu. I am sure it is neither easy nor comfortable.

#149 Soccer Tourney

The kids' school, Dulwich College Suzhou, hosted a soccer tournament for years 4 and 5 for the Dulwich schools in China. Children both Dulwich Beijing and Dulwich Shanghai came to Suzhou for a two day tournament. Juliana participated in this tournament with her traveling team.

The tournament was held on Friday and Saturday and Juliana volunteered to host one of the out of town students at our house on Friday night. Our guest was a lovely 10 year old girl named Hadley who lives with her family in Beijing where her mother is a diplomat at the U.S. Embassy. Hadley came home with Juliana after the soccer game, spent some time in the neighborhood, then had dinner with us and stayed the night.

The tournament continued on Saturday morning. Hadley and the other visiting student departed in the afternoon. Except for the very cold weather and the crushing defeat that Juliana's team suffered, it was good fun, Juliana played well, and we all very much enjoyed meeting her new friend from Beijing.