#314 - Lexington, KY

Next stop on our home leave driving tour was Lexington, Kentucky - Kathleen's home town and residence of her parents, brother Tony, and his family. Our typical visit to Lexington is characterized by quiet days reading a book interspersed with good meals and a daily happy hour.

The peaceful existence was interrupted on our first day when the postman notified grandma that he smelled a natural gas leak at the front of the house. The city gas department immediately descended on the residence and dug up the gas line while a plumber tore the finished basement apart looking for an interior leak. At the same time, the roof of the old house was being worked on, so grandma and grandpa's house was a bit of a demolitiion zone for a couple of days.

The kids enjoyed a trip to the city pool while Don got some coaching from me on the use of his new iPhone. We are both using a calorie counting app to manage eating and try to drop some weight. Kathleen meanwhile is tackling the mountain of paperwork related to healthcare reimbursement for the various ailments that six of us have suffered in China this year. Dealing with the Caterpillar health care bureacracy and United Health Care - not a simple assignment.

#312 Home Leave

On Jul-17th I left China to meet Kathleen and the kids for a one month business trip and home leave. I'll spend about two weeks working in and around Peoria, then we will all depart for a 19 day driving trip to visit family and vacation in the east and northeast.

While home in Peoria, we had some work done on our house - mainly painting. We have all of the exterior trim being painted as well as the living room, foyer, stairwell, upstairs hallway, and guest bedroom. Above you can see some shots of the exterior work in progress. Note, the blue skies and puffy white clouds - unfortunately sights like this are a rare sight in China with the climate and air quality in the Shanghai area.

Our painter, Stoval Murals, is doing a good job and the Cazzatos are doing our best to keep the Peoria economy stimulated.

#311 Sunday Auchan

I am sure that I have written before about shopping in the Chinese grocery store, but since I only go once per year (when Kathleen is out of town), it strikes me as new and newsworthy that any store can be this crowded and crazy.

Have a look at Sunday afternoon at the store called Auchan. Auchan is a French-owned grocery megastore chain with many locations in China. The U.S. equivalent would be a Walmart that sells food in addition to clothes, electronics, appliances, and other household merchandise.

Check out the sale happening in the clothing aisle, the crowd in the shampoo aisle, the room temperature meat market, and the hundreds of people in the fresh fruit section. I bet Schnucks in Peoria doesn't have this many customers in a whole month !

On this visit, I purchased an umbrella, a bottle of shampoo, and a pack of gum. That was all I could fight my way to find.

#310 Family Departs

Kathleen and the children left today for America. They will spend all of their summer vacation in Peoria and a few other locations to visit our family. I will stay behind in Suzhou for another month or so to keep the job going, then return in late July to join them.

Joseph had a particularly difficult thing to do as he leaves this year. His very close friend, Owen (yellow shirt above), who has appeared in many of these blog entries, is leaving China to move back home to San Jose, California. Joseph spent most of his waking hours outside of school with Owen (and Owen's family too !). It was very sad to watch him say goodbye to his good buddy.

So also, poor Dad is left here in Suzhou to work, feed myself, and live in a large and quiet house for a few weeks. One plus, I do not have to share the car with Kathleen for a month. This is my third summer spending a month living alone and it certainly makes me grateful to have a family.

#309 Speech Day

Friday was the last day of school at Dulwich which is celebrated with "Speech and Prize Day" - an assembly where the headmaster recaps the school year and congratulates the students and staff on their accomplishments.

This year Marco had the honor of being recognized for best effort in Year 2 (first grade). There were only two students in each grade level given a prize, so about 20 kids out of 500. You can see him above on stage shaking hands with one of the honored guests and receiving his prize.

We were very proud of Marco. He is indeed a very hard worker and by all reports an enthusiastic participant in class and a help to his classmates and the teachers. You can also see him above with his teacher Mr. So with whom Marco had a special bond. Congratulations to Marco for a great school year !