Saturday Morning Street Market

Dear Friends,

I rode over to a friend's place to meet her for a run and had to manage my way through the local Saturday street market selling everything from purses to fresh seafood.

Love,
Heather

More Birds...

Dear Friends,

The local men love to take their birds out for a walk/sing in the park. There are similar scenes all over Shanghai in most of the local parks.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Recycling

Dear Friends,

China has their own recycling system.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Crayfish Shop

Dear Friends,

This was just one of numerous crayfish stalls along the streets.  Didn't stop to have any.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Chinese Fashion

Dear Friends,

This man had on a lovely floral combination.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Bird Cages

Dear Friends,

Even the locals were interested in these birdcages along the street.

Love,
Bradley and Heather

Veggie Chinese

Dear Friends,

We took the new teachers out for a local Chinese dinner. Doesn't look or taste anything like "American" Chinese - thankfully!

Love,
Heather

Skull Purse

Dear Friends,

Just don't understand the skull fascination.  Definitely don't need this purse.

Love,
Heather

Denim & Bling

Dear Friends,

The selection of denim hats with bling was so overwhelming that I just couldn't decide which one to get.

Love,
Heather

Chopsticks

Dear Friends,

We are definitely not lacking for choice of chopsticks here.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Chinese Furniture

Dear Friends,

Part of my job in admin is picking up new teachers from the airport and dropping them off at their new apartments. Our new male PE teacher loved his new pink living room furniture!

Love,
Heather

Korean BBQ

Dear Friends,

Saw this sign on one of the Korean BBQ places near our home. We have differing thoughts on our agreement with this statement.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Sunrise

Dear Friends,

There are some beautiful sunrises over Lake Huron. Caught this one on my last run of the summer!

Love,
Heather

AuSable

Dear Friends,

Had a beautiful day for our annual trip down the Ausable.

Love,
Heather and Brad

The Coffee Mill

Dear Friends,

Mom took a walk up to The Coffee Mill with me one morning. Our coffee shop now opens at 7:30 which is much more reasonable for those looking for our first cup of coffee.

Love,
Heather

Favorite Beach

Dear Friends,

We've seen a few beautiful beaches in our travels but this one on Lake Huron is still my favorite!

Love,
Heather

Morning Walk

Dear Friends,

I talked Dad into a morning walk with me and a little stop down by the river.

Love,
Heather

Peaceful

Dear Friends,

Love this view of the Au Sable River on my run each morning.

Love,
Heather

Canadian Culture

Dear Friends,

No trip to Canada is complete without a visit to the most talked about coffee shop.  Of course, we had to make a stop.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

St. Andrews

Dear Friends,

Love my run around St. Andrews, New Brunswick, even on a foggy morning.

Love,
Heather

Just Add Bacon

Dear Friends,

The bacon craze has reached Canada.

Love,
Brad and Heather

Bicycle Hazard

Dear Friends,

The road looked ok but was apparently very dangerous for cyclists.

Love,
Brad and Heather

Saint John

Dear Friends,

I have a favorite new running spot in Saint John. This lovely trail is just 2 km from Brad's parents.  I may be out there every day!

Love,
Heather

Canadian Tortilla Chips

Dear Friends,

Who knew?

Love,
Brad and Heather

NYC Subway

Dear Friends,

Loved the ease of the NYC subway.  This stop was just a few blocks from the dorm and took me all over town. Love NYC!

Love,
Heather

Manhattan

Dear Friends,

The sunset view of Manhattan was incredible!

Love,
Heather

Small World

Dear Friends,

Loved catching up with one of my former students and her family in NYC this summer.

Love,
Heather

Wine with a View

Dear Friends,

I was super lucky to have one of my best friends join me in NYC this summer. She toured around all day while I was in class and filled me in on all the city happenings each night.

Love,
Heather

Brooklyn Bridge

Dear Friends,

Made it back to the US just in time for the Teachers College Reading Institute. It was a busy week of learning but I did find time one evening to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Love,
Heather

Peking Duck

Dear Friends,

Pretty sure this is an advertisement that Peking Duck is being served inside.

Love,
Heather

Lion

Dear Friends,

I came across this colorful lion when wandering the streets of Beijing.

Love,
Heather

Goat Trail

 Dear Friends,

I didn't want you think that the entire Great Wall 1/2 marathon was run on the wall. There are a variety of running adventures all packed into this event. This goat trail was one of the more challenging!

Love,
Heather

Great Wall Marathon

Dear Friends,

After over a year of anticipating the Great Wall Half Marathon, I FINALLY made it!  As you can see I wasn't exactly running the whole time. Was stopped at a bottleneck so it seem like a good time for a photo. It was an amazing experience!

Love,
Heather

Art Auction

Dear Friends,

Our ECE Art Auction was fantastic! The kids' artwork raised over $8,000 for Heart to Heart in Shanghai. All the work was definitely worth it!

Love,
Heather

Plum Blossoms

Dear Friends,

The plum blossoms are popping up all over town. Spring is really here!

Love,
Heather and Brad

Rick in Shanghai

Dear Friends,

This weekend an extra treat - our friend Rick that we met in Romania.  He was here for the weekend from Bangkok. It was seeing him and catching up!

Love,
Heather and Brad

T-Shirt Shops

Dear Friends,

Needless to say, we didn't purchase a thing at the shops along the Ft. Lauderdale beach.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Ft. Lauderdale Style

Dear Friends,

We tried to get Brad's brother to get one of these for his wife on his visit. For some reason he just wouldn't do it.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Florida

Dear Friends,

So much for our spending our break in Shanghai. After two days, we were on a plane to Florida for some warmer weather and fresh air.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Holiday Shopping

Dear Friends,

We were shopping at the market last weekend and came across this lovely purse. Let me know how many you would like as gifts this holiday season and we can pick the up for you.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Air Quality

Dear Friends,

As you may have heard, the air quality made history this week with the highest ever recorded pollution. After putting it off for over a year, we finally broke down and bought an air filter. They were not sure when it could be delivered so we went to pick it up ourselves. These filters were already sold and awaiting delivery or pick up.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Egg Man

Dear Friends,

Once again, we are perplexed by the purpose of this.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Walnut Season

Dear Friends,

We occasionally see these dried fruit and nut stands around town.  It must be walnut season as the stands are filled with beautiful walnuts.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

More than Toilet?

Dear Friends,

We are still trying to figure this out!

Love,
Heather and Brad

Sugar Cane

Dear Friends,

Every fruit shop in Hangzhou was selling sugar cane. We stopped to watch man peel and chop it for his customer. She was telling us how delicious it was (at least that is what we THINK she was saying).

Love,
Heather and Brad

Hangzhou Park

Dear Friends,

Loved this beautiful Chinese park in the middle of a big, busy city.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Oreos?

Dear Friends,

Just couldn't bring ourselves to purchase these peach/grape Oreos. Who came up with this flavor combo?

Love,
Heather & Brad

Finish Line

Dear Friends,

Running my first "organized" race in China was an adventure. From the celebrity like status of being some of the few foreigners in the race to the wide variety of running attire, there was plenty to keep us busy along the way. One of the more frustrating parts of the run was attempting to cross the finish, as many people thought this was a great photo stop. Look carefully at all the people around with cameras and yes, we are still on the route. The lady to my right is even posing.  I did finally manage to push my way through to the finish line.  Oh and don't worry, pushing is the norm here.

Love,
Heather

Hangzhou Run

Before 

Dear Friends,

It was finally time for me to get back to the running community. This weekend, a few of us hopped on a train and headed to Hangzhou. This run had several distances - full marathon, half, 13k, 6k and some family runs. I used the 13k as a training run for the Shanghai 1/2 marathon I have coming up in December. I wasn't sure how this was going to go on the tail end of a two weeks of bronchitis and after at taxi ran over my foot when we arrived at the hotel. Overall the run was great!  Fun time with friends and my wonderful husband. He was busy being the photographer which is why you don't see him.

Love,

Heather

After