CNY Celebration

Dear Friends,

Our school had a Chinese New Year party for all our local staff. While there were many delicious things that came to our table for lunch, this was not the least bit appetizing.

Love,
Heather

Saturday Brunch

Dear Friends,

These were some of the best pancakes ever!  It was the fresh fruit and caramelized bananas that made them so delicious!

Love,
Heather

Japanese Hot Pot

Dear Friends,

We joined some of our friends out for Japanese hot pot. As you can see, much of the dinner was a giant pyramid of beef.  While the company was fantastic, not even Brad was a fan of this meal.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

New Year in the City

Dear Friends,

For the New Year holiday, all the locals head back to their hometowns. This leaves the major cities very quiet and, at times, a bit eerie. Normally this subway train would be jam packed with people at 4 pm on a week day. It was nice while it lasted.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Crackers

Dear Friends,

We saw these interesting crackers at the little local market.  We just couldn't convince ourselves that saltines with blueberry or lime filling would taste good.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Russian Influence

Dear Friends,

Everywhere you looked around Harbin, was a mix of China and Russia. Shops, restaurants and dress were a mix of the two countries.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Street Eats

Dear Friends,

We were told by people from the Harbin area that we were to try the sausages on the street. Note the large try on the right of spices to roll these around in. Not a fan of meat, Heather went for the candied fruit. Both treats were delicious!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Local Drinks

Dear Friends,

We gave this a try and it had an interesting flavor. Hot Coke was being sold all over town but this was the only display we saw with the ginger. It could be because it was the only one written in English.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Liger

Dear Friends,

While a bit controversial, we did take a trip to the Siberian Tiger Park while in Harbin. We saw some amazing cats, including this liger. While some of the animals looked like they had plenty of food and large places to live, there were others in small cages. While it was interesting, I left feeling a bit uneasy about what really is going on there.

Love,
Heather

Staying Warm

Dear Friends,

We made a quick stop at the Burger King for a little coke to add to our rum (ok and a burger for Bradley).

Love,
Heather and Bradley

California Beef Noodle King

Dear Friends,

Not exactly sure what makes this "California" Beef Noodle King USA.  Maybe we should have gone in to investigate.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Songhua River

Dear Friends,

After our afternoon checking out the snow sculptures, we took a walk back across the frozen Songhua River. There were lots of people out enjoying the frozen river and the sunshine.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Local Police

Dear Friends,

The look of China and Russian blend together in many ways in Harbin.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Snow House

Dear Friends,

We loved the snow buildings with the festive lanterns. This one was just a sculpture but there were others that were restaurants and stores.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Dance Time!

Dear Friends,

We didn't quite see the connection between the variety of dancing characters and the snow sculptures.
Love,
Heather and Bradley

Dancing Dog

Dear Friends,

Wish I could say I was surprised that this dog was wearing boots and a jacket. However, I see that all the time. It was the sunglasses that really caught me by surprise.

Love,
Heather

Ponytails

Dear Friends,

There were so many great snow sculptures at the park, it was difficult to only share a few.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Chinese New Year Preparations

Dear Friends,

Harbin was just getting all fancied up for the Chinese New Year celebrations that were beginning that week. The red lanterns all over town added a magical touch to this city.

Love,
Heather

Harbin Starbucks

Dear Friends,

We couldn't pass up a little taste of home.  Coffee for me and hot chocolate for Bradley.

Love,
Heather

Year of the Ram

Dear Friends,

This is our first "Year of the Ram" in China. It is a bit confusing as sometimes, the images actually look like sheep or goats. When I ask local friends about it, I get a variety of responses. It seems that goat, ram and sheep are not clearly differentiated in Mandarin.

Love,
Heather

Penguins

Dear Friends,

Snapped this photo at a rare time when there was no one jumping in to get their photo taken with the penguins.

Love,
Heather

New Year Blessings

Dear Friends,

Wish I was able to read and understand all these new year blessings.

Love,
Heather

Ice Cone

Dear Friends,

While there were many more fancy ice sculptures, this was my favorite. I am sure it wasn't nearly as nice during the day without the lights.

Love,
Heather

Horse Riding

Dear Friends,

Couldn't believe there were not more people trying to push their way on to these for photos. Maybe we just came at a good time.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Ice Slides

Dear Friends,

The slides were by far the best part of the ice park!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Ice Castle

Dear Friends,

This was one of the larger ice sculptures at the park. I hear we missed the "ice bar", maybe it was in here?

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Seated Ice Skating?

Dear Friends,

There were many fascinating winter activities taking place on the frozen Songhua river. This seated ice skate and the whips and cans seemed to be quite popular.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Harbin Street Market

Dear Friends,

The array of dates and nuts at Chinese markets are always interesting. I am just glad to find non-meat products anywhere in China.

Love,
Heather

Valentine Boquet

Dear Friends,

We arrived in Harbin on Valentine's Day. It was difficult to walk down the street without someone trying to sell Brad flowers for me. It was hard to resist these natural looking blue, glitter roses, especially with the lovely bride and groom teddy bears on top.

Love,
Heather

Harbin Pedestrian Street

Dear Friends,

This pedestrian street in Harbin was a little bit of Eastern Europe in China. Our hotel was at the end of the street and we spent quite a bit of time walking up and down the road, enjoying the excellent people watching.

Love,
Brad and Heather

Unfamiliar Vegetable

Dear Friends,

I find all sorts of interesting veggies here in China. As far as I could understand from the lady at the market, this is some sort of Taiwanese kale.  Anyone know how to cook it?

Love,
Heather

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Dear Friends,

In preparation for the Year of the Goat, our school held its Chinese New Year celebration today. Our amazing front desk staff wanted to be sure to get a photo of us all dressed up.

Love,
Heather

Dragon Dance

Dear Friends,

This year for the Chinese New Year assemblies, some colleagues and I get to perform the traditional dragon dance. Luckily, I am the tail so I just have to follow the others. Lots of laughter going on here with a VERY patient local colleague trying to teach all of us foreigners.

Love,
Heather

Pond Hockey

Dear Friends,

Apparently the pond hockey tournament in Beijing was very cold this past weekend. The boys had a great time!

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Apron

Dear Friends,

Saw this very interesting apron at a shop in Hong Kong this weekend. Unfortunately, we already have two aprons so this was not a necessity!

Love,
Heather

Snackeez!

Dear Friends,

It is amazing what we miss out on living overseas like this little gem.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Clear Sky

Dear Eric, Stacy and Odie,

Thanks for making the trip to Clearwater to spend the weekend with us at a moment's notice. Had a great time! Think it is time to start planning our next get together.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Love the USA

Dear Friends,

I just couldn't convince my Canadian husband that he needed this winter toque.

Love,
Heather

Revelation

Dear Friends,

This was one of the more interesting cars we saw on our ride over to Clearwater beach.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Frenchy's

Dear Friends,

Grouper was the main ingredient on this menu. We tried several versions. My favorite was the Grouper Rubin...Yum!

Love,
Heather

Fire Eater

Dear Friends,

Just a little entertainment on Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach on a Friday afternoon.

Love,
Heather and Brad

Visitor

Dear Friends,

This little guy flew right to our balcony and would have come in if we had left the door wall open. Makes me a little worried that others are feeding him.

Love,
Heather

Clearwater Beach

Dear Friends,

The beach was just a little busy.

Love,
Heather and Bradley

Cobra

Dear Friends,

Wish we could have seen the owner of this fascinating car.

Love,
Bradley and Heather

Englewood Sunset

Dear Friends,

We were lucky to catch this beautiful sunset at the local marina.

Love,
Bradley & Heather

Coke Life

Dear Friends,

Coming back to the US, we always seem to be amazed by something new at the grocery store. This year it was Coke Life. Who knew?

Love,
Heather & Bradley

Lemon Bay Park

Dear Friends,

Another great morning walk at a beautiful park in Florida. Peaceful way to spend some time with my dad.

Love,
Heather