Here are a couple of links to recent interesting China articles.
Keeping the Faith in China at the BBC . . . and
China’s Changing Face a photo gallery at Newsweek.

Fran and I went to the large park near our home and were surprised by “A Floral Wonderland” display. Lots and lots of blooming flowers (I’ll try to put up some photos later). When we saw this display we immediately thought of our friends from Arkansas, Ron & Elinda. This one’s for you!

On the lunar calendar it is still the year of the pig . . .

Fran and I want to wish each of you a

Very Merry Christmas ! ! !

I’m stealing this from Amanda over at following an unknown path.

Go discover 13 ways to bless missionaries without paying for postage. You could use some of the ideas for anyone that lives far away that you want to stay in touch with.

I especially like “Get friends and family together to create a holiday video greeting for them using Google Video or YouTube. Include lots of people you know they miss.”  Hint – Hint

Enjoy yourself the next couple of weeks! ! ! !

Fran and I are beginning to get into the Christmas spirit. It is a little bit hard to do here because of the warm weather and lack of familiar Christmas season atmosphere.

Saturday night we watched (for the first time) Polar Express. We both enjoyed it.

Last night (for the second time in as many years) we went to a charity concert that presented Handel’s Messiah. There was a full orchestra and a 100+ voice choir. Very enjoyable.

What about you? How are you getting into the spirit?

I’d really like your input on something. I want to post more pictures. There are several ways to do this. I just installed a new way. Check out the test gallery. What do you think of it? Would you please either email me or leave a comment and tell me what you like or don’t like about it?

How about this one? Do you prefer that style?

I’m not talking about the pictures themselves but the way they are presented.

I’d love your feedback. Thanks!

Last week we had yet another incident that really brings home the huge disadvantage of not being able to read the Chinese written language.

On Monday afternoon I often have a two hour language class. I am learning how to speak (a very low level of) Chinese. After working a half day at the office I usually come home to enjoy lunch with Fran before the language lesson. This day we had decided to have “chicken man” sandwiches. Of course those require a Diet Coke and chips.

Before I headed home I ducked into the 7-11 for some chips. Now you’ve got to realize that we have VERY FEW chips that you would find on the shelves in the US. So I’m there looking for a double size bag (think Grab bag) of semi-normal chips when I spot what looks like might be “normal”. Normal is almost anything that is not seaweed/shrimp/chicken flavored. At least the picture of the chip looked ok.

Anyway . . . when we sat down to lunch and started in on the chips we were not able to identify what flavor had been applied to the otherwise normal chip. After lunch, during my language lesson I asked for an interpretation of the Chinese on the package. It turns out they are:

Super Sour!
I should have looked closer at the body language in the illustration instead of focusing on the chip