Family comes for a visit

Family Shot


my mommy

What an adventure it has been. We were so blessed to have my mom, her husband and my brother, Chris come and see us. I greeted them at our Condo on Thursday morning with my brother asking me what the lane lines were for. See here in China they pay NO attention to lane lines. I just laughed at him. We were able to take them around the towns that are by us. We took them shopping and they were amazed at how we shop. One of the funny stories was when we met up with two other teachers and their mother. We all got a ride back to school together. Yes 11 of us squished in a SMALL car. It was such a hoot. We laughed all the way to school. After spending time around our house we took off to Xian.


the birds nest!!!



Xian was amazing. The drive from the airport was fun. He bartered for a taxi and off we went. Well a few miles later the taxi stops and we sit on the freeway. Great what have I gotten my family into? Well because the cop told us we needed to use the meter and we had already bartered a price, the taxi driver had to find someone else to finish the trip without the meter on. It was crazy. Then we get to the hotel and I asked Chris if he saw all the great stores. He looked at me funny and said no he was looking at China. Crazy how being here 8 months will make you look at things differently.

The next day we biked around the city wall. It was a huge hit. The boys were on tandem bikes with Doug and Chris. Mom and John and I had our own bikes. The ride took us an hour and half. It was amazing and we saw so much. It was a blast. We then walked around town and ate at some local restaurants. Yummy.

Yes, Doug eating DUCK


Another day we boarded the city bus and off we went to the train station to catch a bus to see the Terracotta warriors. The city bus was a hoot. The Chinese did get up and offer sits to us. We took another bus to see the warriors. . The boys loved to learn about them and we had another grand adventure. Our last day in Xian we went to see the Great Goose pagoda. It had a wonderful fountain show that was linked with music. It rained that day but we stuck it out to see the show.

From Xian we went to Beijing. We had heard that there was a big sand storm there so we were very curious. No problems for us. We took the subway everywhere and Chris and Doug became the subway masters. Beijing was fun too. We saw so many great sites. We had a guide (one of my principal’s friend) for one of the days and he took us to a private section of the Great Wall. We had to pay the farmer less than a dollar each to walk on the wall. It was fantastic. Then for lunch the place where the car was parked, moved their table outside for us and cooked us lunch. Then we were off to see an acrobat show.The ride to the show was just as impressive as the show was.

We were able to see the Olympic sites, Forbidden City, Summer Palace and so much more. It was an adventure we will never forget. We have so many great memories. It was a blast to travel with others. The hard part was when we went to the airport and had to say goodbye. The only thing that made it easier to leave them was knowing we would see them again in 2 months.

My warriors

Look out here they come

Grandpa and Grandma Eggs riding on the wall in Xian