So, I have had two scooter tours thus far with my neighbor who has been kind enough to take me around and show me where to buy things. Our first ride was on Saturday and we went to an organic market, a bakery, and a local fruit and veggie market. The organic market had a limited selection as the store front was so small, but everything was nice and not too expensive. The bakery, which is conveniently located next to the organic market had really nice fresh brea...

How to begin to fill in all that we've been up to since the last post? A lot of exploring, which is generally centered around a different subway stop each time. One stop west, toward the end of the line in the Mudu direction, lies Jinfeng, where the first supermarket we frequented, Vanguard, rises above a 24-hour KFC with a fleet of delivery bikes parked outside like lounging herbivores. Entering the building, passing the line coin-slot airplanes and cars that ...

We had an incredible day, exploring the smalls lanes of the northeastern corner of the rectangular canal system that encapsualtes old Suzhou. We disembarked from the glitteringly-modern subway system and headed north along a street without any tourist frills - indeed it seemed like a street from a film set in the era before 'Nixon went to China', with small shops selling chicken feet and dumplings, locals making charcoal, a few tractors piling garbage into a hole...

A very Happy Happy 29th Birthday to my darling husband, Ramsay, today! He got a very good present too, a new apartment! We arrived yesterday at our new home on the school campus. We have been shopping once at a giant store up the street for some basic items. We are going to go back today to get a few more things to make it just right. I will post a few photos of the new place in an album, so check it out. AND absolutely no freaking out, Mom! It's pretty ba...

As most of you know, our planned relaxing few days to China turned out to be more hassle than we expected. After our second flight to New York got cancelled due to bad weather, we stayed the night in a hotel in Charlotte. We left the following morning and flew to New York. After getting there we caught a ride to the hotel we had booked by JFK (we flew into LaGuardia, which was the only replacement flight the airline offered to get to New York). We stayed in, ...