Sitting by the Roadside

San Francisco Bay The wind blew hard as we walked along the trail down to the Golden Gate Bridge (right; not in photo). I was woken up at around 5:15am in the morning.  That meant I had had about seven hours of sleep...not bad compared to 4 the second night from when we had arrived in the States from China.  (Someone had set one of our very loud alarm clocks downstairs to ring at 2 o'clock in the morning.  It rang for an hour, and I couldn't fall back asleep after ordeal.)  I was glad I had prepared my backpack the night before.  It saved me a lot of time as I jumped off the top of my bunk bed and rushed to get ready to go on our annual family road trip. My sisters and I had packed all our clothes into a luggage.  I carried that down the stairs and shoved it into the trunk of our van.  After everyone (excluding my brother, who was still sleeping until two minutes before our departure) had made a few more trips carrying items down into the ga...

We went to FuZhou late April/early May for about two weeks.  I have a few quick photos from our time there: Lots of people on Nan Hou Jie  on Labor Day (5/1).  I think  it's International Labor Day, but I'm not totally sure. Library in FuZhou.  The sign says "FuJian Library for Youth and Children". Street-washing truck (the building in the background is an idol temple).  It spews out water on the street.  None of the cars seem to pay any attention to it; they just drive through. (It also plays music, so you can be aware of its approaching.  However, the music sounds  similar to that of an ice cream truck's, so it is easy to get confused about whether an ice cream truck or street-washing truck is coming.) Subway in China.  The Chinese words under the sign say "sa bai wei".

Here are some highlights from my "regular life" on the other side of the world (April 2017)... Loaf of bread-cake (as we call it) my sister made for my mom's birthday. Two lemurs my siblings saw on their trip to the Beijing Zoo (an expedition I chose not to attend). Our PM2.5 smog tester (the number in the middle row (118 here) is the amount of PM2.5). A delicious dish, one of my favorites.  It consists of nian gao pian  (the white stuff), vegetables, and onions. A magnetic Chinese Chess (a game I do not  like to play) board we acquired recently.  There are small magnets on the bottom of the pieces, so the board is easy to use when travelling.  The game is somewhat similar to chess.  You have a general (when he is captured the game is over), two of his shi , two elephants, two horses, two cannons, two cars, and five soldiers. Our friend gave us this Chilean Rose Hair tarantula a couple weeks ago.  We had some trouble finding...

The Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in China.  Most students have a three-week break, and everyone returns to the place they were born to celebrate the New Year together.  This year, my family and I spent the New Year in FuZhou with my grandparents (on my dad's side). We had planned to take the high-speed rail (eight hours at least) there, since it was way  cheaper, but tickets ran out.  So we ended up flying a plane. Living Quarters Our flight was in the afternoon, and we arrived somewhere in the evening.  Since our grandparents had two apartments in FuZhou, they lived in one and let us stay in another. Even though the apartment was a little small and situated on the fifth floor of an elevatorless building, I had always liked the feeling of wonder I experienced every time our family stayed there. I loved the (as I called it) "ancient" sugar pot, the clocks that wouldn't run unless you wound them, the desk drawers, and closet drawers...

2016 seemed to pass too quickly!  Each year seems to pass quicker and quicker and quicker… =   In January I competed in Season 2 of the National Bible Bee Game Show (which hasn’t been aired yet).  It was a time for me to trust in G-d and experience His amazing power! =   My family and I flew to Asia again in the spring.  I resumed teaching my dance and Bible Study classes.  We studied the book of John this year. =  My birthday passed in April,  and I started thinking a lot about the times “when I was little”.  I like[d] going through old photos a lot! =   In June my family and I gave talks at a 3-day Homeschool meeting in Asia.  I spoke about how homeschooling was like for me, and I also answered some people’s questions.  We also met a lot of families who were deciding between homeschool and public school education for their kids. =   We returned to the States in July and took a road trip to Oregon.  I re...