Cultured

I'm about a week behind in sharing this look, but here it is, anyway.

Rob and one of his colleagues organized and hosted a pretty extensive World Music Festival last week, which included several lectures about different cultures' music, ethnomusicology, current trends in composition, etc. Plus, one high profile performance (Indian Tabla!) at the Suzhou Culture Centre, which was performed for a full house! Do yourself a favor and go listen to some of Abhiman Kaushal's tabla performances- insane. Better still? He's a heck of a nice guy and a really engaging teacher. And if you're in a New Music mood- listen to some of Shi-Hui Chen's pieces (she's Rob's teacher from Rice and the reason we found out about the job here in Suzhou). All such good stuff last week!

So, in order to impress absolutely nobody except the gaggle of Indian and Chinese 19 year old students who flooded the concert hall for the performance, I kicked my maternity style up a notch and wore this snazzy little stretch dress, a loud overcoat, silk scarf (so beautiful and SO hard to wear since it's a massive square shape) and actually curled my hair. And then stunk it all up when, after the concert, we joined the performers for a late-night Hot Pot meal. Seriously, wear old clothes when you plan to order Sichuan spicy soup. You'll reek for days.

Meeting Mommies

I got out last week to visit with other local Expat mommas in town. It's going to be a lot of fun getting to know many of these families and going through the adventure of having tiny ones in China together, getting all the tips and tricks of where to find what we need, commiserating over the strangeness of motherhood abroad with occasional nights out together. It's a great group of ladies and I'm really excited to finally have the time to get to know some of them better in the upcoming weeks. More than anything, after my nervousness about my little booger hanging out breech (I won't speak too soon since I haven't been to an official appointment yet, but I felt a decidedly rotating movement on Sunday), I got two offers to email friends to gather intel on moxibustion and acupuncture specialists in town. Beyond kind, exceedingly reassuring, and incredibly thoughtful.

Plus, it's really fun to hang out with so many lovely people who have THE. BEST. ACCENTS. I am far and away the minority as an American- I've met tons of German families (Bosch is in town), women from the UK, India, several from Spain, Pakistan, and one from Ireland. And the best part? I said adios to the remnants of my nasally a-sound Ohio accent and never picked up any y'all's in Texas, so nobody can place where I'm from.

I mentioned last week that I've been buying and wearing boys' stuff as maternity wear. Here's more proof (and a bump-hiding oversized woolen sweater- my very favorite fiber!). Also, my wispy shorty-bangs of new-growth-pregnancy-hair (the only hair "benefit" I've seen from these hormones) are popping out in every frizzy direction to say hello.

Cultural Shifts

Third Trimester. Boom. And it's a bump that's finally a bump, not just a burrito, which makes me really happy. Every few weeks, I get really hungry and kiddo grows like a weed, and next thing you know there's more happening out front. And I'm really grateful so far that family genetics have been good to me and I still feel fine.

I've noticed a cultural difference in attitudes about pregnancy over here. We passed a woman last night who must have been right around the same due date as me. And, while I'm still pretty nimble and limber, thankfully, goooooosh, she was waddling. I've not seen a woman who was visibly pregnant walking like she didn't have a softball balanced between her thighs. It's crazy. I don't know if the Chinese physique really does get very uncomfortable much sooner, but I'm inclined to believe that women are expected to appear faint and helpless and not lift a finger during pregnancy. The wider the waddle, the more effective the baking of a kid? And most of them don't seem to be loving it even a little. Babies must be for grandparents. Because mamas look pretty blah about the whole thing. Weird.

Out and About

It reverted back to winter. Which is okay since I'm still on break and spending most of my time inside, but ultimately makes walking the dog really difficult. We call Miles "Little Mister Prissy Paws" when he gets all worked up about having to *shock and horror!* walk on the cold grass and pavement. And strictly business walks are okay, but it's when he's all wound up and needs to work kinks out of his back leg that it gets tricky. He charges off after a scent, then realizes he's made a horrible mistake, is too far from our building, and gets all tip-toe-walky the rest of the way back. And then can't be bothered to wait for me to use my tap card to open the foyer door and bashes his head into the glass. And let's be real here- if he was still in Ohio with my parents, he's be subjected to the whole snowpocalypse, so he's got it good here.

And despite the chill, Rob and I have made time to get out of the house together and figure out more about our city. We've pretty concretely determined that we'll move to the more Expat-populated area of town next year- convenience, more interesting stuff close by, fewer students, more diverse food (grocery and eating out), but, most importantly, the increased probability of finding friends. It's been a struggle since most of our neighbors in this area are apartments filled with students and multi-generation families. And the English speaking/ bilingual population is either 22 years old or in the midst of a career boom. So, we'll try for friends elsewhere! To kickstart the process, we've found a few restaurants that list things like Taco Tuesdays, Quiz Nights, Mommy Meet-Up's, etc. that we'll start making efforts to go and try to meet people. It's like dating. But worse, because there's not a lot of language overlap. Huge German, French, and Chinese speaking cool-people pockets of young professionals and mommies. And plenty of English speakers, but they're either 23 or 55. Where are my 27-37 kindred spirits?!

Not to worry, I'm putting my extrovert husband on the hunt.

Chinese New Year and Down Time

Honesty is the best policy, no? Because if I'm being completely truthful with you all, I've been in real people clothes for maybe 7 of the past 25 days. I'm not ashamed to say that I've done every single dog poo walk in my pajama pants and have even done one or two of my pop out for groceries runs in them, too. And since I've spent the last seven years working my ass off supporting my family and in work clothes for 40-60 hours any given week, I'm more than happy to revel in sporting sweats daily for the entirety of this break. 

So, what have we been up to? While Rob was out of town for two weeks, I spent much of my time daydreaming, petting the animals, and snacking. The Chinese New Year fireworks (which were set off in the apartment community every 5 minutes by families to celebrate, day and night, for 48 hours straight) was pretty rough on the animals. Miles crapped inside a few times after some jerk set off a string of firecracker in the middle of us walking past him outside. Couldn't wait the 30 seconds for us to get out of the way? And Eddie got nervous, hid a lot (not normal for her), and lost her appetite for about 6 days, so I took her to the vet after she peed on our bed and didn't have a poop for 3 days. No diabetes, no bladder infections, no indication of problems other than stress. Poor little girl. And I swear to you here and now that I won't blog about my child's bowels when they arrive, it's just especially stressful when your cat baby (I've had her for over 9 years!) is showing signs of bladder infection or kidney failure (with a post-holiday diagnosis of "nothing is wrong") and personality changes just as EVERYTHING shuts down for 6 days. But, we're all back to normal, Rob is home, and we've had the really nice opportunity to get out and explore more of the city while all the students are still away and it's nice and quiet. 

Anyway, here's a few photos of the last few weeks and captions to fill you in on what's been up. 

My holiday uniform (pajama pants, crappy socks, and a random cozy top) plus a floppy-eared sidekick.

Daydreaming- making plans to buy a few household things for summer- crib, guest bed (for my mom when she comes to stay for a bit after the baby arrives), and a dresser. Because I'm happy to pay for furnishings myself in my furnished apartment since Chinese interior decor taste is pretty atrocious.

Our morning norm- Miles under the blankets to the right of my legs, and Eddie firmly snuggled between my knees. It's rare that she isn't snuggled into my lap if I'm sitting down lately.

Upon his return, Rob and I have been playing epic and cutthroat games. If you've never played Fill or Bust, find it and give it a whirl. You'll either love it or you'll start a war. 

My ultrasound records. Which the baby was too small for at 24 weeks, so they asked me to come back to try again. And now, the fun of retranslating them (I got the verbal explaination and all is a-okay, but I like having a record for myself).

One of my few for-fun trips out of the house. I went to Shantang Road in Old Town, Suzhou and finally found a pineapple vendor who uses this special v-shaped utensil to prepare the fruit. The big cleaver thing is for stripping and chopping sugar cane. If you see either of these utensils for sale in Williams-Sonoma next Chistmas season, thank my sister, who lived in Beijing and fell in love with how deftly the vendors could fresh-cut fruits for you, and is convinced the American obsession with kitchen gadgets will make these an easy sell. You're all welcome in advance.

Furball

I was introduced to the most strange and wonderful mashup of hangout conventions.
A Cafe. With cats wandering around. In a rented apartment. Running as a real business. In a gated community highrise, unmarked and on the 7th floor.

I still have no idea how my colleagues at the office found out about this place, but it was seriously fun. We went during a weekend a little while back and I'm really considering taking my kitty to check it out sometime during the break. If she'll stay in a purse to travel on the bus. Don't know if she'll let that fly, though.

So, was a black sweater a good choice for visiting a room full of hairballs? Probably not, but I sure enjoyed myself. Miles and Eddie were wildly curious about where I'd been when they smelled me later.

 

How I Spent July

Well, hello, dear friends! I wrote a little note to you all yesterday to tell you that we've successfully made it to Suzhou, China. Today is our fourth full day in the city and we're finally feeling a little more adjusted to the time zone, have the essentials handled for our new apartment, and have been able to order and accurately pay for several meals. Big successes, all around!

Starting July 30, we moved out of our sweet apartment in Houston and drove our last few belongings that would be placed in storage (favorite dishes, good knives, artwork, etc) along with our four large suitcases for the flight to China in a trailer behind the Jeep. We took two days to get up to Ohio, stopping along the way to spend the night with a dear friend from grade school who is living in Missouri. A visit and the stopping point couldn't have been more refreshing.

We spent three weeks with family and friends in Ohio and used our time to the fullest! Half-way through, my sister was married in a stunning and perfectly simple ceremony along Lake Michigan, and I was so grateful to be able to take part in her bridal shower, last minute preparations, rehearsal dinner, meet and greet time with her husband's family, and a little bit of family vacation time in the rented house after they took off to honeymoon. (I'm pretty sure I owe you all a thorough post, the wedding was beyond perfect).

We spent a rainy Saturday hosting an open house get together and a really great group of friends and extended family made the effort to come spend the day with us to catch up and say farewell for a while. In the age of Facebook, it sure is easy to check in on people, but there's truly nothing like spending time together. Other highlights of our time in Ohio included nephew visits, godson and best friend playtime, acquainting my doggy to life at my parents (we hope to bring both the beagle and our cat over in a few months), visiting and re-getting-to-know-time with my brother, who is now a big bad 18 year old adult, and a haircut from my favorite long-time stylist (nothing drastic, just took 3 scraggly inches off the ends and shaped it up, but I received exactly ZERO good haircuts in 4 years in Houston, so this was a big highlight).

In my focus to spend time with family, I preeetty much spent all three weeks in 6 articles of clothing, not including dresses for special events. Here's a little rundown of how I looked for the entirety of July:

Hope you all have had a good month (I've sort of been reading along with my favorite blogs, but I've been pretty technologically disconnected for a while).

Catch up with you all soon!

The Do-Nothing Floating Vacation

We're baaaack.

Rob and I were given the unwarranted and completely appreciated gift of a cruise vacation by my sweet mom and dad in celebration of his degree, new jobs, and making it through the last few years. I'm so grateful for the chance to really unwind (something it usually takes 2-3 full days to do when I'm working) and enjoy my husband's company.

Cruise highlights:
- Reading (sporadic and with a background 90's pop soundtrack blaring through the ship's speakers)
- Lounging in shady areas during bright days, both on and off the ship
- A 75/25 ratio of swimsuit and coverup to real clothing
- Choice beach lounging locations as a reward for getting our buns out of bed early during days in port in Roatan and Cozumel\
- Awesome dinner tablemates- we spent every evening together at the piano bar or pub, singing our guts out
- Being the only person in the lounge (including a few 40-60 folks) who knew the words to the Cheeseburger in Paradise "rap"
- Comedy shows
- Watching numerous children in the midst of a sugar-induced meltdown since there was 24-hour access to soft serve ice cream
- Accidental 5-course meals at dinner upon requests to "try just a little of XXXX"
- Holy Blue Water, Batman
- SPF 30 reapplied a thousand times and no sunburn to show for it
- Saw a pair of monkeys on the beach and held an iguana, who felt like a heavy sequined purse
- Shallow water snorkeling with our own equipment- no expensive tour guide necessary

If you ever get a chance to cruise, I highly recommend it. We had a lot of fun people watching and gorging ourselves on the ship, explored new countries as we got to port on the cheap by just hiring a taxi for the day, took borrowed snorkel gear from my family, and bargained like crazy whenever we could.

I'll share my dinner looks later on in the week, it was really fun to have an excuse to get dolled up each evening!

Up on the "Adults Only" deck of the cruise, sipping on unlimited sodas and reading

Overlook on the ridge roadway in Roatan, Honduras. I spent literally half of my waking hours in a swimsuit and that coverup wrap.

Reading on the beach on Roatan, Honduras

Windy departure from port

Pina Colada, private cabana with hammocks, and loud waves in Cozumel.

Nerd. I love him.

No joke. Water that perfectly blue.

I was so grateful for a table full of cheerful, chatty, and low key couples. We had so much fun with this crew all week!

Adios to the Three Musketeers

Skirt, Cardigan, Belt, Necklace: Target...Shoes: Nine West via Buffalo Exchange

Well, it's happened. We had our first for-real adios. Our friend (Rob, his Bromance, and this buddy all three came into the doctoral program together) is getting ready to skip town for several summer festivals and conferences and he definitely won't be back before we leave. There have been a few friends that have left after the school year ended who we won't see again before we move, but this is the first major goodbye.

And I didn't cry. Don't know how I managed it, but I didn't cry. It may be because his wife is still in town and I know we'll spend time together, so it doesn't feel "real" yet.

Anyway, we did a BBQ, because there really isn't a better way to say farewell than with a potluck and burgers. We started a grease fire, let it burn off and roasted marshmallows a few hours later, sipped a hodgepodge of leftover beers from the graduation BBQ, nibbled on chips until the 90% humidity made them stale and disgusting, and did a lot of really good reminiscing.

Gosh, it's been a good four years here in Houston.

Graduation Season and a Sister Visit

Highlights since we last spoke:

Rob's mom and dad were in town for 2 1/2 glorious days to celebrate graduation with us! We ate well, we drank better (his mom is a very discriminating red wine drinker and his dad is a lager buff). We had crazy big storms on Friday morning and overnight, but it cleared up before Saturday morning graduation. We had to muck our way through a swamp to get to seats on the lawn, but the ceremony was outside and the bright blue sky was gorgeous! Rob and his two best buddies got a "Ta Da!" style horn-quintet chord played for each of them during the Friday Doctoral Hooding Ceremony (epic), and that was topped by getting to high-five Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who was the commencement speaker, as they walked across the graduation stage (epic-er).

The three graduates hosted a BBQ in our friends' backyard for only our families and their main composition professors and it was nothing short of the perfect way to celebrate their hard work and accomplishments. They're all such laid back guys and so family oriented; anything else, like a dinner out, wouldn't have felt like the right conclusion to their four years together. Spending time with the other two guys' families was a real treat. Oh, and the plethora of grilled dinner options was pretty much the best.

My sister got engaged a few months ago and they plan to wed before we depart for China. Since they had lived in China and Hong Kong before their move back to the States, they wanted to find a way to incude their friends from all over on their special day, even if they're halfway around the world. So, in the tradition of Chinese FuXi (wished for luck and prosperity), she wants to send out red hanging tags that friends and far away family can write notes on and they'll all be tied to a cord at the wedding. With my arsenal of cutting mats and exacto blades, I volunteered to work on the project. And then she got really sad that she wasn't able to work on wedding projects alongside sisters. So, a ticket was booked with miles and less than 48 hours later, she was hanging out in my living room. I got sister time! I got to spend time talking, giggling, crying, and getting excited about the next year for each of us with my sister standing in the same room as me! And she got over 250 red mat board hangtags to include in mailings to her friends. And, now, I wouldn't be at all shocked if she showed up in Phoenix to work on invitations with our other sister.

My dainty little cat also got hold of a gecko and ate him. That was thrilling.

This week was not at all what I expected, but the mix of good and bad (uugh, work is getting tricky with end-of-the-school-year-grant-reporting) makes me tired and happy.

Beaches and Ballgames

Okay, so last Friday, I got a little ahead of myself when I chattered about the baseball game. And I never posted a photo of the weekend in Galveston. So, here we go.

It's been a yearly tradition to join the head of the composition department for a celebratory weekend away with all the composer students. This year, we all piled into a house south of Galveston. I've ripped on Galveston before for being too touristy and for not having nice beaches. But, dang, if you get out of the city a little ways, the sand is light and fluffy, wide beaches, and quiet. A little overcast and a bit chilly, but we got some good tennis golf going down on the beach, card games and giggling, and tons of opportunity to watch some cut-throat beer pong. I enjoyed myself immensely!

Thursday through Sunday, we were able to score cheap seats to see all four Detroit Tigers' games against the Houston Astros (charmingly known as the Last-ros. They're not very good). Rob has been a Tigers' fan since he was in the womb (no joke, he was born days after the last time they won the World Series) and he and his dad have been long-distance radio and online tracking the seasons together since we moved away from northern Ohio. And the Astros juuuuust switched leagues, so they came to town to play a series for the first time since we've been down south. Needless to say, we were really excited about it!

I spent the beginning of every game hovering around the 3rd base fence, hoping to get my favorite player, Austin Jackson, to sign my ball cap. I'll be honest, I have a big crush on the guy, but it sure doesn't hurt that he's a pretty potent center fielder. Dude can run and can catch some really impressive fly balls.

No luck on a signature, but he did turn and wave once when the kid next to me yelled his name. I would say "Close enough" but I really thought I had a chance at a pitty autograph since I was down there every day. Tough luck. Also, Sunday's game was pitched by Justin Verlander (widely reconized as the best pitcher of any team right now) and we were less than 200 feet from his warm up before the game. Rob did a little fan-boy dance. Can't say I blame him.

This is when he turned to acknowledge the little boy.

Oh, hey, Justin Verlander. No biggie, we're 200 feet away from the MLB MVP of 2012.

Nice sneer.

Other highlights: Bromance came to all four games with us and purchased a refillable popcorn tub for $10 the first game. We refilled that bad boy for free the rest of the series. Brilliant. Little Roo was in town for a visit from L.A. and we got to spend all of Saturday with her. Such a treat! Our buddy also made a strange face in every photo I snapped of him. It's a series of photographs I'm proud to have. Aaaaand, on Sunday's game, Rob was accosted by the Astros' mascot for being a Tigers fan. He was made to tie the mascot's shoe, and then the mascot flipped his Astros jersey over Rob's head to cover the Detroit Tigers "D" shirt. No joke, it was 3 minutes full of pretty absurd interaction with an enormous green muppet. The Little League kids a few rows behind us were cackling, they loved it!

Gettin' Fancy, 60's Style

The Pop Art Soiree... the all-consuming gala is over. Not without incident, of course, but for all the work and drama we invested in getting ready, it sure was fun!

High points:
Our honoree (President of the Children's Hospital) told my friend her short haircut styled a little like James Dean was "fancy."
The little girl who came with her family to present the award to the honoree (a cancer survivor who had her treatment at the hospital, where our organization also presents arts education programming) was way way way proud of her dress. The cutest.
Pop Art = the cool version of the 60's = seriously amazing dresses.
A board member got a little faced and fell under her table. At least it was in the corner of the ballroom.
I was the test run for the Smilebooth set up. It was so sad and lonely looking. Even though I made fish lips. I neglected to take any fun photos with anyone, so that hideous solo photostrip is all I got. Nope, not gonna share.
I made buddies with a gaggle of High Schoolers who volunteered with us. I have NO idea how kids today seem so much more cool than when I was in high school.
My coworker wore 1 1/2" long holographic gold false eyelashes. Win.
I last-minute had a dress altered that I thrifted. Not bright or tremendously 60's, but very pretty.

Oh, my gosh, look how 80's awful the neckline was when I thrifted it!