October already!!!

Oops! Again, time has slipped by me. I'm sorry for not updating earlier. My parents are visiting though, so that's one less reason to blog :)

So, September is already over! What did we do besides work? We had one day off for Moon Festival (?) and were invited camping with friends. We went to a gorgeous spot in a deep valley, camped right beside the river with basically no people around - which is a rare treat here in China. Because of the Olympics we weren't allowed to have an open flame fire (even though we were about 2hours outside of Beijing). So we used hot coals to cook our food, and spent our evening eating and playing 2 Truths and 1 Lie. Great way to get to know people!

The highlight of the trip was Simon trying out the electric fly swatter on his face! AND swimming in the river, which was interrupted when a black and red striped snake swam right in front of Scott!!! The fun in the water was over with that! Definitely a memorable camping trip.

We also had International Family Day this past month, which is always a highlight for us. Us Canadians worked really hard this year and were able to make it 2nd place in ticket sales after the koreans! WOO-HOO!!! The Timmy's coffee, our crepes and waffles with maple syrup, and NHL Hockey on Playstation were major draws to our room! We definitely had the most people hanging out in our room, which was lots of fun.

My parents arrived that same evening, and we've been busy hosting them since then. Besides working for a couple of days last week, we've been to the Temple of Heaven, Olympic Green, and Summer Palace. They've also ventured out on their own to see Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and the older Hutong area of town. Tomorrow they actually take off for a few days to Xi'an, where they'll see the Terracotta Warriors, and various other attractions there. I'll be by myself for a few days because Scott is away for Enrichment Week. He's in Qingdao with the Grade 8 class.

Life goes on here...
-my students are still quite a struggle for me this year.
-My mom has been taken me to the back corners of our market next door to where the seafood is! She's been enjoying the cheap prices of all the food.
-Pepper, our male rabbit, was nutered
-Salt, the female, had babies on the same day (we're fairly certain, but can't see them because they're deep in the burrow)
-and thanks to technology it doesn't feel like you are all so far away!

Enjoy the Fall weather!!