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Dec. 9th, 2006 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizzybennetThis was an outing that the boys and I took last Friday, December 1. Chris was out of town for the night on a research trip to Wuxi. Mariannette invited us along with her hubbies class field trip to the Folk Art Museum. To be honest, it was mostly more of the same thing that we've seen in many museums we've already visited. Still, it was fun to get out and about.I have several pics, so I put them all behind a cut. When I say several, I mean 20+.
For the most part, the Folk Art Museum was a antique house that had been restored/recreated. This is the nursery. I enjoyed seeing this room because of all the museums I've been to over the past few months, this was the first time I've seen a child's room.
A classroom
The stairs leading to the top floor of the house were verrrry steep. And, of course, the boys were thrilled with that prospect.
Here's the view from the top of the stairs. The man helping the boys down is Victor. Let me take this opportunity to tell you a story about Victor. His glasses broke a couple weeks ago. His lenses, bought in the States, were very expensive. He wanted to find a pair of frames that fit his lenses which wouldn't require any shaping or grinding. He found a hole-in-the-wall place here on campus. Chris went with him, and he said that the equipment in this shop belonged in a museum. Huge, old lathes, etc. The place agreed to help Victor, and they spent the next hour trying to force his lenses into anything that fit. Finally, they found a pair. Unfortunately for Victor, they are women's frames. He now sports a very stylish pair of black and hot pink glasses. Personally, I find it difficult not to stare. I know, I'm such a dork. He's such a nice guy. He's planning on attending next semester too, so he's not going home during the Christmas break. We've asked him to feed our fish while we're away. He's nervous that he'll kill them, but I assured him that I've already killed several myself so he has no need to worry. Victor also has a Chinese girlfriend, as do many of the American guys in the program. I find it interesting to note that none of the American girls have hooked up with any Chinese men.
While we were wandering through the museum, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in a courtyard that was clearly the living quarters for someone, perhaps museum employees. They had several birdcages hung up in the trees. Most of the birds could speak. Although I'd run into a talking bird on another outing, this was the first time the boys had seen them. They loved them. These birds were chattier than the last one I'd met. Not only did they say "Ni Hao" but also the chinese version of "welcome". Petey quickly realized that the birds spoke Chinese and tried to introduce himself to them "Wo Jiao Petey!" (my name is Petey). It was super cute.
I love how ornate the cages are.
Petey, grinning from ear to ear as the bird says Ni Hao to him.
Petey trying his darndest to communicate with the bird.
This is the hallway we should have went down when we took our wrong turn.
I was attempting to take an artistic shot of the doorways, but Petey and Zack came barreling, leaping and tumbling into the picture.
The boys have finally mastered the high door jams, and we never have any tripping incidents any more.
A window.
A rooftop.
More windows and smiling boys.
Zack took this picture in the teapot display.
This teapot captivated my attention more than any others that we saw that day. It's a lotus blossom. When I saw it, I thought of foot binding and how a lotus blossom was the shape that a bound foot was suppose to resemble.
This is most of the group that went to the museum. It's nice to feel like I have good friends here.
I love the split bottom long underwear, hanging beside a bag of baby bok choy. This was taken right outside the door of the museum.
This man is selling goldfish from the back of his tricycle. Goldfish sold this way cost about 1 yuan, or 12 cents.
fish
and more fish
Dinner that night was Hot Pot. Basically, it's fondue by a different name. I really wanted to take the kids to do this because I knew they'd enjoy it. The dark side is very spicy, with the light side being mild. We ordered beef, chicken, pork, lamb and donkey. The donkey was Rene's idea (Mariannette's husband). He seems to be very daring when it comes to trying new things. Personally, I was not up for eating donkey and I didn't touch it. Along with the meat, they also brought us plates upon plates of veggies, tofu and starches.4 different types of tofu (pronounced dofu), potatoes, shoestring mushrooms, spinach, lettuce and cilantro. It was fun, but work intensive. The kids were famished and once they realized how much they liked it, they were like a couple of baby birds, squawking with their mouths wide open. More, more, I need more! The meat does cook really fast, but you can only do a little at a time or you'll lose it in the pot. Basically, I could only cook one mouthful for one kid at a time. Thankfully, I had plenty of people who were more than willing to help me take care of the kids. So, we finally had the kids fed and now it's my turn to eat. That would work in theory, except for the fact that now the kids are bored and I constantly had to be on them to behave. We were in a private room, so that worked to our advantage. Chris got back from his trip while we were there and met up with us at the restaurant. Also, a few more thoughts about hotpot. It creates a lot of greasy steam, which floats back down and coats the floor. It was incredibly slippery and I almost fell down more than once. Finally we went home after a long, but fun day. It always seems that our days in town end up being incredibly long.
For the most part, the Folk Art Museum was a antique house that had been restored/recreated. This is the nursery. I enjoyed seeing this room because of all the museums I've been to over the past few months, this was the first time I've seen a child's room.
A classroom
The stairs leading to the top floor of the house were verrrry steep. And, of course, the boys were thrilled with that prospect.
Here's the view from the top of the stairs. The man helping the boys down is Victor. Let me take this opportunity to tell you a story about Victor. His glasses broke a couple weeks ago. His lenses, bought in the States, were very expensive. He wanted to find a pair of frames that fit his lenses which wouldn't require any shaping or grinding. He found a hole-in-the-wall place here on campus. Chris went with him, and he said that the equipment in this shop belonged in a museum. Huge, old lathes, etc. The place agreed to help Victor, and they spent the next hour trying to force his lenses into anything that fit. Finally, they found a pair. Unfortunately for Victor, they are women's frames. He now sports a very stylish pair of black and hot pink glasses. Personally, I find it difficult not to stare. I know, I'm such a dork. He's such a nice guy. He's planning on attending next semester too, so he's not going home during the Christmas break. We've asked him to feed our fish while we're away. He's nervous that he'll kill them, but I assured him that I've already killed several myself so he has no need to worry. Victor also has a Chinese girlfriend, as do many of the American guys in the program. I find it interesting to note that none of the American girls have hooked up with any Chinese men.
While we were wandering through the museum, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in a courtyard that was clearly the living quarters for someone, perhaps museum employees. They had several birdcages hung up in the trees. Most of the birds could speak. Although I'd run into a talking bird on another outing, this was the first time the boys had seen them. They loved them. These birds were chattier than the last one I'd met. Not only did they say "Ni Hao" but also the chinese version of "welcome". Petey quickly realized that the birds spoke Chinese and tried to introduce himself to them "Wo Jiao Petey!" (my name is Petey). It was super cute.
I love how ornate the cages are.
Petey, grinning from ear to ear as the bird says Ni Hao to him.
Petey trying his darndest to communicate with the bird.
This is the hallway we should have went down when we took our wrong turn.
I was attempting to take an artistic shot of the doorways, but Petey and Zack came barreling, leaping and tumbling into the picture.
The boys have finally mastered the high door jams, and we never have any tripping incidents any more.
A window.
A rooftop.
More windows and smiling boys.
Zack took this picture in the teapot display.
This teapot captivated my attention more than any others that we saw that day. It's a lotus blossom. When I saw it, I thought of foot binding and how a lotus blossom was the shape that a bound foot was suppose to resemble.
This is most of the group that went to the museum. It's nice to feel like I have good friends here.
I love the split bottom long underwear, hanging beside a bag of baby bok choy. This was taken right outside the door of the museum.
This man is selling goldfish from the back of his tricycle. Goldfish sold this way cost about 1 yuan, or 12 cents.
fish
and more fish
Dinner that night was Hot Pot. Basically, it's fondue by a different name. I really wanted to take the kids to do this because I knew they'd enjoy it. The dark side is very spicy, with the light side being mild. We ordered beef, chicken, pork, lamb and donkey. The donkey was Rene's idea (Mariannette's husband). He seems to be very daring when it comes to trying new things. Personally, I was not up for eating donkey and I didn't touch it. Along with the meat, they also brought us plates upon plates of veggies, tofu and starches.4 different types of tofu (pronounced dofu), potatoes, shoestring mushrooms, spinach, lettuce and cilantro. It was fun, but work intensive. The kids were famished and once they realized how much they liked it, they were like a couple of baby birds, squawking with their mouths wide open. More, more, I need more! The meat does cook really fast, but you can only do a little at a time or you'll lose it in the pot. Basically, I could only cook one mouthful for one kid at a time. Thankfully, I had plenty of people who were more than willing to help me take care of the kids. So, we finally had the kids fed and now it's my turn to eat. That would work in theory, except for the fact that now the kids are bored and I constantly had to be on them to behave. We were in a private room, so that worked to our advantage. Chris got back from his trip while we were there and met up with us at the restaurant. Also, a few more thoughts about hotpot. It creates a lot of greasy steam, which floats back down and coats the floor. It was incredibly slippery and I almost fell down more than once. Finally we went home after a long, but fun day. It always seems that our days in town end up being incredibly long.
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Date: 2006-12-09 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 05:31 pm (UTC)