Ironically, holidays - a time when we take a break from daily life - usually end up making us busier! Even though I'm not working this year, the past month has still been super busy due to the holidays. At the end of September, China celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival and then the first week of October is the Chinese National Day Golden Week.
Matt got a week off, so we traveled to Qingdao to visit some friends and give him a chance to spend some relaxing time in Qingdao since he didn't get to enjoy it much while being so busy at work there last year. We had some nice meals, got to hike a little bit, visit the beach near where we used to live, and hang out with many friends. We finished the trip off by getting food to go from one of our favorite restaurants in Qingdao - Burger and Bun.
Matt got a week off, so we traveled to Qingdao to visit some friends and give him a chance to spend some relaxing time in Qingdao since he didn't get to enjoy it much while being so busy at work there last year. We had some nice meals, got to hike a little bit, visit the beach near where we used to live, and hang out with many friends. We finished the trip off by getting food to go from one of our favorite restaurants in Qingdao - Burger and Bun.
The trip was a lot of fun, but unfortunately on the first day, as we were getting off the train, I didn't "mind the gap" when I was looking behind me to grab my suitcase, and my foot slipped down into the gap between the train and platform. I fell all the way up to my thigh, so my leg was pretty bruised up and I couldn't do too much intense activity during the trip. We were really grateful that nothing was broken and that I could still walk, just more slowly than normally. So, let this be a warning to everyone: really do mind the gap like the announcements say! It took a couple of weeks, but my leg is fully healed now.
After we came home from Qingdao, I discovered that my Worm Inn had gotten infested with fungus gnats. I've been trying to starve them out by not feeding or watering the worms this month and kill off the adults by putting a bowl of apple cider vinegar and dish soap in the Worm Inn. As you can see in the photo, I've successfully killed lots of gnats, but there are still some in there. Frustrating! So, I've ordered an improved worm home that zips at the bottom and the top (whereas the one I have now just zips at the top and has a drawstring at the bottom, so that's probably where the gnats entered). I'll get the improved worm home when we go to the U.S. in December, so hopefully that will solve my gnat issues once and for all!
After we came home from Qingdao, I discovered that my Worm Inn had gotten infested with fungus gnats. I've been trying to starve them out by not feeding or watering the worms this month and kill off the adults by putting a bowl of apple cider vinegar and dish soap in the Worm Inn. As you can see in the photo, I've successfully killed lots of gnats, but there are still some in there. Frustrating! So, I've ordered an improved worm home that zips at the bottom and the top (whereas the one I have now just zips at the top and has a drawstring at the bottom, so that's probably where the gnats entered). I'll get the improved worm home when we go to the U.S. in December, so hopefully that will solve my gnat issues once and for all!
At the end of the holiday week, after we got back from Qingdao, it was my birthday, so Matt and I went out to a nice Italian restaurant near where we live in Tianjin. Then, the following week I experimented with making some new dishes - everything bagels and sweet potato cheesecake. The cheesecake turned out really well. The bagels were okay but definitely could be improved upon in the future. During the second week of October, we went to the Chinese church where we volunteer once a month and led music. It was my third time playing piano publicly. It went okay, but it always makes me super nervous to play in public.
The third weekend in October, Matt and I were away again, but not together this time. He had to go to Beijing for a tech conference, and I went to a women's retreat in downtown Tianjin. It was a good time of fellowship for me and a good time of learning for him but also made the month feel quite busy!
As soon as we got back home, we had another factor to contribute to busyness. Earlier in October, our friend asked us if we would help her family by taking a dog that they had been given by another friend who moved away. Our friend's family is in a busy season right now with health problems, and it was getting difficult for them to care for this dog. Our friend knew that we were open to getting a dog eventually, so she thought this would be a perfect solution. We met the dog earlier in the month and then after our travels were finished, he came to live with us. We've spent the past week adjusting to him and getting him adjusted to us. He was already potty trained and now we're working on getting him to go to sleep later and wake up later (instead of sleeping from about 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. like he was used to) and we're trying to teach him to sit and fetch. He's about a year old, so he has a lot of energy but fortunately, he also doesn't mind cuddling with me during the day and taking naps in the sun. So, without further ado, meet Aka!
As soon as we got back home, we had another factor to contribute to busyness. Earlier in October, our friend asked us if we would help her family by taking a dog that they had been given by another friend who moved away. Our friend's family is in a busy season right now with health problems, and it was getting difficult for them to care for this dog. Our friend knew that we were open to getting a dog eventually, so she thought this would be a perfect solution. We met the dog earlier in the month and then after our travels were finished, he came to live with us. We've spent the past week adjusting to him and getting him adjusted to us. He was already potty trained and now we're working on getting him to go to sleep later and wake up later (instead of sleeping from about 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. like he was used to) and we're trying to teach him to sit and fetch. He's about a year old, so he has a lot of energy but fortunately, he also doesn't mind cuddling with me during the day and taking naps in the sun. So, without further ado, meet Aka!
In addition to adjusting to life with a dog this last week, a couple of other things kept us very busy: Matt was invited to be the guest speaker at a Model United Nations meeting in downtown Tianjin last Thursday, and Friday we had several of Matt's coworkers over for a Halloween dinner party. Both events were a lot of fun but took a lot of preparation work! Now, poor Matt had to go back to the office, but Aka and I have been relaxing today and yesterday to recover from all this busyness. It's a good thing we have a lot of leftovers from the party, so I can take a little break before getting back into daily life, post-holidays.
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