What day is it?

Hello everyone!  Sorry I have not been writing in my blog.  We have been away and just got home.  Our friend Brian came to visit us and we have been traveling around the country.  We met him in Shanghai and stayed there for a few days.  Then we were off to Beijing to see the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and Tienanmen Square.  Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City were cool, but the Great Wall is AMAZING!  It is really breath taking and to think it was made by hand.  The workers had to carry all those stones up the mountain.  Many people died, so our tour guide said it is also know as the world's largest cemetery because so many people died while constructing it and they would just be encased or buried in the wall. 

We are now back home in Nanjing, Brian will be here for a few days and then head back home to MI.  For Christmas Michael and I decided to head to Hong Kong.  I am looking forward to that.

This will be our first Christmas in China, away from our friends and family.  It has been kind of hard because it does not feel like Christmas to me.  I am pleasantly surprised that their are some malls that have Christmas decorations up and some of the stores are playing Christmas music, but Christmas is definitely not hyped up to nearly the extent that it is in the United States and when you don't have it....you miss it.  Because I am not working and do not have Christmas shopping to do, I never know what day it is.  I cannot believe it is December 19th.  It does not feel like it. 

That is one reason we are going to Hong Kong, for a change of pace and to get our minds off not being with our friends and family.  It has been a real treat having Brian in town.  We feel blessed to have such great friends who are willing to come all the way to China to see us.  Having Brian here has been a good distraction. 

I will have a lot of pics to post when I have more time, but for now I will leave you with a couple I took from my phone.

Me in the Forbidden City...it was FREEZING!!!

me by the GREAT WALL....still Freezing ;o) but it was a sunny day, so that helped!