How to Make a Robot

by Zurich Marler

Get a hammer, "ranch," and then get a screw driver and then hit it with the hammer and put it upside down with the "ranch" and screw driver. And hammer (bang bang bang).

Make the legs, make the arms and make the whole body. And the head. And get get some glass and get some spikes. And don't hold them by the spike place. Hold them by the bottom. Not the top. Two of them.

And get red metal like Optimus Prime and get glue and mix it up. And then, put white allllll over it. Paint it how it wants to look like. (I'm going to be flying it and you're going to be moving it.)

And then make the seat belts. And carry cats and put them inside....Make anything you want. Draw it blue and put tape on it.

Make the seat belts, put the computers in. Put the wires in. Let is sit there and then when Daddy gets home, LET'S FLY IT!!!!

Fly it to America!

Then get out and see America. Then get back in and fly it back to China. And it will be a long way.

And then go back to America in December. Every single day. Right now when we make our robot.

Visit to the Wet Market

Every Monday, Zuri and I hop on the bike and ride over to the "Korean" Neighborhood Center to buy our weekly fruits and vegetables. (It's only called "Korean" because so many Koreans live in this area and so there are a lot of Korean products and shops.) This week, I brought my camera and took some pictures. I haven't done this since we first arrived in 2005. I think I'm feeling very reminiscent lately with us leaving in December. I may make fun of China and its customs, but deep inside I've developed a love and respect of the country and people who have endured so much in their long history.


We woke up in the morning and I was so excited to see the sun and shadows. It has been rainy and gross the past two weeks. However, I noticed out my back window that it wasn't going to be sunny for very long. My camera cannot catch both the top and the bottom of the "clouds" at once, but I am convinced that is a pollution cloud heading our way. After a weekend of the factories being off (for the most part), we had some sun on Monday morning.


You can see the blue sky at the top here.

But Zuri and I braved the possible rain, probable pollution (it never rained and we had shadows all day, but it was just kinda overcast), and headed over to the neighborhood center.

The egg aisle. Any kind of egg you can possibly think of: from chicken to duck to quail eggs.


We bought vegetables.


This is the woman I buy vegetables from.


If Zuri doesn't eat breakfast before we leave, it doesn't matter because they give him so much to eat while we're there.


The fruit stand I like. I made persimmon cinnamon jam out of those delicious looking persimmons a couple of weeks ago. (Try to say cinnamon persimmon. You can't. It's just too difficult!)


They also gave Zuri a new kind of green mango. They are very good. Tangy and sweet and even more flavorful than a regular mango.


It took me a long time to get used to the fact that children (and actually, adults, too) can ride their bikes anywhere there's room.


I don't think I've ever taken a picture of a squatty potty before. They actually don't bother me. It's a lot easier on the muscles to squat over a public hole than to hover over a public toilet. You just have to roll up your pants before you go in.


We are in a very international area. I think it's funny there is a Korean gelato store (parlor?) in China.


When you have a flat tire and you're on your bike, don't try to ride on it. I once did and my bike slid all over the road (with Ezra on the back!). Instead, you should walk it back to your home, which might take a day. Or even better, call the Mobile Flat Fixer who rides his electric bike out to you and repairs your tire.


I was so happy when they changed the street sweepers' clothes from green and brown to bright orange. They had to have been run over quite a bit. These people...I don't understand this aspect of their job. They simply stand in the middle of the road to do their work. And it doesn't matter what road they're on, what time of day it is. If they need to clean this part of the road, then they do it. Cars zoom by and they don't seem to wince. I've seen them almost get hit (thank goodness I've never seen one actually get hit) as buses swerve around them and a car behind the bus can't see what's coming up in front of the bus. I cringe for them.


I say that, though, but people don't have the same fear we (as Westerners) have of cars either. This is not an intersection and those cars didn't stop. It was a mixture of the people rushing (only very little) and the cars swerving to their own left that allowed them to get by. I really think it has something to do with the culture. The number of cars have only recently surpassed the number of bikes on the road and when you're riding your bike, it is very easy to go around someone. And if you are hit by a bike, the consequences are less severe. I think Chinese people have this same attitude toward cars. Huge work trucks (think cement mixers and dump trucks) zoom through red lights to avoid stopping. The biggest thing wins, right?


I love her use of sunscreen to keep from tanning. The huge sun visor and the arm covers don't usually match.


The Chinese HATE getting tan.


Only the very bravest turn left from the bike lane. It's a little daunting at first. As long as you can get past the people who are turning right and don't stop on red to wait for you, then it is easier than crossing two lanes of traffic on your bike and thus, waiting for two lights.

Oncoming traffic also turning left.


If you're ever going the wrong way, you simply reverse back down the road.


More sun-haters, although I believe these were Korean women.


Toga Boy and I getting on the elevator. I couldn't balance the bike and hold my camera still enough to get a clear picture in the low lighting.


By the time we arrived back, our fruits and vegetables had been delivered.



I'm going to miss the ease with which we can get our fruits and vegetables.

Our new kitten/How to make Maggie mad

Back in July, we had a pleasant 3-course meal at our French and Italian friends' house. It was delicious and inspired me to make some good mustard with dill weed, chablis and horseradish. And I only wish I could make sorbet like we had. It was a very nice meal and we were in a good mood as we walked from the taxi back to our apartment.

As we passed the guard shack entering our part of the complex, we happened to see a little baby kitten sitting next to the guard. When I say baby, I mean BABEEEEE. He was probably 4 weeks old. He was just sitting there, not moving. Having had a bit of wine, I picked him up and petted him and let Elias do the same. Elias and I returned home and got the kitten some cat food mixed with water. I'll never know how this kitten came to be sitting there, obviously dying. At that point, I decided that a little girl had taken the kitten from its nest and then had not been made to take it back. But it also could have been abandoned by its mother because there wasn't enough milk. (I saw the full litter a couple of weeks later--4 siblings from that litter the same age as ours and one almost full-grown kitten from the previous litter. My cat Gollywog used to nurse his mother with his younger brothers and sisters.) And of course, the mother could have been spooked while moving the kitten and couldn't find him again.

Well, having actually had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, when we brought the food back to the kitten, I even mewed around for the mom to see if she was waiting in the shadows to come get her baby. No response. (And if you've had as many kittens and cats as I have, you'll know that this works.)

And also having had a couple of drinks with our aperitif, I decided to take this kitten home with us. We washed him, sprayed him with flea spray, fed him and Elias slept with him. Oh, he was an ugly little thing. His eyes were as big as a Chihuahua's because he was so emaciated. (Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of him at that size and age.) Elias named him Tundra.

Not long after that, we left to go to the US for a visit. Brad worked almost literally all.the.time. And Tundra became healthy, but also wild. It was a bad time for us to go home in the kitten's emotional development.


He has calmed down a bit now, but he still bites a little harder than I think he should. He doesn't use his claws, but he does purr and like to cuddle a bit. I think he'll get better and better, he just needs patience and time.

Sooooo, now that I've explained the history of our cat...

There is one way to make Maggie mad. Well, you can make Maggie mad by just pointing a remote control at her. You can look at her and she gets mad. (But in this predictability, you can also tell Maggie to give you five and hold up your hand, and she will. Not because she's giving you five, but because she's trying to scratch you)

Maggie has not and will not get used to Tundra. She hisses every time he walks by.


The other evening, they were sitting at the table about like this.


I walked over and started petting the kitten. I was talking to him as only a mother with no small babies can. And in this baby talk, somehow it came out, "And don't you be like Maggie. You be a good kitty cat! She's a bad girl, but you can be a good boy."

And at that exact moment, Maggie started wallowing around (as only a FAT CAT can do) and making this strange snorting sound through her nose! She has never shown so much personality.


But she wasn't looking for attention. No. Those were snorts of utter anger that I could POSSIBLY say ANYTHING negative about HER. And she stood up and slapped at the kitten on the table. She was jealous and angry and just plain ornery.



Of course, Tundra was so excited that Maggie wanted "to play" that he jumped up and tried his hand. He was, of course, only shot down. But he sure is cute. Maggie is in the chair below Tundra.





I think it's too funny that TunTun likes chop sticks.



The fight (of course) ended with Maggie running away from Tundra and I started playing with him.


Zuri LOVES this kitten. He wants to play with him all the time. What I can't get him to understand is that the kitten really doesn't need that right now, he needs love and pets. Zuri isn't mean to Tundra, Zuri just won't stop picking him up and carrying him around everywhere. And the kitten doesn't like to be picked up all the time.



He's still a wild cat that needs more taming. I really, really hope that we can find a home for this kitten in a calmer household. As much as I LIKE Tundra, he really needs something different right now.

Isn't he a handsome cat?

It's been a while...

Yes, it's definitely been a long while.

I'm not sure why I stopped blogging or why I never really took to the blog my sweet brother set up for me (which I do appreciate) and it doesn't really matter. I have been thinking about all of the memories I have only because I blogged about them and how sad that I don't have them written down like that for the past two years!

But that all changes today.

This morning I woke up super early (by ten minutes, even though I had the alarm clock set 30 minutes earlier) and tried my hand at scones.

They were perfect. I couldn't BELIEVE how wonderful they turned out, especially since I'm horrible at making biscuits. But not anymore. They were crumbly, buttery, not too sweet...I was very pleased. The kids also loved them and smeared them with even more butter.

This is the recipe I used from Orangette.

New Blog

My brother Drew has set me up a new blog that I can hopefully access from China. Check out http://www.waftingonthewind.little-site.net Looking forward to blogging again! :)

I miss blogging

But unfortunately, the Great Firewall of China has all of blogspot blocked. I keep thinking I'll find another site but hate giving up this blog. They'll hopefully unblock it soon.

Until then, CHEERS!

It came from Ezra's mouth.

Ezra, my five year old, said between mouthfuls of Japanese curry this evening, "Mom, The Great Wall is just made of bricks. How is that 'Great?'"

Zuri has pink eye and is on antibacterial eye drops. I hope the other two don't get it but the doctor said that there was a 50% chance that they would.

Ayi thinks she also has it and asked to use Zuri's eye drops. Is it wrong that I don't want to? I guess if *I* put them in her eyes ensuring that she doesn't touch the tip to her eye. It would save her some money...I told her to wait until she definitely had it.

The visitors

Well, it's over. Mammaw and Daddaw (a.k.a the in-laws) have come and gone. Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. They were here for three weeks and according to them, it was their best vacation ever! I had a wonderful time showing them around Suzhou and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was sick for over a week of their time here and I thought it was hilarious (and took it as a compliment) when they told me they were glad I was sick because I might have run them to death had I not been.

Jet lag was super easy for them; I was quite impressed with their ability to go to bed and stay asleep and keep themselves awake until bedtime. WE all have difficulty being 12 or 13 hours off.

The first day, they hit the ground running. We took a bus trip through the countryside to XiTang Water Town. They enjoyed getting to see the "real" China from the bus: the shacks, the people, the animals, the garbage, the fields...and then, when we arrived at the town, they enjoyed the town. A classic Chinese water town, full of culture AND tourists.

Everyday, I tried to plan something for them to see that they had never seen before. Whether it was just a walk along the lake or a visit to a famous landmark or a massage or shopping, I hope we fit in everything they wanted to do!

Ezra and I posing next to a root carving called "Mother and Son" in XiTang Water Town:


The town itself:




Tom Cruise has run down this sidewalk, MI3 was filmed here:


Locals eating at a restaurant. We were in a boat below them in the water.


Narrow alleyways:


Ezra came with us:


Mammaw and Daddaw posing on a bridge over the water:


Humble Administrator's Garden is the most famous, largest and most expensive garden in Suzhou:


Brad took them while I studied for my midterm:




Daddaw and Zuri have a special bond:


Sometimes, he would only let Daddaw feed him breakfast or Daddaw would have to sit there and watch him while ayi fed him:


We tried to get Mammaw loose lipped:


Daddaw took over as the driver of the stroller:


Playing with Zuri at soccer practice:


At the Silk Museum, Daddaw reenacted the ancient process of making silk softer:


Inside the North Pagoda:


Outside the North Pagoda:


ShanTangJie is a famous street in Suzhou that still looks like it did hundreds of years ago. Mammaw enjoyed the cage full of snakes an awful lot. We also explored the back winding alleys.


ShanTangJie canal. Suzhou is the "Venice of the East"


On the train up through the countryside to Beijing. It was about 11 hours long. We just rented a whole cabin and slept overnight but Mammaw and Daddaw were up several times during the night looking out the window:


Great Wall of China:








I fell down and bumped my head on the Great Wall of China:




"I thought the Great Wall of China was boring, I prefer modeling,":


Daddaw looking handsome:


I made a scene running around on the top of a tower on the Great Wall of China:




No one ever cooperates:


I jumped on the Great Wall of China:


I looked pretty on the Great Wall of China:


I threw a temper tantrum on the Great Wall of China:


Up and down:






Next in Beijing we visited the Summer Palace, where the empress used to spend the summer. I just love this scene, even with all the tourists...can it get more tranquil?:


Mammaw stopping to rest: (She was laughing, "I didn't know we were going to Goat Mountain.")










I think this needs the caption, "I'm comfortable on subways!" But I also would like to point out that this was Mammaw's first time to fly, ride a train and ride a subway! Welcome to the Jungle!



Bird's Nest, where the Opening Olympic Ceremonies were performed:




*roll eyes* He's SEVEN, almost EIGHT, do you REALLY need to pick him up?


They weren't even facing so that the Bird's Nest was behind them. I assure you, the boys were just as much an attraction as the site.


My cute boys in the bath that night:


So maybe I was a little overzealous on some days, but I think all in all it was a good trip. Thanks for getting the courage to come over, guys. You created a LOT of memories for us! I'm ready and willing to play tour guide for anyone else who wants to come up too!