The DeSmet Family Worldwide: Let Chinese New Year Begin....................

Hooray, Hooray! The kids are out of school for a week and a half. (Let me clarify....that was typed with extreme sarcasm!) They are pumped though.
This time of year, most of the local Chinese go back to their respective Providence's to visit family, while the expat community usually hauls arse out of here to find somewhere with cleaner air and a bit more sunshine. Unfortunately, we (the DeSmet family) usually has to stay here in Beijing because our beloved Ayi goes down south to visit her home and family for a much deserved holiday. The problem with this is she is the one that usually watches our large fur baby, Tucker. Therefor we are stuck here because I am not going to put him in a Chinese kennel again.........EVER! Like, who could go on some fabulous vacation, and actually enjoy it, when one of their family members has been locked up in a Chinese prison of sorts.
*exiting soap box*
So, here we all are just hanging out and enjoying each others company. All of us, Kelly, the girls, the dog and 4 to 6 of Julia's girlfriends at any given time. They all stayed in the Jing as well so there was a constant stream of kids in and out of our house. My foyer had a huge collection of UGGS in it that would rival any department stores for size, color and selection, but they all had fun.
One day I tagged along with 6 girls for a shopping trip down to Wanfujing. (It is like shopping in Chicago or New York City.) It is always an experience being in the presence of so many teenage girls but to watch them "do their thing", and to watch what a spectacle they all are to the local folk is priceless. We hit some favorite stores and even had a DQ ice cream. It is always interesting to see what flavors of ice cream they have here. Most of the options contained red bean paste, green tea and wasabi. We stuck with the ole traditional Oreo cookie.
The other thing that goes on this week is the never ending fireworks. They start around 10:00 PM and go on all hours of the night. We turn our air purifiers up to drown out some of the noise and some of us sleep with ear plugs. The first few nights no one sleeps because our dog is a nervous wreck and barks non stop. These people sure do know their fireworks though. It is a full on show every night just outside of our bedroom window. It's awesome......kinda.
We may not have gone to some tropical paradise but we did spend ALOT of quality time together, and I for one will be ready for everyone to go back to school and work. I have been playing the part of Ayi this week and let me tell you, these other people that live in this house leave a disaster in their wake everywhere they go and I am tired! I have a whole new level of respect for my Ayi. Xiao Liu......please come back soon!!