Alive and well

I'm sure some of you were thinking maybe we'd disappeared forever, but it is not so! We are merely quite busy, what with the new school year starting up and trying to be teachers and all. On the bright side, I've got a new set of photos for you, and you can view them all here:

Two

We could see the fireworks for the opening ceremonies from our back window, and now you can, too!

Unfortunately, I missed filming the beginning of the show, which was spectacular. Since we didn't expect this show, I wasn't ready with my camera, more's the pitty. Also, the camera work ended up being pretty bad since I was just sort of holding it. Ah, well, there's no shortage of fireworks around here. One night near the end of the events, the city sounded like a warzone. Everywhere people were firing off firecrackers and even the big blooming airborne fireworks. It was definitely something you would not experience within a municipality within the states. For one thing, Americans just don't know how to use fireworks safely. We were joking that here, you can buy a box for a few hundred kuai (100 kuai is about US$15) that you put on the ground, light, and it shoots a bunch of fireworks into the sky that explode in pretty colors. The people here light the fuse, stand back, and admire the fireworks. In the states, drunk guys pick up the box and aim it at passing pickup trucks. That's why no cool stuff for you!