Bill's Visit : )

Bill and I will have a busy December for all of eternity...his birthday is December 15th and mine is the 28th.  Add in Christmas and New Years Eve and you have a crazy two weeks!  There will be years when this is a pain but this year it was a blessing.  Bill came to China and we were able to be together for both birthdays and Christmas, which was a tear saver for me!  Given my visa, I need to exit mainland China three times during my stay and Hong Kong got to be my first exit!  

For those of you who may not know, my family lived in Hong Kong for about a year and a half when I was about nine.  Hong Kong is my favorite city in the world so it was nice to get to show Bill around what used to be one of my homes.  What made Hong Kong all the sweeter was that I was coming from Kunming.  While I enjoy what I do here and love working with the people, Kunming isn't the most beautiful places on earth.  Yunnan province is known for its beauty and judging from my trip to the countryside at the beginning of my time here, I see why.  The mountains are amazing and the temperature leads to lush plant life.  However, Kunming itself gets me a little down.  It's a big city and you have a tough time finding nature which is what makes me miss the beauty and rolling hills of Pittsburgh.  Anyway, it was nice to show Bill, both my childhood home/favorite place ever and my current location.  

We had a great time in both places and were happy to get to spend time together after being apart for six weeks.  The weather didn't cooperate in either place which was frustrating, but we survived the torrential downpours of Hong Kong and the freezing temperatures of Kunming.  Kunming is generally pretty mild but we hit a bad week : (. The difficult thing about living here when there is cold weather is that there is no central heating in the buildings.  Some days it's so cold inside that I can see my breath.  That was what poor Bill got to experience.  It really can be depressing to NEVER warm up.  

Below are some pictures of our two weeks together...miss you already Bill : (

Lantau island ... This is where we used to live.  Love it!

Cartoon avenue of the stars in the park.

My family asked me what I wanted for Christmas and instead of asking for more things that I don't need and Bill would have to carry, I told them that I wanted to go to Disney Land Hong Kong.  I LOVED it!  I think it's better than our one at home and is less crowded and a lot cheaper!  It was a magical day and I loved it!  Thanks family!  Ps Bill forgot a hat and glasses so he had to buy a Mickey hat with sunglasses attached...he's a classy one!

These are all a lie... It's not really Christmas... Just close enough!

We tried to go to the big Buddha.  We took the bus and trekked out in the cold rain and when we got there, it was so nasty out, you couldn't even see him.  It's at the top of those steps.

Stone Forest.  A big tourist attraction about two hours from kunming.  The pictures don't do it justice, it's pretty neat.

We took this picture because this place is usually packed but because it was so fold we were on a viewing deck in China by ourselves for probably the first and last time in all of time.  These places are normally wall to wall people and you feel like you are going to suffocate.  

Bill likes to go to really interesting places and then find valves to look at, engineers are there own breed!  Love you and I'm glad you're weird like me just about different things ;  )

Gathered with the other people here on Christmas Eve day for brunch, games and Chrisptmas carols.  It felt a little like home which was nice!

China has more Oreos than anyone could eat in a lifetime.  Bill and I watched Home Alone and had an Oreo tasting party on Christmas morning.  I have found four new favors since then...it's nuts!

Best birthday candle ever!  It sings, spins and burns the house down!   Unfortunately you can't bring them to the states.

We ate at Pizza Hut for my birthday.  It's totally different here because it's actually a pretty nice restaurant with a big menu.  I stuck with pizza since it's a treat that I don't get often.  I like that the sign says "let's pizza together"

Thanks Bill for a great holiday!