Our lives are truly different than they were 1 year ago when we arrived in China. Last evening we had people here students of ours who for one reason or another had come by. We just sat and visited for awhile. Julia and Linda went to Ancient Culture Street in the afternoon to buy our Spring Festival decorations. When students don't have studies to do they have a lot of spare time. Some seem anxious to spend it with us or one or the other of us. We have had numerous visits from students this past week while they were waiting to go home. Many students here travel 12 or more hours to get home. A couple of students have realized this is their last spring festival holiday because they are entering a new phase in their lives that will not allow them to have the student schedule they've had there whole lives until now. One young man, Robert, seemed rather wistful about it yesterday when he was talking about it. He is a graduate student, 24 years old, his first semester as a graduate student at this university is finished and he realizes that this is his last spring festival as he has know it for his whole life. For the next 2 1/2 years he'll be studying in the hospital learning his profession - radiology. He will not have a 5 week break for spring festival again in school and once he enters his professional life he will not have a vacation for spring festival every year. I think he wants this one to be special. I hope it is.

Saturday I went to E-Mart and The Western Supermarket. On the way I found an open air market that sells many of the same items that we buy at our enclose market close to home.
I think this may be one of the last open air markets in Tianjin. It must have been at least a half mile of little stalls selling their wares. They were in no order vegetable were next to fish sellers were next to clothing sellers were next to trinket sellers, next to nut sellers. There were hundreds of people there. I may go back next weekend to see if I can get some pictures. I did take a few but they are on my camera right now. There is also an ice skating venue in the area around the TV tower. I should have taken pictures there on Saturday because it seems like we have a warming trend which is taking temperatures into the 40s during the day and I'm afraid the ice won't last. I'm not sure how much time we'll have before Spring Festival. This week may be kind of quiet.
More later