This is the place...

This is the "old" part of Suzhou. It is super busy. This is the place where people squat on the sidewalks. The place where if it's hot, men pull up their shirts and rest them on the bellies... yeah! The place where babies have "split pants" so they can go to the bathroom whenever and wherever they want. The place where people are always saying "Hello!" and looking at the Americans walking by. The place where you can bargain for anything you buy and get it for what YOU want... yeah pretty awesome. The place where scooters fly by carrying a family of three or four...!
The place where the ladies wear high heels through thick and thin and the young men have crazy, poof-y hairdo's.

So now, pictures of the old part of town.

One street trying to fit in buses, cars, e-bikes, bikes and people can get pretty hectic. I love going down here and doing a bit of shopping and eating. Most of the time we eat at "Yang Yang's" (which has Sweet and sour chicken!)
This is the place where we live, and it's called Suzhou. I love our city even though we don't live in the old part, and I can't wait to show whoever comes to visit us all around Suzhou. So come!
      
                                                                                Love, a

New things

So sorry for the lack of posts (or rather the lack of me) lately. I've been in Shanghai and doing other things.

Taken by Beth Jones

I'll do a full length post soon, sound good? Here are my new glasses (they're PRETTY darn awesome!) And my new "Periwinkle" scarf and creamy, white hat. I am in love with both of them too.

Oh and that's me in the picture, just so you know.

Happy Friday night and here's to sleeping in tomorrow! I love you guys.
          
                                                                               -a

Celebrate...

Celebrate what? Well China seems to think that even if the weather is (really) hot, Autumn starts like now.
So it's the "Mid Autumn Festival." Anyway it's still pretty warm and probably will be for a while. Although I'm not saying it's not Autumn-ish! Because it is!

Yesterday morning I woke up at 7:00 am and went with my brother Andrew to his Chinese class. We had a 25 minute Scooter ride, through part of the city and lots of people. His class is 3 hours long. It was fun but he does it five days a week! Good job Andrew :)

Bethy and I rode the scooter back and forth threw our neighborhood and I took pictures of these amazing little flags. They're so bright and against the blue sky, it's a perfect match.

Today I obviously did school, then my Mom, Becca and I went to Times Square and got Subway sandwiches for everyone. We got those then I walked across the street to get a Pearl milk tea.
"Ni Hao, Wo yao yi bai zhen zhu nai cha," I felt good.

So as of now I'm listening to Colbie Caillats new CD (LOVE) and drinking my pml.

                                                                               Love, a

Dear...

                                                                         Dear Summer (2011,)
                       you have brought me such joy. 6 weeks of vacation to be with my friends and family is        
                          absolutely wonderful. I'm so going to miss you but know 2012 will bring you back.

                                                                              Dear Autumn,
                   I know it takes you longer to get here and you probably won't arrive fully for about another    
                                                month or so, but when you do come, stay for a while.
                                                      I very much love what you make me wear.                                                              

                                                                        Dear Nov and Dec,
                           you're bringing my brothers (and friend) and you know just how happy we are.
                                                                         Thank you Lord.
                                                                                
                                                                      Dear Shoes, boots etc.
                                                   let me find some cute pairs of you for Winter!

                                                                              
                                                                                    Dear Chalk,
                                          thanks for being so colorful. (Which one's your favorite out of the four?)
    
                                                                              Dear Photography,
                                   I love "you" and cannot wait until I have my own camera to keep perusing you.

                                                                                   Dear Music,
                                  You're my constant companion and I love you the way you flow through my ears.

                                                                                      Love, a

p.s. I got this idea from Carlotta over at her lovely blog

Girls, girls, girls

First of all I would like to say sorry to Lydia! She wasn't there on the day of the photo shoot so she wasn't in it :( I love you dear Lydia.

Leah came over and we shot some pictures in our backyard. It was a beautiful day and "I always enjoy myself some photo taking!"

Lydia and Leah are the best and they're both so very beautiful! I love them oh so very much!

By Becca Jones :)

Another thing: How are you liking my new blog design? And name? Have you noticed my watermark on my pictures?

*Our way of transportation*

This is us. Waiting for the express 2 bus :) We do this most everyday... Climb on the bus and go to wherever we want! I personally love taking buses. It's a way to be with people and it's a fun way to get to your destination.
Plus the bus drivers go slower than the regular taxi drivers would, and it makes us feel safe :)
We recently each got our own Bus card, that you scan every time you get on the bus, oh yeah we're local! haha.

By Becca Jones :)

 That's my Mom, sister Rachael, brother Andrew and I.

                            (You know which one's me right? Well if you're new then the one smiling is me :)                                  

                                                    I'm very happy with the way I get around.
                                                                             Love, a

A flurry of things

Last night my Dad, Andrew, my two little sisters and I decided to take our e-bikes (Electric scooters) and ride to McDonald's. It was about 9:00 pm and one of my sisters came up with the idea of a night ride.
We jumped on. My Dad, Bethy and I rode on one e-bike (Oh-so-Chinese) and Becca and Andrew on the other one. It was dark, but the city is never truly dark. The moon was split in half and reminded me of a Sour patch fruit candy which made me miss America. The air was warm but the wind rushing by made my bare legs cool. My Dad likes to drive rather fast and take turns sharper then I would like but he has lots of experience! It took about 15 minutes to get there and we sat down to eat our ice cream cones and two large fries. YUM!!
Then we went home.

Today we rode them down to Times Square and bought our favorite... Pearl Milk Teas and then I spilled it all over myself and had to walk around with brown stains on my shirt! hah.

Becca and I are constantly taking the e-bikes out for rides around the park. They're swift and it's fun driving something :)

Next post designated to writing about such things as: What I'm looking forward to or what I fancy as of late and other things, sound good? 

I couldn't decide whether to put up a lot of pictures or just a couple... I chose neither and went with just one. One that makes me happy and was taken today, by me.

                                                                            Love, A

Building themselves higher than ever

Suzhou is building itself high. Right now they're working on a building that has two parts, and will come together at the top. It is already SO huge and I don't think its halfway finished yet!

Its pretty cool having a big building like that going up, right before your eyes. I will say though, that it causes TOO much pollution :(

I'll have to put pictures up once Its done (in about a year...) But for now enjoy seeing what my city looks like at this very moment... well pretty darn close.

Music

Lately I have been SO into music.

I guess I've always been but being in the city, taking a bus to wherever (literally, we take them everywhere,) is the perfect time to listen to your favorite music (or don't get me wrong, talk to your family!)

Whenever I hop on the bus and am looking around at all the people, those massive buildings creating the skyline and the city, my music just makes me feel so alive and energetic! 

Right now I'm really into "Adele" and "Colbie Caillat" and have a ton of others that I continue to love.

What are some of your favorite artists right now? Its just lovely.

                                                      Music just makes me happy.

                                                                    Love, A