Our First Visitor

If you didn't know, we have no spring break this year because we had Chinese New Year off, so the months ahead look long when you think we have three more months left to teach (our last day of school is June 14). We do have a few days in May and one in April, but other than those, it's a long haul until the end. Luckily, we have a distraction!

My dad arrived in Shenzhen about a week ago, brought here by his new job with Apple. He has to visit the factories and building sites of some Apple products, and those locations (some of them) are here in Shenzhen! Unfortunately, his hotel is located on the way other side of town, and he has set days because of the transportation to and from the building sites. So seeing him during the week is tricky, he doesn't get back until 7:30pm and it is about an hour travel time between our two abodes.

snacks :)

Fancy Luohu

This is a small distance compared to how far I am from all my other family members, so on Thursday, we opted out of quiz night and headed out to his side of town. Donnie and I jumped on the subway almost immediately after school and rode it pretty much end to end, and arrived in the much newer, and definitely classier side of town, an area called Luohu. We had some time to kill before Dad would be back from his daily pilgrimage, so we wandered around a really nice mall, looking for a cafe to sit and have some refreshments while we waited. We had no luck, so we bought some snacks at a really fancy grocery store and sat down in some available chairs to enjoy our finds. It was a small snack but it gave us the energy to keep exploring and finally make our way to the hotel to see Dad!

Dessert!!

I was so excited to see him, I ran across the lobby and gave him a huge hug! We dropped off his stuff in his super deluxe room, then he treated us to the Hyatt buffet. This buffet was unlike any other buffet I have been to. I think I had every kind of food from Chinese to German to American to Italian, and I only sampled part of it! I had to save room for my favorite, dessert. ;) But the best part of the evening wasn't the food, it was the company. I hadn't seen Dad since August when we shared a meal at an airport while we were on layover in Phoenix from Hawaii to San Antonio. It made my heart shine to hear him speak, see him and catch up on each others' lives in the past six months. His life has changed so much, even more so than mine, so I value that time getting to understand what's going on with him. It was unfortunate that we couldn't bring Paul (too far and too late at night), but the "adult" time with Dad was priceless. We parted ways with plans to get together on Sunday, his only day off that week.

Saturday Shenanigans 

A walk in the park

Friday was a blur of work, and Saturday was spent on a run in the park, and cleaning our house in preparation for Dad's visit. It's not dirty because Amy cleans it daily, it's just a little messy (but not now!) and before we knew it, it was Sunday.

Silliness with Granddad

We got up early and I went out to meet Dad at the subway, and walked him back through our neighborhood. It's cool to show people things they've only heard you talk about. And I'm glad he gets to see where we live, it's important to me that people can 'see' what life is like. I play movies in my head of everybody's lives in their homes or home towns and it helps me feel more connected to them. If I've never been there, it's hard to relate to.

Lunch, shocking convo I guess.

 Anyway, we made it home and had breakfast with Paul after showing Dad our digs here in Shenzhen. It was a grey day (actually it's been grey the entire time Dad's been here), but we headed out for our long walk to the bay anyway. We wandered down to our version of the river walk, and then finally made it to the bay. I was tired, so was Paul, he fell asleep on the way to the bay, but we pushed on and walked all the way up to the soccer stadium. Paul woke up and played with Dad and Donnie, running up and down the hill chasing bubbles. It was fun, but I was ready to go, I was starving! So we grabbed a cab back to Sea World and ate at a place we'd never been called Gypsy's. It was really good!! :) And of course, we had to have dessert, so we indulged in the expensive, but tasty Haagen Daz across the mall.

Utterly decadent.

It was a fabulous day, and we were all tired, so we took the bus back down to our apartment, then while Dad and Donnie rested, Paul and I caught up on our Doc McStuffins. :) From there we headed back out to show Dad the craziness of Wal-Mart and eat some ramen. But our favorite ramen place was closed, so we met Zack and Honey at the Red Lantern, the very first Chinese restaurant we tried when we got here.  We had a great time, telling stories and sharing food, but Paul was restless, so it wasn't long before we all called it a night. We walked Dad back to the subway, and said goodnight before catching the bus home.

It's kind of indescribable having Dad here in the city with us, and knowing that he'll be back multiple times. Who knew a year ago that we'd all be hanging out in China that very next year? It seems a bit serendipitous and I'm so thankful to whoever smiled on us and brought it upon us. I really had no idea when I would see Dad again, until he mentioned Shenzhen was one of the places he would have to visit on business when he got his new job. I can't wait to see him again this weekend, although I'm not sure yet what we'll do. I know I'll soak up his presence until the next time he comes. :)

Much love to all. <3