Busy in Beijing

I know it's been a while since I've posted. It's been a busy month here. The city is slowly going back to normal after the Olympics, although my street remains closed to traffic most of the time (frustrating and inconvenient!).

Aside from that, our life has been a whirlwind of activities. There seems to be a party almost every weekend as well as dinners, lunches, badminton with colleagues, dance classes to get ready for the upcoming St. Andrew's Ball (a black-tie Scottish dinner/dance hosted by the Beijing Caledonian Society). Also coming up is the Marine Ball, another black-tie (or, in my husband's case dress uniform) event celebrating the birthday of the Marines.

Preparation for such affairs is a little more elaborate (although considerably cheaper) here than at home. Instead of heading to Macy's or your department store of choice, evening gowns are made to order by your favorite tailor. To the Marine Ball in a couple of weeks I will wear a long-sleeved top of sheer black silk layered over red silk with a floor-length, tailored, black silk skirt. The St. Andrew's Ball will require a little more inventiveness and definitely an expedition to the gigantic fabric market where $20-$30 will buy yards and yards of beautiful fabrics. Another $30-$50 will get them made into your dream dress.

Also on the drawing board is some upcoming travel. The weekend after next Ben and I head to a tiny village in rural Yunan province to work on a Habitat for Humanity project. Then, after the Marine Ball, Ben heads out for a trip along the Silk Road. I will join him in Xi'an to see the stone soldiers if at all possible.

That's about it for now. Hopefully next time I'll have pictures from the Habitat trip. Bye from Beijing...