We started the year of the dragon with a leisurely walk through our neighborhood, with cameras in tow. The sun was shining, and despite the chilly nip in the air, it was a very pleasant stroll. There are times when the sun streams through the streets of Kangqiao in such a way that everything looks golden and ethereal; it really gives a magical quality to our otherwise dreary, dilapidated neighborhood. Many of our neighbors were out milling about the streets. They were completely intrigued with us and with our photo taking, and sauntered up to oversee our every move. A number of people tried to interact with us, but our vast language barrier kept us from any detailed understanding of one another. Still we exchanged plenty of happy smiles, giggles and playful charades.
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Out with the old and in with the new! Chinese New Year is a time of cleaning out the home and replacing worn down items with shiny new models. That’s exactly what we did with our dingy water dispenser. While the dispenser worked, years worth of grime and wear were darned near impossible to remove. It was simply gross. Plus, it took up a lot of valuable of space in our teeny tiny kitchen. We found a great deal on a compact dispenser, and it now sits on a storage unit that fits perfectly in the space where the old dispenser once sat. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure- that truly should be the motto here in China. Whatever we sit outside (old clothes, housewares, even our Halloween pumpkin) is gone almost instantly. We set our water dispenser out as we left for our walk, and someone promptly took it home within minutes.
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Isaac bought me a beautiful new macro lens for Christmas this year (Canon 100mm f2.8), so I decided to try it out on our walk. The light breeze made macro shots a little tricky, but I am so impressed with the lens already and cannot wait to get up close and personal with all sorts of things!
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Drying fish alongside your clothes… totally normal in Kangqiao!
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Year of the dragon! Red is used to scare away the mythical monster, Nian.
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Cleaning up firecracker debris.
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My new buddy. How darling is he?!.jpg "jan23neighborhoodwalkblog37")
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These two loved having their photos taken, and giggled constantly! They were darling and their happy laughter was contagious! The macro lens turned out to be a great portrait lens as well. I didn’t need to stand as close to my subjects, which worked perfectly with these little kiddos, as I didn’t want to be up in their faces.
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A lighter, the perfect child’s toy, no?
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I see this sweet pup every morning when I bike to work.
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She was simply stunning! I was absolutely giddy when she interacted with us and let me take her portrait.
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Our new friends, Peter and Mike. They were eager to practice their English with us. This was a first for us since moving to China.
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Every inch of spare space around homes are used for gardens. There are several large patches reserved for growing vegetables and greens. I see people out tending their gardens just about every time I ride past.
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We walked to school to pick up our bikes and then rode home. We passed Mike and Peter who eagerly chased us to our building. They even tried inviting themselves into our apartment. Sorry little guys, not happening! =)
