Datcha

These weekends my parents, my sisters, my aunt and her family went to datcha. It was windy, my father warmed the house and the banya.
We had a big dinner in the evening, and our datcha’s neughbours joined us. I miss these family parties so much! A lot of people, dishes, toasts and talks.

When my sisters and I went to banya it was 95C and later it went up to 100C . We could hardly stay inside, just a minute or two and you run away.
Here I put some photos. If you want to see more, go to my photo site!
Take care,
OreLENA.

Irkutsk

Finally I am in Irkutsk! The trip was long, though between Beijing and Irkutsk there is only 2,5hours flight. I left Wuhan on Monday, by train. I spent a day in Beijing and half of the night in the airport.
The check-in was too tiring - russians buy everything they can in China, they have thousands of bags of different shape and size. When everybody was on board, the stewardess announced that a group of 12 people have problems at the Customs. 30 minutes later was announced that these 12 people can't fly back to Russia, but as their luggage was checked-in and was already on the plane, they had to look for their bags, and we had to wait. The plane took off from Beijing only at 7.a.m (instead of 4.15 a.m.), At this time it was supposed to be in Irkutsk already... In Irkutsk airport no explanations were given about the flight delay, so my parents were quite stressed.
And the story about these 12 people is the following: If Russians fly to China in groups, they don't have to pay or wait for visas, they just get Group Visa automatically in the airport. So, one girl of these 12 people lost her passport. All 11 passengers checked-in but couldn't not go further than the Customs, because they have Group Visa. They had to stay in China because of this one poor girl!!! I just don't want to imagine what may become of this girl if she meets these 11 angry russian people........

Irkutsk met me with blue sky, sun, frost and snow. I haven't gone out yet, so I don't know how much the city's changed. Now I am enjoying my time with sisters and parents. It's a pity they have to work and study every day... But weekends are coming and the trip to datcha and banya too!!!
See you!
OreLENA.

A new apartment!!!

We finally did it! This is the first post from our new apartment!

Yes, we are now installed in the city, 20 minutes bus from my job and 30 minutes from Lena's University.

The flat is really nice except for it having only one heater in the living room, so the two bedrooms are pretty cold...

We had to refurbish it partly, we bought a bed (46 euros), a dvd player (48euros) and we are now looking for a tv and a table. The rent is only 100 euros a month (103 m2!!!), and that's really ok compared to what we've seen so far. We are here until June and then we'll see what happens.

Lena has arrived this morning in Russia, she'll spend there 10 days holidays. I can't come because I'm still working...

I'll try to post some pictures of the flat as soon as i get the chance!

See you all!

ORELena

Tempete de neige

That was what we had few weeks ago:

That is what we had this morning:


Funny, eh??
Well, that is the view from our Living room's window, the view on the campus we live in...
...until this week!
We finally decided for a flat and we should be signing the contract tomorrow.
The only problem is... It has no bed.
So tomorrow will be the quest for a cheap but comfortable bed! Stay tuned...
ORELena
PS: The title of this message was borrowed with courtesy from the great canadian reader Tony Bussiere. Thanks. : )

Ice creams...

Yes, I know, it's not exactly "a propos", seeing the cold we have at the moment, but I finally got the chance to scan my Icecream wrappings that I had kept since last summer. So you'll finally have the chance to see the great veriety of ice creams we have here.
...From top to bottom:
-Delicious Brown Beans Icecream , really tasty!
-Funny Green peas Ice cream, interesting and really unusual in anyway, texture and taste. You must try that one!
-hum hum...Yes, you read well:
Fried Bread Ice cream, with bread, carrot and milk taste. A winning combination! ; )
-Then last but not least, the best one:
Corn Ice cream, it's a delicious creamy ice cream looking and tasting like corn.
Our favorite!!
Hope you'll look for them if you ever come to China!

ORELena

Wishes

I got many wishes for Christmas from my students. Some of them are funny and I wanted to share them with you. As we didn't have internet, I couldn't post them and I do it only now.
My student Jerry wrote this poem for me:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Have a good time!
Let the wind bring my wish to you,
Let the cloud bring my bless to you,
Happiness belongs to you forever.
I love you and god bless you!

Another one, from Gary:

A star has 5 ends.
A square has 4 ends
A triangle has 3 ends.
A line has 2 ends.
A life has one end.
But I hope your happiness has no end!
Merry Christmas!

It was Ancient New Year in Russia yesterday. Before 1918 New Year in Russia was celebrated on the night from the 13th to 14th. In 1918 the communists changed it, because we had New Year later than Europe. But people still remember this date. I guess my family had a big dinner yesterday. Moreover, it gives you an excuse to drink more...
It also means that holidays are over, Christmas trees will be taken off today or tomorrow and many will now start their post-celebrations diet! : )
Next holiday to come is Men's Day- February 23d.
OreLENA.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Felice 2007!

2007...
Here it is, let's see what we'll make of it.
We awoke on the first day of this year in a Beijing hostel room, with sun beaming through the curtains, the chinese flag flying right under it.
We came here to meet Lena's parents who came down to China to make some shopping and meet us for the celebration...and we had the nice surprise to find snow falling over Beijing.
Quite a strange feeling, far from the siberian snow we were used to.
So, here we are, 1st january 2007. Lucky number. Surprisingly no Hang over. Probably the first time in the last...what, 10 years? ; )
So I did grow old, didn't I?
On that day, we went to have an amazing lunch in the Tibetan Restaurant Makye Ame, I highly recommend that place with great style and a very helpful staff. I followed the waitress's recommendations and we really had a gorgeous meal.
Then it was time to head back to Wuhan and back to work.
-
Once home, we understood that we still didn't get internet back, until, well...yesterday!
So that kind of delayed all the greetings and the blog updates... I hope we'll be able to be more regular now.
--
Between Christmas and New Year, I made myself a great present too: I bought myself a really cool Ultra-wide angle lens. That is the Sigma 10-20mm, f4-5.6.
I'll try to add some of the shots I took with it so you get an idea of what it can do.
Of course, once again, it's not the camera nor the lens that makes good pictures, so I still have a lot to learn! : )
---
So, just before leaving you until the next entry, I want to wish all of you a very very very happy Year 2007, hoping that health, love and success will be by your side at all times...
Love,
ORELena

Beijing Main Train Station