Saturday: Pre-Easter

I have to do this one day at a time sometimes, because I can never keep up with everything that happens. Saturday afternoon I wandered around Ritan park with Adrian and his mom...somewhere near the Russian district and the Western grocery store that we love, Jenny Lou's. It was a beautiful day with lots of people out and about.

Towards the end, we stopped so that Adrian could practice with the Chinese yo-yo and we attracted a mini audience...again!

In the park, and everywhere I see a lot of pregnant women in China because this is the year of the golden pig. The pig sign comes through the cycle of animals every 12 years and is good fortune. However, the "Golden" aspect only happens once every 5 cycles, meaning that this year is 1/60 and all of the women timed the babies just right. China might see a tiny population spike this year in order to catch all the possible good fortune that could come their way...

Saturday night we went to a concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, as an Easter gift from Mrs. Rusu. We got all dolled up and went out on the town to hear the China Philharmonic Orchestra perform with Renee Flemming, a soprano from the States. Her debut was so well received by the Chinese, that they sang FOUR encores! I've never heard that many in my life...the max. is usually 2. It felt so nice to listen to an orchestra again in a beautiful hall of marble and chandeliers. Like always- is this really China?