Typhoon

I had experienced quite a few typhoons before, but this is the first time that we’ve experienced a typhoon together as a family in China. Last evening, we received communication from the school that school might be closed due to the typhoon. Later that night, we received the notice that school would be closed today! It was pretty windy all night.

This morning, it was even more windy, and sheets of rain poured down for a while. It was quite fun to watch, inside the safety of our home. Since Sammy did not have to go to school, she was quite happy as well. With the strong wind and the heavy rain, some water actually leaked into the master bedroom area next to the balcony door and we had to put some towels there to soak it up.

By noon, the wind has subsided and the rain stopped. We went out in the afternoon for tennis and the court was actually dry enough to play for a while. By late afternoon, the wind picked up again and there was some more rain. However, all night long, though it is a little windy, there is no alert again that the school will be closed. Compared to the ones I’d experienced before in Zhongshan and Orlando, this is a mild one. Perhaps less exciting is better and things will go back to normal tomorrow.

Our First Moon Festival in Zhongshan

Another year, another Moon Festival (on this past Monday)! This was our second Moon Festival outside of the US, and the first for us in Zhongshan, as a family. I think the last Moon Festival I was in Zhongshan was before we’d immigrated to the U.S. many years ago.

In our housing development (Agile), red lanterns and lights were setup at least a couple weeks beforehand. It always looks pretty when they do the decorations. There were also several parties setup by Agile for the residents to celebrate the festival on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday prior to the actual date. We did not go to any because Gary was afraid of being bitten by the mosquitos, but we could see laser lights and hear the music from our balcony one night for the party taken place by the lake.

On the Moon Festival day, we had lunch with the extended family from my Mom’s side. It was nice to see the relatives again. For dinner, we just had it with my parents. They brought this HUGE mooncake over for us to share, which was probably equivalent to 12 normal size mooncakes. Sam had fun carrying a lantern around at night, and we had fun watching her.

I wonder where we’ll be for the next Moon Festival.