Birthday Cake

My friend Jill got me a basic cake decorating kit for my birthday (since I can't borrow hers or Luann's anymore). Eric made a great dinner and even offered to make the cake, but I decided to do it myself.

Summer Break

Summer vacation has finally arrived. We had visitors from IA, finals, and one more week with students. So last week we got to take a little vacation to Beijing. Despite the train ticket situation (who knew all the tickets would be sold out in a day??), we had fun visiting many historical places as well as the 2008 Olympic venues. Here are some picts and videos.

The Forbidden City / The Palace Museum

Eric dancing on the street

A rainy day on The Great Wall

Some other foreigners enjoying "street food"

Water Calligraphy Artist

Flying kites by the Water Cube

The Bird's Nest

Noodles

Two ways to make noodles here. I think the second is especially impressive.

Pizza

Pizza is a complicated thing here. Frozen is less than amazing. Papa John's is expensive. So we finally made our own. Half pesto, half marinara sauce, 1/3 veggie, 2/3 meat. We went the cheap route for cheese (not the best idea), but it turned out good!