Sunday, August 28, 2011

Haggis & Noodles

The idea for Haggis & Noodles came from Matthew's trip here last year when , for some strange reason , we found ourselves trying to eat haggis with chopsticks?????? 
Since then, the wonderful fusion we share in our lives with things Scottish and Chinese has just continued to evolve.
When we knew Matthew was coming home in August for the Cycle Trip to Paris in aid of Guangxi Girls, the idea just continued to evolve........

Time to get this party started...with some help from our littlest one!

The real work was going on in the kitchen with hundreds of tatties and neeps all peeled ready for the meal

       An amazing team in St Margaret's Church worked for 2 days to have everything ready
                                                     Then the final preparations on the tables
                                                            with Orchids and Heather
                                                                   Chinese Flags

                                                           Tartan napkins( expertly folded)
                                                                      Scottish Flags
                                                     Knives and forks....and Chopsticks


                                                            Irn Bru and Caramel Wafers
Kilts and Sporrans
Tartan Qipaos ( thank you Granny Liz)





And finally friends gathered together to share in the fun!
                                                                                Noodles

                                                               and Haggis & Neeps


                                              A Special Thank you to our Team in the kitchen
                                                            Let the dancing begin.........
                                                            Beautiful Scottish song from Alison

Roy's Wonderful Ceilidh Band

Chinese Singing - Mo Li Hua




                                                                   Tai Chi with the amazing Lucy


Finishing, of course, with the old favourite, Auld Lang Syne


In all, a wonderful Team Effort, celebrating the fusion of two wonderful cultures
while at the same time raising around £700 so far to help girls in Guangxi.

Another Win/Win Situation?
I do love them!!!!!!!!!!
Special Thanks to all who came, donated, worked, inspired..........we couldn't do it without you all xxx

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Glasgow Photoshoot to prepare for Paris Cycle


Early morning call.... 6am...heading to Glasgow for Photoshoot


...meeting with Donald Dewar, Scotland's First Minister!



Auld Alliance T-shirt for Matthew to wear on the Cycle trip to Paris, 
presented by Allan of Prentice Events 
who is organising the trip to raise funds for many charities including Hope4China.

                        Coffee with Mr Boyd Tunnock of Scotland's famous Tunnock's Teacakes



One of the magic moments was when Mr Tunnock, creator of The Tunnocks Teacake 
and owner of the famous Scottish family business, stood to shake hands .........

                          and pulled out a packet of Tunnock's caramel wafers from his inside pocket!!!!!!

                                                                    Made my day!!!!!!


 Miss Glasgow then arrived on her bike and joined us all for coffee, sharing stories with Matthew and Mr Tunnock.








Suitably refreshed, we all stepped out to meet with the Lord Provost of Glasgow for the publicity shots for the Cycle trip from Scotland  to Paris



 Of course our "official photographer" from China was in his element 
taking lots and lots of photos of the team
                                      Of course some shots with Mr China and Miss Glasgow




                                  Great to see the old Tunnock's van, along with the Mr Tunnock


Fantastic Day bringing out the best of Glasgow.......
and looking forward to the Cycle to Paris to raise funds for our Guangxi girls

If anyone would like to donate to spur them on their way, please click here

or join Matthew on his journey here


Xie Xie ni!!!!!!

Be great to have you along.........

Friday, August 19, 2011

You know when you know....

You know, when you know that someone is having a hard time?
This is how it was for me, the day I met this beautiful Foster Mama and her 2 Treasures....

She smiled, said all the right things, but something in my heart told me that there was more...
so I probed, asked, asked again, got Mathew to ask, and sat and listened whilst I was told over and over again that she was ok, her needs were met and all was fine.

So why couldn't my heart settle?
Why as a mother of twins did I not accept these answers? Having 2 able bodied babes was hard enough, this amazing Mama had 2 babes with many Special Needs!!! Surely she had needs of her own???



So.... it had to be me, I was asking the wrong questions, i was assuming too much, maybe all the info was getting lost in translation...mmmm.....
it was time to back off and have a prayer and a think....
















everyone looked happy, just time to sit back and enjoy...



and then all of a sudden, we were alone, me her and Huang Qing, time to ask again....



Mama, are you sure that there is nothing that can make your life with the children a bit easier?
Maybe some equipment? anything that would just take the pressure of a wee bit?

and as she relaxed, a smile came across her face, and a nod and a request....a pushchair.

A pushchair so she wouldn't have to carry both boys, one on her front, one on her back, to the shops, to the clinics, to where ever she went, a pushchair to ease her strain!!!!

And so the chase was on, I asked Mathew, who asked the Orphanage Director, who agreed to drive us to the shop, where we debated, tried, chose and un chose, the Queen of Pushchairs, which could fit, if Mama wanted, her 2 children in it.



So back we came, racing against time, (Mrs Greenshields runs a tight schedule) and showed Mama what we had found....she liked it, but the little one will have to get used to such a contraption.

But the best for me was when we all tried to fold it down and put it back up again and try as we might we couldn't work it out.

It took Ossi, an engineer, to finally sort what was fast becoming an embarrassing situation : )
how to fold and un fold this new contraption!!!
He sorted it, a shout of praise rang out in the hotel lobby and we were off again....








a quick photo, before we had to leave...



















I left with so many questions in my mind....why did it take so long for her to voice her needs, how does she smile when her needs are so great, why is the world so unbalanced, why is life so hard for some....

but as I sat in our bus, mulling things over I was overcome with a sense of awe, that here I was in this wonderful nation that is China, sharing in a small part of a fellow woman's daily struggle and in it all, all I could remember was her smile.

And woman are doing what they have been doing so well all over the world, for millennia, loving, caring, supporting and smiling, through life's many challenges on a very real, daily basis.
Much love
xxx
Shawn