ただいま〜　Finally back to the blog! More than six months has passed since I last updated the blog. And now the new year, 2014, has come. It almost feels like it suck up on me. 2013 was a crazy year, mostly good and some difficult: with the move to China; adjusting to a new environment at university here in China; the passing of my grandmother; an injury in the family; new holidays and traditions to learn here; making friends and keeping up with friends in the U.S., Japan and now Mexico; more travel than we were used to; and starting a new job as an English tutor. So much has happened this year, and who knows what will come in the next–boundless possibilities!

My family and I have experienced much in 2013. We've gotten the chance to learn little bits and pieces of the culture here thanks for new friends we made here in Nanjing. And we're are getting to some of the sightseeing around the city now that we have constructed a routine of some sort.
This passed Friday, we headed over the 夫子庙 (Fūzǐ miào), the Confucius Temple, to look around and shop for some magnets (there are many small knickknack shops which we had heard and hoped had magnets, something we hadn't found yet anywhere else).
We ended up not finding the magnets at a reasonable price, but we had a good time walking around the outside and inside of the temple and trying some styles of tofu, stinky tofu and another kind that was flavored with soy sauce among some other ingredients.

 The main entrance to the temple, but because it was under construction we used another entrance to the temple just down the road a bit.

This is the gateway to a street of shops, restaurants and other businesses. Everything was lit up in the evening.

Walking around the shops and through to the temple which was just ahead of here.

While we were eating the stinky tofu, which I didn't think was that bad (some of my family members disagree), we walked over this river which was strung with colorful lights.

 And the dragon wall! I had seen this somewhere else, in a magazine or some pace of that sort, before and now we got the chance to see it in person. During some of the festivals, we heard there are more lights and decoration, but it was quite beautiful this night!

And this is the statue of Confucius that stands in front of the temple to him. It was a nice night to visit. There was hardly anyone there and the air was refreshingly cool but not cold, and pollution was on the low side. 

We had a lot of fun and have plans to see more places around Nanjing–which calls for more posts! It's been a good start to 2014, only thing now is to see what lies ahead~

新年快乐！
Happy New Year!
あけましておめでとうございます！