worth the time

Do you have N*tflix? I'm not trying to be a walking billboard for them, but N*tflix has some great documentaries/movies about adoption and Chinese life and culture. We've only had it for about a month, but I've enjoyed some great films that are well worth your time.   Here are some of my favorites:

Please Vote for Me: This enlightening documentary captures all the action as three Chinese third-graders vie for the position of Class Monitor in a democratic election (this was fascinating to watch on so many levels-- and as a teacher I've always wanted a sneak peek into a Chinese classroom).

Last Train Home:   Lixin Fan follows a Chinese couple who left their rural village for work in the city, leaving their children to be raised by grandparents. (the scenes of the very crowded train stations were unbelievable)

Daughter from Danang: This 2002 documentary follows a woman who reunites with her Vietnamese birth mother after being separated from family and flown to America in 1975.  (heartwrenching, bittersweet-- and didn't end how I expected it to.  Still thinking about this one.)

Up the Yangtze:  When the Three Gorges Dam makes life hard for the Yu family, daughter Yu Shui must take a job aboard a cruise ship, where she enters into a dizzying microcosm of modern China. Meanwhile, her parents face the rising waters of the Yangtze.  

Mao's Last Dancer:  Peasant villager Li Cunxin studies ballet in far-off Beijing, where he trains for seven grueling years to become one of China's greatest dancers 

China's Lost Girls:  Accompanied by her team from her travel show, "National Geographic's Ultimate Explorer," reporter Lisa Ling flies off to China with American parents set to adopt baby girls, the casualties of the country's long-standing one-child policy. In hewing to this strict rule, families wind up aborting, abandoning or hiding their daughters, many of whom end up in the United States, brought by couples longing for children.

Together:  A young boy, Xiao Chun (Tang Yun), proves to be a massive talent when it comes to the violin, so his father (Liu Peigi) helps him find the best teacher in Beijing, far away from their hometown. There, Xiao Chun meets a nightclub worker with a heart of gold and finds true friendship.

These are just a few I've enjoyed recently.  Word to the wise--preview them before watching any as a family.  Some content may be upsetting/inappropriate for children for various reasons.  If you've seen any of these or have other movies to recommend, I'd love to hear from you!

Bison, Bears, and Elk (oh my!)

I've been a very lazy blogger lately... seems like summer has been pretty busy so far.  We went to Yellowstone last week and had a good time.  I hadn't been there since I was very young, and hubby had never gone, so we figured it was time. 

Old Faithful is still very faithful, and it was fun to see the many, many geysers and hot springs in the area.

I must admit I was a little nervous about how the kids would do at Yellowstone, especially the little ones.  There is a lot of walking and car riding involved (read, potentially high "whine" factors), but everyone did pretty well for the most part. 

There were only a few moments of sheer exhaustion from one of our teens on the trail (the boardwalk is tough hiking, ha ha)

We also saw quite a few animals.  The bison were fun to watch.

This guy was right by the side of the road, so we got an up close and personal view. 

And this guy (Mr. Personality) stopped in the middle of the road for about ten minutes for photo ops.

We were very lucky to also see a bear in the wild.  Not exactly close up pictures, but he was on the other side of the Yellowstone River and I don't have a great telephoto lens.  It was still amazing.

We also went to a wildlife rescue center in West Yellowstone and saw wolves and bears up close. 

Overall, it was a really fun trip and we would like to go back and explore more of the park another time.

I'm linking up to Sunday Snapshot-- these were just taken with my Canon point and shoot, but I have a "fancy" Canon, and hope I will get some more motivation/tips to use it more regularly (and not always shoot on auto!)