Air Quality

My brother sent me this question and as I was responding I thought it would make a good blog post, so here you go!

"Hows the air?  I heard a piece on NPR with an american reporter living in shanghai who said the air is so bad they have to check an app every day to decide if they should go out or not.  And sometimes they wear masks….."

Today it's not very good.  See for yourself:

http://www.stateair.net/web/post/1/4.html

Understanding the levels:

We go out every day and we don't wear masks, but on the days that it's above 200 (purple: very unhealthy) the kids have indoor recess and we limit our outdoor time.  I don't usually let them play hard outside if it's above 100 (orange: unhealthy for sensitive groups).  For comparison purposes, here's a US air quality map:

http://www.airnow.gov/

There was an app that I used to check, but the consulate changed their website/feed and the app no longer works, so now I just visit the first website (http://www.stateair.net/web/post/1/4.html) for my info.  There are other websites with air quality info, run by local entities.  Here's a picture of the AQI from last month that illustrates how difficult it is to know what's really going on. 

The funny thing about the air quality, is that you can't tell from just looking out the window.  On days it seems bad, it might be ok.  On bright sunny "clear" days it might be really bad.  One thing is pretty consistent, though.  If it rains, it's usually good (that's why we had some yellow and green yesterday) because the rain is coming off the ocean where the air is cleaner.  When the rain clears out and it get sunny, it's usually bad (like today) because the air from inland is dirtier.

And there, my friends, is your lesson in air quality!  Enjoy your fresh air today if you have it!

ANZ Day 13: At Sea (1/2/2013)

This was another relaxing day! We woke up and watched Michigan play their bowl game. Watching college football is always exciting for us because we don't get to watch very often in China. The kids & I went to the buffet for breakfast and brought M back some C & K Service ;). They were so happy to bring M's breakfast to him! There was a big watch sale this morning and my watch hasn't been working consistently so I decided to get a new one. It was $20, so if it lasts through the summer I'll be happy :).  (NOTE: Last month I got water in it when I was washing my hands and it stopped working.  On a brighter note, I found the watch that I thought was in storage!)

When the game ended, K and I went to watch a little of the last hot glass show. We met M and C at the pool where we spent most of the rest of the day. Swimming might be C's favorite activity.

Synchronized Swimming?

One Happy Family!

The Pool

We had burgers by the pool for lunch and tried for another hockey medal (K won again and gave it to C!).  

Excellent form, but no goal!

She shoots...

She scores!

The Goalie even came out for a high five.

Look at the air on that shot!  Still no goal for this Wings fan.

We came back to the room with enough time for a short nap/rest before dinner. We needed it because the show tonight was at 8:45 instead of the usual 7pm. I have to mention that we had warm lava cake for dessert tonight. So yummy! After dinner we walked around a bit and then went to the theater to get good seats for the show - a cirque type "people circus" as M has been calling it. I have never been to an actual Cirque show, so I have nothing to compare this to, but it was amazing! We were all enthralled! M and I were especially impressed with the performers ability to work on a moving (rocking!) ship! Needless to say, after the late show we were all exhausted and ready for bed!

Sunset

ANZ Day 12: Wellington, NZ (1/1/2013)

We had our long shore excursion today. It was scheduled to be 8 hours! It wound up being a little shorter, which was fine, because they had some trouble with the gangway this morning, so we left late. We visited a beautiful historic church, Old St. Paul's Cathedral, all made of wood.

After the church, on our drive, we learned about "New Zealand's Christmas Tree."  I can't remember the actual name of the tree, but it blooms bright red around the time of Christmas.  The trees were everywhere!

For as many of these trees as we saw, you'd think I would have a better picture than this!  Sorry!

Then we got to rid the cable car up the hill. There was a little cable car museum at the top that was interesting.

After the cable car, we drove about an hour into the suburbs/country to an antique car museum. This place was really cool! There were several hundred cars ranging from a Tin Lizzie to a De Lorean to a Copper Car. We all enjoyed this stop!

This is just part of the main floor of the museum.  There was a second floor mostly devoted to bikes & motorcycles, and a basement level full of more cars!

Down the road from the museum was a farm where we watched a sheep shearing, had lunch (not at the same time!), and walked through the petting farm to feed the animals.

We bought some fudge before we left, and we are happy to tell you that we think we have the best fudge at home in Michigan! There was one more stop on our tour, Mt. Victoria, overlooking the city of Wellington.

It was a beautiful, yet windy, view.  We could see the airport really well and got to watch a plane take off from above. That was neat too! We were ready to be back at the ship at the end of this long day.