More of China

It has water, it flushes, it's almost like what we are used to in the US only it's just right on the ground, no raised portion and no seat....This one is clean. Most are NOT and it is gross!! Great test to see how long you can hold your breath. It is part of the adventure. Now you know why Isaac was so excited to use one of these. I try to hold it until I really have to go but I am getting use to it :) (Thank you to a friend for the picture)

We have a Western toilet at home so I am good :)

Enjoy

Day away from School

Matthew is home today. He woke up not feeling well. Because the H1N1 is going to hit, the school now tests everyone’s temperature before they come in the building. We have a quick-read thermometer that is like a laser gun. The Nurse holds it forehead and a little red dot comes on. We must have a read-out of 37°C or lower in order to be considered “safe.” We have to do this because it is Chinese law. If a kid has a high temperature, they are sent to the office and their parents must arrange for them to be transported home within 2 hours. Matthew did not want to be sent home so I took the day off.

The clinic is just across the courtyard so we did go it. He has a virus and just needs some rest. Thank you Lord!!

I am making the best of today. I brought home work to do and it sits in my bag :) I am going to make cookies. I am not sure I have everything but it is worth the adventure (oh know more food talk) I will let you know how it turns out. hope my conversions are right :)

Oh and to make you laugh check out this picture. Check out the color of the sweatshirt!! :) heheheh

Food

We were teased my our loved ones that our posts are about food. Before we left most people said they wanted to hear about our food adventures. We promise to tell you about other things too :)

Miss you all

Visitors

This was a busy week for us for us all. We had visitors from ISS (International School Services). These were the people that hired us. We were excited to finally meet them. We even got "real chocolate", that is always a nice treat.


This week Isaac and Matthew both performed during Community time. The first graders did a poem and the kindergarten class did Caps For Sale. I will try to upload the movies. They both did a great job.

We have been practicing our Mandarin and trying to use it. The only problem is when we try to talk in Mandarin many Chinese people will speak to us in their broken English. We try hard to speak to them and sometime they won't let us. It cracks us up and/or frustrates us.



We are looking forward to spending the weekend doing NOTHING. We are making plans for our upcoming Oct break. We have from the 1-12th off. We are staying in country and seeing more of China. One of the Intel Mom's came over and asked if we wanted to go get take out with them. I jumped at the opportunity. See Intel employees have drivers so we did not have to sit on a bus or ride in a taxi. Yukiko and I headed into town. She was so excited to show me new places that I did not know about. We went to an import store and they had a ton of great things but it was a lot of money. So I left with out buying anything. Then off to some other stores we went. It was fun to see new place. The best part was that on the way we got to visit. Yukiko and her family are from Portland, Or. Her son and Matthew are in the same class and they are best buddies. Well she was telling about where they live and they live a BLOCK or two away from Doug's grandma and aunt and uncle. We laughed so hard. She could not believe that we knew about the fountain and park by their house. So she drew a map of where they live and I brought it home to show the boys. We all freaked out that they live so close to O Grandma. It is nice to know that we will be able to stay in touch for a long time after this adventure is over. Amazing......

It is movie night at our house so I am off to watch the movie. Keep an eye out for those adventures.

Weekend in Dalian

A week of adventures

On Tuesday night we headed out to town to pick up a few things that were needed. We heard that the market closes at 5 o’clock so we hustled to get there. The boys are getting comfortable with the people that they did not even wear their hats. We got our shopping done and learned that they do not close at 5 but more around 8. We were excited to know that. Then we went to dinner at Susan’s. Matthew had a hot dog and Isaac a burger. Doug and I (along with the boys) shared a pizza. It was pretty good. It was nice to get out during the week. The boys got to play Frisbee in the alley with the owner. They thought that was fun.
Doug and I had a teacher in-service on Friday and the boys got to play with one of Doug’s 11th graders. They had a blast and can’t wait to have her over again.
We got done a bit early on Friday so we came home. ShaWang was here working and several work men were here too.
Matthew was so comfortable that he left the bathroom door wide open when he was using the potty. We just laughed.
We headed out Friday night to Dalian. Trina, Joe and Sarah came with us. We all wanted to see the city so we got a hotel for the weekend. On Friday night, we walked around and discovered Dalian. Imagine a big city with tons going on and street vendors all over the place. It was a lot of fun. We ended up going to Pizza Hut for dinner. Now Pizza Hut in china is NOTHING like it in the states. It was very good. We all got our pizza fix. After dinner we walked around town some more. I am amazed at all the shops. In Dalian there are shopping malls under the streets. You go down the stairs and there are floors of stores. It is amazing!!!
I got to barter with the vendors and we got a few treasures. I loved that. The next day we went to breakfast at a coffee shop and had eggs. In China their breakfast is so different than ours. They eat what you and I would eat for lunch or dinner. They eat rice, soup, veggies, etc. So when we got a Western breakfast we were thrilled. I had mocha but I think they forgot the chocolate. Then we walked around and just experienced China. We found a store call Trader Zhou’s. (Trader Joe’s) We got a good laugh over that one. It sold wine, even two buck chuck. It was not the same stuff but they had wine for $2.00.
We were working our way to a fabric market that had tailors. Joe wanted a coat made and we wanted to see what it was like. Trina and I stopped a taxi and asked her to take us there. She smiled and said yes. We ALL piled into the taxi. She was not happy with us. She had to check out her tires to make sure they were okay. It was so funny. The market was a bit overwhelming. Doug, Joe, Matthew, Isaac and Sarah headed back to the hotel to rest and Trina and I stayed. We went to another market to “shop”. Our friend Sarah joined us. What a hoot that was. I bought some pretty scarves to spruce up my outfits. When we were done Trina and I went to McDonald’s for lunch to try it out. Not bad. I had to push a young lady out of the way. She was trying to cut in line. She thought I would not do a thing. WRONG. Trina was proud of me.
My favorite part of the trip was Saturday night when we went to dinner. We were going to go to an Italian restaurant but instead we decided to go native. We walked the streets and checked out our options. Then we passed this alley that had tons of people eating on it. So off we went to check it out. There were little shops that had people cooking everything from meat products on a stick (boiled or grilled), soup, fried rice, noodles, dumplings, and other things that I had no clue as to what they were. We found a booth that had empty tables and gave it a try. We did a bunch of pointing and talking in our broken Mandarin. They did find a woman who knew English to help them. We ended up with two plates of fried rice with veggies, 3 plates of noodles with chicken, and drinks all around. It was REALLY REALLY good. Everyone was happy. Then Doug went and got some meat on a stick and that was great. Everyone was looking at us and smiling. Our cost was about $3.00 a family TOTAL. Matthew said it was his favorite. We are getting better with our chopsticks and the boys with the spoons they use. Then we topped it off with 30 cent ice cream cones from McDonalds.
We also walked into a mall that had so many people we were all so overwhelmed. We just looked at each other and laughed!!! They were selling $1.20 adidas shoes or were they Nike. I am sure that if you could find a pair that matched and fit you it was a great deal, too many people for us.
This morning we got up and went to find something to eat. We found a shop that was making fried bread. It was fun to watch him and try to talk to him. EVERYONE asks us if the boys are twins (at least that is what we think they are saying). Doug went in to get one to try and came out with 6 of them. They were not bad. We all agreed that they needed powder sugar or something to dip them in.
It was an amazing adventure with some great friends. We can’t wait to do it again.
Now we are home and thinking about all the things we need to do this week. UGH!!
Pictures to come- I forgot my camera so I need to get them from Trina.

REALLY TOOTHLESS

So tonight we pulled out another tooth. WOW!!! He looks so cute!! Hope the toothfairy is ready. Here is our cute toothless son.

PanJin City

Isaac was so excited this week … he pooped in the squat toilet. It was a milestone for him. He was telling everyone. We had my principal over for dinner on Friday and that was one of the things we told her about. I just laughed.

Matthew and his buddy Trejan have been playing homework dates for afterschool. They go to each other's place to get their homework done so they can play more. I never thought it would start in first grade.


It was another busy week. Monday’s are meetings at school so we are there until 5. Tuesday’s are our night at home, Wednesday night Doug and I have our Mandarin lesson, Thursday we have afterschool clubs (Soccer for me and the boys) and Friday well we are wiped. 

Isaac was sick this week and slept from 6:30-6:30. He was much better the next day. Trina and I went to town on Thursday and did a bit of shopping. We were determined to find the Korean store and we DID IT. Then we did some shopping and just sat and visited while watching the Chinese dance in the square at the shopping center. It was a great night.

Last weekend we went to PanJin City to see the famous red beaches. It was amazing. We started off by taking the 4 hour tour bus to the hotel. They served us yummy food, including duck, the boys that it was funny that the beak and all were on the plate. Matthew and Isaac did very well with the food. After lunch we were off to see the largest Reed field in the world. We walked through the reeds and picked some so we could make zongzi (rice wrapped in these reeds and then they are steamed). Chinese make these for holidays. It was a hoot. It was like walking through a field of corn. That night we went to a Hot Spring. Let’s just say it was quite the experience. Men on one side and women on the other, the men had the fancy hot spring and the women’s side was a lot like a locker room. The boys thought that was strange, naked people everywhere, except us Westerners.

matthew and his buddies

 On the bus

(If you have facebook check out the pictures our friend posted on her page)
The next morning we headed to see the red beaches. It was an amazing sight. We had a great time with the others that joined us. Everyone is so great with the boys. They take them and play with them. The boys love it. We keep saying it takes a village to raise these kids and everyone is helping. We are meeting so many wonderful people. So much happened this weekend that it is hard to write it all.

Hotel

awww

Reeds

Yummy ;)

Love the signs here more to come

 red beach (not the best picture)

We got home Sunday night and were so tired. Today is Monday night and we are all ready for bed.

Dinner

Our week started off with Doug cutting his finger while making dinner and having to go to the Clinic downstairs. All is well but he cut it good. He did not need stitches because there was nothing there to stitch. OUCH!! But now is finger is looking much better.


Matthew pulled out his front tooth and got money from the tooth fairy. One shiny quarter and one shiny Yuan was under his pillow. He was so excited!! The funny thing is now his other front tooth is about to fall out.

(the missing tooth)

Isaac read a book for the first time and we are all so proud of him. He was so excited that he even slept with the book.

We had community time and school where all the classes get together and some of them perform different things. Isaac’s class sang head and shoulders, knees and toes. He got to say “Please stand and join us.” It was cute. They both are loving school. This week our school opened both the elementary and secondary libraries. The school celebrated with Chinese fireworks. Wow was it loud. Matthew said we need to have fireworks every morning to get us started. 

Doug and I are settling into a routine at school. I am really enjoying teaching science and learning so much. I am thankful that I can ask Doug my science questions. It is great to all be at the same school. Doug was able to come to community time and is also able to help out in the boys classes when time permits.

We had our first official mandarin lesson on Wed. Wow my head was spinning. I actually used some of what I learned when we went to the market. Yippee (someone understood me). We came home from class to find Matthew and Isaac laughing and playing hide and seek with our Ayi. She was laughing so hard at them. They are getting more and more comfortable with each other. I will try to get a picture of them together this week.

On Saturday we did our normal outing where we go have breakfast with Trina, Joe and Sarah. Then off to the market we all go. We look forward to this each week, time to just visit and hang out with friends. When we came back Joe had to go to a meeting. He came back to tell us NO school on Monday because they were shutting down the water in our area for the day. So we offered to call families to let them know. Well a few hours later Joe came back to say School was on and they were going to shut the water off Monday night. We just laughed 

We decided to go to town to get dinner and do a bit more shopping. We got a taxi and all piled in. Yes, 4 adults and 3 children in a small car. The kids sit on our laps and we all fit  OIC (only in China)

(hmm which one do you pick)

(so good)

(not brave enough yet)

(this is for you Aunt Colleen and Bob, things we COULD eat)

(yummy)

It was raining so hard that we got soaked but enjoyed every minute of it. We went to this restaurant where you enter and they have all their dishes on display. You walk around and pick what you want then they take you upstairs to a table. Doug and I picked a few dishes (okay a bunch) and Joe and Trina did the same. The food was amazing!! The boys loved the chicken wings and fries, sweet and sour pork, and dumplings. We ate so much. I took pictures to show you what they offer. We could not talk to the waitress about what we wanted us to drink so she took us to where all the drinks were so we could show her. Well I thought we ordered 4 glasses of juice and a glass of milk (for Sarah). Well what came were 4 cartons of juice and a carton of this milk/yogurt sweet drink. We just laughed. I am sure they were thinking crazy Americans wanting 4 cartons of juice.

Next week we are going away for the weekend on a tour. More to come…

another one bites the dust

I know this is short but Matthew just pulled out his top front tooth. He wanted me to tell everyone. We will take pictures tomorrow and post this weekend. He was so excited!! Now we wonders if the tooth fairy will bring him "American money or Chinese money" Hmm you NEVER know :) More to come on this exciting event. (Isaac then started to wiggle all of his teeth while he is saying "I can't wait to be six and pull my teeth out.")  The adventures in the Smith household continue. Love to all