Smith Family Adventures: 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