Party for the ex-pats in China....

So they called it a New Years party but I think it was suppose to be a Holiday Party. Now do we have pictures of this? Yes most definitely. Doug put them up on flickr...once you read some of the captions and read this blog I think you might laugh your ass off.

Now how did it start. Well every once in awhile..maybe once or twice a month the school gets invited to random free things...such as dinner, and free trip, a boat ride, whatever you can imagine. Now it has the word free in it so Doug and I usually go. (this is where my sister would roll her eyes) I understand this is the first time we are a two income household but...we still like the word free. At first I was thinking lame...but Doug said we should do it...well I am so glad we did.

First there was about 20 of us. Yup 20 of us who liked the word free...little did we know that included beverages, and entertainment!
We get in a school van and go to this hotel that I did not know existed in Beliun and it was pretty nice. They put us in this ballroom type of room with cameras on us...mics, piano, and tons of other stuff...there were a lot of EX-PATS.
There is already a bottle of wine on the table for us. There was also a huge buffet out...already...(no worries I will get to the ice cream later....)

We take our seats...and they tell us there will be a show...by the way there is one dude there dressed as Santa Claus...he was on your team.

Well we had singers from the Poly-tech College...I didn't understand it but they were good. Then we had a magician and he had a little crush on me...yup I got chosen to be his helper...and he made me touch him...he was about 500 years old....I was bright red and my wonderful husband good not stop laughing and saying that's my girl.

Next we had a sword swallower...three swords...I got chosen again to touch the swords...they were real. Little scary...kind of gross but really really cool.

Then there was a man who did this face changing dance it was really neat...he had these masks that would roll up with changing of his facial features.
AND HE ALSO ATE AND BREATHED FIRE!!!!! Way cool.

Then Santa and some people sang. Finally it was time for the white people to do something stupid and have a beer drinking contest...I went right up there with my principal so I wasn't the only idiot. No worries a German won, and he got a present.
Then we had two gentleman serenade us with a violin and piano...and our music teacher played the piano...she's good. Last but not least people got up to do speeches...painful but if you do like the Chinese and ignore what ever is going on and talk and don't pay attention to the act then you are fine.
The food was pretty good they even had fruit pizza...yup tons of fruit on the pizza and then you ate it. Hey it was good.
We spent the whole night laughing and having a good time. There are days that laughing is all you can do but I will tell you what this wouldn't have been half as fun with out the people I was with...including Doug.

Can't wait for break just a few more days away...promise to write more....soon...please take a look at the pictures Doug did an awesome job.

Here's some pictures of the party Friday!

This some of the food we had for the feast on Friday...what more could you ask for...good food...food people and good drinks!

Here is a picture of Doug and I on Santa's (our Principal's) lap. We did this because Meg and I every year get our picture taken at the mall with Santa...so here is one with a new Meghan...DOUG! It was fun!

Here are some friends...Robbie, Beth and the guy in the back is Kelly! Shortest to tallest! (Kelly just got engaged and will be married in December in Thailand!)

Yup...I know we are cute!

Yup here we are are again ending with food!

Hope you had a great Holiday..we were thinking of you!

Yi Wu...pronounced..EEEEEE WOOOOO

Two weeks ago Doug and I went to a town, a city...yup a city with 8 million people. This town...the main function is to be the middle man between companies. And yes I mean the whole town. The stores function as the place you walk into and look at the samples and then decide how many you want...1 thousand, 2 thousand or do you want them delivered on a monthly basis. The main place that we went to was a huge...size of ten Denver airports put together...they sold everything. Umbrellas, bags of all sort, tools, flashlights, stuff animals, key chains, things you can buy at pier one, candle, picture frames, crystals, pearls, jewelry, pretty much anything you can buy at Kohls, JC Penny, gas stations, anything. The stalls of stores went on forever. I honestly do not know how to describe it. But this is where you could buy anything.
Doug got a great carry on bag for nothing, I got a bag, we got a few Christmas gifts, but it was just amazing to walk.
You could buy anything there and for a really reasonable price...well you couldn't just buy one thing at many of the stalls...they wanted you to buy 3000. For like nothing...5 cents or less..it was very different.
The cool thing was...there were tons of other people...and yes I do know that sounds rude but there was a diverse amount of people. We ate Lebanese food two times and Pakistan food. Great to have a variety.
We also stayed in pretty decent hotel for the most part...cheap but pretty clean. Smoke everywhere though...the room didn't smell like it until later that night but it was strong. I think two things we will never get use to...the bathrooms and the smoke everywhere...maybe the pollution too but that just comes and goes.
I guess that is all for now.
New adventures coming soon.

Thanksgiving in the Thompson Apartment

So last Thursday was Thanksgiving and yet when I asked the students if they knew what day it was they said...ummm..."I think the 27th". Obviously we don't celebrate it here. Nor did we have the day off.
So what did Doug and I do...well we got home from school...did some errands and then decided what we were going to eat for dinner.
We got to eat whatever we wanted. So we called Hemmy's (the local pizza joint) ordered 2 pizzas, french fries, and two salads. Did we eat all the food? No I don't think so. We drank a rather wonderful bottle of wine and spoke to our families. Stayed up until about 11 or so and then fell fast asleep.
We had a great time.

Friday was when we really celebrated Thanksgiving. Our director had the whole staff come over for dinner...I mean a feast...a huge feat we had two large turkeys, fajitas, Chinese noodles, rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, and of course dessert. Just so you know I did make apple crisp...and it WON.
We had a blast. Hung out with all our friends and then went home...it was great.

Then on Saturday Doug and I hitched a ride into Ningbo to do some Christmas shopping...finally finding our stores at the last three or four hours.
And then for dinner was Mexican...now it wasn't the best Mexican food we had ever had but man it sure tasted like it, and Doug got to have a draft beer which is not a common thing. It tasted amazing. We got home around 8 and only have to pick up a few more things. And then we are done.
Most important thing I guess is we HAVE TWO MORE WEEKS TILL MALAYSIA!!!

A MUST HAVE IN CHINA.

Toilet Paper at all times.

Hand Sanitizer

Water Bottle

Handy Wipes

Cash ONLY

Snacks

Directions written in Chinese

Calculator

Cell Phone with Chinese dictionary

A friend that is Chinese

Patience

TUMS

Pants you can roll up

A menu written in Chinese and translated in English

Eyes in the back of your head

Learn to hold your ground

Umbrella

Hangzhou Basketball

Ok so two weekends ago..at least I think two weekends ago...Coach Doug Thompson took his 9 boy basketball players for a tournament in Hangzhou about two hours north of Ningbo. These games were at the Hangzhou International School. And at the next door Chinese school who also had a gym.
He left at 9 AM in the morning on Friday to play two games.
And they won....BOTH.
He called and you could hear the boys in the background so happy. I think Coach was ecstatic also.
Well I had already decided to go up on Saturday morning to watch the rest of the basketball games they had three more.
Trent and I decided that the best way to get up there was by bus and then stay in the Sheraton that was a few minutes down the road. (Trent's wife Shawn was the girls basketball coach)
Well the bus was not as bad as I thought it was going to be and I definitely drank no water so I wouldn't have to go to the bathroom...in the bus station.....there wasn't any bathroom on the bus...but I am pretty sure it would have been a hole going out to the road.
Anyway the bus ride was about two hours long and then we had to get in a taxi to get to the Sheraton.
Trent and I were on the top floor...awesome views. A little bit more pollution, tons more people, lots more foreigners, people way nicer to foreigners.
We made it to Hangzhou in good time and to the basketball games in good time.
We watched the boys win two games in a row...so they were now four for four.
They played great...I mean they had only been practicing for two weeks...and they were sweeping the floor. I honestly think it was because of the coaching! He did a super job and those boys responded to him so well. It was good to see where he belonged again.
Anyway Trent I watched the girls play and that was almost like magnet ball. UMMMM...not much to say....for Shawn's first time coaching she did a good job.
The whole gang were exited about the final game.
The boys played well but they were exhausted and it was there fifth game in 2 days.
They came back from a ten point deficit to miss the large plastic trophy by three points.
I was so proud of Doug.
Well after those amazing four games Trent and I took off...
We went and ate Thai Food and then went to a winery. It was so great. It was great to eat a different type of food. And buy some wine and drink and hang out.
I really liked Hangzhou and can't wait to go back in few weeks.
There are pictures of the game and stuff on FLICKR please go look at them!
Thanks for tuning in!

Shao Xing pictures continued.....

These photos are out of order...but still pretty cool...
A street in old Shao Xing where we went shopping...my favorite store was the chopstick store...can you believe it? A store just for chopsticks. So cool. This was our favorite part of the trip.

Doug and I at Karaoke. Yup we did sing and had a great time. Seriously the Chines take Karaoke so seriously they have building that have rooms just for this lounging around and singing. Touch screens for songs...lights that best speakers money can buy and the cheesiest videos you could ever imagine!

Food...Shao Xing is also known for their tofu...and this place was famous for their food and tofu. When fresh tofu is cooking it doesn't smell so hot and well some of the taste goes with that smell...but for 9 of us we spent 219 RMB and that was pretty good. Something new everyday. We also were surrounded by people while we ate...no problem you just ignores the stares and laughter and keep going.

Doug and I took our first ride in a carriage pulled by a bicycle. He had calves the size of my head!

On the street we went shopping you could also go on a boat ride...we didn't because it was raining and if that water got on us I knew we would grow a second arm. But beautiful picture none the less.

Shao Xing...just some pictures.

No one should complain about getting old....this person was about 900 and still moving heavy loads. The Chinese are very hard workers. Amazing.

There were over...well I have no idea how many stalls of fabric...and any type of fabric you could imagine. This is one of the biggest export areas for fabric in China. These stalls lined about three city blocks and was three floors. Holy crap...you could buy fabric for anything and then get it made in a matter of days. I love it. Bought some fabric for a dress that I will get made for our Christmas in Malaysia.

One the bike was huge bolts of fabric...he was in the middle of traffic.

Three city blocks with three floors. I had to walk by and touch stuff.

Before we could go off on our own and since this was free trip we had to go to an expo show. Just so they had foreign faces there. And there were a lot of foreign faces....people come from all over the world so they can buy fabric for their factories. It was cool but not what we wanted to do...we wanted to buy fabric. But there was a band that met us at the opening...yup it was a really big deal.

Halloween Pictures

Ok...so we have had a few requests for Halloween pictures...so here we go.

Now the pictures were taken in our apartment. We were the first stop in a progressive party. It started at 6 and everyone was at our house until 730 then they moved on. Doug and I stayed behind to clean and then went to the third house. We left around maybe 1030 and there were people still going strong.


Everyone in these pictures works at our school...from the director, down to the TA's...it was a blast and it was nice to have people over to our house!

Now we just let the pictures speak for themselves.


Yes, we have our director dressed up as the devil and her husband the curriculum coordinator as the ultimate Red Sox fan. They were great. Tons of fun...

So this is me...I went as Peter Pan...kind of..I got sick so I didn't quite finish my costume and next to me is Gloria who was kind of dressed as a cat. Well she had her face painted so that's all that matters.

Next up is Avis who was dressed as a pirate...she had the boots on and they were pretty cool and then there is Robbie who went as the spider lady. She helped me make my outfit and I helped design hers. We had a good time...we bought all the fabric in Shao Xing...very cheap.

Next this is my Captain Hook...up he is a pirate...pretty cool huh?

Here I am again but i do need to tell you about the tights...that are now leggings. You have to remember that Chinese people are not that tall so when they say one size fits all it means that you have to be 4'9". So when I tried on these tights it was like trying to fit into a four year olds outfit and the crotch came to about my knees. Well by then I was so pissed I cut off the feet and hiked them up as far as they would go and called it good.

YUP got to remember this is China!

It was a fun night!

Aida and other adventures...

Let see not sure where to begin since it has been so long since we have really written. I promise to post new pictures soon. We have been busy or just plain old exhausted to write in the blog. Though I do think the last post was funny. Doug and I thought of it after we went to RT mart with 150 RMB and bought the umbrellas and everything....we made it under 150 RMB and had enough to buy 2 small ice cream cones on our way home but not enough for a taxi...so we walked in the rain with our new umbrellas. (THE ICE CREAM WAS WORTH IT)

Alright...on Wednesday we went to Aida. It was a traveling tour company that was spending two days in Ningbo to do this show and then they were traveling Hangzhou and then off to somewhere else and all of that stuff. Usually traveling tour companies...well are not so hot...sorry for all of those people that are in them...and I admire you and really miss the theater and I would pay good money to do it again and even be in a traveling troupe...they still are typically not the most amazing shows. Anyway these guys...these voices were amazing. Yeah they missed some of their ques and the acting didn't make me feel moved to my bones but their voices were AMAZING. Actual goose bumps from just their singing. It felt great.

We started in the balcony but when it was intermission...well we moved down to the front row. It was great. We just had so much fun.

Th theater that the show was in was amazing...I mean they had buckets all over the floor to collect water but it is a beautiful theater and I will go back in a heart beat. I will also drag Doug too. It was nice to see real theater and as I said the cast did a great job!

What else? Basketball has started and Doug is coaching the boys team. He has a tournament next weekend in Hangzhou so he will leave Friday morning and not be back until Sunday...the Principal and I are going to travel up there and watch some of the games..his wife is coaching the girls team. We will take the bus up and stay the night and probably travel back with the team the next day...it will be a good adventure and to see a little more of China. Doug is doing a great job with the team and with not having facilities. It is fun none the less!

Things you can buy for 20 dollars or less.

Group 1:
2 knives
1 gallon of oil
1 cheese grater
3 umbrellas...one I already misplaced

Group 2:
You can take your 5 friends out to dinner and order
Three Beers
Spicy Chicken
Eggplant
Fried Rice
Bok Choy
Tomato and Egg
Spicy Potatoes
and Green Beans and you can eat for a week

Group 3:
A six pack of coke
Tofu (really big bag)
10 apples
And a container of chocolate

Group 4:
A taxi to Ningbo which is 45 minutes away and back

Group 5:
Buy 15 DVD's
and laugh at the translations

Group 6:
Have a maid come to your house for 8 hours.

Group 7:
Buy a wireless router

Group 8:
30 tsingtsaos (Chinese Beer)

Group 9:
2 whole Halloween outfits from scratch

Group 10:
2 large house plants
2 small house plants

Changing of the Weather

Wednesday Doug, Trent and I went into Ningbo to go to Metro. Yup we traveled an hour in traffic to go shopping. Fantastic, you wonder why though don't you...they must have stores where they live. And of course we do but not ones like Metro. At Metro you can buy loads of imported things...yes loads. We bought refried beans, tortilla shells, beer (but chinese beer and Australian wine), we bought pasta and spaghetti sauce. Why you ask? Well becuase...even though Chinese food is delicious it does get boring like if you eat hamburgers every night of your life. There are not many resturants in Beliun that have a variety of dishes pretty much you can get spicy Chinese food and non spicy Chinese food. Both great but you can eat only so much Bok Choy before it is growing out of your ears.

Anyway the store was wonderful...there was no one there so Trent, Doug and I could take our time...looking at things and whatever...the taxi that we called wasn't going to get there until seven so we had an hour and 15 minutes...everything going smoothly until we go to check out. Now by the way you have these three white people buying tons of food so you are already being stared at..and then of course Doug and I get in the line where they are training the new girl. For some reason that is always happening to us. Whether we are in Brewer Maine to Colorado Springs...yup took for ever.

Anyway we finally get outside and the humidity is so thick that you can not see across the parking lot. It was amazing. You could have cut it with a knife. Right then and there you knew it was going to rain, funny thing is the gardeners had been watering the lawn all that day. So of course you wash your car it rains same thing happen here, you water the lawn it rains.

It rained for most of the day on Thursday but it still wasn't cool...warm and wet..not always the best combinations when you have first graders running everywhere. When school was finally over after ASA (after school activities) I went running and Doug went to the gym. Now even though it is not hot our the water/sweat runs right off of you. Amazing what a little rain can do here.

Today...Friday it is cool...actually cool...like it could be fall and it smells a little like fall if you use your imagination. I think that's maybe what we miss the most right now the cool air and the changing of the leaves. Because here the leaves are the same...they are still green and hanging onto the trees. Though some have dropped...and turned brown. But you know what is still amazing...it's the flowers that are now just blooming...or the forever red flowers that grace the gate to our apartment building. It feels different...not bad...not good...just different. Maybe that's why it makes everything so special here...everything is so new. Yeah we miss the leaves and the bike rides, but Dad has been good enough to send us pictures...but things here are good.

Everytime we go to the store it is a new adventure and a funny story to tell but fun...today we take a two hour bus ride to Shao Xing where we are going with some co-workers on a free trip. It will be fun...you make it what you want it to be.

That's all for now...and we are off.

Shoreline...ummm..we think

Ok so on our bike ride we decided to go the shore...the ocean...think it would be a huge green/blue ocean that would just call your name to put your feet in...and this is what we got.


Yup this is definitely the second deepest port in the world with enough stuff to keep you staring for years...and it's not because it was pretty.





We carried our bikes up this "road" to get to the top of this huge wall that blocks your view of the ocean. Well the mountains were beautiful...and there are quite a few islands around the port...even one that has a bridge you can bike over. So maybe we can go there one day and it might be nice..or cleaner or something.












On top of the wall we took a break, Drank some water and tried to figure out where were on the map that is all written in Chinese. That was an experience. Once again it was Avis, Alissa, Robbie, Doug and I.


That is the four girls on the top of the wall. This was where we started to think about turning around but ended up going for another two hours. And we forgot to feed the Doug every couple of hours.


So the shore was a long stretch of mud flat and the water was as brown as the mud...none of us touched it...so no third arms are growing.

Biking this past weekend.

A week ago today Doug and I went for an four hour bike ride with a few friends. It was amazing. There were no hills but you had to pedal the whole time. There were no hills to go up this time but if you stopped moving your feet then you probably would have fallen over...well maybe that is just me. We got to see so much of Beliun that we had not seen before.

A lot of the area was a huge contradiction, there is so much growth but at the same time there are these random plots of land growing rice and veggies. Or these areas with pigs and chickens....also don't you worry there were plenty of smells that you wouldn't believe.

Well here are some pictures.


My big butt and some beautiful trees...we are headed to a village that is one of Robbie Daniels' favorites. They even had a communist party house. Beautiful there were mountains right outside the village, and very quiet. The village wasn't too much like the one where people were fishing and doing their laundry in the same small water area.

The big building in the background is a crematorium. Yup definitely thought it was a temple...definitely wrong.
Here's a great picture of one of the random farm areas that we got to see. Doug did such a good job with this photo.
Yes this is a huge contradiction...no idea what the plant was for. It's funny in these pictures you see so much green and clean but in real time...it is really dirty.
The things floating in the water are soda bottles...we think iwas for catching fish or growing fish, but the whole river was covered in all of these bottles. It was amazing.

We had tons of fun we went to the shore...also....more to come.

A Thursday...is it typical?

Ahhhhh...Thursdays. That means tomorrow is Friday and the great UN day at school. Doug has been working hard at getting it ready for the whole school. Him and his middle school team has been doing all the work, they have created passports, schedules, activities, a parade, and so much more. I even stepped in and did stuff. I had the Pre K -2 grades create flags of what they thought UN day, peace, and a whole bunch of other stuff is. I also had my 3rd through high school create a mural. I think it came out pretty cool. Each grade did a different part! I will take pictures tomorrow so I can post them later.



Last weekend Doug and I went for a four hour bike ride with a few friends. Avis Larson the Kindergarten teacher, Alissa Kruse the guidance counselor and Robbie Daniels the librarian. We went everywhere. Those pictures will also get posted this weekend so stay tuned.



Yesterday Doug and I went to the gym to see if we could get into a routine again after I got sick with the Beliun Belly...which by the way is when everything you eat comes right back out. Doug lifted and I swam.

Here I was swimming like this

S

W

I

M

M

I

N

G

and everyone else was going this way across the pool

SWIMMING

SWIMMING

yup...I was just like well if they get kicked then they get kicked. And they were probably saying look at that white girl..she doesn't know how to swim. Either way it was pretty entertaining.

Soon is our free trip to a town in China...yup can't remember how to spell it..will try to write about it this weekend so people can look it up if they want to but...it's free and we get to see a new place...I think we are lucky.

I think Doug and I have gotten use to the fact that we have an Ayi and really like it. We don't have to clean on the weekends, we don't have to iron and our floors look great. Really it's a huge relief for the both of us..and still a little bit of a shock when we walk in the door and our apartment is clean...but it is a good thing.

I do think we like it here and are having fun...we keep saying though our next place will be cleaner than this place...as in pollution wise. But every one is so nice and willing to work together. So much so I think we are going on another joint trip...yup for Chinese New Year...maybe to the outback. Who knows.

That's all for now in lovely China.

Things We Have Learned in China

Chopsticks, even though we use them for everything they still are not easy to use.

Babies do not wear diapers.

Air Conditioning is the best thing in the world.

Only having 144 students in the school is a blessing and burden.

Ants come from plants that you buy in the store.

Beilun belly comes at least every two weeks.

It's easier to buy dinner than it is to make it.

There is no such thing as personal space.

Yup the language is HARD.

People drive like they walk, and they swim like they drive.

If they don't honk worry.

Thank goodness for beer.

Thank goodness for the pizza joint down the street.

Being rained on beats the hell out of sweating.

Pollution brings a whole new meaning to breathing.

Don't drink the milk.

The Howard Johnson's in Ningbo would bring any 5 star hotel to shame. SERIOUSLY!

The five English speaking channels we have ROCK!

Old pictures...SHOPPING IN THE TRADITIONAL MARKET

This was so crazy. When we first got here....like the second day they took us to this huge warehouse where they have all kinds of food. Anything you could imagine was there. People were staring yes...and saying hello, hello, hello like you wouldn't believe. But all the vendors were so nice, we even got try some different foods when we didn't know what they were. It was called a Dragons eye. There was this hard shell exterior thing, when you peel it off there is thing inside that looks like a peeled grape so you eat all of that but have to spit out the hard seed in the middle. Swear to God I would have never tried unless we were made. It looked like it was a dry cocoon... the butterfly flew away.
I think this was the dried fish area...pretty interesting...very smelly.

No idea.
No clue what we are looking at here. The girl in the pink is Kelly Fu who works in the office. She was our guide for the first few days and she was great! She takes care of so many things and even taught us how to say bathroom in Chinese.

Toys

This picture is of Doug's beautiful bike. He fits it perfectly...so yes surprisingly you can find bikes to fit very tall people.
Don't you worry he got this really comfortable seat so we can go on longer rides! YEAH!
We both have disk brakes on our bikes...they are so new and cool. They are also shiny. The bike shop that we bought them from...well the guy doesn't speak any English but he can pull a bike out of the box and put it together in about a half hour. He is pretty amazing, he will also fix our bikes for no extra cost. The other day we stopped by to buy a bell for me which is a must here, and he had gotten a puppy about the size of half of my fore arm. I petted it and then wasn't allowed to touch Doug until I scrubbed my hands. I think I have fleas but it was totally worth it. Yes...I do understand that he might be eaten for Christmas dinner but he was so CUTE! At least I didn't touch the cat that eats our trash in the morning!
This is my bike...I think I need some type of Gel seat because sitting down now is a little painful.
These are our Tennis rackets that Doug and I bought on line. Well we didn't but the Elementary PE teacher Ken Lee found them for us and set it up so we would get them in the mail. It was awesome. He is a really nice guy, easy to smile..willing to stay after school and play tennis with you and go biking with you on the weekend. His wife and him just had a baby boy this weekend. So good luck to them!

Here are some friends..still at the Japanese Resturant

From the Left to the Right. There is me. Then Alissa Kruse she is the guidance counselor. Then there is Avis Larson who teaches kindergarten. Then Jess Burton who teaches 6th, 7th, and 8th grade language arts.
From the left to the right is Mappi and she is dating the tall Kelly Miller who teaches 6th, 7th, and 8th grade history and PE. He's the 6'8" guy Doug talks about.
That is my handsome husband!
OK you know everybody but the guy in the middle that is Matt Devlin and he is married to Jess. He teaches Elementary ELL which is English Language Learns...up we have a lot of those!
It was an awesome night. We haven't been to this place again but we have gone back to the other one. There it is a little more authentic. Tons of fun..you can sit on the floor and stuff.
It's great to have people to hang out with and everyone is so nice and willing to go out of their way to help you. But I think you have to be in order to be in this business.

Japanese Resturant and Food

OK so this is one of the Japanese restaurants that we go to. For 100 R.M.B. which is about 13 dollars per person you can eat and drink all that you want. YUP EAT AND DRINK ALL THAT YOU WANT.
Can you believe it? We do this once a week or maybe every two weeks. We eat lots of sushi which is very good and some other very random things that taste good for the most part. We order from pictures sometimes...and sometimes we don't know how we ended up with things.



Here is a picture of me eating a craw fish or something...ummm...it was marinated in something and it was a heck of a lot of work for not a lot of pay off! But everyday is an adventure in China.














Yup raw fish...for all I know it was caught in the stream were people wash their feet in earlier that day....but it tastes really good.















I know I know you would have never guessed it but here is Doug eating the same thing as me. We made a deal, we try everything at last once...so far it is working out OK.
















Yup more food. It's like a five hour eating fest.

The Apartment

So this is a brief view of our back yard. Yes we do have one since our apartment is on the first floor. It was a mess when we first got here...so we paid a gardener to clean it up...35 R.M.B. so about 5 bucks for these two lovely men to make the yard less scary to go into. Still don't sit out there but soon maybe...that way we can really smell the pollution. LOVE IT!



This is where we cook. Just a gas stove top. We got a nice wok though. And we try to cook every once in awhile. The food is good but we don't eat much meat...usually just veggies and tofu. It's good.
Small fridge but big enough to keep contaminated milk in and veggies!

Part of our living room which is huge with the biggest flat screen t.v. we have ever seen. We are one of the few people with couches that are not painful to sit on. We now have plants and that is great. The best part is the fluorescent pink lights that we use every once in awhile...they are awesome...showed Meghan and she was jealous...Ton said he might install some!
This is our oven..up we make toast in it but other people make homemade brownies in theirs. Doug has not made it that far yet. Oh and our coffee maker....we drink our coffee black now...so the people that are coming to visit get use to it now!
Our apartment has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, laundry room, and kitchen.