Today....really!

Today was busy. We were planning on leaving to go to Hangzhou this morning and staying the night with our friends there. And then heading up to Huangshan in Anhui province, a beautiful place in the mountains, but it looked like it was going to rain all week. So we axed that part of the trip and are now going to spend a few days in Hangzhou, just to get out Shanghai and see other parts of China.

Jane, our Chinese tutor, came today. I don't think I have said how fantastic she is, Tim and I both think she is great. Next time, I will have to post a picture of Jane the Tutor. We are so lucky/blessed to have found her. She speaks great English and her Chinese is decent (haha...she is Chinese). She motivates Tim to study and he continues to improve. The girls like her and she is just quite pleasant. I spend part of my time talking about Chinese culture, which is also helpful in understanding things here. She comes to our house twice a week, but we are thinking of having her come 3 times a week. This Friday we are going to take her swimming at our pool. Swimming for the Chinese is very expensive and so many Chinese have never even gone before. She is going to go shopping with us next week as well, it should be good times. We are just trying to convince her to not get a real job and just be our tutor! Seriously, things really seem to be just falling into place here in China and we are so grateful.

Adayla went to preschool and happily went in on her own. Sometimes she has a bit of a struggle, but I think it is mainly because the other kids are crying or have their grandparents with them. She loves it and still speaks mostly in English, but will respond as her teachers are speaking Chinese to her.

Tally is continuing to speak more and more, she is doing quite well at imitating words. She will say Ayi, Ayi! It is quite cute. Yesterday we went over to some friends from church who had a dog and Tally cried when it came near her. This little thing was all of 5 pounds, but it made me sad that she has already forgotten Binx. (Don't worry Binx, Adayla hasn't!)

One American living here in Shanghai told us this story and I see myself telling it a few years down the road about Tally. His little boy was at the table with some of his cousins back in the states and they were talking about their favorite foods. One kid was like, I love pizza. Another kid says, chicken nuggets are my favorite food and his boy chimes in, I like rice! Tally loves rice! Tonight at dinner she saw the rice and started going berserk.

This evening was the first time we let Ayi cook since the day of poisoning at Taco Bell Grande. Her food is yummy! We don't even bother to go try to eat Chinese food. It is impossible to just go and order off the menu. It just isn't good. We tried this on Friday night, we thought surely we can find something tasty....yeah right. We found a little place a few blocks away that brought a fondue bowl out filled with food. We saw something that looked good on another table and said we will take what they are having. They brought it out and we thought the meat looked “interesting” and found out we had just ordered frog. Tim said it tastes like chicken, but I didn't see him eat more than one piece and I didn't dare try it. We also ordered a shrimp pot and so we were able to eat a little bit, but mostly we will be dining within the walls of our own home.

A few more quickies about some things in China. A few weeks ago and I thought I need a haircut. There are a few places outside our complex and I thought I would try one. I go in, decide on the 80RMB stylist (prices vary by experience) and I went with the more expensive one. He was about $3 more than the other. I am thinking this will take 30 minutes to an hour. Ha! Two and a half hours later I left with a nice looking haircut. They washed and massaged my head, cut my hair, massaged my back, arms, hands, and neck, and then blow dried each hair (individually)! So when you come visit us in China, come needing a hair cut! It is a little more than $10 to have the whole experience!

Speaking of massage, Tim FINALLY made it there after almost 2 months here. I told him he can go once a week if he'd like, but he just hadn't gotten around to it. I am thinking he will be getting there nearly every week now! An hour massage is about $9.00. We just had to make sure it was a legitimate massage place....it was and he came home feeling pretty good.

As for our Saturday, it was another one of my “adventures”. Tim keeps agreeing to go, maybe one day he will learn. There are so many places to explore and I decided we would go to a flower and bird market that also sold artwork and furniture. We have to plan around naps and so decided not to go until late afternoon. As we packed up, Tim looks at the window and says it looks like a big storm is coming. I don't worry about these kind of things and say lets go. We took the metro there and when we exited the station it was POURING. And as Tim is saying “I told you so” he insists that we start walking to the market. Thankfully we did have two umbrellas, but they didn't do much good as I was also trying to push the stroller. Needless to say, Adayla and I were both soaked. Tim and Tally were somewhat protected under their umbrella, other than his feet. Anyways we arrived wet, but loved this little market! It had all sorts of pet turtles and fish, plants and flowers, and all sorts of things upstairs. Absolutely fascinating! We will head back next week to put in an order for some large plants! Pics later...

Last reason on why we love China for tonight. Our church here is a whole experience in its own. I think I have explained it a bit before, but here it is again in short. You must be a foreign passport holder or a Chinese married to a foreign passport holder. So we literally have people from all over: Germany, Argentina, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Phillipines, the State, etc. Most speak English either very well or just a little bit and so most of the meeting is in English. But many times prayers and during class as we read scriptures, it could very well be in another language. I just love how here we are people from all over the world worshiping Christ and God in the same way. The Spirit that is felt is just such a good feeling.

So until we return from Hangzhou and our first visit out of Shanghai.....