National Day Adventure

To celebrate China National Day (or at least to take advantage of Rob's work holiday and the beautiful weather) we decided to go to Nanhu Park. I had read that there wea supposed to be a big flower and plant display. That we never saw, but enjoyed the park nevertheless.

It is the biggest park we have gone to, though not the biggest park in the area. It was nice to get out of the city rush and noises and enjoy nature and a bit of quiet. It is already October and nice days like these won't be around much longer. I think secretly (or not so secretly, we just don't speak Chinese) people were suprised to see us without jackets on. At least I wasn't wearing open toed shoes! The calendar seems to dictate what one should wear more than the weather does. True, it wasn't HOT today, but it was odd seeing everyone with a jacket or sweatshirt or something on.

The river was full of paddle boats and a few row boats. On one side of the park there were a bunch of little kiddie rides and even a big ferris wheel. We decided to be wild and crazy and spend a whole $1.25 so that we could see an exhibit in the park. I call it an exhibit, because I

am not really sure what it was supposed to be. It seemed kind of random to us. The entrance had some small birds in cages, a few peacocks, a turkey, and a vulture. There was a small alligator, some rabbits, pot bellied pigs, fish, and some interesting little paths and building structures. Things were interesting, but kind of random. It made me think of someone who had a nice sized yard and some animals who decided, hey why not charge admission to our yard and see if people want to come and see it?

At one point in the day, we were sitting on a bench taking a break from walking and just enjoying the surroundings. A group of people were walking by and stopped. One of the ladies stood by a tree and another member of the group took her picture. They were trying to get us in the picture with her, but discretely. I recognized what they were doing and made eye contact with the photographer, nodded, and smiled. The group swarmed us, pushing a small girl to us so they could get a picture of her with us. She cried and didn't want to get anywhere near us. The others took turns sitting on the bench with us and getting their pictures taken. I wish I had thought to give them my camera too. We probably have more opportunities to have our picture taken with random Chinese people than they do to have their pictures taken with Americans. (The picture off to the right is from the exhibit, it is not the people who had their picture taken with us.)

Well, this is quite a lot of writing about nothing. At least there are a few pictures here for you to enjoy.

A SATURDAY IN CHINA

Rob and I just got back from being out and about with a couple of people from the consulate. We went to the ceramics market. The only thing I bought this section edited out as my purchase is a gift for a family member who will be reading my blog. I think I will get something similar for me sometime before we move. I see it as subdued and classy looking. Some of the stuff there is just so bright and/or gaudy. Some of the things were just WAY too big. Some was beautiful, but I don't know what I would do with it. I worry about lead poisoning and don't want to get some of the things for actual food serving. Some is beautiful, but just not really my taste. I think I will end up getting a few things once I have more of a sense of price, availability, etc.

We went to Pizza Factory for lunch and I didn't think much of it until the people we were with were saying that they have some places in California and Idaho too. I thought it was like the Pizza Factory Mer worked at in CdA and even got a menu to send to her. Then I remembered (much later) that she worked at Pizza Shoppe. There is a Pizza Factory in Hayden, Idaho. Don't think I have been though. Pizza was good, reasonably priced, and definitely will be a place that gets repeat business from me. They will even deliver if you pay their cab fare. That ends up costing about what I would tip a delivery driver so definitely something to think about. My first Chinese lesson may have to center around ordering pizza to be delivered. :)

We bought a DVD player for just under $35. It seems to be fine. It might be multiregional. It plays US and Chinese region DVDs, is dual voltage, and does NTSC and PAL systems. The only drawback is that the manual is in Chinese. Took forever to figure out how to set some things up. Definitely going to have someone translate the buttons on the remote too. It seems to have way more than it needs and isn't very intuitive.

Rob got his first massage. $5 an hour AND she comes to your home. What could be easier than that? Unfortunately, she is moving to Shanghai or somewhere at the end of this month. A few of the Americans who live here have been using her for awhile and she is going to introduce us to a friend she has who also does massage.

That is pretty much it for our Saturday.

What $20 Bought Me at Wal-Mart in China
(Okay, according to current exchange rates what $20.33 bought me at Wal-Mart)

1. 5 500 ml bottles of diet coke (ok, coke light. Not only is there not diet coke, but it doesn't seem to come in anything except for cans or 500ml bottles. AND, unless you go to a bulk shopping type store, you buy individual cans or bottles and not 6 packs, cases, etc.)
2. 2 liter bottle of orange juice (100% juice and pretty good stuff!)
3. 1.5 liters of corn oil (soybean is cheaper, but I thought I would give this a try and compare)
4. 4 pounds (slightly more) boneless chicken breasts
5. 15 medium eggs (priced by weight, not per egg)
6. 1 bunch Dole bananas (just over 1 kg)
7. white rice (just over 1 kg. I get bulk instead of HUGE bags since I am walking home)
8. 2 bottles shampoo (one pantene, one wal-mart china brand)
9. 1 small bottle of Johnson’s baby powder
10. Box of 200 toothpicks
11. 3 seasoning packets (for chicken)
12. 1 small bag of granulated chicken bouillon (200 grams)
13. 2 small bags of cheetos (kind of like “Big Grab” size
14. Small box of Tide (enough for 4 or 5 “American” size loads
15. 1 loaf of bread (for sandwiches, etc.)
16. 1 loaf coconut bread (for dessert)

Okay, LAST time I went to Wal-Mart and bought eggs, I couldn't for the life of me find them pre-packaged in carton type things. There were just these big plastic tubs filled with eggs and you picked out the ones you wanted, put them in a bag, and had them weighed and stickered with price. TODAY I went over to where the bulk eggs had been, and in their place was a stack of pre-packaged eggs (in packs of 15) priced by the kg. Bulk eggs were nowhere in sight. Now while I appreciate having my eggs in a carton rather than banging up against each other in a plastic bag, I find it confusing not to know what I am going to find. And as for never knowing what I am going to find...I still don't know what half the stuff in the store is (and some of it I don't want to know)!

Turning Off Comments and Mr. T's Van

Not that I don't want to hear from you or anything, but I am unable to read comments that are left on my blog. Seems that I should just turn off that feature since I will never read what has been written by others (on the rare occasions when people actually did decide to post comments).

While I am here, don't you think that the van they drive in the A-Team kind of stands out? I mean, even in the 70s and 80s, how many big black vans with a red stripe thing did you see? Shouldn't they be trying to blend a little more since they are fugitives? Even if they weren't fugitives, since they try to do surveillance and stuff on people, isn't that the kind of van you would notice? You better believe I will be suspicious if I see a van like that outside my window (especially since I am not on the ground floor!) That series would have done a lot better with my help!

Mr T Doesn't Like Anchoives!

I think that I might be watching certain TV shows just because they are in English. Last week I was watching The A Team and Murdock, Face, and some other guy were in an Italian restaurant that was taken over by bad guys who wanted to kill some important person who had reservations there later that evening. Mr T came in for a pizza and I knew that things would be alright! (Okay, things always work out in the end. Let's face it, this is The A Team after all.) Murdock put anchoives on the pizza. I knew he was going to do that! Mr T hates anchoives and when he opened the pizza box, it was a dead give away that something wasn't right at the restaurant. I guess the anchoives also did spell out "help" which is a subtle clue. Personally, I don't think the help was necessary, but I guess not everyone who watches the show knows about Mr. T and his hatred of anchoives like I do. Do you think there is a possibility that I am watching some shows just because they are in English and that perhaps they are not shows that I really find interesting? Hard to say I guess. I mean, who doesn't like the A-Team? :)

Almost as Smart as a Preschooler!

This weekend Rob and I went to a few different bookstores. I was so excited to discover something in the preschool section designed just for me--pictures of basic things labeled in Chinese! Pretty soon I too can have the expressive vocabulary of a very very very young child. What could be better than that? Hey, I figure that knowing numbers, colors, animals, foods, and other basic nouns and verbs is something, right?

Yes Virginia, there is a Wal-Mart!

We have made it to China and been to Wal-Mart to purchase our rice cooker. What more could we need? It was a slightly unsettling experience getting there, only because of the stares I get. I could understand it if I had blue hair or something, but because I am white? I keep wondering if I forgot my pants or something as people do a double take as they pass me on their bikes. I especially like it when I am pointed out to young children. Yes, stare at the rather average looking white woman walking down the street. I know that it is only a matter of time before I cause a major traffic accident because drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are watching me instead of each other. I suppose I will get use to it before too long. I hope so, because it is SO hard to resist the urge to stick out my tongue and make a face. Truly THAT would be a story worth sharing at the end of the day. "I saw this white woman and she must have been a devil with her tongue hanging out and her eyes rolling around..." That would probably be most impolite of me.

Do I smell bad or something??

As I sit here in my hotel room wearing the same clothing I wore yesterday, I wonder if this is a bad start to our move to China. I did carefully divide my underwear and clothing between the two suitcases in case one was delayed or something, but BOTH were. By the time I carry on my computer, video camera, camera, PDA, wallet, book, medications, important documents, and snacks, there just isn't room for much else.

It began Sunday morning. We arrived at the Spokane International Airport and got to our gate rather smoothly. Unfortunately, our flight was cancelled because of a dead battery. (I am guessing it was not just a Duracell AA.) Instead of leaving at 6:45 AM we got to wait until closer to 10:00 AM. SO glad that we woke up nice and early. :( Okay, not TOO bad. We end up at BWI at 9:00 PM instead of 7:20 PM. Too bad my luggage hasn't made it yet. Perhaps I will end up in China wearing my apple green Eddie Bauer cropped sweats. I guess I could tell people that I was evacuated from New Orleans and then my stinky clothes and lack of personal hygiene products would be more acceptable. Could be worse. I could be one of those people from New Orleans, or have a baby with me who has explosive diarrhea and no spare clothes.

I really need to have my sister (see link to her blog in my first post) to write mine for me too. This should be a great story, but I am too tired or bored or boring to make it the great story it should be. Perhaps she will rewrite it and put on her blog. I hope so. That would be a great post to read. :)

Our FPO address is available. E-mail me if you want it and I will make sure to pass it along.

WORST HOUSE KEEPER EVER!

The adventure begins! Our things have been packed and are on their way to China. They have a nice head start, so hopefully we won't have to wait too long for them to get there. Keep your fingers crossed that the boat doesn't sink or anything. Some sick part of me thinks that actually wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen. I never realized how much STUFF we had (or how much of it was made in China!)

COMING SOON...

Dear family, friends, and total strangers with nothing better to do,

The adventures of Noodles and Rob as they move to China. The adventure will begin officially in September with pictures of (almost) everything we see. In the meantime, for a good read visit the blog of Noodles' marvelous sister at

http://thedailycollision.blogspot.com/