Dining with the Locals

We hosted our second group of caddies from Stan's club this past Sunday evening for dinner in our home. Our goal is to have all 150 caddies at least once this year and this time we had a grand gathering of 21. My menu was very southern with bbq chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and deviled eggs with cobbler for dessert. The caddies are all young women here in China but Stan had told me that they could eat like grown men so I was prepared for some mighty appetites. Stan's secretary always accompanies the team and acts as a wonderful translator and not surprising, with that many women there is never a lull in conversation or in the giggling. The food is always a guess because most of these girls have never eaten "western" style food but they request it and we aim to please so... It is fun to watch them try new things and they always want to know how to prepare whatever I've served. I'm flattered but then again....they don't have anything to compare it to. They were very leery of the deviled eggs at first but once I demonstrated how to actually eat it they were a big hit. They also devoured the green beans, which of course were cooked all afternoon with some bacon and onion. They couldn't imagine cooking something for 2 hours. That is such a foreign concept to those who have always only known stir fry or boiling. The mashed potatoes and chicken were also a hit but the cobblers were certainly not treated as they would have been in the US. You can see for yourself in the before and after pictures below.

Here are a few pictures from that evening.

The girl in the middle was singing for us and as you can see her friend is quite tickled by her rendition. These girls were a really fun group and we laughed all night.

The group photos

Apple cobblers..... before

Peach cobbler...... before

Cobblers......after

Yeah....I'm pretty sure that no where in America would 21 people come for dinner and leave any cobbler remaining. I can attest that it sure tasted good but the Chinese just aren't big on sweets. We've been enjoying the leftovers for a couple of days now so I guess there are worse things than your guests not liking dessert.

And here is a picture because I wanted to show you how we entertain here in China. I absolutely INSIST on only the best.

The funny part is that these "napkins" were super thin and left me wishing for some Bounty. :0

Chat with ya later~

It's the Big Things

So......today is my 13th anniversary and I'm pretty sure it's the "big things" I do for Stan that keep him around. For instance, he has been in China now for 2 months and has been really wanting this particular "thing". I have been on a mission to gather the necessary supplies for this "thing" and last night I completed my project. It took trips to 3 different places to obtain all I needed and I just know that I will now most certainly be all the envy of my new friends.

Some of you are probably thinking that I might be referring to Stan's Skittle addiction but don't worry he found those on his first day here. I'm sure we would have had to totally renegotiate our package in order to accommodate an import fee for skittles if he hadn't.

Anyway- I chronicled this little project with a few photos so go ahead.....scroll on down and check out his anniversary present and try to contain your jealousy.

Keep goin......you are going to love this!!

No....your eyes are not deceiving you! That is a nice glass of sweet, iced tea. The pitcher was my last necessary item and that was obtained last night (after looking at several stores for one....they just don't use them here or something)

Now at home I would prefer some decaffeinated Luzianne family size tea bags but I just haven't been able to spot those (hmmmmmm). I decided to trust the good ol' yellow box and Mr Lipton and we were happy to discover that although there is a bit of difference in taste of the "yellow label" tea it wasn't bad....in fact, it was quite tasty.

I knew we weren't in the States anymore when I couldn't purchase sugar in anything larger than these little bags. They probably hold about 2 lbs or so......guess I'll be purchasing those in large quantities once my bakeware arrives and knowing we can now have sweet tea anytime we want.

Now I'm sure that this post isn't near as exciting to all of you as it was for my husband but let me tell you....when he took a sip of that refreshing goodness I might as well have handed him the keys to a new Land Rover. The man was happy I tell ya!! So.....mission accomplished and Happy Anniversary Stan......hope I can keep making you smile for many more years to come.

PS...I would like to go on the record that I can indeed retain my "southern lady" membership because really....anyone worth her salt better be able to make sweet tea for her man regardless of her geographic location.

Chat with ya later.

Our Wednesday

Today was a bit busy for us but fun......I tried to take a few pics along the way to help you feel included, I like for everyone to feel included....it's just my nature. :)

We started the day at a new playgroup and made fast friends with some ladies from England, Ireland and South Africa. They all had children a bit younger than Xan but she was very excited to be with other kids and just play. The indoor play area was really nice and I even did one of the things I thought I'd never do......allow her into a ball pit. (gasp!!). Oh well.....when in Rome. We finished up playing, enjoyed a quick lunch together and then pointed our strollers in all different directions---it was naptime for most of the little ones.

Here are some of our new friends.....Colleen and her twin 3yo boys Aiden and Edward (Eddie). They are from England but had spent several years in North Carolina just before moving to China.(her husband works for Caterpillar). She said my accent made her all "warm and fuzzy" b/c she loved NC and hadn't wanted to leave.

Next on our agenda for the day was some shopping for a few basics for our apartment. We get to move in on Thursday and since we don't have a vehicle I thought it best to begin making some of the multiple trips required to get all that we will need. Today's goal: basic bedding and a few items for the kitchen. We went to a place called Carefour (just think superwalmart but bigger and with a bazillion employees). Xan graciously napped in the stroller and I was doing ok until I got to the sheets and then I required some major assistance from my iphone as well as the attendants working that aisle (yeah...there were 4 on that aisle alone.....the staffing here is definately abundant). I have a language translator on my phone that is won-der-ful!!


I finally got my decisions made and was trying to get everything into my buggy when I realized that we had attracted quite a little crowd. No kidding, there were 7 people including 2 sets of grandparents with their g-babies, and 3 others that were following us and just staring. I was a little unnerved at first and then just decided hey......I'd probably stare at someone in walmart in the US that was trying to buy live snakes so ....have at it folks.... glad we could make you smile today. By the way....you can't buy sheet sets in china...nope....you buy 3 piece sets that include a flat sheet, a pillow case and a duvet cover....no fitted sheet or top sheet. Then you buy a "summer quilt" that goes into the duvet cover. This is the setup that we have here at the hotel and it's actually kinda nice. It's warm but not hot and light weight enough to still be cool. Let's just hope that my sizing is correct......our beds are 1.8 and 1.5. I typed that into my iphone calculator and the ladies showed me a some items so I guess we'll see tomorrow how we did.

After checking out, realizing you have to purchase your bags (even plastic thin ones), lugging an entire buggy of stuff up a moving escalator (made for buggies), while carrying a stroller and holding onto Xan.......my precious little one mentions to me that she needs to potty. Well.......whatcha gonna do? I wheeled that buggy right on into the bathroom and immediately Xan said, "Mommy....don't say Praise the Lord". This cracked me up b/c ever since we arrived if we used a public restroom and it was western style (as opposed to a sqatty potty) then I'd say..."Praise the Lord". heehee. This one was obviously not a "prasie the Lord" kinda setup. She made me laugh ....then she laughed with me...she squatted....I held her ......& we were off again.

A quick taxi ride and I got everything back to the hotel room. We headed out again, but this time on foot for a stroll and to get a snack. The area of town we were headed is only about a 15 minute or so walk from our hotel and we've enjoyed getting out and doing that several times. We have our little routine.....she lounges and deejays the iphone music for us.....I push and we sing as we go. I'm sure the locals get quite a kick out of us bee bopping our way down the street while belting out "all right, all right......I got all I need....and it's all right by me." (darius rucker would be so proud)



We had worked hard and needed a little snack and some good Cold Stone Creamery sounded like it would do the trick.

We finished our outing at the local bakery and made our selections for dinner....we had decided to just have some fruit and pastries in our room since we'd been out all day. This place is DIVINE I tell you.....the flakiness will just about do you in. I don't even want to think about the calories I had this afternoon/evening between the ice cream and then pastries.


I wish you could just smell this place. yyyyuuuummmmmmmmy!!

We returned to our hotel about the time Stan was arriving and after a bath for Xan we sat down for our picnic and then time to start heading for bed. We had a really good day and although there were somethings that could have frustrated me (the audience at walmart, taking 45 minutes to determine that sheet sets don't exist, or that you don't just get bags with your purchase) I think I'm just going to look at it as a day that the LORD has made and I will be glad and rejoice in it.

Chat with ya later.....