MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL . . .

Some of you know that Ryan is a big Minnesota Vikings fan.  We are leaving shortly to go watch them play Monday Night Football.  Although since it's Tuesday morning here, I guess we won't be able to have beer and wings while watching it.  That kind of takes some of the fun out of it, but at least we'll get to watch it.  And since we have someone to watch the kids, we'll get to watch it by ourselves.  This is the first time we've gotten to go anywhere by ourselves since we've been here.  

After the game we're going to go to the train station underground.  That's where they have the fake goods and cheap items.  It's where I got Sarah Beth's dress that I showed you earlier.  Of course you have to do a lot of bargaining.  When I first looked at her dress the guy wanted 250 RMB for it, which is about 35 USD.  To find the cost of something, you take the RMB and divide it by 7.  That'll tell you how much it is in the US.  Anyway, he started at 250, and I got it for 65 or 70 RMB.  Bargaining is a must.  Actually, I probably didn't bargain enough.  I was told by someone from here, that the dress was  probably worth about 50 RMB.  Oh well, now I know better.  I'll be better prepared for today.  Plus, I'll finally get to start my Christmas shopping.  Usually, by this time I'm completely finished with everyone except for the kids.  This year, I haven't even started.  I'm slacking!

I'll let you know what I find when we get back.  

Go Vikings!  My hubby will be in a much better mood to go shopping with me if they win!

 

SARAH . . .

I bought Sarah a traditional Chinese dress.  She wore it last night when we went to dinner.  Personally, I think she looks adorable, but then, I might be just a little bit biased!

What do you think?  Am I just biased, or am I actually right?!

CHINA NATIONAL DAY . . .

Thursday was China National Day.  Sixty years of Communism being celebrated.  Here, the whole country basically shuts down for a week.  The kids are out of school Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  Ryan's had to work from home because the office is shut down and won't open up again until Wednesday.  Even then, he'll have to take a cab to get into work, because their driver doesn't come back to work until Friday.  

We wanted to go somewhere while the kids were on Holiday, but we decided against it.  We figured Xian and Beijing would be psychotically crowded, especially since it's the 60th anniversary.  We were going to go to Hong Kong, we'd figured out our flights and our hotel, but then we checked the weather and it was supposed to rain all weekend.  We didn't want to spend that kind of money to be stuck in the hotel room all weekend, so we just decided to stay here.  Thursday it rained ALL DAY, so we basically just stayed in and watched movies all day.  Friday was gorgeous, so we took the kids to the small amusement park they have here.  It was PACKED!  We are SO glad we didn't go somewhere like Beijing or Xian, or even Hong Kong, because it would have been crazy.  Even at the amusement park the crowds were wild.  Every ride had a line of like 30 minutes or more; even the kiddie rides for Sarah.  You know it's a rough day when the kids are ready to leave!  We only stayed about 3 hours.  It was just too much.  

I've told you before about the number of people that are here.  But it's one of those things that if you don't see it for yourself, you just don't get  it.  There's people everywhere.  And there's ALWAYS people everywhere.  You can't go anywhere without there being a lot of people.  Did I mention there's A LOT of people here?! 

HOT POT . . .

Tonight for dinner we had a Hot Pot.  For those of you not familiar with it, I'll tell you what to expect.  And for those of you coming to visit, trust me, we'll go there while you're here!

You sit down at a table with a big hole in the middle.  Then you order what you want.  We ordered lamb, lettuce, cabbage, mushrooms, potatoes, noodles, bean sprouts, and radishes.  We had half spicy, half not spicy.  They bring out this big bowl.  Inside the bowl they have lots of different herbs and spices.  Then they turn the table on, and you wait for the water to start boiling.  Once it starts boiling you gradually put the food in there.  You wait for it to cook, which doesn't take very long, then you pull it out and you eat it.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!  Everything we ate was incredible.  Even the mushrooms were good, and anyone that knows me well knows how much I despise mushrooms!  But with everything mixed together, it has an incredible flavor.   Ryan's been telling us that we needed to try it.  We're all really glad that we did!

THANKS UNCLE BERNIE AND AUNT MO!!!

Imagine our surprise yesterday when we got a package from home.  WE WERE SO EXCITED!!!!  We had no idea that we were getting a package, and it made our day.  We got a box of granola bars, a bag of Skittles and Starbursts, 2 bags of pretzels, and hair barrettes for Sarah Beth.  Sarah brings them to me and says, "I want my hair things in."  They're really cute.  The kids have already dug into everything else.  I had to put the candy up high so that it will last longer than a day! 

Thank you SO much for the nice surprise.  You have no idea how much it meant to us.  We love you!  (And not just because you sent us a package)!