December in Shanghai...

We are marking another year celebrating Christmas in Asia.  I was very unprepared last year when Christmas rolled around.  I didn’t realize that I would not be able to get a Christmas tree easily.   We went to the Hongiao Flower market and purchased two small pine trees that we figured we could stash year around on our patio.  It wasn’t until they arrived that I realized they were very tiny cut trees that were carelessly stuck in a pot with a half inch of water at the bottom.   A week later the trees turned brown and the needles all fell off. That pretty much sums up our last Christmas.   The good news was the make shift ornaments we made stayed on and the lights made it look beautiful… to us.    

So this year, I meant business!!!  I was not messing around.  I was able to find a website that delivered a fake pre lit Christmas tree.  We put it up the day it arrived and it really felt like Christmas!!!!   

Until five days later… Garrett plugged the US 110 volt plug into the China outlet 120 volts without using the transformer… in seconds POOF! 

Oh the joys of Christmas!!   (this is a fake picture by the way but our tree looks like only a bit healthier version of this)  

We have been researching various activities to do to really wrap our hands around this foreign culture.  Here are a few we have recently stumbled upon.  

Activities in China

There are a few places in China that we are eager to see while we are here.  Chris and I have signed up for the Great Wall Marathon and thought a trip up to Beijing would be nice before actually running the event.   While researching things to do there, I came across a list of must do.  Now I am not sure who wrote this and CLEARLY this was not a Westerner but…  number three on the list read:

3:  Eat a Dick

Chris was immediately intrigued by this of course but this is what followed as its description.

There are plenty of weird things to eat in Beijing, from scorpion to chicken feet.  But for the ultimate guess-what-I-ate-in-China shock, you can’t beat penis.  

Try ram, snake, goat, dog and more!!!   Oh and the kicker here is that it only costs 988 rmb for the “Penis Hot Pot”

(That would be 160 USD)  Sounds like something they should be paying ME to do!  When things like this start to become normal is when I know I have been here too long!! 

December is a very busy month for us.  Both Garrett (8) and Jordan (10) celebrated their birthday at Planet Laser Tag.   

It has always been challenging organizing their birthdays right before the holiday and it is even worse here because school gets out even earlier so that families can travel to their “home” countries.   We had a great turn-out though surprisingly with a 99 % show rate and it was not half as “chinese” as we expected. 

Ayden lost both of her front teeth right before the holiday… The kids picked up pretty quickly that we have started to celebrate some different holidays here and that China is not the same as America.  This becomes very apparent when you loose a tooth or when Santa is supposed to find you.  The tooth fairy did in deed show… the only difference is he/she leaves Chinese money.  (Which fortunately with the conversion the kids think they are receiving an insane amount of money when really they are receiving MUCH less then they would in the states!  HA!)

Ayden has gotten very into being Fancy and these are two of her most favorite books.   She continues to take them out of the library even though we own them at home as well… and then forces the family to endure “Fancy Meetings” each week.   It seems Chris needs the most work but we all sit through our various criticisms on how we can make our own life more fancy.  We think nothing of the feather boa at church… and the sparkly NON walking shoes that force us to carry her on our outings.  It seems the more hair accessories the better etc. and we all need to work on our accents…   

 Christmas Card 2012

Greetings from Shanghai, China where IF I were to send this card to you, you would probably receive it by Halloween.  

Our fantasy….

The kids are fantastic… all excelling in school and rock stars in their activities.  Kristen is in the best shape of her life and Chris has managed to grow a full head of hair again…   I mean look at us … we are the perfect family frolicking through the park holding hands as if not just two minutes before this Garrett wasn’t sitting in time out for pinching his sister and Jordan didn’t almost get run over by a speeding scooter because even at the ripe age of 10 she still does not understand that you have to LOOK when crossing the street!!!   

The realities……

Jordan takes FOREVER to do homework… so much that, I have lifted the ban on electronics during the week just to give her some incentive to GET IT DONE 

Garrett is doing well in school when he is able to control his body and stay in his chair…  I have never seen a kid up and down so much.   It’s no wonder he eats us out of our home with all the energy he burns off making sure everything is fair and he is getting the absolute MOST attention from his mom.  

In truth and all kidding aside… We have a great bunch here and they have made this adventure so worthwhile.  To see how much they have grown and adapted and LEARNED about another culture is so rewarding.  

So we do wish you all a very happy New Year as it probably will be half over by the time I get these posts out… 

We are missing our family in friends in the states and appreciate all of our blessings both near and far!!! 

Great things to come in 2013!!