Brown Paper Packages

It isn't as inexpensive to live in China as we had planned, but some things cost much less. 

Christmas trees are one of those things.

We got our beautiful (dirty) $5 package in the mail a few days before Thanksgiving. We made it until the day after before busting it open.

Miss A doing what she does best: "helping"

 It isn't just Christmas trees that are inexpensive. We have an account for China's online "Amazon" called Tao Bao. If we need something, it's the first place we look. We might be able to find similar prices in one of the little street shops, but Tao Bao is just as cheap and so worth the time saved.

As you can see, this isn't the grandest tree ever, but it's perfect for our little home! It came with decorations (including pink, purple, and blue garland and little Christmas cards that all said "Feliz Navidad").

I don't really understand how it all works. We always get our orders within 1-3 days, but from different people at different times. Sometimes two or three different people will drop off a package in one day.

People even call us to make sure our order is right before sending it off. It's great.

We found the perfect Miss A-free place to put the tree.

You know how getting a package is always exciting, even when you know what it is? Well, here it is even more exciting. Most of the time there's an extra surprise in the box! Miss A has a collection of little plastic balls from the baby orders we've made.

But it doesn't keep all of the babies away!

We didn't use all of the decorations that came with the tree, but I'm pretty happy with it. Notice the garland wreath made out of a hanger? :)

36 weeks...

Thank you, China's Tao Bao, for starting off our Christmas right.

A Not-So-Oriental Thanksgiving

The literal translation of turkey in Chinese is "big chicken." This holiday--was a "big Thanksgiving"!

We didn't have turkey on Thanksgiving day, but we sure did celebrate. Football video games (since the actual games weren't on in our time zone), KFC chicken, homemade sides, dessert, and friends. We left without a single bit of homesickness.

I made homemade green bean casserole (seriously!) and my mom's sweet potato casserole. 

Some of the boys and the babies. Miss A loves playing with her favorite friend.

On Saturday we had turkey.

and more turkey.

Our branch ordered turkeys from the wonderful US. They were too big for Chinese ovens, so the cooks had to cut them in half to cook them. They were de-li-cious.

100+ members and friends came to celebrate Thanksgiving with our branch. We were stuffed and entertained with a branch talent show.

It looks like a real Thanksgiving dinner, right?

On a day like that, I can see why some Chinese think we are a fat people. 

But it is so worth it.

Hope you had a great holiday! 

Chinese do Girl Talk

Example #2: I am no Chinese host.

We have very friendly neighbors. Getting to know them a little has helped me feel less secluded and alone while mister is gone all day.

The neighbors across from us have a little girl who is almost 2. Her parents work and her grandparents take care of her ALL day. Her grandpa knocks on our door every few days to say hello to Miss A.

The neighbor next to us is our age. She works during the day and studies with her boyfriend at night. She wants to get in to an MBA program in the US so she likes to come over and practice her English. She is so nice.


I really love our neighbors, but there is a problem. Navigating the social world of the Chinese is a lot like talking to a girl.

-A girl will say "Are you hot?" and she means "Please turn on the AC."
-A girl will hint at something she wants and hope you get it.
-A girl will sometimes simply expect you to read her mind

In the Chinese "language" there is rarely an action that is not designed to get a specific reaction. So, what is my kind neighbor expecting from me when she brings over some food she has made? What is the real meaning behind the words "oh, my English is not good."?? What should I do when our neighbor gives Miss A an orange???

Maybe I'm too aware, but I kept feeling like I should reciprocate...with no idea how to do so the right way.

Then, we (mostly Mister) had a brilliant idea.

"Let's invite our neighbors over for a lovely American dinner!" we said.
"This will be a great way to give back for the kind things our neighbors have done for us!" we said.


I spent the day preparing chicken crepes (my mother-in-law's delicious dish). Without an oven, I had to plan perfectly so the meal would be warm just in time. A few minutes before 7 o'clock (and a few minutes before I had everything ready) our neighbors came in.

They dropped off a cake.
They left.

We got the table set and sat down expecting them to be back in a few minutes.
We waited.
and waited some more.

At 7:45 they came!
With enough food in their arms to feed us all. Wasn't I supposed to be feeding them??

This is what was left of the delicious food they brought over. I was too frazzled to remember to take pictures before we ate. :) Also--the crepes were eaten. They told us it "tasted like KFC".

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but definitely didn't "pay back" for all the things they had previously done for us.

Orange (our neighbor's English name) and her boyfriend with the beautiful cake they brought.

What am I to do now?? I guess I need to learn--as men all over the world have:

Sometimes, even when you try, you just don't get it right.

Red Tape

Posts have been sparse due to the announcement of the new leader of China. Our VPN was often blocked these past two weeks.


You know the term "connections"? The thing that gets you tickets to a sold out football game or reservations at a booked restaurant? I don't have them. Especially not in China.

This week I have learned how very inept I am at navigating the Chinese culture.

Example #1: I have been to the hospital 5 times this week. Five times. (Bus, subway, hospital, bus, subway, home. Travel time: 2 hours each day)

Good news: We think everything looks good! My bp is back to normal and my iron is better. There are a few tiny concerns, but we're working on taking care of them. (Almost 35 weeks here)

This whole thing was crazy...it probably wouldn't have been so frustrating if it didn't have to do with making sure I had a place to deliver my baby! Now that it is over maybe I can look at it as a learning experience?

Here's what you need to know (if you ever plan on delivering a baby in China.):

-They don't do appointments--you show up during a time frame that the doctor is scheduled to work, take a number, and hope to get in.

-Sometimes, she decides not to come to work on the day she is supposed to.

-It costs 1 kuai to see the doctor this way.

-There is this place called the International Department that lets you actually schedule an appointment. It costs 300 kuai.

-Taiwanese doctors are very blunt. This doesn't mix well with a hormonal pregnant mama.

-They also tell you to drink lots of soy milk.

-It takes five trips, constant communication with the hospital staff and your insurance company, and a paid online assistance company to get your insurance figured out.

-You have to give lots of blood. Literally.

It's really not always this hard to get things done here. If we talked to the right person first we would have been able to take care of everything with no hassle. We didn't know the right person so we had to navigate the maze that is

the red tape.


Example #2 to come.

Miss A survived this crazy week and is so excited to be down to one nap during the day!

Fresh as Can Be

A lot of the time, grocery shopping makes me anxious. It all started when I found out Walmart price matched...

I tried to make things easier on myself and not be too annoying to the employee who had to ring everything up. I put all of the price matched items together. I had a list ready in case the cashier had questions. I even put little sticky notes with the new price on every single item. No matter what I did, when I got to the front of that checkout line it was the same.

I don't know what it was. Worry about the overworked and underpaid cashier? Maybe guilt for getting two generous weeks of produce for $15? Whatever it is, China hasn't made it go away. It just has given me new reasons.

Would you like to see my "grocery store"?

Welcome to the entrance! Those various bins you see on the ground to the left? Those contain live fish, water snake things, and other creatures of the sea.

There are five different vegetable booths inside with most of the same things. We know one lady always has red bell peppers and another special orders beets for us (needed thanks to my Venezuelan doctor's order to drink a carrot-orange-beet smoothie every day)

We made the mistake of getting meat from these guys our first time. They grabbed the meat with their bare hands, threw it on the scale, put it in a bag, and gave us our change--all with those same meat-juiced hands. mmm. We now order from a booth next to this one with a "refrigerated" section and a much more sanitary girl (who speaks English!).

The Chinese love to have meat that is fresh--needless to say, I do not buy our chicken meat here.

What a clean little place, hmm? Looking at this picture, I told mister I would have never imagined myself actually shopping here. Ever. Thanks to our sanitization system, we have yet to get sick!

I'm a little hesitant to buy beans or rice out here...I don't know if I can be that adventurous.

In addition to markets like the one we shop at, trucks sell produce on the streets. The truck prices are usually better, but the selection is smaller. Can you guess what fruit we bought this week?

I can always walk down the streets to find out what is in season! Cabbage and radishes? Here's to hoping I can find some great recipes...or that our market will still have some variety as it gets colder.

Despite my apprehensions about going to this fresh market and buying produce on the street, I sure do love this place.

I spend way too much some time keeping a mental list of all the things I am excited for when we get back to the US. This little market will be on the other side of that list: the What-I-Miss-About-China side.

I didn't think I'd have anything over there. Here's to change. :)

We the People

When we first got to China, Mister and I were walking through a nearby park and I told him, "People are really happy here!" I was genuinely surprised. I have always felt bad for the lack of freedom the Chinese have.

-Their freedom of speech is restricted.
-They can't have more than one child without heavy taxes.
-Media is heavily influenced and censored by the government.
-They can't move with the freedom we can.
-They have absolutely no representation in the government (can you say "taxation without representation"?)

This bookstore is in an old parking garage. There were hundreds of books, but not all of the books we have access to in the US.

Despite this and more, the people are happy. They are "a people". They are together. They are pleased with how far their country has come. They are proud of their country.

Can we say the same thing?



I distinctly remember the first presidential election that "mattered" to me. I don't remember the issues of my sophomore year election so much as the feelings.

With each of the following presidential campaigns and elections those feelings from my youth have become more familiar...

My stomach and chest knot up.
I feel helpless.
I feel frustrated.
I feel sick.
Can you relate?

The thing is, I don't think it's due to the worry about "my" side winning (at least not mostly). It's about how people are treating each other. It's about how I don't feel like "a people" with my fellow Americans. It's about how I don't feel too proud of my country.

The election days are filled with snide comments and not-so-uplifitng discussions.

It is true: we are a country that prides itself in it's diversity. With that diversity comes diverse opinions. That being said, I think it's time we take a lesson from the Chinese.

A monk near a place where Chinese come to burn incense. (Their form of prayer)

We have a president. Let's be "a people" to make our nation the country it is meant to be. Let's get to work to use the representation others don't have to build up this nation. Let's do our part by working hard and taking care of our people and our cities the best we can.

Let's do this. (A message from my church leaders that anyone can relate to-democrat, republican, or neither.)

I'm going to try for this one

and this one. (Last week at 32 weeks!)

Roasting Marshmallows

Fall is here in Nanjing. It was hot and humid one day and we woke up shivering under our little sheet the next!

Halloween came up on us a lot like the weather did. It wasn't on our minds as much since no one really celebrates--although there are some Halloween decorations for sale in the bigger grocery stores.

We very much missed the friends, family, food, and atmosphere of the beginning of fall, but we tried our best to feel some of it here. :)

We had TWO cute little pumpkins. This beauty (on the right) was in the produce section at the grocery store and I couldn't resist.

Cooked pumpkin! Have I mentioned that there is literally no canned food here? My cooking with a Chinese crockpot skills have had to get better (or at least my attempts are more frequent)!

Mister and I had this pumpkin bread on our date night in. Since chocolate chips are $6 a bag, we settled for some hot chocolate and played "Halloween Scrabble"--pretty much impossible. :) We also watched Hocus Pocus on Youtube. Can you  believe he had never seen it??

To top our October festivities off, our friends got together for a little Halloween party. Maybe not up to US standards, but I was pretty impressed!

We had food:

mummy cupcakes

finger cookies

no bake spiders

eyeballs

We had fun:

Can you guess what we are??

The babies are something sweet. mmm!

What a great group!

Miss A fell over trying to walk--that's what a big marshmallow she was!