Food in Thailand.

Let me first say how sweet it was to come home to this little chunk of blurry deliciousness.

Our little guy stayed with two families while we were gone.  He was loved, coddled and both entertaining and entertained.  We are very thankful that we have good friends that we can trust to care for him.

When we picked him up, he was sitting in the lap of our friend.  He saw us and instantly recognized us.  He looked at me and said "Mama."  That was one of the most poignant/wonderful/sad moments of my life.  It just makes me want a family in his future all the more and I will never give up praying for that.

On  a less serious note - Amy's frozen food in the grocery store!  You can laugh but if you don't live overseas, you have no idea how much familiar and really good food can mean.  We each got one for lunch, took it home and microwaved it.  Heaven.

A little hole in the wall restaurant near where we stayed.  Chicken, potatoes and basil.

What do you think is inside this basket?

 Cooked rice for the meal!

Mango salad.

A funky ice cream place that Elisabeth found online.  We miss this kind of artistic, creative environment.

The big dog.

Look who followed us to Thailand!

I can't say enough about the fruit smoothies.  We had one almost every day.  At this place, you basically pick the cup of fruit and they blend it for you.  I had mango- divine!

The Fish Pedicure

One of the great advantages of living and traveling in countries that are less regulated than the USA are things like over the counter antibiotics, riding your bike against traffic, jaywalking with out penalties and letting fish eat the dead skin off of your feet.  While we were in Thailand, we decided to get a fish pedicure.  All three of us wanted to do it but as it happened, just Elisabeth and I ended up doing it.  We were at a market while Paul stayed behind (he had been a good sport through two other markets and we thought it was time to give him a break). Elisabeth spotted a fish pedicure/internet cafe and we decided to check it out.  That's right- using a computer while your feet are in a big vat of water- I told you that we live and travel in less regulated places.
So we went over and haggled the price down.  We rinsed our shoes off and stuck our feet in the tanks.  Nothing really happened.  The owner noticed we were declining the water/electricity risk and told us to move to the tanks in the windows of the store where the fish were "stronger."  So we did.  It was an absolute hoot and we drew a huge crowd.  Many people took pictures and many people talked to us through the glass.  A few came in and had a pedicure, too.  I told the owner that we should get a cut of his business.
It was weird, it felt odd but you get used to the feeling after a while. Here are some of the pictures.

Front window view.

The fish are some kind of carp.  They don't have teeth but they kind of nibble at the skin.  I thought they'd go straight for my heals but they nibble all over the feet.  At first it was odd but then you get used to it.  However, I couldn't watch them.

Neighborhood kids playing on the internet.  Very few of them actually kept their feet in the water but were more into using the computer.

A man stops by and looks at Elisabeth's feet.  He was a little taken aback, I think.

One of the many large multi-national crowds that gathered to watch.  It was really fun to interact with them.

This picture gives me the heebies-jeebies.  It reminds me of the movie "The Birds" except in fish form.

Good advertising for their business!

And speaking of weird things in our lives..flying back from Chiang Mai to our city is a two day affair.  We left on the 7:30 flight from Chiang Mai to KunMing, China.  We found a fun hotel on e-long.  The Saga Inn. http://www.wego.com/hotels/china/kunming/saga-inn-jinbi--605674/photos  However, we arrived in KunMing late and it took our taxi driver forever to find the hotel.  When we got to the hotel, they didn't have an extra bed for Elisabeth.  So she slept on the too short fold out sofa.  She was a great sport about it.

This was our bed- "Love American Style" flash back, anyone? It was less than comfortable.  But the hotel was cheap!

Shrines

In this land that is 95% Buddhist, shrines are simply everywhere. It would be more unusual not to have a shrine than to have a shrine. They are in the airport, malls, stores and homes. We even saw one in a parking lot. This one is outside of a home.

This is outside of a coffee shop that should be familiar to most people- Starbucks! On the shrine are even small cups of Starbucks coffee.

This one is outside of a Tesco market. It has people and flowers on it. Little girls walk around selling the flowers. 

Did you know that monks could buy DVDs? Neither did we.

Some of the offerings are very practical. This is in front of an idol but will probably be used for the monks. We assume the statues don't need coffee or TP.

Did Oceanic 815 fly out of Beijing?

Because this was on the wall in the waiting are for our flight to Kunming.

Is it just me, or is the picture of the plane falling out of the sky just not comforting? Doesn't this remind you of the plane from Lost? Did the people from Oceanic 815 have Aviation Insurance?  Would it have made any difference?

Either way, we had tremendously bumpy flight from Beijing. Like get out the barf bags bumpy. Fortunately, we didn't need any aviation insurance and flew smoothly from Kunming to Chiang Mai. It's beautiful, lush and warm and we're happy to be here.

In which I totally cave to the lady selling clothes.

Our little guy is growing like a weed.  He is in extra-large diapers and is bursting through his clothes.  A few people have even told us he was "tai pang" or too/very fat.  We just laugh and tell them he is "hao pang" or "good fat."

Anyway the season is changing from Winter to Spring.  We know that because the government has turned off our heat.  Last year was one of the coldest Spring's on record.  This Spring has been lovely so far.  Apparently it is not the approved time to wear sandals though.  I've worn my Keene's with socks a few times and gotten lectures from strangers about how it's too cold to be wearing sandals.

Anyway, today our helper came so I could go out.  We have a lovely woman who comes in twice a week to help with some household stuff and give me some freedom to come out.  She is a sister and a hard worker and we are thankful to have her.

So this morning I took off to buy our little guy some new clothes.  If you think this means going to a Wal-Mart or department type store, well, you'd be wrong.  We shop at a huge .....mall/building/market that has stall after stall of varying things to buy.  It's a place to bargain and look around and if you are in the right mood, it's pretty fun.  There are actually a few places like this in our city- I went to the closest one which is the one where the vendor's are least likely to want to bargain.  However, their wares are pretty good and it's still pretty cheap.

When I got there, I discovered that the whole parking lot and surrounding area were being torn up.  I wove my bike around the construction and went inside.  I could not find the children's clothing anywhere. I went to the place where I usually go (passed the shoes and through the yarn) and the stall weren't there.  I walked all around the second and third floors and just couldn't find them.  I think I just was totally confused or that the stalls have moved.  I did find one small stall where I have bought clothing from before so I stopped there.  I described the age and size of our little guy and told her he was Chinese, not American-yes, this makes a difference.  I took down one little shorts outfit and said that looked like about the right size.  I found something similar but smaller and said that would also be good.  No, she said.  That's too small-you have to take this size.  The role of the shopkeeper in China is different than in America.  She is the authority.  You bend to her will.  I  thought the clothes looked a little big but he could grow into them.  So I choose four outfits and asked her how much- there are no prices on the clothing.  She named the price and I thought that my Chinese friends would pass out if they found out I paid that much.  So I opened my mouth to ask if she could make it a little cheaper...你可不可以便宜一点？Before I spoke, she told me she had already given me a discount. So I caved and paid.  The thing about bargaining is that you have to be willing to walk away...and I wasn't.

So I paid $25.00 for four nice outfits and walked away.  Then I bought some pajama's at a different place for a pretty reasonable price.

He was pretty excited to get his new clothes. I guessed pretty correctly on the size.

This says "Don't be fooled by my size"

The new pajamas had to be rolled up....

As they were a little long!

Leaving on the Midnight train to Tianjin (Part 2)

We literally left at midnight on the overnight train to Tianjin.  Tianjin is about 25 minutes by train from Beijing.  It is the city where the emperor would have people go to instead of Beijing.  There they would wait for their invitation.  It also has been  the home of many foreigners over the years.  There is a European part of town and quite a bit of European influence in the architecture. Tianjin is where Eric Liddell was born and where he served when he came back to China.

Taking the train is always interesting.  We have done the fast train to Beijing and a hard sleeper to Hailaer.  A hard sleeper has six beds to a compartment and the beds are, well, hard.  A soft sleeper has four beds to a compartment and the beds are kind of soft.  Either way, you are using a group squatty patty that can be quite unpleasant.  Aside from that, train travel is really great.  We got on a little after midnight, slept badly until about 7:00 and got off in Tianjin.  

One funny thing was the light.  In a hard sleeper, the lights go off at 10:00. We were expecting the lights be off when we got on the train but they weren't.  We asked our cabin mate when they would go off and he said the train would turn them off soon.  In the morning, we discovered the switch that turned them off.  Life here is constant learning!

In spite of the officially aesthetic position of the government,  religion is alive and well here.  We went to a Buddhist temple while we were there (no pictures as the camera malfunctioned) and it was packed with people burning incense and offering incense to the many gods.  Most of the people we know here share the same beliefs as we do or have no religion at all. It would be interesting to talk to someone who is a Buddhist in today's China to see what exactly they believe and how it impacts their lives.

I love these small tea pots!  I
 found one in a market that had a dragon pattern on it.   I loved it so Paul bought it for me.

The drum tower.

We spent most of the day at the Zhou Enlai memorial and the history museum (yes, I am a very good wife) .  Zhou Enlai was the first premier of China and a hero to the Chinese people. He was a moderate during the Cultural Revolution.  Interestingly, Nixon coming to China was a very small part of the memorial.  It was commemorated only by this small picture.

Watch out?  There was no water in the stream.

There is always this interesting contrast of old and new in  China.  A water park, next to the memorial.  The buildings are not old, just old style.

I think that every Chinese museum we have been to has this kind of display  of white statues at the entrance.  Many people were putting down flowers in front of the stature.  A woman was cleaning them up so they could be re-bought and re-offered.

Every Chinese museum also has these amazingly lifelike scenes.  This is of Zhou Enlai and his wife and other fellow students as they get ready to form the new China.

In the Tianjin history museum, we were shown around by charming students from NanKai university.  They explained the displays in great detail.  This one stood out to me because of the great omission. It says "Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a great paleontologist and head of the French Association of Geology.  In May 1923, he came to Tianjin.  He had taken part in the research of Peking Man at ZhouKoudian."  The interesting part to me is what isn't mentioned- that he was a Jesuit.  The picture is of him in his priest collar.  He was in China on the duties and scholarly research described in the picture.  He was a controversial Jesuit but I still find it a curious omission.

So where did our little guy go while we were gone?  Well, he went to Miss Jones's House of Boys!  There he hung out with two other little foster sons and had a great time.  They seemed to all have survived! Miss Jones is a teacher here in our city and she has an adorable foster son. She kept our little guy and another friend's little guy (he was at our house for an afternoon a few weeks ago).

Here they did a little tummy time practice with her roomate.

We took the fast train back yesterday afternoon.  The kids from the Shenyang International School were in the car ahead of us but we tried not to embarrass our daughter and stayed back in our car.  It was a good weekend for all of us.

Leaving on a midnight train to Tianjin (Part 1).

Every year all of the ISC schools gather in Tianjin for a choral festival.  They go down two days before the festival and practice for two days. Each school does individual performances and then they all sing together.  Paul and I went down to go to the festival and see Tianjin.
First some pictures of the festival.

Waiting to perform.

Introductions in English, Chinese and Korean.

Wuhan had four girls who sang beautifully.

Shenyang also sang beautifully.

The Wuxi school. This is their whole high school.

Tianjin is the biggest school as you can tell by the size of the choir.

All the schools together.  

They sang Cantate Domino, The Lord is My Shepherd, Weep No More, Vive L'Amour, Niska Banja and Hark I hear the Harps Eternal.

A lovely night for all- we really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow- sleeping on the train and why you shouldn't listen to your cabinmate.