China episode 1

Pictures on this post are probably going to be out of order... pictures are a bit of a pain on the laptop and with this internet connection. The great firewall of China is more of a pain than ever and my Baylor VPN isn't always able to bypass it.

The trip to China was relatively uneventful. It's always disconcerting traveling so far, wondering whether or not you forgot to do or bring anything important. At the Houston airport China Air told us Michael's visa had a big problem and they might not let him into China... luckily turns out the lady was talking about his old, expired visa (which previously worked fine -- the old visa didn't have his full name on it and used initials). Was 15 hours nonstop from Houston to China. Enoch did great, watched TV, played games, slept, repeat. Peter was a pain, but luckily there was an empty seat next to me so we all ended up getting a seat. Could have been a lot worse! On the flight from Beijing to Qingdao Enoch and Michael suddenly informed me that they were about to wet their pants shortly before take off. Flight attendants wouldn't let me get up and use the restroom, so they peed in barf bags that I held for about 15 minutes. With a delay in Beijing and the drive to sharon's parents house it was about 26 hours of travel time, not too terrible.

It's been really great to be here so far. Sharon's parents love having the kids here and shower them with attention. They have been feeding the kids homemade dumplings and stuffed buns all the time, all kinds of porridge, shrimp, clams, and lots of crabs. Enoch loves the crabs and kept asking for more crab legs. It's nice to have the attention on the kids and not me, and it's also nice that Sharon is not pregnant this time. I think we're all a lot more relaxed than in previous trips and we're all enjoying our time together a lot more than in the past. Sharon's parent's business is pretty busy lately, with lots of loading and unloading from their frozen feed warehouse, which has been fun to see.

It has taken about 4 days for the kids to get back to normal -- they've probably been a bit more grumpy than usual and it's probably the jet lag. Everone's mostly back to normal, now though.

It's been fun to see the kids speak in Chinese to everyone. If people remember to use mandarin and not the local dialect, the kids do great. It doesn't feel like a struggle for them to communicate. It's all very satisfying for all the effort we've spent in teaching them Chinese is paying off.

So far we've mostly just been hanging out with family, eating meals with grandparents and great grandparents, and shopping on market days in the town and in the bigger city as well. We met Sharon's brother's new girl friend Lin Lin and they treated us to a fancy lunch.

Enoch was really excited about this book. 50 cents

Enoch and Michael's 2nd cousin, Tong Jie. He's 4 months older than Enoch and speaks good Mandarin, they have fun playing together.

One of grandma You's sister's had some clothes made for the kids. Stars

We got pretty excited with all the Chinese children's books we found... ended up spending about $100 US :-0

Enoch writing Chinese characters in a booklet, Michael on ipad

Took a bit to gather the courage for the kids to try the scooter with grandpa

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa You

Very excited about the comic books we bought at Beijing airport. Helped make the 4 hour delay go faster

Driving home from Qingdao airport. Mommy was exhausted, Peter pleased not to have a car seat

Great grandma you

Great grandma you

Great grandma and grandpa's house. This is where Sharon spent most of her first 10+ years growing up

Great grandpa You

Wearing the vests that grandma You made

Stuffed buns

Playing at the KFC playground, Sharon's brother Peng Peng watching kids

Being treated by Sharon's brother and his girlfriend to lunch

Sharing a bed