Just an update

Ava started back to school today and we are hoping for good things. You never know, sometimes, how they are adjusting and we thought she was doing well, but then found out towards then end that she was having some crying spells at school and a few fits. Hopefully, she has adjusted well enough now that she can start again on the right foot. Ella is starting in February after the Chinese New Year, when the 2nd semester begins. She is the one I worry most about because she is such a mama's girl.

On the food here. I really like it. I've not eaten anything weird, although it is on the menu. I stick mostly to the standards that I would eat at home like kung pao chicken and pork stir fries. But everything is a little fresher tasting and usually more spicy. So far, the only problem I've had in the stomach department is from eating something to spicy but that is better than eating something bad.

Cooking at home is a little different. Most of the ingredients I am used to using like eggs, milk, chicken broth, even salt taste different here. So when I try to make traditional American things they never turn out right. I've decided to let the American dishes be American and not even try to incorporate them here because I always end up disappointed. Oh, the other thing is that some things like taco seasoning and chips (I tried taco night) are imported from home but may sit for some time before hitting the shelves and they have a bit of an old taste. So, I am doing a lot of Chinese style cooking. I would highly recommend to all of ya'll who are adopted parents of Chinese kids that if you want to cook Chinese food to get the "Everything Chinese" cookbook. My mother in law gave it to me before I left and it has really simple recipes in there with ingredients that wont force you to hit the Chinese market and everything so far has turned out good and cooks up fast. Plus I've found that all the chopping relaxes me. And please, please, if you can, try to have traditional sweet and sour pork or chicken. I would never eat the stuff in the States. The sauce scared me. But here they cook the chicken with pineapples and some other syrup type stuff so that the chicken itself has sort of a sweet taste and then you dip in a chili sauce and it is way better than any sweet and sour dish I have ever eaten at home. Also, in a past post I talked about making Chinese Spaghetti and Meatballs from the Rachel Ray web site and they are great. It does not look like spaghetti and meatballs as we know it. The meatballs taste a lot like the filling in dumplings or pot stickers and the noodles and sauce are a soy saucy, noodle mixture similar to what you might find here at a noodle house. It is good and my kids actually eat it. So check that out if you like.

Finally, back to Christmas. It would seem that Santa does not come here by reindeer but must have to scale a wall by rope to get into the house to deliver presents. I didn't think much about it when I first saw it because Santa was in a tree at the Aquarium and the rope seemed appropriate for the scene but now that I have seen Santa hanging from a rope with no reindeer in site on multiple occasions I have concluded that he must leave them at the North Pole and brings his rock climbing gear instead, to China.

I hope all of that was informative. We are still enjoying the ride so far but missing ALOT of the modern conveniences of home. I always thought I would love having a driver but in reality I long to get in my own car and drive myself to the grocery where I could grab just a carton of eggs and some milk and be back home in 30 minutes. Instead I have to wait for a cab or the driver to show up and take me on a 15 minute death defying trip to a grocery that seems to always be full of every person in China who push their shopping carts like they drive. It's not good for the kids either. They've taken to the pushing and shoving quiet well. I caught Ella trying to get thru a crowd the other day by pushing and telling people to "just get out of my way". We had to have a little civility discussion after that.

I'll post again soon!