Food Adventures for Everyone!

We had to be brave and adventurous while in China.  (Not as much in Bangladesh because I prepare Bengali food on a regular basis at home, although we did have one tea where the family had to force down some interesting “sweets”- rash goula balls.  I didn’t get any pictures of that, though.)  I was really proud of my family for giving it their all…they even did better than I did!

Simply shrimp…with eyes and shells on.  (SO thankful for pre-prepared foods at Safeway.)

Chicken Head & Beak

Chicken Foot

Ice cream sundae served on top of Sprite.  Interesting (and not liked very much by all).

Looks like I don’t like it but it was actually delicious.  It is called jiaozi and is a vegetable filling rolled into a thin piece of dough, crimped closed, and then boiled like a dumpling.  Similar to a pot sticker and delicious!

Can’t remember what this was but probably squid or calamari.  

Silliness.   But they were brave enough to try anything once.

Gulangyu - Piano Island

Monday afternoon we rode the ferry out to Piano Island.  It was a beautiful little island with lots of shopping, gorgeous homes, beaches, and historic sites.  We had fun exploring with our friends as they learned more about the island themselves.

One of the popular things in China right now are frames with no lenses like this guy has on.  Funny!

Looking toward Xiamen as we take the ferry home.

Looking back at Piano Island from the ferry.

The walk back to the hotel…

Xiamen University

We spent Monday morning touring the campus of the university.  It was incredibly beautiful! Take a look:

Sunday Afternoon Fun

After church we went to our friend’s home to give them the goodies we had brought for them.  We had done a little snooping to find out what the kiddos would love to have and went shopping for those things before leaving home.  Then we prayed them all the way into China.  It was no small miracle that we were able to get through customs in Bangladesh without having anything taken.  We  had been especially praying in the princess dresses for Esther and Grace.  Praise the Lord He protected our gifts and we had a fun afternoon of spoiling our friends.

It was like Christmas!  We had fun giving them some special gifts.

Two beautiful princess girls…they were precious!

We were able to bring them the Kindle they’ve been wanting.

Rachel wanted Settlers of Catan…a girl after our own heart.

We then went to the beach (right across the street from their house) and let the kids run around in the sand.  The little ones got soaking wet and the big ones went out on a paddle boat (except like a bicycle sitting on top rather than sitting down in the water).  It was crowded but we still enjoyed our time on the beach.

Searching for seashells.

This was cool…this man was painting Chinese characters on the sidewalk with water and a sponge. He did it quickly and it was so beautiful!

We ate dinner that night in what used to be a Bhuddist temple. It was neat to think about praying to Jesus Christ in what used to be a place of worship for a false god.

It was so chilly the kids doubled up in some of the dad’s  shirts to try to get warm.

The kids enjoying their best meal in a long time (Spaghetti and Pizza – YUM.)

Xiamen International Fellowship

It was wonderful to worship with our friends at their church on Sunday.  Michael, Morgan and Ethan went to youth group Sunday School early with Rachel and then we all met up for the service.  It was so nice to be able to sing in English with other believers from around the world. 

The whole gang after church Sunday morning.  What a blessing!

The church takes guests out for lunch.  Eileen (age 16) sat with the kids and taught them how to do Chinese food with a lazy susan and chopsticks.  They had a great time trying out their new skills and eating new, strange foods.

Xiamen, China

We hit the ground running when we arrived in Xiamen on the 24th.  After getting settled in our hotel and getting cleaned up, we met our friends who work there down in the lobby.  Then we took a walk down to a street mall (a lot like the 16th Street mall in Denver) where thousands of people walked the streets shopping.  The masses of people made Bangladesh look less crowded (if you can imagine that).

V took us to some places for food after the kids had their fill of McDonalds.  We went into one place and you are literally shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing and shoving your way to the front where you can place your order.  She told us that was how the culture goes.  They are taught, “If there’s a space, there’s a space for ME.”  It took some getting used to but I found that by the time we left China we had figured the system out and were holding our own as we worked our way through the airports, etc.

We knew from our first few hours with our friends that this was going to be a fun-filled week with a lot of new adventures and good laughs.