The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Week two is drawing to a close and I must say that things do not appear as dismal as they did at the end of week one. The city of Qingdao is starting to appear "normal". The locals do not seem as shocked to see the four us walking down the street and we are getting used to the bus system. Yes, we still have to occasionally get off the bus to take a taxi because we are lost. Jackson has found a solution to this problem - every time we leave the apartment, we are pirates. Armed with our treasure maps(the English, Pinyin and Chinese character versions), we venture out into the wild blue sea (Qingdao city) in search of a treasure (our destination). Denali is not at all impressed with my navigating skills and McKinkley is constantly telling me to just give up and call David. David is our host and the guy my husbands works with. I'm sure he would just laugh at me (in fun of course). He seems to find great amusement in the trials and tribulations of an American Family in Qingdao. Then again, who doesn't?

The children started taking Tae Kwon Do. They are following a Korean Master and therefore need to speak Korean. The other children are Chinese and so it may be an even playing field since only the instructors speak Korean. I will have to take pictures of them in the oufits and post. The uniforms look great - very authentic. It turns out that the wife of the Tae Kwon Do Master is a gymnastics Coach. She is going to arrange for Denali to have private training sessions. Denali may get to keep up her skills after all!!! I think I actually saw her smile. We haven't told Chris yet, because he is hoping that this is the end of gymnastics!!!

I must say that I have met some very nice people. I need to thank everyone for all the support I am getting from back home as well as the help from the people in Qingdao. That is everyone except for my father, who is living the life of Reilly in my house. Did I mention that he is living in my house and I am in China???


We went to Polar World and had a great time. The Beluga Whale is so interactive. I am sure it could see us. The dolphin and sea lion show was exciting, too bad it wasn't in English. Imagine that...American indignation reared its ugly head...how dare they!!! As a snack, I ordered a hot dog. It came on a stick. Jackson thought that was the funniest thing he ever saw in his life. We then ended our afternoon at a KFC. Yes, a KFC. Popcorn chicken and french fires. McKinley was so happy she had tears in her eyes. Alas, the food comes.....nobody liked the chicken. I said, "dip it in ketchup, everything is better in ketchup". So McKinley dips. eats and finds her mouth on fire. The chicken is bloody spicy. I go get her a glass of water - water in China is served hot, boiling hot. She chugs, burns her mouth, spits it out, cries and screams she hates me. Luckily KFC is close to empty. I'm not sure if McKinley is just in physical pain or mental pain from not being able to eat the chicken. I bribe her with an extra box of french fries and we escape. I did not look back.

Onward we head into week 3.