Christmas in Qingdao

Christmas has come and gone. All I have to say, is that this Christmas will go down in History as one of the strangest. Not that strange is a bad thing. We started the holiday off with a Christmas party in Laoshan park. It was wonderful. There were 50 families. We were all there for a scavenger hunt, bird release, monkey feed, lunch and a show. In as much as I understand even less Chinese then I attempt to speak, I really had no idea what was going on most of the time. We followed the group around most of the time. Everyone was given a bird to release and then we got to go inside the monkey house. I thought they food they were giving out were snacks until the monkeys grabbed them. I am known in China for eating animal food.

The show was a group of Chinese children performing Scooby Doo in English. It was very entertaining. The kids had memorized all their lines, but didn't really know what they were saying. Denali pointed that out to me because the character of Shaggy said like for every other like work, you know what I like mean. Whenever he said like he like uh lacked that dazed look and just said like, like it was another word. Denali said, "I don't think he like gets it." Next the called all foreigners on stage to sing a Christmas song in their native language. I had a very hard time convincing my children that they were the foreigners. Jackson never made it on stage, because he is not a foreigner. Denali refused to let me sing, I embarrass her enough just by existing.

After the party, we went home and got ready for Christmas Eve mass. It was way at the other end of town, so we took a taxi. The Catholic church here in Qingdao is Korean, so guess what, mass was in Korean. The church is huge and of course it is not heated. Jackson was able to get the lady next to him to share her blanket with him, the rest of us, we froze. I am not sure of the age that children here make their first communion, but it must be older then 8. I say that because, they did not give McKinley communion. She stood there defiantly, but in the end returned to her seat without it. I told her it tasted like fish and she was OK. After mass we walked around trying to find a cab, or a bus. We ended up finding a family restaurant. lots and lots of kids that have never seen people that look like us before. We tried to hide in a corner, bu they kept staring anyway. I still don't know what happened, but that meal was in the top 3 worst food experiences we have had in China. I guess Medium Well in this restaurant means make sure it is dead. We see a store, buy a few bottles of wine and a few bags of chocolate and home. Thank god for chocolate and wine.

Christmas morning was great. Nice, quiet. Well the wii saga continues. Santa brought a remote sensor, guitar hero, and many new games. Nothing worked, I mean nothing. Why would I think anything would work. Apparently the wii is not programed to work in China. How does the wii even know that I am in China. So we head off to Jimo Lu with the wii. By this time my wii is in pieces and they are soldering it back together!!!! I should have taken a picture of that.


After they are done working on my wii we head off to Tai Dong Lu for Mexican Food. Tai Dong Lu is what I always imagined China to look like. Bright lights, millions of people, outside escalators, and vendors covering every inch of the sidewalk. Yes, we went out for Mexican food on Christmas night. After a couple of beers, Chris decides to get his hair cut in the shop next door. I bring out Chris's ipod and a picture of Tony Stark (Iron Man). I thought I told the stylist that I want my husband to look like this picture, but I think I told the stylist that I want Tony Stark for my husband, because he was extra nice to Chris. I mean this haircut lasted forever. We all know about Chris's patience, but even mine had run out. Chris rips off that cover thing they use and then gestures a neck slicing motion and tries to leave. So, they wash his hair again thinking he is itchy!!! The haircut is done, he looks great, not like Tony Stark, but it is passable. We decide to head home.....

It is freezing, it is rush area, we have to go the bathroom and we can't get a cab. Chris decides to get on the first bus that comes by to warm up. This bus is a bus number I haven't seen in my 2 months in Qingdao. It's warm, What can the harm be? So we get on the bus and the bus goes and goes and goes. I have no idea where I am, I see no land marks, I don't even know what direction we have been heading in, when suddenly the bus stops and everyone is kicked off the bus!!! Jackson and McKinley were asleep!!! The bus is pulling into the terminal..Last stop. There is nothing around. Can you hear Chris now, welcoming me to the underbelly of China......Christmas luck did not fail us. Within 10 minutes of walking a taxi stops. I tell the driver where I want to go. I'm pretty sure that he was telling me that he is not going to drive that far, but I tell everyone to get in anyway. I pretend to know nothing except my address. That's all I would say, and eventually we mad it to familiar territory.

Now, the story should end here, but it doesn't. I gave the girls these hairclips for Christmas. When you buy these particular hair clips, you can bring them back to the shop anytime and get your hair done. They just had to use the Christmas present. I may have also told McKinley that I would take her to get her hair done when we made it out of where ever we were just to get her to stop. So we get out of the taxi and go get our hair braided. A huge crowd gathers round to watch the girls get their hair done. Chris is holding out his hat to collect money!!! By this time it is rather late and we must go straight home because we leave for Beijing at 6am. Can you guess the topic of my next blog??