Huo Guo! - Hot Pot!

Last night I went to Emerson (American company) that does some outsourcing work here. I was invited by a friend to share a little about American culture and customs to a class. We talked about the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas and what we're thankful for! It was a great night getting to have fun, learning, and meeting new people!

Afterward, my friends took me to his parent's restaurant! Which they're specialty was Huo Guo! Eating Huo Guo is considered a very nice dinner!

In the middle of the table is a big hole where the pot sits and the oven underneath. Half of the bowl is the really spicy side (the best!) and then other side is a white fish broth

The soup boils and then we throw in the raw meat and veggies and wait for them to cook

Then we enjoy! This was my bowl with the fish


The tail and head are delicacies-which I've eatten before! My friend was enjoying them!
Fish head! Mmmm.... :)

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is almost here! Yah! Obviously, Thanksgiving isn't a holiday that is celebrated here. But we are preparing!


So we were planning to have a chicken, because its very hard to find a turkey here. However, Sean found a store that has a few imported turkeys-so we get to have one for Thanksgiving! Yah! We also had a friend just come back from Shanghai and she actually found a can of pumpkin pie mix!! Whoa! Something you definitely cannot find here! Little surprises and blessings that go a long way!

Just wanted to show you our decorations we put up on our front door! We made hand turkeys!!

Being Sick in China

Before the heat turned on, I ended up getting sick for two entire weeks... :( It was not fun! It seemed like everyone was sick during the same time. Here is some of the medicine I took.



I usually don't get sick... but sad to say I got a sinus infection and was not feeling good . What an adventure it was going to the pharmacy and trying to figure out what I needed (thankful for having a good friend to help me). PS by the way, here you don't need a prescription to get medicine, you just tell them what you want and they give it to you. Makes it easy.... if you know what you need!

HEAT is ON!

WE HAVE HEAT!

We've had a few days of it being really cold and me wearing 2-4 layers sometimes! Our apartment is surrounded by cement walls so it just keeps our place always cold! At night we wrap up in blankets and put boiling water into our water bottles and hold onto them to warm us up! Each night we also throw a hot water bottle into our beds to warm them up before we go to sleep.

Today was the official day the government turns on the heat... so its starting to warm up our home! It will take a little while-our part of the city is heated by coal-smoke stacks.

An estimated 8 million people live in my city

These pictures were taken in September-when it was warmer!

The smokestack is right next to our house!

We live on the 23rd floor! These are the views from our windows on a really clear day (which doesn't happen a lot). We're thankful for when it rains because it always pushes the pollution out.

We are in the process of decorating our apartment! Which includes painting on canvases (the creative side of us is coming out), hanging up our photography, and hanging a huge canvas on one of the walls to post all our pictures and fun stuff we find! Its really beginning to look like a home here! Which we are all so thankful for!

I'll post those pictures as soon as we're all finished! Which will hopefully be by next weekend!

Halloween in China!

So Halloween isn't a holiday here... but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to not celebrate!


Some friends held a small party at their place! It was a Super Hero Party! Some of us decided to make up our hero costumes and powers! It was a great time hanging out with friends!

Rach and I

Mr. Street Cleaner! (He also had mops on his feet)!

The Zoo!

We took a bus out of town about a 40 minute ride to go to the ZOO with some of our friends!

Checkout the cartoons above the sign-thats Tigger

Playing on the statues!

Talking to the monkeys

More fun!

Playing on the statues! (this one is for you mom)!

A fierce monkey!

So.... this was the bus you got in to go see the wild animals!! Checkout the bars on it!

Yah for good times with friends!

Roommates and Fish!

I officially have two roommates now! Which is exciting! They are amazing!!

Funny random story... Krista brought home a goldfish from the market one day. As soon as I saw him I thought he looked lonely and needed a friend. So the next day Krista brought home a friend for him.... It was Earl and Lennard. That night... Lennard died.

So the next afternoon I went to the market to get Earl another friend (I shouldn't have been the one to go- there were so many fish and I had such a hard time choosing)-so that night we ended up with 6 more friends for Earl!

Slowly after each day a new fish would past away (we hadn't even got to name all of them yet)-by the third day, they were all gone. We tried everything.... I just had to show you the documentation taken of getting rid of our goldfish... so we decided we're gonna stay away from fish since we can't keep them alive. :(

^Krista using chopsticks to get the dead fishes out... :(

"Then we had our burial at sea"-our fish flushed down the toliet