Haven't Disappeared

You may be wondering where we've gone. I promise, we haven't disappeared, we've just been having loads and loads of fun with our friends, Mike and Teresa. Teresa and I met on the day we moved into our dorms at University, and we've been great friends ever since. We were roommates one year and part of the same group of 5 friends. It was amazing that they could come visit us, and as you can see, we did our best to wear them out...


We were so excited that they were able to come to visit us! We had lots of fun taking them around and showing them Beijing. But, between sightseeing and our normal work, there wasn't much blogging time left. It was so great for me to have so much quality time with one of my best friends, and Jacob and Mike had some nasty adventures a good time together, too.  We were both so thankful they were able to come.

In addition to hanging out with some amazing friends, we learned something new about our little village while they were here.  They've recently opened a Western-style fast food restaurant in our village!  That's right, friends, we can officially buy french fries without a 45 minute drive.  With that important issue now settled, we might never leave.  The fries are good, and the burgers and chicken sandwiches are an interesting take on Western food.  To be honest, they'll hit the spot when we're craving home-style food in the middle of the week, but I'd hate to think that locals who've never tried other western food will only have this as their exposure.  It leaves a bit to be desired.  The sole cooking instruments in the little cafe are a deep fryer and a microwave... interesting statement on the hallmarks of American food, right?  :)  They were so happy we came, they gave us sodas for free.

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, when Valerie offered to send me a present for our apartment?  Well, it arrived with Teresa... and I have 2 of the three vinyl wall ups hanging on our wall!  I just haven't had time to put up the 3rd.  But, aren't they amazing?  Thanks again, Valerie!  They are perfect and do a lot to make our apartment feel a bit more like home.

In funny China (I think that would be a category on my blog, if I weren't so lazy as to never do categories), there's a whole bunch of products whose English names often make us laugh.  I've been meaning to share some of these for a while, but I keep forgetting.  So, without further ado, I present "Oily Body" soap and "Carbon-flavored" chips.  You can find just about any product in a "real" version and a "knock-off" version.  Can you guess which soap box is legit?  And as for the chips... well, sometimes translations seem to be done with a thesaurus.  We think the flavor of the chips is actually supposed to be BBQ.  But, Carbon is funnier.

And in other funny China news, Jacob sang Karaoke the other night.  Anyone who knows Jacob in "real life" will know how funny that really is.  He's just not a performer, and he SWORE going into the evening that he wouldn't sing.  I think Mike has it on video... maybe he'll share with us in the future.  I was really hoping Jacob would sing Lady in Red, but had to settle for Hotel California.  Still most definitely amusing.