A Fabulous Sunday Afternoon in Zhongshan, China.

Sunday night we went to dinner at Rachels house. Rachel is our friend who we met at my surprise birthday party. She's a friend of Tina's. Her and her parents invited us over to make Jiao zi and spend the evening with them. We got there and the Womens China vs. Australia soccer game was on, which was great! We watched that for a little while whilst we snacked on the most delicious chocolate cookies (the ones in the tin boxes that they sell at Costco... Tu sabes?) and grapes (which I haven't had since I left America because they are so expensive in China) and pears and peanuts. :) Mmmm. So great. Once the jiao zi filling was finished, we all sat around the table and made folded the dumplings. That is always a great time. I love making jiao zi. I think it is so fun, especially the way they do it here. It's like a family activity where everyone gathers around the table and folds jiao zi. And the result is absolutely wonderful.

For dinner we had the Jiao zi of course, as well as... a plate of outlandishly spicy cucumbers that ignited my entire mouth after the first bite, so unfortunately... that was all I could handle. Also a dish of sprouts, corn on the cob, and... my personal favorite :) a very large oddly seasoned chicken wing. I'm being sarcastic. Thus far, I have not been too picky about what we've been served here. I've never been a real picky food eater. Besides the real spicy things, chicken feet, and a few others... I've been fairly content. But I took one bite of this chicken wing and I felt nauseous. I'm sure that sounds really exaggerated but I'm completely serious. I couldn't eat it but I felt horrible because it was really big and I didn't want to offend them or waste it. I came up with an alternate plan. The kitchen table was conveniently located right beside the sliding glass door that went out onto the porch. We were the 13th floor up from the ground, and I thought, as soon as Rachel gets up and goes into the kitchen with her parents, I will just walk out there and throw it over the balcony real fast. So as soon as she left I wrapped my leg in a napkin and got up to take it out... but right then Rachel turned back around and was coming back to the table. I don't think I've ever moved so quickly. I sat back down in my chair and put the chicken leg in my lap. Oh gosh. I was cursing myself for the idea in the first place and I was really wishing I hadn't wrapped it in the napkin that was now stuck to the chicken leg and I couldn't get it off without pieces of it remaining. But now, Rachel had definitely sat down for good. She was there to stay and it was clear she wouldn't be getting up for a little while. And my chicken leg was in my lap wrapped in a napkin that was stuck to it and would not come off. I was under the table trying to pull off all the bits and pieces of the napkin that I could, and once I thought I'd gotten enough of it off, I got my camera out and gave it to Rachel to look at something so as to distract her so I could transfer my chicken leg from my lap to my plate. It worked. Mei wen ti. I got it there. I have no idea if she noticed that I had nothing on my plate for 5 minutes and then a whole chicken leg appeared but that is how it worked out. And despite my efforts, it was still dotted with little specs of napkin so I had to quickly bite and eat those parts of the chicken leg off so that it wouldn't form questions. :) It was hilarious. Abby was sitting across the table from me trying not to laugh the entire time. Poor Rachel was feeling a bit left out I think because she had NO idea what we were all laughing at. But... it all worked out. I ended up eating most of it. I just couldn't waste it. My parents raised me well :)

After dinner we just talked and played a few games with Rachel and her family. It's always the best spending time with families. Even if it isn't our families, just being with families is the greatest.

Oh dear. I have one more funny story. After dinner Rachel was helping us learn how to say some phrases in Chinese and Mikelle wanted to learn a phrase that she now knows in a handful of languages. The phrase is, “Shut up and kiss me.” She asked Rachel and she was a bit confused and didn't know right away what Mikelle wanted to know. Abby jumped in and suggested, (I'm paraphrasing) Maybe not shut up... that is a little abrupt and not the nicest way to say it. Maybe if you said, “be quiet and kiss me, or stop talking and kiss me, or close your mouth and kiss me.” haha... Then she said, “Wait. What kind of a kiss are we talking about here?” AHA! I think you had to be here, and you'd have to know Abby to really appreciate how funny that is. It would be like Tarah saying that. Ha. Soooo s.t.i.n.k.i.n.g. f.u.n.n.y. We laughed. A great deal. For a long time. Shoot. I'm still laughing about it.

It was such a great night. I love spending time with Chinese people. They are so sweet and kind hearted. Rachel is so genuine and great, and her parents are wonderful. Rachel is 18 and she is moving to Michigan to live with her Aunt to go to school in August. She is so excited, and so are we. I know I don't often go to Michigan, but the chances of us seeing her again are much more likely with her in America than in China. :)