December 24, 2016
Herschel was very keen on seeing our town the way we do...by getting on our motorcycle and/or electric motorbike. After hiking the waterfall, David and Herschel went out and drove through some surrounding villages and through town a bit making sure they knew where the restaurant was for the party later that evening. He drove my electric bike (which has some serious zip to it) and David led on his motorcycle. Thus began Herschel's 'adventures on the motorbike' with homemade go-pro camera. This was a bit hilarious but successful contraption that I will introduce later. This particular day he was just getting his bearings on the bike, how to use it, and how to navigate traffic.
Our landlords had a baby a few months ago and being part of a minority here, they must celebrate the baby's 100th day! This happened to be Christmas Eve and we thought this would be an excellent chance to introduce Herschel to a true cultural experience, so we said 'Yes! We will be there'.
These are the type of events we go to all year round!
Our landlords dad was very drunk by the first course and kept trying to get David to toast more, and actually took him from our table to sit close to the front for a bit. Meanwhile our kids ate mostly rice. While we love local food, sometimes these events boast the fancy dishes that are not to our liking, though we usually have one or two things we can eat.
After David returned to our table I took the kids to play (they had been sitting awhile). Herschel and David continued eating. Herschel dug into the soup and promptly pulled out the chicken's head! When David told him what it was, he quickly dropped it back in. David saved him by pulling it back out. While we all do put our own chopsticks into these shared dishes, once you touch something your supposed to pull it out and keep it. The head shocked Herschel (when he realized what it was) and we all got a great laugh. David told the others at the table that in America we never see the chicken's head. David then realized he had to figure out how to eat it (or pretend to).This is the exact anecdote we were looking for in taking Herschel to this event. Probably every ex-pat in China has a similar story.
We made it home in time for some gift exchange. Sophia's best friend came over earlier in the day and we exchanged with her. And this year we had our kids choose names of another child in our fam. This would make them have to consider what would please another person. Each child really got into this and loved choosing and giving. It was lego-themed this year!
Yeah! Books from Granddaddy Johnson too. His best gift to us was an awesome natural supplement to boost our immune system. We quickly ordered more! Our fam has had its share of sickness, but the past 6 weeks we have been well! Our garden was pretty 'epic fail'. I realized I did not have the time, though I LOVE the idea...maybe this book will get me inspired again.
I read Granddaddy's card to Gabrielle, and they love having a little of their own spending money! So fun. Plus, these were our first Christmas cards, coming just in time!
Night time reading with Uncle Herschel!
It had been a LONG day, when Herschel hit the hay, we got our kids stockings stuffed, with some overflow of course....
