Journal Entry- Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Greeting from Lanzhou,
We pray this email finds you well; we are experiencing wondrous adventures daily. Last night we ventured out for dinner and to get some air. We walked to KFC. Yes, you read that right. The Colonel is very popular here. It was refreshing to order using a number off the menu. Jin had chicken nuggets and fries along with hot milk. The Chinese are used to drinking hot milk especially children. Sally, our guide here, said that they have mild stomachs, but they can handle beef noodles for breakfast?!

Jin was happy to drink the hot milk. We also bought him new shoes in mall and found a park for him to release some energy. He is certainly going to give Jon Campbell a run for his money! The two will be twin terrors!

Our adoption agency here gave each parent a lanyard to wear as we travel about which explains in Chinese that we adopted Jin. When we show that to people they seem to warm up to and smile. Many will then fawn over him. It makes us feel better too. Sally, our guide, is wonderful. She is with us 3-4 hours during the day as we site see. She is very informative. We are blessed by her kindness and thoughtfulness. We are grateful to learn more about the Chinese culture from her as her English is very good. We have experienced the Chinese attentiveness, kindness as well as self- assertiveness.

Have we mentioned there seems to be no driving rules or laws present nor enforced here? It is every car, van, bicycle and motor bike for itself. Pedestrians be ware! We crossed the streets ourselves and made it safely. We aren't joking when we say Chinese drivers are better and crazier than New York City drivers.

Today we visited the Yellow River which flows right along Lanzhou. It is roughly 5,000 plus km long. It is very sandy too. Attached you will see a bridge which crosses over the river which is from Germany and was to only last 80 years, but it is now over 100 years old, built in 1905. It took over 1 year to be shipped from Germany.

The Yellow River

We walked along the river which is bordered with Water Willow trees. It is quite beautiful. Alongside the river's edge there is a large area for exercising. The Chinese are very conscience about exercising. The area, where they exercise, is like an adult playground. Please see the attached photo.

We tried it out too; it was great even for Happy Buddhas :)

Then we visited a historic tourist site, the Water Wheel. 500 years ago they drew water from the Yellow River with these wheels to irrigate. Please also see the last photo which shows a real sheepskin raft. These were used to float up and down the river. They are made from entire sheep bodies which have been tanned and blown up. No joke! Honestly, they were disgusting to see in person.

Come float down the river on me

OMG- they really do float!

From here we walked around an open air market not far from our hotel. It was another world within itself, you can almost imagine being in an ancient Chinese market. There was stall after stall of jade, beads, coins, carvings, brushes, calligraphy, and the like. Many people had their items displayed on the ground.

  Sally treated us to a meal of Beef Noodles. It was great. I felt Chinese myself. Many restaurants don't have actual doors to open during the day, but with it be cold; you walk thru plastic strips which block the cold in the doorway. Health codes are of no concern :) But the meal was great. (Yes, we had tetanus shots before we came!) There were 3 rows of long metal tables; we sat on short metal stools and ate our beef noodles with a little vinegar. You grab them with chop sticks bring them to your mouth and slurp! We asked Sally why vinegar and she said it makes it taste even better. Jin was in heaven. He loves them. They were mild according to Sally. Clint really enjoyed them even though he is not one to eat spicy items. The Lord has shown us a lot about ourselves and how we view people not like us. We are still getting many "looks".

Those are some spicy beef noodles!

Beef Noodles

After our afternoon rest we ventured out by ourselves. We took some clothes to the laundry then went to the grocery store and got a few things we could eat for dinner and for the educational experience. Jin carried the basket and kept throwing things in! When we emerged from the grocery store (partially underground) the street had been transformed into a two block long market of vendors selling fruits, veggies, roasted meats and such. There were so many things on sticks to eat you cannot believe it, even mini squids! All you do is pick your meat, veggie, and starch and then they cook and season it over tiny coal fired grills. It was sometimes revolting, but incredibly fascinating. We tried some delicious deep fried potatoes and some meat on sticks....what was it? We don't know but it cost 15 cents a stick!

What we thought was pineapple....it's actually made of corn.

We did not try any of this!

Our meat cooking...well, we hope it was meat?!

A few words from yesterday we forgot to mention. When we presented our gifts to the orphanage staff, one gift was a large fabric wall hanging of the US quilted by Adele's Mom, Karin. It is very colorful and attractive for children. We showed them where we live in Nashville and where another of their former children lives. They seemed especially pleased with this.

A few notes about Jin. He seems to be adjusting to us well. One street asked him if we were his mama and papa, two words we understand; he pointed to us and said Mama! Papa! He is eating very well, we have to control that he does not eat too much. He drinks lots of water and seems very happy. He is sleeping well at night and naps for an hour about mid-day. He is mimicking our words and can count to ten. Thank you for your prayers and messages of good cheer. They are gifts from God and a boon to our spirits. We thank God for you!
Clint, Adele and Jin