A Qingdao Bay Boat Party

 

The beautiful month of May was filled with birthdays! One of those birthdays was our friend, Sonny! You may remember us mentioning Sonny here. He's a great guy. He's incredibly generous, hilarious and humble. We love any time we get to spend with him! For his 40th birthday he decided to rent a boat and take his friends out for dinner and some Qingdao Bay views. 

The birthday boy and his brother and sister in law. 

 

Once every one was on the boat, we set off for the sea, and the waitors, chef and bartender Sonny brought from the hotel, started shaking, pouring and bbqing things up. There was also lots of fresh fruit and veggies.

 

 

The views were great but the boat was really rocking over each wave! It was hard to hold our plates, drinks and hold conversations. At some points we had to grip the table so as not to fly out of our chair.

People were even falling over! So they decided to turn the boat around and go back to the dock to enjoy our lunch and cake.

Zachary and Ash tried to catch a few fish while we were docked. One guy on the boat actually caught one and immediately stuck in on the barbi down stairs. He was super excited!

The Mosby Man and I

Some of the best birthday cheese cake I've ever tasted. After we ate we headed back out to the sea to enjoy the last hour with the boat.

Our view as we headed back in for the final time-tons of Chinese people taking pictures of us and the Olympic torch.

Happy Birthday Sonny! We had a great time! Thank you so much for having us!

Only in China

Only in China will you find people sleeping on curbs, in the middle of side walks and on metal wires. Only in China...  Will you see incredibly old people doing manual labor for new buildings, construction projects and landscaping. Will you learn the signs of a man that's about to go pee. You see that back turn, the taxi pull over, the creepy walk to the corner, or the walk towards the tree, and you just know, look away, he's gonna pee, AND then he's going to turn around while simultaneously stuffing it back in, (they don't unzip, they just pull out), and if you're super unlucky and don't catch all the signs before hand, you're gonna get a good view of his thing-a-majing.  will you get free corn juice when you buy a bottle of orange juice.  Only in China will you constantly hear the hawking sound of gurgling down deep to get all the loogies up to spit out anywhere at any time. Even the ladies do this. It's sexy. Will you put your hand in a giant blob of earwax on the bus. Will you have an old man randomly start rubbing oil on your back on a crowded bus. Will you be on all forms of social media from strangers snapping pictures of you. Will your students say they saw you on the internet singing and playing guitar, because someone you don't know nor do your students know,  recorded you a week ago while you sang "We love Jesus" on the guitar at an Easter party.  Will you so easily go viral on the local internet.  Will cars park on the sidewalk. Will cars drive any direction, in any lane, on any street.  Will your students try to jump out the window or stab their class mate with a knife and be allowed back at school the next day.  Will you see your Chinese friends get uber excited about their mail containing a bag of duck tongues.  Will you see babies to 9 year olds pooping and peeing in public.  Will you see faded Santa Claus heads decorating stores and restaurants in the middle of July.  Will you be able to drink 3 Dick wine made out of 3 different animal penises.  Will you get glared at while pregnant for eating ice cream. Will you not be able to see out your window because of smog. Will you be able to buy the counterfeit of any brand you could ever think of.  Will you be treated to dinner by so many amazing and generous people.  Will you be gifted with teas upon Chinese teas.  Only in China will you see a  motorcycle loaded 10 feet wide by 10 feet high.  Will you be able to buy underpants for fat men. Will beaches be this crowded.  Will you be able to shop in what appears to be a hazardous waste zone. Will you be haunted if you peel an apple in one piece in front of the mirror at midnight.

Our Best Tips for Living in China

Make Chinese friends.  Chinese people are ridiculously friendly and hospitable. Make Chinese friends. There is no better way to learn about Chinese culture, broaden your mind or learn Chinese than to make Chinese friends. You're in China, appreciate and get to know the people. You won't regret it. We have been richly blessed by having Chinese friends, especially Chinese family friends. We love being apart of whole families here.
Make Friends with the Expat Community There is so much wisdom to be learned from other foreigners who have lived in China before you. They can help you in so many ways, from where to find that one shop in the whole city that sells BBQ sauce to where not to go because it's unsafe. Also, even if you don't believe it, there will most likely be a time when you want to be with Expats. When we first went to Korea we believed we'd have mostly Korean friends. We weren't really interested in Western friends, because you know, we wanted to immerse ourself in the culture. But guess what, our expat community in Korea are some of our most favorite people and became like our family while we were there. We miss them terribly and our experience in Korea without them would not have been the same or as wonderful. Western holidays, de-stressing & processing all thats going on inside and around you is much, much more enjoyable & easier with people that come from a similar mindset and are in similar situations as you. 
Know how to use chopsticks & broaden your taste buds. If you're going to be living in China in a smaller city & hope to not starve while living here, learn how to use chopsticks! Obviously, you know, they eat with chop sticks here. Most restaurants will not carry a fork and knife so it's important for you to be able to nourish your self while in most Chinese restaurants. :) Also, it's a great way to impress the Chinese. They are very, very gracious with us foreigners. They will undoubtedly complement you on your chopstick skills. Also, broaden your taste buds. This doesn't mean that you have to eat scorpions or pig noses at every meal, but it does mean that finding Western food can be very difficult, and sometimes impossible outside of big cities. Try different foods and find the Chinese dishes you really enjoy. Learn the Chinese for them soon so you can order what you like in other places. 
Be Street Smart.  Street smarts look so different in China than in the West. In some ways they're the same, like watch your bag on the bus, hold your bag in front of you in a busy market and watch out for scammers. But in other ways it's still very different. There are complex social & scamming systems here that you have to be Chinese or have good friends that tell you, to really understand. Perhaps I'll do a whole post on street smarts in China. In the mean time, if you're moving to China, get to know Chinese friends quickly. Listen to their advice  & ask questions about living in China and interacting with others. 
Learn Chinese. Learning Chinese is almost essential for living in China. You can get by in bigger cities knowing less but no matter where in China, you will need to know some in order to get to one place to another, pay your bills, refill your phone, order food, etc. You don't have to be fluent but you do need to know the basics. Chinese people are also very encouraging when it comes to this. Chinese people will gush over you for just saying 'Ni Hao' in the correct tones. This is so encouraging while learning a new language.  You can usually find a Chinese person to tutor you who is eager to make friends with a foreigner or do a language exchange for free. For 30 yuan you can have a University student tutor you without the language exchange and have a more serious class. And for 50 yuan you can have a real Chinese teacher tutor you. These are such small prices to pay when you think about the that heaps of benefits you will gain in your daily life in China. 
Be Flexible & Patient. Everything takes time in China. Things change or come up in the last minute, all the time. People rush to the front of lines, push people out of the way and sardine pile on to buses. When you order food, it can take ages sometimes. Communicating takes time. Listening to a Chinese person communicate takes time. Everything takes time and is very different from home. Be flexible and patient. 
Remember this phrase, "This is China."  If your electricity is shut off for a day without notice because they are working on it, freaking out or getting angry will get you no where. In the U.S. you could call someone and complain and get your money back or at least the satisfaction of an, "We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience." Here, you will seldom get that. Unexplainable things happen all the time. People do things that make no sense to our logical Western minds. You must quickly learn the phrase, "This is China" and let go. 
Do you live in China? What are your best tips for living here?