Meeting the Family

Today was Sunday June 27th our first full day of China! We began around 9 in the morning with showers and getting ready to get breakfast. Our first full meal in China was a breakfast in this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that max took us to right down the street from his house. I had no idea what to expect because when people would always ask Max what people eat for breakfast in China he would always avoid the question with "I don't know how to say that in English." The breakfast was really delicious though. The food was steamed in this cool wooden pot that they serve the food in also. The actual dish was like a pork filled wonton with soup inside. They were extremely good but difficult for chopstick amateurs to fully enjoy because you were supposed to bite a tiny whole, suck the soup out, and then dip the wonton in a vineger based soy sauce to eat. Well the dipping and not breaking the wonton to spill the soup was difficult with the chopsticks. Then after a full entree of those we had regular wontons in a soup with seaweed, which was also delicious but so filling I wasnt sure if I would be able to walk at all.

After a short break we took off on a walk around the city first stopping for drinks in a grocery store right down the street. It was a bit strange because we didnt have drinks with our breakfast but we were able to get whatever drinks we wanted at the grocery store because the prices are so low with the exchange rate. We then walked around the city probably totaling 5 miles. We saw many stores, people (not white people), and cool buildings. One of the first places Max took us was the Nanjing Normal University which is a local college called "Normal" because it specialized in educating teachers. The campus was beautiful and walking around the city was awesome because even though it is a big city the size of Philly and one of the top 3 hottest cities in the whole country it was a cool walk because there were trees lining the roads that shaded all of the streets and sidewalks. After the University we walked through the city and stopped at what looked like a park for kids with a play place, but it turned out the play place was for old people and it was a little public work out place. The things were cool and Gordon managed to hit his head on one of the spinning ab things. After the park we walked around some more and saw some government buildings guarded by army men in air conditioned glass boxes along with undercover army officers Max pointed out .

We continued our walk around the city into some of the shopping malls. We first walked through some of the bigger ones that looked alot like Macy's or JC Penny. We decided that make up and women's shoes were not our first interest so Max took us on the subway to a place that was a little more appropriate for us. The subway was really nice. It was very clean with food stands and shops around the stations and the cars themselves were bright, airconditioned, and had TV's in each cabin. They also were not too crowded and were very easy to use. The shoppes we ended up going to were really cool. They were underground streets probably 5 feet wide with small stores on either side completely packed with shoppes and people. These stores were similar to a place I have been in New Orleans, but I'm not exactly sure what the place in New Orleans was called, I want to say a boardwalk or something, but I'm not sure. The shoppes though in China were really cool because they were dark with neon lights and trendy urban stores. There were also little toy stores and trinket shoppes with food every so often and really weird bathrooms. George with his continuing going problem stopped in a bathroom, but its a good thing he didnt have to go #2 because apparently you're supposed to bring your own toilet paper. The bathrooms were freakishly open with really no door on the guys bathroom and the girls room right past. also there were no actual toilets, they had urinals but the "toilets" were just holes in the ground where it would really take some skill to pop a squat.

When we left those shoppes we made our way back to Max's house for a game of UNO before we went to his Aunt and Uncles house. Now when we heard he had an Aunt and Uncle we were confused at first because with a 1 child policy it would be wierd for either of Max's parents to have a brother or sister, but the one child policy was only implemented in the 1980's after his mother and her brother were born. So Max's mothers brother is whose house we went to, where we met Max's cousin, aunt, uncle, and highly anticipated dog. His dog was a big Doberman that he always talked about so much named "Kaka" after the brazilian soccer player. His family was very nice and they even have a back yard to their house. To have a back yard in the city is extremely rare and it makes it possible for his horse of a dog to live a happy life. It was really nice to meet Max's cousin because she is learning english and hoping to go to college in the US like Max. She was a bit shy at first and her english was not as good as Max, but she was very friendly and with a little push from the chinese speakers, she was friendly and provided another person we could actually communicate with.

After Max's aunt and uncles house we went to eat dinner and meet both sides of his grandparents. The place they chose for our dinner was a big Ramada Inn of Nanjing and they had a private room just for our dinner. It was very nice and the meal was HUGE. The waitresses would bring out dish after dish until the giant spinning glass table was completely filled. When we first met the grandparents it was very overwhelming because we wanted to talk so badly but the tretorous language barrier got the best of us as Max was busy helping his dad which left us completely baffled as to anything that was going on. Max came back shortly and their family toasted us for taking care of him in the US probably 6 times to show their gratitude. The food was unlike anything in the US, but was pretty similar to what I had seen on TV. We even had the fish with the head still attached and the chicken feet. The meal was really good with the only complaints being all the toasts left georges baby bladder in the bathroom all night and Gordon's stomache filled too quickly to handle the "smelly tofu." His family was very gracious and the meal felt like we were really part of the family. It was very nice and an awesome welcoming to a country half way around the world. They also insisted that the meal we were eating was the exact same as if even President Obama were to come to Nanjing that same day, which was also funny because as soon as Max's uncle saw Gordon, the first thing he says was "OBAMA."

After we ate dinner we decided to walk home and try and walk off some of our newly filled stomaches. The jet lag had really taken its toll on us at that point and pretty soon after we got home we were all passed out. I didn't feel that tired until I sat down on the couch and instead of watching the England vs Germany soccer game at 10pm like Max and I had planned I passed out on the couch at like 9:45, while Gordon and George had already checked out for the night a half hour earlier. Needless to say I hadnt gotten around to writing this blog until this morning. we are all eager to find out what is in store for today, so I will see you again tonight.

Marty