Pizza Hut Salad Bar- Dad

Dear everyone. I don't know how to send this email to everyone at the same
time, so I am sending this to Brit and ask that he forwards it to all the
children. Thanks Brit. We have just finished teaching this week. We teach
only on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Next Monday is a holiday. We will
celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival. It is similar to Thanksgiving. A
television station contacted the university today and asked to interview a
foreigner. The school contacted us to see if they could interview us and
show the interview on television. We said sure. So tomorrow they are
going to interview us in our apartment. We are reading up on the computer
the origin of the holdiay and how they celebrate it. Today, after class, I
was on my way to the gym. While waliking, a student stopped me and asked if
they could interview me. The student had a microphone and there was a
person video taping our conversation. They asked me what I was going to do
to celberate the holiday this weekend. I said that some of our friends and
us was going to have a celebration tegether, and eat moon cakes. Moon cakes
are the traditional thing you eat, on this holiday, just like on
Thanksgiving the traditional thing to eat is Turkey and pumpkin pie. There
is a ledgend about the moon cakes, we are studying up on it. The university
gave us three beautiful packages of moon cakes. The moon cakes are about
the size of a cup cake. the outside is similar to a cookie and the inside is
filled with different types of fillings. We ate some and they were really
quite good. The university sent two beautiful wrapped tin boxes with the
moon cakes in it. They are each individually wraped. Today we received one
more package of them from the Foreigh Teachers Department. They are so nice
to us. So, tomorrow we will be interviewed and be on television sometime.
I don't think that you will get it on your local station. Today was
teachers day. After my classes, I went to the teachers lounge to have
office hours with my students. When I arrived. several of my students were
there and gave me a large bouquet of flowers. They took photos of giving
them to me and then I went to lunch with my students. They all wished me
happy teachers day. Mother didn/t get any flowers, so I donated mine to
her. Mothers favorite dinner here, is a dish like Mimi's five star chicken.
It is served in a large bowl with a few vegetables in the bottom and a lot
of a sweet broth in the bowl. It is served with an entire chicken in it.
The chicken is cut up in one inch strips, by about 6 inches. (the entire
size of the chicken) complete with the head on it. It is very good. It is
similar to Mimi's five star chicken. Our cell phones real aare horrible.
We were notified today that the plan we signed up for is out of minutes. I
signed up for 300 minutes a month. We couldn't have used more than about
100 minutes so far. We are going to change our plan. It is all a matter of
becoming acquainted with how things work here in China. We could never have
this kind of experience by just visiting the country. By being here and
being a part of the Chinese culture, we are really having a true Chinese
experience. We went to a pizza hut a few days ago. We tried to order two
salad bar salads. They refused. She said you can only order one salad from
the salad bar. They gave me a small bowl and I went to the salad bar. When
I arrived at the salad bar, the Chinese had it down. They lined the outside
of the bowl with slices of fruit. It was like laying bricks in a circle.
They stacked the fruit about 10 to 12 inches high. They filled the middle
with different types of salad. Lettuce, celery, croutons, cucumber,
tomataos, onions, beets, and a lot of other things, along with the salad
dressing. I guarantee the chinese get their moneys worth, and they only
need one bowl. One bowl feeds a dozen or more people. The bowl contains a
little of everything so everyones palite it taken care of. The cost is
about $4.00. I didn't fill mine like the chinese did. It was really
comical. I called mother over to the salad bar to see for herself. If I
had told her about it without her seeing it, I think she would have thought
I was exagerating. Towards the end of the month, the Chinese celebrate a
week long holiday.. We are taking a trip with several other couples. It is
escourted by a Chinese tour guide. The church has used this gentlemen a
lot. We go by air to a certain part of China, then by train to an area,
Then a one day ride on a camel to another area in the desert, and a day back
by camel, then on to the area where we can see the Teracota Warriors. They
were unearthed several years ago. We plan on buying one of the replicas and
having it shipped home. They weight severl hundred pounds. After that, we
go to the Great Wall for a day. We can walk the wall, take a bike, or rent
an electric scooter. I'm sure that mother will wimp out and not climb the
wall. I plan on walking it up to the top of the mountains and take a lot of
photos. After that, we fly back to our home city. The tour starts on a
Saturday, and endes eight days later on Sunday. The people here are so
kind. Everyday, some one stops us and wants to pratice their English on us.
Many are very good. Others you must really pay attention, but generally you
get the message. The elevators are very quiet, so I always break the ice
and start speaking. The students act so surprised, but then open up and
start speaking with me. Those who don't know any English just laugh and
don't know what to do. I smile at them and say neehow. That means hello.
A couple of days ago, I called the lady who takes care of our apartment and
motioned for her to come in. I was trying to show her that our hot plate
didn't work. Know matter what I did,, how I acted, how I tried to show her
that it wouldn't heat up, she couldn't understand. She called three other
ladies in to see if they could understand. It was the funniest thing I have
ever seen. These four ladies were talking Chinese, all at the same time,
going a hundred miles an hour. It was a hoot. They finially left, and
still not knowing the hot plate wasn't working. I think they thought that I
wanted to cook dinner for them, and they could't figure out how I was going
to cook dinner for them on that hot plate. They all thanked me in Chinese,
shook their head, shook my hand and left. Well, such is life in China. I
haven't gone back to correct my mistakes, so just understand that I am
typing fast and will make some mistakes. Please do not correct it and sent
it back corrected. Again, Brit and Tricia, please foward this e-mail to all
the children. I love you all, have a great day.Your time is either 5:30, or
6:30 A.M. depending where you are. It is 8:30 P. M. here. Time for bed in
a couple of hours. I will keep you all informed as time goes on. Hopefully
I will get our phone systems corrrected before long. I love you all. Dad