The driver showed up around 2 to take us around. The office has two vans it uses. If they are not out and about we/ I can schedule to have them take me places. The good thing is it's transportation and we can use car seats. The bad news is the drivers don't really speak English so still trying to figure all that out.
Our first stop was to a mall called Coastal City. This was another very large mall that was pretty impressive. Cole was loving the escalators - so much so that it really became an issue. He yelled and threw a fit if we weren't going on one. The malls all have great play areas and displays for kids - these will be featured in a future post, but I'll throw in a few picts here.
We found a Toys R Us that was pretty impressive. I heard people have trouble finding toys for their kids here, but after seeing this I don't understand why. We bought the kids plasma scooters to keep them busy til their bikes show up with our sea shipment.
We then visited another mall where one of the department stores had black santa clause figures! Those who know me well know I like black santas so that was fun to see.
We went to a grocery store in the mall (typically malls in Asia have grocery stores in them) that Stan had previously been to and liked. I think I would have liked it to had my children not been so crazy. The carts were small and had no child restraint. Both Cole and Kenney wanted to run around and touch everything. It was a nightmare to be honest and I don't know what I would've done if Stan wasn't there. One thing that I learned at the check out is that you have to have a store attendant weigh your produce in the produce section before taking it to the front check stand - so needless to say, that food stayed at the store for the day.
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| Mall entrance |
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| Love this sign outside Oishii Sushi |
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| Kid fun in the mall |
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| McDonalds Ice Cream Cones |
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| Groceries |
When we got home we quickly dropped off the groceries and headed over the church Christmas party being held at the Shekou International School. One of the "perks" of being in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that the church is everywhere. I was able to get in contact with an English speaking branch when I found out we were moving here months ago and have been in email correspondence with some of the members. They let us know about the party so we figured it would be a great chance to get to know people.
When we arrived I was suprised to see how many people were at the event. It was a dinner and program in the school gym. I would guess maybe 150 people were there representing many countries.
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| Kenney made fast friends |
They served traditional USA holiday food. The program included presentations about local Christmas customs for people from Serbia, Chile, Columbia, South Africa, Mexico and Holland. It was very fascinating. The kids got to take off there shoes and leave in the back of the gym for Sinterklaas to fill with treats during the program. When the group from Mexico did their presentation they brought out a pinata for the kids to break open. My boys had never seen one before so they were very gentle - not knowing why we would violently whack it.
Later the kids did a nativity on stage that Cole jumped right into without skipping a beat. He was a shepherd. The kids sang and Cole did his best to follow along - which is right up his alley since he loves singing. Finally Santa made a visit and gave the kids stockings. It was nice to have something festive to do - a little new/ a little familiar and to meet people. Folks were really nice and excited to finally meet us.
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