Ji Rou

We're here! We finally got to go on our big adventure. Even though there were some speedbumps along the way, everything has really fallen into place and we are thrilled to be here. On Monday, Robert started his first big boy job teaching English and Social Studies at a private high school here in Xinfeng, Taiwan! Which means that the Chubb and I had to fend for ourselves for a few days before we got in the swing of things. I was so brave, you would have been so proud. 

 

My first day alone, I strapped Milo in the baby pack and went exploring.  We're living on the outskirts of town, so the streets are not nearly as jam-packed and things move a little slower here :) We saw a group of sweet old Chinese men playing some kind of domino game, so naturally we stopped to chat for a while. They spoke just enough English to ask where I was from, and tell me to buy something in their "shop", pointing to a cooler next to them haha! So I thought I would be safe and grab a water bottle just to appease them. As I walked away I took a big swig of "water" and promptly gagged. Clear bottle of liquid, blue label, apparently not water. Its some kind of electrolyte drink (Gatorade style) but really strong and a little salty. Learned my lesson.

 

So then we got hungry.

I didn't want to just go to the 7-11 (which is on every street corner btw) I wanted some nitty gritty local kine food. You know, to seem cultured. So I wandered into this place that looked like it could be a restaurant, but there were no pictures! How am I supposed to tell them what I want without pictures! It's hard with Chinese because you can't even guess what the characters mean, you're just totally lost. So I walked straight up to the counter and said, Ji Rou! ...which means chicken.

I hope I didn't offend him.

He went to the back and brought out two huge chunks of raw meat- a chicken leg and a chunk of pork. I guess I was saying it wrong. SO I pointed to the chicken, and he whipped up a big box of food and asked me for the money. Since I'm still figuring out how money works here, I just pulled out a handful of coins and let him pick the ones he wanted.

And then I ran home and locked the door.

I did pretty good, I ate most of what he made for me! And topped it off with some always amazing guava nectar.

 

 

As you can see, Milo was not very thrilled about our new adventure. As soon as we got home he fell asleep and I just cuddled him while watching Legally Blonde with Chinese subtitles.

 

 

 

This place is cool :)

 The people are sweet, the food is good, the weather is pretty nice, my husband is smoking hot, my baby is precious, and I get to be a part of all of it.