Friday's Adventure

On Friday we bailed ourselves out of the hospital and went into the city. It was absolutely the best day we have had since arriving here in China. First we went to the Polar Ocean World and saw a dolphin show. We got to see a walrus doing sit ups! It was very entertaining and very inexpensive to go see. In fact there is no way you can see a show & polar animals in the US for what we paid here in China. After we went there, we stopped at McDonald's since Brandon was about to starve (At least he thought he was!). We then went to Fusion Bay where we saw the May 4th Monument. There's a story behind the monument which I will explain later this week. We left the May 4th and hit the zoo. Our poor driver, Su Xu Huz, was exhausted by then but not us! Brandon was able to feed the birds at the zoo which he loved! I haven't seen him laugh so hard or enjoy himself as much as he did then. Brandon was able to see the monkeys from about 8 feet away. One thing we never thought we would ever see in a zoo was.....dogs! They had an exhibit with Pomerania's, Chihuahua's, & Cocker Spaniels. We saw chickens, rabbits, hamsters & turkeys. It was kinda funny to see such common animals back home on exhibit here. We did get to see come odd creatures that we had never seen before. John & Courtney were also able to hold a snake. They asked if I wanted to hold it & I said "OH NO!" I was too close just by taking the pictures! We saw the elderly Chinese guy sitting on a stool just staring at what appeared to be a piece of cardboard. I went over to see what he was looking at & saw that he was painting a picture of the entrance into one of the exhibits. Not once did he look up at us but continued to stare at the entrance and every once in awhile he would lift the paint brush onto the canvass for a couple of strokes before he would stop to stare again. He was actually pretty good at it. I quickly took a picture of him before he lost his train of thought. We really didn't see much of the zoo. I think we were pretty wore out by then so we called it good and went back to the van. Our next stop was for dinner. We ate at a place downtown called Lisa's. Absolutely the best food we have had since arriving here! We invited the driver to eat with us since he has always been so kind to us. We ate t-bone steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, penne with chicken breast & spinach sauce. You would never believe what Nick wanted.......pizza. After having pizza shoved down his throat for the past 3 weeks, he chose to have pizza for dinner. So we ordered him a small pizza. Included with the steak was soup & salad. We started off with salad which was okay. Not the best but it was good compared to what we've eaten here. Then they brought out the soup. Once I found out there was beans in it, I gave mine to the driver and chose to eat the penne with chicken (which was amazing). Mom, John & Courtney all said that was the best soup they had ever had. We were getting pretty full by then and for a little while thought that maybe we didn't order the steak. But then they started bringing out these large plates. On each plate was a huge t-bone steak, mashed potatoes sitting on a slice of tomato, broccoli, corn on the cob, fries, & gravy. We left there extremely happy (and a few pounds heavier). Would you believe it was less that $9.00 USD per person?? I told Brandon that next weekend we would go back there just so we could have one more good meal (kinda divide up the time so we'll have something to look forward to this week!) After dinner we headed back to the hospital but we still had one more errand to make. Once we got to the hospital; Jolynn, John & I took Adele (the Chinese girl who is majoring in English at a nearby University) to the RT Mart. First let me explain Adele. She came to Qingdao from her hometown (about an 8 hour train ride from here) to study English. She met Jolynn (a parent of a child being treated here) at the RT Mart. Adele asked Jolynn if she could come here and talk to her & other people so she could learn more English. Th

at was a month ago & she hasn't let us down yet. She comes here & helps us with whatever we need. We take her places so we can have a translator present. She has been wonderful to us. The night before the Watring family headed home, we were all out in the lobby talking about Adele. Someone mentioned that she had a rusty old bike that was held together by shoe strings. The peddles had broken away & all the was left were the pegs. She had once had a basket on it but that too had broken. Anyway someone mentioned that we should all pitch in & buy her a bicycle. Afterall, she has helped us out so much and she does use her bike to come visit us - it was the least we could do. So a few of us pitched in 100 RMB's each (which is $14.00 USD) to go towards a new bike. We were unable to buy the bike before the Watrings left however we decided to do it before Jolynn left. So we take Adele to the RT Mart on the pretense that I wanted to buy a bicycle for my daughter since they are so cheap here. We found the bicycles and we started asking Adele which bike would she pick out. She looked around and asked a few questions about how tall Courtney is and how big is my suitcase. She finally found a bike that she liked. It was actually ugly in my opinion but it's a good, common brand of bike here. It actually folds up for storage. So we purchase the bike & bought a basket & a lock for it. Jolynn & I got out our cameras and asked Adele to model the bike for us. She was hesitant but she did it anyway. We snapped a few pictures before telling her that the bike wasn't for Courtney & that it was for her. She was completely speechless. In her eyes we could tell that she really wanted the bike but like the perfect person she is, she was hesitant to accept it. We told her that we had already bought the bike & we couldn't take it home so she had no choice but to accept the gift. We told her that several families had pitched in to buy the bike for her. It was a gift from us to her for all that she has done to help us. She was ecstatic! I couldn't believe that an inexpensive bike like that would make someone so happy. She said that she has never had a bike so nice before & she felt very lucky. She now has a new prized possession to remember us by after we have all left. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.... Photo's: 1st - Brandon feeding the birds at the zoo. He really had a lot of funny playing with the birds! 2nd - The flags on the left side is where the audience was able to watch the sailing part of the Olympics. To the right of that is a lighthouse. 3rd - Brandon at Fusion Bay 4th - All of us at the May 4th Monument. 5th- Courtney at Fusion Bay 6th - All of us in front of Polar Ocean World. 7th - The dolphin show at Polar Ocean World. It was amazing to see the dolphins jump so high & do the stunts that they are trained to do. John really enjoyed the show. 8th - John holding a snake at the zoo. 9th - Courtney holding a snake at the zoo (Yikes- Count me out!!) 10th - An elderly Chinese guy painting at the zoo while our driver watches him. 11th - Adele & her new bicycle at the RT Mart. She is so proud!