The children enjoyed eating at McDonald's several times while we were in Thailand - notice the culturally and politically correct stance of our friend Ronald :) Sawatdeekha!
We also enjoyed riding in the famous tuk-tuk taxis of Thailand. We occasionally feared for our lives, since not only do people drive on the opposite side of the road, but they completely disregard everything we were all taught in American driver's education. This driver happened to also be visually impaired, but we lived to tell about it!

A Mouthful of French Fries . . . . .
The most interesting thing we have eaten here in China so far has been jellyfish, but we topped that while we were on vacation. Albert ordered this lovely seafood dish that sounded so delicious on the menu we could barely read. When it came to the table, there were pieces of things in it that we eventually, after closely observing the tentacles and suction cups, identified as squid. Brooks and Albert closed in for the bites that they were determined to swallow. As they chewed, the girls all began to sing the song from "Mary Poppins" (A Spoonful of Sugar) but changing the words - "Just a mouthful of french fries makes the tentacles go down, the tentacles go down, the tentacles go down!" As if we weren't already a spectacle as the token Americans everywhere we go, now we were a song and comedy routine. What a memory that was!

The Real Orient Express

We're home from our great vacation in Thailand. Still haven't completely unpacked from that! These pictures are from the interesting and beautiful trip on the train to and from the airport. For those of you who were wondering if I (Kelli) am actually over here, I included some pictures of me! We were at a slight disadvantage getting tickets, seeing as we had never ridden a train before and we don't speak much Chinese! But it all turned out OK, as we miraculously had English speakers exactly where we needed them, or else sign language worked really well. We had a "hard sleeper" cabin on the way there and a "soft sleeper" cabin (as Brooks likes to say "FIRST CLASS!!!") on the way back. This way we all had a place to stretch out and relax on the long trip. But why sleep when you can see what we saw?!? The views were like something off of the National Geographic Channel. Absolutely breathtaking - mountains, ravines, waterfalls, stuff we never thought we'd actually see with our own eyes. We can't believe this has all existed since the beginning of time, just over here on the other side of the globe! The train also went through the Stone Forest, many miles of amazing rock formations for as far as the eye can see. We enjoyed the trip on the train almost as much as our time on vacation! If the looks of Sidney the Ham suggest anything about the rest of us, it's time to get back home -

THE BAGS ARE UNPACKED!!!!!
I am happy to report that last night I finished the unpacking, just in time to pack to go to Thailand :)
We are leaving a day later than we thought to go on our vacation. We will meet the taxi at 8:30 in the morning to take us to the train station. Just wanted to share the good news about the empty bags with you and to show you with this picture that the Allens have officially moved in!

More Pictures!

1. Our lovely latrine :) This is toilet, shower, sink and washing machine with one drain.

2. The first American meal that I cooked here - spaghetti and green beans (notice Albert's growing mustache)

3. The first time I actually cooked here we had scrambled eggs (after I got squirted in the face with 5 or 6 rotten eggs we finally got some we could eat!)

Boy, the Allens are having FUN!!!!

We'll write more later -

Left - The view from our kitchen window.

Above right - The beautiful mountains around the Hong Kong airport, where we had an 11 hour layover!
Below left - The children in the Los Angeles, California airport at 3:00AM, waiting on our plane to Hong Kong.
Below right - The children with Granddaddy before leaving the Columbia, SC airport bound for China!

Well, we really did leave the USA and we really have been here in China for almost two weeks now! We just got our internet connection in the apartment today - hooray! The school is on holiday here and the Dean of the Computer Science Department had to come over and set our laptops to be able to use the network here in our on-campus housing. Everything is a little more complicated over here, especially when you can't speak much Chinese! We had a fairly uneventful trip (it took 54 hours!) and are trying to finish unpacking all of our things in order to make our "flat" (apartment) our home. We are planning on making some modifications so that we will be a little more comfortable and things will be easier for our family here. The homes here are geared to small families, since the "one child policy" has been in effect for some time now, so to see a family of six is a big adjustment for our Chinese neighbors. We have 1100 square feet - 3 bedrooms, a kitchen/den and one bathroom (no western fixtures, if you know what I mean). Most of the food that we've had is really wonderful in our city, and we've made friends with some students who are learning English here at the college. They have been so much help in getting things done, especially going to the market and getting food so that our "bottomless pit" children won't go hungry. Albert starts classes at the end of August, after a much needed week-long vacation in Thailand. We will take a train on Wednesday (a 6 hour trip) and then fly across the border. We can't wait! Now that we have an internet connection, we will be keeping you informed on a much more regular basis about our adventures and what is happening with our family. Thank you for your thoughts - Please keep in touch!

Love, The Allens in China :)