Birthdays, May Day, and Gatherings

The end of April/Beginning of May has been filled with a lot of celebration for us here in China. May 1st is a holiday here and it is celebrated in conjunction with Labor Day. For this holiday, people got off April 29- May 1. However, they had to work the Saturday and Sunday prior in order to make up two of the three days off. So confusing! Regardless, and holiday in China is an opportunity to celebrate.

Also, our friend Beili's birthday is May 3rd and Megan's birthday is May 8th. We opted to do a big birthday celebration for the two of them and originally chose Sunday May 5th as the celebration date, which lands between the two birthdays. However, Beili told us it is "bad feng shui" to celebrate after your birthday, so we had to do it earlier. With this being said, we celebrated their birthdays with lunch out at a Japanese restaurant on Sunday April 28th.

The restaurant was a lot of fun. We enjoyed delicious fish plates and lots of sushi. We were so blessed to take part in the celebration. After our lunch, we went to Dairy Queen and had blizzards for dessert. Later that night we enjoyed lemon zest cheesecake made by the lovely Joy. We definitely got spoiled even though it was not our birthday!

Following such a great Sunday, we were invited to the house of our friends Brian and Joann for a barbecue during the holiday. They have a beautiful modern home here in Shanghai with a nice backyard including a pool. On top of that, he works for a furniture company and had awesome outdoor furniture. If the weather had not been so cold and rainy prior to the barbecue, we definitely would have been in the pool.

They generously prepared coleslaw, potato salad, and vegetable skewers as sides to a meat overload. We enjoyed steak, hamburgers, barbecue chicken, and buffalo chicken. So delicious!! This was followed up by a board game new to Justin and I called "Settlers of Canton." After a little while we were victorious with beginners luck! We have already been challenged to a rematch to test if we have skill or just luck.

The following day, we were unexpectedly invited to yet another barbecue. This was slightly different though, because it was hosted by a Singaporean family. We had beef, pork, prawns, and fish patties on the grill. There was definitely a cultural difference, but it was equally as delicious!

The best part about the barbecue was the company. We met some of the family's friends and colleagues. The father in this family works in film production for commercials and we met friends of his including a photographer and two film editors. Justin and I really enjoyed their stories of living all around the world and what they have experienced. We have plans to go to Karaoke the next time they are around. I also got to hang out with the family dog, Jay Jay, who has become a great friend of mine. A little comfort because we are unable to have a pet while here.

I also had the privilege to watch some kiddos the next day while our church staff had a dinner at the pastors house. I enjoyed time with these kiddos and was thoroughly entertained by Kenneth!

He wants to be the Hulk when he grows up and wanted to make sure you could see the wings...

I have really enjoyed the cultural exposure here in China. However, I am very thankful that I can now wear shorts without being stared at quite so much since Labor Day has passed. Bring it on warm weather!

Until we meet again,
Blythe :)