Tastes Like...Popcorn!

Last night was our biggest adventure in China so far. The boys were bound and determined to visit the Night Market, a.k.a. "Snack Street", and eat something "weird", like scorpion on a stick. Well, after walking past vendor after vendor, selling silk worms, crickets, starfish and snake, we came across a variety of scorpions! Our choice? Purchase one huge black scorpion on a stick, or three little tiny scorpions on a stick. We chose the latter. For the equivalent of 2 US dollars, we were about to embark on a culinary adventure of a lifetime!

The big question...who is going first? Dave volunteered, with no objections from the rest of us. After putting an entire deep fried scorpion in his mouth, the boys and I were dying for the verdict. What did it taste like? Nope, not chicken. It tasted like popcorn! Really? Okay, now I had to try it. I wasn't as brave as Dave, so I just bit into a couple of legs. Yep! Tastes like popcorn!

The boys were next. Collin (who was the most convinced that he was going to someday eat scorpion on a stick) wasn't so sure he was ready for a bite. So Brennen yelled, "I'll do it!" And he grabbed the stick and dug in. We then received confirmation yet again that scorpions taste like popcorn. With that, Collin gained some courage and finished off the last scorpion. It was unanimous...they taste like popcorn. Light, crunchy and a little buttery (thanks to the deep fryer).

So there you have it. Team O'Keeffe showed Andrew Zimmern that he's not the only one who is willing to eat the weird foods of this world (check out his show...it's fabulous). Dave and I were very proud of the boys for being so daring and willing to "Do as the Romans." However, I think tonight we'll settle for Pizza Hut.

The Great Wall

After over two years of waiting, Collin and Brennen FINALLY got to hike the Great Wall! We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was sunny, in the low 70s and the beginning of fall color made the view even more breath taking.

Our tour guide, Mr. Lei, took us to a remote part of the Great Wall. It was perfect...no tourists, no vendors, just us. We had to walk 1,100 steps to get to the Wall. Once we got to the Wall, it was very rugged hiking, and there were parts that had little to no sides of the Wall left! As a mother of three young children, it was a little nerve wracking! However, the boys did very well, and Maeve sat safely on Dave's shoulders.

Once you are on the Great Wall, it is even more difficult to imagine that it stretches for 4,000 miles! The part we walked on had original bricks with limestone and rice mortar, dating back 700 years! Some parts were so steep, that we literally had to climb straight up. It was quite the adventure, and we can't wait to go back some day, exploring yet another area.

Touring Beijing

We have spent the past two days touring the beautiful city of Beijing. On Sunday we went to the Beijing Zoo, along with 5 million of our closest Chinese friends! We found out that the Chinese government shut down domestic tourism for four months prior to the Olympics. As a result, any tourist spot in Beijing is PACKED on the weekends!

In spite of the crowds, we had a lot of fun at the zoo. The weather was perfect (sunny and in the 70s) and it was good to get outside in the fresh air (relatively speaking).

The zoo has a really cool aquarium with a Sea World like dolphin show. Even though we couldn't understand what was being said, we all had fun watching the dolphins and seals.
Brennen's favorite part was going to the underground tunnel in the aquarium. He felt like he was swimming with the sharks! We all also enjoyed seeing the Great Pandas. This was the first time the boys had seen pandas in "real life".

Yesterday we went to the "Dirt Market." It is a market place where all of the locals go. You don't see many tourists there, so it was quite the experience. Even the kids walked around in awe, looking at the rows and rows of artwork, furniture, ceramics, etc. The highlight for them, was coming across a stand run by an elderly gentleman who had a pet cricket. It was the biggest cricket any of us had ever seen, and it was in a tiny cage!

Today we are heading to a remote part of the Great Wall. The boys have waited for this day since before Maeve came home, so they are very excited! We'll take lots of pictures and post again when we get back!

And We're Off!

Well, thanks to jet lag, it has taken me longer to post an update than I had expected, but I'll try to get everyone caught up. Here goes...

Getting ready for our move was a little challenging. International moves are never easy, and when you combine that with a two year old who had a high fever (104!) and the stomach flu, it makes for a stressed out mommy and daddy!

Before the moving company came to pack us out, Dave and I did some serious shopping! Many of things the kids love to eat (cereal, instant oatmeal, granola bars, etc.) are very expensive in China, because they are imported from the States or Europe. So, we went to Sam's Club to stock up. We figure that eventually the kids will have to learn to change their eating habits somewhat, but having a few things from home in the beginning will help ease them into it. Let's just say we got a lot of looks as we pushed an overflowing dolly through Sam's! As you can see from the picture, Dave and I barely fit in the van to drive it home!

All last week the moving company packed us out, and on Thursday, they loaded the truck and drove off to California. Our belongings will sit in California until the moving company gets a copy of Dave's Chinese work permit, at which time our "stuff" will literally be put on the "slow boat to China."

Which leads us to why we are in Beijing for the next two weeks. John Deere's main office is in Beijing, so this is where we had to come to have our residency and work permits processed. But, let me back track to our journey from Moline to Beijing.

After spending a few nights at Dave's parents' house in Moline (thanks again for everything, Doris and Jerry!), we loaded our rental van and drove to Chicago last Saturday. Our plan was to spend the night in a hotel and catch our flight to Beijing the next day. Well, after an over 3 hour drive to Chicago (thanks to road construction) with 3 anxious kids, we arrived at our hotel only to discover that we forgot one of our suitcases in Moline! (Yes, this is in spite of the fact that Doris asked us if we were sure we had everything). Was I happy? No. Did I completely lose it? Almost. However, Dave's dad came to the rescue and met Dave half-way between Chicago and Moline to deliver the suitcase. We can never thank you enough, Jerry!

The next morning, we caught our flight to China without any problems. And, our flight to China went remarkably well, in spite of a few of Maeve's short-lived temper tantrums, Collin complaining about the "disgusting plane food", and Brennen coming down with the stomach flu mid-way through our 14 hour flight (flight attendants don't get paid nearly enough!). I think we were all happy to land on Chinese soil and to have the "moving part" of our journey behind us!

We are now on day 5 of our stay in Beijing, and we are making the most of our time here. The kids are having fun walking around the big city, seeing how different, yet similar, life is here. Right across the street from our hotel is Chaoyang Park, where outdoor beach volleyball was held for the Olympics. It is also an amusement park, so we took a nice walk through it yesterday and let the kids ride a couple of rides.

A couple of days ago, we went to the Pearl Market and to the Toy Market. The boys were amazed at all of the things there were for sale, and they were very impressed with their dad who bargained for great prices!

We plan on going to the Great Wall in a couple of days, once we seem to be "over the hump" with this jet lag! We also promised the boys that we would go to the Night Market next week, so that they could see all of the "weird" foods for sale there. Collin is convinced that he is going to eat scorpion on a stick, which is quite comical coming from a kid who wouldn't eat turkey, aka, "mystery meat" on the plane!

Well, I have to go wake up sleeping beauty from her nap so that maybe she'll sleep past 4am tomorrow morning! I'll post again after we go to the Great Wall. Thanks to everyone who has been emailing us. The boys especially look forward to reading them each day. This picture is the view from our hotel room, which shows the big city of Beijing!