Dim Sum...Yum!

Now that we know for sure that we will be traveling to China quite soon, I've gotten serious about preparing for this adventure. We spent the week painting his room, shopping and toddler- proofing the house. I go back to work tomorrow :(

I have also been reading a book called "Lost on Planet China". I do not recommend this as a book to get you excited for your trip. It has done nothing but make me nervous. I consider my self a rather well travelled person, but I think I am in for a BIG surprise in China. It seems just "otherworldly" from this book. The descriptions of the pollution, crowds, food, and just general chaos are not going to be easy. I already looked up the words for "I am a vegetarian" in Chinese just to be on the safe side. I'm not a vegetarian...although I try to be almost every other month. I just think that if I want to avoid inadvertently eating dog, I need to not even eat meat at all. I will make the exception for Peking Duck, and anything I can easily identify.

On the food note, Jason and I have been sampling the various Dim Sum restaurants in Austin...all 2 of them! I have to say that both are quite good. The first one we tried is called Get Sum Dim Sum. It is not your traditional Chinese sit-down restaurant but more of a "fast-food" Dim Sum option, but it is really good and fresh. Also always lots of Chinese people there which I think is a good sign! Today we tried Chinatown's option. This is on Greystone and Mopac. It was delicious! The best selection we had was the Peking Duck, hence my aforementioned statement. I have never been a fan of duck, too gamey and fatty for me, but this was so good. It was made into a sort of duck taco with sauce and that squishy steamed bread and scallions. Yum, I want more for dinner.

I have also been thinking about Mandarin. I realize what a gift knowing Mandarin would be for a child in the future. Just knowing the language could open up a world of opportunities as far as employment goes, so I have been looking into some Chinese schools for XJ. I need to post on some of the YahooGroups I am on to see what other parents have done. Granted, he is only 4 so he isn't exactly an "expert" in the language yet, but I would hate for him to lose it all.

We've also started recording this cute little cartoon called "Ni Hao-Kai Lan". It's about this little Chinese-American girl who lives with her Grandpa, Ye-Ye. I'd say almost half the show is in Mandarin and I think XJ will love it, we do! I've learned a good amount of vocabulary from it so far!

Can't wait to get the little guy home! We sent another "care package" to him. This one is just a photo album with pictures of us, the dogs, our house, his room, the park by our house and his future school. I wanted to keep it simple and make sure he sees lots of pictures of us and the dogs before we get home. I hope it helps his transition and lets him know that we are going to get to him as soon as possible!