UPDATE... Before and After LaoShan staff retreat...



Before October Holiday, Christy and I had one of our dear friends Ning-Ning over for dinner and of course, dessert! We couldn't wait for the cookies to harden, so we dug in with our spoons!

<----Me, Ning-Ning, and Christy eating No-Bake cookie batter!

Jane's Birthday

- (1)Angela, Jane, Kris (2) Kelly, Me, Lisa (3) Christy

Birthdays in China are always a cause for celebration! For Jane's bday we all went out to our favorite Chinese place and then returned to her apt for cake and a showing of "You've Got Mail."

Fishing Village

Within walking distance of our resort was a fishing village. The boats reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean... It is hard to imagine some of these boats actually being safe to go out on. When we went to visit the tide was too low to go out on the boats. Had we had enough time in the weekend we could have had the opportunity to go out on the boat to an island and eat some fresh seafood...maybe next year!

Hao Chi? (good food....)

During our staff retreat I walked to a nearby fishing village with some of my friends. One of the guys bought some octopus and had the kitchen at the resort cook it for us... here's me giving it a try. (I actually like octopus, but was not very fond of the seasoning they used....)

The next picture... apple crisp! Definitely a favorite here in Qingdao... Christy and I definitely traveled with all the comforts of home... we went to LaoShan (Old Mountain) with our coffee maker, a pan of apple crips, cookies, candles, and our DVD player... our room was definitely the place to be!

We did share the apple crisp with our Prison Break friends...

Below is a picture of Christy and I with our Hanzi, Chinese characters, teacher. Ruth just found out that she is going to be a mom in May! We are very excited for her and about being an ai-yi! (an aunt....)

Mushmallow and Crack.....

This year Christy and I were placed in charge of the Bonfire. Before leaving for Laoshan, we received an email from one of the organizers asking what brands of mushmallows and crack did we need in order to make smores... :) Not to worry there was no crack at our bonfire... there were however some fruity smores made- sometimes it is difficult to find certain items in Qingdao- apparently marshmallows is one of those items. The only marshmallows to be found were fruit filled marshmallows! The kids all seemed to still enjoy the smores, so all in all the bonfire was a success.

<--- Me, Lisa, Allison, and Christy at the bonfire