Dragon Dancing

School started yesterday and we got to see the Dragon Dance opening ceremony in the morning. Milan was completely enthralled and enjoyed every second of it. The performers were so well choreographed and athletic, it was not just a bunch of guys running around with a dragon on a stick.

Tim says the first day went well. He is up to a total of 11 students from 10 different countries. They look like a good bunch of kids and Tim, of course, wowed them with an awesome demo on the first day.

Now that we feel more comfortable and are getting into a routine, I am noticing how similar it is living here compared to our life in MD. Most of my time is spent at home with Milan, except for 2 or 3 times a week when we'll have activities planned with other people. We do our crafts, cooking, playing, house work, go for walks. I am frustrated with his naps this week, but that is nothing new. I look forward to getting a bike so we can be a little more mobile around the neighborhood, but dealing with transportation issues isn't new either.

This morning Milan and I went to the fruit and vegetable market with another one of the new American residents here. We took a bicycle taxi (three wheeled bike with a large seat behind the driver) and loaded up on, you guessed it, fruit and veggies. Unfortunately, I realized after I paid that I had bought plums imported from the USA! But Milan has been crazy for plums, and that was the only kind I saw.

Speaking of food, last night we went out to eat at one of the local restaurants near home. Milan ordered his rice himself in Chinese and insisted on trying some of the eggplant dish that Tim and I were devouring with great speed and much ooohing and ahhhing. It was fish-fragrant eggplant, one that I remembered reading about in Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fucia Dunlop. So we did our best to ask the 5 waitresses who were watching our every move (and cooing and taking pictures of Milan with their camera phones) if the dish contained sesame oil*. They were very confused, and our Mandarin skills didn't help clear up any of the confusion. The allergy cards that explain Milan's allergies in Mandarin did help, and they eventually decided that it did not have any sesame oil. We gave him a few bites and not only did he survive, he really liked it. It's a good thing because we'll probably order it every time we go out to eat for the rest of our lives.

Pictures of the apartment are up on Flickr - take a peek!

[* For those of you who don't know the latest, Milan is allergic to milk, eggs, banana, sesame, and tree nuts (but NOT peanuts, as he will proudly point out if you ask him).]