We celebrated a few “firsts” with our family over the last month. My parents came to visit us and, not only was this their first time to China, it was my mom’s first trip overseas! Plus we got to celebrate Elise’s 1st birthday with them.

So between the foods they ate, the squatty potties they used, and the crowds they encountered, their list of “firsts” was quite extensive.

Sorry, no pictures of my parents using the squatty potty, but below is a picture of my Dad considering a bite of 皮蛋 (pronounced “pee dan”). He couldn’t go through with it.

If you are thinking that it looks like an egg, then you are correct. The difference is that this egg’s “white” part is a gelatinous black, the yoke is black and it smells rotten. The English name is “1,000 year egg” if that gives you any idea. Kristen and I have tried it before, but only once. It is the one and only food I cannot stomach here in China (that I’ve tried thus far anyway). I hear it’s an acquired taste 😉

The majority of their time was spent with Elise and seeing the local sites.

Actually, I take that back… most of the time was spent waiting for my mom to finish taking pictures with the locals. They where fascinated with her fair skin and hair… and as a compliment they would say, “She’s so white!”.  No lie, everywhere we went, we would be stopped and pictures would be taken. For some reason, people were not as enamored with my Dad.

But don’t feel too sorry for my Dad, he did make a best friend. It started with me asking this man to drive my parents around for an hour in his 三轮 (pronounced “san lwen”) to give them a better idea of where we live. I was kind of nervous sending them off with this guy because they know as much Mandarin as this guy knows English… none. But  when we met them at the predetermined spot, I found my Dad dancing and singing with the guy. I wish I would have taken a picture but I was in shock and didn’t think about it. That hour ended up being one of their favorite things they did here. Here is a picture of my bargaining with the guy and them driving away. Notice the tilt of the 三轮… let’s just say the weight wasn’t distributed evenly.

The highlight of their time here (and our time as well) was that they were able to join us in celebrating Elise’s first birthday.

We had a “panda & pink lemonade” themed party for her out in the courtyard of our building complex. I’m pretty sure that was a first for our neighbors and building management, because we got lots of curious stares… but also some people who dropped in, ate cake, and even brought gifts!

Elise fell in love with the piñata so we couldn’t bring ourselves to smash it. Plus they don’t do piñatas in China, so inexplicably smashing a panda might have caused issues.

Here is Elise eating her cupcake (the pictures are arranged from initial excitement, to digging in, to I’ve over-consumed and regret my decision).

I know I’ve said it before (I even titled a post “Time Flies”) but seriously, time really does fly by. We still can’t believe Elise is 1!!!

At the end of my parents trip, I think we all felt like this guy…

But we had so much fun!

I’ll end with a video compilation featuring Elise…