We Survived Typhoon Muifa (or at least I hope we do)

I am writing you in the midst of my first ever typhoon which is aimed to make landfall directly in Qingdao sometime Monday. Scientifically speaking, a typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane (the storm is just labeled differently according to which ocean it originates in). Apparently the local government evacuated thousands of people- we must’ve missed this memo due to the fact that the local news is in Chinese- so here’s hoping the sandbags that line the marina below our hotel are sufficient…………

In preparation for the storm I headed to the grocery store for some supplies. As I scoured the aisles looking for a little slice of home, I came upon something that brought a smile to my face: The Great American Food Festival. I’m not sure it was fair to label it a “food festival” per se, but it was a stationary display that contained something Harrison and I had dreamed about since we arrived: Pace Picante Salsa and tortilla chips. I was so excited to show Harrison the spoils of my shopping trip that I almost forgot to pay. I spent the walk home trying to think of creative ways to display the jar of goodness in our hotel room to surprise him. Instead, I simply held it above my head like a trophy when he entered

He accurately commented: “I haven’t seen you this excited since I proposed.” Hmmm…..In my defense, he was equally stoked and accompanied me back to the store to see what other goodies were up for grabs- we nabbed some Oreos and Pringles, which made quite the set up for our rockin “Typhoon Fiesta”. We even decided to invite all of our friends over to celebrate the storm…..Oh wait….we don’t have any friends. Guess that means more salsa for us!
Harrison and I pushed back our trip to Hong Kong for next weekend due to an onslaught of business meetings at the hospital and the weather. Instead, we had a Stay-cation in Qingdao this weekend.

I was pleased to learn (albeit not until that very evening) that it was Chinese Valentine’s Day on Saturday. My Valentine treated me to American fare at our favorite local haunt, The Diner (where we have eaten both lunch and dinner for the past 3 days). Nothing says romance like Chinese cheeseburgers and fries. We even got a free dessert to celebrate the holiday we had no idea existed.

On Sunday we headed to an English-speaking Christian worship service taking place at our hotel. We were welcomed by a group of about 40 (mostly American) people. After hearing recent stories on CNN about the Chinese government using harsh intimidation tactics to prevent locals from attending churches, we weren’t sure what to expect. In fact, when the Frists’ were in Shanghai for Christmas last year, they were forced to show their passports to gain entry. Sure enough, the following warning sign was displayed at the beginning of the service. Overall, it was a wonderful service (free from any government interruptions) and yet another reminder of how lucky we are to worship freely back in the US. God bless you all and we will be sure to keep you updated on the storm!