First Visitor

Yes, the waiting is over. The red carpet has been rolled out and the envelope has been opened indicating who is the first friend to come visit the Hackmans since their journey across the ocean 7 weeks ago. And the winner is: Michael Mann.
Michael is a good friend of ours from Boulder and we have been part of the same church together for the past 3 years.

He was on business to Shanghai and our hope was to get down to see him. Rumor has it there is a Toys R Us in Shanghai and Gabriel is begging us for a trip there. Seems there is a chronic shortage of Star Wars action figures on the streets of Qingdao.

Well, we've been having visa problems that the school is working on (as well as all of the new teachers) so we were not able to get down to Shanghai. "Never mind," says Michael, "I'll come up and see you all"

We've had a good time together the last couple nights. Yesterday, Michael got to see what our two hour church journey involves. Afterwards, we took a trip to the bootleg DVD store. Everyone who visits us has to experience it. You knock on the door and they peek and let you in. Inside there are all local Chinese Dvds and music Cds. You ask for English movies and then they point to a written piece of paper that asks in English, "Are you a reporter?" After a "no" they slide away a bookshelf revealing a small door into a VERY small back room...filled with the latest English movies and TV show seasons selling for a fraction of the cost of normal retail.

We take advantage of our Sunday afternoons in downtown Qingdao as it has a few more things for expats than where we live in Huangdao. One of those advantages is a local Mexican restauraunt Michael was happy to help us find. Our searching was rewarded with some pretty decent chips and salsa and although the burrito I had would never challenge Chipoltle, in the middle of China, it was delicious.

We topped the evening off by coming back to Huangdao and taking a lesiurely stroll along the beach. Thanks Michael for being a familiar face in a new land.