We Went Down... to Chinatown!

The kids and I are learning about China in this unit study. We've actually only skimmed China. We're too busy reading chapter books, so we've learned about a Chinese immigrant in the 1940's from an adorable, but tad racy, book "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson". I thought it was the Chinese version of Ramona Quimby. It's a very cute book. Then we're also trying to read through "Cricket in Times Square" and do the corresponding lapbook. So far we know where China is, how to identify the Great Wall, China's flag, a pagoda, and a panda bear. Well, we're also listening to "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon", which seems to be a collection of Chinese fables within a Chinese story. I guess you could say that's another thing we learned about China. They love their ancestors and they love their stories. Maybe we've learned more than I think. I've also introduced the idea of Confusionism, but haven't delved too far. Communism? I mentioned the red in the flag represented Communism. Period. Later.
So yesterday we finally did something I've been wanting to do for years. We drove into the city to visit Chinatown!

This was in Central Plaza. The plaza had a mixture of seediness and charm at the same time. It was fun to see the pagoda-style roofs and the lanterns. At the same time there was a man sitting near the above statue waiting for people to put coins in homage to the figure. As soon as the people walked away he would take their coins. This bothered Kaeley quite a bit. She later suggested she could hold my wallet for me. When I questioned this she was explained she was worried about someone stealing my wallet. I have a rather large diaper bag, so while I did turn the bag around to make it more difficult to pick-pocket I said, "Thank you, but no thank you." to the eight year old who wanted to guard it.

I loved these little shops. I don't even know what to call them. They sold teas, treats, dozens of different dried fruits that I had never heard of, and natural herbs. And let me tell you, these herbs were something to see! There were barrels of ginko and ginseng. There were more dried mushrooms than I ever knew existed! Kaeley was enamored with the dried seahorses and dried starfish. She laughed about buying them and giving them to Kidspace. When I pointed to the price, which was almost $200.00 a pound, she threw out that idea. And that wasn't even the most expensive thing we saw! There was something that was $2000.00! There were dried everything you could think of. Dried squid, sea cucumbers, urchins. The list went on and on. It was a good lesson in manners for Alynna who walked through most aisles loudly exclaiming, "Mommy, I smell something! Mommy, I smell something weird!" I would point out something I thought out of the ordinary for us whities and she would almost yell out, "Yuck!"

If we thought dried sea cucumbers were a sight I guess we were a sight to behold on our own. We had three older woman all exclaim, "Four children!?!" They would smile and show pleasure in the two girls and two boys. Then they would always go back to confirming that the four were indeed all mine. Yes, I would smile and nod. All mine. Four? Yes, four. Oh, nice. Yes, nice. :) This happened three separate times in the same pattern. Another good lesson for Kaeley. You can see the man behind us. He watched us a while during our lunch. I wasn't sure if he was overwhelmed by the five of us in this small eat-in restaurant or if he thought my kids were so cute he couldn't take his eyes off them.

This Chinese food was fantastic! I was going to order four plates and share them all between us. Thankfully the woman taking our order did her best to explain that three plates were plenty. Indeed. I was thankful we ended up not ordering the Roast Duck Noodle Soup. That was another thing we saw in many shops - roasted ducks hanging by their heads. I loved it! I felt very authentic. :) So anyway, the food was very good. We sampled Shrimp Fried Rice, because Nathan loves shrimp and I love Nathan. We also ordered Chicken Fried Noodles and Steamed Dumplings. It was quite a feast for $23.00.

Nathan is in a phase of taking very strange pictures. He likes to do these odd poses where food or fists or something always end up right in front of his face. This was the most normal picture I could get him to take.

Simon, who usually eats like a very small baby bird, chowed down on this... chow mien. :) Get it? Chow? Chow mien? Thank you. He ate more than I'm used to eating. He didn't try the dumplings at all.

I want to say thank you to my lovely husband who sits in a cubicle all day and works his tail off to support homeschool adventures such as Chinatown. We brought him home some of the fried rice and much gratitude. And I want to say thank you to Melanie Anderson for not responding to my invitation to join us at Chinatown. A woman with four children, I think, was enough for little Chinatown, which ended up more like a long street rather than a town. I think two women with eight bouncing, running, and yelling children would have brought the republic to its knees.