Happy Birthday!

    So we celebrated my husbands twenty-third birthday on November 11th.  It was a day filled with adventure!  First of all we had decided months before to go McDonalds for breakfast so that he could have a sausage egg McMuffin.  In America choosing a breakfast at McDonalds is usually one of convenience.  You're running a little late with no time to eat at home so you grab something from Mickey D's on the way.  Well, here in Huhhot it's the exact opposite.  We had to make sure to wake up with plenty of time to spare, put on several layers of clothing (because the temperature has been hovering in the twenties lately) and head outside to hail a taxi.  Apparently it was the morning rush hour because it took a good twenty freezing minutes to get one.  Then we say, "May-don-lao" and off we go!  Then the process has to repeated on the way home.  All in all it probably takes over an hour to get breakfast at McDonalds here.  Fortunately the food was quite similar to what we're used to so it was worth it.

    That afternoon we had many visitors.  I had secretly passed around some notes during class telling the children when Mitch's birthday was and asking them to wish him a "happy birthday".  Well they did more than that!  They all began to bring presents over.  Mostly chocolate (which I can't complain about).  But it was quite satisfying to see the pile of gifts grow throughout the day.  I got him a 7x7 rubix cube--which he is playing with while I write this.

    That night Mitch decided that he wanted to try and find this fancy Western restaurant that he'd read about on the internet.  So we got dressed up and then layered up and headed out into the night--and an inch of snow!  We then began the taxi dance.  We thought that we had left late enough to avoid rush hour but with the snow fall every taxi was in high demand.  We ended up getting a motorcycle with three wheels enclosed in a box.  Not exactly well insulated but always an adventure.  He didn't know where it was but after several numbing inquiries and about 45 minutes we found it!  He scammed us on the price but we were so cold that we didn't even argue.  The restaurant was nice and we ordered steak which didn't disappoint.  After that we wanted to find the ever elusive Dairy Queen and get an ice cream cake.  We managed to snag a taxi and he dropped us off at the shopping complex where it's supposedly located.  Unfortunately we were unaware of how late it had gotten and as others hopped in the cab and drove off we realized that everything was closed!  And so we began to walk home trying to get a cab all the way.  The roads were now covered in an inch of black ice and no buses were running.  Halfway home we stopped at good ole McDonalds and got some hot chocolate to sip on.  After that it was easier to just walk the rest of the way home and not worry about getting a taxi.  We told ourselves that we were safer on our feet than in a car anyways (which could have been true unless you know me well...).  We got home so late that the door to the apartment building was locked and we had to wake up a very confused doorman to get in.  Our apartment felt so nice and warm after all that time outside!

      We fell asleep quite easily that night and I was satisfied that he'd had an enjoyable birthday especially because it was the first time in Mitch's life that he could brag about being older than his twin brother!

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