Asian District

A couple of Saturdays ago, we had a Boot Camp "challenge" to go to the China Supermarket. We all expected that we would have to find the weirdest food in the store, then eat it. But we were wrong!

As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw John and his dad standing in the grass. They motioned for us to come over so we did. All of us went over, and John said that one group would go to one side of the Asian District, and the other team to the other side. The challenged us to learn how to say 'Hello' and 'Thank you' in Vietnamese, which is Gam an (Thank you) and Dow (Hello) Then learn the background of the people. I thought the first side we went to wasn't very exciting, except above one of the doors was a mirror that we learned was a anti-demon mirror. When the 'demons' looked into the mirror they would get scared off.

Then the teams traded sides, that's when the fun happened. First we went in to a bakery (which wasn't really a bakery) Their specialty was duck, and...pork i think. They didn't have ANY sweets.

Then we walked past a jewelry store and we tried to open the door but it was locked. We looked through the windows and saw people inside, as if it was open, so we tried to open the door again but it was still locked. My dad walked away with Benji thinking that might work. So The Eskimo and I waved to the people inside, and in just a few seconds we heard a beep and the door opened! We walked inside to another door. The store people waited till the door was closed until they opened the other door. We walked inside to a quiet little jewelry store. Behind one of the counters stood an older Vietnamese couple. 'Hello!' they greeted 'Dow!' we greeted back. We looked around for a second and then asked about their life. We asked if they had a store in Vietnam and the man showed us a picture of their store. It was a cute little store, nothing like you'd see in America. We asked him if his customers in Vietnam were any different then the ones in America. A smile appeared on his face, and he chuckled under his breath. "America wants (some type of gold..i forgot) and in Vietnam they want (a different kind)." The Eskimo and I both laughed, although we didn't really know what was so funny. We asked them a couple more question before we said "Gam an!" and left.

We met my dad outside, and told him about what we learned, before we went into the next store. The next store wasn't a Vietnamese store, is was African (the lady who owned it was from Ghana). The lady there told my mom that she was a Christian (which is AWESOME!). We looked around the store for awhile. It was a cute little store, with food and clothes from Africa. I loved it :) If i had money i'd totally shop there. When we left she told us she would love if we came back and visited with her some more, and we told her we'd love to!

Next we went to a Vietnamese alteration shop. We didn't go in, just looked in windows, not wanting to bother anyone if they were working. We started to walk away when the door opened, a little Vietnamese women came out. "Hello!" she beamed "How are you?" Her English wasn't very good, but she was trying. "Oh we were just looking around." we said. We asked her how long she's been in America. She thought for a minute then answered "About 15 years." She looked sad. "Have you been back to Vietnam since?" we asked. She shook her head, "No." She sighed "My son come, he married! Many of my children married!" We asked her a couple more questions, before we headed back to the Supermarket.

All of our stomachs turned as we turned the corner and fasted..IT (haha a bit dramatic :P). Mr. John and his dad stood out front with a list. They put us into teams and told us to find everything on the list. My team was me, Pony Girl, and Benji. I was prepared for them to say "Then eat it" but it never came. When they said go, we all raced inside (i'm sorry i don't have pictures...the store had a sign that said NO CAMERAS, so no pictures.) i don't have the list anymore, but it had some weird stuff on it:
Dragon Eyes,
Duck heads
Ant eggs
Headless ducklings
Full ducks with heads (do they have something against ducks??)
And so on..

After about an hour, our team finished first (It was a big store)!! We learned more about their culture (gifts they make to the dead, incense, anti-demon mirrors, etc) then went out to lunch with Mr. John and his dad :) The food was amazing! i got to know Mr. John, and his dad better (fun stuff).

Then Mr. John told us to follow him so we all got in our cars, and followed Mr. John to a Buddhist Temple. Now that was interesting. We learned about their different gods and we got a tour inside. They had a room just for praying for your ancestors (with music playing in the background). Then we went into a room where the worshiped. They had a big Buddhist, surrounded by flowers. There were also the guards of the doors. Our guide said they would be scary, but i didn't think they were. We asked questions and stayed for about 1 hour, then left.

So that's pretty much it..talk about a fun Saturday :P.