My Parents, the Mules -- I Mean, Our First Visitors!

In about two weeks, my mom and dad will be coming to Beijing, where we'll spend a few days before heading off for a vacation in Vietnam. Scott will then return to China and I'll get some much-needed one on one time with my parents as we head to Nepal for a conference my dad is attending.

Our expat friends have told us their visiting relatives and friends become "mules", bringing as much stuff as possible that they miss so dearly. This is our first experience with it, and bless my parents' hearts, we're asking for a ton of stuff. Below, a list of the random things we've asked for. Fingers crossed all of it gets through customs!

Natural peanut butter. My sister bought us two giant jars, which we can't wait to devour. Skippy gets really old, really quickly.

20 Signs You're an Expat in Beijing

It's hard to believe we've been here for about six months already! So in the spirit of BuzzFeed and the website's wildly popular lists, I came up with my own.

1. You begin to like drinking hot water

Because you're probably not going to get anything else except tea. And ensuring it's boiled means you won't get sick. 

Harbin's Winter Wonderland

Last weekend, Scott and I went with some expat friends to the city of Harbin, which is northeast of Beijing. The city, which was originally part of Manchu and then under Russian influence for awhile, boasts an ice festival that's literally unlike anything else: replicas of famous city structures (like Rome's Colosseum and New York's Empire State Building) and giant sculptures made out of ice and snow. Each structure is sponsored by a company (go figure) and has lights inside them to bring this winter wonderland to life.

Ice, ice baby.