Armstrong China Epistle #2, The Reverse Bank Robbery 7 November 2011 Hello Everyone, THE REVERSE BANK ROBBERY So, we got our first pay and went to the bank to deposit it. Since the bank was closed, Richard tried to put the cash in the machine. It didn't like some of the bills and spit them back out, then it didn't credit our account with the amount deposited. Doh. Another China dilemma. Through the iron bars, we could still see the bankers working so we knocked and motioned for one of them to come. He assured us that he would personally take care of it the next day. (his English was very good and he definitely knew who we were) The next day, Richard returned to the bank with one of our coworkers. It turns out that the machine would only take a certain amount at a time. They credited our account and all was well. I urged Richard to please just deposit the money when the bank was open so we could get a receipt etc. His reply, "there's no need to do that since we now know the problem". Now, let's take a vote. Which of you would just go to the bank when it was open???? EAT, EAT, EAT.(or sometimes not) from our friend Loretta: Chinese eat anything that has wings except for airplanes and anything that has legs except for furniture. I heard that dogs were raised as food but really didn't know it first hand until we saw a whole dog, skin and all, being boiled on the side of the road. Turned my stomach. (why is it that we'll eat cows, chickens, and pigs but dogs seem so gross?) Anyway, I'm quickly becoming a vegetarian while in China. COOKIES FOR DINNER We were spending Saturday night at a church member's house so that we wouldn't have to travel so far on Sunday morning. She had gotten some wonderful whole grain flour for us and had made a wonderful dinner using the flour to make pizza pockets. She was telling us that her mom was really into whole grains and in fact was canning a mixture of whole grains. "Oh, really? I've done some of that, too", I said. She said that her mom had taken a class from a lady who wrote a book about it. "Is it called Cookies for Dinner"?" "Yes, have you heard of it?" She then went into the next room and came back with our book. (this is China remember). I showed her my name on the cover as the co-author. So that was fun. She already knows where to find the grains in China. Her 4 kids, all red heads like her, call us Papa and Grammy. Actually 2 of them are too small to call us anything yet. It's great to enjoy instant family!! STAYING WITH FOLKS Members of the church in Hangzhou have welcomed us with open arms and open homes. "come stay with us" are not just words, they really mean it. We've stayed with 2 different families so far and are making our way around the branch. ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE TO KID HISTORY Our daughter, Laurel produced a fun video featuring many of our family. Now I've shown it to all the classes in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. So the kids are famous in China...and they know it. If you'd like to take a look at the famous video, you can look it by going to youtube and typing in the Armstrong tribute to kid history. HALLOWEEN Enjoyed a fun halloween party with branch members. We danced and had a "mummy candy roll" (you put pieces of duct tape sticky side out around the person who then rolls in the candy to pick it up. Enough for now...love to all. Kate and Richard

 PHOTOS: hot pot,  (something like fondue). a laughing Bhudda with children climbing all over him. Sometimes we feel like this when the children have to touch everything!!!