There were a few funny things that happened around thanksgiving.
First blooper: A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I gave a presentation to Gabe's class all about Thanksgiving. I wrote about it in an earlier post. One thing I didn't mention was my not so PC comment. The kids were getting rowdy so I folded my arms like an Indian and told all the kids to sit down and cross their arms and legs Indian style. It just came out. Apparently, Native Americans took offense at this term and it has been considered politically incorrect for several years. I think the term used now to get kids to sit down cross legged is something like "criss cross applesauce" or something to that effect. I told Chris about my blunder and he said " so I guess criss cross applesauce, please pass the peace pipe, would be out too?" nice. I think the funniest thing about it was, as I was leaving the room, the teacher's aid, who is from the Philippines, yelled out to all the rowdy kids, "come on kids let's all sit Indian style." I looked up and there she was doing her best "Indian style" crossed legs and arms. Great job Ali.
Second blooper: The mother of one of Emily's friends invited our family over on Thanksgiving Thursday evening to have dessert. She knew we weren't celebrating Thanksgiving that day but wanted us to come over for a pre-Thanksgiving desert get together. I was excited to go and offered to bring a Chocolate silk pie. The night of the get together came and we walked over promptly at 7:00.
I walked in and immediately realized I hadn't received the, "wear your little black dress"memo. Everyone was dressed in really nice evening attire. I of course, was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. (the T-shirt had a cute little chocolate stain on it from making the pie earlier in the day) All of the sudden I was also keenly aware that my children were not only severely under dressed, but rather dirty looking. About 2 min before we left, Sara had found a marker and written all over herself. I washed off as much as I could but I had forgotten to wash Anna's face before we left which now had fuzzies stuck to the residue syrup from our pancake dinner. I almost laughed out loud at the scene. Chris was not with us because he was traveling home from a business trip. He ended up making it to the end of the party. He redeemed our family somewhat, looking unshaven but at least nicer dressed. All of my pie got eaten........maybe out of sheer pity. Rest assured next time I get invited to a "get together" I will inquire about the dress code.
Third blooper: We were going to have about 20 people over for Thanksgiving dinner so I bought two turkeys just in case we needed more food. Knowing I wouldn't have enough time to cook two turkeys on that day, I decided to cook one the day before. I timed it just right so I would take the turkey out of the oven before going to pick up the kid's friends who were going to sleep over. They live about an hour away. On our way HOME from picking them up, I realized I had forgotten to take the Turkey out of the oven before we left. I called the Ayi and asked her to take it out of the oven but it was too late. It had already cooked 2 hours longer than it should have. When I got home I opened the foil that was covering the turkey and then tried to carve it. If you've ever seen the movie "Christmas Vacation" you'll be able to picture what happened to the turkey the minute I cut into it. It didn't have the same dramatic split open as in the movie, but it totally fell apart. It was like turkey bones you boil for broth except these turkey bones still had all the meat on them. Once again I had to laugh at myself. Thank heavens it was just a trial run and I still had another turkey for the next day. I figured we could feed the really well done turkey to the kids if we needed to.
So those were my funny Thanksgiving experiences. Next year I'm aiming to watch my mouth, watch my attire, and watch my Turkey!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
We had a great Thanksgiving here in China. It wasn't on the traditional Thursday, but rather Saturday because neither the kids nor Chris had time off for the holiday. It worked out just fine though and it turned out to be an awesome day.
The day started out pretty early trying to get 6 kids under the age of 8 out the door by 7:00 a.m. to a baptism (two friends slept over) The place was an hour away so we needed an early start. The baptism service was for two Chinese women, one from Taiwan, and the other from China but married to an American. Chris is the branch mission leader so we attend all the branch baptisms. These women have been investigating the church for a long time and the branch has grown to really love them. Seeing them baptized was a great way to start our Thanksgiving celebration.
We got home at about 11:00 because the traffic coming home was pretty bad. I threw the turkey in the oven and started cooking up a storm. We didn't have any rice (yeah) for our meal, but we did use our rice cooker to keep the yams warm. In my preparations, I had to make some things from scratch, scratch. I usually do homemade sausage stuffing but I couldn't find any sausage. Determined to have my sausage stuffing, I decided to make my own sausage. That's what I call scratch, scratch. I also prepared the traditional Wood family crangrape slush which was a big hit. I couldn't find any ready made crangrape, but mixing cranberry juice and grape juice did the trick.
We invited a few families from our church to come and spend the day with us. In the afternoon the dads took the kids over to the American school to play ball. The day was so fun. We cooked, talked, laughed and ate and ate. We could hardly eat the many pies we prepared.........but we managed to stuff it in.
The memory of that day is something to be very thankful for. We indeed missed our family and our thoughts were with them all day. We feel grateful to have good friends here that help fill that void.
The day started out pretty early trying to get 6 kids under the age of 8 out the door by 7:00 a.m. to a baptism (two friends slept over) The place was an hour away so we needed an early start. The baptism service was for two Chinese women, one from Taiwan, and the other from China but married to an American. Chris is the branch mission leader so we attend all the branch baptisms. These women have been investigating the church for a long time and the branch has grown to really love them. Seeing them baptized was a great way to start our Thanksgiving celebration.
We got home at about 11:00 because the traffic coming home was pretty bad. I threw the turkey in the oven and started cooking up a storm. We didn't have any rice (yeah) for our meal, but we did use our rice cooker to keep the yams warm. In my preparations, I had to make some things from scratch, scratch. I usually do homemade sausage stuffing but I couldn't find any sausage. Determined to have my sausage stuffing, I decided to make my own sausage. That's what I call scratch, scratch. I also prepared the traditional Wood family crangrape slush which was a big hit. I couldn't find any ready made crangrape, but mixing cranberry juice and grape juice did the trick.
We invited a few families from our church to come and spend the day with us. In the afternoon the dads took the kids over to the American school to play ball. The day was so fun. We cooked, talked, laughed and ate and ate. We could hardly eat the many pies we prepared.........but we managed to stuff it in.
The memory of that day is something to be very thankful for. We indeed missed our family and our thoughts were with them all day. We feel grateful to have good friends here that help fill that void.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
holidays
It's been a while since we last posted because our little nifty plan to go around the Internet block didn't work so well. We're trying it again and we'll see how that goes.
Halloween was really fun. After a little costume contest at the clubhouse, everyone set out for some trick-or-treating. The funnest part was having the Chinese people in the neighborhood actually invite the children inside the house to give them candy. They would have them come inside to their kitchen area and show off the costumes to their guests. I think they got a real kick out of this weird holiday. The other funny thing was having people give handfuls of candy to the kids. We had to empty their candy carriers in the bottom of the stroller several times in only one hour. Emily was a cowgirl, Gabe was Harry Potter, Anna a princess, and Sara a fairy. We should have made Anna a track star for Halloween because she was bookin it from house to house. Sara enjoyed her self thoroughly as well. Whenever we approached a house she would squeal with delight and yell out "more candy!" All the kids really enjoyed themselves.
Now we're getting ready for thanksgiving. Chris doesn't get any time off of work and the kids only get Friday off so we're having our big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with a few families from our church. Holidays in a foreign country are always memorable because you have to adapt to what's available. We'll be making several things using rice cookers and crock pots to supplement my tiny oven. Luckily the local Carrefour store where I buy imported food has frozen turkeys so we feel blessed to get that at least. The other foods and spices are hard to find and very expensive so I think all of us will savor this Thanksgiving dinner very much.
On our way home from church today Gabe came up with another wacky comment. He said, "mom, Dad, I know why Chinese people are so stubborn; it's because they try to throw up without drinking any water!" I think he's seen one too many people hauk their spit on the ground. People tend to spit just about anywhere, indoors or outdoors and I guess it's made an impression on Gabe.
Take care everyone.
Halloween was really fun. After a little costume contest at the clubhouse, everyone set out for some trick-or-treating. The funnest part was having the Chinese people in the neighborhood actually invite the children inside the house to give them candy. They would have them come inside to their kitchen area and show off the costumes to their guests. I think they got a real kick out of this weird holiday. The other funny thing was having people give handfuls of candy to the kids. We had to empty their candy carriers in the bottom of the stroller several times in only one hour. Emily was a cowgirl, Gabe was Harry Potter, Anna a princess, and Sara a fairy. We should have made Anna a track star for Halloween because she was bookin it from house to house. Sara enjoyed her self thoroughly as well. Whenever we approached a house she would squeal with delight and yell out "more candy!" All the kids really enjoyed themselves.
Now we're getting ready for thanksgiving. Chris doesn't get any time off of work and the kids only get Friday off so we're having our big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with a few families from our church. Holidays in a foreign country are always memorable because you have to adapt to what's available. We'll be making several things using rice cookers and crock pots to supplement my tiny oven. Luckily the local Carrefour store where I buy imported food has frozen turkeys so we feel blessed to get that at least. The other foods and spices are hard to find and very expensive so I think all of us will savor this Thanksgiving dinner very much.
On our way home from church today Gabe came up with another wacky comment. He said, "mom, Dad, I know why Chinese people are so stubborn; it's because they try to throw up without drinking any water!" I think he's seen one too many people hauk their spit on the ground. People tend to spit just about anywhere, indoors or outdoors and I guess it's made an impression on Gabe.
Take care everyone.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
We're back in the blogging world again! We figured out a way to get blogspot again. Not sure we should say how.....
Anyway, how exciting! We feel so social now. I thought I would post a couple of pictures from our trip to YangShuo.
We are off to the primary Halloween party tonight (Friday night) Had a blast today at school helping with the classroom parties and watching the kids parade.
I somehow got suckered into organizing our neighborhood party and trick-or-treating for tomorrow night. This lady from Singapore caught me out on our street a few weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in a neighborhood party and trick-or-treating. She got my info and then said I was in charge of it because I was American and I know how it's supposed to go. What do you say to that? Needless to say, I'm doing that tomorrow.
Have a great Halloween everyone!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Emily's Baptism
Emily's baptism was something that we had been really looking forward to. It turned out to be a wonderful day and a wonderful memory for us.
Chris and I were up late the night before the baptism finishing up all the preparations. Earlier in the day, I picked up Chris' white pants from the fabric market. Luckily, they fit and looked nice. That was somewhat of a gamble waiting until the last minute to make sure Chris had something to wear for the baptism. It turned out fine.... thank heavens.
Friday I baked up a storm so we could all have something to eat afterwards. There were blueberry muffins, lemon muffins, banana bread, danishes, a huge tropical fruit salad and my friend Sung Hee made a quiche. Chris and I stayed up until 12:00am making this stuff and then got up at 5:00 to finish up getting things ready.
The smith family (the only other family in the branch that lives by us) offered their home and their pool because the pool in our compound isn't up and running yet. We headed over there to their house at about 8:30 to help set up chairs and snap a few pictures before the baptism. Emily was just beaming and looked like a little angel.
At 9:00 all the guests arrived. We had invited a couple of families that aren't members of our church to come and it was so good to have them there. About 6 families from our branch came and once everyone got situated, we got started. The branch president welcomed everyone and after the song and prayer, Chris gave a talk on baptism. When he was done we walked over to the clubhouse and downstairs to the indoor pool. The good thing about a pool is that everyone gets a front row seat. Despite it being a pool, there was such a wonderful feeling in the room. The baptism was so sweet. I was there waiting with a towel right after and got a big hug from my soaking wet little angel. Emily and I went into the locker room and got her all dry and dressed. My friend Sung Hee was also there to hold all the stuff and help get Emily ready. Once she was dressed we headed back over to house.
While Emily was getting dressed, everyone watched part of the movie, "Finding Faith in Christ."
When we got back, we continued with the meeting. Sung Hee Smith gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost in which she talked about her own conversion story. After her talk, Chris and a few brothers from the branch confirmed Emily. The Primary President and the branch president both said a few words and then the meeting ended with a song and a prayer. It was a simple yet powerful experience.
It reminded me of the first Sunday I spent in China at 19 years old. I was there with a group of about 25 other teachers teaching English. We met for church at our group leader's home. Because we didn't have sacrement trays, we just brought our own cup and the men blessed a pitcher of water. We took the sacrement bread off a plate and the sacrement water was poured into our cups. I remember feeling something so special that day as I partook of the sacrament. We didn't have the "normal" church conviences i.e. sacrement trays and a chappel but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that we had the priesthood power to perform the ordinance. Likewise with Emily's baptism. It didn't matter that we didn't have a nice church to meet in or a baptismal font in which to do the baptism. All that was nessesary was, having the water, a faithful and willing person, and those who held the priesthood.
After the meeting was over, everyone stayed and enjoyed some food. Our nonmember friends all commented on how much they enjoyed the baptism. They felt it was something special and they were glad to have been there. My friend Patricia from Brazil said that she has been to baptisms before where there is a lot of pomp and ceremony. She said that it was easier for her to feel the spirit during Emily's baptism because it was so pure and simple. It made me think of the scripture, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." The only way to describe the feeling of that day is pure joy. The smile on Emily's face is a picture set in my memory forever. The only thing that could have made the day any better would have been to have our family and friends from home there. The wonderful thing about the church though, is that no matter where you go, you have an instant ward or branch family willing to help and support you. It is something very unique and special about our church.
I am so grateful Emily made the decision to be baptized. Watching Chris baptize her was a precious sight. I will never forget it.
Chris and I were up late the night before the baptism finishing up all the preparations. Earlier in the day, I picked up Chris' white pants from the fabric market. Luckily, they fit and looked nice. That was somewhat of a gamble waiting until the last minute to make sure Chris had something to wear for the baptism. It turned out fine.... thank heavens.
Friday I baked up a storm so we could all have something to eat afterwards. There were blueberry muffins, lemon muffins, banana bread, danishes, a huge tropical fruit salad and my friend Sung Hee made a quiche. Chris and I stayed up until 12:00am making this stuff and then got up at 5:00 to finish up getting things ready.
The smith family (the only other family in the branch that lives by us) offered their home and their pool because the pool in our compound isn't up and running yet. We headed over there to their house at about 8:30 to help set up chairs and snap a few pictures before the baptism. Emily was just beaming and looked like a little angel.
At 9:00 all the guests arrived. We had invited a couple of families that aren't members of our church to come and it was so good to have them there. About 6 families from our branch came and once everyone got situated, we got started. The branch president welcomed everyone and after the song and prayer, Chris gave a talk on baptism. When he was done we walked over to the clubhouse and downstairs to the indoor pool. The good thing about a pool is that everyone gets a front row seat. Despite it being a pool, there was such a wonderful feeling in the room. The baptism was so sweet. I was there waiting with a towel right after and got a big hug from my soaking wet little angel. Emily and I went into the locker room and got her all dry and dressed. My friend Sung Hee was also there to hold all the stuff and help get Emily ready. Once she was dressed we headed back over to house.
While Emily was getting dressed, everyone watched part of the movie, "Finding Faith in Christ."
When we got back, we continued with the meeting. Sung Hee Smith gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost in which she talked about her own conversion story. After her talk, Chris and a few brothers from the branch confirmed Emily. The Primary President and the branch president both said a few words and then the meeting ended with a song and a prayer. It was a simple yet powerful experience.
It reminded me of the first Sunday I spent in China at 19 years old. I was there with a group of about 25 other teachers teaching English. We met for church at our group leader's home. Because we didn't have sacrement trays, we just brought our own cup and the men blessed a pitcher of water. We took the sacrement bread off a plate and the sacrement water was poured into our cups. I remember feeling something so special that day as I partook of the sacrament. We didn't have the "normal" church conviences i.e. sacrement trays and a chappel but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that we had the priesthood power to perform the ordinance. Likewise with Emily's baptism. It didn't matter that we didn't have a nice church to meet in or a baptismal font in which to do the baptism. All that was nessesary was, having the water, a faithful and willing person, and those who held the priesthood.
After the meeting was over, everyone stayed and enjoyed some food. Our nonmember friends all commented on how much they enjoyed the baptism. They felt it was something special and they were glad to have been there. My friend Patricia from Brazil said that she has been to baptisms before where there is a lot of pomp and ceremony. She said that it was easier for her to feel the spirit during Emily's baptism because it was so pure and simple. It made me think of the scripture, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." The only way to describe the feeling of that day is pure joy. The smile on Emily's face is a picture set in my memory forever. The only thing that could have made the day any better would have been to have our family and friends from home there. The wonderful thing about the church though, is that no matter where you go, you have an instant ward or branch family willing to help and support you. It is something very unique and special about our church.
I am so grateful Emily made the decision to be baptized. Watching Chris baptize her was a precious sight. I will never forget it.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Trip to Beijing
Our trip to Beijing was really fun. It almost seems surreal because we packed so much into the trip and before we knew it 3 days had gone by and we were home again.
We got there Thursday night at about 8:00pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza mainly because they have an all you can eat American breakfast buffet. We knew the kids weren't going to go for a Chinese breakfast. It ended up being a wise choice. Thursday night was only interrupted twice by disoriented children, to whom Chris was totally oblivous, but for the most part it was fine.
Day 1 Friday
We got up, got ready, and headed down to breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly on all the pastries, french toast, eggs, and juices that we found great joy in mixing. A few days before arriving in Beijing I had arranged with the Hotel for a driver and a tour guide for both days we were there. After breakfast, we met our tour guide, Cindy, in the Lobby and off we went. The day was perfectly overcast and cool and the van was nice and roomy. It's a good thing cause it took about 2 hours to get to where we were going with all the traffic.
The first place we went was the Ming tombs. The Ming dynasty, mainly emperor Zhu Di, was responsible for building most of the Great Wall, and also building the entire Forbidden City. It was a really fun place with beautiful buildings. We also stopped to take some family pictures in the traditional imperial clothes. The kids weren't too excited about it but once they got into the clothes they really got into it. Ironically, they didn't have enough girl clothes so we had to dress Sara in a boy's outfit. If any of you have been following the blog, you know how funny that is.
After the Ming Tombs, we had lunch over at a jade factory. We got to see how they make jade carvings and got a quick lesson on how to tell real jade from the fake stuff. The kids couldn't care less cause they were starving so we told the guy giving the little jade tour, thanks but that was going to have to be it.
There was a resturant above the factory so we went upand got a table and had a great traditional lunch with the very popular Lazy Susan in the middle. I don't think a set of dishes has ever been spun around so many times in one lunch. Anna kept asking for tea in her tea cup so we just filled it with Sprite and let her go at it. Once we were done, we walked around the Jade factory show room simply amazed at all the jade carvings (the prices were pretty amazing too, if ya know what I mean) It was obvious that this place was popular with tour guides cause there happened to be a lot of foreigners there.
After all that, it was time to hit the road again, this time to the Great wall. Now keep in mind this day is the equivalent of the American Labor day, so the traffic was once again horrendous. It took about another hour and 1/2 to get to the Great Wall. There are 1.3 billion people in China. I think the entire .3 billion people decided to visit the Great Wall that day. (it was like they heard Michelle Obama was showing off her spring wardrobe there) It felt like some sort of Mecca. As we made our way up the road in the car there was just an endless stream of people leaving from and going towards the entrance walking on the side of the road. It was really an incredible sight.
Our van was able to park at the top right by the entrance. We decided that instead of walking up the entire section of the wall, we would take the gondola up 2/3 of the way and then walk the rest. Surprisingly, the line for the gondola wasn't long at all. We hopped on and up we went. It's a pretty steep climb and Gabe didn't appreciate it at all. He was pretty freaked out by it. It was a short ride but not short enough. By the time we got to the top Gabe was a mess. He continued to cry seeing how high up we were and kept saying that he wanted to go down. I think the crowds didn't help the situation much.
Even though it was really crowed, climbing the Great Wall is an amazing experience. Just looking out over the hills and seeing how the wall flows over them like someone drew it there, and seeing how far it goes on and on, makes you wonder how in the world they could have built it. Our tour guide told us that the Great Wall is the biggest cemetery in the world because of all the people who died building it. She also told us that Chairman Mao said that only after climbing the Great Wall can you be considered a real hero. The kids really ate that up. We are all now heros according to Chairman Mao. May he rest in frozen slumber.
Gabe warmed up to the whole experience once Chris handed him the camera and let him take some pictures. We were able to climb happily to the top with the rest of the millions of people. Once at the top of this section, it felt like we had joined a huge party of sorts. The people there were cheering and waving and there was definitely a feeling of triumph among the crowd. It kind of made it that much more exciting.
After about 5 min and a few dozen photo opps, we decided we'd had enough of the big party and headed down. We went back down using the gondola which Gabe declared was his favorite part of the wall (go figure) We bought an empress hat for Anna that she desperately wanted, got in the van and headed back to the Hotel.
Originally, we wanted to go see the Olympic sights but we weren't allowed to go near them. Get this, Jackie Chan was giving a singing performance there and the government had closed the area to visitors. Who knew Jackie Chan could sing? Our tour guide assured us that he sings beautifully. However, our taxi driver on Sunday said his singing "is hard to listen to." We were so tired by then that we didn't really care that all we got was a drive by viewing of the bird's nest and the water cube. They sure were neat looking though.
It took over 2 hours to get back so we grabbed a quick dinner at the nearby KFC and got the kids into bed by about 8:30. After a fun filled day, the kids slept soundly without a peep all night.
Day 2 Saturday
Saturday was a pretty packed day. We met our tour guide, Lucia, at about 8:30 after stuffing ourselves once again at the breakfast buffet, and headed out. This time we stayed around town.
It took about 15 min to get to Tiananmen square. It too was soooooo packed with people. Imagine Disneyland on it's most crowed day and then times that by 3. Until you see it with your own eyes it's really hard to grasp just how many people there are in China. It is the most populated country in the world. (Shanghai is the most populated city in China with 20 million and utah has a whopping 4 million)
Our driver dropped us off and we walked through the square. I think our tour guide Lucia was going to have a nervous breakdown trying to make sure that our kids weren't going to get lost in the crowd. Chris and I were a bit nervous about that too. We made everyone hold hands at all times. We forgot the stroller back at the Hotel but it turned out to be a good thing because with that many people, it would have been of no use. I'm sure we would have ditched it somewhere eventually. Anyway, we got a quick explanation of all the government buildings surrounding Tiananmen square and then headed towards the forbidden City across the street. Chris and I decided not to tell Emily and Gabe the reason Tiananmen Square is so famous to Americans. The Chinese people don't talk about it at all and the upcoming generation for the most part doesn't even know about it. The Chinese government filters it out of the internet here. We will tell our kids some day, but for now it doesn't seem appropriate.
Getting in line to enter the Forbidden City was kind of scary. The word "bottleneck" has a whole new meaning for me. Thousands of people were trying to file into two small lines where they checked tickets. I was holding Sara and Chris and Lucia had the other kids in front of me. We were squeezed in so tight it felt like I could hardly get any air. Even though we were all squeezed that tightly, people were still trying to get past one another. I seriously thought to myself that if someone goes down right here they aren't going to ever make it back up. After a few minutes, I heard someone in English say something. I turned my head and behind me was a family from Los Vegas. They were all older and the son got right behind me and started holding people back a little saying, " Give the lady with the baby some room people." I was pretty grateful. We made it to the ticket check without major incident and once through the line, and inside the palace, it wasn't as crowded and we could go off to the side and gather ourselves.
Once we were gathered, Lucia gave us a short introduction of the palace and then we began to walk through it. Lucia was pretty good about not trying to give too much information about the different buildings because of the kids. She knew that a quick look and a few words were just enough. She did however, take us over to the part of the palace where the emperor's concubines lived. We had to let her know that the kids don't know what concubines are and unless she wanted to give a whole new kind of explanation, we should move on from there. All in all we learned some cool stuff about imperial life and I think the kids really liked it. ( the peach Popsicle half way through didn't hurt either) The palace is 600 years old and if you think about it, that is really amazing to have history like that.
For lunch Lucia took us to a really cool restaurant where we even got to have our own room. It was in a garden setting all decked out in traditional decorations. Our table had the all important tea/sprite cups and lazy susan. We even had someone come in and do some traditional singing and dancing. The food was pretty good which is always such a bonus.
After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is the place where the emperor would come and worship the god of heaven twice a year; the winter and summer solstice. The emperor would fast for 3 days and then make animal sacrifices to insure a plentiful harvest. The buildings were really cool and stuff but the main attraction was the people all around the grounds. As soon as we walked into the outer courtyard, we heard groovy Chinese music and saw people, mostly elderly people, all kicking up their heels. This one guy was like 70 and he was doing some of the best Latin dancing I've ever seen. This was just one part of the courtyard. All around people were playing music, singing, and dancing. There was one group of people playing brass instruments while people danced in front of them. Another guy had an accordion with about 8 people singing along some Chinese opera song. Towards the back of the courtyard as we were coming out of the temple area, we saw people dancing with long multicolored streamers. They handed them to the kids and Emily and Gabe went to town. Emily did the graceful flowing streamer dance while Gabe did more of the super sonic "shake the streamer to death" dance. He had a few graceful moves in there too. Anna was too embarrassed but Sara jumped in and gave it a whirl. It just felt so carefree and celebratory. We stayed there for a while taking it all in.
After we'd had our fun, the kids were anxious to get back and go swimming. We got back to the Hotel about 2:30 and Chris took the older two swimming while I took Sara and Anna back upstairs for naps. At 4:30 we headed out to an acrobat show. It was perfect because the show started at 5:15 and only lasted an hour. The kids were mesmerized by all the flipping and balancing and throwing and contorting. It was really a great show!
In honor of my dad who was the ultimate Hard Rock Cafe fan, we searched out the Hard Rock Cafe Beijing and went there for dinner. Sara entertained us all with her enthusiastic seat dancing. She really got going to some Black Crows and ZZ Top. It was a lot of fun and a great Chinese food break. I don't remember a BBQ pulled pork sandwich ever tasting so good!
After a very fun filled super packed day, we headed home and hit the hay. Once again, the kids were too worn out to even move the whole night.
Day 3 Sunday
Sunday we just took it easy. We decided to go to the 10:30 branch instead of the 8:30 am branch. We took our time eating breakfast and then getting ready for church. We went down to the lobby and asked about a taxi to take us and there happened to be a really nice taxi driver standing right there. The concierge guy helped us figure out where we were going and then told the taxi driver where to go. Getting a nice taxi driver is a hard thing to do in Beijing. We didn't get too many while we were there so it was a blessing to get this guy. It took a while to find the branch meeting place. The taxi driver even got out and asked around trying to help us. When we found it we gave him a tip and got out. He must have liked the tip cause he told Chris that he would just wait for us. I'm telling you, this guy was heaven sent cause it would have been hard for us to find a taxi back to the hotel.
The branch was really great. It seemed like there were a ton of visitors there. The row behind us was filled with ILP English teachers who were traveling in Beijing for the week. Chris and I were ILP English teachers 10 years ago and it was really fun to talk to them and go down memory lane. As far as the testimony meeting went, it was so spiritual. The first lady that got up was a visitor and shared such a sweet love of the gospel and said how she was a convert of not so many years. The second lady who was a branch member, got up and said, "I don't know if the first sister remembers but we were good friends many years ago in California when she was trying to decide which church to join." She said that she felt like Ammon, when he met up with his brethren and saw that they were still his brethren in the Lord. She expressed gratitude that the previous sister had joined the church and how happy she was for her. After she was done the two sisters met in the isle and embraced. What an amazing reunion! After all those years, to meet up in Beijing China of all places. The entire meeting was just wonderful and I'm really glad we went. That is something my dad always did when we went on vacation. He always made sure that no matter where we were, we looked up the church and attended. As you can tell, I thought a lot about my dad while in Beijing.
After church we had lunch at the hotel and then headed off to the airport. We left in plenty of time so we didn't have to run through the airport to catch our plane. (unlike our flight out there)
While we waited at the gate we got talking to a couple who were on their way to Guangzhou to pick up their adopted baby. It was their second one. We had a wonderful conversation with them about having adopted children and I was sad to have to say goodbye to them when it was time to go. We wished them well and off we went.
What an amazing trip. No one got sick, no one peed their pants, there were no blow out diapers and no total melt downs. Sara just konked out for a nap wherever, so we didn't even have to worry about naps. Now that's a successful trip. It almost doesn't seem real. The good, the bad, the crowded, the crazy, it was all just so amazing. Chris and I are looking forward to our next trip.
We got there Thursday night at about 8:00pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza mainly because they have an all you can eat American breakfast buffet. We knew the kids weren't going to go for a Chinese breakfast. It ended up being a wise choice. Thursday night was only interrupted twice by disoriented children, to whom Chris was totally oblivous, but for the most part it was fine.
Day 1 Friday
We got up, got ready, and headed down to breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly on all the pastries, french toast, eggs, and juices that we found great joy in mixing. A few days before arriving in Beijing I had arranged with the Hotel for a driver and a tour guide for both days we were there. After breakfast, we met our tour guide, Cindy, in the Lobby and off we went. The day was perfectly overcast and cool and the van was nice and roomy. It's a good thing cause it took about 2 hours to get to where we were going with all the traffic.
The first place we went was the Ming tombs. The Ming dynasty, mainly emperor Zhu Di, was responsible for building most of the Great Wall, and also building the entire Forbidden City. It was a really fun place with beautiful buildings. We also stopped to take some family pictures in the traditional imperial clothes. The kids weren't too excited about it but once they got into the clothes they really got into it. Ironically, they didn't have enough girl clothes so we had to dress Sara in a boy's outfit. If any of you have been following the blog, you know how funny that is.
After the Ming Tombs, we had lunch over at a jade factory. We got to see how they make jade carvings and got a quick lesson on how to tell real jade from the fake stuff. The kids couldn't care less cause they were starving so we told the guy giving the little jade tour, thanks but that was going to have to be it.
There was a resturant above the factory so we went upand got a table and had a great traditional lunch with the very popular Lazy Susan in the middle. I don't think a set of dishes has ever been spun around so many times in one lunch. Anna kept asking for tea in her tea cup so we just filled it with Sprite and let her go at it. Once we were done, we walked around the Jade factory show room simply amazed at all the jade carvings (the prices were pretty amazing too, if ya know what I mean) It was obvious that this place was popular with tour guides cause there happened to be a lot of foreigners there.
After all that, it was time to hit the road again, this time to the Great wall. Now keep in mind this day is the equivalent of the American Labor day, so the traffic was once again horrendous. It took about another hour and 1/2 to get to the Great Wall. There are 1.3 billion people in China. I think the entire .3 billion people decided to visit the Great Wall that day. (it was like they heard Michelle Obama was showing off her spring wardrobe there) It felt like some sort of Mecca. As we made our way up the road in the car there was just an endless stream of people leaving from and going towards the entrance walking on the side of the road. It was really an incredible sight.
Our van was able to park at the top right by the entrance. We decided that instead of walking up the entire section of the wall, we would take the gondola up 2/3 of the way and then walk the rest. Surprisingly, the line for the gondola wasn't long at all. We hopped on and up we went. It's a pretty steep climb and Gabe didn't appreciate it at all. He was pretty freaked out by it. It was a short ride but not short enough. By the time we got to the top Gabe was a mess. He continued to cry seeing how high up we were and kept saying that he wanted to go down. I think the crowds didn't help the situation much.
Even though it was really crowed, climbing the Great Wall is an amazing experience. Just looking out over the hills and seeing how the wall flows over them like someone drew it there, and seeing how far it goes on and on, makes you wonder how in the world they could have built it. Our tour guide told us that the Great Wall is the biggest cemetery in the world because of all the people who died building it. She also told us that Chairman Mao said that only after climbing the Great Wall can you be considered a real hero. The kids really ate that up. We are all now heros according to Chairman Mao. May he rest in frozen slumber.
Gabe warmed up to the whole experience once Chris handed him the camera and let him take some pictures. We were able to climb happily to the top with the rest of the millions of people. Once at the top of this section, it felt like we had joined a huge party of sorts. The people there were cheering and waving and there was definitely a feeling of triumph among the crowd. It kind of made it that much more exciting.
After about 5 min and a few dozen photo opps, we decided we'd had enough of the big party and headed down. We went back down using the gondola which Gabe declared was his favorite part of the wall (go figure) We bought an empress hat for Anna that she desperately wanted, got in the van and headed back to the Hotel.
Originally, we wanted to go see the Olympic sights but we weren't allowed to go near them. Get this, Jackie Chan was giving a singing performance there and the government had closed the area to visitors. Who knew Jackie Chan could sing? Our tour guide assured us that he sings beautifully. However, our taxi driver on Sunday said his singing "is hard to listen to." We were so tired by then that we didn't really care that all we got was a drive by viewing of the bird's nest and the water cube. They sure were neat looking though.
It took over 2 hours to get back so we grabbed a quick dinner at the nearby KFC and got the kids into bed by about 8:30. After a fun filled day, the kids slept soundly without a peep all night.
Day 2 Saturday
Saturday was a pretty packed day. We met our tour guide, Lucia, at about 8:30 after stuffing ourselves once again at the breakfast buffet, and headed out. This time we stayed around town.
It took about 15 min to get to Tiananmen square. It too was soooooo packed with people. Imagine Disneyland on it's most crowed day and then times that by 3. Until you see it with your own eyes it's really hard to grasp just how many people there are in China. It is the most populated country in the world. (Shanghai is the most populated city in China with 20 million and utah has a whopping 4 million)
Our driver dropped us off and we walked through the square. I think our tour guide Lucia was going to have a nervous breakdown trying to make sure that our kids weren't going to get lost in the crowd. Chris and I were a bit nervous about that too. We made everyone hold hands at all times. We forgot the stroller back at the Hotel but it turned out to be a good thing because with that many people, it would have been of no use. I'm sure we would have ditched it somewhere eventually. Anyway, we got a quick explanation of all the government buildings surrounding Tiananmen square and then headed towards the forbidden City across the street. Chris and I decided not to tell Emily and Gabe the reason Tiananmen Square is so famous to Americans. The Chinese people don't talk about it at all and the upcoming generation for the most part doesn't even know about it. The Chinese government filters it out of the internet here. We will tell our kids some day, but for now it doesn't seem appropriate.
Getting in line to enter the Forbidden City was kind of scary. The word "bottleneck" has a whole new meaning for me. Thousands of people were trying to file into two small lines where they checked tickets. I was holding Sara and Chris and Lucia had the other kids in front of me. We were squeezed in so tight it felt like I could hardly get any air. Even though we were all squeezed that tightly, people were still trying to get past one another. I seriously thought to myself that if someone goes down right here they aren't going to ever make it back up. After a few minutes, I heard someone in English say something. I turned my head and behind me was a family from Los Vegas. They were all older and the son got right behind me and started holding people back a little saying, " Give the lady with the baby some room people." I was pretty grateful. We made it to the ticket check without major incident and once through the line, and inside the palace, it wasn't as crowded and we could go off to the side and gather ourselves.
Once we were gathered, Lucia gave us a short introduction of the palace and then we began to walk through it. Lucia was pretty good about not trying to give too much information about the different buildings because of the kids. She knew that a quick look and a few words were just enough. She did however, take us over to the part of the palace where the emperor's concubines lived. We had to let her know that the kids don't know what concubines are and unless she wanted to give a whole new kind of explanation, we should move on from there. All in all we learned some cool stuff about imperial life and I think the kids really liked it. ( the peach Popsicle half way through didn't hurt either) The palace is 600 years old and if you think about it, that is really amazing to have history like that.
For lunch Lucia took us to a really cool restaurant where we even got to have our own room. It was in a garden setting all decked out in traditional decorations. Our table had the all important tea/sprite cups and lazy susan. We even had someone come in and do some traditional singing and dancing. The food was pretty good which is always such a bonus.
After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is the place where the emperor would come and worship the god of heaven twice a year; the winter and summer solstice. The emperor would fast for 3 days and then make animal sacrifices to insure a plentiful harvest. The buildings were really cool and stuff but the main attraction was the people all around the grounds. As soon as we walked into the outer courtyard, we heard groovy Chinese music and saw people, mostly elderly people, all kicking up their heels. This one guy was like 70 and he was doing some of the best Latin dancing I've ever seen. This was just one part of the courtyard. All around people were playing music, singing, and dancing. There was one group of people playing brass instruments while people danced in front of them. Another guy had an accordion with about 8 people singing along some Chinese opera song. Towards the back of the courtyard as we were coming out of the temple area, we saw people dancing with long multicolored streamers. They handed them to the kids and Emily and Gabe went to town. Emily did the graceful flowing streamer dance while Gabe did more of the super sonic "shake the streamer to death" dance. He had a few graceful moves in there too. Anna was too embarrassed but Sara jumped in and gave it a whirl. It just felt so carefree and celebratory. We stayed there for a while taking it all in.
After we'd had our fun, the kids were anxious to get back and go swimming. We got back to the Hotel about 2:30 and Chris took the older two swimming while I took Sara and Anna back upstairs for naps. At 4:30 we headed out to an acrobat show. It was perfect because the show started at 5:15 and only lasted an hour. The kids were mesmerized by all the flipping and balancing and throwing and contorting. It was really a great show!
In honor of my dad who was the ultimate Hard Rock Cafe fan, we searched out the Hard Rock Cafe Beijing and went there for dinner. Sara entertained us all with her enthusiastic seat dancing. She really got going to some Black Crows and ZZ Top. It was a lot of fun and a great Chinese food break. I don't remember a BBQ pulled pork sandwich ever tasting so good!
After a very fun filled super packed day, we headed home and hit the hay. Once again, the kids were too worn out to even move the whole night.
Day 3 Sunday
Sunday we just took it easy. We decided to go to the 10:30 branch instead of the 8:30 am branch. We took our time eating breakfast and then getting ready for church. We went down to the lobby and asked about a taxi to take us and there happened to be a really nice taxi driver standing right there. The concierge guy helped us figure out where we were going and then told the taxi driver where to go. Getting a nice taxi driver is a hard thing to do in Beijing. We didn't get too many while we were there so it was a blessing to get this guy. It took a while to find the branch meeting place. The taxi driver even got out and asked around trying to help us. When we found it we gave him a tip and got out. He must have liked the tip cause he told Chris that he would just wait for us. I'm telling you, this guy was heaven sent cause it would have been hard for us to find a taxi back to the hotel.
The branch was really great. It seemed like there were a ton of visitors there. The row behind us was filled with ILP English teachers who were traveling in Beijing for the week. Chris and I were ILP English teachers 10 years ago and it was really fun to talk to them and go down memory lane. As far as the testimony meeting went, it was so spiritual. The first lady that got up was a visitor and shared such a sweet love of the gospel and said how she was a convert of not so many years. The second lady who was a branch member, got up and said, "I don't know if the first sister remembers but we were good friends many years ago in California when she was trying to decide which church to join." She said that she felt like Ammon, when he met up with his brethren and saw that they were still his brethren in the Lord. She expressed gratitude that the previous sister had joined the church and how happy she was for her. After she was done the two sisters met in the isle and embraced. What an amazing reunion! After all those years, to meet up in Beijing China of all places. The entire meeting was just wonderful and I'm really glad we went. That is something my dad always did when we went on vacation. He always made sure that no matter where we were, we looked up the church and attended. As you can tell, I thought a lot about my dad while in Beijing.
After church we had lunch at the hotel and then headed off to the airport. We left in plenty of time so we didn't have to run through the airport to catch our plane. (unlike our flight out there)
While we waited at the gate we got talking to a couple who were on their way to Guangzhou to pick up their adopted baby. It was their second one. We had a wonderful conversation with them about having adopted children and I was sad to have to say goodbye to them when it was time to go. We wished them well and off we went.
What an amazing trip. No one got sick, no one peed their pants, there were no blow out diapers and no total melt downs. Sara just konked out for a nap wherever, so we didn't even have to worry about naps. Now that's a successful trip. It almost doesn't seem real. The good, the bad, the crowded, the crazy, it was all just so amazing. Chris and I are looking forward to our next trip.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Bike accident
Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. The ole' bike accident that gets blamed on the foreigner. The whole thing was such a horrible experience. After it was all over I cried for the first time since we arrived. So this is what happened:
Yesterday I was crossing the road near our house to pick up the kids from a friend's house. It is a pretty busy street, so I waited until the coast was clear and then started to cross the road. As I got close to the other side, I saw a three wheeled motor bike coming and not slowing down so I stopped my bike to let it go by. It was an older guy and I don't know what he was doing but he didn't slow down and made this huge swerve and tipped his bike over landing him on the street. I quickly got off my bike and ran over to help him. That was a huge mistake.
As soon as I righted his motor bike he started yelling at me and telling me it was all my fault. I should have just left at that point. Another guy from across the street came over and called the police and told me I couldn't leave. Again, I just should have left anyway. I was scared that this guy was going to tell the police that I hit him and they were going to hunt me down and who knows what. Anyway, I just said in Chinese that it wasn't my fault and that I was going to leave. He said I couldn't leave and stupidly, I believed him. About 10 people were gathered around by now, all interested in the show. I was stunned at how quickly this blew up into a huge thing. A police guy came in his car with lights flashing and that drew even more people to the scene. I tried to tell the cop what happened and he said it didn't matter what I said. It didn't count. My friend Sung Hee Smith who's house Gabe and Sara were at called me to see if I had a diaper for Sara and I told her what happened. She said she would be right there.
She came about 2 min later and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Just to have her there by my side made the situation so much better. Our A yi, who was on her way home, saw the crowd and came over to see if she could help. She is a shy person so she just quietly stayed by me the whole time lending her support as best as she could.
I called Chris and told him what happened and he immediately got the driver and headed home. He felt so helpless cause he was a half hour away. When he told the driver what happened, Chris said he has never seen our driver put the peddle to the medal like that before.
In the mean time, another cop shows up. I was so confused as to what they all expected me to do. People were shouting and yelling and the crowd was getting bigger and bigger. My friend Sung Hee did her best to try and help, but the cops wouldn't do anything. We kept saying that if I had hit the guy, who was riding a bigger vehicle, then my bike would have had damage too. It was just too much logic for these people. The cops paid no attention and just kept talking to someone on their cell phones.
Obviously, this old guy wanted money and he wasn't going to let this go until he got some. The cops finally just said that we had to settle on an amount of money and then I could go. WHAT!? This guy biffed it totally on his own and now I'm supposed to pay him money? He was really acting the part too. He kept showing the crowd his scrapes shouting stuff I couldn't understand. His knee had a scrape and he kept his pant leg up the whole time making sure everybody saw what the evil foreigner had done. This was such a nightmare.
It had been an hour when I finally just said I would give him 100 yuan so I could get out of there. The guy just yelled at me a bunch of stuff and the only thing I caught was that he wanted 1000 yuan. I laughed out loud because I certainly wasn't going to cry! The cops were just talking on their cell phones to I don't know who while the crowd just kept yelling stuff. One of the cops handed the phone over to me and a guy speaking English asked me what happened. I recounted the whole thing and he said that I had to work it out with this old guy or come down to the police station with my passport and a police officer there would decide who was at fault. Yes, I know, this whole thing was ridiculous. I gave the phone back and just said that I was willing to give 100 yuan and that was it. I wasn't going to the police station so take it or leave it. I was fuming by this time. Upon hearing my offer one more time the old guy started all the dramatic "showing" of his owies. Then this lady who got there long after the accident happened piped up saying that if I hadn't been riding my bike so fast then this poor man wouldn't be hurt.
That was it! I had been pretty calm until then, but after that I asked her in my "outside voice" how she could have seen me riding my bike when she wasn't even there! I said some choice things to the old guy as well. I didn't swear, although I was tempted like never before. I just threw out a few insults like, " you're stupid and crazy," ( those are the only insults I know in Chinese) The old guy just made a face at me that rivaled the best nany nany boo boo face I had ever seen.
Chris and our driver showed up about this time and I was so relieved to see them. This was also about the time that a friend of mine in our compound showed up as well and asked me if she could go back to my house to be with Emily and Anna who were probably wondering where the heck I was. Our A yi had to go and Emily and Anna were just getting back from a friends house so it was a huge help to have my friend go be with them. Sung Hee also went back to her home to take care of Sara and Gabe. Meanwhile our driver began to argue in my behalf. Our driver is tall compared to most Chinese guys and Chris was a head taller than everyone there so I think this helped the situation. The arguing went on for about 10 min and then to my surprise our driver threw 300 yuan at the guy and it all ended... just like that. Everyone dispersed and went on their way. Chris walked my bike home and I got in the car with our driver and drove over to Sung Hee's house to pick up Gabe and Sara.
The minute I got in the car I began to cry. It was the most humiliating experiences ever and I was so angry that the guy got any money out of it. The injustice of it just killed me. I thanked the driver through my sobs and he put his hand on my shoulder and said that it was nothing. I was a sobbing mess when I got to Sung Hee's house and she just hugged me and said, "Oh today was one of those "Bad China" days. Sung Hee, who is Korean, has had a few of them herself and we've talked and laughed about her "Bad China" days in the past. It made me feel better. We were late to a birthday party a friend was having down town, so we got a taxi and booked it over there. A few sisters from the branch were there and all listened to my story with great sympathy. They literally put their arms around me and helped me laugh through my tears.
Despite the day's horrible events I had a lot to be thankful for at the end of the day. I am so thankful for good friends who helped me out when I needed them . I'm thankful to Chris for dropping everything and coming to my side. I'm thankful for a good driver who takes good care of our family. I'm thankful for the sisters in my branch. I'm thankful that this whole thing didn't turn out worse than it did. I'm thankful to the Lord for putting such caring people in my life. Yes, as bad as it was, I have a lot to be thankful for.
Yesterday I was crossing the road near our house to pick up the kids from a friend's house. It is a pretty busy street, so I waited until the coast was clear and then started to cross the road. As I got close to the other side, I saw a three wheeled motor bike coming and not slowing down so I stopped my bike to let it go by. It was an older guy and I don't know what he was doing but he didn't slow down and made this huge swerve and tipped his bike over landing him on the street. I quickly got off my bike and ran over to help him. That was a huge mistake.
As soon as I righted his motor bike he started yelling at me and telling me it was all my fault. I should have just left at that point. Another guy from across the street came over and called the police and told me I couldn't leave. Again, I just should have left anyway. I was scared that this guy was going to tell the police that I hit him and they were going to hunt me down and who knows what. Anyway, I just said in Chinese that it wasn't my fault and that I was going to leave. He said I couldn't leave and stupidly, I believed him. About 10 people were gathered around by now, all interested in the show. I was stunned at how quickly this blew up into a huge thing. A police guy came in his car with lights flashing and that drew even more people to the scene. I tried to tell the cop what happened and he said it didn't matter what I said. It didn't count. My friend Sung Hee Smith who's house Gabe and Sara were at called me to see if I had a diaper for Sara and I told her what happened. She said she would be right there.
She came about 2 min later and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Just to have her there by my side made the situation so much better. Our A yi, who was on her way home, saw the crowd and came over to see if she could help. She is a shy person so she just quietly stayed by me the whole time lending her support as best as she could.
I called Chris and told him what happened and he immediately got the driver and headed home. He felt so helpless cause he was a half hour away. When he told the driver what happened, Chris said he has never seen our driver put the peddle to the medal like that before.
In the mean time, another cop shows up. I was so confused as to what they all expected me to do. People were shouting and yelling and the crowd was getting bigger and bigger. My friend Sung Hee did her best to try and help, but the cops wouldn't do anything. We kept saying that if I had hit the guy, who was riding a bigger vehicle, then my bike would have had damage too. It was just too much logic for these people. The cops paid no attention and just kept talking to someone on their cell phones.
Obviously, this old guy wanted money and he wasn't going to let this go until he got some. The cops finally just said that we had to settle on an amount of money and then I could go. WHAT!? This guy biffed it totally on his own and now I'm supposed to pay him money? He was really acting the part too. He kept showing the crowd his scrapes shouting stuff I couldn't understand. His knee had a scrape and he kept his pant leg up the whole time making sure everybody saw what the evil foreigner had done. This was such a nightmare.
It had been an hour when I finally just said I would give him 100 yuan so I could get out of there. The guy just yelled at me a bunch of stuff and the only thing I caught was that he wanted 1000 yuan. I laughed out loud because I certainly wasn't going to cry! The cops were just talking on their cell phones to I don't know who while the crowd just kept yelling stuff. One of the cops handed the phone over to me and a guy speaking English asked me what happened. I recounted the whole thing and he said that I had to work it out with this old guy or come down to the police station with my passport and a police officer there would decide who was at fault. Yes, I know, this whole thing was ridiculous. I gave the phone back and just said that I was willing to give 100 yuan and that was it. I wasn't going to the police station so take it or leave it. I was fuming by this time. Upon hearing my offer one more time the old guy started all the dramatic "showing" of his owies. Then this lady who got there long after the accident happened piped up saying that if I hadn't been riding my bike so fast then this poor man wouldn't be hurt.
That was it! I had been pretty calm until then, but after that I asked her in my "outside voice" how she could have seen me riding my bike when she wasn't even there! I said some choice things to the old guy as well. I didn't swear, although I was tempted like never before. I just threw out a few insults like, " you're stupid and crazy," ( those are the only insults I know in Chinese) The old guy just made a face at me that rivaled the best nany nany boo boo face I had ever seen.
Chris and our driver showed up about this time and I was so relieved to see them. This was also about the time that a friend of mine in our compound showed up as well and asked me if she could go back to my house to be with Emily and Anna who were probably wondering where the heck I was. Our A yi had to go and Emily and Anna were just getting back from a friends house so it was a huge help to have my friend go be with them. Sung Hee also went back to her home to take care of Sara and Gabe. Meanwhile our driver began to argue in my behalf. Our driver is tall compared to most Chinese guys and Chris was a head taller than everyone there so I think this helped the situation. The arguing went on for about 10 min and then to my surprise our driver threw 300 yuan at the guy and it all ended... just like that. Everyone dispersed and went on their way. Chris walked my bike home and I got in the car with our driver and drove over to Sung Hee's house to pick up Gabe and Sara.
The minute I got in the car I began to cry. It was the most humiliating experiences ever and I was so angry that the guy got any money out of it. The injustice of it just killed me. I thanked the driver through my sobs and he put his hand on my shoulder and said that it was nothing. I was a sobbing mess when I got to Sung Hee's house and she just hugged me and said, "Oh today was one of those "Bad China" days. Sung Hee, who is Korean, has had a few of them herself and we've talked and laughed about her "Bad China" days in the past. It made me feel better. We were late to a birthday party a friend was having down town, so we got a taxi and booked it over there. A few sisters from the branch were there and all listened to my story with great sympathy. They literally put their arms around me and helped me laugh through my tears.
Despite the day's horrible events I had a lot to be thankful for at the end of the day. I am so thankful for good friends who helped me out when I needed them . I'm thankful to Chris for dropping everything and coming to my side. I'm thankful for a good driver who takes good care of our family. I'm thankful for the sisters in my branch. I'm thankful that this whole thing didn't turn out worse than it did. I'm thankful to the Lord for putting such caring people in my life. Yes, as bad as it was, I have a lot to be thankful for.
Driving, Cinnamon, and being in love
Ni hao!
Well the big news for this week is that Chris passed his drivers license test and can now legally drive here. Chris passed with 96%. Knowing Chris he's probably upset about that 4% he didn't get. It was a huge relief to him to get it over with though. Now he can drive us around on the weekends when our driver is off.
The other big news is that Anna learned to ride her bike. It's more like she learned to peddle the bike. Steering is still another issue but she's working hard at it. She was so proud of herself and kept saying how she wanted to show daddy when he got home from work. She is through and through a daddy's girl.
We want to throw out a huge congrats to the Johnson family on the big wedding. Congrats to Chris' brother Nate and his beautiful bride Danielle who were married on Friday and congrats to both sets of parents on making it through, one, without any rain and two, without losing your sanity. No really, we heard it was just a beautiful wedding and we are so happy for all of you.
Since we are on the subject of love, I'll tell you what Gabe said to me today. I asked him how his day was on the way home from school and he said, " It was such a great day mom. I fell in love. Me and this girl in my class named Jordy fell in love." I asked if this big event happened at recess and he said, "No, it was inside the school. We were deciding if we should kiss.....ON THE LIPS!" I didn't know what to say. In true Emily fashion, she promptly told him he's not supposed to fall in love. Any advice anyone? Maybe I should stop calling him "Gabe the babe." I think it's going to his head or maybe his heart. I never thought I'd have to go over the dating rules with my kindergartner. I'm still just laughing about how matter of fact he was about the whole thing. "we read a book, had a snack and then I fell in love." Seriously, what should I say to him?
On to our fearless Saturday's Worrier. (that's Chris) Saturday was the "big game" to see if the branch basketball team would go on to play in the tournament. If they lost, they were out. Last game they had plenty of guys to sub in and out but this time they only had five guys. Chris hung in there the whole time. Well, almost the whole time. He only looked like he was going to pass out a couple of times, but the rest of the time he really hung in there. They won by 4 points and so now they play in the tournament in two weeks. Go Saturday's Worriers!
I'm just going about life as usual. My latest anxiety is about how to tell our A yi to stop putting cinnamon in our food. I'm not sure how it started but I think it's because I showed her an apple crisp that I made and told her that we like the apples and cinnamon. Ever since then, everything we eat has a slight cinnamony flavor. The other day she made cold rice noodles with soy sauce, about 50 cloves of chopped garlic and yes, cinnamon. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat cinnamon again. Just smelling that dish kinda ruined it for me. She also took the head of lettuce Emily picked on her field trip to the organic farm and cooked it up all nice and oily for us. On a good cooking note, I did teach her how to make Pad Thai. I was determined to eat something delicious so I set out on a mission to learn how to make Pad Thai and then teach our A yi how to make it. We'll see how it goes when she makes it on her own. If she puts cinnamon in the Pad Thai, its grounds for termination. Any Thai food lover would agree with me!
This next week we are heading to Beijing to see the Great Wall. We are really excited to see it with the kids. We're going to also see Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and some of the Olympic Venues. A part of me wishes the kids were a lot older so they could appreciate the history of it all but hopefully, they will appreciate the fact we took them there when they learn the history of it someday.
I'm sure we'll have lot's to tell you next time we post. Until then, we send our love to you all.
Well the big news for this week is that Chris passed his drivers license test and can now legally drive here. Chris passed with 96%. Knowing Chris he's probably upset about that 4% he didn't get. It was a huge relief to him to get it over with though. Now he can drive us around on the weekends when our driver is off.
The other big news is that Anna learned to ride her bike. It's more like she learned to peddle the bike. Steering is still another issue but she's working hard at it. She was so proud of herself and kept saying how she wanted to show daddy when he got home from work. She is through and through a daddy's girl.
We want to throw out a huge congrats to the Johnson family on the big wedding. Congrats to Chris' brother Nate and his beautiful bride Danielle who were married on Friday and congrats to both sets of parents on making it through, one, without any rain and two, without losing your sanity. No really, we heard it was just a beautiful wedding and we are so happy for all of you.
Since we are on the subject of love, I'll tell you what Gabe said to me today. I asked him how his day was on the way home from school and he said, " It was such a great day mom. I fell in love. Me and this girl in my class named Jordy fell in love." I asked if this big event happened at recess and he said, "No, it was inside the school. We were deciding if we should kiss.....ON THE LIPS!" I didn't know what to say. In true Emily fashion, she promptly told him he's not supposed to fall in love. Any advice anyone? Maybe I should stop calling him "Gabe the babe." I think it's going to his head or maybe his heart. I never thought I'd have to go over the dating rules with my kindergartner. I'm still just laughing about how matter of fact he was about the whole thing. "we read a book, had a snack and then I fell in love." Seriously, what should I say to him?
On to our fearless Saturday's Worrier. (that's Chris) Saturday was the "big game" to see if the branch basketball team would go on to play in the tournament. If they lost, they were out. Last game they had plenty of guys to sub in and out but this time they only had five guys. Chris hung in there the whole time. Well, almost the whole time. He only looked like he was going to pass out a couple of times, but the rest of the time he really hung in there. They won by 4 points and so now they play in the tournament in two weeks. Go Saturday's Worriers!
I'm just going about life as usual. My latest anxiety is about how to tell our A yi to stop putting cinnamon in our food. I'm not sure how it started but I think it's because I showed her an apple crisp that I made and told her that we like the apples and cinnamon. Ever since then, everything we eat has a slight cinnamony flavor. The other day she made cold rice noodles with soy sauce, about 50 cloves of chopped garlic and yes, cinnamon. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat cinnamon again. Just smelling that dish kinda ruined it for me. She also took the head of lettuce Emily picked on her field trip to the organic farm and cooked it up all nice and oily for us. On a good cooking note, I did teach her how to make Pad Thai. I was determined to eat something delicious so I set out on a mission to learn how to make Pad Thai and then teach our A yi how to make it. We'll see how it goes when she makes it on her own. If she puts cinnamon in the Pad Thai, its grounds for termination. Any Thai food lover would agree with me!
This next week we are heading to Beijing to see the Great Wall. We are really excited to see it with the kids. We're going to also see Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and some of the Olympic Venues. A part of me wishes the kids were a lot older so they could appreciate the history of it all but hopefully, they will appreciate the fact we took them there when they learn the history of it someday.
I'm sure we'll have lot's to tell you next time we post. Until then, we send our love to you all.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Markets, Cabbage and Activities.
Hi there,
I think I need to put in a disclaimer on Chris' entry. HE tends to impress people with his Chinese and my Chinese in nicely tolerated. Speaking Chinese for me is a humbling experience. I'm trying hard to work on it though.
Life is going along as usual around here. I ventured out to the neighborhood market last week and that was an experience. I took Sara and Anna with me and Anna kept asking me what that bad smell was. Honestly, it was pretty overwhelming. The market is an outside market but sort of in this covered pavilion. It's kind of like a farmer's market. There's a lot of fruit and vegetables for sale. I've never seen half the long bumpy or green leafy vegetables before. There was the enticing bloody beef and pig parts being sold. I'm guessing that's where a lot of the smell was coming from. I steered clear of that section. There was also a ton of sea food there. LIVE sea food. One fish jumped right out of it's little bin and landed in front of the stroller. The guy held it up and Sara reached over and grabbed it. Anna wouldn't touch it. There were tons of shrimp and eels and frogs and other unknown squirmy things. We bought shrimp and some vegetables and headed home.
Our housekeeper Wang lin put the shrimp in a bowl in the sink to keep them alive until dinner. ew! I walked by the sink a few hours later and several of the shrimp had gone A-wall. Or I should say over the wall. About ten were lying beside the bowl in the sink. I put them back in the bowl but.........I'm sorry to say, they were already gone. I didn't watch her cook them cause I couldn't watch them die. Maybe next time.
I took Wang lin to the Carrefour in town and she didn't like it much . She said it gave her a head ache. I have to agree. It gives me a head ache too. For those of you who don't know what Carrefour is, it's like Walmart. She's used to going to the outside markets to buy her food. Carrefour is usually really crowded and there are tons of sales people everywhere. As obnoxious as Carrefour is with it's elevator version of "Dancing Queen" being played over and over, it beats the smelly, bloody beef market in my opinion. I buy most of my food at Carrefour but I still go to the market to buy veggies cause they're cheaper there.
I love having Wang lin make dinner every week night but I have to admit, I'm getting tired of Chinese food. To stir things up a bit, I decided to teach Wang lin how to make a casserole. That's totally American right? The casserole I taught her how to make is called Chicken Tetrazini. Wang lin got such a kick out of how I made everything. After cooking the sauce, noodles and chicken, I mixed it all together and put it in a casserole dish to bake. She thought that was culinary blasphemy to cook everything, put it all together, and then cook it again. She just laughed and laughed. Before I put it in the oven I asked her if she wanted to try it and she shook her head like, "no way lady!" But I insisted. If I'm eating everything she cooks every night, she can try the tetrizini. She said she liked it but who knows what she really thought. (she certainly didn't ask for another bite)
On the weekends I try to make American food to help out the Chinese food burn out. This past Sunday I made meat loaf and cabbage. I know, cabbage sounds gross but it was the only vegetable we had in the fridge. Gabe ate one bite of the cabbage and made loud gaging noises to let us know he didn't like it. When I told him he had to eat it anyway, he got a really bad stomach ache and couldn't sit up any longer. He moaned on the couch for a few minutes and then in his most pitiful voice said, "I think it was the cabbage." BRAVO Gabe! I told him he didn't have to eat it and he was miraculously cured. We had cookies left over from the previous night and Emily asked if she could have one. I said that anyone who finished their cabbage could have a cookie. This evoked some quick thinking from Gabe. With the most serious face he could muster he said, "Mom, I think our family eats too many sweets. It's not good for us. Don't you think all of us shouldn't have any cookies?" Chris and I just laughed out loud. Instead of gaging down the cabbage for a cookie, he was going to inspire us all not to eat one. That way he didn't have to eat the cabbage and he wasn't missing out on anything either. You gotta hand it to him. That was a really good try.
Gabe and Emily start their after school activities this week. Gabe is taking a croquet class and Emily is taking an ornament making class. Gabe also has a Kung Fu class on Fridays. I have stuff of my own too. I have a Chinese tutor on Monday mornings and Tuesdays I go into Hong Qiao (30 min away) for Scriptures study with the other ladies in our branch. Wednesdays there's Play group but I haven't been yet.
We send our love to everyone, especially Chris brother Nate and his fiance Danielle who are getting married this week! We miss you dearly and couldn't be happier for you. If you can get through all the stress of the week before the wedding then you've got it made! WE LOVE YOU. That goes for all of you. Thanks for all your comments. It's good to hear from you.
I think I need to put in a disclaimer on Chris' entry. HE tends to impress people with his Chinese and my Chinese in nicely tolerated. Speaking Chinese for me is a humbling experience. I'm trying hard to work on it though.
Life is going along as usual around here. I ventured out to the neighborhood market last week and that was an experience. I took Sara and Anna with me and Anna kept asking me what that bad smell was. Honestly, it was pretty overwhelming. The market is an outside market but sort of in this covered pavilion. It's kind of like a farmer's market. There's a lot of fruit and vegetables for sale. I've never seen half the long bumpy or green leafy vegetables before. There was the enticing bloody beef and pig parts being sold. I'm guessing that's where a lot of the smell was coming from. I steered clear of that section. There was also a ton of sea food there. LIVE sea food. One fish jumped right out of it's little bin and landed in front of the stroller. The guy held it up and Sara reached over and grabbed it. Anna wouldn't touch it. There were tons of shrimp and eels and frogs and other unknown squirmy things. We bought shrimp and some vegetables and headed home.
Our housekeeper Wang lin put the shrimp in a bowl in the sink to keep them alive until dinner. ew! I walked by the sink a few hours later and several of the shrimp had gone A-wall. Or I should say over the wall. About ten were lying beside the bowl in the sink. I put them back in the bowl but.........I'm sorry to say, they were already gone. I didn't watch her cook them cause I couldn't watch them die. Maybe next time.
I took Wang lin to the Carrefour in town and she didn't like it much . She said it gave her a head ache. I have to agree. It gives me a head ache too. For those of you who don't know what Carrefour is, it's like Walmart. She's used to going to the outside markets to buy her food. Carrefour is usually really crowded and there are tons of sales people everywhere. As obnoxious as Carrefour is with it's elevator version of "Dancing Queen" being played over and over, it beats the smelly, bloody beef market in my opinion. I buy most of my food at Carrefour but I still go to the market to buy veggies cause they're cheaper there.
I love having Wang lin make dinner every week night but I have to admit, I'm getting tired of Chinese food. To stir things up a bit, I decided to teach Wang lin how to make a casserole. That's totally American right? The casserole I taught her how to make is called Chicken Tetrazini. Wang lin got such a kick out of how I made everything. After cooking the sauce, noodles and chicken, I mixed it all together and put it in a casserole dish to bake. She thought that was culinary blasphemy to cook everything, put it all together, and then cook it again. She just laughed and laughed. Before I put it in the oven I asked her if she wanted to try it and she shook her head like, "no way lady!" But I insisted. If I'm eating everything she cooks every night, she can try the tetrizini. She said she liked it but who knows what she really thought. (she certainly didn't ask for another bite)
On the weekends I try to make American food to help out the Chinese food burn out. This past Sunday I made meat loaf and cabbage. I know, cabbage sounds gross but it was the only vegetable we had in the fridge. Gabe ate one bite of the cabbage and made loud gaging noises to let us know he didn't like it. When I told him he had to eat it anyway, he got a really bad stomach ache and couldn't sit up any longer. He moaned on the couch for a few minutes and then in his most pitiful voice said, "I think it was the cabbage." BRAVO Gabe! I told him he didn't have to eat it and he was miraculously cured. We had cookies left over from the previous night and Emily asked if she could have one. I said that anyone who finished their cabbage could have a cookie. This evoked some quick thinking from Gabe. With the most serious face he could muster he said, "Mom, I think our family eats too many sweets. It's not good for us. Don't you think all of us shouldn't have any cookies?" Chris and I just laughed out loud. Instead of gaging down the cabbage for a cookie, he was going to inspire us all not to eat one. That way he didn't have to eat the cabbage and he wasn't missing out on anything either. You gotta hand it to him. That was a really good try.
Gabe and Emily start their after school activities this week. Gabe is taking a croquet class and Emily is taking an ornament making class. Gabe also has a Kung Fu class on Fridays. I have stuff of my own too. I have a Chinese tutor on Monday mornings and Tuesdays I go into Hong Qiao (30 min away) for Scriptures study with the other ladies in our branch. Wednesdays there's Play group but I haven't been yet.
We send our love to everyone, especially Chris brother Nate and his fiance Danielle who are getting married this week! We miss you dearly and couldn't be happier for you. If you can get through all the stress of the week before the wedding then you've got it made! WE LOVE YOU. That goes for all of you. Thanks for all your comments. It's good to hear from you.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Chris' entry
Ali's writing is so much more interesting to read than mine but I thought I should add some of my perspective and experience. It's not all about maidservants and chocolates...so this week I found a driver for me. Actually, we only have one vehicle and I don't have a drivers license yet so it is a necessity. Did I convince anyone?
My job has been crazy just like all new jobs are. My first three weeks were spent traveling to suppliers to conduct quality and program management systems audits. You can imagine how much fun that is for everyone. All the while I am trying to learn the stuff that I am trying to convince people that I am an expert of. So far so good. The learning curve is steep. All the while I am trying to do this in Chinese. I am also learning alot of language. This last week I was in the office because I was asked to prepare a presentation for our corporate heads/project sponsors.
Last week I went to have my health check for getting my drivers license. I have to go back this Thursday for the written test. They gave me a study guide with the answers. Some of the questions are hilarious.
Here is a sample:
55. Driving on the road covered with ice or snow, try your best not to turn the steering wheel lest the vehicle should:
a. Skid
b. Slide
C. Slip
(In case you were wondering the answer is 'a'.)
One more:
Before driving motor vehicles, drivers:
a. may drink a little alchoholic drinks.
b. must not drink alchoholic drinks.
c. are only allowed to drink beer.
(My first guess was 'c' but...)
I know Ali has included some classic Gabe moments, that many of you miss, so here is one I had yesterday.
We were getting out of a pool at a local expat. clubhouse (where Europeans are plentiful) and a man in a speedo walked out of the locker room with his son. This spectacle caught Gabe's eye especialy since they were no more than 8 or 9 feet from us. So in Gabe's loud voice he asks, "DAD, WHAT KIND OF SWIMSUIT IS THAT?!" . I answered him quickly in hushed tones, "Gabe, its called a speedo". Of course this is not an adequate answer for Gabe who is now pointing at the man's speedo, which is now 6 feet away and repeats his original question which he apparently felt I didn't hear because in a louder voice he repeated his question, "DAD, WHAT KIND OF SWIMSUIT IS THAT?" In desperation I tried to divert his attention or try to at least stop him from pointing and staring, but I was completely unsuccessful as the question was repeated a third time. Oh well, If the guy didn't want attention he shouldn't have been wearing a speedo.
It's been fun relearning Chinese and impressing everyone again. Since there are not a lot of foriegners that speak any Chinese or have any fluency they are always very complimentary of me and Ali. Both of us have been attending the respective Chinese Elders Quorum or Relief Society lesson.
When I was on my mission my companion and I would always fantasize about getting a phone call from the prophet in the middle of the night telling us that we were called to go and open China for proselyting. Well Ali and I have about the closest thing to that as you can get. Ali is a branch missionary and I was just called to be branch mission leader. We can only teach people that are foriegn passport holders or people that are married to foriegn passport holders. Shanghai is a very international city like NewYork or Hong Kong so we will be plenty busy.
Thanks for reading and we love to read your comments.
My job has been crazy just like all new jobs are. My first three weeks were spent traveling to suppliers to conduct quality and program management systems audits. You can imagine how much fun that is for everyone. All the while I am trying to learn the stuff that I am trying to convince people that I am an expert of. So far so good. The learning curve is steep. All the while I am trying to do this in Chinese. I am also learning alot of language. This last week I was in the office because I was asked to prepare a presentation for our corporate heads/project sponsors.
Last week I went to have my health check for getting my drivers license. I have to go back this Thursday for the written test. They gave me a study guide with the answers. Some of the questions are hilarious.
Here is a sample:
55. Driving on the road covered with ice or snow, try your best not to turn the steering wheel lest the vehicle should:
a. Skid
b. Slide
C. Slip
(In case you were wondering the answer is 'a'.)
One more:
Before driving motor vehicles, drivers:
a. may drink a little alchoholic drinks.
b. must not drink alchoholic drinks.
c. are only allowed to drink beer.
(My first guess was 'c' but...)
I know Ali has included some classic Gabe moments, that many of you miss, so here is one I had yesterday.
We were getting out of a pool at a local expat. clubhouse (where Europeans are plentiful) and a man in a speedo walked out of the locker room with his son. This spectacle caught Gabe's eye especialy since they were no more than 8 or 9 feet from us. So in Gabe's loud voice he asks, "DAD, WHAT KIND OF SWIMSUIT IS THAT?!" . I answered him quickly in hushed tones, "Gabe, its called a speedo". Of course this is not an adequate answer for Gabe who is now pointing at the man's speedo, which is now 6 feet away and repeats his original question which he apparently felt I didn't hear because in a louder voice he repeated his question, "DAD, WHAT KIND OF SWIMSUIT IS THAT?" In desperation I tried to divert his attention or try to at least stop him from pointing and staring, but I was completely unsuccessful as the question was repeated a third time. Oh well, If the guy didn't want attention he shouldn't have been wearing a speedo.
It's been fun relearning Chinese and impressing everyone again. Since there are not a lot of foriegners that speak any Chinese or have any fluency they are always very complimentary of me and Ali. Both of us have been attending the respective Chinese Elders Quorum or Relief Society lesson.
When I was on my mission my companion and I would always fantasize about getting a phone call from the prophet in the middle of the night telling us that we were called to go and open China for proselyting. Well Ali and I have about the closest thing to that as you can get. Ali is a branch missionary and I was just called to be branch mission leader. We can only teach people that are foriegn passport holders or people that are married to foriegn passport holders. Shanghai is a very international city like NewYork or Hong Kong so we will be plenty busy.
Thanks for reading and we love to read your comments.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Neighborhood Buddha temple
Saturday was an incredibly beautiful day. It was sunny and breezy and perfect for a bike ride. After Emily and Gabe finished piano lessons we decided to bike to the neighborhood Buddha temple.
This temple is in the part of our little town where hardly any foreigners venture into. The temple is situated in a kind of plaza type street corner. A lot of people were just hanging out around the temple on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. When we pulled up to the front gate of the temple, several people began to crowd around. They all wanted to get a good look at the bike riding foreigners with 4 kids. It was seriously laughable. We asked this cute old guy at the door how much it was to get in and paid him the 6 yuan it cost to enter. There were so many people gathered around, it was hard to actually get in the door. The cute old guy let us take our bikes and park them just inside the door so they wouldn't get stolen, which of course caused an even bigger scene. After a few minutes however, we did manage to get inside all safe and sound.
The temple was very beautiful. There was so much wood working detail on the ceilings. Out in the courtyards there were places to burn incense and candles and all that good stuff. The kids loved exploring all the different rooms and courtyards. They loved seeing all the ornate colors and designs. I should say everyone, but Anna, loved seeing all that stuff. To her, all the statues just freaked her out. In the room with the biggest Buddha, there was this huge mural on the wall depicting a war scene of some kind. There were all these little Buddha statures lined up in rows beneath it. I wish I knew what it all meant. There was another place where in front of another Buddha statue, it looked like the monks had taken the soles of their shoes and pinned them on a silk cloth. We were the only ones there except for the little old guy at the door so we didn't get a chance to ask anyone the meaning behind it all.
After about an hour, we decided it was time to go. Sara was covered in dirt from tripping over all the raised doorways and falling down and Anna was beyond glad to get out of there. I think the crowd of people must have waited for us because they swarmed again once we got out the door. This time though, they crowded around Chris and Anna. They all wanted to know what we were doing with a Chinese child. They were all talking at once asking why we had her, and how did we get her. After a few minutes the "village sage" came upon the noisy scene to see what was going on. I had never seen anyone like him in china before. His skin was really dark which contrasted sharply with the long white beard he wore. He stood in front of the group and asked the same questions about why we had this Chinese child. Emily, Gabe, Sara and I just sat on the side watching. It was good stuff. Slowly the people lost interest and began to dissipate, but there were still enough people gathered around to make it hard for Chris to leave. I decided to help him out of there by yelling really loudly, " Let's go!" in Chinese. It worked like a charm cause they all stepped aside and let him go.
It was a great memorable outing. It was the first time the kids had been to or seen a real Buddha temple before. They also got to see someone worshiping as we were walking out. It was a great moment to help the kids reflect on their own beliefs and see the beauty in someone Else's. Devotion to God is a beautiful thing. We pray as a family every day that in the near future there will be more religious freedom in China. I have no doubt that some day hearts will be softened and our Chinese brothers and sisters will come to know of the Savior. For now, we strictly keep the laws by which we are bound and say nothing. We are allowed to talk to foreign passport holding citizens about church and invite them to our services. We just aren't allowed to preach to or invite Chinese citizens to church.
We miss our friends and family back home and send you all our love!
This temple is in the part of our little town where hardly any foreigners venture into. The temple is situated in a kind of plaza type street corner. A lot of people were just hanging out around the temple on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. When we pulled up to the front gate of the temple, several people began to crowd around. They all wanted to get a good look at the bike riding foreigners with 4 kids. It was seriously laughable. We asked this cute old guy at the door how much it was to get in and paid him the 6 yuan it cost to enter. There were so many people gathered around, it was hard to actually get in the door. The cute old guy let us take our bikes and park them just inside the door so they wouldn't get stolen, which of course caused an even bigger scene. After a few minutes however, we did manage to get inside all safe and sound.
The temple was very beautiful. There was so much wood working detail on the ceilings. Out in the courtyards there were places to burn incense and candles and all that good stuff. The kids loved exploring all the different rooms and courtyards. They loved seeing all the ornate colors and designs. I should say everyone, but Anna, loved seeing all that stuff. To her, all the statues just freaked her out. In the room with the biggest Buddha, there was this huge mural on the wall depicting a war scene of some kind. There were all these little Buddha statures lined up in rows beneath it. I wish I knew what it all meant. There was another place where in front of another Buddha statue, it looked like the monks had taken the soles of their shoes and pinned them on a silk cloth. We were the only ones there except for the little old guy at the door so we didn't get a chance to ask anyone the meaning behind it all.
After about an hour, we decided it was time to go. Sara was covered in dirt from tripping over all the raised doorways and falling down and Anna was beyond glad to get out of there. I think the crowd of people must have waited for us because they swarmed again once we got out the door. This time though, they crowded around Chris and Anna. They all wanted to know what we were doing with a Chinese child. They were all talking at once asking why we had her, and how did we get her. After a few minutes the "village sage" came upon the noisy scene to see what was going on. I had never seen anyone like him in china before. His skin was really dark which contrasted sharply with the long white beard he wore. He stood in front of the group and asked the same questions about why we had this Chinese child. Emily, Gabe, Sara and I just sat on the side watching. It was good stuff. Slowly the people lost interest and began to dissipate, but there were still enough people gathered around to make it hard for Chris to leave. I decided to help him out of there by yelling really loudly, " Let's go!" in Chinese. It worked like a charm cause they all stepped aside and let him go.
It was a great memorable outing. It was the first time the kids had been to or seen a real Buddha temple before. They also got to see someone worshiping as we were walking out. It was a great moment to help the kids reflect on their own beliefs and see the beauty in someone Else's. Devotion to God is a beautiful thing. We pray as a family every day that in the near future there will be more religious freedom in China. I have no doubt that some day hearts will be softened and our Chinese brothers and sisters will come to know of the Savior. For now, we strictly keep the laws by which we are bound and say nothing. We are allowed to talk to foreign passport holding citizens about church and invite them to our services. We just aren't allowed to preach to or invite Chinese citizens to church.
We miss our friends and family back home and send you all our love!
Friday, April 10, 2009
A yi and a driver
Well, we finally found a driver. It is a huge relief! Chris has been having to catch a ride with his boss who lives an hour away. The boss would send his driver out to pick up Chris and then go pick him up and then head off to work another hour away. We only live 30 min from Chris work place so having a driver means a lot less driving time. Also, it means I can have someone drive me and the kids where we need to go during the day. Wahoooo! So exciting.
At first we didn't know what we were going to do because in our first meeting with him we found out that he smokes. That's really common among drivers here. He seemed so nice and he lives right in our neighborhood. That makes it very convenient for him to get to our house and for him to get back home after work. We just don't want our car to reak like cigarette smoke. The next morning Chris talked with the driver and asked him if he would not smoke at all during his work hours and he said that wouldn't be a problem. After his first day (Friday) with the driver, Chris felt like he would be a good driver for our family and that he would keep his word about the no smoking thing.
Our A yi ( house keeper) who's name is Wang lin has turned out to be great too. At first, I didn't think we would keep her because I couldn't understand her Chinese very well. In fact I still can't but she's a hard worker and I trust her. Those two things, I decided, were more valuable to me than the speaking perfect Chinese thing. She has two children, a girl 10 and a boy 13, living in Si Chuan with her parents. Si Chuan is a province about 50 hours away on a train. She and her husband moved to Shanghai to make money to put their children through school. In China, you have to pay for your kids to go to high school, even public ones. Wang lin also has to pay heavy taxes because she has more than one child. I offered her more hours and she was thrilled about it.
Wang lin and I are getting more comfortable with each other now and she's getting used to our strange American ways i.e. using a dishwasher and a clothes dryer. I even taught her how to make sweet and sour chicken ( American style) the other day. She really liked it and wants me to teach her how to make more American food.
The kids are warming up to Wang lin and like to give her a big "Ni hao," when they see her. Gabe walked in the door the other day after school and made a point to find Wang lin and show her his art project. Gabe has a hard time saying Wang lin and mostly just calls her Wing Wong. It's all the same to him.
We hope everyone has a great Easter!
At first we didn't know what we were going to do because in our first meeting with him we found out that he smokes. That's really common among drivers here. He seemed so nice and he lives right in our neighborhood. That makes it very convenient for him to get to our house and for him to get back home after work. We just don't want our car to reak like cigarette smoke. The next morning Chris talked with the driver and asked him if he would not smoke at all during his work hours and he said that wouldn't be a problem. After his first day (Friday) with the driver, Chris felt like he would be a good driver for our family and that he would keep his word about the no smoking thing.
Our A yi ( house keeper) who's name is Wang lin has turned out to be great too. At first, I didn't think we would keep her because I couldn't understand her Chinese very well. In fact I still can't but she's a hard worker and I trust her. Those two things, I decided, were more valuable to me than the speaking perfect Chinese thing. She has two children, a girl 10 and a boy 13, living in Si Chuan with her parents. Si Chuan is a province about 50 hours away on a train. She and her husband moved to Shanghai to make money to put their children through school. In China, you have to pay for your kids to go to high school, even public ones. Wang lin also has to pay heavy taxes because she has more than one child. I offered her more hours and she was thrilled about it.
Wang lin and I are getting more comfortable with each other now and she's getting used to our strange American ways i.e. using a dishwasher and a clothes dryer. I even taught her how to make sweet and sour chicken ( American style) the other day. She really liked it and wants me to teach her how to make more American food.
The kids are warming up to Wang lin and like to give her a big "Ni hao," when they see her. Gabe walked in the door the other day after school and made a point to find Wang lin and show her his art project. Gabe has a hard time saying Wang lin and mostly just calls her Wing Wong. It's all the same to him.
We hope everyone has a great Easter!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Anna finds a school
I found a local Preschool for Anna. Hooooray! When I asked people if they knew where I could find one, people just looked at me like I was crazy trying to put an American kid in an all Chinese preschool. We got one lead and called the principal of this one school. She didn't sound too thrilled about it when I talked to her on the phone so I decided to find the school and talk face to face. I didn't know exactly where it was so I just wandered around on my bike and happened upon this other little preschool.
It's this tiny little casual preschool which is what I was looking for. People get a little uptight about preschool in the foreigner community around here, thinking that a 3 year old needs college prep or something. Anyway, I met the "principal" and liked her. She didn't have any problem accepting Anna with no Chinese speaking ability. They have a half day program from 8 to 12 every day so that's what we arranged for Anna to do.
The school is a couple miles from our house and we still don't have a driver. Getting Anna to school was something of a dilemma seeing as I only have one kid seat on the back of my bike. Emily and Gabe start school at 8:00 so here's how it all went down: I just strapped helmets on both Anna and Sara, strapped Sara on the back and sat Anna on my Handlebars. Yep! that's what I actually did. We dropped off Em and Gabe and then off we went down the busy street like that all the way to Anna's preschool. She loved it.
When we got there though, she was having no part of all these Chinese women coming at her. There were probably 8 of them wanting to comfort her which did the exact opposite. The only teachers she has ever known are white so she was naturally scared of these people. Anyway, being the resilient child she is, I only had to stay for 10 min before I asked her for a kiss and she let me go with no problem. I kept my phone with me all day in case there was a problem but no phone call came. I picked her up at 12:00 and they said she had a great time with no crying. They wanted to know what Anna likes to eat and I told them that she eats anything, which of course they didn't believe. It was hard for them to understand that an American kid would eat Chinese food. I had to tell them several times and list several Chinese food items she eats before they believed me and let it go.
Today when I picked her up (her second day) They said she had another good day. I guess Anna saw the other kids about to nap in their little beds and decided she wanted to nap there too. They seemed so disappointed when I told them that I was going to take her home anyway. I guess it's a good sign that Ann feels comfortable enough to want to nap there and that the teachers actually want her to stay.
Once we get a driver I won't have to do my little circus act with two kids on one bike. Although, I have enjoyed my rides to and from her school. Today as I was riding and looking around at the morning scene, I felt like I was in the Chinese version of the opening scene from Beauty and the Beast. People out selling vegetables, people opening their various little shops, buses and cars honking and going by amidst the constant flow of bicycle riders and scooters. Some people were waiting at bus stops, others were washing clothes in buckets outside their shops. I saw all the Clothes racks strewn with drying clothes decorating the balconies of the neighborhood apartment buildings. There were old men standing around smoking and, old women strolling along with friends. The old and the young alike beginning a new day, just going about their lives. The sounds and smells (sometimes not so good ones) filled my senses. It was like Bell was going to jump out and sing, "there must be more than this provincial liiiiiife"
It's this tiny little casual preschool which is what I was looking for. People get a little uptight about preschool in the foreigner community around here, thinking that a 3 year old needs college prep or something. Anyway, I met the "principal" and liked her. She didn't have any problem accepting Anna with no Chinese speaking ability. They have a half day program from 8 to 12 every day so that's what we arranged for Anna to do.
The school is a couple miles from our house and we still don't have a driver. Getting Anna to school was something of a dilemma seeing as I only have one kid seat on the back of my bike. Emily and Gabe start school at 8:00 so here's how it all went down: I just strapped helmets on both Anna and Sara, strapped Sara on the back and sat Anna on my Handlebars. Yep! that's what I actually did. We dropped off Em and Gabe and then off we went down the busy street like that all the way to Anna's preschool. She loved it.
When we got there though, she was having no part of all these Chinese women coming at her. There were probably 8 of them wanting to comfort her which did the exact opposite. The only teachers she has ever known are white so she was naturally scared of these people. Anyway, being the resilient child she is, I only had to stay for 10 min before I asked her for a kiss and she let me go with no problem. I kept my phone with me all day in case there was a problem but no phone call came. I picked her up at 12:00 and they said she had a great time with no crying. They wanted to know what Anna likes to eat and I told them that she eats anything, which of course they didn't believe. It was hard for them to understand that an American kid would eat Chinese food. I had to tell them several times and list several Chinese food items she eats before they believed me and let it go.
Today when I picked her up (her second day) They said she had another good day. I guess Anna saw the other kids about to nap in their little beds and decided she wanted to nap there too. They seemed so disappointed when I told them that I was going to take her home anyway. I guess it's a good sign that Ann feels comfortable enough to want to nap there and that the teachers actually want her to stay.
Once we get a driver I won't have to do my little circus act with two kids on one bike. Although, I have enjoyed my rides to and from her school. Today as I was riding and looking around at the morning scene, I felt like I was in the Chinese version of the opening scene from Beauty and the Beast. People out selling vegetables, people opening their various little shops, buses and cars honking and going by amidst the constant flow of bicycle riders and scooters. Some people were waiting at bus stops, others were washing clothes in buckets outside their shops. I saw all the Clothes racks strewn with drying clothes decorating the balconies of the neighborhood apartment buildings. There were old men standing around smoking and, old women strolling along with friends. The old and the young alike beginning a new day, just going about their lives. The sounds and smells (sometimes not so good ones) filled my senses. It was like Bell was going to jump out and sing, "there must be more than this provincial liiiiiife"
Adventurous Monday
This past Monday was Tomb Sweeping day. It is the equivalent of Memorial Day in the states. Chris and the kids both had the day off so we decided to venture out and about.
If you look up a picture of Shanghai, it will most likely show a bunch of high rise buildings with the Pearl Tower in the middle. The Pearl tower is like the mascot of Shanghai. We thought that would be a great place to go and show the kids. The Pearl Tower, not many years ago, was the tallest tower in the world (1500 feet) but no tower carries that title for long these days.
First we took a 30 min taxi ride to the nearest subway station and jumped on the number 2 line that goes under the huangpu river to the west side of Shanghai. It was so exciting for everyone to descend below the city, get our tickets, go through the turn style and get on our train. All the kids were just giddy with excitement. We got on the train at the end of the line so we easily got seats, but as the train progressed on to the next stops, it became seriously crowded.
The kids didn't care that everyone was staring at them. They just loved being "brave" and standing up to hold the pole while the train was going. There was this one grandpa who took no less than 15 pictures of Sara throughout the ride. A group of girls also wanted their picture with Sara. Little did we know that was just the beginning of the photo ops for the day.
We got off the subway and walked right over to the tower. Chris stood over by the entrance with Sara and Anna, while I took Gabe and Emily over and bought tickets. After we got the tickets I looked around for Chris and found him surrounded or I should say, found the stroller surrounded by people all looking inside. It was so funny! We managed to get away and inside to the elevator. We went up to the second observation level 863 feet up.
Once inside the observation deck, we could look out over Shanghai. It was amazing! We didn't get to observe long before the picture requests started. People would just walk up and pick Sara right up. She didn't cry but she also didn't acknowledge their existence either. People all over China have pictures with this very straight faced American baby boy. Yes! I said boy. That is the joke in the family. Sara can be dressed to the hilt in pink and still everyone says what a cute boy she is. Today at McDonald's we got the kid's meals with two girl toys and yes, two boy toys. Ah I digress. Back to the tower.
A lot of people wanted pictures with Emily too and like a champ she just stood there and grinned. A few families wanted Emily to stand next to their same aged sons for a picture. This one dad made his son put his arm around Emily and when the picture was done, the kid ran for the hills. It was hilarious.
Gabe didn't enjoy the Pearl Tower so much because he's a bit scared of heights. He wasn't going to rest easy ( stop whining) until we were on solid ground. Although, once we were down and eating lunch, he said, "That was so cool going up that high in the Pearl Tower. Let's go again." Of course, now that he's not staring down 860 feet at the city below, it's all cool.
Taking the Subway back was really fun and the kids loved it as much as the first time. I think we'll be taking it more often to the city. The rest of the day we spent at the school with our friends the Smith, just playing soccer. All in all it was a great day.
If you look up a picture of Shanghai, it will most likely show a bunch of high rise buildings with the Pearl Tower in the middle. The Pearl tower is like the mascot of Shanghai. We thought that would be a great place to go and show the kids. The Pearl Tower, not many years ago, was the tallest tower in the world (1500 feet) but no tower carries that title for long these days.
First we took a 30 min taxi ride to the nearest subway station and jumped on the number 2 line that goes under the huangpu river to the west side of Shanghai. It was so exciting for everyone to descend below the city, get our tickets, go through the turn style and get on our train. All the kids were just giddy with excitement. We got on the train at the end of the line so we easily got seats, but as the train progressed on to the next stops, it became seriously crowded.
The kids didn't care that everyone was staring at them. They just loved being "brave" and standing up to hold the pole while the train was going. There was this one grandpa who took no less than 15 pictures of Sara throughout the ride. A group of girls also wanted their picture with Sara. Little did we know that was just the beginning of the photo ops for the day.
We got off the subway and walked right over to the tower. Chris stood over by the entrance with Sara and Anna, while I took Gabe and Emily over and bought tickets. After we got the tickets I looked around for Chris and found him surrounded or I should say, found the stroller surrounded by people all looking inside. It was so funny! We managed to get away and inside to the elevator. We went up to the second observation level 863 feet up.
Once inside the observation deck, we could look out over Shanghai. It was amazing! We didn't get to observe long before the picture requests started. People would just walk up and pick Sara right up. She didn't cry but she also didn't acknowledge their existence either. People all over China have pictures with this very straight faced American baby boy. Yes! I said boy. That is the joke in the family. Sara can be dressed to the hilt in pink and still everyone says what a cute boy she is. Today at McDonald's we got the kid's meals with two girl toys and yes, two boy toys. Ah I digress. Back to the tower.
A lot of people wanted pictures with Emily too and like a champ she just stood there and grinned. A few families wanted Emily to stand next to their same aged sons for a picture. This one dad made his son put his arm around Emily and when the picture was done, the kid ran for the hills. It was hilarious.
Gabe didn't enjoy the Pearl Tower so much because he's a bit scared of heights. He wasn't going to rest easy ( stop whining) until we were on solid ground. Although, once we were down and eating lunch, he said, "That was so cool going up that high in the Pearl Tower. Let's go again." Of course, now that he's not staring down 860 feet at the city below, it's all cool.
Taking the Subway back was really fun and the kids loved it as much as the first time. I think we'll be taking it more often to the city. The rest of the day we spent at the school with our friends the Smith, just playing soccer. All in all it was a great day.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
settling into school
Hello everyone!
We finally have a blog. Wahooo! Now that we have this up and running, I'm not sure what to say.
Let's start with today. Emily and Gabe went to thier 3rd day of school. I really like thier teachers, Miss Vierra and Mrs. Claussen. They seem to be very used to new students and have a lot of ways to help new students feel welcome and understand classroom rules. Emily's classmatedsput together a poster with all of thier own personal advice on how to be a good student in Miss Viera's class. I thought that was pretty clever.
Gabe and Emily both have swimming for PE during the next two months. Today when I picked up Gabe he said, "Mom guess what? Before we went swimming, I had to get naked!" All the boys had to change in the same room and "everyone saw everybody's everything." according to Gabe. It's never a dull moment with him.
I like the school in general. Although, it is strange having to show ID to a guard before going on campus. They have that place pretty secured with a huge fence and guards everywhere. It's nice but strange.
Today was the 3rd day we had our A yi. I like her a lot but I don't understand her mandarin. She comes from a province in southern china called si chuan. She has a really thick accent which makes it hard for me to understand her. I was hoping to improve my chinese as well as have the kid's learn chinese with this whole A yi things so I'm not sure if we are going to continue with her. We'll see. It has been really nice to have someone make dinner while I help the kids with homework and hold a crying baby.
Most of you know a lot about the first two weeks of us being here so I won't go over all of that. I will keep you posted on our adventures in China.
love,
ali
We finally have a blog. Wahooo! Now that we have this up and running, I'm not sure what to say.
Let's start with today. Emily and Gabe went to thier 3rd day of school. I really like thier teachers, Miss Vierra and Mrs. Claussen. They seem to be very used to new students and have a lot of ways to help new students feel welcome and understand classroom rules. Emily's classmatedsput together a poster with all of thier own personal advice on how to be a good student in Miss Viera's class. I thought that was pretty clever.
Gabe and Emily both have swimming for PE during the next two months. Today when I picked up Gabe he said, "Mom guess what? Before we went swimming, I had to get naked!" All the boys had to change in the same room and "everyone saw everybody's everything." according to Gabe. It's never a dull moment with him.
I like the school in general. Although, it is strange having to show ID to a guard before going on campus. They have that place pretty secured with a huge fence and guards everywhere. It's nice but strange.
Today was the 3rd day we had our A yi. I like her a lot but I don't understand her mandarin. She comes from a province in southern china called si chuan. She has a really thick accent which makes it hard for me to understand her. I was hoping to improve my chinese as well as have the kid's learn chinese with this whole A yi things so I'm not sure if we are going to continue with her. We'll see. It has been really nice to have someone make dinner while I help the kids with homework and hold a crying baby.
Most of you know a lot about the first two weeks of us being here so I won't go over all of that. I will keep you posted on our adventures in China.
love,
ali
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