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.
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