Plants and Water Park

This weekend has been a full one, once again. In spite of Karis having a fever, we all headed off to this huge botanical garden place after Kevin finished class on Friday (Karis did give permission--feeling up to getting out and about!). We made it to the botanical garden spot that we'd been to once before, and it truly is a place unlike anything I've seen. There are too many acres of greenhouses that are filled with every size and shape of plant--too many to count. And at every booth the individual vendors are trying to convince you that they have the best product to offer. Feels a little bit like sorority rush week!

So anyway, we made it out of there with a van full of greenery for our apartment. And the kids of course had fun in the midst of it all. The photo is of Karis on our drive home as she was crammed amonst the branches of some of our newest purchases. We discovered how to make our outings even more intentional as far as building relationships and interacting well with the Chinese. We've started a game with the kids that operates on a point system. Every time they make eye contact and respond with love and respect, or especially if they initiate interaction, with Chinese people, they get a point. Once they reach ten points, then they get to pick a treat out of the treat basket (small piece of candy or sweet something). Once they reach 100 points, they get a toy. Are you thinking--this sounds like bribery? Well then yes, it is! And something I never thought I would do, but would simply expect out of my kids. But then I moved to another culture that is soooooo loving and kind toward children, but also incredibly hands-on and in your face--all the time--without giving you a break or room to breath. And to be honest, there are some days when me getting "kind points" would not be such a bad thing! So hopefully we're not lowering the bar too much or setting a negative standard, but for now it is helping as we explain to the kids that we want to have hearts that love and serve others, and we're willing to bribe them to get there!!

So today the first treats were received after we spent several hours out (and got several kind points accumulated) at what is called the Water Park. I originally assumed that this was a water park like a spash park (which I came to realize was Hudson's assumption too as he cried when we were leaving because we hadn't gotten to splash in any of the water, in spite of the fact that it was about 40 degrees outside!), but is instead a large park area with pods scattered throughout. It was a great find for our fam, and besides the ducks on the water for entertainment, it also had several amusement park rides that the kids loved. Kevin let them each pick two rides (after excluding the one or two that he deemed were formerly used as torture devices by the previous dictator of the country!). [see photos--the one of Eli is him making a pirate face to go along with the theme of the ride!] We came home exhausted and with Kevin now having a fever, but decided it was worth it for the enjoyment of the outing!

Princess and the Pea

We feel like we can safely say that we now have the largest bed in all of China!! We shipped our mattress and box springs over from the States, and had the temporary challenge of not having a bed frame that would fit it. So we found a really neat antique store in Beijing that also makes furniture. I found a bed on the Pottery Barn web site and printed it out, then did my best to write down the dimensions that I thought would work well in our apartment. I was mainly thinking of the size of my tall hubby and the fact that we have only one closet so very little storage space, so I wanted to utilize any space under the bed that I could. Which meant having a tall bed, of course! I just didn't realize how tall I was requesting until the furniture arrived this past weekend! I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it is so large that I literally have to hop of pull myself up in order to get in! The top of the mattress is several inches higher than my waist line. When we finally got the bed into the room and set up (after Kevin and our friend Joel carried the frame up all 11 floors since it didn't fit into the elevator!), we all cracked up at the size. But it does look great and I have the under-bed storage space I dreamed of!

We also had gotten 2 other antique pieces--one is a beautiful painted chest of drawers with butterflies on it that my mom and I both fell in love with and the other is a large wardrobe that also goes in our bedroom. Of course, the wardrobe was too large as well, so the men who delivered it quickly fixed the problem by taking a hack saw to the bottom legs. We lost about 4 inches in order to get it into the room, but it luckily started off pretty tall and we didn't have to loose anything functional other than the height!

When Ayi came on Monday the kids and I had a blast taking her hand and leading her upstairs to see our new furniture. She has been asking when we're going to be sleeping on a real bed, so we all wanted to see her reaction to the monstrosity in our room. We were not disappointed! She kind of gasped in surprise, then started laughing when she saw we were doing the same as I gestured to the bed repeating " hen da"--which means very big! It was a good bonding moment in spite of the language barrier!

The other pic is of Noah after I got out of the shower, having left Karis and Eli in charge of "keeping him safe and happy" while I was away. It worked! Evidentally we have another baseball player on our hands!

Baseball and School

I've failed to give very many detailed updates on school and baseball, so thought this a good time to do so! The picture is of me and my teacher, Xie Lao Shur, who I just call Kathy. She is AWESOME, and has been such a blessing and encouragement to me! The way it works is that Kevin goes to class every morning (meaning Monday through Friday) from 8-10. Being punctual as he is, he leaves on his bike around 7:15am and it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to ride to the building where our language school is located. We both opted to take classes one-on-one rather than with small groups, mainly so that we have increased flexibility with our schedules. I go only two afternoons per week (Monday and Wednesday) for two hours at a time. We have it timed so that I go to class in the afternoons (from 1:30-3:30) so that Kevin can be home to watch kids and manage the crew during nap time.

We've learned a ton in the last month--but still have SOOOOO far to go! It definitely gets overwhelming some days. In fact, I hit a wall this weekend after being so frustrated at still feeling like I can hardly put a sentence together. I want so badly to be able to communicate with all the friends we're making and the people we meet even just in passing! Kevin encouraged me with the fact that it is good to have this frustration, as it definitely helps motivate me to do as much as I can to learn as quickly as possible. We both come back from the two-hour class time absolutely fried mentally. Kevin has two different teachers (one 3 days per week and the other 2 days per week--both of whom he really enjoys). Kevin is a lot further along in his studies than I am as a part-time student, so he has just begun writing characters, rather than just doing the pin yin (which is the written form of Mandarin that uses the English alphabet we're all familar with). We have a good deal of homework to complete after each class, and I just took my first test today! Yikes!

As far as baseball goes, Kevin has re-connected with the Tianjin Lions, the professional baseball team in town. He waited for several weeks before going to the sports complex, mainly to make sure that all of us were somewhat settled (and his wife was emotionally stable enough!) before he got into any sort of committment with the team. He made it over there about 2 weeks ago and re-introduced himself to the team. They were somewhat receptive, but the next day when he went back to work out with the team he got a really positive response--ptl! The team's star pitcher was even able to speak some English, so they were able to have a longer conversation. The players seemed to really like having him there, even asking him informally to pitch in their season opening game this spring! Unfortunately, the team left town the next day for a 2-week long road trip for a tournament, so Kevin hasn't been with them since. The team should be getting back in the middle of this week, so if Kevin's schedule allows, he should be re-connecting with them again to continue working out with them for a short time in the morning after he's finished classes.

We've Found Our Spot!!

We've been in search of a restaurant that our family can claim as our own--and as of tonight, we've found it! There is a little place close to where Kevin has been going to get his back worked on. (Oh, this is a fun sidenote. Kevin has been going a few times each week to a blind massage parlor. There is one he was introduced to that is close to where we live. Evidently, when people here are blind they oftentimes are put into the profession of being a massage specialist, since there is so little else they could do for a job. He has enjoyed the benefits of being able to pay the equivalent of a few dollars for an hour-long massage that [usually!] really helps with his back problems.)

One of the restaurants he passes by regularly looked good, so he talked with the staff there this afternoon and set up for us to have a private room (which is not unusual in Chinese restaurants here) at 6! We walked the kids across our "Central Expressway" and made it alive, once again, to a fun dinner out. We loved the food, the staff, the atmosphere, and the prices--so we told them we'll be back! The pictures are of the kids being entertained by the array of live fish and sea food at the front of the restaurant and then again of the fam as we are dining in our private quarters.

On a separate note, we had a fun surprise blessing today. Kevin went to get the top put on the 3 wheeler that we'd ordered several days ago. When he was there, he met the owner's son, who happened to speak English pretty well! It turns out that he is about to head to the US to go study at MIT. (Which is amazing to me--kind of the equivalent of a Cinderella story of a kid going from the slums of Harlem to study at Harvard.) And not only that, but he is also like-minded with us on things of significance! He and Kevin exchanged numbers and we're going to have him over for dinner sometime soon. And we're also excited to get to connect him with friends who live in the Boston area specificially working with Harvard and MIT grad students and encouraging them in how to grow to be people of purpose and influence. Talk about a hand working behind the scenes. . .

Regular Routine

The one regular weekly activity that we have scheduled for the kids (or rather, just for the older two) at this point is a home school co-op group that we've joined. So on Friday afternoons, while Hudson and Noah are napping, I take Karis and Eli with me to a house (yes, truly a house rather than an apartment!) that is a little off the beaten path and we meet with several other moms and their 4 and 5 year olds to have a two hour period of play time and then a mini-lesson and craft. We've done this the past 4 or 5 weeks and the kids have really enjoyed it! The group is made up of other Westerners, all like-minded, and there are 7 kids total (including my 2). Of the 7 kids, 4 are boys, and would you believe that 3 of those 4 boys are all named Elijah (or go by Eli!)!! As I mentioned, we're all like-minded. . . :)

And we're adding one other unstructured activity to our weekly routine as of this week. We discovered the library at the international school, and we are able to have access to checking out books and movies because of our membership in the home school co-op. We're going to try to go there regularly on Fridays after we finish our school time at home. [I do about an hour and a half of structured home school activity for the older three kids while Noah is taking his morning nap on Mon-Thur., then we do a little bit shorter lesson time on Friday if we've gotten everything done that we're trying to get to. Our school curriculum includes Bible time and verse memorization, work books that come with the curriculum I'm using, Chinese practice, and then reading--both of the curriculum and whatever books each of the 3 kids picks out.] So this week we went to get books and movies at the library, and then even get to play on their playground (which the kids LOVED because it had both a swing set AND monkey bars--talk about a treat!). We met up with our friends the Morris, Sara (mom) and her two girls (Adah and Claire) and even managed to fit all of us (and the books we'd just checked out!) onto the 3 wheeler. We were quite a site! Once again, more cameras were pointed our direction out of the bus windows all along the way home! We even had one man pull over and stop his car on a busy road, then get out and start motioning and yelling at us as we drove past. I kept driving, and just waved and smiled, and my friend Sara (who can actually speak and understand the language) explained to me that he was yelling to ask us to stop so he could get a better picture!

We've also set up regular web cam Skype dates with both sets of grandparents 2 different nights during the week. The kids LOVE the time interacting with G-Ma, G-Pa, Nana, and Papa, and both sets even are willing to read to the kids for as long as they can sit still in front of the computer (the kids, not the grandparents, that is!) [see photo]. We're so thankful for the modern technology that lets us feel so close in spite of the miles!

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I know--this definitely does NOT look like a good idea! This was Kevin's first attempt in mode of transportation for our "adventure" for the day--going to find a place that would make a cover to put on my 3-wheeler (or san lun che as the Chinese would say!). Our real estate friend who came over for lunch last week had offered to take us to a place that would customize a top for the 3-wheeler to make it more safe and to make it useable in the quickly approaching colder winter months. And we so appreciated his offer to help us once again! (The place he took us was a small hole-in-the-wall type shop that we NEVER would have been able to locate on our own.) [sidenote: We found out during our lunch with him that he and his colleagues only get off 2 days out of the whole month! It reminded Kevin and me of the minor league baseball schedule, only with no off season to look forward to.] So we met up at the office and Wang xian sheng (aka Mr. Wang) thought that it was best for Kevin to catch a lift with him on the back of his electric bike while I drove the 3-wheeler with all the kids aboard. After making it about to the driveway, Kevin decided that trying to ride a longer distance with his legs tucked up beneath his chin the way the short back seat required was not going to work!

After some more juggling, we ended up with Kevin on the back of the 3-wheeler with all of the kids (his legs are really too long to be able to drive the 3-wheeler and safely reach the brakes!) while I drove. And yes, we were once again the main tourist attraction for Tianjin. All along our drive we had cars (and even buses!) waving and calling out along side us to get our attention. I stopped counting how many camera phones were pointed our direction. So if you see our family photo end up somewhere on the internet, don't be surprised! Once we arrived at the shop we did our best to communicate what we were hoping to have the top look like (as far as the door, windows, size, etc.)--so we'll see next week what we end up with! We're hoping there weren't too many translation errors!

And I definitely got more grossed out than I've been in a while when I tasted the new experimental snack food that I grabbed at the market store for the kids today. (We regularly buy new kinds of snack foods to see which are our favorites and which we can let go of more easily!) I got a kind of cracker that the kids were chowing down on. When I asked them what it tasted like, I didn't get much response, so decided to try one for myself. It was definitely something that could only be described as incredibly fishy! NOT my first choice for a cracker flavor. I guess my kids are adapting more and more to the culture already. . .

Chicken Neck and an Exploding Candle

This morning started off with all of us feeling a little bit homesick for friends and family back home, but was uplifted by a sweet time with our new friends, Sarah (the mom), Adah, and Claire (her daughters)--who are also from TX! After doing a quick morning of homeschool, we headed out on the 3-wheeler to meet our friends at a newly-opened nearby KFC. When we finished our chicken nuggets and some time in the play area, we went to our friend's house and had a great time getting to talk and play.

On our way home, we stopped by two new shops--one to buy a rotisserie chicken and the other to get flowers. One of the great blessings of living here is some of the fun, cheap finds we get. While we may have to pay 8 bucks for a jar of spaghetti sauce, I was able to buy a dozen beautiful red Gerber daisies for less than a dollar! And the rotisserie chicken I'd heard so much about was fantastic. Kevin said it tasted "just like home", that was until he looked down on his plate and realized that the chicken leg he thought he was eating was actually a chicken's neck! He decided to quickly remove it from his plate before continuing his dinner!

After dinner we FINALLY celebrated Eli's birthday (which was Sept.10) with a b-day cake. Before we left Dallas he had picked out a cake mix, icing, and sprinkles for us to bring with us to bake here in China. But of course, our oven wasn't working at that point, so we had birthday ice cream instead and decided to wait on the cake. So we finally made the cake for dessert tonight and even added a Chinese birthday candle on top--which was definitely unlike anything we have in the States (probably for good reason!). You use a special stick to light it with, and then about a dozen candles, all facing inward, ignite as "Happy birthday" begins to play. As the flame increases (and all the on-looking children start to get a little bit nervous!), the flower candle then opens, or blooms, with all of the individual candles on the petals. The kids were thoroughly entertained by the whole experience! And the party never ends. . . The candle is currently submerged in a pot of water in the sink because we can't get the song to stop playing! Would be a great advertisement for Engergizer. :)

"Say, 'Eggplant!'"

Know what the equivalent to our American "Say 'Cheese!'" is in China--Eggplant! Technically, it is "qie zi", which is kind of pronounced "chiez-zah", which sort of makes your mouth into the same shape as our "cheese" does--and I'm assuming is the reason for the word choice! We heard this numerous times on Saturday this weekend when we took a "field trip" to the Tianjin zoo. We had a blast spending all day looking for animals and trying to identify their Chinese names. (Kevin made up flash cards before we left with pictures of each animal on one side and the name of it in Chinese on the other. We then made it into a sort of scavenger hunt game to see how many of the animals from our cards we could find!) We had beautiful weather, and our friend Joel joined us, who the kids LOVE spending time with. The kids had so much fun that they didn't even seem to mind too much that they were as much of a main attraction as the animals were. Thus the frequency of "qie zi" being heard throughout the park as our kids were constantly asked to pose with other Chinese kids for photos!
And of course boys will be boys, so Kevin and Joel had to have some sort of competition, adrenaline rush thing going. They decided to make it a game to see how many of the dangerous animals they could touch! One major difference in the zoo here and the ones we've been to in the States--if you want to get in WITH the animals (as in, get into their exhibit on their turf!), you pretty much can do so! (okay, this is probably a slight exaggeration--but not by much. It would be difficult to get into the exhibits, but you can definitely reach them and be a lot closer than anything we're used to.) People are always feeding the animals and messing with them in different ways. So Kevin and Joel were actually able to reach in and touch a rhino, a camel, a long-horned antelope of some sort, and a tiger!
Some of the other pics are of the show that we watched that was unlike anything we'd ever seen before. There was a tiger riding on top of horse, a bear playing basketball and riding a bike that you would've sworn was actually a person with a bear costume on by the way it moved, and a lion getting angry at the "trainer" who had nothing but a stick to defend himself with! It was all quite exciting. And the whole fam was thrilled to have a sweet time together of enjoying the beauty and wonder of the creation around us!

Our First National Friends!

We had yet another "first" today--Chinese friends over to our apartment to join us for lunch! The two men in our real estate office here in our community who have helped us so much with everything from getting our internet set up to purchasing our 3 wheeler came over today for us to repay them with a meal. We had a great time--in spite of the fact that they speak very little English, and we obviously speak very little Chinese! But there was lots of laughing and smiling around the table anyway. We got a great peek into the general spiritual state of the nation when Kevin asked if it was okay if he prayed before we ate, and was met by one of the men with a total blank stare. After he conversed in Chinese with his colleague and then pulled out his translation device and typed away for a few minutes, he held it up with the word "religion" showing up on the screen. He then seemed to understand, but Kevin and I both agreed that even in the most secular homes in the US, praying before a meal is not something that would completely stump anyone.

Since we knew that the two men were coming, we asked our ayi to make traditional Chinese food for us to serve--which was definitely a good move. The men seemed to like the meal, and although it was intended to be both a gesture of initiating a friendship and also a thank you for their kindness, they ended up showing up with several large bags filled with all kinds of fruit! It is such a gift-giving culture, it amazes me every time. And it makes it really hard to properly re-pay anyone with them trying to re-pay you! My favorite part of the meal was at the end when I served fruit (what is culturally appropriate in China) and also a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies that the kids helped me do the day before. The men both enjoyed their cookies (at least they said they did!)--but ate them with their chopsticks! Kevin saw me trying to hide my grin at the table and asked me if I didn't want to take a picture for the blog. I thought it best not to embarass them!

Both men did want to take a picture with Kevin before they left, and requested that Noah be in the photo as well! Chinese people LOVE kids, and especially babies. And the funny thing is that men try to interact with them as much as Chinese women do! Both guys (who are single with no kids of their own) very comfortably scooped Noah out of my arms and started cooing away to him before taking the photo. I love it!

We have had a busy week with classes resuming, Kevin making it to work out with the baseball team, and friends (other westerners) over for dinner several nights. I'll try to back track and fill in more details when my eyes are feeling quite so heavy! For now, the dishes in the sink are calling my name. . .

Ayi

One of the concepts I've struggled with the most both in preparation for our time here in China and even since our arrival is that of an "ayi"--a helper in your home who is paid to do cooking, cleaning, and help with childcare. Ayi's are a completely normal way of life here in most of Asia; and not just for the upper-class, but for all walks of life. Even ayi's have ayi's normally at work in their own homes while they are away working in other's during the day! But having come from our home in Dallas where I did all of an ayi's tasks on my own, the thought of paying to have someone else in my home and doing them for me was really an internal battle. When we lived in the Philippines for 5 months, we were convinced by other Westerners that hiring an ayi was a great opportunity for us to be able to interact with and build relationships with nationals, as well as a great chance to be able to serve someone by giving them work that we could easily afford and for which they had a great need (both there in the Philippines and now here in China we pay the equivalent of about $1.75 or $2/hour for an ayi).
So all that to explain how our requests seem to be answered! We have a woman, Ayi Wang, but we just call her Ayi (pronounced like "eye-ee") who has been coming to our apartment the last 3 weeks. She comes Monday, Wednesday and Friday for about 5 1/2 to 6 hours at a time. She does our laundry (which takes a lot longer than we're used to with the smaller washing machines and no dryers--which means everything has to be hung up to line dry) and cleans the apartment thoroughly (which is a HUGE chore--the filth that comes from the pollution is impossible to describe; I just wiped up some water off of the floor in the hallway that I saw ayi clean only hours ago, and the rag still came up gray from the layer of grime that covers everything! And that is no statement on her cleaning, but rather on how dirty everything gets here.) She also does dishes--which is also a time-consuming task considering there aren't dish washers. Another huge blessing is how she cooks dinner for us on the days that she comes, and even purchases the food she needs to use for the meal! We just give her the money every few weeks and have asked her to make different dishes for us to try (all Chinese food, of course--although she did make her version of Italian noodles last week, which was kind of like spaghetti with a Chinese flare!). We LOVE her cooking, and it is a huge help to me as I am gone to class each afternoon she is here, so I can come home from school around 4 and she has dinner ready to go so I don't have to think about it! Her cooking for us also gives us the freedom to have Chinese friends over for meals that are more familiar to their tastebuds--which we have scheduled for the first time this week! (Kevin has invited two real estate guys who work in the complex over for lunch who have done a ton to help us get things taken care of around the apartment. More on that later this week!)
Anyway, Ayi is a great cook, thorough cleaner, and most importantly, really kind-hearted and sweet to the kids! She has obviously never been around so many kids at once (as is the case for most Chinese with the one-child policy), but she doesn't seem to get stressed out by the chaos and interacts really well with the kids. Karis and Eli have been the slowest to warm up to her, I think just because they are intimidated by the language barrier, as she doesn't speak any English. But Hudson and Noah especially think she is great! Noah smiles when he sees her and she is really gracious in helping hold him when she sees me with hands full trying to do things like get everyone's lunch on the table. I'm not sure we will ever get to the point where I would feel good leaving her with all of the kids, as that is overwhelming for me even on some days!, but hope to have the freedom to leave her with one or two of them at a time somewhere down the road. And I was so encouraged last week to walk in and see Ayi sitting at the table with Karis and Eli, going through a children's book of Chinese words and practicing their pronunciation (as shown in the pic). Kevin and I feel great about her gentle spirit and how easy she is to be around--and we're just looking forward to being able to communicate with her more so that we can get to know her better!
We did have one funny moment that really threw me for a loop the second week she was with us. I figured I maybe needed to give her more to do during the day when I went into my underwear drawer that night and realized that she had folded and organized everything in it! I must admit, I was a little embarassed to know that there were no longer any secrets among us--even about my undergarments! I'm still trying to get used to having another woman in the house doing "my" jobs, but am so thankful and realize with the many differences how much it really is needed here in order for me to be able to do so many other things that I want and need to do throughout the day! And as I progress in my study of Mandarin, Ayi will be a great help to me in practicing what I am trying to learn in the classroom.

Weekend Update

Our big news for this weekend is that our shipment of stuff from the US finally arrived! It really felt kind of like Christmas when all 25 boxes arrived--with everything even still in them that we had shipped over! The kids were elated. We had all forgotten most of what we had shipped, since we did so almost 3 months ago. And the timing couldn't have been better. Karis unfortunately got some kind of a bug that gave her a fever and bad headache, and she came down with it right when my thermometer and other medical supplies arrived in the shipment. PTL for his timing! (And she is doing much better today, 24 hours later. We're still hoping no one else catches whatever it was she had.) So we've been laying much lower this weekend than normal, trying to unpack boxes and figure out where to put things in an apartment that literally has only one really small closet! I think I'm going to get really creative at how to best maximize what little storage space we do have (like under the beds!).

Kevin watched the kids today for about an hour and a half for me to go with one of our Chinese speaking friends to a frame shop. They are framing 17 pieces for us! Everything from some family photos that we brought from the States to the local Chinese art that we purchased to hang on our apartment walls. I couldn't get over the prices once again. It's amazing how so many things here are so much cheaper than what we are used to paying! (And at the same time, you can't get around paying over 10 bucks for the cheapest and smallest bag of coffee! I guess it all depends on what you're after. . . )

The pics I'm including are of the boys (all 3 of them!) enjoying Noah's newly acquired Bumbo seat on the sofa during movie time this morning. (We've ended up doing lots of movie time on Saturday mornings as our neighbors beneath us have asked us to be quiet. I thought they originally requested silence until 8 am, but Kevin says that they actually want us to be quiet until noon! Anyone who knows my kids knows that is highly unlikely! But we're trying to do the best we can!)

We did our usualy post-nap, pre-dinner evening stroll around our apartment community, looking for friends again! The kids had fun playing badminton and tossing footballs that just arrived, and I took this other photo of one of our neighbor's decks. The apartments on the first floor all have a little deck area that people get really creative with. This one has been turned into a garden that is growing all sorts of large gourds. The Chinese are all about combining aesthetics with functionality!

Eating Out

One of our goals (not necessarily at the top of the list as far as importance goes, but on the list nonetheless!) while here is to find a fun restaurant that our family can frequent regularly. So we've started trying out some different more "hole in the wall" type places. A little risky, yes. But lots of fun! So far we've made it to one place that ended up being Korean (and we realized we're not huge Korean food fans). And then tonight we walked into another that was more of a bar than a restaurant. They were excited to have us come up to the door, but we decided it probably wasn't the best place to bring all the kids to! So our next stop was across a major street near our apartment community, similar to Central Expressway, minus the lane markings and any form of law enforcement! (We've learned that all traffic laws here in China are more like traffic suggestions; optional in whether they are obeyed or not!) I tried to capture the street crossing on film, but the photo does not do it justice. We did manage to make it across the street without loosing any kids along the way, and then found a fun place to eat. They even had live birds out front--I'm assuming that you could pick them out to then have put on your plate a few minutes later? Not sure exactly what kinds of birds they were, but they were great pre-dinner entertainment for the kids!
And we're not sure that we've found our favorite family spot yet, but we did enjoy the meal for the most part. We're still not sure either what we ordered. We thought we'd gotten a chicken dish and some sort of sweet and sour pork, but the chicken was not like any I'd tasted before. I was concerned at first that it wasn't cooked; but after a second bite I felt okay giving it to the kids as I think it was just a lot more fatty than I was used to, rather than raw! And our only disappointment was in the childcare. Normally in Chinese restaurants, if you go in with an infant, the waitress will literally take the baby out of your arms after you order and walk around with them the rest of the meal! Last time we ate out, Noah had a blast getting to know the entire restaurant. This time, for whatever reason (maybe because he was a little fussy?), he stayed with us, making our chop stick attempts even more awkward than usual! Oh well, another day, another new cross-cultural experience.

Filling the Holes

Today we skipped our normal routine of doing school in the morning and then running errands, and instead took off early for what we call "furniture row". We were in search of a chair for the kids' bedroom and a place to store shoes by the front door (a shoe cupboard, for lack of a better term!). We had tremendous success, and even in less time than we were expecting! And Kevin and I were thrilled that we did it all without a translator friend along with us! (We did call on one friend though to talk to the lady at the store we'd purchased our sofa from, which broke the second day we had it, to try to work out some repair details.) That aside, we felt a huge sense of accomplishment in being able to be out and about and do more things on our own in spite of the language barrier. AND I'm really pumped about the orange pleather chair with the cow print pillow that is big enough to fit me and all the kids on it for our reading time at night before bedtime! (The pic is of the kids as they were waiting at the furniture place for us to get the pricing and delivery details in order.)

On a more reflective note, I was able to put my finger on what seems to be pushing my "sad buttons" more these days. I've noticed that I will have emotional swings of sadness that wash over me every now and then--which is to be expected, considering the world we've left behind. But I keep trying to tell myself that many others do the same thing that we're doing in leaving loved ones behind to move to another place. But what I realized is that these holes that we have from leaving friends, activities, and what is familiar behind are holes that really can't be filled at this time. If I was moving to another city in the US, then my plan would be to establish as similar a lifestyle as possible to that which I'd had in Dallas as quickly as possible. I'd find playgroups to join and fellowship opportunities for me; maybe an area of service outside the home. But because our goal in being here is to develop meaningful relationships with CHINESE people in order to be people of influence among them, I'm much more limited. There are other Westerners here, many whom I really enjoy spending time with. But again, the goal is to reach the national people. However, I'm realizing that is extremely difficult at this point when my vocab is pretty much limited to hello, goodbye, the kids ages and genders, and answering that yes, they are all mine! (oh, and I am learning some fruit and vegetables also this week!)

So basically, even if we do meet others here who speak my language and might be willing to be my friend, it seems like that would be only a temporary investment as I think in terms of long-term goals. (But don't worry. We're not completely isolating ourselves from other English speakers because of this! Just trying to be wise and not over-commit. We even had a friend from Dallas who teaches at the international school over for dinner tonight. So no, we're not getting too carried away with all of this!) Which, Kevin and I agree, leaves us in kind of a tough spot. But the great news is that I was just reminded while reading a devo from the passage in Jn. 4 about the Samaritan woman at the well, that our father offers us living water through his son--water that keeps us from ever thirsting. So even when I do have these holes relationally that are unfilled, and really need to stay so for at least the time being, I have a source to turn to that can fill as many as arise! And it will never run dry. I think the hard part is being comfortable enough with this tension in my life--knowing that the holes are there and that I don't have to fear any loneliness or pain that may come from them--and being real and honest enough to let Him be the one to fill up each one. Talk about learning greater daily dependence on Him! Guess that's what we're here for anyway, huh?

Okay, thanks for letting me journal here in public! On a lighter note--our friend who came over for dinner tonight who teaches at the international school offered a huge labor of love--to babysit for Kevin and I to have a date night next week! I didn't know how much I was looking forward to that until it really looked like it was going to happen. But wow, talk about being excited about something! I'm sure I'll have an entire blog entry dedicated just to it. . . :) Love my kiddos, but love a little bit of time away as well!

Grilling Out

We had another "first" tonight--using our new grill on our balcony! After spending the morning at Trash Mountain hiking around and making a run to the larger grocery store in the neighborhood (called E Mart), we came home do a run to the market and get chicken legs and fresh vegetables. (The photos included are of my favorite market stores--the one run by several women where I get almost all of my meat and veggies, and the man that I buy all of our fresh fruit from.) I brought several different seasonings from Penzey's in Dallas, so we used one of them on the chicken and were even able to get the fire started--which is no small miracle considering the charcoal that they use here! (And no lighter fluid!!) We are super blessed to be on the top floor of the apartment--oh yes, we finally have made the penthouse status--so we have a large balcony that is perfect for grilling out! The kids had a blast helping Kevin and getting to run around out there, and we had a beautiful evening enjoying the outdoors. We all agreed while eating that it was the least "Chinese-ee" meal we've had since our arrival--and a warm reminder of what is familiar, especially to our taste buds!

Full Moon Festival--Part 2!

We couldn't resist this one! While the Full Moon Festival really only lasts one day, we thought that this shot was just too fitting. This pic is of the "poo poo pants" that are common for little ones to wear here in China! Don't ask--I still haven't figured out how exactly this works--but it is culturally appropriate for toddlers to wear these pants with the crotch cut out of the middle with no diapers on at all! The idea (I think!) is to help potty train the kids--only without the potty--so that they can easily go to the bathroom wherever they are. Gross? Yes! But common and widely accepted here, yes! (And in case any of you are concerned, yes, I did pack and ship over plenty of clothes for all of the kids, so poo poo pant purchases are not in our future.)

The other pic is of the kids this morning with their new animal pillows in their bedroom. We made a trip to a Home Depot store that sells BBQ grills today, and the kids found these treasures for their new room. They were much more excited about rest time in the afternoon than normal because of them!

Full Moon Festival

Yesterday (Saturday) was the day China celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival (or Full Moon Festival). And it was a beautiful day! The wind was blowing enough to clear out much of the smog that usually makes a everything a dull gray haze, so we could see not only a clear blue sky during the day but a gorgeous full moon at night as well! We decided to make the most of the holiday and do some shopping in the morning, returning to Ancient Culture Street to look for some local Chinese artwork to hang on our walls, as they are mostly still bare. We had a ton of fun strolling through the crowded streets of the marketplace and bargaining on some really neat pieces of art to hang in our new home. And of course, everywhere we went we drew a crowd! The "sigu haizi" (four kids) with blonde hair and blue eyes don't go anywhere without getting a ton of attention, and this market place was definitely no different. At one point, we had one man with a large camera gesture to ask if he could take our entire family's picture, so we all gathered together. Within 30 seconds we had a simi-circle of Chinese people around us, numbering at least 40 or 50 and stacked about 3 people deep, all with their cameras out and clicking away! (If they didn't have their regular camera handy, then they just used their camera phones.) After half-smiling as we were a little weirded out, Kevin and I decided it was time to say "xia xia" (Thank you) and move on. What can we say, our rock star status lives on here in China! If discretion is what we are ever looking for, we certainly need to leave the kiddos behind!

The photo where you can see Kevin in the middle is him with the kids doing something very exciting--letting the kids pick out a special drink to go with their lunch! :) But as you can see, even this draws a crowd!

While we were leaving the market there were even more modes of transportation available than normal--lots of men with bikes to offer rides to those out and enjoying the fun of the Festival day.

After the market, we came home to host a friend who we met here last summer who has since moved about an hour north to teach at a preschool. We had a great time visiting and then took her with us on the 3 wheeler to Dirt Mountain to see what was going on in honor of the holiday. We saw this beautiful floral arrangement in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the ruling party's takeover that was also celebrated this past week, and a really neat water fountain display in the pond close by. On our way home the full moon was out as Karis and Eli stopped to run up the bridge and check for fish. It was a full and wonderful day, and we're thankful for even another day of blue skies and crisp air here this Sunday morning in Tianjin!

A Good QT with a DP

I know that we've only been here one month, but there are already things (not to mention people!) that we are missing from the US. So today I decided to finally visit a store I've been hearing about since we arrived--the Good Friend Store! It is a small shop that carries imported items at really reasonable prices. I'm not sure if it was the 3 hours I spent trying to make homemade spaghetti sauce (that turned out tasting horrible!) that put me over the edge, but I was bound and determined to find a good ol' box of Kraft Maccaroni and Cheese if it killed me! And I couldn't have been more thrilled--not only did I find the mac 'n cheese, but the store also carried Kevin's and my favorite beverage--Dr. Pepper! I brought home four for a special treat. And I must confess that I even considered paying the price they were asking for a box of blueberry muffins--a whopping $5.50!! The bargain shopper in me won out, however, and I decided that the muffins would have to wait for another moment of desperation for our old western ways!

After my return from my happy food gathering exploration, Kevin was kind enough to manage the whole crew for me to go and have some "Ashley alone time"! I took off on my bicycle to ride the 15 minutes to a large grocery store that has a lot of little shops around it. I found a place that was the closest thing to a Smoothie King that I have found. I ordered what was supposed to be a banana smoothie, which ended up being more like banana flavored milk, but was still quite tasty! I'm not sure if it was the thought of the drink or the music that was in English that was playing that drew me in, but something made that store in particular an easy choice to stop by. I then had some great time in the Word, and had a good time getting things put a little bit back in perspective. I was reminded in Is. 43 that our father truly does all things for his glory. And that it is a privilege to be a part of whatever work he is doing. While there is nothing wrong with me getting excited about a DP or music with lyrics that I can understand, it is still a huge blessing that my family and I are able to serve him and attempt to play some small role in making his name reknown, regardless of any small comforts we may need to lay aside in the process. After all, this lifetime is a lot shorter than we think it is, right?

So with my smootie glass drained and my steps a little bit lighter, I proceeded to the large grocery store around the corner where I was able to find one remaining carton of milk to bring home. One more great reminder of how he is continuing to provide for our every want and need during our time here in China--how he blesses us more richly than we could ask or imagine as we submit to his leading in our lives!

(BTW, the photos are of Karis with a handful of snails that she and the boys discovered while at a playground duriing our first week here--with one of her little newfound critters crawling up her arm! And the other one is Karis, Noah, and my mom (or Nana) on exercise equipment at the same playground.)

Dungeon Master and a Pile of Trash!

This morning we headed off of the 3 wheeler and Kevin's bike to meet a friend at what is affectionately referred to as "Trash Mountain". But before getting there, we had to retrieve the 3 wheeler, which really is an adventure in and of itself! I wish that I could film the whole thing for everyone to really get a good feel for it--but the closest description I can compare it to is that of a dungeon! We have to take about a 5 minute walk (or 10, depending on how many bugs the kids discover on the sidewalk on the way!) to a neighboring building. We then descend a staircase and enter the back door of this room that is tucked away in the back of the underground parking garage. When we walk in the room, once our eyes adjust to the very low, fluorescent lighting, the first thing we see is the dungeon master. (See photo.) Apparently there are two women--one maybe in her 50's and the other pushing 80 or so!--who live down here and guard the electric bikes that are parked there. Once you show them your id, or they catch a glimpse of the blonde hair that makes us stand out and usually pretty memorable, they take you further into the depths to your vehicle. Once I maneuver the thing around all the other bikes, we walk through the secret door and pass into the parking garage. And I'm not kidding about it being a secret door! My second time of trying to park the 3 wheeler I literally could not find it, and had to have a security guard at the front of the garage lead me there on his bicycle! Anyway, always an adventure--and a little different than parking my minivan in the driveway!

Once we did get the 3 wheeler, we made it to Trash Mountain and had a great time having a picnic lunch with a new friend who is a teacher at the International School here in town. After lunch at the play area, we explored some of the paths. There is a paved path that leads to the top of the mountain (where the family photo was taken), but of course the Joseph kids' favorite thing was to go "off roading" and explore the roads less traveled! We even found a huge patch of grass that we let the kids run and play in (even though I'm pretty sure there was a sign somewhere written in Chinese characters kindly advising that we do otherwise!). (As shown in photo.) It was a great afternoon of playing and exploring more of Tianjin!