Sunday with Friends

On Sunday we had lots of good time with some of our new friends here in China. My teacher, Zhen zhen (pronounced Jenn-jenn), has become a dear friend to me here. She is as sweet as they come, and super patient and gracious with me. She knew that I wanted to get my hair cut, and we'd practiced some of the different things I wanted to communicate during the hair cut while I was in class, so she offered to go with me. She wanted some of the kids to come along, too, so she could have more time with them in the process! So Karis and I met Zhen zhen and her long-time boyfriend at the salon on Sunday afternoon. I'd had several friends recommend Sunny Hair Salon, and was definitely not disappointed!

The experience itself was great--everything you think of when you want a fun "salon experience" even in Dallas. The guy who cut my hair was truly an artist. I couldn't get over the way he could flip the scissors and comb around in his right hand without ever knicking himself (or me!). He didn't speak any English (that I could tell) and I didn't have a picture of what I wanted, so I kind of just gestured and smiled a lot to tell him that I would like a few layers and angles in the front. It must have worked, because I was really pleased with the outcome! And even more so with the price. When I checked out, I paid 50 kaui, which is about 8 bucks! And you don't tip in China, so the $8 was the total. Pretty amazing, huh? (Oh, and to clarify from a previous entry: we did have to pay about $800 for our heat, but that was not to repair our heat, but rather the cost of having it operate in our apartment for the 4 months that it is turned on. Sorry for the confusion!)

And Karis had a great time while we were at the salon, too! She had brought a whole book of things to do with Zhen zhen while they waited (which was about 45 minutes). So the two of them colored and looked at these kids' books that are in Chinese (for Chinese practice!). They bonded so much that Karis insisted on giving Zhen zhen several presents even before they left that night! And Zhen zhen's boyfriend was a great sport, too. He doesn't speak much English at all, but once we came back to our apartment for dinner, he played with our boys for quite some time, chasing them around with our nerf gun and shooting at them!

So after the cheap, but oh so great hair cut, we returned to our apartment for dinner. We'd asked our ayi to make some Chinese food (which is obviously our friends' preference) on Friday, but didn't think it was enough. So I made a few western sides for them to try (including chocolate chip cookies, but no one used chop sticks to eat them this time!), and then we decided to order a few dishes from our local favorite restaurant as well. Kevin tried to order two chicken dishes for delivery over the phone, but after going back and forth for about 5 minutes with them telling him something he couldn't understand, we ended up with one chicken and one broccoli dish! We all just laughed--who knows?

After dinner, which our friend Joel was in on too, we put the kids to bed and then the adults (no make that the guys--aka "big kids!") had a blast playing the wii. Zhen zhen's boyfriend had never played, but he and Joel in particular had a ton of fun and played for several hours before they both decided that their arms were tired and it was time to go home!

The picture of the three little dolls is one of the gifts from Zhen zhen. This culture is SUCH a gift-giving culture (as I've mentioned before), that people are always giving you things! So Zhen zhen had already brought me back a stack of post cards and a pair of earrings from the school trip she went on a few weeks ago that Kevin and I decided not to go on (it involved a 24 hour train ride and some crazy boat travel--not ideal with the 4 little ones!). When she came for dinner she brought me a beautiful table runner she had gotten on the trip, too, and then these little dolls. All just to say thank you for dinner! I have a long way to go in learning how to be a good guest!