Cultural Chuckles

Needless to say, there are quite a few cultural differences between the US and China that we run into everyday. But this week in particular Kevin and I have been confronted with even more than normal. Several of them have to do with health issues. For example, I learned at school that when a child is coughing or choking, rather than patting them on the back like you do in the US, here you pull on their ear! This supposedly helps because the ear canal is connected to the throat. (?) The other fun one was what to do if you get something like dust in your eyes; you are supposed to swish water around in your mouth and spit it out! Not sure exactly what the reasoning is on this one, but the friend who explained it to me was adamant that it did work. When I heard these, my initial reaction was to scoff at the absurdity of tugging on a choking kid's ear or rinsing your mouth out with water to remove dust from your eyes, but I must admit that I am learning that there really is some foundation for many of these somewhat "strange" cultural differences. The price of garlic really has gone up since the swine flu has increased. I found out this is because the Chinese people believe that eating a ton of garlic will help keep you healthy. Again, I laughed when I first heard this, figuring that the Chinese folks would use any excuse they could to cook with more garlic! But I have since found from reliable sources that garlic really does help boost certain immunities in our system, possibly helping to prevent the flu or other illnesses. So while I have yet to fully understand them all, I do realize that there may be some truth to an ear tug or mouth rinse that 20 years down the road we will all appreciate!

Kevin had one other funny one at the baseball field this week. He had one of the players do a palm reading on him! (This didn't ever happen during his playing days in the States!) The guy's analysis of Kevin was that he must have a very pretty wife! (Kevin was tempted to dismiss or deny the complement, which would be in good keeping with what you are supposed to do in China when given a complement, but instead responded that he thought she (or I!) was!) I just figure that the guy knew Kevin's baseball background and the rep for Big League wives--which doesn't require a great deal of special insight to "read"!! Oh, what will tomorrow bring?!

The photo is of one of Kevin's stocking stuffers. I found a plastic baseball bat filled with chocolate candy (rare to find anything baseball related in China!). The words on the bat read, "Eat chocolate to add your physical strength. Encourage for baseball with your enthusiasm. And the audience of whole field shout together." Pretty sure it was written by a non-native English speaker!! (I say this realizing that at this point, my comprehension to understand and ability to speak the Chinese language is not even close to this person's level of English!)

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone! This weekend has flown by, with lots of fun and good, quality family time together. We spent Christmas Eve with some friends here who have been so kind in taking us under their wing. They have lived in Tianjin for 17 years and have 4 kids of their own, ranging in age from 9 to 15, and all of whom are great with little ones. So a total blessing to our family! We went to their house late in the afternoon so we had time to walk to a nearby Chinese nursing home to sing Christmas carols. It was a great opportunity for us to give the kids a chance to serve, and the older Chinese men and women seemed to genuinely love having us (mainly the kids!) there. I was pleasantly surprised by the nursing home itself. It was certainly no five star accommodation, but was much better in appearance than I expected. Our friend's aptly described it as "stark", but it did seem pretty clean and like the staff was fairly kind to the elderly who lived there. We passed by their private rooms on the way to our meeting area where we were to sing, and I saw their metal beds with four to a room. Definitely different from what I'm used to seeing with grandparents in the States, but nonetheless was still better than I was thinking it would be!

As we sung, I was struck by the fact that I love Christmas Eve services each year and the singing involved, but mainly because of how pretty it sounds to my ears. When we sang at the nursing home, the sound itself was definitely nothing to write home about, but the meaning behind the words and the attempt we were making to love and serve the people there were what reverberated in my heart, getting me all choked up more than once as we sang! This year at least our "Christmas Eve service" was not just about me, and it was refreshing! I'm not sure if the kids got any huge life lesson out of our feeble attempt to serve others, but it sure was a wonderful reminder to their mom of what Christmas should be all about, in sharing His love.

After our time at the nursing home we went to our friend's house to eat a wonderful meal with friends and do a Christmas Jesse Advent Tree (which tells the story of Jesus throughout the Bible). The family hosting us gave us the best Christmas gift--a gift certificate for their kids to babysit ours once a month--even free of charge! We're so excited--and so are our kids!

Christmas morning was spent tearing open gifts, of course. We did start the morning with a stocking hunt, where the kids had to find their stockings that were hidden somewhere in the apartment. I left our stockings at a friend's house in Dallas that I need to pick up on a later trip to the States (thanks, E!), so we just made some to use this year out of paper. But our makeshift paper stockings couldn't hold very much in the way of loot, so we stapled some small bags to them in order to fit all the goodies inside! (The kids didn't complain about this at all, for some reason!) The picture is of them on the sofa with their stocking bags!

They were all thrilled with their gifts (thank you grandparents and Unkie and Allie!) and were totally content to stay in the apartment all day playing with their new stuff, which was a good thing because I think the temp topped out at about 29 degrees that day, and that is before the windchill factor! Eli says his favorite present is the Wii game he got called "Indiana Jones"--but he can't remember the "Indiana" part so instead calls him either "Banana Jones" or "Cowboy Jones"! (Random sidenote: I left our windows cracked open on Thursday night when we went to bed because it was so warm in our apartment, but we had a serious windstorm that night. I awakened Christmas morning to a layer of dust over literally everything in the apartment! I had to clean all the hard floors because we were tracking the filth all over--and this is with us even on the 10th floor!)

We took off today to head to E Mart and the play area just to get the kids a little exercise and to stock up on some food items. We have my sister Sarah and her husband Rob and their little boy (Ben) coming to stay with us this next and we CAN'T WAIT! We're so excited to have visitors come and spend some time in our world! And we've been enjoying the pieces of the States that so many of you have sent our way--care packages and Christmas cards that could not be more cherished! (One of my precious friends from home, Joanna, helped put together a package for us that had a lot of favorite food items in it. When they saw all that she was sending her little girls were concerned and kept asking, "Does the Joseph family not have food in China?"! I thought that was precious!) But thanks to so many of you, our pantry is now well stocked with treasured goodies that will be enjoyed in the months to come!!

New Dongxi (stuff)!

We've had such a fun day getting more new stuff! We received a package from precious friends in the States, complete with throw blankets, Fruit Loops, and a ton of fun and hard to find food items! The kids and I were all squealing with delight the whole time we dug through the box. Talk about a fun treat! And then tonight Kevin and I had the added blessing of getting a date night. My friend that I have been meeting with each week has gotten to know the kids, and she actually insisted on coming over to watch the whole crew to give Kevin and me a night off. We were so pumped! We taxied to a mall that is about half an hour away that has Papa John's, Starbucks, and Cold Stone! And yes, we went to all three. The special occasion of being able to enjoy them all made the calorie intake well worth it! I had an oral exam today in class, and now Kevin and I both have the next two days off from school for Christmas, so we decided that was reason enough to celebrate!

After we grabbed a bite (and ice cream and coffee!), we walked to another nearby store we had been told about to check out some kids' toys there. On the way, I was surprised to find boxes and boxes of puppies out on the street! (wish I had my camera!) There were so many people selling puppies that were so cute, but seemed so out of place in this super busy metropolitan area. Who knows? I guess we are in China, so you never know what you're going to get!?

When we made it to the toy store I found myself explaining to the man working there that I had four kids (in Chinese, of course). I went into my mini-introduction, feeling quite proud of my Mandarin and my boldness in using what I knew. When he showed me the Nerf guns that he was suggesting we buy for the boys, I ran into a bit of a dilemma. I kept repeating "Wo yao zheige" (trying to say "I have this.") The man kept nodding his head, seeming to understand, but I realized my mistake when he finally walked away and put the Nerf gun into a cart that he wheeled back over to me. I was actually saying "I want this." (the difference is in the middle word "yao" verses "you", pronounced "yow" and "yo"!) I started laughing hysterically and apologizing, and then corrected myself. The man kind of smiled and laughed too, but then walked away and let me shop alone. (I think I freaked him out a little bit!)

We made it through the kids toy store without making any purchases. The mark-ups on imported toys that are of decent quality are so high that it makes buying them really tough to justify unless it is something we're really sold on! But we did go into a clothing store and I made my first Chinese clothing purchase! I don't consider myself much of a shopper, but realize over these last 4 months of being here that I am more so than I thought. I've really missed not being able to go into a mall (or even a Super Target for that matter!) and at least browse through the women's clothing department. Anyway, I found a cute shirt that actually had sleeves long enough to fit me that I purchased (at a good, China price!). Yeah! Now Chinese clothing is not known for it's quality, so the question still remains as to how long it will last, but I have high hopes to get some good use out of it before it poops out on me completely!

Close Call

We've talked a lot as a family about how it is grace alone that keeps us safe every time we travel here in China. It really is impossible to describe, but let's just say that there is never a dull moment when it comes to transportation! This was proven true today when Kevin got in the first bike wreck of the Joseph household. He was biking from class to the baseball stadium to work out with the team when he and a woman on an electric bike had a head-on collision. Thank goodness, they were both able to walk away from the accident with nothing but a little soreness from the impact, but the woman's electric bike was really torn up and Kevin's bike needed a few repairs as well. Kevin unfortunately had to pay woman since he was technically in the wrong because he was the one riding on the "wrong" side of the street, but both parties decided not to get the police involved as that adds lots of complicating factors to the situation. Other than us all being a little shaken up by the incident, all is well and we are super thankful to have another day ahead of us to brave the Tianjin traffic!

On a lighter note, the kids and I had a blast today visiting Trash Mountain. Our teacher friend, Holly, met us there to have a picnic lunch and explore the man-made snow hill that they are in the process of building. I was so pleasantly surprised to see how the mountain looked! They uncovered a stack of snow skis while we were there as well as inner tubes that they will rent out for people to use to ski or slide down the hill once it is completed. We had a great time exploring around the mountain until we decided it was too cold and time to go home! I'm glad we were able to get out and get a little bit of exercise, as it was a little over 40 degrees today and the temp is supposed to be dropping significantly over the next day or two (so the high is around 30! Agh!)

After our time at the mountain Holly came back to our apartment with us and was even kind enough to stay and watch the kids so I could run to the market kid-free--which makes the trip about ten times faster! When I returned she and the older two who weren't napping had made Clifford ears!

The last pic is of Noah before bath time. He's figured out how to push up on his hands and knees and lunge forward, so we're thinking he's getting really close to crawling now! I'm wondering if that will help firm up some of the obvious extra padding in his "cheeks" once that happens!

Home, Sweet Home

We spent this past weekend in Beijing. Kevin got his Friday classes rescheduled so we were able to head out early Friday morning to make it to the train station. We had an appointment scheduled for Noah at the International Hospital in Beijing so he could get his 6 month shots in, and the kids were all excited about taking the bullet train for the first time. But our first big surprise for the weekend was the travel time it took! We left our apartment a little before 9:30am to start the walk to taxi corner. By the time we taxied to the train station, got on the bullet train that only takes half an hour to Beijing, took two different lines of the Beijing subway, and then taxied the final distance to the restaurant we were meeting friends at, our total travel time was just over 4 hours! (To make the drive from Tianjin to Beijing takes 2-3 hours, depending on the traffic.) Although we didn't think a half-hour train trip between the two cities would take that long, thankfully we gave ourselves a pretty good cushion of time or we would have been late for everything for sure. We say that everything in China just takes longer than you think--and we found this to be the case this weekend!

In spite of a long day of travel, we all had a great time. We got to eat lunch at a restaurant called Peter's that serves western/Mexican food. The quesadillas, fajitas, and guacamole are fantastic! Our friends, the Beiers, who I have known from college days at A&M and have lived in Beijing the last 4 years, were so gracious to host us for the weekend. We had lunch together at Peter's, then the husbands took the oldest two Beier kids and oldest 3 Joseph kids to a place called FunDazzle--a huge indoor play area with ball pits and climbing structures. The older 5 kids played there for several hours, having a blast getting lots of energy out. I walked down the road from the restaurant (passing a Starbucks on the way! My first Starbucks treat here in China, and VERY much enjoyed!!) to the Hospital with Noah for his appointment. I was really pleased with the doctor and the hospital itself, and Noah checked out with a clean bill of health--and his brother Hudson's larger size--weighing in at 19 1/2 lbs. already! I was so pleased with the care there that we will definitely plan on making the trek back to Beijing for his next round of shots and check up in several months. (The pic is of him on the examination table at the hospital. Looks pretty normal, doesn't it?! So no worries, grandparents!!)

After the doctor's appointment, Noah and I joined my friend Holly to do some shopping at the local import store near her apartment. I was absolutely astounded at the store--it was HUGE compared to anything I'd seen and the aisles were so wide that I could easily roll the stroller down them! I truly have not seen anything like it during my time here in China. I kind of felt like I was back in Dallas at Super Target! (Now to clarify, the store was probably about 1/40 the size of our Super Target--if that, but still felt huge compared to the tiny shops I'm used to seeing here.) We met the guys and older kids back at the Beiers apartment and enjoyed pizza for dinner. We put the kids down and got busy on dinner prep for the next night. Holly had organized a dinner for 20 friends at her house as an holiday event on Saturday night!

We spent most of Saturday preparing for the party that evening. Holly has two ayis, which really helped with all the preparation, but there was still a ton to do. She had everything from twice baked potatoes to homemade corn bread dressing. Kevin and Josh stood outside for over three hours to deep fry the turkey--and this was on the coldest day of the year yet in Beijing! The guys were quite certain that they were mistaken as homeless people by several passersby as they tried to warm themselves over the heat of the huge pot that the turkey was in. They came in with red cheeks and cold hands, but the turkey was well worth their sacrifice! We had a great time getting to meet the Beier' friends, mainly people from their community group at their international church there in Beijing, and all the kids had fun watching Polar Express. (shown in photo)

The next morning (Sunday) we packed up and headed back toward Tianjin. We stopped at Ikea on the way out of Beijing to get a few things that we haven't been able to find elsewhere (mainly baking items and household things). The kids had fun in the play area while we checked out and we grabbed a bite of a Sweedish hot dog before leaving to get back on the train (see photo). Once again, our travel time was around 4 hours by the time we taxied to the train station (no subway this time), rode the bullet train, and then taxied back to our apartment.

The most pleasant surprise was when we got back home. We had had a wonderful weekend with friends, really enjoying the friendship, fellowship, food, and break in our normal routine. But Kevin and I both agreed that walking in the door of our own home really felt like home--and we were relieved to be there! In the midst of feeling twinges of homesickness, it was so sweet to be thankful that our place really is home to us now more than we imagined it could be in only 3 short months! And another fun part was that the kids agreed! Even while they were asking when they could go back to Beijing to play with their friends, they were saying how nice it was to be home, too. PTL for the little glimpses of sunshine that we are moving in the right direction--making progress in establishing our family here and moving through the initial stages of transition to life overseas!

Making Cookies

After class my teacher (ZhenZhen--pronounced Jenn Jenn) and her boyfriend Victor came over to our apartment. Zhen zhen has become a dear friend here, and we've really enjoyed getting to know her long-time boyfriend (probably soon to become her fiance). She has been wanting to learn more about western style baking, so we had fun making chocolate snowflake cookies with the kids and then having dinner. (Funny sidenote: I learned a lesson the hard way about finding out the price for things before ordering them for delivery this last week. I called in an order at the store that delivers import items so I could do some "traditional" holiday baking. I asked for several bars of unsweetened chocolate, as several of my favorite holiday dessert recipes call for this. They only had one, so I asked them to bring it to me. After my order was delivered and I had settled up with the delivery man, I looked through the bag and found my bar of chocolate. The price tag was still on it--a whopping 58 kuai--which is about $8 or $9! I couldn't believe I'd just paid that much for a bar of chocolate! Oh, and it wasn't even 8 oz--it was only 4! So any of you who have our list of "Things we Miss" for the purpose of sending care packages can add that one to it. Not sure I"ll be making that purchase again any time soon!!)

The picture is of all of us (except Noah, who was in my arms at the time watching) with our messy hands after rolling the cookies into balls. We had a great time baking, then ate a fun dinner that our ayi had prepared the day before. (Another sidenote: the ayi that we have had coming to our home the last 2 and a half months for 3 days each week to cook and clean just worked her last day for us, most likely. The family she had previously worked for is returning to China this week, so she has to go back to work for them. We were so sad to loose her, as we've really gotten to know her and so appreciate all she does for us. And we're not really sure what we're doing from here as far as someone to take her place, but I'm thankful to have enough humility and common sense to know that we do need to find a replacement for her in order for our home to run smoothly as I'm pretty much maxed out daily just trying to handle what I have on my plate as it is. So we'd appreciate you thinking about this subject on our behalf as it comes to mind!)

After dinner, the kids did crafts for a little while with Zhen Zhen and Victor, then we put them to bed. Of course our guests had come with gifts, and they were a huge hit! They brought some magnets for the fridge (which were the favorite new toy for Hudson) and these toothbrush holders that I have in the picture. They are so cute, and incredibly functional! They suction on to the mirror, then you can just snap the toothbrush into and out of them. The kids were more excited to brush teeth than I've seen them in awhile!

Once we got the kids in bed, we hung out with Victor and Zhen Zhen, looking through family photo albums (the Chinese people really value family and love to see pictures) and then playing the Wii. We really struggled with the Wii purchase (made as Kevin's graduation gift before leaving the US), but are SO thankful we did it! It has really proven to be a great tool to bridge the communication gap with Chinese friends when language is a barrier (by giving us a fun activity to do that doesn't require a lot of linguisitic commonality!) as well as been fun for the whole family on the really cold days that we don't want to get out of the apartment as much. We had a great evening rejoicing in the sweet friendships and opportunitites that He has already brought our way!

Homesick

I had to laugh at myself yesterday after first shedding a few tears. We were finishing up our homeschool time and reading one of the books we'd checked out from the library. It was a really cute story about a boy who loved to play baseball but had to miss the first game of the season because he got sick. One of the other kids on the team knew how much the game meant to him, so he called every inning to give the sick kid a play-by-play report on how the game was progressing. I was so choked up that I literally had to stop reading about half-way through the last several pages to try to regain my composure and finish the story! The message so hit home--how important it is to have friends that care about you and know your heart, who fill you in on the "details" when you aren't there to enjoy them with them in person. I teared up as I reflected on how thankful we are to have so many loving friends and family standing behind us as we make this huge life transition, who go to the trouble to keep in touch and encourage us as they do. The outpouring of love and care for our family has totally overwhelmed us, and left us feeling that we have in no way been "forgotten" by those we love so dearly! I hope this doesn't sound like a total downer, but if we're honest, there really is a lot about the States that we miss--especially this time of year. We are SOOOOO thankful for so much here, but there are times when the sadness hits and I just miss my friends and family and so much that is familiar to us. Yesterday morning was one of those times! And this even after I had just taken the photo of the sunrise out of our bedroom window. I'm not sure if the brilliant color was due to the sun rising or the blaze of a distant furnace from a factory blurred by the pollution smog that always hovers over the city, but it was beautiful nonetheless!

Now you may be asking--"So what kind of long-term damage are you doing to your kids as they sit around watching you wipe the tears from your eyes as you try to catch your breath enough to complete one cheesy library book?!" And the question is a good one! But I was honestly a little concerned at their lack of awareness of my mini-meltdown! Not one of them even batted an eye at my display of emotion. I'm hoping this has more to do with their age and interest in the book rather than the reader than it does with their ability to empathize with others in their sadness!

Thankfully I didn't dwell in the pit of sadness for long; there were adventures to be had! I managed to taxi to (and from!) our Sam's Club-equivalent with all four kids by myself. Kevin was back at the baseball stadium (this time getting both his legs AND abs absolutely worked over to the point of fatigue!), but we were short on some speciality items that can only be found at this store called Metro. We've only been there 3 times (including yesterday!) since we've moved here, but they already know us as the foreigners who shop there with so many kids in tow! The same manager who has helped us each time came out of her office again (she speaks English!) to help me understand a few details of my purchases. While I was talking with her the kids were being entertained by the tv's on display. I noticed that very soon after they wandered over to the electronic section, the movie was changed to a kid one ("Ice Age")! This was no doubt for the sake of my little ones, who were the only ones around, and I appreciated their being distracted for a few minutes for me to get organized in my shopping. One of the really nice things about the kids being the center of attention everywhere we go is how much freedom it gives me with them. Even if I am not watching them like a hawk I can guarantee that there is a whole slew of Chinese people who are, and who are not afraid to "parent" them as needed! The whole "it takes a village to raise a child" mentality is definitely in sync with the Chinese culture!

The other picture is of Hudson "fixing" the bunk bed ladder with his hammer. He's wearing his new Christmas pj's and was quite certain he needed to have on his sunglasses as well!

Moving Toward Christmas!

The Joseph fam had a fun weekend getting geared up for Christmas. Our precious new friend Jennifer came over to hang out with the family on Friday night (that is her in the picture with the kids). Then on Saturday morning I went to a Christmas brunch with some ladies here in town while Kevin played with the kids at home (all 4 of them--I know--super-Dad!). Saturday evening we went to dinner at TGI Friday's with Holly and another teacher friend from the international school. After dinner we went to the high school students' choir and band concert and got to listen to some wonderful Christmas music. It did so much to help it feel even more like Christmas! Throughout the evening Kevin and I kept asking each other what was wrong with our kids--they were so calm and well-behaved both at the restaurant and the concert! The loved the teachers who were with us and were really excited to hear Christmas music, which I think was part of the reason for their exceptional behavior. But whatever the reason, it sure made the evening enjoyable for Kevin and me!

On Sunday evening we did our usual family night with pizza--and we had a guest. One of the other families here is also having a hard time finding babysitters, so they brought their little two year old over to play with our four for a few hours so they could go to dinner and get coffee. Unfortunately their little one had a hard time, but we all made it through two hours at least to give his parents a little bit of a date night!

We're back to our regular weekly routine again today. Classes and homeschool for the kids. I heard a funny story from one of my Chinese friends at school today. She was embarassed to tell me about her weekend visit to the hospital. She had eaten fish for dinner while at her family's house, and accidentally got a bone stuck in her throat! They were able to get it out and no damage was done, thank goodness. She said the only thing that made her feel better was the fact that the doctor at the hospital told her that people come in all the time with the same problem! They had a special instrument and everything for removing fish bones from the throat!

Jennifer came over for dinner again tonight and entertained the kids by playing hide and seek throughout the apartment before we ate. We think she's even going to be brave enough to hopefully watch all four next week for Kevin and me to have a date night! We're pretty pumped and hope that it works out!

Choo Choo Choo!

We're trying to keep our sense of humor as we attempt to master the Chinese language, so we definitely look for fun things to chuckle about along the way. We found one this week in class. Kevin was asking his teacher how we would tell the kids to "Get out of the kitchen"--a common phrase we use in English right before meal time due to the small size of our kitchen and the concrete walls that make every noise a big one! His teacher told him that you should say, "Chu qu chu fang" (pronounced, in much simplified English, choo-choo-choo fawng!) (For those of you who do speak Mandarin, don't worry. I realize that the "chu" and "qu" make different sounds, but we're going for the simplifed version here!) Anyway, I thought it was funny, even that all three of the "choo"s have different tones, but it kind of reminds me of a train running through my kitchen as I practice my Mandarin phrases while shooing kids out to the living room until dinner is on the table!

Our family has had a fairly routine week. We made it to the E Mart play area to get some energy out, had a full week of home school classes, had a Christmas cookie exchange with other home school families, got in a few extra hours of language practice with tutors at the school, and are about to head to the Tianjin International School library to stock up on some more books. The pictures are of the kids getting all excited as Noah tried his first bowl of rice cereal (which he definitely did NOT care for, but will hopefully grow to like!) and the way I found the kids when I gave them permission to watch a few minutes of a movie while I was in the kitchen. I thought it was cute how they were all snuggled up together, with Eli wearing one of Kevin's shirts and hats that he found lying around. I am so thankful that they have each other and the bond of friendship that we see growing in them! Oh, and a side note, Noah got his first two teeth in this week. So we're officially teething now!

Kevin has had an interesting week at the baseball stadium with the Tianjin Lions--the professional team in town. He went over there twice this week. The first day was a dud. He came home really frustrated and confused. There are so many cultural and languge barriers that he was baffled as to if they wanted him there, who he should try to talk to, and what he should be doing with his time there. The coach who had so warmly welcomed him before is out for awhile with a knee injury, so Kevin kind of felt like he was starting from scratch. The next day, however, was MUCH better! He went in his work out clothes and was invited to work out with the pitchers and had good conversations with several of them and with some of the coaching staff. He has it set up to go over two afternoons each week to spend time with the team. His legs were feeling the workout last night. I haven't checked the stairwell yet to see if his bike is still there, but he was talking about taxiing to school this morning rather than riding his zi xing che (bike) because of how sore he was! Hopefully his body will hold up for him long enough to get to know some of the athletes here in Tianjin!

First Visitors

This weekend we've been hosting our first visitors here in China! The Pate family came over from Dallas to visit on their way to go spend a month working in Cambodia, and we've had a full house and lots of adventures the last several days. We have been so impressed by the Pate's resilience in the face of jet lag, and their willingness to try and see lots of new things here in China.

All four of the Pate kids (between the ages of 8 and 2) have been sleeping either in sleeping bags or a pack n play in our playroom. Kris and Julie have been experiencing the luxury of our Ikea sleeper sofa! :) They've gotten to try some of our ayi's favorite Chinese dishes for dinner, as well as a crock pot meal or two. We took them to the Tianjin Zoo on Friday (where they showed their wisdom by opting out of visiting, or rather becoming part of, the monkey exhibit), had birthday cake and crazy Chinese candle to celebrate David's 6th b-day on Friday night, went to Ancient Culture Street to do some more tourist-y shopping on Saturday, and explored our local markets.

One of our favorite parts (ha, ha) took place today after our time shopping on Ancient Culture Street. We went into a "regular" mall that was close by to warm up, and discoverd that it had a great kids' play area. So Julie and I left the dads with 7 of the 8 kids to play, and the two of us (along with Noah in the stroller) went to look for some gloves to replace a few that had been lost by the Pate family over the weekend. I got a rather panicky sounding phone call from Kevin about 45 minutes later, requesting our immediate return! When we got back to the guys and the kids, it turns out that one of the other kids in the play area had a vomiting problem while in the play area. The situation was handled by one of the workers kind of wiping up the mess with a rag, and then sending the kid off to continue playing! Kevin and Kris both looked a little shaken up by the whole thing, and we all decided it would be wise to double hand-sanitize, then have a competition amongst our group of kids to see who could rub it in all over the best.

After we got back from our shopping/play area outing, we decided to take the Pate kids on a three-wheeler ride to one of our favorite local markets. We showed them where we buy beef and rotisserie chickens, and then made a fun new discovery--popcorn! We had been told about a place that made kettle corn type popcorn there on the street, with lots of different flavors to choose from. We ended up with two bags--one chocolate and the other ice cream! They were a huge hit. Orville Redinbocker ain't got a thing on our Chinese kettle corn! Fun new find to end our day!!

Pumice Stone Drama

I decided it was time to turn my attention to my feet after Karis wouldn't leave me alone the other day when I had my socks off, continually picking at some of the dried skin on my heels! (Lovely, I know!) I had obviously gone too long without a pedicure, and my feet were showing the wear and tear of China walking and biking, not to mention the cold, dry weather. I had my eye on a pumice stone I had seen hanging up behind the counter of one of our larger market grocery stores in our community, and was just waiting until my bag wasn't too filled to overflowing to purchase it and bring it home. Now, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that pumice stones are not a normal fixture in most Chinese women's bathrooms. Part of my assmption comes from the fact that this store has had this one same pumice stone hanging up ever since we've been here--which is almost a full three months now! So they're not the most popular or well-known tool in these parts.

So I'm standing in line with my few grocery items, trying to hurry home to feed a hungry baby after class, when a very "sweet" Chinese older lady decided she should cut ahead of me in line. Now in China, this is not considered rude. On the contrary, it is actually proving yourself wise and crafty to see an opportunity and take advantage of it. I'm aware of this vast cultural difference, and on many days don't even mind it, but not this day. I was certain that I hadn't left an inappropriate amount of space in front of me, inviting this older woman to cut in, and I really didn't feel like waiting for one more person to check out before I did! So I did what is again, totally culturally appropriate, and used as much of my body as a wedge as I could to politely establish my position in line.

When I finally got up to the check out, having to move the older woman's groceries out of the way in order to get mine up to the register, I had to play a game of cherades with the cashier in order to show her what it was I wanted her to get for me (funny that "pumice stone" has not been one of my school vocab words yet, don't you think?). After pointing and grunting for almost a minute, I ended up with the pumice stone on the counter. Now by this point, the entire line of people (mostly women stopping by the store on their way home from work to grab stuff for dinner) was incredibly curious as to what the westerner was purchasing. So the line crumbled as the women crowded around to see what treasure I had discovered behind the counter! Several of the woman actually broke rank and pushed up next to me to touch the pumice stone and see what it felt like! Keep in mind, this whole time I am making my old cross country coach proud with the elbow slinging I had to exercise in order to keep Granny out of my spot in the check out line. Oh yes, she was still by my side, working her way into any nook or cranny I left open.

Now you might wonder if I was having much of a humble servant's heart, considering my witness as I used my backside to bump an old lady out of the way. And my answer is yes, it was at least considered! And I decided that at this point I too could become acculturated to China; that I was doing what was respected by the Chinese in working to keep my place in line! To be honest, I'm not sure if it was that or if my competitive juices were flowing, but regardless, I did win the event and made it through the checkout line in first place with pumice stone in hand. Oh, and my heels are much smoother today to prove it!

The Real Meaning

It's funny how often we have talked about the "real" meaning of Christmas over the years. Even as we're so busy during the holiday season with shopping, giving gifts, having holiday parties, fellowshipping with friends, and eating, we've tried to continually remind our kids (and ourselves!) that Christmas is really about anticipating and celebrating the birth of Him. In spite of all of our efforts, if I'm honest, it really is easy for that "main event" that we're trying to celebrate to get lost in the mix of all the hustle and bustle that accompanies the holiday.

So far I'm thinking that we aren't going to have that be quite as much of a problem while celebrating on this side of the ocean! It's amazing how un-commercialized the season is over here in China. (When we lived in the Philippines, they began celebrating Christmas literally in October--so I kind of wondered if there would be at least some siliarities.) There are two stores I've seen now that do have some Christmas decorations, but by and large there just isn't that usual "holiday feel" you have when you are in the States right after Thanksgiving. I'm realizing that this works both ways. It is hard in that it just doens't feel as much like Christmas as we're used to, but at the same time, it also provides a neat opportunity for us to be able to really focus on the true meaning of what we'r'e celebrating.

I really want to try to find the right balance in making Christmas special for our kids. We so don't want to take away the fun and excitement that surrounds the holiday of the gifts, but at the same time we want them to have the deeper understanding. Kevin and I are trying to be intentional in building the anticiapation about what we are celebrating, and I've found a great resource! I have an awesome book that was given to us called The Adventure of Christmas that goes through and explains where a lot of the different Christmas traditions come from, stating the deeper meaning behind each and how they are tied to our faith. Yesterday I read one about the Advent Wreath (or Advent Calendar). Unfortunately, there are none of those to be found here in Tianjin, but the book offered a great alternative. It suggested wrapping up small pieces of candy in saran wrap and then tying a ribbon or string between each one--25 total. So you end up cutting off one piece of candy to eat each day--all the way up to Christmas day. The kids have already asked almost daily how many days 'til Christmas, so I thought this project would be a perfect one to give them a visual of our countdown!

We had fun making our "caterpillars" for our Advent Calendars, and they especially loved the first cut and piece of candy!

Christmas here also provides great opportunity to be able to talk with others about what it is all about. I had a great conversation with a new friend here the other day who was asking questions about what we celebrate and why. Our conversation and her response was a great reminder of just how much of the world thinks as my friend does--believing that the One we celebrate is a great story, but not worth arguing about (or making a decision about, for that matter) the reality of who He was and still is. It's put it so into perspective for me this year to have it clear at least in my mind about the real meaning, and to be ready to give a defense to those brought to hear!

The other photos are of some masks that Karis helped the boys make (all her own creative idea!) and then Karis wanted to take one of me with Noah. Pretty good photography skills for a 5 year old, I thought!