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 th
em 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!
