I was so sad this week to see the work beginning--men and women in the medians and on the sides of the road in the (small!) grassy areas, working to build wooden frameworks around the limited amount of landscaping that lines the major roads of Tianjin. After building the somewhat rickety wooden frameworks around the bushes and some of the trees, they then cover the greenery with a heavy green plastic, I'm assuming with the goal being to protect the foliage from the cold and the strong winds that Tianjin has during the long winter months. I pulled over on my way biking to class to get a quick shot with my camera, much to the amusement of the men working! But it made me a little sad; any natural green that we still can see is unfortunately on it's way out until the warm weather returns (this year it was in late April). But, I must rejoice with thanksgiving that this year has been SO much warmer than last! Our heater has not turned on yet, but we are only a week (and one day) away, but have yet to feel like we have been really cold while indoors (which is vastly different from last year when we bundled up in our warmest fleece before crawling under the covers at night). So no complaints here, only a lingering sad feeling that the dreariness of winter is just around the corner for a spell...
On that note, one of the things Kevin and I remain intrigued about as far as cultural differences is the hot/cold emphasis in Asia. While walking Hud to his pre-school class this week on Tuesday, I had a woman literally pull a u-turn to run after me, insisting that I make Hudson pull his pant leg down so that the one and a half inches of his leg that was exposed would be covered. After realizing that she was not going to leave me alone until I complied, I did tug his pant leg down so that no skin was showing, laughing with amazement at her fear of the (what I considered) relatively warm weather. Karis caught a fever virus this week, and ended up staying home from school for several days. When our ayi came one morning and I explained that Karis had a little bit of a fever, her immediate two questions were about how she had been dressed while outside and what cold foods she had eaten. One of my teachers this week, who is Chinese but married to an American, asked me about temperature differences in the US and if I was concerned about keeping on air conditioning during the summer months, and if the temperature changes between being indoors and outdoors would be harmful to the kids' health. I explained to her that we just don't think of it as being a big deal; especially compared to how they think of temperature here, where literally the first thought about illness or any health issues is all tied to hot/cold things (temp or food, mainly). My teacher explained to me that she, too, was fussed at by some neighbors this past week because she had socks but not shoes on her 7-month old daughter while she was in the stroller. The concern of the neighbor was apparently that the cold air would hit the child's feet and could that way enter into her body, causing sickness of some sort as her internal balance would be thrown off. After over a year of being here, I'm still amazed at how different the thinking is in so many different ways!
The picture of Karis with the sausage is her working on her Chinese characters with Kevin's help--they were using our breakfast to write "huo" or fire in Chinese HanZi! Thought it was pretty creative...
One other major difference that we continue to seek understanding on is that of how friendships work here. We realize that we have been so blessed by the friendships we've developed over the last year, but we're continually amazed at the warmth of the feedback that we receive from our Chinese friends here--how many of them will refer to us as their "best" friends, or "jia ren" (which is basically, family members). While we feel a closeness to so many of them, too, we feel that we are in a different place, being isolated from family and friends of our own culture, making it seemingly more natural for us to develop these kinds of deeper bonds. But while the relationship emphasis here in China seems to be on very small, intimate circles of friends and family (rather than broader scopes of friends or acquaintances that are more typical of western relationships), as we ask others who have been here longer than we have, it seems that along with these tight relationships comes a sense of duty or obligation that carries a heavy weight with it as well. It seems like this sense of duty and obligation, while allowing for a sense of security, also has some negative aspects to it as well. We had a friend explain to us this weekend that if we are offering friendship, welcoming our Chinese friends into our home (which is a huge expression of being "in" with someone, making it to their inner circle of friends), and yet not having the expectations that typically come with those relationships, they can feel the difference, and the freedom that comes with those friendships. So we're hoping that this is the case--that these friends that we are making and trying to love and serve see us as a "safe" place to come where little is expected or required, and that this is the reason for the warm reception we've been receiving. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on the matter over time as we try to investigate further and have more time for experience to accumulate...
Kevin had his first English class with a group of baseball players this week--and it was a smashing success! (At least, as far as he could tell, it was!) He had 9 players come (including one coach), and two more who wanted to but were unable, promising to attend this next week instead. They started off with basic information on how to introduce your self. Kevin and our friend Sam (who is joining him as teacher) collaborated to give the players English names, which of course, is as fun as it sounds. I thought their method very creative; they allowed the guys to pick names from a group of famous baseball players who have played in their same positions in the MLB over the last several decades. So for those of you who are baseball fans, here's your pop quiz. I'll give you the first names of the players and their positions and you can see how many you can match up with their MLB counterparts:
- Ricky--LF
- Michael--3B
- Joe--CF
- Chris--P
- Alex--SS
