So we've decided that the change in weather makes a HUGE difference to all of us! Besides not being so excited about how early the sun comes up (making it a lot less likely for the kids to sleep in at all on the weekends), we are loving the change in seasons! I didn't even wear my long underwear today--at least not until I left for class this afternoon. Our school building, like every other building in the city, has been without heat for the last week and a half. You'd be AMAZED at how cold and drafty the insides of buildings feel when the high temperature hasn't broken 60 degrees outside yet! It feels weird to be experiencing the coming of spring by seeing warming temperatures and even a few buds on trees, and yet to feel colder inside than we have in months!
This last week Kevin and I both had lunch with one of Kevin's former teachers. She is engaged to a really nice guy who lives in Beijing who Kevin has become friends with. The funny thing to me was that when I went to the school to meet up with the two of them, I ran into 3 of my Chinese friends. All 3 of them asked the same question immediately upon seeing Kevin and me both there at school--"Where are the kids?!" I think mainly because in China, most of the time both parents work full-time and the grandparents raise the grandkids until they are 3 and head off to Chinese kindergarten, the idea of wanting "time off" or getting away from home is totally foreign. The idea of married couples having dates, especially if they have kids, is even more unusual--to the extent that when Kevin and I DO have a date night and I try to explain it to a Chinese friend, they literally don't understand, thinking I'm using the wrong word, that a "date" for a married couple is something that just doesn't happen! I realized how unusual this is to our American culture (and to our "old normal" where we lived a mile from my parents and were blessed to have my mom in particular insist on Kevin and I having weekly date nights) when I talked with my sister today. She told me about her church providing child care so that the small groups within the church could have a time set apart for the adults to have talk-time without the strain of having to find babysitters. What an amazing concept!
But to answer my friends' question, I left both Noah and Hudson with our ayi for me to be able to join Kevin and his former teacher for lunch. She only had to watch the two of them for about half an hour before putting them down for nap time and then Kevin returning home while I went on to class, but my friends were still impressed that our ayi could handle two little boys at one time! They all agreed that they must be very "ting hua"--or obedient! I countered with the offer of them being better described as rowdy, but know what consequence any disobedience would bring! Our lunch was great, and both ayi and the boys made it through the afternoon unscathed...
On Thursday night I had a fun time feeling my cheeks turn a little bit red. We had a group of friends over, and one of them was a co-worker of Leif's who we had never met. She didn't really speak any English (that I could tell, anyway!), so I was a little more nervous about our social interaction. After dinner, we moved into the living room and I was serving tea. When I was pouring tea for this woman (named Eva), she put out her hand and tapped the coffee table right next to her tea cup about 4 or 5 times in a row with her first two fingers. The first time she did this, I was almost done pouring. I panicked a little, trying to remember what the finger tap signal meant! Was it that she wanted more? That I had already poured enough? I was pretty sure it was one of the two, but couldn't remember for the life of me which! The second time I went to pour, she started tapping as soon as I started pouring. This time, I had to admit my ignorance, as I didn't know what she was trying to communicate and didn't want to offend her by pouring too much or not enough! I apologized (of course in Chinese) and asked her to remind me of what her meaning was! She responded (rather embarrassed herself!) that she was simply saying thank you! Everyone in the room got a good laugh, and I was thankful to have the lesson deeply ingrained, certain not to be forgotten again!
Our weekend was filled with great time with more Chinese friends. My oldest friend here, who is my first teacher I had, came over with my other best friend Ying Ying to celebrate her birthday. My first teacher Zhen Zhen has just gotten married--but her wedding is in September of this year! In China, you are officially married once you have the license--and getting through the red tape to get a license can be a real pain. So my friends Zhen Zhen and her now-husband Victor went ahead with the official document and then will have their wedding in a few months after time to prepare for it and schedule a location. Weddings here are almost always held in restaurants, and the wedding and reception are all in one venue (most of the time). Zhen Zhen actually asked Karis and one of the boys (she doesn't mind which one!) to be in the wedding as ring bearers! We thought there was a chance of this, as she has always adored the kids and they have gotten really close to her, too. The funny thing is that the other teacher that Kevin and I had lunch with earlier this week just happens to be getting married on the same day, the same time, only in a location much further away! We'd already decided we would divide and conquer--Kevin taking two of the kids with me to his former teacher's wedding and me taking two to Zhen Zhen and Victor's. I have no doubt I'll be having a whole new cultural experience as I go into wedding planning mode with my friend!
On Saturday, Kevin took Eli on a "daddy date" to hike around Trash Mountain. I therefore, was left with the other three, but really wanting to go shopping! So I decided to throw caution to the wind and trek on over to what is often called the "walking street" where tons of shopping is done. There is a store there called H&M (which is now in Dallas, too, I hear) that has clothes here that actually fit and are more American-style (ie, my style!), than anything else I've found. So I took the kids the 30-minute taxi ride away to make it there, with the promise of ice cream and lunch at Papa John's if they behaved well. I was super blessed to have my friend Charis willing to join us on our adventure, and was even more thrilled to have Noah even willing to let Charis carry him around some of the time (he doesn't like being carried by anyone, as he'd much rather go his own direction when he can!).
We had a great time shopping together--not finding the black pants that I was hoping for, but finding some other fun spring-type clothes. We then hiked over to the Papa John's pizza where Kevin and Eli met us after their time at Trash Mountain. We even splurged and enjoyed Cold Stone Creamery after our pizza lunch! Talk about living large! We thought about going to TGI Friday's for dinner that night, but both Kevin and I laughed that doing so felt like it would be pushing the limit in how much of a "western day" we should experience all at once! Pizza, real ice cream and burgers all in one day? Are you kidding?! Where's the rice?! :)
Saturday night our friend Jennifer came over to hang out. She is the friend who usually babysits for us when we do get date nights, but with her busy school schedule (she is a PE teacher at the international school) and coaching, as well as tutoring that she does on the side, her schedule hasn't allowed her much time to watch our four little ones! We had fun playing and eating with her, and are continually reminded of how thankful we are for the many blessings of friendships He continue to bring our way!
