Our spring break finished up really well last week, in spite of a few close calls! I just finished telling a friend last week that I had been incredibly blessed that with 4 kids going through the toddler stage, we have not had a single incident of choking on toys or sticking small objects up the nose (or in an ear, etc.). Well, I obviously was speaking too loudly, because we had two incidents of objects of the nose within 3 days!!
After a fun day on Thursday of playing with friends and dog-sitting for a neighbor's dog (as seen in the photo) on Friday, our family met with another family (the Thorpes) who also have 4 kids a little older than ours (you've seen their pics before on the blog, as they are our kids favorite friends to spend time with here!). We met at the baseball complex which also has a track with a grassy area in the middle--completely free of doggie poo or huge masses of people! Our kids LOVE to go there and run, hit the baseball, play frisbee, etc. And to make it even better, it is walking distance from TGI Friday's--our favorite comfort food get-away! So after enjoying an evening of playing outside in beautiful temperatures and then eating burgers and chicken fingers (with honey mustard, of course!), we were doing our usual routine of hailing a taxi where Kevin is out in the street trying to wave one down and I have all 4 kids either by the hand or them with their hands on me. As soon as Kevin got a taxi to pull over, he turned to motion us out to join him in the street, and Hudson stepped off the curb without even looking; he was only centimeters away from being hit by a slew of electric bikes that were flying by at that moment! We all screamed, Hudson immediately began sobbing, and it took several minutes before any of our heart rates returned to normal. We were reminded again of His protection and how incredibly different safety is here in China! There is literally not a single moment that you can let your guard down, even when on a sidewalk, as cars and electric bikes frequently traffic even designated pedestrian areas. Also, the sheer number of people in constant motion coupled by the fact that traffic laws are merely suggestions rather than things that actually require being followed or receiving punishment if not make transportation and safety one of our continual biggest concerns. After the close call, Kevin and I both agreed that after many months of thinking through the subject, we both feel confident that purchasing a car for our family this fall is the best and wisest decision we can make.
Seems like a no-brainer in a lot of ways, but we've found the subject to be a slightly touchy one here in Tianjin. Would you believe that out of all the western families we know here, literally only 1 owns a car? We think it's largely because of the sub-culture within each ex-pat community in different cities. We know of two other cities (Beijing and Chengdu specifically) where almost every ex-pat family does own their own car, but that is just not the norm here in Tianjin! There are some obvious reasons not to purchase--there is not market for used cars, so it's not a good investment and requires purchasing a new car rather than an old one; the driving here is a totally different "style" from Stateside driving; if you can't communicate well enough verbally and an accident does take place, you're kind of out of luck. But the upsides to this family of 6, particularly in regards to safety and moving around during the long winter months have finally pushed us over the edge! So I just might be trading in my motorcycle-type 3 wheeler for a large mini-van come fall.... :)
After Hud's close call, we returned home to put a tired crew to bed, only to race into the bedroom at Hudson's panic-sounding cries. We discovered, as he choked out through frantic sobs, that he had stuck a Perler bead up his nose (a small bead you use in crafts)! We were able to get him to calm down and finally blow his nose hard enough to dislodge the bead, but both Kevin and I remain baffled as to what causes a youngster to try to fit an object into such a facial opening?
So after that, I got a text from Kevin on my cell phone yesterday while I was at a coffee shop studying stating that he had just removed 3 BB's (small plastic ones that the kids find outside) from Noah's nose using a pair of tweezers! Again--totally confused as to why all of a sudden this seems like a good idea! He was unaware of Hudson and the bead up the nose drama from this weekend, as we took Hud out of the bedroom and worked on him in the other room immediately. Maybe the fresh spring air is getting to my boys?
Speaking of Spring, I am including a photo of the cherry blossoms in bloom right now. We are LOVING both the aesthetic beauty and the sweet aroma that fills the air--so stark in contrast to the normal scents and the gray of winter that is finally lifting! We're getting outside as many hours as possible, trying to soak it all in and enjoy every moment we have of beautiful weather and no long underwear!
Last night, Kevin had a first. he went to dinner with Sam and one of the baseball players to eat hot pot (like fondue). Their menu--frogs, cow throat, and cow stomach lining! I asked Kevin how his own stomach was doing last night upon his return, and was surprised to hear that in spite of feeling a little queezy, he was actually doing okay. I guess we're getting more and more accustomed to some of the strange things we are ingesting these days?!
The night before last, our whole family had an interesting dining experience. Our landlord, who lives in England and I have never met before, showed up at our front door on Sunday afternoon! I was totally shocked and embarrassed, as our house was just about the messiest it has ever been! The boys had been building Legos all morning--so they were spread ALL over the living room floor. Noah had been playing with all the cars, racing them through the entire entryway, which was covered with cars and trucks. Karis had all of her dolls and animal figures out in different "houses" from her play time that morning in the kids' play room. I had been folding laundry, so had about 10 piles separated all over the guest room. You get the idea.... And then, we'd had the downstairs windows opened the night before, but unfortunately a dust storm had blown in, leaving a fine covering over all the floors and every surface area of the apt! I had done a quick cleaning that morning before we headed out to church, but it was far from well-done! So I got to take our landlord and her daughter from room to room, with them inspecting how "well" we'd kept up her house over the last year and a half of living here! To my surprise, she didn't seem disappointed or upset about the mess at all, and swore she'd called and e-mailed in advance before just showing up at my door (which I wonder about...). We were able to set a meeting time for the following night for us all to go to dinner, with the assumption (on our part) that we would negotiate our lease, which is up this summer.
So it was another cultural lesson for the Joseph family. After making it through an hour and a half dinner, with the kids doing surprisingly well in the situation, we left the restaurant not making any deals at all! But in spite of no contract, no money or terms even being mentioned, I think we still made forward progress. In China, it is all about the relationship--and we definitely bonded more than I thought we could have! The kids warmed up to our landlord and her daughter right away, which took me by surprise, as I wouldn't have described either as being "kid magnets" during our initial meeting. And before we left, our landlord told me 3 or 4 times not to worry, being very vague, but I think implying that we would work out the details of our rent and that she wanted us to be able to stay. She's even offered to come over this week or next to teach me how to roll jiao zi! Kevin told me on the way home how proud he was of me, knowing how difficult it is for this Type A person to hold back, wanting to get the negotiating started and one more thing checked off of my list! Again, so much to learn and so many opportunities to be stretched out of my comfort zone!!
