Bike Ride

The kids have been riding their bikes more and more lately in our apartment courtyard area. (And I should note that this is largely due to our unusually warm winter we've enjoyed! It has yet to really snow, and the temperatures have gotten above freezing most days, which is incredibly different from our last two year here.) So Kevin and I decided that the older two were ready for a real challenge, and we proposed the idea of riding bikes together to the McDonalds that is probably about 2 miles away from our home. The kids LOVED the idea, so on Saturday morning, we took off with the older two wearing their helmets and the little two boys on the backs of Kevin's and my bike. We sure didn't set any speed records on our journey, but made it across the railroad tracks, through some pretty hairy intersections, and the entire distance (with only one or two stops to rest our legs!) with everyone still alive at the end! I realized during our trek that Eli is definitely in need of a larger bike with bigger wheels. The poor thing had to peddle about 10 times for every 1 the rest of us had to make (even including Karis!), so his cheeks were quite flushed and he was sweating pretty much by the time we arrived to enjoy our chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers.

Besides our bike adventure, our week has been a slower-paced one than usual. We entertained some of our Chinese friends for dinner on Friday night. One of the funnier moments was when one friend asked another friend if she was pregnant. The girl being asked actually was, but very few people knew about it at that point! And we still can't figure out how the one asking knew about the pregnancy. She assured us she hadn't heard from anyone else, she could just "tell"! (And since the one pregnant is so early on, there are no outward signs yet at this point.) It was pretty funny, and pretty awkward, too! This let to some other interesting conversations. One being her sharing with me the ideas in Chinese medicine of why you have indigestion when you're pregnant--especially during your 3rd trimester. That is when the baby is growing hair on it's head, which is the direct cause of the mother's indigestion. Hmmmm....

The other thing that rocked my world was hearing this friend talk about another good friend of hers who is also pregnant. The friend is 39 weeks already, and is having a very difficult time eating much because her indigestion is so uncomfortable (nothing unusual there!)! What is unusual, is my friend's display of friendship to this girl. The pregnant friend feels like she can eat more and with less discomfort when our mutual friend is around. Therefore, my friend, who is a police officer and has an incredibly busy work schedule, on top of big family demands, etc., travels to Beijing two times a week simply to sit with her pregnant friend while she eats! (It's only a 40 minute train ride between our cities, but there's always additional travel time, including sub way, taxi, etc, which would probably make her travel time closer to 1 1/2 or 2 hours each way.) Talk about loyalty! The Chinese culture takes the loyalty amongst friends to a whole new level!

We've continued to enjoy my "running machine"--or my "big toy" as Noah refers to it. You can see his favorite way to exercise these days (normally right before bath time!) from the photo! (never mind--my husband just censored the half-nude shot from behind!) The other pics are of the kids' creations they made out of marshmellows and toothpicks (which turned in to part of their afternoon snack, as I'm sure you can imagine!) None of the structures actually could fit into the mugs of hot chocolate that went along with their afternoon treat, but that didn't seem to bother them in the least!

The rest of this week has been busy preparing to leave town. We head to Thailand in a few days and are counting down the time til we are in the sun, the clean air, and enjoying a brief break from our usual routine! Next post should have a slightly different background that the normal skyline of Tianjin... :)

Ants in my sugar

I put the phone down for a minute to run into the kitchen (our phone only works in a few spots in the house, and the kitchen is not one of them!) to get some hot tea during a phone date with a friend from the US. I ran back to the phone 1 minute later, laughing as I explained to my friend that I'd just fished out an ant or two from the sugar jar I was using to sweeten my tea--and the funny part was that it didn't bother me in the slightest! I hope this doesn't gross anyone out (or deter any potential visitors to our side of the pond!), but it just caused me to reflect on how many changes I've endured the last two and a half years--both in my life experiences and "normals" and also inside me. I won't belabor the point here, but suffice it to say that I feel like after living in a cross-cultural environment for this amount of time, I've kind of crossed the point of no return and have undergone some serious remodeling both inside and out. One way I saw this again was during our fellowship time at our International Fellowship on the morning of Jan. 1st. We had a university choir in town visiting from Kenya, and it was an experience to say the least! Our congregation is made up of about 300 each week, and a large number of those in attendance are students here studying (different subjects, but lots studying medicine of some sort) from Africa. And let me tell you, the place was rockin'! I don' think there was a single person in the place who wasn't at least trying to move to the beat that was being led from up front by this group of young people. And our African brothers and sisters were elated--the joy at being able to worship in a style and manner that said "home" to them was written all over their faces (and every other part of their body that jammed to the beat coming off the drums). It was amazing. Conga lines through the aisles. Brilliant white smiles lighting up every face in the room. Hands in the air, waving, clapping. I stood with tears in my eyes thanking Him for this opportunity--to worship with so many others whose backgrounds and stories are so unique and different from mine. I thought--if we had to leave China, is it even possible that our family could return to our old "normal"--to the live we lived in suburban Dallas for several years? Thankfully this is not a question that begs an answer any time soon, so for now I can rest in knowing His grace is sufficient, and although I may be fishing ants out of my sugar, I can rejoice in the fresh perspective He gives me daily on what things are of importance and value.

Two of those things of value: good friends and hot pot! Our family celebrated New Year's Eve with a huge bang (well, kind of!). We walked to a restaurant Kevin and recently discovered that has hot pot (like fondue) with friends here who are like grandparents to our kids (Rob and Barb). This was a first for the kids, and it was a smashing success (except that Hudson was not crazy about the meal and ended up eating about 6 oranges and bucket-fulls of Sprite for his dinner rather than the meat and vegetables intended to go in the hot pot)! We made it through the evening without anyone even getting burned from the hot pots that were in front of them, and the kids are already asking when we can go back. Should be a fun new family tradition we've begun!

Then this past weekend we had another fun first--Kevin and I taking a night away! We asked friends several weeks ago if they would be willing to watch the kids overnight for Kevin and I to take off for the evening to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our friends were more than willing, and the kids were so excited to have "their" friends come over (all grown-ups, of course!) Kevin and I made the most of our night out--starting with foot massages (in matching outfits, as modeled by Kevin in the photo!), dinner at our favorite Thai food restaurant, Starbucks' lattes, window shopping in the main shopping area of town, sleeping in at a hotel (that even had comfortable pillows, unlike the usual bean-filled ones at most Chinese hotels), and a lingering reading time over coffee in the morning before heading home to the usual chaos of the Joseph household! It was a huge blessing to be able to take off just the two of us, and even more so to be able to know that the kids were not only well-taken care of in our absence, but also that they were having a great time with us being gone. We definitely didn't spend all of our time in this vein of discussion, but Kevin and I both agreed that as much as we LOVED our time away together, it was also amazing how much we missed having the kids around! We recognize that our little ones are FAR from perfect, but man, they sure are precious to be around and an incredible blessing in our lives that we are much aware of! And being apart makes the reminder that much more vivid!! Good thing we still have another 3 full weeks of winter break to soak in the intense "togetherness"!

The last photo is Karis and Eli on my Christmas/anniversary present--a running machine (or treadmill, as those of you who speak English may call it!). The word for it in Chinese translates directly into running machine, and for the life of me, I can't stop calling it that even when I'm trying to use English! So we've renamed the machine in our house. And I am super excited to put it to use! After battling the cold and the only gym in our area closing this weather (not to mention the pollution you feel when running outdoors), we finally broke down and decided to make the big purchase. The kids have already put more mileage on it than I have, but I plan on wrapping up this writing now, wiping off the bottom of my China-yucky running shoes, and taking a spin on my new running machine all on my own! Ahh, the little things!!