Loosening Up and Diving In!

This past week has been spent trying to take advantage of the end of our summer break.  We've hiked trash mountain, gone to the school library and playground, had our favorite lunch out (Papa John's pizza), and spent a day swimming at the lake.  And so far, no tummy issues or other strange illnesses that any of us have contracted!  The kids had so much fun and came home totally filthy from the water they were swimming in.  But after washing the grime off, all we had left were the fun memories and a little bit of a sun burn.  I can tell how much more comfortable I've become with taking risks like this as we've been here longer; never before would I have guessed that I would let my kids swim in the water that they now are!

We had a crazy cultural mishap occur a few days ago that I'm still trying to untangle in my mind.  A new store opened a few weeks ago in our neighborhood that we've been visiting regularly.  They sell all the usual Chinese store things--a few fruits and veggies, eggs, lots of basic cooking supplies, and our favorite popsicles.  So we've been frequenting this store pretty much daily, buying popsicles and some other things, too.  When we went in this time, we purchased our popsicles and then left.  After we'd walked across the street, the shopkeeper came running after us, and called Kevin and me back.  She then explained to us, with another woman standing there and occasionally interjecting a word or two, that our daughter had knocked off one of the bottles from the shelf and it had shattered on the floor.  We were totally confused, not having heard anything.  The story then changed immediately to "one of our sons" having been the culprit.  When we asked when it happened and how they knew, they only info they could give us was that it seemed accidental rather than intentional, and that when one of the kids walked through the door way, the plastic strips that hang down to keep the cold air in flipped up and hit the bottle.

At this point Kevin and I were both so confused.  The story had changed a few times already, and no one seemed to have any specifics, so we just weren't sure how to handle the situation.  I asked the shopkeeper what she wanted us to do, but didn't get much response from her.  Kevin and I decided that we should pay for the broken bottle, so I headed to the front counter, explaining to the lady at the time that I was not happy about the situation.  I told her that we were good customers, and that it wasn't polite to make a scene like she had unless there was something she wanted to do about it.  I think I must have embarrassed her with my words, because I couldn't get her to take the money that I was trying to give to pay for the bottle.  I finally gave up and left it on the counter, only to have her follow me across the street again and put the money back in my bag.  At this time, Kevin tried leaving the money on the counter, and the scene repeated with the shopkeeper running after us and putting the money in Karis' pocket!  It was crazy.  She was so upset about the situation, but we couldn't figure out how to make amends.  The only thing we could figure, as we processed it afterward, is that the shopkeeper DID want us to pay for the bottle, but was embarrassed by me protesting, especially since there was another lady present and observing the whole scene.

So the next day I decided to go back and try to make sure we were really okay.  It had literally kept me up the night before, thinking that I could have damaged some of the relationships in our community that we have worked so hard to build.  We try so hard not to be the insensitive foreigners who offend right and left!  So I showed up at the store with a bag of oranges and an apology for being so quick to anger.  They seemed utterly shocked (there were several of the family members who run the shop present at the time) at my apology and my peace offering.  And I must confess, it was totally humbling for me to go and admit to any wrongdoing, when all I really wanted was to let them know how crazy the ladies' reaction was to the whole mishap!  But I think it was really the right thing to do and am hoping it helped rebuild any bridges that could have otherwise been burned.  Pretty sure the oranges cost about triple what the broken bottle would have! :)

Summer Routine

We're loving it!  The heat and high pollution days are definitely not our favorite aspects of summer break, but we are loving some down time, lots of movie nights (complete with popcorn and M&M's), and as much time in water gun wars as we can handle.  Our usual afternoon treat is walking to the market to stock up on needed items, with the reward for the kids being peach popsicles that we just discovered.  We've enjoyed having lots of friends over in the evenings for dinner, and I've been able to experiment with new recipes in the kitchen now that I have more free time since I'm not teaching in the morning.  After one year of being back in the classroom, I would sum up my time as being fantastic; I love teaching high school English!  I will also add, however, that I realize how much pressure I feel during the school year, as we're now on summer break and the pressure is relieved.  It's amazing how much time I have and how unhurried most days feel!  So thankful for the break....

We just had Kevin's parents in town from Florida for 2 weeks.  We had a great visit that included 2 trips to Beijing, a trip by train to the beach for 4 days, and lots of special memory-making moments with G-Ma and G-Pa for the kids.  The train ride was quite memorable, in and of itself. We took the fast train there, which only took about 2 1/2 hours.  We took the slower and cheaper train on our return trip, which took 4 1/2 hours.  It was amazing the different atmospheres on the 2 trains!  The fast train seemed modern and fairly clean; our fellow passengers cordial but slightly disinterested in us and our goings-on.  The slower train was packed with people.  Not just in the seats, but tons of people who had purchased standing tickets only.  Many of them had come with their tiny fold-up wooden stools, and they would just plop them down in the aisles or in the leg room in front of the other seats (this was the situation for me for most of the trip; I had to sit up really straight and then angle my legs in order to fit into the space in front of me, as so much of it was taken up by the large young lady perched on her stool in my section).  The food that was being eaten around us was pretty shocking, even after being here almost 4 years.  I saw one family who were all chewing on chicken feet.  And they were actually eating the whole thing!  I guess the bones are soft enough to ingest safely?  As I talked with those around me, I discovered that many of the travelers were students who were going home for the 2-month long summer break; many were traveling like this for 12 or more hours.  Kevin's language tutor was traveling on 2 separate trains to return to her home in the far western part of China--totaling 60 hours of being on the train!  And they rarely sell food on the trains, so you have to pack what you are going to eat during that time.  Most seem to bring bowls of instant noodles that you just add water to, and that suffices as their meal for their journey.  Not a lot of McDonalds or KFC's along the way, much less a DQ stop for a Blizzard!

And the kids were a total sensation on the slower train home.  Everyone wanted to touch them and talk to them.  One guy even came down and sat with Eli in his seat until Kevin gave him a look that communicated he had crossed the line!  The price of the train tickets was, to us, incredibly cheap.  It cost about $10 per person for the fast train, and about $5 per person for the slow train.  But from what we could figure, that price difference was really significant for the other passengers.  The much larger number of those on the slow train was evidence that the price was a large factor in students being able to return home or not; and I was reminded how blessed we are to be the "rich" foreigners.  A difference of $5 per ticket for us is hardly worth thinking twice about; for many of our Chinese friends, it is the difference in being able to afford to go home or not!

On our last trip to Beijing to take Kevin's parents to the airport, we stopped by a baseball farm where Kevin's friend works.  Kevin helped evaluate some of the young players that are at the academy (I use this term loosely; the facility is really a baseball field in the middle of nowhere and they are trying to decide if any of these kids have potential to make a career of the game; so they house and feed them and train during the day to see what becomes of this group of young men).  While he worked with the ball players, I monitored the kids as they explored.  And explore they did!  They found a small herd of sheep, some beautifully colored beetles, several dogs, ducks, and lots of mosquitoes!  But man, did they have fun!  After they played in the dugouts to get a reprieve from the sun (you can see Noah's resting spot in the picture), they tromped through the aspen trees with sticks and made a day of it.  It certainly made me thankful for any moment we get to enjoy of being able to be out in nature!