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! :)
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! :)