1st Thanksgiving

Not our first thanksgiving. But I shared with Tori's classmates about Thanksgiving. Or 感恩节 (gan en jie) as it is called in Chinese. They got to learn about the first Thanksgiving and how we celebrate it today. For many of them this was the first time they had heard of thanksgiving  [感恩节]. Just as an aside the second character [恩] is actually part of T's Chinese name. Anyway my brain digresses. . .

To start off I told them a brief history of the holiday. There was a bit of a challenging moment as the teachers were translating for me. Apparently I was using either too complex words or speaking too fast. Or a combination of both. I slowed it down. Still a little confusion. Got even slower. Still some gaps. So finally, I just translated the basics into Chinese and then said the words that I did not know using English. And then the teachers and I were on the same page. Can I just say to the teachers, welcome to my life? I feel your pain! Communicating in another language is hard. At one point one of the teachers grasped her head as if in pain and looked at the other teacher with wide eyes after I had said something. And I wanted to stand up and say, I know how you feel. I feel that way Every. Single. Day. But ok, moving on.

I then shared how today in the US many people remember on this day all the things and people for which we are thankful. The kids went around and shared some of the people for which they are thankful. It was sweet to hear them share about all the people that are important in their lives.

I then showed them the pumpkin pie. Since they had never seen a pumpkin pie before, I asked what they thought it was. Their guesses were great:

蛋糕 (cake)?

很大饼干 (a big cookie)?

And they were really surprised when I told them that it was pumpkin pie. Their only experience with pie is the pies that McDonalds and KFC sell. They were quite surprised that this was a normal American pie. I cut the pie into small squares and everyone got a taste.

And it was a hit!

Afterwards we made turkeys. While I know they do some projects at school, they are different than what we are used to seeing in an American preschool or kindergarten. So the kids were super excited to make the turkeys and get to take them home.

A successful Thanksgiving. So successful that the teachers asked if I could come back and teach about Christmas in a couple weeks. ;-)

Here is my ride. I have been meaning to post a picture. 

Clearly when you don't drive, this is the best way to get a pumpkin pie somewhere. While I transport things this way daily (think: grocery store), the pie was warm, in a glass container, and it just seemed like a recipe for disaster. But we made it there safely with the pie intact.

Just imagine me on this with a kid in front and kid behind. Going local!

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sunday Snapshot: Celebrating 3 years

Can you believe it? 3 years. The time has gone so fast. But in the same regard, when we think back to living in the US, it seems so long ago. Back to when we owned a house. Days of carpool. Library story time. Instead our life is filled with other things. Saturday morning soccer in the neighborhood. Swimming afterschool. Interesting travel. Adventures on the bus. While we miss many things of our life in the US (really we mostly miss family and friends), we continue to rejoice in our life here. It seemed appropriate that on our China-versary of celebrating 3 years living in China that I had 2 events at the kids' schools. Think of this as a snapshot into their daily lives.

I started the day at Tori's school. She is so proud and pleased when I come to school. Her school had gone a field trip to a fire station earlier in the week. Then all the parents were invited to come to an open house on Friday as they showed us a typical day and then shared about the excursion. It is always an interesting experience for me to go to her school. Kind of never know what to expect or exactly what will happen. While I understand most of what is said, somehow I still feel that I am missing something that all the other parents inherently know and understand. I am sure that many immigrants to the US feel this way as they come to events at American schools where their children attend.

*If you want to find my kids in any of the pictures, just look for the blondies.

The teacher was explaining the order of events to the class.

But somehow my girl knew I was taking her picture. 

Typical morning exercises. In schools all over China, kids start their day like this. With movement set to songs so that their bodies and brains are ready to learn.

Such concentration!

After some more activities inside, Tori and I were off to the International school where Becca and Josh attend. You may ask why they are at different schools. But unfortunately that is a complicated question for another post. . .

At Eton House, they were having Sports Day. Much like Track and Field Day of my childhood. We always had it on the second to last day of school. When there was no possible way that learning was going to take place. But their last day of school is July 1st and by then it will be so beastly hot and humid here. I had missed some of the activities, but was able to get there in time for all the track events. Like many Australian and British schools, the entire school is divided into 4 houses. Much like the 4 houses of Hogwarts in Harry Potter, the entire student body is divided equally into the houses and families are sorted into the same house (though no sorting hat here). Throughout the year, they have House competitions and at the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded a trophy for the year. Different school have various names for each of the houses. In honor of our host country, each of the houses at Eton House are named for one of the 4 dynasties in China: Han 汉朝, Ming 明, Song 宋, and Tang 唐.

Josh cheers on his fellow Ming teammates.

What determination!

Becca and Silje proudly show off their second place medals. 

Look at those legs! Somehow she reminds us of a deer.

In tug-of-war, everyone was pulling so hard. . .

that they landed in a heap of giggles.

Sunday snapshot

In one of the blogs I read, she posts a snapshot each week about something that she wants to capture. Kids, family, a special moment in time. Because that time is fleeting. And those kids just grow too fast! I have been feeling this greater urgency to document each moment. I can't promise that I will do this every Sunday, but I am making it a goal to take more photos of them. Maybe this will help keep me accountable.

Tori came home from school on Friday with more make-up on than I was wearing! She had a performance that day with her kindergarten and the Chinese are quite serious about their appearance for these things. This was quite the big deal and many kindergartens from all over Suzhou participated in the event. Not everyone in her school performed, but only a select group from each class. It was no surprise that my blondie was chosen. While her look was a little startling to me, she absolutely loved being that dolled up. I mean, just look at those pink, pink cheeks. Wow. But she loved it told everyone that we saw for the next day about how she got to wear make-up and the exact make-up that she had the privilege of wearing for her show. She is such my girlie girl! But these just capture her sweetness and just a little bit of her sassiness. This girl is gonna go places.

Field trip?

Today Tori went with her kindergarten on her 春游 (Spring Field Trip). We got a notice last week informing us of the trip and all of the particulars. You know, the where, when, what they need to bring, how much. All that good info. But of course it was in Chinese. I wish I could just show you typical communications from the school. I read it (well, sort of) and figured out the day, the cost, and what she needed to bring. But I had no clue where she was going. When she was talking about how excited she was and how much she was looking forward to going on her trip, I asked her where she was going. Her response: "I don't know." Then today after school, I was trying to figure out exactly what they did. She told me that they went on a carousel, saw a seal show, saw sharks and jellyfish, rode on a shark scrambler, and saw a real mermaid swimming with really flat fish. I guessed the aquarium. When I asked her about it, she said, "No, not the aquarium." But after talking more, I just don't think she knew what an aquarium was. I think is one of those times I will just need to make an educated guess. Cause when your information is obtained in Chinese and then via a 5 year old, it is not that reliable. ;-)

But regardless of where they went, she had a FABULOUS time. In fact, she talked non-stop about the trip throughout dinner and the evening. My favorite part of her description was when she was describing the real mermaid that she saw. In her words: "She was really, real. She was swimming with the flat fish with wings (known to the rest of us as rays). But I think she was just an 呵姨 (ayi)* dressed up"

**呵姨 (pronounced: ayi) literally means aunt, but is the polite way to refer to women who are about your moms age. kind of like the equivalent of ma'am or miss in English.

Parent-Teacher Meeting with a twist

Yesterday, I had to go to a Parent-Teacher Meeting at Tori's school.

***Keep in mind through the rest of this post that this entire meeting was conducted in Chinese. They spoke Chinese. I stuttered along in Chinese. No English was spoken. Just getting that out there.***

 I arrived at the school and we were directed to a room and given hot tea. I had received a note last week that there would be a meeting, but couldn't quite discern what the topic of discussion was going to be. Because, you guessed it, the note was in Chinese. All total there was about 25-30 parents/grandparents. One of the teachers started the meeting welcoming everyone and thanking us for attending. She explained that we were going to be talking about _______________ and they wanted to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. Seriously, that is all that I understood. I kept listening, hoping that she would further explain it. But, oh no. Her next words were: "And to start off we will hear from our foreigner parent." My heart stopped. And all eyes were on me. I started to explain that my ideas may not be the same as theirs, but I was looking forward to hearing others' opinions as well. I mean, what else could I say? Thankfully, at this point, the teacher interrupted me and introduced me to the other parents. Then maybe she could tell I was totally lost and had pity on me. Because she then re-asked the question: "Why do you pick your child up early from school?"

Yes. Thank you, Wang Laoshi! I explained that I pick Tori up early 2 days a week to teach her to read in English. The teacher then moved on to asking other parents what their reasons were for picking their children. The kids did not like the food, had trouble sleeping at school, got sick when they slept there, . . . After they had heard all of our opinions, there was a teacher that I had not met who spoke. Just for the record, they told us his title - I think he was with the bureau of teaching - but I kind of missed that part. He explained that they were then going to discuss each of these issues and hopefully could come to an agreement.

So, he turned to me and said first we will discuss teaching English. Just for the record, I really liked this teacher. He listened well and really wanted to understand each individual viewpoint. We then (and by we, I mean: the male teacher asked me questions, I answered them, and all the other parents sat there and listened) discussed what/how/why I teach Tori for the next 10 minutes. Actually, it could have been longer. I know that it felt like 30 minutes, but maybe that was just my nervousness? He wanted to know why I was teaching her. I explained that at some point we would go back to America and Tori would need to know how to read so she could attend school in English. At this point, he asked: what language do we speak at home? English. Was I just teaching her to speak? no, to read English books

And this is where it got confusing for him. The concept of "teaching to read" is a newer concept in China. Especially teaching phonics. Most often, when Chinese learn English they learn it much like they do Chinese characters - through memorization of whole words. I tried explaining it further, but could tell he was just not quite understanding me. Thankfully he moved on to helping me try to "solve" this problem. Could Tori learn to read in the evenings? I explained that I have other children who are home in the evenings and we often have other things going on. I also told him that she goes to bed early so there was not enough time. After what seemed like a long time, he moved on to address the other issues. Thankfully, I did not have to talk again.

When the meeting was over, I approached the principal's assistant for clarification and asked her: So, I will or will not be allowed to pick up Tori early any more? She said, no that I could still pick her up early. Huh? There is so much about this whole experience that could be a lesson in cross culture awareness. Like the wanting to address all of these issues as a group all the way through to that even if there is a rule sometimes there is an exception. Honestly, though when I left I wasn't even thinking about that. I was EXHAUSTED. And I really wanted chocolate. Because even though I speak Chinese a lot on a given day, there was just a different kind of pressure in this environment. Most of the time I am speaking with friends who like me no matter how bad my Chinese is. Or shopkeepers/taxi drivers/general people I don't know. Can I just say again that learning a language keeps you so humble? So everyone reading out there, if you come across someone in the US (or where ever) who doesn't speak English well, give them some grace. Think of me, living here for almost 3 years, and still not fluent, and give them some extra patience. But because I am too much of an optimist not to look at the bright side, my listening comprehension in the midst of this was pretty good. I think I got about 85% of what was being said. I just hope it doesn't take another 3 years of studying this hard for my speaking to catch up with my listening!