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!

Should be

This week I have midterms. This weekend I should have studied a bit more, but the weather was beautiful and we had a 3 day holiday. I should be studying right now. But in a few minutes, I will snuggle up with little T and read a stack of books. Tonight I should be studying, but a friend is having a birthday party. Now in between the two, I will be hitting the books hard, but I have a feeling the tests will be hard and I could some extra time. But given a choice between reading to my girlie and studying what do you think that I will choose? I feel this need, this pressure to do well. But really, that is mostly self-imposed. I have come to realize that while there is nothing wrong with doing well. Doing well and sacrificing time with the things that really matter (like the kiddos) puts it into perspective. Now I am off to read as I should do. :-)

听不懂 (ting bu dong)

You can't live in China without hearing this phrase on a regular basis. A Chinese individual will ask you a question, then if it seems that you can't answer they will respond with: 听不懂 ting bu dong. This means "hear but don't understand." So far, I have judged my progress by the amount (or lack of) 听不懂 ting bu dong's I get on a daily basis. When we first arrived (and to be honest, throughout our first year), it would frustrate me to no end. A person would fire a rapid question at me, wait 2 seconds, laugh, and then tell me 听不懂 ting bu dong! But this phrase has come to show me just how far I have to go in this marathon of learning Chinese. Because every time I start to think, "I am really starting to understand people" or "I had a really good conversation - ALL in Chinese", then I will talk with someone and understand NOTHING coming out of their mouth except 听不懂 ting bu dong. (sigh) Have I mentioned before that learning Chinese is a way God helps to keep me humble? Because seriously, I have to put aside my pride in everything I am (my background, education, ...) and realize that to a Chinese person I sound very uneducated. It also serves to remind me of how often I am quick to judge. You know what I mean, you are somewhere in the U.S. and someone has really poor English. We are quick to think certain things about that individual. And honestly, I am sure that the Chinese that I meet have certain judgements about me as well. But if living here is teaching me nothing else, I hope that I am learning to withhold judgements about people and realize that we are each unique and gifted in some way.

Language confusion

Someone asked us when we were considering immersing Tori in Chinese school if we were concerned about her forgetting some English or having language confusion. Since we will never speak only Chinese in our house, she still hears English a lot. But I did wonder if she would be confused and speak the wrong language to a person. However, while she has picked up some unique ways of saying things (as she translates something in her mind) she is often a stickler for speaking the right language to people. She gets grumpy if I speak too much Chinese to her. And if another English speaker talks to her in Chinese, she will look at them and sometimes demand they speak English. Though we like to try and catch her off guard and then she just answers in Chinese. But it is amazing to watch. . . we will be with Chinese friends and she goes back and forth between Chinese and English with no problem. But what we should have been concerned about was ME. I speak the wrong language to the wrong person ALL the time (sigh). I bump into a person on the bus and say "sorry" (in English). I answered an English-speaker in Chinese the other day. And one day just because my brain is crazy (or maybe Tori had watched one too many Dora's), but I said something in Spanish and I don't even speak Spanish. Gracious, my brain gets confused.

Level 2

After a two month break, I am back in classes. With just a week finished, things are going well and I am getting back into the routine. Though I have been incredibly tired each night as my brain gets used to working again! :-) Both of my teachers seem really good. But I must confess that I find my grammar/character teacher just a little scary. She is an incredible teacher, but just on the strict side (from the old school of teaching in China). And can I just say for the record, that I think level 2 is going to be hard!? But I will attempt to prevail in this ongoing battle against Chinese....

One change this term is that I am riding the bus every day (last term I was fortunate enough to get a ride with a friend on the way to school). Just a week down, and I have already had bus adventures. One day there was an accident further up the road fairly closer to where I get off. Traffic was just stopped. In fact, the bus driver had turned off the bus. After sitting there for several minutes, I knew that I was going to be late for class if I didn't get out and just walk it. So I went up and asked the driver if I could get off. He wasn't happy about it (we were not at a stop) and grumbled for a few minutes but let me off. I had this suspicion that I would start walking only for the bus to pass me a few minutes later. Thankfully I was proved wrong on that count and the bus never did catch up to me. Another day I was humored to hear two people talking about me as they sat behind me. Just as a side note, this happens ALL the time. Many laowi (a slang word for "foreigners") who live here can't speak Chinese, so most Chinese assume that they are safe discussing the laowi right in their presence. Sometimes as people are discussing me, I join in the discussion (and often shock them speechless) and sometimes I just let it go and eavesdrop. This time I opted for the second route. A little girl was sitting with her grandpa and the conversation went something like this:

Girl: Yeye (grandpa), why does that foreigner have golden hair?

Yeye: Why do you have black hair?

Girl: I don't know. I have never seen hair like that. How did it get like that?

Yeye: It just is.

I must say that I really like the yeye's response. Cause after all, we are each just people -- individually and wonderfully created. Though it can be hard to see that diversity in a country of 1.something billion people who look very much like you do.

Date with the T

Last Friday to kick off my holiday break, I had an all-day date with my little T. We rode the bus down to my school to pick up my grades. Then headed off to Starbucks for yummy coffee and a HUGE doughnut. We met up with a friend for lunch and played at a playground for a while. Nothing overly special, but I just really enjoyed time with Tori.

Isn't that a HUGE doughnut? Since we ate lunch shortly after, this pretty much was her lunch.

Tori with my 汉语 Hanyu teacher (she teaches us the grammar and characters). My teacher was enthralled with Tori and amazed as Tori had a conversation with her all in Chinese.

Now I have to tell you an awkward thing for me. Everyone keeps asking how did in my classes. I then tell them that I did well. They pause and look at me expectantly waiting for me to tell them exactly how I did. Since the school doesn't really have a grading system that I am aware of (it is just the score), to tell them how I did I have to tell them the exact score. And I must confess that telling my exact score feels awkward like I am being prideful or bragging. Is it just me, or would that be awkward for anybody else?

I just have to say, don't I look like a giant? Ah, the reality of being 5'9" (or 1.75 m) in China. Often on the bus, I have a clear view over everyone's heads. The other day this random woman on the bus seriously did not come up beyond my chest. She kept smiling up at me and making conversation. I had to stoup down to hear her! :-D

End of classes

The end of the year kind of snuck up me when I wasn't looking! This has been an amazing year. While the previous year (2008) brought great change and transition in our lives. 2009 was a year of settling in and finding our place. While after any move, there is a time of transition as you make friends, find a church, and figure out your new city. I think that moving to a new country (with a different language) just intensifies that. By the end of the school year last year, I was ready for a change. All of our kids were in school and I just felt at odds. I knew that I could look for a job (teachers, especially ones who speak English, are always desperately needed), but I just didn't feel that was the right path. The thought of going to school and really pursuing learning Mandarin Chinese just kept coming to mind. Now, I have finished my first semester and have time for reflections. While none of the speaking and very few of the vocabulary was new, I was quickly overwhelmed with characters. But about a month into classes, the characters become less just sheer memorization through will, but I began to see the rhyme and reason to (some) of them. It is like I was unlocking this giant puzzle that with each step began to make a little more sense. Someone asked me the other day what my long-term plans were for learning Chinese. Honestly, I don't know. Since we have no plans to move back in the foreseeable future, I think I will be using it. :-) And how I use it beyond our time in China? Who knows? But somehow, I think knowing more of the language that is spoken by 1/5 of the world just might come in handy.

But now that I am done with classes, I am going to finally catch up on some much needed blogging. Has it really been almost a month since talking with you all? Yikes!

Midterms

Life is racing by. And in the midst of it, I am neglecting you, my loyal blog-land friends. Since I last updated there has been trick or treat (yes, even in China... well, at least in our neighborhood), I went on a field trip with Tori's class, and Chinese classes are marching along. I just finished my first midterm. I think that I did fairly well on the written part, but I feel like some of my tones might have been off for the speaking part. I have my second one tomorrow and I think it will be harder. We shall see.... I am seeing Chinese characters in my dreams. :-) So, I am off to study and write characters until my hand can write no more! It is my goal to update you all on the past couple of weeks tomorrow after the test. So, hang in there, my friends, more interesting news and stories are coming....

In the last post, you were right that is indeed a toilet. And really the thing that bothered me most was not the trough aspect, but the lack of a door. The whole time I was hoping that no one would come in! Maybe I should have labeled this, "did you really want to know?"

Settling In

Well, I now have almost one month under my belt of Chinese classes. While the vocabulary words are still mostly review, my knowledge of recognizing and writing characters has grown exponentially. I think that I know how to write and read over 100 characters. I am well on my way to basic (Chinese) literacy! In both my Hanyu (grammar) and Tingshuo (speaking) class, the teachers speak almost entirely in Chinese and even explanations will be in Chinese. I feel that I am getting into a routine of how and what I need to study. Really, the thing that I spend the most time on is writing characters. We usually have around 20 new characters that we need to know (which means that we need to be able to write not just recognize) every 2 or 3 days. I spend HOURS practicing writing. Just to show what I am doing, I scanned a page out of one of my practice books. Doesn't this look like fun? ;-)

One Week in.....

I have completed my first week of Chinese classes at SuDa. After the first two days, I wondered if the level 1 class was going to be too easy, but things picked up on Wednesday. Already I have 20+ characters that I need to know how to read and write. I find it fascinating learning to write characters though a bit frustrating at times. Just an overview of characters: each character can represent a word or several characters will combine to form a word. I have heard that for basic literacy (like to be able to read a newspaper) you need to know 2000 characters. I wonder how many I will know by the end of the semester? Or the end of the year? Will I be literate? :-) When writing the characters, there is a certain order and direction for each stroke.  Which really when writing the English alphabet, there is a certain order and direction as well (speaking as one who has taught many children to write), but in writing characters it is much more rigid. Simply because a stroke that is slightly wrong can change what the character says. There are many students from other Asian countries in my class that I am jealous of as we write. Because even though in Korean and Japanese, the characters are different (though they do share many characters) there is a similarity of writing. I feel like I am having to re-train my hand and brain.

Some people have asked what a typical run-down of my day looks like now that I am back in school. Usually I am up early, get ready, eat breakfast, get the kids dressed and am out the door by 7:30 AM. Andy tags in, feeds the kids breakfast and gets them on the bus (Go Super-Dad!). Often I am able to get a ride with a fellow student who lives in a neighborhood behind mine and she drives us to school. But if she is unable to have the car (she shares it with her husband) then I catch the bus and must leave just a little earlier. If we drive, it takes about 25-30 minutes depending on traffic. But this morning when I took the bus, it took me almost an hour. I have 2 classes: a grammar and a speaking class. Class dismisses at 11:50 and I usually take the bus home. Thankfully, the traffic is much less on the way home and it only takes about 35 minutes. I am home between 12:30 and 1. I eat lunch, spend a couple hours studying, do any grocery shopping that needs to be done and then by that time the kids are getting home on the bus. While this does make for busy days, I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn Chinese. What a year this will be! :-)

Back to College

It is official.... I am now a college student once again. Today I registered for classes at Soochow Suzhou Daxue (known to locals as SuDa, "daxue" = university). The whole registration process was a little crazy. First, you fill out the application, get your student ID, pay, take a test and buy your books. While credit cards are used some in China, for the most part it is a cash society. So I showed up and paid for my classes IN CASH. After paying, I was all set to buy my books, but was told that I first needed to take the placement test. With much trepidation, I went into the room for the written test. Ohmigosh. For the first part, I was supposed to translate from English into characters, the second part you had to choose from several sentences (that were of course written in characters) which was grammatically correct, and finally you had to translate a section from characters into English. Yikes! It was stinkin' hard. I think that I recognized about 20 characters on the ENTIRE PAGE. After staring at the page for several minutes, I finally told the teacher that I didn't know enough to complete the test. Yes, indeed Chinese keeps me humble. From there, it was on to the oral exam. I did much better on the oral portion and was able to have a conversation with the teacher about: where I was from, why I was here, how many children I have, their names and ages, where I lived, and how I would travel to the university every day. After talking with the teacher, she thought that I could go either way maybe a level 1 maybe a level 2 (level 1 is the beginners). I told her that I preferred to do level 1 due to the amount of characters that I don't know. She suggested doing what is called "level 1 - fast class." I bought the appropriate books and classes start Monday. Watch out Chinese, you have bested me so far, but I may just conquer you after all. Of course, only after several years of serious studying..... I will keep you posted on my progress!

Learning Chinese

It has been quite awhile since I updated you all on my ongoing battle with Chinese. Probably because it feels like there is nothing to report! Not that I am not progressing, but it is just slow and steady. I feel like the tortoise plodding along. But.... I have really been pondering for a some time about ramping up my language learning. So, I think that next year I am going to take classes full-time (which works out to be half-days) at Soochow University here in Suzhou. This means not only full-out more Chinese, but learning characters as well. This year has been wonderful meeting with a tutor and just making sure all the kids were adjusting well, but I feel ready for the next step. Now that I have decided this, the "American" in me wants to register for classes. Find out times. You know, figure everything out. But this is a more laid-back system, and I won't need to register until August. I will keep you updated....

1st Haircut

BEFORE.... (of course I forgot to take a picture with her hair down, but this gives you an idea)

AFTER -- she got almost 5 inches cut off....

Today I took Tori to get her first haircut. She loves to have her hair braided or in ponytails (and will sit still for me to do this) so her hair being long hasn't been too much trouble. But it was almost to her waist and with our vacation to the beach rapidly approaching, I was feeling the need to get it cut. Just think of all that sand in her long, long hair! Tori's haircut had the added distinction that she got it cut for the first time in a Chinese hair salon. I went to the place that Andy, the other kids and I all go to. I really like this place, but while I was there the only words I said in English were "okay" and then my explanations to Tori of what was happening. Just a little moment of satisfaction in my language ability....  two different people told me that my Chinese was very good. Granted if you can understand some of what is being said and can speak more than a couple sentences together, then the Chinese will compliment you on your language ability! I was more pleased that I understood most of what they were asking me and could respond. ;-) 

Tori didn't mind her hair being washed and sort of sat still for him to cut it, but she was NOT a fan of the blow dryer. Since today was quite chilly (below freezing) and I had ridden the bike, I insisted that she get it blow-dried. I found it humorous that one of other stylist (who wasn't cutting Tori's hair) came over and picked up a piece of her hair from the floor to inspect it. He sat and looked at it for almost 5 minutes! I am sure that they don't cut the hair of many blondes! In fact,we were the only laowis (foreigners) in the salon.

Getting her hair washed. She really liked this part.

Climbing up into the chair. She said she "had a towel crown on"

As he was cutting, Tori exclaimed, "Oh no, Mommy! He is breaking my hair!" She is such a riot. :-D

More Chinglish

Over the last 2 weeks I have seen several really good signs. Here are my favorite two:

A restaurant named: "Roundous Square" and then underneath it explained that it was "Chinese style fast food"

On the highway, there were signs above each of the lanes describing what kind of traffic could drive there. In the left lane: "Large compact cars" So was our minivan allowed?

In all fairness, I shouldn't poke too much fun. I, the girl who sounds like a 2 year old when I speak Chinese (who am kidding -- 2 year olds speak BETTER). I said something to the driver today and either my usage was wrong or my tones were off because he was laughing so hard (but trying not to). I wonder what I did say? I couldn't ask him because he only speaks Chinese. I asked my tutor today if I would ever be smooth and fluent and said maybe after 2 years. But on the bright side, my comprehension is okay and in time I know that my speaking will get there. 

On the topic of language..... I have discovered that I also really enjoy the way that Chinese who speak English use my native language a bit differently than I would. Tori's ballet teacher said yesterday that she was very "clever" and you know I like how that sounds. Because she is clever! ;-) I also enjoy hearing people call the children "lovely" instead of "beautiful" or "cute". Language definitely keeps my life interesting!

Measure words

So, I haven't blogged in awhile about the ongoing battle with Chinese. There are days that I feel that I am really making progress, but others where I struggle to speak and understand. Overall, I am encouraged because I can have a basic conversation, can tell a taxi driver how to get a few places, can order some things in a restaurant (I did it the other day in a place that had NO English, NO picture menu or anything.... I felt victorious!), and can understand more and more. My current nemesis (other than my limited vocabulary) are measure words. Let me explain.... In Chinese, when telling how many of something, you need to include the appropriate measure along with the number. Instead of saying I want an apple, you would say: yige pingguo (one apple). "Yi" means one and "ge" is a general measure word used for "pingguo" (apple). There are a few general measure words that can be used for lots of things, but often specific items have specific measure words. Long, thin things have one measure word while small, round things have another, flat things another, cylindrical things another, and the list goes on..... Have I lost you yet? Really in English we have lots of specific measure words for certain things: a strip of bacon, loaf of bread, pair of shoes, but they are so instinctual for us. For some reason, the measure words in Chinese get quite tangled up in my brain. Eventually, I am sure that I will get it. But for now, I continue to say the wrong measure word for things and get MANY confused looks. ;-)

My Caichang

So, I thought that since I have run out of new things to tell you as life has fallen into a rhythm here, I would start telling you some of the daily life stuff that is different than the States. Well, I may NEVER run out of things to tell, but much of the newness for us has worn off. Many of you have also asked about just what a typical day or week is like so I will attempt to share some of this. . .  As I have stated before, I go to the grocery a whole lot more here. I have found that I usually go to the grocery store about twice a week and the fresh produce market about two or three times in a week. I love the caichang (fresh produce market)! You can buy so much there! I could buy a chicken (live) and have them kill it for me, buy fish from a tank, so many kinds of tofu, spices, and let's not forget the fruits and veggies. Now, I don't feel brave enough to go the live chicken route (or even buying fish), but I really enjoy buying spices, tofu, fruits and vegetables. This is also a great place to practice my Chinese. I have gotten to the point where I can ask for what I want (I know quite a few vegetables in Chinese), can ask for suggestions and can understand how much I have to pay. Yes! A victory for Sarah in the ongoing Chinese battle! I have a regular veggie lady that I go to - so much so that I sometimes come by myself and she always then asks where the kids are. ;-) But the differences don't stop here - then when you get the vegetables home, EVERYTHING is thoroughly washed (in soap). This helpful piece of advice has kept all of our stomachs behaving normally throughout the transition. Here I am washing xi lan hua.

Humbling moments through Chinese

So, I have been meeting with a tutor for about a month. . .  There are times when I really feel like I can see progress and then there are others when I KNOW that learning Zhongwen (Chinese) is one way I am going to learn humility. I had a realization the other day that part of the reason that I was frustrated with my progress is that I am behind Andy (he is a lesson or two ahead of me)! For those of you who know us well, this should not be too surprising because we can be highly competitive with one another (usually in a good way). Then today as Josh, Becca, and I walked home from the grocery store (walked not biked, because I am NOT ready for Becca to bike there), Josh corrected something that I said. I was trying to remember the word for "bookbag" and said the Chinese word I thought was correct. He immediately piped up, "No, Mom that's the word for panda bear." Of course, he was right. Wow, I'm getting lessons from our 5 year old! Incidentally, I take correction much better from Josh than Andy. ;-) There goes that competitive nature of mine again! Anyway, I asked our tutor today to be honest with me and tell me if he thought my pronunciation was getting ANY better. He paused (uh-oh), and told me that it was getting better each time. Hmm, I am not quite sure if I believe him! Apart from several sounds that my mouth is currently refusing to say, I think that I might be tone challenged. I'll say a word with what I think is the right tone and then someone corrects me. "No, that is 2nd tone." I often respond with, "I know, didn't I say it that way?" Even if I know the correct tone, my mouth is again refusing to cooperate. Maybe eventually, my brain and mouth will work together! Andy reminded me tonight that this a marathon not a sprint. Do you think we have games on the brain for any reason? :0)

 

This round goes to Zhongwen. I think that makes it Zhongwen 2 and Sarah 0.

Tones (in a continuing series - Sarah vs. Chinese)

All right I have been practicing my extremely limited Chinese and I have come to the conclusion that the tones will be the death of me. Let me give you a bit of background..... there are four tones in Chinese and these are extremely important because if you have the tone wrong, then you are actually saying a different word. Well, my problem becomes that when I am saying a word I think I know but am a little unsure I find myself going up at the end of the word (like I am questioning if I have it right). But when you go up at the end of a word, then you are using the fourth tone. So, I am taking a lot of words and without realizing it changing them to 4th tone! Alas, the tones are currently besting me. Maybe I will eventually figure them out....

Learning Chinese

We have officially started to learn Chinese. Andy has met with the tutor several times and I met with him for the first time today. Today, I just learned to say the sounds correctly. No words, just saying the sounds. The fun really begins when you add in the 4 different tones. You can say a word how you think is correct, but unless the tone is right you could be saying something else entirely. In English, we use tones to ask a question or to clarify something. Just to give you an example, last night at the restaurant we were trying (unsuccessfully) to order a bottle of water. Andy kept pointing at the kids and saying they were wanted water in Chinese. Well, he thought he was saying they were thirsty for water but because he had the tone wrong, he was saying they were tired. Gracious! No wonder the staff kept looking at us strangely! Finally, in order to show what we wanted, I had to walk to the cooler at the bar and physically show her. When I showed her, she laughed. Now that I know what Andy was saying, I get the joke a day later! So, begins the battle of the Wilcoxen vs. Chinese. I think that we lost this round.

New hair and language challenges

A couple of nights ago, Josh, Becca and I went and got haircuts. The kids are fairly straight-forward and I was sure that I could navigate that one. But for my hair, Qian (Andy's boss's wife who is Chinese) came with us. She highly recommended this place, but I wanted her to come with us for our first time because the owner/stylist doesn't speak much English. So, I described to Qian, who described to the stylist what I wanted done. Can you see the potential problem here? I wondered if everything got through in translation. Anyway, I got a GREAT haircut, but it wasn't what I had in mind. I actually like it better that what I had in mind! ;-) I will go back again, and have learned to say "I want the same," but we will see if I can communicate it when the time comes! I also took pictures to show him (that are still on Andy's phone - which is acting as our camera for now). I will post the pictures in the next couple days. It is amazing how the simplest of things become complicated without language. For example, I have wanted to find Olympic t-shirts (which I thought would be easy). I found some that are outrageously expensive (especially for Chinese standards). Then today I learned there is a store that has copies (of course, this is China!) that look like the real thing. The problem is that I got directions how to get there IN CHINESE! I will also need to bargain and without someone who speaks Chinese I'll get the "foreign face mark-up." Hmm, I'll have to ponder how I am going to solve that one. I am limping along (without language) so far, but in the fall I will start taking some classes 2-3 days a week. I can't wait!