Bus misadventures

Part of my daily routine is taking the bus (mostly to and from the university). And there is nothing like public transportation to get a window into Chinese culture. Friday seemed to be a day full of adventures and misadventures on the bus. To start the morning off, I was almost to the stop when I saw my bus pull up at the stop and pull away. (sigh) Maybe that should have told me how the rest of day was going to follow. Shortly after, another bus pulls up, I endure the jam-packed bus and transfer like normal. But on my second bus, I was able to snag a seat (always a rarity in the mornings). When we were almost to my stop, an elderly woman got on. I motioned to her and told her that I would give her my seat. We argued about it -- this always happens, it is really a courtesy thing. I have heard it said that in Chinese culture you need to offer something 3 times and if it is still declined then it was truly not wanted. I have never had to insist more than twice to get someone to take my seat. As we were arguing, I was getting up and moving down the stairs, but as I stepped down the first step the bus lurched forward and I fell. Now I was not hurt, just seriously embarassed. Ah, well. Then after class, I stopped on my way to the bus stop to get fruit. When I was still some distance away, I saw my bus pull up to the stop. I sprinted down the bike lane waving my arms wildly. (Mind you, I am carrying a bunch of fruit and my bag filled with my textbooks) But it worked and the driver waited for me! I climbed onto the bus and driver laughingly asked me if I ran all the way from the uni. Smiling I answered that I did. I got a seat in the back and tried to catch my breath. Midway through my ride home, I once again gave up my seat (this time without falling). I moved closer to the back door. This older woman, usually called a nainai (grandmother) began a conversation with me. She started out by noticing my fruit and asking how much I paid for each thing. Then she proceeded to tell me that the oranges I bought weren’t any good. Though she did approve of the strawberries and the price that I paid for them. Next we transitioned into the normal: where are you from? why are you here in China? Then she asked me to guess how old she was. I paused. I mean, what if I guessed wrong (especially too high) and offended her? So I guessed 60, and it turns out she was in her 70s. She laughed and said that I was close. She proceeded to guess that I was 25. I corrected her though I am not sure that she believed me until I told her that I have 3 children. But the craziest thing is that throughout our conversation she kept telling me: "您是我们的客人- Ni shi womende keren." (You are our guest -- meaning here in China) And that I should not give up my seat since I was their guest. Finally, as she got off the bus she insisted that I take her seat and told the ENTIRE BUS that I was their guest and should have a seat. So, I did the only thing I could and sat down. What an experience!

Life

This is the post where I go completely random. So stay with me people. (Keep in mind that a line of ***** is my way of telling you that there is another thought coming). Looking back through the last several posts, I just haven't talked that much about the kiddos. Life is just marching right along for them. It seems that every time I turn around they have grown [again] and need new clothes and shoes. In just a month Becca will be 10. I know that I will talk more about this as it approaches, but it is amazing that my first baby is getting so big. And the crazy thing is that many of our friends here often meet her and think that she is older. While part of that is her height (she is over 5 ft or 1.5M), really it is her maturity. She has recently begun knitting. She and another friend in our neighborhood have started a small business knitting things for other kids stuffed animals. They even created their own currency. She is so like her father in that regard! Cause I know that never had an urge to sell things like she does. She keeps telling me that I should open up a restaurant or bakery. I reply, "I will if she organizes it."

wait, when did she turn into a teenager?

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This has been such a great year for Josh. We have seen him grow and really become comfortable with who he is. And what a great journey that has been. He is forever our sweet one, but this year he has discovered even more about himself. He loves football (or soccer) and plays daily with his friends. But our boy who was once such a homebody, that his ideal day would be to stay at home, now has plans. One Saturday a couple weeks ago he informed us at breakfast that he was going to be at friends all day. This has also transferred into our traveling. He loves to travel or go on as we term them "adventures." Seeing new things, exploring new countries, and of course figuring out where everything is on a map. He was the one that I worried most about with our move to China. As he cried when anyone would mention China in the months before our move, we felt such guilt! I kept thinking, "what are we doing to him? will he ever be okay with this big change?" But as we look at him now, and see the many ways our life here has shaped him, and we are thankful.

our adventuring little man exploring in the jungles of Vietnam

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And T, our little 美恩 . I continue to look at her and wonder how our life here is shaping her. Who knows? But she is embracing the journey. Honestly, I don't think she even sees it as unique. It is just her life and she considers that normal.

I love these moments. We didn't ask him to read to her. He just loves to read and so when she asked, of course he said: yes. And he does the best voices when reading aloud to her. Melts my heart every time.

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And Chinese class is. I don't know how say that more. It is. . . hard. Yep. Interesting, sure. And this week brought another 60 words to learn. Yesterday I had a talk with a Chinese friend and pretty much our whole conversation was in Chinese. Sometimes I had to revert to English for a word that I don't know. But that is one of my main goals for these next couple of months is to talk more and more in Chinese. 2 years in (of studying full-time) and I am not even close to being fluent. Such a hard language! Occasionally, I take moments out from writing the characters (and writing, and writing, and writing some more. unfortunately, the ONLY way to learn to write them is to do it hundreds of times), and wonder what my next step is. Do I continue on with classes? Look for a job? Volunteer more? Right now, I am unsure. Though one thing we don't see in our immediate future is going back to the US. Somehow, while life is good and easier there, it just doesn't seem like the right place for us. Because life here is also rich and wonderful. Challenging, yes. Frustrating at times, definitely. But oh, so rewarding. In those intangible ways that are hard to identify. But I look forward to seeing what they are with you along our journey.

Oh, Crabs!

Every Chinese New Year, we often get gifts from our drivers. Before we go on, I will answer the question that is going through your mind: You have a driver? Yes, I have a driver. Well, to be more precise the company has 2 drivers and sometimes they drive me places. As I have blogged about before, Andy has his Chinese driver's license so most of the time (unless he driving farther distances or going into Shanghai) he drives himself. At this point, I should give a little background. While driving and owning a car is becoming more common, majority of people in China do not drive and instead rely on public transportation or bike/e-bikes. So when someone from the company needs to go to the bank, the Customs bureau, the Tax bureau, . . . it is the drivers that take them. And then if the drivers are available, they can drive me places as well. I tell you, I live in a surreal world at times. Though on a daily basis, I more commonly take the bus or ride my e-bike. Anyway, to get back to the story at hand. One of our drivers who has been with us for the last 2 years (and incidentally is my favorite) brought us a gift from his hometown. Well, he actually bought us two gifts. The first was a box of 45 eggs. And while that is (slightly) unusual, it was nothing to compared to other. The second was a box of crabs. As I inspected the box, I must confess that I was rather fearful of opening it and having crabs crawl out! So I cautiously opened it (Andy was traveling, so the task fell to me), and to my relief it only contained 2 packages of crabs. We gave one away, but the other is just sitting on our counter. And while Andy and I are willing to try a lot of things, I am not sure that this will be one of them. They just seem so small that the effort would not be worth the rewards. It is amazing -- if you look close, there are at least 30-40 in this small container! Hungry, anyone?

From the minds of children. . .

come the craziest, funniest thoughts.

Last night when I called her for dinner, Tori announced to me that her pig was pregnant. She told me that she couldn't get leave her because the baby was about to come. I told her to bring the pig downstairs that way she could help her at the right time. In the midst of dinner, Tori suddenly jumped up and said "I have to go help the pig." I walked over to observe and this is the sight that greeted me:

Yes, indeed, her pig was giving birth. Unfortunately Andy was at a business dinner so he missed the excitement (and hilarity). Later when I showed him, we laughed so hard our sides hurt. I don't know if you can tell, but this is a pig puppet and she placed another baby pig inside, and voila -- pregnant pig about to deliver. Who taught her this? I am laughing even now as I type. I mean, how can you look at that picture and NOT laugh. Man, that girl. So are you cracking up with me or thinking whoa, too much information?

Spring? And other random musings

Spring has been slowly creeping up on us with flashes of beauty and warmth. Like the trees that are flowering about the city. Currently it is 9°C (48°F for my US friends), but I have hopes of warmer days. Spring, or at least what I think of as true Spring weather is rather short here in Suzhou. We linger in the lower teens (high 40s-low 50s) with threats of rain and then all of the sudden we jump up to the high 20s (low 80s). Somehow we skip, or least move very quickly though my favorite temps. You know the days where you wear jeans and just a shirt with maybe a sweater, but by the afternoon it is warm enough to wear just ONE layer? Oh, those are the days. But unfortunately, during Spring those days are shy and just don't come that often. But today, in spite of my many layers (and yes, we are still working the long underwear -- even under the jeans!), the sun and this beautiful flowering tree gave the promise that Spring is indeed on her way and will be visiting us shortly.

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In other news, it seems that all of that studying worked and the characters did indeed stick (for now). So for today, maybe not tomorrow because my brain is getting older and more like a sieve, I can write the character for earthquake. Just in case you ever need to know it. I came home after class to work with Tori on reading, and let me tell you I wonder what is in the future for our littlest. She is so creative that she takes my breath away and constantly astounds me. Just today, she wondered why she couldn't fly and asked if she could talk to God about helping her to fly. She then proceeded to earnestly pray that God would help her fly and was disappointed when she still couldn't. But I have to love her faith that what she asks for will be given. But being T, she was not down for long, instead just decided that she would be a pilot so she could fly. Of each of our children, she is having the most unique experience here in China. She attends a school where she is the only foreigner, where Chinese is spoken all day (rarely a word of English), and she sees this as normal. She asked me last week what her job will be when she is a grown up living in China. I told her that she may not live in China, she might live in the US or somewhere else. She then asked, "Or Vietnam? Or Thailand?" Of course, I answered that she might live any of those places. We just didn't know what the future held. She looked at me and said, "I might live somewhere else." When I asked her if they spoke a different language what would she do, she promptly responded with, "It's ok, Mommy. I am really good at learning languages."

And that my friends, is just one of the many reasons why life is good on the other side of the world. ;-)

No stopping the Progress

As we go about life here it is easy to forget or overlook all the development happening around us. Sometimes we glance, but don't really look. Look, but don't truly observe. I looked up at the bus station where I transfer buses every morning and was surprised to be greated by the sight above. Huh. Didn't even notice that they had started to demolish the buildings and now they are clearing out the rubble. And the crazy part is that in another week the rubble will be gone. But this lot won't stand empty, oh no, before long it will be another apartment building or office tower. But as I snapped the pic, and it got me to thinking about all those I care about around me. How often do I glance at them, but not really see? Ask what is happening in their lives, but not hear the deeper stuff. Because life marches on and if we don't stop sometimes to just be with a friend or our kids, then those opportunities are lost. And that is my vow (or hope or whatever you what to call it), to take the time, to show others that I care, and not just be swept up by life. How did I get from building demolition to here? Ah, this is what happens when you have time to ponder life when taking the bus.

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So (which is really just a way for an abrupt transition), school has started again. Level 4. Yikes! Am I really ready to study level 4 Chinese? But here we go, ready or not. I must confess that I was super excited to buy my school supplies. No clue why. Maybe it makes me feel like a kid again? But I went a couple days ago and got new pencils, erasers, notebooks, and character books (kind of like handwriting books, but made specially to write characters in). And after only 2 days of class, I have a quiz on my 40 new vocab words tomorrow. On that note, I am off to write these words several more times and just maybe they will stick in my brain.

Hope you as well can take the time to show those you care about just why they are important to you.

The Dispenser

Can you tell what this is?

If we were in the States, I would guess a straw dispenser. But no, it is a chopstick dispenser. So awesome, I had to snag a photo.

(Just in case you are curious the characters read: kuaizi he, meaning chopstick box)