July 18 - Two Lessons I Learned Yesterday‏

Hey, friends!!

Sorry for the lapse of a few days between e-mails. Nothing much was going on. Sunday, we just relaxed in the room. Well, tried to. The air conditioner has been on the fritz - we've been overworking it, I'm afraid. So sometimes it freezes over and we have to let it thaw. So it's hard to enjoy a day in when it's hot and humid, but oh well. You do what you gotta do. It froze over again last night, so here we are in the humidity. It's still morning, so it's not as bad as it will get this afternoon. Hopefully it will have recovered by the time it gets really hot.

So anyways, our plan was to watch these CES sacrament speakers - this is how Ben's boss, Jason, did sacrament meeting when he was in Morocco with his family a couple of years ago. But we couldn't get it to stream. We tried to watch the Joseph Smith movie on lds.org, but again, it wouldn't stream, nor would it download. We do have the primary manuals on our iPad, so we decided to do a primary lesson. I kind of guessed as to which manual our primary back home has been using, and I guessed as to where in the lessons they are. We did a lesson on faith and the brother of Jared. I felt the Spirit, and it was nice. We've been enjoying having family prayer and scripture study - back home, it was hit-and-miss, because I was working so much. But here, we have nothing but time. So it's been good for our family, spiritually.

Yesterday, my plan was to go out and get Ben a present for his birthday. Micah really wanted to come, so I took him along. I wanted to get Ben a shirt; I tried the department store where I got beach towels, but nothing in there seemed quite right. A little too dressy. And a little too expensive. So I decided to go to that one supermarket, because the top level has clothing stores for a little bit cheaper. Again, nothing seemed quite right, but there was one store that seemed to be a good fit. Casual enough. It's called "Free Base." It's a funny store - the entire store is army-like clothing. All that green khaki color. Some of it is camoflauge; some of it is just plain green; some of it is green with stripes. I chose a striped shirt. Their size XL (Ben's normal size at home) seemed too small, so I looked in my Mandarin dictionary for the word for "larger." So the dude went into the back and got a XXL. That looked just right. I paid and then went to the lower levels to get some cleaning supplies - the dang maids aren't cleaning our hotel, and I'm sick of living in filth. So I bought my cleaning supplies, paid 2 yuen extra for a plastic bag to put them in, and took off. (Plastic bags aren't provided for free at the grocery stores.) I looked and looked for a baking aisle, and none were to be found. I also looked for a breakfast cereal aisle - nada.

When I was out shopping with Maria and Summer on Saturday, we looked for an oven - the only ovens we are able to find are the countertop kinds, about the size of a microwave. I think I'll be able to use it - it has a degree dial on the front, and there is a little cookie sheet that comes with it and fits inside. I think I could fit a casserole dish in there, or a dish for baking chicken breasts.

So anyways, I left, hailed a taxi, and Mikey and I were on our way home. Then I realized that I left Ben's bag with his new shirt in it, in the shopping cart in the grocery part. Sickening. I wanted to throw up. Partially because I was so upset about spending money on a shirt and leaving it somewhere. Partially because I get carsick in these taxis because they drive like maniacs. I figured the shirt was long gone.

Ben suggested I call Summer and see if she could call the lost and found there, and see if anyone turned the shirt in. And guess what? They did!!! It was raining torrentially, so Summer suggested we take a taxi over there with her when the rain let up a bit so she could take us to the right place and get our shirt back. When the rain let up a bit, we met in front of our hotel to grab a taxi. It started raining again, and Summer was like, "You will need umbrellas." I was like, "It's no big deal." But she insisted, going into our hotel and borrowing a couple. Oh my goodness, it's a good thing she did, you guys. It rained so hard and fat and long. We would have been sopping wet. And what I learned yesterday was that it is really, really hard to catch a taxi when it's raining. Because everyone else has gotten into taxis to take cover from the rain. It took us maybe 20 minutes to get a taxi to the supermarket. We went, got our shirt back, and then it was time to hail a taxi to come home. That process took us.... maybe an hour??? We stood in the rain for an hour, trying to hail a dang taxi. I had all three kids with me this time (they get bored and needed to get out of the hotel room). We finally decided to take a bus home. Bus drivers are just as crazy as normal drivers - we were flung all over the inside of that bus. :) It reminded me a lot of taking the tube in London. It's cheaper than a taxi - I'll have to get a bus schedule and map soon and use buses to get around.

So I learned Lesson #1. Never, ever go out when it's raining. It's just not worth it, unless you have a bike.

I gave Ben his shirt, and the dang thing is still too small. I told him he can take it back and exchange it himself. :)

We just had time to freshen up and then leave for the restaurant for Ben's birthday party. It was a fantastic evening. I learned that you have to sit in a certain order when you have a traditional Chinese meal. Professor Han made sure everyone sit where they should. Ben was in the biggest chair, the head of the table. I was to his right. Professor Han was to his left, and Mr. Zuo to his left. My kids were all to my right. And Mr. Zuo's family and Professor Han's family sat between my kids and our interpreters. Mr. Zuo has a little girl, maybe 15 months old or so. I thought she was a boy. They keep both baby girls' heads and baby boys' heads shaved for the first few years of their life. And they don't really make an attempt to make the girls dress girly.

Again, there were bazillions of toasts offered and accepted - I learned that, when you are clinking glasses for a toast, you hold your rim a little bit below the rim of the person who was being toasted as a sign of respect. Again, much gross food, but we all did our best. Ben just dove right in - eating fish heads wrapped in pita bread, etc. He's crazy.

And then there were gifts. Oh my goodness, these people are so generous. Professor Han gave Ben this amazing traditional art piece - a portrait of a Chinese man, made out of flat pieces of bamboo - gorgeous. Amazing. And probably really expensive. And then the man gave Sadie a teddy bear, Dylan these magnetic building things, Micah a ball that you sit on and bounce, and Gage a small ball. I was blown away. Mr. Zuo gave Ben another piece of art - a traditional New Year's picture of six babies. Each baby symbolizes some kind of well-wish, but I can't remember what each one means. Summer and Maria gave Ben a traditional Chinese fan and a calligraphy brush - beautiful. And Jack Chan gave Ben some beautiful vases and a plate with peonies painted on them. I guess peonies symbolize a wish for much wealth. Can you BELIEVE this??? We have just met these people! And I found out that Mr. Zuo and Professor Han and their families were out of town on vacation, but cut their vacations short to come back for this party. I'm amazed. These people are just such good people.

Professor Han and his wife have only one son, who is 18 - he didn't come. But Mrs. Han could not get enough of Gage. She held him and played with him the whole entire evening. And she would feed him bit of something that resembled sweet potatoes. She told me that she and Mr. Zuo's wife "admire" me for having the strength to care for four children. I told them that it's hard and that I'm not doing a very good job. :) Professor Han would play with Micah, bouncing him really high on his bouncy ball. Micah would get embarrassed. I've noticed that, when Micah is embarrassed or feeling shy, he picks his nose. It's funny. So there he was, getting bounced really high on his ball, and picking his nose with this look on his face - like a deer in the headlights. Really funny.

The cake I got Ben turned out beautifully. When we cut into it, Ben and I were surprised at the consistency of the frosting. It is like whipped topping. I don't know how they can make these intricate things on cakes - dragons, lotus flowers, etc., and make them stay up. The cake was a lot like a pound cake.

And here is Lesson #2 - here, when you invite friends out to eat, that means you want to pay for them. Yeah. It turned out to be an expensive night. Oops. My fail, again. Ben wasn't angry - he said it was worth it to have such a good time.

I have the best news ever - we're going to Beijing this weekend to see the sights! I really want to see the Great Wall, and if we have time, the Forbidden City. And I want to go to the English-speaking branch on Sunday. And I want to hit the western market there and stock up on stuff. I'm soooo excited, you guys. So excited.

I think there is one more garden worth looking at here in Baoding - that's what Summer said. So I'm going to see if we can hit that this week.

I also want to look at some street vendors today and see if I can find a birthday present for Nattles.

Well, I'll resize and upload the pics from Ben's birthday party tonight and let you know when they're on smugmug. The kids are hitting each other and screaming, so it's time to intervene.

Oh, and the cold water isn't working - I guess someone broke a line of some sort. Fun.

Love you,
Kar