Hey, Dudes,
So, yesterday afternoon, we had our karaoke party with Maria and Summer. Their karaoke is situated much the way their restaurants are - every party has its own room, with its own attendant. remeThere is a computer touch screen, and when you first get there, you scroll through and select the songs you want to sing. Then the songs are ready for you and just play continually as the party goes on. And, surprisingly, there were tons and tons of English songs. And not all of them were cheesy! I was surprised that there were no Carpenters on there. So I selected some, and Ben selected some, and then Summer and Maria selected some Chinese ones. It plays the music video, along with the words on the screen, which is cool. I really enjoyed watching the music videos for the Chinese songs.
There were some songs sung by Chinese performers that were in English, which I thought was interesting. One of the songs said, "I love you like the mice loves the rice..." I laughed so hard. Mice love rice? I guess so? Hahaha!
Maria's friend came, too, and she was super-nice. I can't remember her name, but she spoke English really well. She loved Gage. I felt badly - he totally barfed on her. It's not a pleasant experience. But she didn't seem to mind.
The Chinese take their karaoke very seriously. They don't act silly when they're doing it - they sing very seriously. I had to take Micah to the bathroom a couple of times, and I could hear snippets from the other karaoke rooms, and people are very serious about it. A lot of the people I heard were off-key, and that made me giggle. Summer really seems to love singing. She's adorable.
The attendant brought currant juice, dried kiwi, popcorn, and some kind of chips. Despite our best efforts, Gage got grabbed a cup and spilled currant juice all over the place. Then he slipped in it and fell into it. He was a sticky, stinky mess. I forgot to bring a change of clothes, so I took him to the bathroom with me and took his wet clothes off. Then I set him by the sink and kind of started giving him a little sponge bath with water and soap. This lady came out of stall and saw what I was doing and just started YELLING at me in Mandarin. She was gesturing to the sink and to the baby and just yelling and yelling. I kept telling her in Mandarin that I didn't understand what she was saying, but, as is usual, she just kept on talking, like suddenly I would miraculously become fluent in Mandarin. I think maybe she disapproved of me washing the baby near the sink? There were two other sinks, so it's not like I was hogging the only sink... Maybe she felt like the water wasn't good enough for the baby? I don't know what her issue was, but she kept yelling and yelling, and she wouldn't leave. So finally, I said, in English (might as well talk to her in a language that SHE doesn't understand), "Listen. I don't know what you're saying, but I'm going to leave now, even though I'm not done washing the juice off my child." And I went back to the room.
We only lasted two hours there at the karaoke place - Gage kept barfing all over me and all over everything, and he was fussy (probably because his stomach was upset), and Dylan kept playing rough with the maracas and the tambourine. The music was over-loud and it was just frustrating. So we took off. It was sweet of the girls to invite us; it's just that kids sometimes ruin things. :)
I went to the supermarket yesterday, and took Dylan and Sadie, per their insistence. It's so stinkin' crowded. I swear I get claustrophobic. I got a little plastic drawer thing for the boys - the one dwardrobe they have doesn't hold very many clothes. And I got a few more things. There was a lady in another checkout line that was screaming at some dude behind her in line. Just yelling and yelling. . She was so mad. She was just shaking and red in the face. I was really glad I was in a different line.
So I guess yesterday was Angry Chinese Person day. :)
I still can't find line or a way to hang it up in our room, but I came up with something to dry our clothes - I'm using the PVC pipe Professor Han gave me, but instead of putting the clothes outside, where they blow all around and get dirty again, I prop the pipes on two chairs, then hang the clothes from hangers on the pipe inside, where it's nice and clean. Ahhh. Much better. I still want line and clothespins, though.
Alright, the kids are fighting and screaming, so I'd better go.
Kissy, kissy,
Kar
Friday, August 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sewer smell is fun.
Ohhhhh, guys,
Sorry for the long, long delay in writing. Nothing much was happening last week, and on Saturday, we moved into our new apartment. We didn't get internet set up until yesterday afternoon, so here I finally am.
Let's see. I'm going to paste an e-mail I sent to a friend last week - it has some interesting stuff in it - and then I'll tell you what we've been doing just the past few days.
July 29
We've been lying low since practically getting heat stroke last Monday with our trip to Badda-Bing Lake. And it's just too dang hot to go out and do much. I feel like I'm going crazy sitting inside, but would I rather have heat stroke? No.
The other Jnight, I helped Summer with her boyfriend's English-language resume. He's applying with some English-speaking companies in Beijing, and Summer wanted to make sure that the resume she interpreted sounded right. It was pretty awkward, so I helped her to clean it up so that it sounded right for a person who reads and speaks English.
I asked her about these Thai transvestites, and she told me the most interesting thing. She says that Thailand is very, very poor, so some families, if they have boys, inject them with female hormones from the time they are babies. So these boys grow up and get breasts and look like women, but still have the low voices, etc. (I didn't ask what happens to their genitalia...) Then they have a chance to be performers and make enough money to get out of the squalor of their homes. She says that they die at a very young age. Isn't that the saddest thing ever??? Wow. I am so lucky to live where I live.
I went and checked out our future apartment a couple of days ago. It's coming along, and we're planning on moving in tomorrow! I cannot wait. I sure hope the air-conditioners are in by then. The floor is done, the plaster on the walls is all fixed, and there are new toilets and sinks in each bathroom. (But there will not be any bathtubs put in, dang it. Just more of those dumb showers that spray everything in the whole dang bathroom. Chinese people are so weird.) There are beds in each bedroom, along with wardrobes (there aren't any built-in closets in this apartment). The kitchen, so far, only has a fridge. Then there are two futons that function as couches in the living room, a coffee table, a table for the TV to sit on, and a table and six chairs for us to eat at. Professor Han owns the apartment and has been doing much of the work himself. The views are amazing - there's tons of natural light, and the living room really is so huge.
Sadie's bed and Ben's and my bed have mattresses, but the two boys have "traditional Chinese beds," according to Summer. They just have hard wood, and you are only supposed to use these things called "ticks" to go on them. They're like very, very thin mattresses. I remember reading about "ticks" in Little House on the Prairie books, and from that John Denver song, "Grandma's Feather Bed." Poor boys. But honestly, the mattresses Sadie and Ben and I have are as hard as rocks - we're not in much better shape than Micah and Dylan will be. There is a washing machine for clothing, but we are expected to dry our clothes on a line with clothespins. There's extra space in the master bedroom that we can use to string up line, I suppose. And we aren't getting a dishwasher or an oven. So we have to decide if we want to buy one of those microwave-sized ovens to sit on the countertop.
So it won't be what I'm used to, but you know, it will be better than what we've had for the past month. I'm excited to cook, though my choices will be very limited, because there is very little in the way of western groceries here.
I went with Summer and Maria a couple of days ago to buy bedding - ticks for the boys' beds, and sheets, comforters, and pillows for everyone's beds. It was expensive, but it was on the company's dime - they knew that bringing our whole family would cost them, but to them, it's worth it to keep their workers happy over here. Maybe the workers' productivity is so much more when the families are there with them? And the bedding wasn't as expensive as the bedding in the U.S. is. I only had enough money leftover from buying the bedding to buy a few pots and pans. So our goal today is to get dishes, silverware, and towels.
It was a miracle that we were able to get all the stuff out of the store and into a taxi. We were stuffed clear to the top. I taught the girls the meaning of "sticker shock" on the way home. :) Then they asked me what else I've been learning from Rosetta Stone - it's their favorite thing to ask. I listen to Rosetta Stone more often than I ordinarily would, mainly because they love asking what I'm learning - I do it for them. They're so cute. I'm really going to miss them when they leave this fall.
But guess what? They're going to Beijing when they leave Baoding, so when the weather cools off and we feel like touring up there, they have offered to arrange everything - hotels, transportation, etc. And they want to take us around and be our tour guides. So it will be perfect timing. And they're going to arrange new interpreters for us when they leave.
A lady stopped me in the hall a couple of days ago - she has been staying next door to us, and she spoke a teeny bit of English. I apologized to her for how loud my children are, but I think that part was lost in translation. :) She said that her daughter speaks English and wants to play with Sadie. So I got her phone number, and I also gave her my number and Summer's number. I tried to communicate that Summer could arrange it between us - I drew stick figures showing Summer speaking both Mandarin and English, and me talking to Summer, and Summer talking to the lady... it was really pathetic. I think she got the message. She says she lives here in Baoding - why she was staying in a hotel here is a question I wanted to ask her. Who knows. Maybe she needed to get out of her house for the night. I know the feeling. Anyways, obviously, if we arrange a play date, I'll be going along with Sadie and staying there the whole time. The lady said her daughter is 12, which made me go, "She wants to play with a five-year-old?" But whatever.
I found out that there will be six more workers coming from Idaho at the end of August. Did I already say this in one of my e-mail blasts? If I did, I'm sorry - so anyways, five of the guys are single, but one guy is married, and his wife is coming over. I hope she wants to be my friend. I need an English-speaking friend. :)
Yesterday was AWFUL. It's so stinkin' hot. I cannot even describe how awful it is. So it was my turn to go get breakfast, and, unbeknownst to me, they were re-paving the road in front of McDonald's. So I call a taxi (I had Sadie and Micah with me because they were bored and wanted to get out) and the taxi driver used all these back roads to get there, which I thought was weird, but whatever. So we get there, and I see why - they were re-paving the road in front of McDonald's. So when we got our food, I tried to take the back roads to get to a point where I could hail another taxi, and it took us like two hours to get a damn taxi back. We walked and walked and walked. I was drenched in sweat. Sweat was dripping off my hair. And I was carrying all this food, and the kids were whining, and we were walking right next to all of these crazy drivers, and I was like, dude. I so want to go home. I came home, shoved the food at Ben, took off all my clothes, and went to bed.
Last night, Summer, Maria, and I went and checked out the movie situation - they have movies with English to the ears and Mandarin subtitles! Yesssss! The lady didn't know the times for tonight, so Ben is gone right now, getting tickets for sometime tonight. When you buy movie tickets, they have a screen in front of you, showing which seats are available. And you touch the screen and actually have reserved seats. Pretty cool. At least the Chinese have something right. We are going to Transformers 3 tonight, and we plan to go to Harry Potter on August 4th, when it comes to town. I cannot WAIT.
Ben's other chore when he left a little while ago was to go to the supermarket and get some more formula for the baby - he needs about one more can until he turns one; that's when we'll transition him to whole milk. Well, Ben just called me and said that one small can of formula (it lasts maybe 4 or 5 days) is 235 yuan - that's almost $40. Yikes!!! So we decided to transition Gage to whole milk sooner than his one-year-old birthday, in August.
I've been seeing all these guys with one long pinky fingernail, and I've been wondering if they all do cocaine, or if maybe it's opium-related. Something I'll have to ask Summer about.
When we were in the supermarket getting sheets, I saw all of these pillows made of pieces of bamboo strung together. I asked Summer what on earth - who would want a pillow made of wood?? She said that they are much cooler than normal pillows. That's how hot it is here - people are willing to sleep on wooden pillows to keep cool. Sheesh. How is it even inhabited here??? Hahahaha! So hot.
Okay, now it's August...3rd, I think?? So I'll update you.
We moved to our apartment on Saturday - I was surprised at how much stuff we already have accumulated. We had all the bedding, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, etc. that I bought last week, plus all of our luggage. And then we had the small fridge and microwave that will eventually go to Ben's office. His coworker, Mr. Ju, has a sedan-type car - it took him three trips to move everything back and forth. It was hotter than Hades.
And when we got here, well, the apartment wasn't really...move-in ready. The air-conditioners in the kids' rooms were working, but they hadn't installed the air-conditioner in the living room, and the air-conditioner in the master bedroom wasn't working. There were still no cabinets, countertops, stovetop, or anything like that in the kitchen. The bathrooms smelled like sewers (more on that in a moment), and there was a thick layer of mucky, dirty mud all over the floors. So we spent all day long on Saturday cleaning the crap out of the apartment, and sweating bullets. You may think, "Gosh, you need that many air-conditioners in just one apartment?" Yep. It is JUST that hot here. Everyone has an air-conditioner in each room of their apartment, if they can afford it. So we cleaned and cleaned so that the kids could play around and the baby could crawl around without getting disgustingly dirty. Then we showered everyone and set about to go to bed.
And OMG. The mattress on the master bed....it's indescribable. Um....it was like a ROCK. I found out later that it is stuffed with palm fronds. I wondered what that smell was. I seriously could have slept on the hardwood floor and probably been more comfortable. It really doesn't qualify as a mattress. Ben and I lay there for like an hour and were like, dude. What the H. And Dylan kept coming in, crying, saying that his bed was so hard that it felt like "hammers." He's cute. So we decided to put Ben in on Dylan's bed (it was hard, but not nearly as hard as our mattress) and then Dylan and I slept on the scratchy futons, with absolutely zero sheets on, and a fan that we bought at the last second blowing right on us. It was a rough night.
I had a little meltdown again after we got Dylan settled on his futon. I just cried and cried and cried. I told Ben that I'm so depressed, and that mornings are so hard, because I wake up, and I realize where I am, and I get so sad. It's just been really hard. And I know I'm a huge brat for feeling this way. I should be so excited that I get to experience a new culture and see new things and all of that, but I'm just sooo....uncomfortable. The food is disgusting, and the filth is disgusting, and the smells are disgusting...
Ben said, "Okay. Enough is enough. Let's send you and the kids home." And I felt such relief. But I also felt nervous. I knew that Heavenly Father wants me here for the duration of this work project. And I told Ben that - "Heavenly Father will be upset. He has told me to stay here." So I asked for another blessing. This experience is seriously starting to feel a little bit like all of my pregnancies. Crying every night, asking for a blessing of comfort every other day....it's unfortunate. But this blessing was so powerful. The blessing that Ben gave me a couple of weeks ago kind of focused on the need for me to stay here for the sake of our family, that our family needs to be together, and that we are stronger together than we are apart. But the blessing on Saturday night was completely different. Heavenly Father specifically said that I was sent here to plant seeds of the gospel. That the people with whom I'm in daily contact will eventually hear and accept the gospel because of my love for them and my example. This is why I'm here. It was incredible, you guys. In a very real sense, this is like my mission. The mission I never served. And these are the covenants I've made in the temple - that I will forward the Lord's work. And the Lord's work is more important than my comfort.
So I'm here to stay. And I'm going to try to just keep my chin up and focus on why I'm here. Ben kept saying that he kept feeling, during the blessing, that I am here to be an instrument in bringing Summer and Maria to the gospel. That it was specifically for them that I am here. So anyways.
Okay. The bathrooms. Here's the deal. Ben says that bathrooms in apartments here are like the bathrooms in Brazil - they don't have what he calls "pee traps." I guess apartments in more developed countries have these flap-like things, so that fumes from the sewer line don't come back up and stink up everyone's apartments. Ohhhhh you guys. The smell is sooooo horriffic. Worse than any outhouse I've ever been in. When I have to go use the bathroom, or when I have to shower, I'm breathing through my mouth the whole time, and I'm hurrying really fast. The other night, I went in to brush my teeth, and I literally started gagging. I almost threw up. We find that keeping the toilet lid shut and closing the plug in the sinks between use helps a teeny weeny little bit. But not much. We keep the bathroom doors shut at all times.
Last night, Summer was over, and I was like, "Um, is this smell normal???" So I took her in, and she quickly retreated. "Um, it's not usually that strong. But I noticed that you don't have a bathroom fan. Where is your bathroom fan?" I noticed there was no fan to vent air to the outside, but I just figured that was another part of the fun of living in China - that they hadn't really caught on to bathroom vent fans. No, we're supposed to have fans. Just another thing on a long, long list of things that need to be fixed.
Our clothes washer wasn't working, so Professor Han came over and fixed it, and now it works really well. We still need to get line to hang up in Ben's and my bedroom. For now, Professor Han gave us this PVC pipe. We prop it between our window and the railing on our fire escape and put clothes on hangers on the PVC pipe. It works okay, but if it's windy (and it gets windy up on the 10th floor), the clothes blow off the PVC pipe and land on the filthy fire escape, which makes them dirty all over again. So it's not the best system. I need to go get some line today.
Oh, and on Sunday, Ben was like, "Dude, we are getting western mattresses. The end." So after much searching, Maria found a store that had soft, western-style matttresses. We got a twin mattress for Dylan's bed and doubled up the ticks on Micah's bed. Sadie's mattress is pretty soft, so there was no need for change there. And then Ben and I got a mattress. Professor Han came over the other night and felt the mattresses and said, "Too SOFT." He's nuts. They're all nuts.
I got a phone number for an English-speaking LDS branch up in Beijing, so I called it about a week ago or so. Someone answered, but she didn't speak English at all, which I thought was funny. It's an "ENGLISH SPEAKING BRANCH." There is one other English-speaking LDS branch in Beijing, so I called that number and got a recording. I left a message and hoped for the best. I asked Summer if she knew anything about the LDS church, the "Mormons," and she said she'd check it out. She called me later that day and said, "Good news! I found a Mormon church! They have services at 10 a.m. and at 6 p.m." I was like, "Six p.m.? That's weird..." I came to find out that it was a Catholic church she found. :) I told her that it was close, but not the same. And then I got a call back from the bishop of this other English-speaking branch. He said that there are no other members in Baoding, at all. In a city of a million people. Crazy. But they have this thing called the Beijing Virtual Branch. You actually get on skype and have church via skype. We got the program for Sunday's sacrament meeting a few days before, and someone from one city was giving the prayer, someone from another city was giving a talk, etc. etc. So interesting. Unfortunately, we weren't able to sign in that day, but we're looking forward to this Sunday.
We continue to eat at KFC, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut for every meal. It's getting reeeeeeeeeeally old. No idea when our kitchen will be installed. Maybe I should just go buy a dang hot plate. My heck. I do dishes in my bathroom sink (while breathing through my mouth). Our air-conditioning in our bedroom finally got fixed, though!!! After three days and three different sets of workers examined it. So that's a relief.
Summer really likes Ugly Betty, and she knew that we watch the same dang movies over and over again on our computer, so she put them on a jump drive and we put them onto our computer. There are mandarin subtitles at the bottom, but it's English to the ears, and we love it. I've never seen it before, but I'm so hungry for anything English that I'm thrilled to be watching it. And it's a cute show. It's funny - Summer said, "So, is this an accurate portrayal of American society?" I frowned and said, "Well, not the society I live in... Maybe it's accurate for New York City magazine companies, but I think Betty's family is probably more accurate of American society." The other day, Micah was coloring his fingernails and toenails with crayon (he does this because I refuse to paint his nails), and she laughed and asked why he was doing that. I said, "Well, let's put it this way...Micah is like Betty's nephew." She laughed and laughed. You'll only get that joke if you've seen the show. :)
So we have something to look forward to this afternoon - Maria invited all of us to a karaoke party! They call karaoke, "K.T.V." here. I know that karaoke is only usually done in bars or things like that in the U.S., so I was like, "Um, are you sure my kids are invited?" She was like, "Oh, yes. Definitely." So maybe it's more of a family-friendly thing here?? I have no idea. She gave us the address to give to the taxi driver. It's at one o'clock. I'm excited to do something different. Summer told me that they have a few English songs to choose from - "My Heart Will Go On," "I Will Always Love You"...I was like, "Don't you have anything....FUN??" I'm so not singing a cheesy song for karaoke. For reals, ya'all.
I smell like sour milk, because Gage spit up on me. The whole milk is working okay for him - he spits up as much as he did on formula. But it smells worse in spit-up form. I seriously wonder when he's going to get over this. And he has FOUR teeth coming in at the same time. I feel really badly for him. He's grumpier than usual. But then again, so am I, and I'm not teething. Hahahaha!!
So. Good news. According to Summer, Maria, and Jack Chan (Ben's interpreter for work), the weather will soon be getting cooler. They say around the second week of August is when it cools down significantly and it's much nicer to be outside. I cannot WAIT. Touring, here I come. I'm getting antsy to get out there and see more stuff.
Chinese Valentine's Day is August 7th. Both Maria's boyfriend and Summer's boyfriend are up in Beijing, so they're sad. The tradition for this day is that there were two lovers, but their parents opposed their union, so they can only get together once a year, on the 7th day of some lunar cycle blah blah blah. Summer's boyfriend is named Justin - again, he chose an English name for our ease. Maria's boyfriend doesn't have an English name, but she says his name means Double Tiger. And he has a brother whose name is Golden Tiger. I thought that was funny. I told Summer and Maria that they need to pick a Chinese name for me. They chose one. It means "Lotus Flower in the Rain." I love that. I can't remember how to pronounce it to save my life, though. They're so cute.
So we've been reading in 1st Nephi for nightly scripture study. And we were reading the part where Nephi is describing his family's 8 years of traveling in the wilderness. I've always read about that and thought how miserable that must have been. Camping. For 8 years. But not as easy as our modern-day camping is, for sure. So there's a part where he's saying that his wife and his brothers' wives were amazingly strong - able to still have milk for their babies, bearing their children in the wilderness, and becoming as strong as men. Here. I just looked it up - 1st Nephi 17:1-2 - "And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness. And so great wre the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings. And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness." I just love that. What I'm going through here isn't nearly, nearly, nearly as hard as what Nephi's wife was going through. But it is hard for me. But here's the deal - the Lord has given me a commandment - I am to stay here to help plant seeds of the gospel. And he'll help me if I try my best to do what he is commanding me to do. He'll make me strong; he'll help me adapt, and it will get to the point where I can bear my journey without murmuring.
And really, is six months long? No. I feel really badly for missionaries who have to live like this for two years. Yikes. Bikes. I have a whole new respect for missionaries. I mean, I always have respected them, but I guess I've never appreciated their almost certain discomfort until now. When Dad would talk about his mission to Korea, I just kept picturing this beautiful place with perfect weather and women who wear pretty silk kimono-like thingeys, and that they ate a lot of rice and sweet and sour pork, you know? But the truth of it probably was more like what it is for me here - the weather was intolerable, the food was intolerable, and most people lived in squalor and filth.
Ben went to his work site to check up on the preparations they are supposed to be making for Ben's project. And they haven't done jack diddly squat. How dumb. So Ben has to kick butt and take names.
Dude, kay, I need to get everyone ready for this karaoke party. I'll take pictures and post them on here for you. I love you all and miss you so much.
Love,
Kar
Sorry for the long, long delay in writing. Nothing much was happening last week, and on Saturday, we moved into our new apartment. We didn't get internet set up until yesterday afternoon, so here I finally am.
Let's see. I'm going to paste an e-mail I sent to a friend last week - it has some interesting stuff in it - and then I'll tell you what we've been doing just the past few days.
July 29
We've been lying low since practically getting heat stroke last Monday with our trip to Badda-Bing Lake. And it's just too dang hot to go out and do much. I feel like I'm going crazy sitting inside, but would I rather have heat stroke? No.
The other Jnight, I helped Summer with her boyfriend's English-language resume. He's applying with some English-speaking companies in Beijing, and Summer wanted to make sure that the resume she interpreted sounded right. It was pretty awkward, so I helped her to clean it up so that it sounded right for a person who reads and speaks English.
I asked her about these Thai transvestites, and she told me the most interesting thing. She says that Thailand is very, very poor, so some families, if they have boys, inject them with female hormones from the time they are babies. So these boys grow up and get breasts and look like women, but still have the low voices, etc. (I didn't ask what happens to their genitalia...) Then they have a chance to be performers and make enough money to get out of the squalor of their homes. She says that they die at a very young age. Isn't that the saddest thing ever??? Wow. I am so lucky to live where I live.
I went and checked out our future apartment a couple of days ago. It's coming along, and we're planning on moving in tomorrow! I cannot wait. I sure hope the air-conditioners are in by then. The floor is done, the plaster on the walls is all fixed, and there are new toilets and sinks in each bathroom. (But there will not be any bathtubs put in, dang it. Just more of those dumb showers that spray everything in the whole dang bathroom. Chinese people are so weird.) There are beds in each bedroom, along with wardrobes (there aren't any built-in closets in this apartment). The kitchen, so far, only has a fridge. Then there are two futons that function as couches in the living room, a coffee table, a table for the TV to sit on, and a table and six chairs for us to eat at. Professor Han owns the apartment and has been doing much of the work himself. The views are amazing - there's tons of natural light, and the living room really is so huge.
Sadie's bed and Ben's and my bed have mattresses, but the two boys have "traditional Chinese beds," according to Summer. They just have hard wood, and you are only supposed to use these things called "ticks" to go on them. They're like very, very thin mattresses. I remember reading about "ticks" in Little House on the Prairie books, and from that John Denver song, "Grandma's Feather Bed." Poor boys. But honestly, the mattresses Sadie and Ben and I have are as hard as rocks - we're not in much better shape than Micah and Dylan will be. There is a washing machine for clothing, but we are expected to dry our clothes on a line with clothespins. There's extra space in the master bedroom that we can use to string up line, I suppose. And we aren't getting a dishwasher or an oven. So we have to decide if we want to buy one of those microwave-sized ovens to sit on the countertop.
So it won't be what I'm used to, but you know, it will be better than what we've had for the past month. I'm excited to cook, though my choices will be very limited, because there is very little in the way of western groceries here.
I went with Summer and Maria a couple of days ago to buy bedding - ticks for the boys' beds, and sheets, comforters, and pillows for everyone's beds. It was expensive, but it was on the company's dime - they knew that bringing our whole family would cost them, but to them, it's worth it to keep their workers happy over here. Maybe the workers' productivity is so much more when the families are there with them? And the bedding wasn't as expensive as the bedding in the U.S. is. I only had enough money leftover from buying the bedding to buy a few pots and pans. So our goal today is to get dishes, silverware, and towels.
It was a miracle that we were able to get all the stuff out of the store and into a taxi. We were stuffed clear to the top. I taught the girls the meaning of "sticker shock" on the way home. :) Then they asked me what else I've been learning from Rosetta Stone - it's their favorite thing to ask. I listen to Rosetta Stone more often than I ordinarily would, mainly because they love asking what I'm learning - I do it for them. They're so cute. I'm really going to miss them when they leave this fall.
But guess what? They're going to Beijing when they leave Baoding, so when the weather cools off and we feel like touring up there, they have offered to arrange everything - hotels, transportation, etc. And they want to take us around and be our tour guides. So it will be perfect timing. And they're going to arrange new interpreters for us when they leave.
A lady stopped me in the hall a couple of days ago - she has been staying next door to us, and she spoke a teeny bit of English. I apologized to her for how loud my children are, but I think that part was lost in translation. :) She said that her daughter speaks English and wants to play with Sadie. So I got her phone number, and I also gave her my number and Summer's number. I tried to communicate that Summer could arrange it between us - I drew stick figures showing Summer speaking both Mandarin and English, and me talking to Summer, and Summer talking to the lady... it was really pathetic. I think she got the message. She says she lives here in Baoding - why she was staying in a hotel here is a question I wanted to ask her. Who knows. Maybe she needed to get out of her house for the night. I know the feeling. Anyways, obviously, if we arrange a play date, I'll be going along with Sadie and staying there the whole time. The lady said her daughter is 12, which made me go, "She wants to play with a five-year-old?" But whatever.
I found out that there will be six more workers coming from Idaho at the end of August. Did I already say this in one of my e-mail blasts? If I did, I'm sorry - so anyways, five of the guys are single, but one guy is married, and his wife is coming over. I hope she wants to be my friend. I need an English-speaking friend. :)
Yesterday was AWFUL. It's so stinkin' hot. I cannot even describe how awful it is. So it was my turn to go get breakfast, and, unbeknownst to me, they were re-paving the road in front of McDonald's. So I call a taxi (I had Sadie and Micah with me because they were bored and wanted to get out) and the taxi driver used all these back roads to get there, which I thought was weird, but whatever. So we get there, and I see why - they were re-paving the road in front of McDonald's. So when we got our food, I tried to take the back roads to get to a point where I could hail another taxi, and it took us like two hours to get a damn taxi back. We walked and walked and walked. I was drenched in sweat. Sweat was dripping off my hair. And I was carrying all this food, and the kids were whining, and we were walking right next to all of these crazy drivers, and I was like, dude. I so want to go home. I came home, shoved the food at Ben, took off all my clothes, and went to bed.
Last night, Summer, Maria, and I went and checked out the movie situation - they have movies with English to the ears and Mandarin subtitles! Yesssss! The lady didn't know the times for tonight, so Ben is gone right now, getting tickets for sometime tonight. When you buy movie tickets, they have a screen in front of you, showing which seats are available. And you touch the screen and actually have reserved seats. Pretty cool. At least the Chinese have something right. We are going to Transformers 3 tonight, and we plan to go to Harry Potter on August 4th, when it comes to town. I cannot WAIT.
Ben's other chore when he left a little while ago was to go to the supermarket and get some more formula for the baby - he needs about one more can until he turns one; that's when we'll transition him to whole milk. Well, Ben just called me and said that one small can of formula (it lasts maybe 4 or 5 days) is 235 yuan - that's almost $40. Yikes!!! So we decided to transition Gage to whole milk sooner than his one-year-old birthday, in August.
I've been seeing all these guys with one long pinky fingernail, and I've been wondering if they all do cocaine, or if maybe it's opium-related. Something I'll have to ask Summer about.
When we were in the supermarket getting sheets, I saw all of these pillows made of pieces of bamboo strung together. I asked Summer what on earth - who would want a pillow made of wood?? She said that they are much cooler than normal pillows. That's how hot it is here - people are willing to sleep on wooden pillows to keep cool. Sheesh. How is it even inhabited here??? Hahahaha! So hot.
Okay, now it's August...3rd, I think?? So I'll update you.
We moved to our apartment on Saturday - I was surprised at how much stuff we already have accumulated. We had all the bedding, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, etc. that I bought last week, plus all of our luggage. And then we had the small fridge and microwave that will eventually go to Ben's office. His coworker, Mr. Ju, has a sedan-type car - it took him three trips to move everything back and forth. It was hotter than Hades.
And when we got here, well, the apartment wasn't really...move-in ready. The air-conditioners in the kids' rooms were working, but they hadn't installed the air-conditioner in the living room, and the air-conditioner in the master bedroom wasn't working. There were still no cabinets, countertops, stovetop, or anything like that in the kitchen. The bathrooms smelled like sewers (more on that in a moment), and there was a thick layer of mucky, dirty mud all over the floors. So we spent all day long on Saturday cleaning the crap out of the apartment, and sweating bullets. You may think, "Gosh, you need that many air-conditioners in just one apartment?" Yep. It is JUST that hot here. Everyone has an air-conditioner in each room of their apartment, if they can afford it. So we cleaned and cleaned so that the kids could play around and the baby could crawl around without getting disgustingly dirty. Then we showered everyone and set about to go to bed.
And OMG. The mattress on the master bed....it's indescribable. Um....it was like a ROCK. I found out later that it is stuffed with palm fronds. I wondered what that smell was. I seriously could have slept on the hardwood floor and probably been more comfortable. It really doesn't qualify as a mattress. Ben and I lay there for like an hour and were like, dude. What the H. And Dylan kept coming in, crying, saying that his bed was so hard that it felt like "hammers." He's cute. So we decided to put Ben in on Dylan's bed (it was hard, but not nearly as hard as our mattress) and then Dylan and I slept on the scratchy futons, with absolutely zero sheets on, and a fan that we bought at the last second blowing right on us. It was a rough night.
I had a little meltdown again after we got Dylan settled on his futon. I just cried and cried and cried. I told Ben that I'm so depressed, and that mornings are so hard, because I wake up, and I realize where I am, and I get so sad. It's just been really hard. And I know I'm a huge brat for feeling this way. I should be so excited that I get to experience a new culture and see new things and all of that, but I'm just sooo....uncomfortable. The food is disgusting, and the filth is disgusting, and the smells are disgusting...
Ben said, "Okay. Enough is enough. Let's send you and the kids home." And I felt such relief. But I also felt nervous. I knew that Heavenly Father wants me here for the duration of this work project. And I told Ben that - "Heavenly Father will be upset. He has told me to stay here." So I asked for another blessing. This experience is seriously starting to feel a little bit like all of my pregnancies. Crying every night, asking for a blessing of comfort every other day....it's unfortunate. But this blessing was so powerful. The blessing that Ben gave me a couple of weeks ago kind of focused on the need for me to stay here for the sake of our family, that our family needs to be together, and that we are stronger together than we are apart. But the blessing on Saturday night was completely different. Heavenly Father specifically said that I was sent here to plant seeds of the gospel. That the people with whom I'm in daily contact will eventually hear and accept the gospel because of my love for them and my example. This is why I'm here. It was incredible, you guys. In a very real sense, this is like my mission. The mission I never served. And these are the covenants I've made in the temple - that I will forward the Lord's work. And the Lord's work is more important than my comfort.
So I'm here to stay. And I'm going to try to just keep my chin up and focus on why I'm here. Ben kept saying that he kept feeling, during the blessing, that I am here to be an instrument in bringing Summer and Maria to the gospel. That it was specifically for them that I am here. So anyways.
Okay. The bathrooms. Here's the deal. Ben says that bathrooms in apartments here are like the bathrooms in Brazil - they don't have what he calls "pee traps." I guess apartments in more developed countries have these flap-like things, so that fumes from the sewer line don't come back up and stink up everyone's apartments. Ohhhhh you guys. The smell is sooooo horriffic. Worse than any outhouse I've ever been in. When I have to go use the bathroom, or when I have to shower, I'm breathing through my mouth the whole time, and I'm hurrying really fast. The other night, I went in to brush my teeth, and I literally started gagging. I almost threw up. We find that keeping the toilet lid shut and closing the plug in the sinks between use helps a teeny weeny little bit. But not much. We keep the bathroom doors shut at all times.
Last night, Summer was over, and I was like, "Um, is this smell normal???" So I took her in, and she quickly retreated. "Um, it's not usually that strong. But I noticed that you don't have a bathroom fan. Where is your bathroom fan?" I noticed there was no fan to vent air to the outside, but I just figured that was another part of the fun of living in China - that they hadn't really caught on to bathroom vent fans. No, we're supposed to have fans. Just another thing on a long, long list of things that need to be fixed.
Our clothes washer wasn't working, so Professor Han came over and fixed it, and now it works really well. We still need to get line to hang up in Ben's and my bedroom. For now, Professor Han gave us this PVC pipe. We prop it between our window and the railing on our fire escape and put clothes on hangers on the PVC pipe. It works okay, but if it's windy (and it gets windy up on the 10th floor), the clothes blow off the PVC pipe and land on the filthy fire escape, which makes them dirty all over again. So it's not the best system. I need to go get some line today.
Oh, and on Sunday, Ben was like, "Dude, we are getting western mattresses. The end." So after much searching, Maria found a store that had soft, western-style matttresses. We got a twin mattress for Dylan's bed and doubled up the ticks on Micah's bed. Sadie's mattress is pretty soft, so there was no need for change there. And then Ben and I got a mattress. Professor Han came over the other night and felt the mattresses and said, "Too SOFT." He's nuts. They're all nuts.
I got a phone number for an English-speaking LDS branch up in Beijing, so I called it about a week ago or so. Someone answered, but she didn't speak English at all, which I thought was funny. It's an "ENGLISH SPEAKING BRANCH." There is one other English-speaking LDS branch in Beijing, so I called that number and got a recording. I left a message and hoped for the best. I asked Summer if she knew anything about the LDS church, the "Mormons," and she said she'd check it out. She called me later that day and said, "Good news! I found a Mormon church! They have services at 10 a.m. and at 6 p.m." I was like, "Six p.m.? That's weird..." I came to find out that it was a Catholic church she found. :) I told her that it was close, but not the same. And then I got a call back from the bishop of this other English-speaking branch. He said that there are no other members in Baoding, at all. In a city of a million people. Crazy. But they have this thing called the Beijing Virtual Branch. You actually get on skype and have church via skype. We got the program for Sunday's sacrament meeting a few days before, and someone from one city was giving the prayer, someone from another city was giving a talk, etc. etc. So interesting. Unfortunately, we weren't able to sign in that day, but we're looking forward to this Sunday.
We continue to eat at KFC, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut for every meal. It's getting reeeeeeeeeeally old. No idea when our kitchen will be installed. Maybe I should just go buy a dang hot plate. My heck. I do dishes in my bathroom sink (while breathing through my mouth). Our air-conditioning in our bedroom finally got fixed, though!!! After three days and three different sets of workers examined it. So that's a relief.
Summer really likes Ugly Betty, and she knew that we watch the same dang movies over and over again on our computer, so she put them on a jump drive and we put them onto our computer. There are mandarin subtitles at the bottom, but it's English to the ears, and we love it. I've never seen it before, but I'm so hungry for anything English that I'm thrilled to be watching it. And it's a cute show. It's funny - Summer said, "So, is this an accurate portrayal of American society?" I frowned and said, "Well, not the society I live in... Maybe it's accurate for New York City magazine companies, but I think Betty's family is probably more accurate of American society." The other day, Micah was coloring his fingernails and toenails with crayon (he does this because I refuse to paint his nails), and she laughed and asked why he was doing that. I said, "Well, let's put it this way...Micah is like Betty's nephew." She laughed and laughed. You'll only get that joke if you've seen the show. :)
So we have something to look forward to this afternoon - Maria invited all of us to a karaoke party! They call karaoke, "K.T.V." here. I know that karaoke is only usually done in bars or things like that in the U.S., so I was like, "Um, are you sure my kids are invited?" She was like, "Oh, yes. Definitely." So maybe it's more of a family-friendly thing here?? I have no idea. She gave us the address to give to the taxi driver. It's at one o'clock. I'm excited to do something different. Summer told me that they have a few English songs to choose from - "My Heart Will Go On," "I Will Always Love You"...I was like, "Don't you have anything....FUN??" I'm so not singing a cheesy song for karaoke. For reals, ya'all.
I smell like sour milk, because Gage spit up on me. The whole milk is working okay for him - he spits up as much as he did on formula. But it smells worse in spit-up form. I seriously wonder when he's going to get over this. And he has FOUR teeth coming in at the same time. I feel really badly for him. He's grumpier than usual. But then again, so am I, and I'm not teething. Hahahaha!!
So. Good news. According to Summer, Maria, and Jack Chan (Ben's interpreter for work), the weather will soon be getting cooler. They say around the second week of August is when it cools down significantly and it's much nicer to be outside. I cannot WAIT. Touring, here I come. I'm getting antsy to get out there and see more stuff.
Chinese Valentine's Day is August 7th. Both Maria's boyfriend and Summer's boyfriend are up in Beijing, so they're sad. The tradition for this day is that there were two lovers, but their parents opposed their union, so they can only get together once a year, on the 7th day of some lunar cycle blah blah blah. Summer's boyfriend is named Justin - again, he chose an English name for our ease. Maria's boyfriend doesn't have an English name, but she says his name means Double Tiger. And he has a brother whose name is Golden Tiger. I thought that was funny. I told Summer and Maria that they need to pick a Chinese name for me. They chose one. It means "Lotus Flower in the Rain." I love that. I can't remember how to pronounce it to save my life, though. They're so cute.
So we've been reading in 1st Nephi for nightly scripture study. And we were reading the part where Nephi is describing his family's 8 years of traveling in the wilderness. I've always read about that and thought how miserable that must have been. Camping. For 8 years. But not as easy as our modern-day camping is, for sure. So there's a part where he's saying that his wife and his brothers' wives were amazingly strong - able to still have milk for their babies, bearing their children in the wilderness, and becoming as strong as men. Here. I just looked it up - 1st Nephi 17:1-2 - "And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness. And so great wre the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings. And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness." I just love that. What I'm going through here isn't nearly, nearly, nearly as hard as what Nephi's wife was going through. But it is hard for me. But here's the deal - the Lord has given me a commandment - I am to stay here to help plant seeds of the gospel. And he'll help me if I try my best to do what he is commanding me to do. He'll make me strong; he'll help me adapt, and it will get to the point where I can bear my journey without murmuring.
And really, is six months long? No. I feel really badly for missionaries who have to live like this for two years. Yikes. Bikes. I have a whole new respect for missionaries. I mean, I always have respected them, but I guess I've never appreciated their almost certain discomfort until now. When Dad would talk about his mission to Korea, I just kept picturing this beautiful place with perfect weather and women who wear pretty silk kimono-like thingeys, and that they ate a lot of rice and sweet and sour pork, you know? But the truth of it probably was more like what it is for me here - the weather was intolerable, the food was intolerable, and most people lived in squalor and filth.
Ben went to his work site to check up on the preparations they are supposed to be making for Ben's project. And they haven't done jack diddly squat. How dumb. So Ben has to kick butt and take names.
Dude, kay, I need to get everyone ready for this karaoke party. I'll take pictures and post them on here for you. I love you all and miss you so much.
Love,
Kar
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Pics of Badda-Bing Lake
Kay, they're uploaded, and they're spectacular: http://utahben.smugmug.com/Travel/Baiyangdian-Lake/18259763_L5D9qr#1404635985_wqZMDd7
Monday, July 25, 2011
July 25 - Badda-Bing Lake
Hey, everyone!
I haven't sent one of these out for awhile - there just wasn't much to say: "Yesterday, I picked my nose. The day before, I lay on the bed and stared at the wall..." Hahaha! I wanted to wait until there was something interesting to say. :)
And boy howdy, are there interesting things to tell you today.
So yesterday, we went with this touring group (via a travel agency that Summer found) to this lake called Baiyangdian Lake. I call it Badda-Bing Lake. :) We met in front of some hotel for the bus and got acquainted with the other Baoding folk who were going on this leetle excursion. We also got acquainted with three lady street vendors in front of the hotel. They were so in love with Gage that they left their grill unattended and got yelled at a couple of times by people who were trying to buy some food from them.
One of the ladies that went on our group wore whitish face makeup; I've noticed in the stores that, along with face wash and moisturizer and other facial care products, there is stuff that kind of whitens your skin pigment, and white-ish foundation. It's opposite in the U.S., eh? Everyone wants tanner skin, and buys bronzer. So funny.
So we got on the bus, and our little guide spoke a teeny bit of English, which was nice. He was a total sweetheart. We were joined by a local guide once we got to Badda-Bing Lake, and once we got there, she kind of took care of the rest of the group, and he was our constant companion. He kept offering to carry our 75 billion pound backpack and always made sure we were with the group. I just love the people here. Hearts of gold.
May I just say something about the music here - it SUCKS. I mean, when we were at the lake and walking around, I heard traditional Chinese music coming from speakers, and it was fantastic. You know, the stuff you hear when you watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which has a whole new meaning to me, now that I have to crouch to pee all the time) or Hero. Beautiful. But everywhere else - in restaurants and especially in this bus - they play the cheesiest, worst music ever. And they play it REALLY LOUDLY. Like, you have to shout to talk to each other in restaurants and in the bus yesterday. The music reminds me of church music circa the early nineties. Really over-emotional, kind of soft-rock like. I could actually understand some of the lyrics, which made me excited. It was stuff like, "You say blah blah blah....goodbye...I don't understand...blah blah blah..... I know....." So I think the lyrics were just as cheesy as the music itself. They also play a lot of the Carpenters and Kenny G, which is funny to me.
So we rode on the bus for about two hours, and in all that time, we never really left city. There were a few corn fields here and there, but it was major urban sprawl.
So we got there and got onto a motorboat-type thing. The boat reminded me of those boats you get on for that ride at Disneyland. I can't remember the name of the ride - Jungle Cruise? Something like that? Where you motor around in a boat, and the boat operators say all these funny puns, and there are plastic hippos who wiggle their ears, and plastic elephants who spray water out of their trunks, etc. You know the one I'm talking about? There were all kinds of boats on the lake - high-speed boats, old-fashioned Chinese rowboats, etc. And there were fishermen everywhere, as well. We even saw a guy with trained birds on his boat - each bird had a perch, and it would dive down into the lake, snatch fish, bring them up, and give them to the guy. Amazing.
It felt really wonderful to be on that boat - the lake smelled just like the lakes at home. And it was nice to feel the wind on my face. There are reeds all over the place, so you can't see the full expanse of the lake, but I'm pretty certain that it was huge. So we rode for awhile, then got to this enormous area that had lotuses everywhere. It was like 50 times the size of the lotus pond here in town. There were boardwalks all over the place, and cool bridges...you just walked around and looked. It was really pretty. The heat started to get really, really intense, though, so it was hard to enjoy as the day wore on. We walked and walked and walked... There was a little area with indigenous deer, a little duck farming area, etc.
After a few hours walking around, we got back on the boat and went to an island with a building on it where we ate. I don't know if any of you remember Karate Kid 2, but there is a part at the end where they go to this show and the girl does this fan dance - the building we ate in looked just like the building on that movie. It was very cool, but not very....cool. It was stiflingly hot. And they weren't turning on the air-conditioners, which I couldn't understand.
And here's another thing I don't understand - at more formal restaurants, they serve drinks with your meal, but everywhere else, they don't. When we ask for drinks with any of our meals downstairs in our hotel, they look at us like, "Why would you want to drink with your meal??" So there were no drinks to be had in this building. And no air conditioning. Gage was drenched in sweat. I felt really badly for him. And he was just getting passed around and passed around to all of these adoring waitresses. He really is such a good sport. The meal was a typical Chinese meal - gross. :) There was rice, thank goodness, so we ate rice. And we had brought water bottles with us, so we drank from those. By the time we left, I felt like I had been in a Native American Sweat Lodge.
Then we went to another island, which I call Freak Show Island. Freaky Deaky. When we signed up for the tour, they said that we would see some traditional Thailand dancers. Um.....no. They were transvestites from Thailand!!! Hahaha!!! They were men. Who have had boob jobs. We were late for the show, so we only caught the tail end, but they were singing songs. We sat down and waited, because we thought there was a second show, but there wasn't. The singers were going around posing for pictures, and I just couldn't stop STARING at them. Neither could Micah. He loved them. He kept saying, "Princess." It was funny. I didn't tell Dylan or Sadie that they were men, and I don't think they could tell. Hahaha! So we were sitting there waiting for the second show, which never happened, and billions of people kept coming and taking pictures with us. I mean, it was nonstop. I just can't get used to that. Finally, one of the transvestites comes up to me and says, in English, "Don't let them take pictures of you unless they pay you." I was like, "Oh, okay...." And he/she said, "You are just so beautiful." And he/she kissed me on both cheeks. It was funny. And then he/she said, in Chinese, basically, "Shoo. Leave these people alone."
So then we went to another little area and watched a show where this guy did these things with alligators - his main trick was sticking his head in a crocodile's mouth - obviously, the croc was trained or whatever. But it was cool. Oh, and there were these synchronized swimmers who swam in this totally disgusting-looking pool. I'm not joking. It was greenish and mucky. When they came out, I thought, "There is no way they're getting in that water," but they did. They didn't look Asian - they looked European. They were really good swimmers. And then the last area was an enormous round cage where a guy in a motorcycle rode around and around - like in Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. But get this - the guy didn't have ARMS. I didn't see it, because I had to leave and feed the baby, but Ben and Dylan and Sadie couldn't stop talking about it when they came out. I guess he used his head and neck to drive the motorcycle - I just don't know how he did it.
Ben knew where to find me when they left the motorcycle area - he just had to find a crowd of people. I had gone to this covered, shaded area to feed the baby, and immediately, I was surrounded by women and men. They were fascinated by the baby. There was a little gal who looked to be maybe 14, and her English was pretty good. So she was kind of translating for me. This old lady poked me and grabbed her boob and said something. The teenager said that the lady was asking why I wasn't feeding the baby milk. So I told the girl that, in the U.S., we do only milk for the first four months, but then after that, we add other foods, but still do milk. I didn't even go into the fact that I use formula. Didn't want to open that can of worms. This one lady offered to hold the baby while I fed him, and she was thrilled to do it. So then they all wanted to know what on earth I was feeding him. So I pointed to each bowl and said what they were, and when the girl translated "rice" into Mandarin for them, they all gave a grunt of approval, like, "Well, at least this crazy westerner has something right..." When the baby's meal was over, it was time to change him, so I laid out his changing pad and got down to business, and everyone leaned in anxiously, like, "What is she going to do now???" When they saw a diaper on the baby, they were so bemused. "Why would this crazy foreigner put something on the baby's butt???" When I removed the diaper and wiped Gage down, they all gasped when they saw that he was circumcised. And then they all nudged each other and said, "Jew!" "Jew." Like, "Oh, she must be a Jew. Why else would she circumcise her child?" These people crack me up. I love it.
So, we took the boat back to the area our bus was in, and then we drove home for another two hours.
It was a long, hot, hard day. It was so interesting, but I seriously feel like I got run over by a truck. I really, really think we need to save the rest of our touring for when the weather is less hot. I just can't take it anymore. I think I'd rather be bored in my hotel then having heat stroke. It was hard on all of us.
Dylan has an idea that he cannot let go of. Surprised? Neither am I. They had all these areas where you could buy souvenirs, and a bunch of guys were selling teeny little pet turtles with their own little cages, etc. Oh, how the kids loved those turtles. Dylan has been begging me ever since to let him get a pet turtle. I really don't know how I feel about that. First of all, there's the feeding and the cleaning. And then Beads told me that her childhood friend, Bethany, had turtles, and you really can't handle them too much, and that they die easily. So, if they don't die while we're here, we'll have to find someone to give them to when we leave. It just sounds like a big old headache to me. We'll see. Maybe I can get him a cool toy sword or something instead. :)
We got a call last night from Professor Han - our apartment will definitely be ready by Sunday to move in. We have to go pick out sheets, comforters, and dishes and cookware this week. I cannot wait to get into a proper apartment.
We'll upload some pics to smugmug today or tomorrow of our adventures at Badda-Bing Lake and then send a link to you.
We hope everyone is well and having a fantastic end of your July. Love you!
- Kar
I haven't sent one of these out for awhile - there just wasn't much to say: "Yesterday, I picked my nose. The day before, I lay on the bed and stared at the wall..." Hahaha! I wanted to wait until there was something interesting to say. :)
And boy howdy, are there interesting things to tell you today.
So yesterday, we went with this touring group (via a travel agency that Summer found) to this lake called Baiyangdian Lake. I call it Badda-Bing Lake. :) We met in front of some hotel for the bus and got acquainted with the other Baoding folk who were going on this leetle excursion. We also got acquainted with three lady street vendors in front of the hotel. They were so in love with Gage that they left their grill unattended and got yelled at a couple of times by people who were trying to buy some food from them.
One of the ladies that went on our group wore whitish face makeup; I've noticed in the stores that, along with face wash and moisturizer and other facial care products, there is stuff that kind of whitens your skin pigment, and white-ish foundation. It's opposite in the U.S., eh? Everyone wants tanner skin, and buys bronzer. So funny.
So we got on the bus, and our little guide spoke a teeny bit of English, which was nice. He was a total sweetheart. We were joined by a local guide once we got to Badda-Bing Lake, and once we got there, she kind of took care of the rest of the group, and he was our constant companion. He kept offering to carry our 75 billion pound backpack and always made sure we were with the group. I just love the people here. Hearts of gold.
May I just say something about the music here - it SUCKS. I mean, when we were at the lake and walking around, I heard traditional Chinese music coming from speakers, and it was fantastic. You know, the stuff you hear when you watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which has a whole new meaning to me, now that I have to crouch to pee all the time) or Hero. Beautiful. But everywhere else - in restaurants and especially in this bus - they play the cheesiest, worst music ever. And they play it REALLY LOUDLY. Like, you have to shout to talk to each other in restaurants and in the bus yesterday. The music reminds me of church music circa the early nineties. Really over-emotional, kind of soft-rock like. I could actually understand some of the lyrics, which made me excited. It was stuff like, "You say blah blah blah....goodbye...I don't understand...blah blah blah..... I know....." So I think the lyrics were just as cheesy as the music itself. They also play a lot of the Carpenters and Kenny G, which is funny to me.
So we rode on the bus for about two hours, and in all that time, we never really left city. There were a few corn fields here and there, but it was major urban sprawl.
So we got there and got onto a motorboat-type thing. The boat reminded me of those boats you get on for that ride at Disneyland. I can't remember the name of the ride - Jungle Cruise? Something like that? Where you motor around in a boat, and the boat operators say all these funny puns, and there are plastic hippos who wiggle their ears, and plastic elephants who spray water out of their trunks, etc. You know the one I'm talking about? There were all kinds of boats on the lake - high-speed boats, old-fashioned Chinese rowboats, etc. And there were fishermen everywhere, as well. We even saw a guy with trained birds on his boat - each bird had a perch, and it would dive down into the lake, snatch fish, bring them up, and give them to the guy. Amazing.
It felt really wonderful to be on that boat - the lake smelled just like the lakes at home. And it was nice to feel the wind on my face. There are reeds all over the place, so you can't see the full expanse of the lake, but I'm pretty certain that it was huge. So we rode for awhile, then got to this enormous area that had lotuses everywhere. It was like 50 times the size of the lotus pond here in town. There were boardwalks all over the place, and cool bridges...you just walked around and looked. It was really pretty. The heat started to get really, really intense, though, so it was hard to enjoy as the day wore on. We walked and walked and walked... There was a little area with indigenous deer, a little duck farming area, etc.
After a few hours walking around, we got back on the boat and went to an island with a building on it where we ate. I don't know if any of you remember Karate Kid 2, but there is a part at the end where they go to this show and the girl does this fan dance - the building we ate in looked just like the building on that movie. It was very cool, but not very....cool. It was stiflingly hot. And they weren't turning on the air-conditioners, which I couldn't understand.
And here's another thing I don't understand - at more formal restaurants, they serve drinks with your meal, but everywhere else, they don't. When we ask for drinks with any of our meals downstairs in our hotel, they look at us like, "Why would you want to drink with your meal??" So there were no drinks to be had in this building. And no air conditioning. Gage was drenched in sweat. I felt really badly for him. And he was just getting passed around and passed around to all of these adoring waitresses. He really is such a good sport. The meal was a typical Chinese meal - gross. :) There was rice, thank goodness, so we ate rice. And we had brought water bottles with us, so we drank from those. By the time we left, I felt like I had been in a Native American Sweat Lodge.
Then we went to another island, which I call Freak Show Island. Freaky Deaky. When we signed up for the tour, they said that we would see some traditional Thailand dancers. Um.....no. They were transvestites from Thailand!!! Hahaha!!! They were men. Who have had boob jobs. We were late for the show, so we only caught the tail end, but they were singing songs. We sat down and waited, because we thought there was a second show, but there wasn't. The singers were going around posing for pictures, and I just couldn't stop STARING at them. Neither could Micah. He loved them. He kept saying, "Princess." It was funny. I didn't tell Dylan or Sadie that they were men, and I don't think they could tell. Hahaha! So we were sitting there waiting for the second show, which never happened, and billions of people kept coming and taking pictures with us. I mean, it was nonstop. I just can't get used to that. Finally, one of the transvestites comes up to me and says, in English, "Don't let them take pictures of you unless they pay you." I was like, "Oh, okay...." And he/she said, "You are just so beautiful." And he/she kissed me on both cheeks. It was funny. And then he/she said, in Chinese, basically, "Shoo. Leave these people alone."
So then we went to another little area and watched a show where this guy did these things with alligators - his main trick was sticking his head in a crocodile's mouth - obviously, the croc was trained or whatever. But it was cool. Oh, and there were these synchronized swimmers who swam in this totally disgusting-looking pool. I'm not joking. It was greenish and mucky. When they came out, I thought, "There is no way they're getting in that water," but they did. They didn't look Asian - they looked European. They were really good swimmers. And then the last area was an enormous round cage where a guy in a motorcycle rode around and around - like in Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. But get this - the guy didn't have ARMS. I didn't see it, because I had to leave and feed the baby, but Ben and Dylan and Sadie couldn't stop talking about it when they came out. I guess he used his head and neck to drive the motorcycle - I just don't know how he did it.
Ben knew where to find me when they left the motorcycle area - he just had to find a crowd of people. I had gone to this covered, shaded area to feed the baby, and immediately, I was surrounded by women and men. They were fascinated by the baby. There was a little gal who looked to be maybe 14, and her English was pretty good. So she was kind of translating for me. This old lady poked me and grabbed her boob and said something. The teenager said that the lady was asking why I wasn't feeding the baby milk. So I told the girl that, in the U.S., we do only milk for the first four months, but then after that, we add other foods, but still do milk. I didn't even go into the fact that I use formula. Didn't want to open that can of worms. This one lady offered to hold the baby while I fed him, and she was thrilled to do it. So then they all wanted to know what on earth I was feeding him. So I pointed to each bowl and said what they were, and when the girl translated "rice" into Mandarin for them, they all gave a grunt of approval, like, "Well, at least this crazy westerner has something right..." When the baby's meal was over, it was time to change him, so I laid out his changing pad and got down to business, and everyone leaned in anxiously, like, "What is she going to do now???" When they saw a diaper on the baby, they were so bemused. "Why would this crazy foreigner put something on the baby's butt???" When I removed the diaper and wiped Gage down, they all gasped when they saw that he was circumcised. And then they all nudged each other and said, "Jew!" "Jew." Like, "Oh, she must be a Jew. Why else would she circumcise her child?" These people crack me up. I love it.
So, we took the boat back to the area our bus was in, and then we drove home for another two hours.
It was a long, hot, hard day. It was so interesting, but I seriously feel like I got run over by a truck. I really, really think we need to save the rest of our touring for when the weather is less hot. I just can't take it anymore. I think I'd rather be bored in my hotel then having heat stroke. It was hard on all of us.
Dylan has an idea that he cannot let go of. Surprised? Neither am I. They had all these areas where you could buy souvenirs, and a bunch of guys were selling teeny little pet turtles with their own little cages, etc. Oh, how the kids loved those turtles. Dylan has been begging me ever since to let him get a pet turtle. I really don't know how I feel about that. First of all, there's the feeding and the cleaning. And then Beads told me that her childhood friend, Bethany, had turtles, and you really can't handle them too much, and that they die easily. So, if they don't die while we're here, we'll have to find someone to give them to when we leave. It just sounds like a big old headache to me. We'll see. Maybe I can get him a cool toy sword or something instead. :)
We got a call last night from Professor Han - our apartment will definitely be ready by Sunday to move in. We have to go pick out sheets, comforters, and dishes and cookware this week. I cannot wait to get into a proper apartment.
We'll upload some pics to smugmug today or tomorrow of our adventures at Badda-Bing Lake and then send a link to you.
We hope everyone is well and having a fantastic end of your July. Love you!
- Kar
July 21 - Not much to talk about...
Hey, guys,
Just wanted to let you know that we're still here! We haven't done much this week, so there wasn't much to say. Summer is arranging a little trip for us to Beijing through a local travel agency - five days long, hitting all of the bit sites up there - The Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, Olympic Park, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't remember. Hopefully we'll leave in a couple of days. I'm soooooo excited to be seeing these things I've been reading about since I was a kid. And I'm soooo excited to get out of the dang hotel room. My heck. We all have cabin fever pretty bad. :)
So I got Nat, Pooh, Jake, and Troy birthday presents (you're next, Pats), found some wrapping paper and birthday cards on Stinky Street, along with tape, and scissors to cut the wrapping paper and the tape (I can't find normal tape dispensers here. You have to sit and cut it with scissors - a pain). So I got it all ready and asked Summer to help me at the post office.
Ohhhhh, what an ordeal. It took, like, an hour and a half to get these dang things sent. I swear these girls had never, ever mailed anything to another country before. I had to fill out like seventeen different forms...it was crazy. And then it cost me like $20 to send these teeny little things. I couldn't believe it.
I was so proud of myself yesterday - Sadie and I grabbed some soda on Stinky Street, and the lady said something to me, which I obviously didn't understand. It's so funny, when I shrug, or indicate that I don't understand, they just keep repeating themselves. No attempt at acting it out, or just letting it go...no. They think I'll figure out what they're saying if they keep repeating themselves. So I finally remembered the phrase I learned from Rosetta Stone: "Wa bo ming bai ni schwa shemma." - "I don't understand what you are saying to me." And she understood! Gooooooo ME!
I forgot to tell you guys - people of the same sex often walk along, holding hands. Especially the women. When I first got here, I was like, "Wow, there are a lot of lesbians in China." But then I read that, often, people who are just really good friends often walk hand-in-hand, and that it seldom has any sexual overtones. And that you need to be careful about making physical contact with members of the opposite sex - that they might get the wrong idea. So, if I was to, say, pat one of Ben's work associates on his arm or something, that would be considered really inappropriate. Interesting, huh?
Well, I'm going to go - I want to play some Plants vs. Zombies. It's my new obsession.
Oh, and Nat, Pooh, Jake, and Troy - your presents won't get there for two weeks. Sorry 'bout that. OH, and Mom, I got a birthday card for Aunt Terri and sent it to her, too.
Alright, friends, I'm outta here. Gonna kill me some zombies.
Lovies,
Kar
Just wanted to let you know that we're still here! We haven't done much this week, so there wasn't much to say. Summer is arranging a little trip for us to Beijing through a local travel agency - five days long, hitting all of the bit sites up there - The Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, Olympic Park, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't remember. Hopefully we'll leave in a couple of days. I'm soooooo excited to be seeing these things I've been reading about since I was a kid. And I'm soooo excited to get out of the dang hotel room. My heck. We all have cabin fever pretty bad. :)
So I got Nat, Pooh, Jake, and Troy birthday presents (you're next, Pats), found some wrapping paper and birthday cards on Stinky Street, along with tape, and scissors to cut the wrapping paper and the tape (I can't find normal tape dispensers here. You have to sit and cut it with scissors - a pain). So I got it all ready and asked Summer to help me at the post office.
Ohhhhh, what an ordeal. It took, like, an hour and a half to get these dang things sent. I swear these girls had never, ever mailed anything to another country before. I had to fill out like seventeen different forms...it was crazy. And then it cost me like $20 to send these teeny little things. I couldn't believe it.
I was so proud of myself yesterday - Sadie and I grabbed some soda on Stinky Street, and the lady said something to me, which I obviously didn't understand. It's so funny, when I shrug, or indicate that I don't understand, they just keep repeating themselves. No attempt at acting it out, or just letting it go...no. They think I'll figure out what they're saying if they keep repeating themselves. So I finally remembered the phrase I learned from Rosetta Stone: "Wa bo ming bai ni schwa shemma." - "I don't understand what you are saying to me." And she understood! Gooooooo ME!
I forgot to tell you guys - people of the same sex often walk along, holding hands. Especially the women. When I first got here, I was like, "Wow, there are a lot of lesbians in China." But then I read that, often, people who are just really good friends often walk hand-in-hand, and that it seldom has any sexual overtones. And that you need to be careful about making physical contact with members of the opposite sex - that they might get the wrong idea. So, if I was to, say, pat one of Ben's work associates on his arm or something, that would be considered really inappropriate. Interesting, huh?
Well, I'm going to go - I want to play some Plants vs. Zombies. It's my new obsession.
Oh, and Nat, Pooh, Jake, and Troy - your presents won't get there for two weeks. Sorry 'bout that. OH, and Mom, I got a birthday card for Aunt Terri and sent it to her, too.
Alright, friends, I'm outta here. Gonna kill me some zombies.
Lovies,
Kar
July 20 - Pictures from Ben's birthday party
Hey, friends, Here are the pics from Ben's birthday party: http://utahben.smugmug.com/Travel/Bens-Birthday-with-our-New/18136724_CQcp9D#1392326133_DtT3SCx Also, Ben told me that, when I uploaded a bunch of pictures to our "Travel" folder on smugmug, I accidentally marked them "private photos only" or something. So we fixed that so that everyone can view them. So you might want to take another little visit over there: http://utahben.smugmug.com/Travel
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
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
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