Well, here I am writing from Phnom Penh! I warn that this may be the last post before a long silence from the Mainland. We have been experiencing much more internet blocks in the last few weeks and have decided that the benefits of using the proxy do not outweight the risks. Since I am able to write out of country, I will do so (probably for the last time). If you care to recieve updates by email, please send us an email at freynfrey@gmail.com and we will include you in any group emails we send. That is ofcourse assuming that gmail remains easily accessible! As I mentioned earlier, Facebook is already a casualty.
I am enjoying my time very much here. I have visited some projects, met with many other MCCers and met some aquaintences of James'. It really is a nice and relaxed country. I knew the China was fast paced, but I only realized how much when arriving here. The people are so nice, so gentle. The buildings are simultaneously old and dilapidated, and yet so astoundingly beautiful. I've been told that they are experiencing a cold streak here, which means that I've been able to sleep comfortably at night.
Many of the things I heard about are still here. The cheesy Chinese martial arts movies with bad Khmer overdubs. The Tintin clothing. The street sellers with the sandwich of french bread, coconut ice cream, sweetened condensed milk and peanuts. The noodle man went by with his cart, tapping away on some empty gourds. Ma, Diana and Laura, I saw your old house today and went inside. It is now a preschool with a pool in the front yard and the Pakistani embassy across the street. I also saw the school. I have lots of pictures of everything.
Tomorrow I go to a Cambodian church and see some friends in the morning, and then the workshops start in the evening and go for the next three days. It has been a wonderful time so far, but as usual, I pine for news from James and boys to know that everything is alright. So often I am astounded by the fact that James is not here, because it certainly seems like he should be. But I feel like I now have a window into why he loved being here so much. If things go in the right directions, I think it highly likely we might be here someday.
Before I sign off for a very long time, I have to tell one horribly embarassing parent story. Last week we went to buy some milk with the boys. A lady was at the fridge in front of us so we were waiting for her to move out of the way so we could get our milk. She was slightly bent over and I suppose that it was too great a temptation for Jude to bear, for he stuck his thumb out and shoved it hard into her crack (to our horror, right at the sphincter area). She swung around with looks of accusation on her face and of course looked straight at James and I. Not for the first time in my life, I wanted to kick myself that my automatic reaction to something when I am nervous is to laugh! Of all things! What are you supposed to say in a situation like that? All we could really do is let her see that we reprimanded Jude and try to say sorry! Oh dear! How many more of these are we in for!
Best Wishes to you all. Hopefully the internet opens up again sometime soon!
July 18, 2009
July 08, 2009
Happenings
Greetings from the Mainland!
It feels strange to finally be in the season that we are accustomed to calling summer, when it feels like we've been in summer for 3 months already. The temperatures daily spike well into the 30's and often well into the 40's. For the first time in our lives we have air conditioning. We are unable to open any windows here, because our windows have no screens (or screens that move when pushed). Being on the third floor of an apartment and having a spiked fence below the window, it is a little nerve racking to have the windows open. Especially since the windows are only 3 ft off the floor and have a delightful, foot-wide ledge that the boys like to play on. Mothers just love the mental images that come with those combinations!
Anyway, I have never operated air conditioners before, so I am still learning that. It either is too cold or not cool enough (however, I feel that I can mostly blame it on the fact that every button on the air conditioner is in Chinese, so we sort of just hit buttons until it seems to do what we want!). Similarly, our washing machine has all kinds of fancy settings on it, but likewise is all in Chinese characters. We just turn it on and then hit the largest, most obvious button. So who knows, cold wash/cold rinse, warm wash/cold rinse? If you come to visit us, don't bring any "delicates"!
After about a month of James and I riding a tide of confidence in speaking Chinese, we have both simultaneously crashed. Our brains have shut down, we have no will to study and every day of lessons brings a new revelation of all the mistakes we are making. It really is terribly discouraging. We reached a point where we could say what we wanted (brokenly) and be understood. I think we were so happy to finally reach that point that we slacked off, and now we are paying for it. But it is hard to get that same amount of will and effort back up again.
Another problem is that we learn 10 new characters for every lesson finished, which makes for about 10 to 20 new characters per week. Usually the text book writes out the Chinese word with our (more recognizable) alphabet with the tone used written over top of the word. Once you get used to the different pronunciations of familiar letters and using tones, it is quite a friendly system. However, whenever we learn more characters, it stops writing out the word like this, after that it is brute memorization of which character represents which word with which tone. In short, if you don't learn and study the characters carefully, you make many, very embarrassing mistakes! Now I am forgetting even the most basic words because I have not been studying enough. Ahhhhh!
According to Wikipedia, there are some 47,000 Chinese characters, each representing a different word. But apparently, most Chinese people can only recognize a few thousand.
According to my textbook, I should be able to recognize 140. James has devoted more time to characters than I have, and is consequently doing much better than I. In addition to this, Chinese is not subdivided into individual words. So even if two characters together make a word, they are not obviously placed together. All of the characters are evenly spaced apart. Thus, when I read Chinese, I sound like a robot.
Today, James is off on another trip. He flew out this morning and will return by midmorning tomorrow on the overnight train. I am going to Cambodia as mentioned earlier. I will be leaving next week on the 15th and returning on the 23rd. I have a few days of visiting projects as a guest, a few days with old acquaintances of James', and a few days of workshops. I am very glad to have people to connect with while I am there. I was very concerned that I would end up in Cambodia and be stuck alone in a hotel with no idea of where to go or how to get around.
James has told me so much about living in Cambodia. From the smells you smell, when getting off the plane, to the sound the "noodle-cart" man makes as he comes down the street, to the feeling of an approaching monsoon, to hearing some old Khmer woman speaking in a loud staccato in the street. I'll be waiting for it all (in full awareness that much must have changed in the 13 years since).
We will probably begin an online photo album to impart some of these (and other) experiences. It seems for the time being that Facebook has joined the growing number of prominent websites that are currently unavailable, even with a proxy.
Farewell!
It feels strange to finally be in the season that we are accustomed to calling summer, when it feels like we've been in summer for 3 months already. The temperatures daily spike well into the 30's and often well into the 40's. For the first time in our lives we have air conditioning. We are unable to open any windows here, because our windows have no screens (or screens that move when pushed). Being on the third floor of an apartment and having a spiked fence below the window, it is a little nerve racking to have the windows open. Especially since the windows are only 3 ft off the floor and have a delightful, foot-wide ledge that the boys like to play on. Mothers just love the mental images that come with those combinations!
Anyway, I have never operated air conditioners before, so I am still learning that. It either is too cold or not cool enough (however, I feel that I can mostly blame it on the fact that every button on the air conditioner is in Chinese, so we sort of just hit buttons until it seems to do what we want!). Similarly, our washing machine has all kinds of fancy settings on it, but likewise is all in Chinese characters. We just turn it on and then hit the largest, most obvious button. So who knows, cold wash/cold rinse, warm wash/cold rinse? If you come to visit us, don't bring any "delicates"!
After about a month of James and I riding a tide of confidence in speaking Chinese, we have both simultaneously crashed. Our brains have shut down, we have no will to study and every day of lessons brings a new revelation of all the mistakes we are making. It really is terribly discouraging. We reached a point where we could say what we wanted (brokenly) and be understood. I think we were so happy to finally reach that point that we slacked off, and now we are paying for it. But it is hard to get that same amount of will and effort back up again.
Another problem is that we learn 10 new characters for every lesson finished, which makes for about 10 to 20 new characters per week. Usually the text book writes out the Chinese word with our (more recognizable) alphabet with the tone used written over top of the word. Once you get used to the different pronunciations of familiar letters and using tones, it is quite a friendly system. However, whenever we learn more characters, it stops writing out the word like this, after that it is brute memorization of which character represents which word with which tone. In short, if you don't learn and study the characters carefully, you make many, very embarrassing mistakes! Now I am forgetting even the most basic words because I have not been studying enough. Ahhhhh!
According to Wikipedia, there are some 47,000 Chinese characters, each representing a different word. But apparently, most Chinese people can only recognize a few thousand.
According to my textbook, I should be able to recognize 140. James has devoted more time to characters than I have, and is consequently doing much better than I. In addition to this, Chinese is not subdivided into individual words. So even if two characters together make a word, they are not obviously placed together. All of the characters are evenly spaced apart. Thus, when I read Chinese, I sound like a robot.
Today, James is off on another trip. He flew out this morning and will return by midmorning tomorrow on the overnight train. I am going to Cambodia as mentioned earlier. I will be leaving next week on the 15th and returning on the 23rd. I have a few days of visiting projects as a guest, a few days with old acquaintances of James', and a few days of workshops. I am very glad to have people to connect with while I am there. I was very concerned that I would end up in Cambodia and be stuck alone in a hotel with no idea of where to go or how to get around.
James has told me so much about living in Cambodia. From the smells you smell, when getting off the plane, to the sound the "noodle-cart" man makes as he comes down the street, to the feeling of an approaching monsoon, to hearing some old Khmer woman speaking in a loud staccato in the street. I'll be waiting for it all (in full awareness that much must have changed in the 13 years since).
We will probably begin an online photo album to impart some of these (and other) experiences. It seems for the time being that Facebook has joined the growing number of prominent websites that are currently unavailable, even with a proxy.
Farewell!
June 30, 2009
Happy Canada Day!
As patriotic Canadians, we feel the need to mention that today is the 142 Anniversary of the British North American Act of 1867 which united the four provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Back in 2003 when I drove past Confederation House, where it was signed, on Prince Edward Island, I felt a strong twinge of Canadian Pride.
It has been very enlightening to view Canada from the outside and to see what others think about it. I used to think that Canada was pretty much the same on a world scale as any other white dominated, developed nation (like the US and most European countries). I suddenly see now that much of what makes Canada famous really is unique. Its rugged outdoor and vast expanses reputation really is deserved. I took it for granted that I interacted with nature everyday and that going camping was as simple as driving a short distance. Wildlife really does abound in Canada and there really are tons of great fishing lakes scattered all over. There are many Canadians who will disagree with me, but they are the ones who generally stay in the cities!
Thats the other thing... I love that Canadian cities are nice and small. I don't think any city will seem big after Beijing (except the ones that actually are bigger like Mumbai, Shanghai and Tokyo). Chinese cities in general are very good at packing a huge number of people into a small space via towering apartment buildings. When you are crowded by buildings, crowded by the throngs of people and vendors on the side walk, crowded on the bus and even crowded on the playground, it doesn't really matter how big the city is... you are just crowded! Canadian cities are wonderfully open and sprawling. 3 Beijings make 1 Canada.
Canada really does have an assortment of cultures. The Chinese people here think that we must be terribly talanted to be able to cook Italian, Greek, American, German, Ukranian, French, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian etc. cuisine. It has never stood out to us that in Canada we eat a variety of ethnic foods, but here in China it has become very obvious. Chinese people eat Chinese food... nothing else. Of course this makes sense and there is nothing wrong with that. But it makes us realize that there is, in essence no such thing as Canadian food.
Here is a peak into our favorite parts of Canadian History. James loves the voyageurs. He would love to dress like a Voyageur, have a chance to speak his French fluently and throw himself into canoeing and portaging. A few Christmas' ago, I made him a beaded Voyageur scarf, and in the winter he would not venture outside without tying it snuggly around his waist. I have personally always enjoyed the early exploration and settlement era. Jaques Cartier and Alexander Mackenzie. The settling along the St. Lawrence River. The cunning of Generals Wolfe and Montcalm in the battle at the Plains of Abraham. I have a great picture of me rolling down a hill at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.
So here's to Canada, a wonderful place to call my home. Happy Canada Day!
It has been very enlightening to view Canada from the outside and to see what others think about it. I used to think that Canada was pretty much the same on a world scale as any other white dominated, developed nation (like the US and most European countries). I suddenly see now that much of what makes Canada famous really is unique. Its rugged outdoor and vast expanses reputation really is deserved. I took it for granted that I interacted with nature everyday and that going camping was as simple as driving a short distance. Wildlife really does abound in Canada and there really are tons of great fishing lakes scattered all over. There are many Canadians who will disagree with me, but they are the ones who generally stay in the cities!
Thats the other thing... I love that Canadian cities are nice and small. I don't think any city will seem big after Beijing (except the ones that actually are bigger like Mumbai, Shanghai and Tokyo). Chinese cities in general are very good at packing a huge number of people into a small space via towering apartment buildings. When you are crowded by buildings, crowded by the throngs of people and vendors on the side walk, crowded on the bus and even crowded on the playground, it doesn't really matter how big the city is... you are just crowded! Canadian cities are wonderfully open and sprawling. 3 Beijings make 1 Canada.
Canada really does have an assortment of cultures. The Chinese people here think that we must be terribly talanted to be able to cook Italian, Greek, American, German, Ukranian, French, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian etc. cuisine. It has never stood out to us that in Canada we eat a variety of ethnic foods, but here in China it has become very obvious. Chinese people eat Chinese food... nothing else. Of course this makes sense and there is nothing wrong with that. But it makes us realize that there is, in essence no such thing as Canadian food.
Here is a peak into our favorite parts of Canadian History. James loves the voyageurs. He would love to dress like a Voyageur, have a chance to speak his French fluently and throw himself into canoeing and portaging. A few Christmas' ago, I made him a beaded Voyageur scarf, and in the winter he would not venture outside without tying it snuggly around his waist. I have personally always enjoyed the early exploration and settlement era. Jaques Cartier and Alexander Mackenzie. The settling along the St. Lawrence River. The cunning of Generals Wolfe and Montcalm in the battle at the Plains of Abraham. I have a great picture of me rolling down a hill at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City.
So here's to Canada, a wonderful place to call my home. Happy Canada Day!
June 29, 2009
Ari's Brain Strikes Again!
Just in case we had forgotten that our son is a genius, he has swiftly reminded us in the last few days. The last great strike was around March of 2008 (not yet three) when he asked us what a few countries were on the world map on our wall and a few days later remembered what they were and where. Things led to things, and before we knew it, he knew the names of all the countries in North and South America, 75% of Africa and about 75% of Asia, several strange and remote islands (like Reunion, Mauritious and Svalbard) and a few European countries (European countries are too small of the world map). If only we were able to post videos, I would post a video we have of Ari naming all the countries on the map, and ending by peeing on James' knee (its like we asked him to prove that he was actually still a potty training toddler!)
Well, I suppose that even amazing things like this become normal to your average block headed parent, and in due course James and I have let the knowledge that our son is swift as a lightening bolt lie dormant in our minds. Well, about a week ago, Ari decided that he wanted me to read Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever to him. This is ofcourse a collection of strange little British poems using big British words, in rhyme and rhythm. There are about 50 in a row, so I read the entire book to him twice and a few others one time. So, tops, he heard them three times (one or two maybe four times). Because I didn't think he would be that interested in them, I read them through without hardly stopping to pause between each of the fifty.
Well, low and behold, on Sunday James and I were relaxing in the living room and Ari and Jude were busily putting Curious George to bed. Ari decided that Curious George needed a bedtime story and what did we hear coming from his room (without skipping a beat)?
"Hey Didddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon!"
and
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers (Ari actually said peckers!)
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"
James and I stared at each other open mouthed. Not only did he get almost all the words, he even had the right pitch and tempo, raising and lowering his voice at all the appropriate times. When we decided to test him to see how much he knew, we were treated with about 15 others that he knew. Below, I write a few that were my favorites to hear coming out of his mouth.
"One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather
I chanced to meet an old man, clothed all in leather,
Clothed all in leather, with a cap under his chin,
How do you do and how do you do,
And how do you do again!"
"Hickity, Pickity, my fine hen,
She lays eggs for gentlemen,
Gentlemen come every day,
To see what my fine hen doth lay,
Sometimes nine and sometimes ten,
Hickity Pickity, my fine hen"
"There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit, and they scratched and they bit,
Til excepting their nails and the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren't any!"
What a memory! I tell you this kid is really showing us his artistic streak these days. He has also taken up coloring in the last few weeks, and he'll spend up to three hours a day carefully staying in the lines. Along with the fact that he's been experiencing growth pains at night time, we are becoming very aware that he truly is both physically and mentally growing and developing interests. He is also starting to respond to humor from instinct instead of copying other people's reaction. If he sees something funny on a movie, he laughs instinctually, and it is very interesting for us to see what kinds of things he finds funny. I don't think he realizes that if we watch a movie, James and I are usually watching him.
It is especially rewarding since this is the first time we've been able to observe these types of developmental changes (as opposed to baby development). I'm sure that all the seasoned parents are smiling because we are being so typical for thinking that our child is a genius. And maybe we do suffer from naivety, but certainly we are, for the most part, just very proud of Ari!
Well, I suppose that even amazing things like this become normal to your average block headed parent, and in due course James and I have let the knowledge that our son is swift as a lightening bolt lie dormant in our minds. Well, about a week ago, Ari decided that he wanted me to read Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever to him. This is ofcourse a collection of strange little British poems using big British words, in rhyme and rhythm. There are about 50 in a row, so I read the entire book to him twice and a few others one time. So, tops, he heard them three times (one or two maybe four times). Because I didn't think he would be that interested in them, I read them through without hardly stopping to pause between each of the fifty.
Well, low and behold, on Sunday James and I were relaxing in the living room and Ari and Jude were busily putting Curious George to bed. Ari decided that Curious George needed a bedtime story and what did we hear coming from his room (without skipping a beat)?
"Hey Didddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon!"
and
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers (Ari actually said peckers!)
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"
James and I stared at each other open mouthed. Not only did he get almost all the words, he even had the right pitch and tempo, raising and lowering his voice at all the appropriate times. When we decided to test him to see how much he knew, we were treated with about 15 others that he knew. Below, I write a few that were my favorites to hear coming out of his mouth.
"One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather
I chanced to meet an old man, clothed all in leather,
Clothed all in leather, with a cap under his chin,
How do you do and how do you do,
And how do you do again!"
"Hickity, Pickity, my fine hen,
She lays eggs for gentlemen,
Gentlemen come every day,
To see what my fine hen doth lay,
Sometimes nine and sometimes ten,
Hickity Pickity, my fine hen"
"There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit, and they scratched and they bit,
Til excepting their nails and the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren't any!"
What a memory! I tell you this kid is really showing us his artistic streak these days. He has also taken up coloring in the last few weeks, and he'll spend up to three hours a day carefully staying in the lines. Along with the fact that he's been experiencing growth pains at night time, we are becoming very aware that he truly is both physically and mentally growing and developing interests. He is also starting to respond to humor from instinct instead of copying other people's reaction. If he sees something funny on a movie, he laughs instinctually, and it is very interesting for us to see what kinds of things he finds funny. I don't think he realizes that if we watch a movie, James and I are usually watching him.
It is especially rewarding since this is the first time we've been able to observe these types of developmental changes (as opposed to baby development). I'm sure that all the seasoned parents are smiling because we are being so typical for thinking that our child is a genius. And maybe we do suffer from naivety, but certainly we are, for the most part, just very proud of Ari!
June 25, 2009
Learning to Fly and How to be Rude in China
Our number of flying expeditions having increased exponentially in the last four months, we had plenty of time to think about flying. Or rather, I (Jess) have been thinking about it and reflecting to James. I have come to the startling realization that I am actually part of the crowd that really dislikes flying. I dislike everything about it. Going through thousands of lineups (where some Chinese man is inevitably trying to cut you out of line with his gigantor pile of luggage) in crowded, massive airports. The waiting and the taxiing. The feeling of the plane being tossed around as it takes off. The turbulence and sudden drops where your stomach hits your throat. The dryness of eyes and throat because of all the air vents going. Coming down for landing (especially yesterday in Chengdu where it was so cloudy and smoggy that even though I knew we were descending, I couldn't see the ground until our wheels hit the landing strip). The jolt of hitting the ground and feeling of the powerful, forward motion of the plane resisting its sudden stop.
I shouldn't be too surprised at this revelation, since I uniformly dislike any kind of sport that sends me flying in a forward motion down hills, on ice or on wheels. I love all sports except those.
I'm not complaining, but since we can expect to be flying fairly frequently here, I have to at least learn to pretend that I don't mind it. And so I keep my look of nonchalance as my mind ponders the fact that I am rocketing through the atmosphere in a strange column over land and sea, mountain and valley, through storm or calm. I admit that it does not help to hear about all the crashes and missing planes as of late, or having a Chinese acquaintance that loves to tell me about malfunctioning Chinese transportation and all their ensuing fires and terrible endings.
But I was fairly proud of myself yesterday as I flew to and from Chengdu. Flying always reminds me of how humans are like grass, here one day and gone the next, and that my fragile life is in the hands of this too powerful machine. But strangely enough, thinking of myself as grass is terribly comforting, because it also reminds me that God is eternal and that his power and his glory will continue to exist, regardless of my grass-like existence. On the plane yesterday, I became strangely grateful that this little piece of grass is known and loved by Jesus and knows and loves him in return. My heart still skipped a beat during the turbulence that tossed us to and fro and threw me off balance in the bathroom. But a prevailing calm was also there from the knowledge that I am not as important as I think I am, but at the same time more valuable than I know.
How's that for philosophical? We haven't had too many of those on this blog!
In other knews, I learned another valuable lesson recently. I learned that I need to learn how to be rude in a way that is acceptable in China and unacceptable in Canada. When trying to find a taxi yesterday in Chengdu, we waited for at least 15 minutes (an unheard of wait, since you can usually wave your pinky finger and have 10 waiting at a moments notice). When one finally came a strange woman ran forward to try and grab the taxi before we could. My much swifter traveling companion managed to grab the door half a second before she did and I practically threw myself into the taxi before she could do it herself. As we pulled away, I informed the other MCCer that he had received quite a pouty glare from the woman with flashy high heels and sparkling beaded bag. Since we had clearly marked that corner as ours, and were clearly in the right, we had us a little chuckle as we drove away. Would people do this in Canada? Only if they are VERY rude!
The second learning incident was when I took Ari and Jude to the pool the other night. The wading pool and the adult pool are divided by a two foot divider. Ari was in a pool ring, so that I didn't have to worry as much about him, but I had to follow Jude around like a stalker. There was a woman in the adult pool who was so enthralled with Ari that she was trying to convince him to come over the divide into her pool. I had to yell across the pool to instruct Ari not to go. The woman heard me but was practically grabbing him to come over. I literally had to tell her "He is not going with you. He is staying in this pool" and motion to her that I wanted her to leave him alone. This happened three times! On a side note, I was very proud of Ari. He listened very well and turned away from her and ignored her. But I felt like slugging her pretty good for trying to undermine a mother's right to protect her child! Again this would not happen in Canada. I felt very, very rude but I wasn't about to let that happen.
Lessons, lessons, everyday there are more!
I shouldn't be too surprised at this revelation, since I uniformly dislike any kind of sport that sends me flying in a forward motion down hills, on ice or on wheels. I love all sports except those.
I'm not complaining, but since we can expect to be flying fairly frequently here, I have to at least learn to pretend that I don't mind it. And so I keep my look of nonchalance as my mind ponders the fact that I am rocketing through the atmosphere in a strange column over land and sea, mountain and valley, through storm or calm. I admit that it does not help to hear about all the crashes and missing planes as of late, or having a Chinese acquaintance that loves to tell me about malfunctioning Chinese transportation and all their ensuing fires and terrible endings.
But I was fairly proud of myself yesterday as I flew to and from Chengdu. Flying always reminds me of how humans are like grass, here one day and gone the next, and that my fragile life is in the hands of this too powerful machine. But strangely enough, thinking of myself as grass is terribly comforting, because it also reminds me that God is eternal and that his power and his glory will continue to exist, regardless of my grass-like existence. On the plane yesterday, I became strangely grateful that this little piece of grass is known and loved by Jesus and knows and loves him in return. My heart still skipped a beat during the turbulence that tossed us to and fro and threw me off balance in the bathroom. But a prevailing calm was also there from the knowledge that I am not as important as I think I am, but at the same time more valuable than I know.
How's that for philosophical? We haven't had too many of those on this blog!
In other knews, I learned another valuable lesson recently. I learned that I need to learn how to be rude in a way that is acceptable in China and unacceptable in Canada. When trying to find a taxi yesterday in Chengdu, we waited for at least 15 minutes (an unheard of wait, since you can usually wave your pinky finger and have 10 waiting at a moments notice). When one finally came a strange woman ran forward to try and grab the taxi before we could. My much swifter traveling companion managed to grab the door half a second before she did and I practically threw myself into the taxi before she could do it herself. As we pulled away, I informed the other MCCer that he had received quite a pouty glare from the woman with flashy high heels and sparkling beaded bag. Since we had clearly marked that corner as ours, and were clearly in the right, we had us a little chuckle as we drove away. Would people do this in Canada? Only if they are VERY rude!
The second learning incident was when I took Ari and Jude to the pool the other night. The wading pool and the adult pool are divided by a two foot divider. Ari was in a pool ring, so that I didn't have to worry as much about him, but I had to follow Jude around like a stalker. There was a woman in the adult pool who was so enthralled with Ari that she was trying to convince him to come over the divide into her pool. I had to yell across the pool to instruct Ari not to go. The woman heard me but was practically grabbing him to come over. I literally had to tell her "He is not going with you. He is staying in this pool" and motion to her that I wanted her to leave him alone. This happened three times! On a side note, I was very proud of Ari. He listened very well and turned away from her and ignored her. But I felt like slugging her pretty good for trying to undermine a mother's right to protect her child! Again this would not happen in Canada. I felt very, very rude but I wasn't about to let that happen.
Lessons, lessons, everyday there are more!
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