Pictures and Discoveries

Fact number 1 - I found out this week that Beijing adds another 15,000 cars to the road every month!  No wonder no one can get anywhere!

Discovery 1 - The world's greatest vending machine (first picture)  Put in a few coins and this baby actually gives you a roasting hot, entirely whole sweet potato, and they are NOT SMALL!  Wouldn't it be strange if China was facing a similar school funding scandal that North America faces? The evil sweet potato vending machine companies only give funding to schools if they agree to put vending machines in their lobby, leading kids to eating too many yams and becoming overweight!

Discovery 2 - As Jude was eating a hot dog at a small shop the other day, he became the subject for a charcoal artist.  Second picture.

Discovery 3 - The apartment complex beside Ari's school really hates saxophones - picture 3

Discovery 4 - Ari and Jude always cuddle and kiss each other's cheeks on the bus when other people are watching, leading to a chorus of coos and awes. Picture 4

Discovery 5 - Ari told me he knows how to use chopsticks the other day.  As far as we knew he had never used them but when I gave him pair, he proceeded to eat his whole meal with them.  I suppose this is a product of school.  Picture 5

Discovery 6 - It seems that Aiyi has decided that she is my Chinese mother for the time that James is gone.  This week she has been caring for me in a very motherly way.  She does things like making sure I have an apple cut for me when I go out the door for school.  Even though she has never really cooked for us, this week she made supper for the boys and I four times.  If she has seen me about to do something, she quickly runs and does it ahead of me.  Its a kind of nice discovery.  When I'm the big one in the house, it is unexpectedly nice to have the sensation that someone is watching me closely for signs of tiredness or ways to help that go above and beyond her job.  We prayed a lot about who we would entrust our children to, and I think God brought us the right person.

James comes home tomorrow!  Hurray!