We're at the one hundred day mark here in China and so far, so good! It's past the mid point of the first semester too.
The Chinese love foreign kids! Everywhere we go, people smile and say "hello", teenagers want their picture on their cell phones, ladies will put them on their lap on the bus and grandpas are constantly giving candy. We've received a few puzzled looks if we mention that the kids are adopted. Although thousands of Chinese children (mostly girls) are adopted internationally and domestically every year, adoption is not well known to the average citizen. Most people are very accepting. However, ever since knowing that our kids are adopted, one parent from the kids' school no longer speaks to us! Many of the blogs that I read are wriiten by Caucasian parents in China with their adopted Chinese child(ren). They are constantly questioned and stared at. Today, while shoppping at Carrefour, Carlos and I were waiting for Gustavo and Elena to come back from picking up an item. A grandmother stopped, looked at me, looked at Carlos, touched her face and said something that included the word "Baba" - father. She was asking me if Carlos' father had the darker skin! Then she kept repeating and pointing to us about our difference in skin tones, shaking her head as if to say "impossible!". I do often wonder when the four of are out and about if people assume I'm the step-mother, since the kids and Gustavo share the "latino look".
Now that we are pretty much in a routine, know our way around some and the sheer overwhelmingness has subsided, Gustavo and I have decided to become more serious about learning Chinese. This week we will start a language exchange with one of the university students - 30 minutes of English for her and 30 minutes of Chinese for us. We are getting frustrated not knowing much more than from our days in Shanghai. Gustavo has been studying and trying more than me. His learning style is very different than mine. He likes the integrated approach: with words and sentences, he wants to hear, say, see and write it. In language learning and teaching, there is a method called the Natural Approach, where one component is a "silent period". This is akin to a baby learning a language. A baby will take in a language silently for months, then suddenly begin to speak. This is how I operate. I like to hear the language for a while, then pick out sounds and words, and put more and more together to form my own speech. I've also become much more curious and aware of the written characters and am now ready for it to make sense.
The kids are progressing nicely in Chinese. Elena will tell me a word, I'll repeat it (usually incorrectly) and she'll say "No, no, like this. Listen!" and repeat it. She gets the tones naturally and knows I'm repeating it wrong, but can't say "Mom, use the second tone, not the fourth tone"! This evening, the kids were "playing school", being teachers and students. The two of them talked in a "pretend Chinese" for well over a half-hour. To them, that's how school is - in Chinese.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Continuation - KMUST Woods
Looks like the U. is replacing some extinguishers.
We can't figure out what this is! It looks like a slide, but it's all cement. Any guesses??
A nice quiet seting to get started on weekend homework.
TaiChi is also practiced throughtout the many quiet, natural settings of the university.
Exercise equipment is placed all about the woods. I don't need this equipment. My legs get a good workout from all the walking and stair climbing I do everyday!
We can't figure out what this is! It looks like a slide, but it's all cement. Any guesses??
A nice quiet seting to get started on weekend homework.
TaiChi is also practiced throughtout the many quiet, natural settings of the university.
Exercise equipment is placed all about the woods. I don't need this equipment. My legs get a good workout from all the walking and stair climbing I do everyday!
The Woods at KMUST - Friday, 4:30 pm
It was a beautiful suuny day, so I took a walk in the woods to see what was going on. We sometimes take a walk after dinner and it feels like we left the city for a few minutes. Only another row of buildings separate us from the woods and we can view it from our kitchen.
A badminton game: No need for a fancy court like this. Badminton is played anywhere and everywhere there is a flat surface and a little space.
People having an afternoon visit:
What do you think? Poker or Crazy Eights? If this is too low-brow for you...
How about a game of mah jong? These matches get competitve. You often hear the "heat of battle" in the voices.
A game of bocci ball, anyone?
A badminton game: No need for a fancy court like this. Badminton is played anywhere and everywhere there is a flat surface and a little space.
People having an afternoon visit:
What do you think? Poker or Crazy Eights? If this is too low-brow for you...
How about a game of mah jong? These matches get competitve. You often hear the "heat of battle" in the voices.
A game of bocci ball, anyone?
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
"I'm a Chinese girl!"
Today, when telling me about her day, Elena announced "I'm not Guatemalan, not 'Merican, not Chilena - I'm a Chinese girl!" I asked her what makes her Chinese. She replied "I love eating with chopsticks." I thought, "Oh my, what have we done? Should we be thrilled that she's embracing the Chinese culture and feels like she's a part of it? Should we be worried that we're setting her up to have a major identity crisis? etc., etc."!!
Later, Carlos was looking at his English book practicing today's lesson. His teacher is a young Chinese woman and English is her second language. Carlos was saying "Where is she goING?" She is going to her grandMOTHer's house." - putting emphasis on the wrong syllable in a sentence which many Chinese English speakers do.
So there you have it. We have one child who thinks she's culturally Chinese and one that may end up sounding Chinese!
Later, Carlos was looking at his English book practicing today's lesson. His teacher is a young Chinese woman and English is her second language. Carlos was saying "Where is she goING?" She is going to her grandMOTHer's house." - putting emphasis on the wrong syllable in a sentence which many Chinese English speakers do.
So there you have it. We have one child who thinks she's culturally Chinese and one that may end up sounding Chinese!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Outside of O.H.A.
Entrance to our building. Press the buzzer for #404. Come on up! It's a walk-up. Only new construction with at least 10 floors have elevators.
As we exit the door, this is to our right.
And to our left.
University housing is up the hill from the main campus. Behind the housing are woods that act as a buffer from the noise from the main road behind. I'll post later about the woods - it's much more than a bunch of trees.
University housing consists of about 120 buildings with 5 to 7 floors with two or three entrances. We are in an older section, built around 1970. The newer buildings were built in the early 90's. The outside design is the same but there is a variety of floor plans. And peeking in some of the flats, many are furnished beautifully! Those buildings "look" newer. All ages live here - retired folk, young and middle-age families. Single employees live in dorm-style accomodations located closer to the student dorms. Non-university people were recently allowed to buy, so a few residents are not affiliated with the U. Employees do not have to live on campus, but the location can't be beat. Only a ten minute walk to the classrooms and to the Kindergarten. The grounds are kept up nicely. It looks like it would be crowded and noisy, but it isn't. For the amount of people in a small area, it's very peaceful. And when we walk around at lunch and dinner times, the aroma is heavenly! An opera singer lives nearby. We hear her singing almost everyday when we walk the kids back home for the break. Our section of the building has 10 flats. We've only seen about half of our close neighbors so far.
As we exit the door, this is to our right.
And to our left.
University housing is up the hill from the main campus. Behind the housing are woods that act as a buffer from the noise from the main road behind. I'll post later about the woods - it's much more than a bunch of trees.
University housing consists of about 120 buildings with 5 to 7 floors with two or three entrances. We are in an older section, built around 1970. The newer buildings were built in the early 90's. The outside design is the same but there is a variety of floor plans. And peeking in some of the flats, many are furnished beautifully! Those buildings "look" newer. All ages live here - retired folk, young and middle-age families. Single employees live in dorm-style accomodations located closer to the student dorms. Non-university people were recently allowed to buy, so a few residents are not affiliated with the U. Employees do not have to live on campus, but the location can't be beat. Only a ten minute walk to the classrooms and to the Kindergarten. The grounds are kept up nicely. It looks like it would be crowded and noisy, but it isn't. For the amount of people in a small area, it's very peaceful. And when we walk around at lunch and dinner times, the aroma is heavenly! An opera singer lives nearby. We hear her singing almost everyday when we walk the kids back home for the break. Our section of the building has 10 flats. We've only seen about half of our close neighbors so far.
Continuation - inside O.H.A.
Bedroom #1:
Dining Room:
Bedroom #2: The couch in the living room is also a pull-out for a bed. Usually, the kids sleep together here in this bed. Sigh... We just got them sleeping in their own beds before we left...
Bathroom with the all-important Western-style toilet - that was a non-negotiable for us!
Our address:
Dining Room:
Bedroom #2: The couch in the living room is also a pull-out for a bed. Usually, the kids sleep together here in this bed. Sigh... We just got them sleeping in their own beds before we left...
Bathroom with the all-important Western-style toilet - that was a non-negotiable for us!
Our address:
Our Humble Abode
It's small, sparsely furnished with barren walls, but we are comfortable in our home away from home.
Here's the living room.
Another view of the living room, looking towards our "porch" - the place to hang laundry. No dryers (a big energy drain), so luckily things dry quickly. I sure do miss the convenience of having one though.
The view from the living room. We look out on another building's kitchens. We have a grandma and grandpa directly across and can watch them make dinner!
The kitchen. It's nice and bright. On the wall is the water heater. On sunny days we use the solar heater. There is a two burner gas stove, which I love. I have electric at home (and had electric before on Raymond), which I don't like at all. No oven - very rare here. I do miss my oven since I'm the queen of the "one-dish" meal. There are microwave ovens available, but one didn't come with this flat. Most everything is coooked using a wok anyway. The washing machine is in front of the heater.
The view from the kitchen sink area.
Here's the living room.
Another view of the living room, looking towards our "porch" - the place to hang laundry. No dryers (a big energy drain), so luckily things dry quickly. I sure do miss the convenience of having one though.
The view from the living room. We look out on another building's kitchens. We have a grandma and grandpa directly across and can watch them make dinner!
The kitchen. It's nice and bright. On the wall is the water heater. On sunny days we use the solar heater. There is a two burner gas stove, which I love. I have electric at home (and had electric before on Raymond), which I don't like at all. No oven - very rare here. I do miss my oven since I'm the queen of the "one-dish" meal. There are microwave ovens available, but one didn't come with this flat. Most everything is coooked using a wok anyway. The washing machine is in front of the heater.
The view from the kitchen sink area.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
More scenes from a Sunday afternoon
The kids ran into a classmate. Wei Wei was also visiting the park today.
Carlos the engineer.
Elena the pilot.
Now that Autumn is here, the park has a different look and feel to it.
A beautiful afternoon to visit the park. "Can we have some ice cream now?"
Carlos the engineer.
Elena the pilot.
Now that Autumn is here, the park has a different look and feel to it.
A beautiful afternoon to visit the park. "Can we have some ice cream now?"
A Sunday Afternoon
It's been about a month since we last visited Green lake Park and it never fails to delight us in our findings. Today we saw:
An old temple converted into a modern restaurant;
Paddle boats for rent that look like old cars;
A boombox playing tradional music while people have fun doing a line dance;
More dancing with live music;
And to the kids'delight, an amusement park.
An old temple converted into a modern restaurant;
Paddle boats for rent that look like old cars;
A boombox playing tradional music while people have fun doing a line dance;
More dancing with live music;
And to the kids'delight, an amusement park.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Lunch, and sometimes dinner
is eaten in one of the university cafeterias. We eat lunch here Monday through Friday and Sunday. Depending on how it's going with the kids, we'll have dinner in a dining hall two or three times a week. The kids have lunch (and breakfast) everyday at school. On Saturdays, we usually have lunch at home or, if it's time for our monthly treat for western food, at a restaurant. Breakfast is always at home, and also dinner when we don't eat in a dining hall.
First, we trek across campus. This is the main square in front of the library. It's devoid of people in this photo because everyone is either at lunch or in class. This area is very popular on Sundays with families. Kids can ride bikes, rollerblade, kick a ball or just run around. There are few flat, open spaces for kids to play. The building in the background is the main academic Engineering building.
We then enter a pedestrian tunnel and this is the tunnel exit. Most of the dorms and all of the dining halls are across a busy street. Using the tunnel is shorter and safer. Walking through the tunnel reminds me of the "cafeteria connectors" during my Henry Hall days at WMU.
This is dining hall number 1. There are six halls of various sizes to choose from and each one has one or two of our favorite dishes. Why can't all of our faves be in one place?! We usually eat here or in #3.
The area to get the food. I hestate to use the word "line", as there are no "lines" in China (except at banks and large grocery stores). There are about 50 or so choices. You choose an item, a server puts it on the tray, then you swipe a card for the charge. The prices vary if it's a meat or vegetable dish.
Our meals! Both trays of food usually costs about Y8 (around a dollar). Can you believe the amount of food for 50 cents per person?! A similar meal at a restuarant would cost about Y8-Y15 for a large one dish meal with soup per person. The cafeteria food is just as tasty as any restaurant we have tried. Bon appetit! BTW - I no longer bring a spoon for the soup. When in Rome...
First, we trek across campus. This is the main square in front of the library. It's devoid of people in this photo because everyone is either at lunch or in class. This area is very popular on Sundays with families. Kids can ride bikes, rollerblade, kick a ball or just run around. There are few flat, open spaces for kids to play. The building in the background is the main academic Engineering building.
We then enter a pedestrian tunnel and this is the tunnel exit. Most of the dorms and all of the dining halls are across a busy street. Using the tunnel is shorter and safer. Walking through the tunnel reminds me of the "cafeteria connectors" during my Henry Hall days at WMU.
This is dining hall number 1. There are six halls of various sizes to choose from and each one has one or two of our favorite dishes. Why can't all of our faves be in one place?! We usually eat here or in #3.
The area to get the food. I hestate to use the word "line", as there are no "lines" in China (except at banks and large grocery stores). There are about 50 or so choices. You choose an item, a server puts it on the tray, then you swipe a card for the charge. The prices vary if it's a meat or vegetable dish.
Our meals! Both trays of food usually costs about Y8 (around a dollar). Can you believe the amount of food for 50 cents per person?! A similar meal at a restuarant would cost about Y8-Y15 for a large one dish meal with soup per person. The cafeteria food is just as tasty as any restaurant we have tried. Bon appetit! BTW - I no longer bring a spoon for the soup. When in Rome...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)