In Concert

I (Kevin) had the privilege of attending a piano concert at a school for children with special needs. What makes this concert so exceptional is that the concert pianist was a teenage boy affected by severe mental disabilities. He can only speak a few phrases, but his fingers can transform the piano.

When the boy attended his first piano lesson, the teacher couldn’t fathom how he could learn anything. He didn’t dress right. He didn’t move his head right. He could barely communicate. However, the boy had an ability to learn pitch and rhythm, and now, his quality of play is so high that he challenges the other piano students.

In person, he is very shy and quiet, but get him behind a piano … enjoy!

Playground

One of our favorite things about our apartment complex is the playground. Molly and Hudson love playing there as much as possible. I took these pics about six weeks ago when we were first enjoying the warmer weather. Now it's hot and the best time to go is in the morning. We've been having tons of rain the past two weeks, but lately the sun has been peeking out for longer periods of time and we're trying to soak it up. Monday, the kids and I headed to the playground with bubbles and water squirters and had been outside all of 10 minutes when it started sprinkling.

Chinese playgrounds are really exercise parks, built with the idea that everyone should be able to use it (not just kids). It's pretty unusual to find swings, but thankfully there are two here in our complex. 

Molly on the treadmill:

These are meant for adults, but Molly tried to use them too. I've heard it's for exercising your lower back, and you can alternate your legs (kind of like skiing) or swing them at the same time. It's fun!

The courtyard/playground area also has a large fountain. I haven't seen the fountain part turned on yet, but there are several fish swimming in the water, and Molly likes to make me nervous by climbing up and walking around the edge. Here's sweet Hudson on our way back to our apartment.

The green ivy on the right is covering over our back gate. Nearly every day I wish that gate would be unlocked and usable. We live in the last building in our complex, and we have to walk around to the front gate to enter or exit the complex, then basically backtrack on the main street to walk to preschool, Kevin's office or our friends' apartments. It may add a few blocks to our daily walks, but I have to focus on the positive -- I'm sure it's quieter there without traffic in and out of the gate. I worry enough about cars driving fast around the turn there without having to look for cars coming in both directions. Also, the front gate has a security guard around the clock. We are thankful for this apartment complex. After three months, it feels like home.

~Dayna

Children's Day

China celebrates Children's Day on June 1, and it is a festive affair! Many companies host special activities or give employees a half day off to celebrate. Molly and Hudson's preschool put together a show in the morning where each of the five classes performed, and there were games with the parents in between  -- relays, three-legged race, tug of war... I'm still kicking myself for not taking a video of that one.

The photo above shows Molly's class lined up to perform, and the photo below is Molly in position for the class dance.

Interestingly, the song they are dancing to is "Do Something" by Britney Spears. In the video below, you can hear Hudson encouraging her to smile.

Hudson didn't perform with his class -- I think the teachers felt he wouldn't have enough time to prepare since we only attend class on Tuesday and Thursday. He was very content to sit on my lap and watch all of the other kids. Everyone received a gift bag and a prize, so we came home with four new toys to play with. After the performances, the kids ate lunch in their classroom and we went home to rest. Here are Molly and Hudson with Molly's two teachers:

The kids were so tired and slept for two full hours before getting ready for our next Children's Day activity: an amusement park! Our friend Yvonne has two children the same ages as ours and we had been looking for a time to get the kids together to play. Kevin has been tutoring Yvonne in English grammar for several weeks; Yvonne and her husband are planning to move to the US and are eager to learn all they can about American culture.

The park had several rides just right for our kids to enjoy, plus an indoor play area with slides, a ball pond, trampoline, swings and more.

The most memorable part was a car that went on a track above the entire amusement ride. Not as high in the air as a sky ride, but it had a button to push for automatic riding or manual with pedals. (Think paddle boats on a track.) Kevin and Hudson were ahead of us, and Molly and I only bumped into them one time.

Here's a short video that shows a quick view of the park below us. You can hear "It's a Small World" playing from another ride. We had gorgeous weather on Friday -- such a perfect Children's Day experience.

Yvonne treated us to a feast of a dinner at Pizza Hut and then had two new toys each for Molly and Hudson when she dropped us off at home. We were all spoiled rotten on Children's Day! It's hardly surprising that as we were getting the kids ready for bed, Molly declared it was the best day in China yet. :)  儿童节快乐! Happy Children's Day!
~Dayna

Expected Randomness

One thing's for sure: When you're new to the language and culture, there is no such thing as a boring day. I (Kevin) learned this rather quickly when we first moved to China in 2001. While shopping for furniture, a man walked up to me, rubbed my arm and then walked away. I suppose he'd never seen arm hair before, but still, a little unsettling. Thankfully, this kind of randomness doesn't happen to us as much now, but we still experience the unexpected every day. The following photos give a glimpse.

It might not be so unusual for a washing machine to pour forth water across the kitchen floor, but try fixing the washer by leaning the 200 lb contraption on a folding stool borrowed from the stairway above our apartment. Then, add that our fabulous cook was able to offer advice while shelling peas. Of course, the most random thing for my co-worker friends was me taking this picture.

We've never been to Ireland, but I imagine if I stepped into a pub there, it might look something like this one ... well, minus the two Nutcrackers that guard the billiards table year round. From time to time, we do drink from the shot glasses ... with grape juice for communion. This Irish Pub is the location of our Sunday fellowships. But when you think about it, it's really quite fitting since the melody of Amazing Grace began as a tavern song. Anything and everything can be redeemed ... even an Irish Pub in China.

Molly and Hudson enjoy going up and down escalators, but these magnetic ramps are quite amazing. No matter the supermarket we shop, our carts stick to the ramp as we go up to the second or third floor. Except for one scary experience, the wheels roll away from the ramp at the top. Thankfully in the one exception, a nearby staff member could help before Dayna's cart crashed into me.
    

I've never been the biggest fan of slippers; I prefer to just keep my shoes on. But when Dayna came home one afternoon with Molly and Hudson's new slippers, my attitude changed. Those four little slippers are the coolest slippers I've ever seen. 

Haircuts

Since we've lived in China for two months now, it was time for Kevin and Hudson to have haircuts. We put it off as long as we could, but finally made plans for our friend Sherri to take us to her family's regular barber shop on Saturday. When we walked over there, we learned it was closed for remodeling, so we started walking up the street in the opposite direction. It didn't take long for us to find another one. Hudson knew he was getting his hair cut, but he didn't fully understand why they wanted to wash it first. This was his first professional shampoo and he was not impressed!

He kept saying "too hot" or "too cold" or "all done" but he survived. I love how you can see in the picture that he was holding a cookie with his left hand and Molly with his right hand. She came over to encourage him through it.

I'm not sure how much experience the stylist has had with young children because he seemed surprised that I wanted to hold Hudson on my lap while he cut his hair. There was no way in the world Hudson would've stayed in the chair on his own! And the stylist was experienced -- the shop charges for haircuts based on the level of the stylist: 11 yuan ($1.75) or 21 yuan ($3.40). We splurged! :)

 It also helped Hudson to see Kevin having his hair cut next to us.

I'm sorry for the quality of the "after pic" but trust me, the stylist did a great job. Hudson is so handsome! And he looks so grown up.

He's eating baozi that we picked up from a little shop on the way that morning. (Remember that's my favorite traditional breakfast food.) Molly and Hudson really like it too. Successful morning all around.
~Dayna

A Box of Blue Eggs

Shopping at the market was going well – that is, until it came to the eggs. I (Kevin) was walking up and down the narrow street, looking side to side. Who should I buy from? Buckets were full of eggs: white eggs, tan eggs, dark brown eggs, light blue eggs … blue eggs? I was initially going to reject the pale blue eggs, but then I saw an older woman, alone with only a small box of eggs. Surely she needed business.

“I want 10,” I said, handing her a 10 yuan (dollar) bill. That is equivalent to $1.75. Since eggs are cheap, I figured she would give me back a lot of change. Instead, she carefully bagged up 8 eggs and pocketed the 10 yuan.

I stood there, quietly, thinking. My purchase of 8 eggs should not have cost so much. Maybe she had just forgotten to give me change.

“8 eggs?” I said. “I gave you 10 yuan. I wanted 10 eggs, and I …” I couldn’t remember how to say I needed change.

The woman looked at me, puzzled, and then she rattled off a long discourse of very important sounding words. She spoke with passion. I’m sure I looked completely dumfounded because in fact, I was. I did understand her say the words “10” and “8,” but that knowledge didn’t help me in the least. Also not helpful was the fact that several people had now gathered around us. A man joined in the lengthy discourse, adding emphasis and volume to what the vendor had told me. I think he thought I was hard of hearing.

Part of me just wanted to leave – forget about the money and leave. And really, I should have done that. Instead, I took out 1 yuan. I was beginning to fear that in fact, I owed an additional 8 mao (15 cents) than I had already paid. While that notion seemed crazy to me, maybe the blue eggs had come from something different than a chicken. Maybe the blue eggs were extra expensive because they came from some kind of exotic bird. That might explain the reason behind the passionately long discourse.

When I showed the 1 yuan bill, everyone got very quiet. The vendor stared at me – a mixture of disbelief and frustration. “Oh, Lord,” I prayed.

The woman grabbed the bill, took another egg out of her box and threw it down into my bag. I exhaled, imagining the insides of the blue egg running over the bananas and apples. But after a moment, I nodded and said, “Thank you.”

I walked away before checking the contents of my bag. I really didn’t want to look, but I needed to. To my pleasant surprise, I saw that the egg was intact. But it did have a dent. Suddenly, I had an epiphany. Raw eggs break; boiled eggs dent. I had purchased boiled eggs. 8 boiled eggs for 10 yuan … though now, I had 9 boiled eggs for 11 yuan. Goodness.

But I decided to make the best of things and started peeling the shell. When I took a bite of the egg, my face contorted. I can’t remember tasting anything so salty. It’s hard to provide an adequate description, but I can say, the egg journeyed to the nearest trashcan.

With the remaining 10 blue eggs, I made a center piece for the coffee table. Why not? Maybe our friend who was coming to visit would like to eat them for breakfast. So this morning, I offered them to Doreen, but she graciously declined. She explained that salty boiled duck eggs are only eaten with porridge. Otherwise, she said, “Too salty.”

If there's any grace in it all, it's this: when I saw the woman with the eggs again, she returned my greeting with a smile. Who knows what God can do with a salty batch of boiled blue duck eggs? I'll just have to learn enough Chinese to find out.

~ Kevin

 

It Takes a Community

I'm honored to be a guest blogger and “Reflections” columnist for my Dad this week. You can visit Bro Darryl's Notebook to read his weekly thoughts and inspirational posts.

One of my top priorities after we moved to northeast China was finding the right preschool for Molly and Hudson, so they could make friends and learn Chinese. The problem was I didn’t know where any preschools were located, and even if I did, I couldn’t communicate with anyone there. Thankfully, we are surrounded by people who could help. First step: Phone a friend with young children and ask for advice. Spend several hours walking to three different preschools and talking with principals. Second step: Talk with my husband, my mother-in-law (a preschool director in Houston), the leader of our organization here, and pray for guidance. Third step: Ask a Chinese friend to return with me to our favorite preschool and work out the details, including negotiating how many English lessons I could teach in exchange for free tuition. Fourth step: Arrange for a driver with a van and another Chinese friend to help us take Molly and Hudson to a health clinic for a required medical check. Fifth step: Return to the preschool with yet another Chinese friend to deliver the results and finalize our starting date. Sixth step: Reach out to everyone we know to ask for prayer as Molly and Hudson adjust to spending two days a week in a school where no one speaks English. If you’re keeping track, that’s a whole lot of people involved in our children’s preschool registration!

Never has the concept of “community” meant more to us than in the preparation of our move to China and in our daily life here. We would not survive without it. The prayers, financial support and physical help from countless friends and family members paved the way for us to pack up our house and move here in the first place. Our team members and friends in China have helped us learn our way around, buy food, furnish our apartment and establish a routine. The faithful prayer support and encouragement we receive through emails, phone calls and care packages literally restore us and keep us accountable. It’s a helpless feeling when you realize you can’t buy stamps from the post office by yourself, much less explain to your son’s teacher that he’s allergic to milk. It’s humbling. And it’s a powerful way to experience God’s grace and provision every day. Thank you for being part of our community.