Language progress update
There was a moment today when I was listening to Caroline yammering away about something, and it got me wondering, "Am I more fluent in Chinese than Caroline is in English or the other way around? Or maybe we're about even?" I really don't know the answer, but I sort of think she has me beat. To my credit though, I must say that Caroline's English (as well as Chinese) ability has really skyrocketed lately. :)
The other night at dinner, out of the blue, she said, "I want to tell a story about Caroline and Grandma Sue. (dramatic pause) Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl..." Her story never got around to being about Caroline and Grandma Sue, but it had crocodiles and fireplaces and wound around to all sorts of places. The rest of us (Adam, Katie, and me) were in all in tears laughing by the end (or trying hard not to laugh...we didn't want to make her think we were laughing at her, even though we kind of were). We love our little Care-bear. The best part is how she ends every story: "Be End."
The other night at dinner, out of the blue, she said, "I want to tell a story about Caroline and Grandma Sue. (dramatic pause) Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl..." Her story never got around to being about Caroline and Grandma Sue, but it had crocodiles and fireplaces and wound around to all sorts of places. The rest of us (Adam, Katie, and me) were in all in tears laughing by the end (or trying hard not to laugh...we didn't want to make her think we were laughing at her, even though we kind of were). We love our little Care-bear. The best part is how she ends every story: "Be End."
Happy 6th Birthday, Katie! (Part 1)
I apologize to those of you who have written, desperate to know how our Thanksgiving turned out. Katie celebrated her 6th birthday yesterday so my time this past week was devoted to getting everything in order for that. (Plus, it takes a million years to upload pics here and the T'giving post wouldn't have been complete without them.) Thanks for your patience! (And I'm not sure why some of the photos are duplicated and wacky in this post, but at least they're on here and I'm too tired to figure out how to fix it!)
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| The celebrating began on Friday when Katie took 40 cupcakes with her to school to share with her classmates and teachers. |
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| The fun continued when Katie got to open an early birthday present on Friday afternoon...a dress just like Rapunzel's from Tangled (we just saw that movie for the first time a couple weeks ago and loved it!) Katie and a friend here share the exact same birthday, and the friend was having a princess birthday party that evening, which is why she got to open it early. |
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| And this was Caroline's response...she was having a bit of a hard time with the fact that it was Katie's birthday and not hers. | <><><>
Leftovers
You know what I love best about the story of the loaves and fishes? That there were leftovers. More than enough.
Remember a few weeks ago when I said that I needed a loaves and fishes miracle for Thanksgiving? Well, guess what. We had leftovers. (I meant to take a picture of our crammed tiny refrigerator so you could see for yourself, but you have a good imagination, right?)
Our Thanksgiving celebration was a success (despite the fact that I came down with a killer cold on Friday night...I guess to show me even further that His power is made perfect in weakness!)
Remember a few weeks ago when I said that I needed a loaves and fishes miracle for Thanksgiving? Well, guess what. We had leftovers. (I meant to take a picture of our crammed tiny refrigerator so you could see for yourself, but you have a good imagination, right?)
Our Thanksgiving celebration was a success (despite the fact that I came down with a killer cold on Friday night...I guess to show me even further that His power is made perfect in weakness!)
updates
In an effort to keep up the blogging roll I've been on lately, I'd like to give an update on two major fronts--Thanksgiving preparations and potty-training (which hopefully will have no connections to each other whatsoever).
Thanks to His "peace that passes understanding," I'm feeling much more excited about next Saturday. His peace "passes understanding" because I really can't explain why I don't feel freaked out anymore. Only that He reminded me that He will be with me and the thing that matters most to Him is love...my goal is to abide in His love as I walk through this week and then pass along His love to the people in my life as I go about preparing and hosting. If by His grace I can do that, then I've succeeded, regardless of whether people have to eat KFC or not. So for this week, when I am tempted to worry, I am going to pull an Ann Voskamp and give thanks. "Thank You that You have given us so many friends whom we can have over. Thank you for giving us a home in which we can host people. Thank You for giving us the means with which we can buy food. Thank You that You have already taken care of my problem that is much greater than whether or not we'll have enough turkey, namely my sin against You. Thank You for being so abundant in Your goodness to undeserving people like us that we can have a whole holiday to celebrate Your generosity!"
This is a small example of a much larger theme that's been playing in my life for several months that's basically summarized by this--I'm coming to see that God is much more concerned about the how of our lives than the what. What I mean is this--I think we (Christian moms/wives especially) can get completely overwhelmed thinking about what we're supposed to do with our days....there just seems to be too much what that needs to happen and not enough time to put it in. What if, instead of stressing over what is the most God-glorifying way to spend my time, I simply aimed to have fellowship with Him in the midst of whatever I'm doing? Hopefully more to come on this later, that's just a preview. The rest is still ruminating.
So there's a little insight into what's been going on in my heart since the last post. The fact that I found two boxes of Stove Top stuffing at the third import store I visited helped a lot too (there were only 3 boxes left too, we arrived just in the nick of time!) I've never made homemade stuffing before and I have no idea whether it's easy or complicated, but I surely did not want to have to learn this time around! I'm still not entirely sure whether we're going to have 10 people or 20....but it doesn't really change what I have to cook only the amount, right?
On the potty-training, Caroline has done amazingly well. She only had one accident the first day, and ever since then has made it to the potty every time she needs to go (unless you count the fact that she probably went peepee in the pool the other night when we went swimming, despite the fact that I took her to the bathroom three times in 10 minutes because she said she needed to go). And I'll also not mention the la duzi incident that happened while we were waiting to pick up Katie from kindergarten (la duzi may or may not literally mean pull stomach so I'll let you venture a guess as to what that means). You can't really blame the girl...it was only Day 2 of potty-training and I was in too much of a rush to put a pull-up on her. Plus, even grown-ups have accidents in cases of la duzi sometimes! All that to say, I have been very pleasantly surprised by the ease of potty-training this time around. So glad I waited as long as I did. And any mothers out there who feel inept because their 28 months old is still in diapers while your 18 month old neighbor's been in undies for months...don't give in! Every kid is different and the longer you wait, the way easier it is (thank you, Jennifer K!).
Thanks to His "peace that passes understanding," I'm feeling much more excited about next Saturday. His peace "passes understanding" because I really can't explain why I don't feel freaked out anymore. Only that He reminded me that He will be with me and the thing that matters most to Him is love...my goal is to abide in His love as I walk through this week and then pass along His love to the people in my life as I go about preparing and hosting. If by His grace I can do that, then I've succeeded, regardless of whether people have to eat KFC or not. So for this week, when I am tempted to worry, I am going to pull an Ann Voskamp and give thanks. "Thank You that You have given us so many friends whom we can have over. Thank you for giving us a home in which we can host people. Thank You for giving us the means with which we can buy food. Thank You that You have already taken care of my problem that is much greater than whether or not we'll have enough turkey, namely my sin against You. Thank You for being so abundant in Your goodness to undeserving people like us that we can have a whole holiday to celebrate Your generosity!"
This is a small example of a much larger theme that's been playing in my life for several months that's basically summarized by this--I'm coming to see that God is much more concerned about the how of our lives than the what. What I mean is this--I think we (Christian moms/wives especially) can get completely overwhelmed thinking about what we're supposed to do with our days....there just seems to be too much what that needs to happen and not enough time to put it in. What if, instead of stressing over what is the most God-glorifying way to spend my time, I simply aimed to have fellowship with Him in the midst of whatever I'm doing? Hopefully more to come on this later, that's just a preview. The rest is still ruminating.
So there's a little insight into what's been going on in my heart since the last post. The fact that I found two boxes of Stove Top stuffing at the third import store I visited helped a lot too (there were only 3 boxes left too, we arrived just in the nick of time!) I've never made homemade stuffing before and I have no idea whether it's easy or complicated, but I surely did not want to have to learn this time around! I'm still not entirely sure whether we're going to have 10 people or 20....but it doesn't really change what I have to cook only the amount, right?
On the potty-training, Caroline has done amazingly well. She only had one accident the first day, and ever since then has made it to the potty every time she needs to go (unless you count the fact that she probably went peepee in the pool the other night when we went swimming, despite the fact that I took her to the bathroom three times in 10 minutes because she said she needed to go). And I'll also not mention the la duzi incident that happened while we were waiting to pick up Katie from kindergarten (la duzi may or may not literally mean pull stomach so I'll let you venture a guess as to what that means). You can't really blame the girl...it was only Day 2 of potty-training and I was in too much of a rush to put a pull-up on her. Plus, even grown-ups have accidents in cases of la duzi sometimes! All that to say, I have been very pleasantly surprised by the ease of potty-training this time around. So glad I waited as long as I did. And any mothers out there who feel inept because their 28 months old is still in diapers while your 18 month old neighbor's been in undies for months...don't give in! Every kid is different and the longer you wait, the way easier it is (thank you, Jennifer K!).
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| Notice the pillows on the ground in case she falls out... That floor is pretty unforgiving! |
In honor of her achieving yet another benchmark of big-girl-ness, I decided to take things to yet another level. Byebye, crib; hello, toddler bed! I've hesitated to do this for such a long time because there's such a sense of peace and security in having your two year old contained (although our escape artist did get out one time). We had a really easy time transitioning Katie to a big bed (at 25 months, I think), which was a total surprise to us, because up until that point no transition had been easy with Katie, plus I've heard such nightmares stories from friends whose toddlers would not stay in bed. With Katie, we simply warned her with grave sobriety about the absolute necessity of staying in bed until mommy or daddy came to get her. I did the same thing with Caroline tonight...so far, so good! Thankfully, Katie is our watchdog in the same room, so I'm sure she'll keep Caroline in line if she tries any funny business!
loaves and fishes
Well, folks, I've gotten myself in a bit of pickle here. My desire to welcome and include others has completely outstripped my grip on reality. I have 20 people coming to my house for Thanksgiving. Um, yes, 20 people...and did I mention that our apartment is on the smallish side and that our oven can only fit one half-sized cookie sheet at a time? Sheesh, what was I thinking?! Clearly, no thinking was happening on my part, only feeling, right? That's what the Myers-Briggs people say about us "F-types," we think with our feelings. That was obviously at play in this situation....
Which leaves me wondering where I can find a little boy who's carrying around 5 loaves and 2 fishes...'cause I need a miracle!
Seriously though, in some ways I'm glad that I feel so completely inadequate and that I have gotten myself in way over my head, because if you never feel like you need a miracle, then you'll never see one, right? Scripture passages about the Lord being our help and our support and our strength have fresh meaning for me this morning (as do verses about the Lord rescuing us in the day of calamity! Ha!) If you think of it during the next week, pray for me, will you? Pray that there will be enough of everything--enough food to eat AND enough trust and peace in my heart. And pray that I don't become this lady (really, please click because this is just about one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the web).
Which leaves me wondering where I can find a little boy who's carrying around 5 loaves and 2 fishes...'cause I need a miracle!
Seriously though, in some ways I'm glad that I feel so completely inadequate and that I have gotten myself in way over my head, because if you never feel like you need a miracle, then you'll never see one, right? Scripture passages about the Lord being our help and our support and our strength have fresh meaning for me this morning (as do verses about the Lord rescuing us in the day of calamity! Ha!) If you think of it during the next week, pray for me, will you? Pray that there will be enough of everything--enough food to eat AND enough trust and peace in my heart. And pray that I don't become this lady (really, please click because this is just about one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the web).
Where you gonna go, when you gotta go
The arrival of "National Turn On the Heat Day" has nicely coincided with "Begin Potty-Training Caroline Day." (I realize that this sentence may have caused everyone except the grandmothers and other moms of 2 year olds to want to stop reading. I totally understand, sofeel free to click away without guilt.) : )
One week in September I attempted to start potty-training, admittedly half-heartedly. It quickly became quite evident that neither Caroline nor I was ready, and I was quite happy to abort mission. I shared this experience with my friend Megan, who also lives in Asia and whose son is a week younger than Caro, to see what her potty-training plans were and to find out if she experienced the same feelings of ineptness, being the only mother in the neighborhood whose 2 year old still wore diapers. (I think I mentioned before that most Chinese begin potty-training their children as infants and are completely diaper-free by 6 months. They are also often wearing crotch-less pants which is another blog post altogether. Click here if you want to read more about how they do it.) My friend wisely suggested that I wait until after National Turn On the Heat Day...that would not only give Caro a few more months of development but would also be a time when we were naturally indoors more since it's cold outside plus it would be warm enough inside so that she could go pantless and not freeze to death.
I decided to go with her advice, and it has worked out well since I have a week off of class this week due to a need to switch teachers. Today is only Day 2, but I'm pretty committed to staying diaper-free during the daytime, even if it means that I am only training myself to take her to the potty more regularly. She did pretty well yesterday with only one accident, and I must say that this is one reason I'm happy that Chinese apartments have no carpet--it makes accidents much easier to clean up!
We've also had a fun song to go along with the experience since our copy of the new Slugs and Bugs album finally arrived this week. The album happily has a potty-training song called "Where You Gonna Go." You can click here to listen to a sample. The album also has a ton of other super-fun songs, most of which the girls could sing along with after just one listen. If you're looking for a great Christmas gift for a child in your life, this is a good one. In addition to the silly songs that are trademark Slug and Bugs, the album also has some really precious songs with good spiritual insight, that helps even Mommies who are having hard days.
(In my effort to find an online version of the potty song, I came upon Randall Goodgame's Slugs and Bugs blog. It is awesome, check it out.)
One week in September I attempted to start potty-training, admittedly half-heartedly. It quickly became quite evident that neither Caroline nor I was ready, and I was quite happy to abort mission. I shared this experience with my friend Megan, who also lives in Asia and whose son is a week younger than Caro, to see what her potty-training plans were and to find out if she experienced the same feelings of ineptness, being the only mother in the neighborhood whose 2 year old still wore diapers. (I think I mentioned before that most Chinese begin potty-training their children as infants and are completely diaper-free by 6 months. They are also often wearing crotch-less pants which is another blog post altogether. Click here if you want to read more about how they do it.) My friend wisely suggested that I wait until after National Turn On the Heat Day...that would not only give Caro a few more months of development but would also be a time when we were naturally indoors more since it's cold outside plus it would be warm enough inside so that she could go pantless and not freeze to death.
I decided to go with her advice, and it has worked out well since I have a week off of class this week due to a need to switch teachers. Today is only Day 2, but I'm pretty committed to staying diaper-free during the daytime, even if it means that I am only training myself to take her to the potty more regularly. She did pretty well yesterday with only one accident, and I must say that this is one reason I'm happy that Chinese apartments have no carpet--it makes accidents much easier to clean up!
We've also had a fun song to go along with the experience since our copy of the new Slugs and Bugs album finally arrived this week. The album happily has a potty-training song called "Where You Gonna Go." You can click here to listen to a sample. The album also has a ton of other super-fun songs, most of which the girls could sing along with after just one listen. If you're looking for a great Christmas gift for a child in your life, this is a good one. In addition to the silly songs that are trademark Slug and Bugs, the album also has some really precious songs with good spiritual insight, that helps even Mommies who are having hard days.
(In my effort to find an online version of the potty song, I came upon Randall Goodgame's Slugs and Bugs blog. It is awesome, check it out.)
Happy National Turn on the Heat Day!
I find that comparing this aspect of Chinese culture to America to be very symbolic of each country's fundamental underpinings. China is a collective society--the good of the whole trumps the will of the individual. The United States is an individualistic society--the will of the individual is the most significant value. Thus, it makes total sense that in China there would be one national switch controlling the heat for 1.7 billiion people whereas in the U.S. each individual home usually has multiple separate controls (because, of course, different people in different parts of the house have different temperature needs, right?) εΎζζζ。(Hen you yisi means very interesting, a very useful, "catch-all" phrase.)
Today is the official National Turn On the Heat Day, although we were happily surprised to find our home a bit warmer starting on Friday. I think they may begin testing things a bit early to make sure nothing blows up when things start up full-tilt. We are usually thrilled the first day or so after the heat comes on, after having been so bone-cold for so many weeks. But the novelty wears off pretty quickly (at least for Adam it does, who very soon starts opening the windows and begins pontificating about the inefficiency of the whole system...I guess that's what happens after working at the gas and electrice company for two years!) The girls and I are quite happy with the heat...they like the fact that they can dress up in princess dresses and tutus without being cold, and I'd much rather be unencumbered by thick layers. Remember this picture from the early days of 3am wake-up times due to jet lag last February (note the onesie indicating how warm it was)?
cheating death
Led this morning by Ann Voskamp to another great, day-transforming quote:
"But we all cheat death every day, don’t we? We cheat it by crafting beauty, or loving someone, or making new life; sometimes we cheat it just by leaving the gun in the drawer, the liquor in the cabinet, the hateful word in our bellies."
-Tony Woodlief, click here for his whole post
"But we all cheat death every day, don’t we? We cheat it by crafting beauty, or loving someone, or making new life; sometimes we cheat it just by leaving the gun in the drawer, the liquor in the cabinet, the hateful word in our bellies."
-Tony Woodlief, click here for his whole post
Attempting Autumn
I love fall. I don't know what it is about the first day I have to wear jeans and a jacket or about spotting the first colored leaf on a tree or on the ground, but the feeling I get is close to what a child must feel when you tell them their birthday is next week. I'm not sure why I feel that way--perhaps happy childhood memories of carving pumpkins and drawing pictures of pilgrims and indians and eating pumpkin pie that had more cool whip than pie. I think now it's the beginning of a whoe
I was a little concerned that I would experience major homesickness during this season without pumpkin spice lattes and premature Christmas decorations in Target. And to be honest, I have had a few bouts of sadness, thinking of what Eastern Parkway in Louisville must look like right now. And I may or may not have almost shed tears of bittersweet happiness in seeing really ugly artificial leaves strung above the cash registers at Wal-mart. But I have experienced great joy in seeing this city beautified by orange and yellow and red flowers, at all the entrance ways to universities and complexes--in part in celebration China's National Day in early October and in part because fall is known to be this city's most pleasant season. These displays inspired me to get out and find the flower market that people had told me was in our neighborhood. I knew the general vicinity, so one day after class, I hopped on my bike and decided to ride around until I found it. I must say, my discovery of it was one of my proudest "Chinese" moments yet because it was the first time that I actually found something by reading the sign! No English, no pinyin, only characters. And I read them. Woot.
We've also enjoyed buying some pumpkins and making fun things with pumpkin puree. It's never officially fall in my heart until I make the first batch of my friend Cindy's pumpkin bread (recipe to come).
I was a little concerned that I would experience major homesickness during this season without pumpkin spice lattes and premature Christmas decorations in Target. And to be honest, I have had a few bouts of sadness, thinking of what Eastern Parkway in Louisville must look like right now. And I may or may not have almost shed tears of bittersweet happiness in seeing really ugly artificial leaves strung above the cash registers at Wal-mart. But I have experienced great joy in seeing this city beautified by orange and yellow and red flowers, at all the entrance ways to universities and complexes--in part in celebration China's National Day in early October and in part because fall is known to be this city's most pleasant season. These displays inspired me to get out and find the flower market that people had told me was in our neighborhood. I knew the general vicinity, so one day after class, I hopped on my bike and decided to ride around until I found it. I must say, my discovery of it was one of my proudest "Chinese" moments yet because it was the first time that I actually found something by reading the sign! No English, no pinyin, only characters. And I read them. Woot.
We've also enjoyed buying some pumpkins and making fun things with pumpkin puree. It's never officially fall in my heart until I make the first batch of my friend Cindy's pumpkin bread (recipe to come).
field trips
{{still in the process of uploading photos...keep coming back for more}}
October has been the month for fields trips around here. First, Adam took a trip to the Great Wall with his school. They went to a location that none of us had been to before. He said the best part about it was that hardly anyone else was there (if you've ever been to a tourist spot in China, you'll understand why this was truly amazing).
October has been the month for fields trips around here. First, Adam took a trip to the Great Wall with his school. They went to a location that none of us had been to before. He said the best part about it was that hardly anyone else was there (if you've ever been to a tourist spot in China, you'll understand why this was truly amazing).
The week after that, Katie's kindergarten also took a trip to the Great Wall, and I got to go along as a chaperone!
Last week Katie's class took another field trip to a farm outside of the city to pick vegetables. Apparently this is the thing to do in China in the fall. Every kid that I know who attends a local school has taken such a trip recently. I guess it's their way of teaching all these city kids about how the majority of people in their country live! Katie had a blast and came back with a huge back of carrots and two ears of corn. I guess I'll be making a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting soon!
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| Excited about some purple kernels |
Chinglish
Oh, I have so much fodder for a series of posts devoted to some of the greatest "Chinglish" I've seen thus far. But it would be only fair to begin with the Chinglish found in my own family. Behold, the bilingual child...
Lest you think more highly of Caroline than you ought, let me transcribe/translate for you what she's "reading":
ζδΈθ¦θΏδΈͺ，δΈη₯ι。ζδ½ δΈη₯ι。ζδΈθ¦θΏδΈͺδΈθ¦。ηηδΈη₯ι。
I don't want this, I don't know. I you don't know. I don't want this don't want. Truly don't know.
kitchen adventures
One of the fun things I have found myself doing more of lately is cooking and trying new things I'd been wanting to try for awhile.
This morning, for example, I finally tried out this recipe for making Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup. We are blessed to live in a city that has a million Starbucks (at one point our city had more Starbucks than the entire state of West Virginia). Not that I ever go...in fact, I've only been twice since we moved here 9 months ago! But there's something comforting just in knowing that they're there. But I digress...
Even though we live in Starbucks land, there is one very sad (dare I say, tragic?) difference between Chinese Starbucks and American starbucks....no special holiday drinks! :*(
That's right, no Pumpkin Spice Latte or Peppermint Mocha. (sigh) But that's where the Market2Meal blog saves the day! It turned out decently....might have had less to do with the syrup itself and more to do with the fact that I used the dregs of the morning's coffee and milk that came out of a bag that I heated up in the microwave. : )
I have to share what a victory even the process for finding the ingredients to make the syrup was. I had been wanting to make the syrup when I first saw it posted on the Market2Meal blog a month ago. But also, I only two of the four spices I needed. Nutmeg and cloves are rather hard to come by. A friend kindly gifted me a ziploc baggie of ground nutmeg from her stores, and so I was left to find ground cloves. I knew that my sweet mom was soon sending us a package which would contain all that I needed, but I felt like the need for cloves was a personal challenge. I not only needed them to make the syrup, but also needed them to make pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and mulled cider. I found ground cloves online (the wonders of online shopping in China is another post altogether), but I needed the help of a Chinese friend to order it. Last Saturday we were having some Chinese friends over, and I had it in my mind that I wanted to make mulled apple cider. I knew that I had seen cinnamon sticks at the spice market, which got me to thinking that if they had cinnamon sticks there, they might also have whole cloves. I was determined to find out. Thanks to Google Translator, I figured out how to say cloves in Chinese (δΈι¦, ding1 xiang1, for all my other China-dwelling friends) and set off to the market with the girls. I was stunned at how easy the whole transaction was. I simply walked up to the rows of spice bins, asked the lady (who was nursing her baby) if she had δΈι¦ and θζ‘ζ£ (rou4gui4bang4, cinnamon sticks). She said she did, put a bunch of both in two bags (about the same amount as you would find in the little McCormick tins in the States), and told me how much it cost. 4 kuai. Seriously? 63 cents? It was an I heart China moment, for sure. The mulled cider turned out beautifully, but still the question for finding ground cloves remained. Then along came my friend with the handy grinding attachment on her blender. A few seconds of pulsing, and voila! ground cloves.
Other adventures I've had in the kitchen this month...
...making my own mayonnaise (because I had run out of the kind I usually buy and really wanted to eat a BLT for lunch, plus my friend had recently been telling me how much better homemade is than store-bought)
...which I then used to make spinach dip (because homemade mayo only keeps for a day or two and I definitely had made way more than I could use up on a BLT)
...for which I had to make my own cream cheese (so easy and has inspired me with all kinds of possibilities)
It sounds like I'm boasting, huh? I think I am, a little. Be gracious towards me in this? When you daily lose your pride because of your inability to accurately communicate your most basic needs or when you have to ask someone what the differences are between all the different kinds of toilet paper at the store because you can't read, you gotta look for confidence where you can find it! : )
I'm starting to realize though that I may be using cooking as a form of escapism from the pressures of living cross-culturally and trying to balance a potentially unrealistic number of responsibilities. I suppose there are much worse forms of escapism I could be pursuing, but I certainly don't want to neglect other responsibilities just for the sake of making yummy comfort foods (click here on the dangers of baking bread)
Pray for me to have wisdom in this. This one interest is such a mixed bag of motives. Do I cook because I find it more personally pleasurable than playing with the kids or studying Chinese? Or do I cook because it brings me joy to serve my family in this way and creating happy memories for them, which is pleasing to God? Am I being worldly by being overly preoccupied with food (Philippians 3:19, Colossians 3:2)? Or am I being godly by receiving with thanks good things which God has blessed us with to enjoy (1 Timothy 4:3-5, 6:17-18, James 1:17)? To cook or not to cook, that is the question. The comment is now open for advice! : )
This morning, for example, I finally tried out this recipe for making Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup. We are blessed to live in a city that has a million Starbucks (at one point our city had more Starbucks than the entire state of West Virginia). Not that I ever go...in fact, I've only been twice since we moved here 9 months ago! But there's something comforting just in knowing that they're there. But I digress...
Even though we live in Starbucks land, there is one very sad (dare I say, tragic?) difference between Chinese Starbucks and American starbucks....no special holiday drinks! :*(
That's right, no Pumpkin Spice Latte or Peppermint Mocha. (sigh) But that's where the Market2Meal blog saves the day! It turned out decently....might have had less to do with the syrup itself and more to do with the fact that I used the dregs of the morning's coffee and milk that came out of a bag that I heated up in the microwave. : )
I have to share what a victory even the process for finding the ingredients to make the syrup was. I had been wanting to make the syrup when I first saw it posted on the Market2Meal blog a month ago. But also, I only two of the four spices I needed. Nutmeg and cloves are rather hard to come by. A friend kindly gifted me a ziploc baggie of ground nutmeg from her stores, and so I was left to find ground cloves. I knew that my sweet mom was soon sending us a package which would contain all that I needed, but I felt like the need for cloves was a personal challenge. I not only needed them to make the syrup, but also needed them to make pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and mulled cider. I found ground cloves online (the wonders of online shopping in China is another post altogether), but I needed the help of a Chinese friend to order it. Last Saturday we were having some Chinese friends over, and I had it in my mind that I wanted to make mulled apple cider. I knew that I had seen cinnamon sticks at the spice market, which got me to thinking that if they had cinnamon sticks there, they might also have whole cloves. I was determined to find out. Thanks to Google Translator, I figured out how to say cloves in Chinese (δΈι¦, ding1 xiang1, for all my other China-dwelling friends) and set off to the market with the girls. I was stunned at how easy the whole transaction was. I simply walked up to the rows of spice bins, asked the lady (who was nursing her baby) if she had δΈι¦ and θζ‘ζ£ (rou4gui4bang4, cinnamon sticks). She said she did, put a bunch of both in two bags (about the same amount as you would find in the little McCormick tins in the States), and told me how much it cost. 4 kuai. Seriously? 63 cents? It was an I heart China moment, for sure. The mulled cider turned out beautifully, but still the question for finding ground cloves remained. Then along came my friend with the handy grinding attachment on her blender. A few seconds of pulsing, and voila! ground cloves.
Other adventures I've had in the kitchen this month...
...making my own mayonnaise (because I had run out of the kind I usually buy and really wanted to eat a BLT for lunch, plus my friend had recently been telling me how much better homemade is than store-bought)
...which I then used to make spinach dip (because homemade mayo only keeps for a day or two and I definitely had made way more than I could use up on a BLT)
...for which I had to make my own cream cheese (so easy and has inspired me with all kinds of possibilities)
It sounds like I'm boasting, huh? I think I am, a little. Be gracious towards me in this? When you daily lose your pride because of your inability to accurately communicate your most basic needs or when you have to ask someone what the differences are between all the different kinds of toilet paper at the store because you can't read, you gotta look for confidence where you can find it! : )
I'm starting to realize though that I may be using cooking as a form of escapism from the pressures of living cross-culturally and trying to balance a potentially unrealistic number of responsibilities. I suppose there are much worse forms of escapism I could be pursuing, but I certainly don't want to neglect other responsibilities just for the sake of making yummy comfort foods (click here on the dangers of baking bread)
Pray for me to have wisdom in this. This one interest is such a mixed bag of motives. Do I cook because I find it more personally pleasurable than playing with the kids or studying Chinese? Or do I cook because it brings me joy to serve my family in this way and creating happy memories for them, which is pleasing to God? Am I being worldly by being overly preoccupied with food (Philippians 3:19, Colossians 3:2)? Or am I being godly by receiving with thanks good things which God has blessed us with to enjoy (1 Timothy 4:3-5, 6:17-18, James 1:17)? To cook or not to cook, that is the question. The comment is now open for advice! : )
psalms
I'm the type of person who, when it comes to my devotional life, really needs a plan. Now, I am all about leaving space in our quiet times for the Spirit to speak very personally to our hearts, but more often than not, for me, that speaking often comes through the "assigned" portion of Scripture for that day. October came along, and since I didn't have any other study I was going through, I wound up falling back on the plan that I have for when I don't have a plan--reading the "Psalm of the Day." This is great and simple plan that Adam picked up from Don Whitney, one of his professors at Southern. The plan is this...whatever day of the month it is, read that psalm. You can also then add the number "30" to that psalm and read another, and then add "30" to that psalm and read another, and so on until you run out of psalms. So, for example, on the 16th, I would have read Psalm 16, Psalm 36, Psalm 66, Psalm 96, and Psalm 126. Now the beauty of this plan is that you don't have to read every one of those. I like the fact that you can scan a variety of different psalms and then spend focused time on one which seems to strike you. Not only that but you can spend time with the psalms in a number of different ways--inductive study, meditation on one verse, praying through the psalm, reading along with a commentary, etc.
I say all that simply to give some background to my month in the Psalms. I was particularly struck one day by this verse in Psalm 56: "For You have delivered me from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life." vs13
What a clear, succinct, beautiful way to describe why God has rescued us through Jesus--so that we may walk before Him in the light of life. I found that my time in the Psalms was helpful in growing in understanding of how to do that. What exactly does it mean to walk with God? A good start might be talking the "Psalm a Day" challenge, and let God use the Psalms to teach you how to walk with Him more closely.
I say all that simply to give some background to my month in the Psalms. I was particularly struck one day by this verse in Psalm 56: "For You have delivered me from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life." vs13
What a clear, succinct, beautiful way to describe why God has rescued us through Jesus--so that we may walk before Him in the light of life. I found that my time in the Psalms was helpful in growing in understanding of how to do that. What exactly does it mean to walk with God? A good start might be talking the "Psalm a Day" challenge, and let God use the Psalms to teach you how to walk with Him more closely.
crickets
Do you hear them chirping over here at this blog?
Sorry about blogging drought, folks. I promise we're still alive! To quote a kind friend who emailed to make sure we were alright due to my absence in the blogosphere, "I realize there is a better world (the real one), so hopefully you're living life to the fullest in that one." And that's just what we've been doing! Life this month has been B.U.S.Y. Every day I have about a dozen different blog posts in my head--pictures I want to post, videos I want to share, deep thoughts I want to "verbally process" via blog. But as I wrote back to my friend, when it comes to the limited "spare" time I have, blogging never seems to make the cut (although I sorely miss it and find it very therapeutic, plus it makes me feel more connected to all you loved ones over there on the other side of the sea). Because of all the things I just listed, I really want to try to find a way to make this blog thing work with my life. Pray for me?
In reward for your patience...
Sorry about blogging drought, folks. I promise we're still alive! To quote a kind friend who emailed to make sure we were alright due to my absence in the blogosphere, "I realize there is a better world (the real one), so hopefully you're living life to the fullest in that one." And that's just what we've been doing! Life this month has been B.U.S.Y. Every day I have about a dozen different blog posts in my head--pictures I want to post, videos I want to share, deep thoughts I want to "verbally process" via blog. But as I wrote back to my friend, when it comes to the limited "spare" time I have, blogging never seems to make the cut (although I sorely miss it and find it very therapeutic, plus it makes me feel more connected to all you loved ones over there on the other side of the sea). Because of all the things I just listed, I really want to try to find a way to make this blog thing work with my life. Pray for me?
In reward for your patience...
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| Caroline put this net over her head the other night and said, "Look at me! I'm a basketball!" |
What our family might look like if we had a boy...
Another expat family in our complex has this precious red-haired baby...between our two families, we just might have the highest concentration of red-heads in the city! Although the other night on the subway, Katie and I were standing next to 3 pairs of couples, all of whom had bright red hair! I have no idea where they were from--the language they were speaking was completely unintelligible to me! They looked at Katie and smiled though, convincing me once again that there exists an universal fraternity of red-heads.
Birthday party, China-style
We had a new first last night...attending a Chinese birthday party. One of Katie's classmates had a birthday party last night and was kind enough to include our family! I must be completely honest, though...it was only half-Chinese. The boy's father is an American who doesn't speak any Chinese (his kids are fluent in both languages), so we were wondering if, in part, we were invited just to keep the dad company. :0) All the same, we were invited, and we went...and had a great time. It was really great to get to know this family better, and we got the chance to meet more of Katie's classmates' families too.
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Katie with some little girls from her class. She told me that the one in pruple is her best friend from school and the one right next to her is her second best friend. She had no idea what the girl on the right was named. I'm amazed she can remember their names at all!
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| What Chinese birthday party would be complete without fireworks? |
Chinese people typically don't make a big deal out of birthdays (a tragedy, I know!). For example, when our tutor accidentally told us when his birthday was, we decided to have a party for him ('cause who doesn't like a birthday party?). He was somewhat embarrassed that he had told us when he realized we wanted to make a big deal about it. We explained to him that, as Americans and as Christians, we love birthdays and that he shouldn't feel bad because it was giving us great joy to celebrate him. He is a brother already, but we really felt like this was a great opportunity to help him understand God's great love for and delight in him. The day before his birthday, he said, "Mary, this is the first time I've ever been been aware of and looked forward to my birthday." Can you imagine? Oh, how the One who knits us in our mother's wombs and writes all our days in His book before one of them comes to pass, the One who sings love over us, the One who brought out the best wine to keep the party going, the One who sent a host of angels to celebrate the birth of His Son, surely He is One who loves a good birthday party.
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| The birthday boy with some of his biggest fans |
Flashback: Great Wall of China, Spring 2011
Sorry for the kooky angle halfway through. Let's just say I'm not the greatest camera person in the world...
Dancing Queens
It looks like I finally figured out a way to compress our videos so they would upload! Hooray!
Recent conversation with Caroline
(As I got her out of bed the other morning)
Me: Good morning, Care-bear!
Caro: I sept goot. I have happy deems.
(can you tell what I usually ask her first thing every morning?)
Me: Oh, good. What did you dream about?
Caro: Cookies.
Me: Wow, what kind of cookies?
Caro: Pink cookies.
Me: What shape were they?
Caro: Green and blue.
Me: (trying again) Were they shaped like anything? Like circles or hearts or stars?
Caro: (very confidently) Triangles.
Me: Oh, wow, pink triangle cookies. Were they yummy?
Caro: Yes.
Me: What did they taste like?
Caro: Um, pirates.
Never a dull moment around here, folks!
And for your viewing pleasure (hopefully, if it will upload), Caroline's favorite hobby of late is "reading" to herself. The words she says as she "reads" are quite amusing.
Me: Good morning, Care-bear!
Caro: I sept goot. I have happy deems.
(can you tell what I usually ask her first thing every morning?)
Me: Oh, good. What did you dream about?
Caro: Cookies.
Me: Wow, what kind of cookies?
Caro: Pink cookies.
Me: What shape were they?
Caro: Green and blue.
Me: (trying again) Were they shaped like anything? Like circles or hearts or stars?
Caro: (very confidently) Triangles.
Me: Oh, wow, pink triangle cookies. Were they yummy?
Caro: Yes.
Me: What did they taste like?
Caro: Um, pirates.
Never a dull moment around here, folks!
And for your viewing pleasure (hopefully, if it will upload), Caroline's favorite hobby of late is "reading" to herself. The words she says as she "reads" are quite amusing.
Baking less bread
Came across this excellent article the other day via Ann Voskamp's blog. As a believer who regularly struggles with attempting (and, of course, failing) to secure a righteousness for myself apart from Christ, I resonated deeply with many of the temptations this man mentions. This article is primarily aimed at homeschooling families, but I think any family who desires to be intentional in their parenting could benefit from this article.
Here's one of my favorite snippets to entice you to read more. (Note: where it said the word "homeschool" I have substituted the word "Christian.")
In the [Christian] community I have observed that there can be a great emphasis on outward appearance, whether it is dressing for excellence, modesty, grooming, respectful manners, music style, or an attitude of sober reverence in worship. Some even take their children down a country path of humble fashions, raising food, and making bread. Nothing is wrong with any of these things, but we must be careful - we can model for our children outward changes and easily fall into molding their behavior and/or appearance, while missing their hearts. In some circles emphasis on the outward is epidemic.
"A friend of mine, a homeschool mom, just passed away of cancer. In the week before she died, I asked her if she had any regrets in her life. She told me she wished she had baked less bread - she said if she had it to do over again she would buy bread and spend more time with her children. She had invested time and energy in pursuing the "path" because she thought it was part of the spiritual [Christian] package."
"She wished she had baked less bread." I love that line, for I feel it captures the spirit that so often catches me, namely, neglecting "best" things for the sake of "good"things. I pray that I will remember this sentence throughout the day and spend less time baking less bread. :)
PS-a friend of a friend (and this friend too)! recently wrote this blog post that I commend to you. A lot of what she said inspired me, but at the end in particular she has a couple of really good paragraphs about creating space in the day to"hear the hearts of her kids."
PPS-I would be remiss if I failed to note that one of the friends I linked to above just received the devastating news that she (a mother of three sweet and small boys) has breast cancer. Cari is one of my most favorite and precious friends from our time in Louisville, a woman I deeply love and respect and who has loved and cared for me well in spite of myself. I encourage you to check out her blog, where she honestly and transparently writes about her life. But I'd also like to encourage you to go to this site and consider contributing to a fund set up in her honor that will go towards the cost of her cancer treatments.
Here's one of my favorite snippets to entice you to read more. (Note: where it said the word "homeschool" I have substituted the word "Christian.")
In the [Christian] community I have observed that there can be a great emphasis on outward appearance, whether it is dressing for excellence, modesty, grooming, respectful manners, music style, or an attitude of sober reverence in worship. Some even take their children down a country path of humble fashions, raising food, and making bread. Nothing is wrong with any of these things, but we must be careful - we can model for our children outward changes and easily fall into molding their behavior and/or appearance, while missing their hearts. In some circles emphasis on the outward is epidemic.
"A friend of mine, a homeschool mom, just passed away of cancer. In the week before she died, I asked her if she had any regrets in her life. She told me she wished she had baked less bread - she said if she had it to do over again she would buy bread and spend more time with her children. She had invested time and energy in pursuing the "path" because she thought it was part of the spiritual [Christian] package."
"She wished she had baked less bread." I love that line, for I feel it captures the spirit that so often catches me, namely, neglecting "best" things for the sake of "good"things. I pray that I will remember this sentence throughout the day and spend less time baking less bread. :)
PS-a friend of a friend (and this friend too)! recently wrote this blog post that I commend to you. A lot of what she said inspired me, but at the end in particular she has a couple of really good paragraphs about creating space in the day to"hear the hearts of her kids."
PPS-I would be remiss if I failed to note that one of the friends I linked to above just received the devastating news that she (a mother of three sweet and small boys) has breast cancer. Cari is one of my most favorite and precious friends from our time in Louisville, a woman I deeply love and respect and who has loved and cared for me well in spite of myself. I encourage you to check out her blog, where she honestly and transparently writes about her life. But I'd also like to encourage you to go to this site and consider contributing to a fund set up in her honor that will go towards the cost of her cancer treatments.
My new study space
As a mom of two young kids who love me, I can often find it hard to accomplish anything at home. Even when Adam watches the kids so I can work on homework or do admin stuff, it's nearly impossible to actually do these things if I'm at home. Leaving the house to do such work requires not only commuting time (which decreases the actual amount of time I have to work) but also a purchase of some kind (because the only places available to "camp out" here are restaurants/coffeeshops).
Imagine my joy, then, when I discovered this space on the first floor of our apartment building:
It's actually the smallest and most tucked-away of three rooms in a kind of "lounge" area near the elevators. I occasionally would see different groups using this space (old men playing cards in the afternoon, a kindergarten in our building used it as their rec space in winter), but I had always thought that this section was locked up and so could only be used for "authorized" people. The other week, however, I discovered another door into this area...a door that was wide open! I creeped in and spent a delightful hour in this sunny spot working on Chinese and replying to emails. No one bothered me a bit or questioned why I was there, so voila! my new study space!
I was down there this morning working on some stuff (I'm really trying to use my two non-class mornings to doing a better job of keeping up with "can only do by myself" kind of work, like studying, correspondence, blogging, etc). I was a little nervous at one point because a group of older ladies came down into one of the rooms and saw me. They didn't kick me out though, they just proceeded to have some kind of vocal practice. What better accompaniment to writing Chinese characters than this! I have no idea what they're singing (I should've asked them), but they were able to tell me what a couple characters in my homework were that I couldn't read!
Imagine my joy, then, when I discovered this space on the first floor of our apartment building:
I was down there this morning working on some stuff (I'm really trying to use my two non-class mornings to doing a better job of keeping up with "can only do by myself" kind of work, like studying, correspondence, blogging, etc). I was a little nervous at one point because a group of older ladies came down into one of the rooms and saw me. They didn't kick me out though, they just proceeded to have some kind of vocal practice. What better accompaniment to writing Chinese characters than this! I have no idea what they're singing (I should've asked them), but they were able to tell me what a couple characters in my homework were that I couldn't read!
What we eat, Part 3
When it comes to fixing dinner for my family, I must confess I have always struggled to meal plan. I firmly believe in the benefits of meal planning, but for some reason often lack the ability to make it happen. This was true when we lived in the States, but it became even more of a struggle once we got over here, after living out of our car for 4 months before we arrived and then having to figure out where to even buy food after we got here! After several crying sessions this summer that mostly centered on the question, "What is for dinner?", it became very apparent to me that meal planning was a discipline I simply had to develop for the sake of my own sanity. One of the graces I've experienced in getting back into a routine this fall has been success in this area...totally a mercy from God.
That said, here are some of the main dishes that regularly make their way onto our dinner table. And once again, I must give credit where credit is due and say that I would be absolutely lost if it were not for this awesome blog.
That gives you a general idea of what we eat. About once every 1-2 weeks, cooking feels a little overwhelming and so we just order Chinese and occasionally McDonald's (by the way, they deliver McD's here! Is that awesome or what?)
That said, here are some of the main dishes that regularly make their way onto our dinner table. And once again, I must give credit where credit is due and say that I would be absolutely lost if it were not for this awesome blog.
- Quiche: eggs and spinach are readily available in the market and I make pie crust from Crisco that wonderful people have sent us from the States...although I just learned that I can buy Crisco from a website over here and also at a new grocery store I discovered that is close to my Chinese class. Still more expensive than it would be in the States, but at least it's here if I need it!)
- Chicken fingers: back in the 'Ville we discovered an amazing recipe for fried chicken that we have successfully been able to recreate here. The recipe had nothing to do with the fact that we were living in the Land of the Colonel but came mostly from the recipe in this cookbook which I got as a wedding gift.
- Chicken pot pie: a perennial favorite of Katie's, and again, except for the Crisco I use for the crust, I can find all the ingredients at our little market (except for butter too, which I buy at the restaurant wholesale market and freeze until I need it).
- Spaghetti: thankfully Italian pastas are available for a reasonable price at the Wal-mart and spaghetti sauce can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. We are so thankful for the parmesan cheese that was recently sent our way (although it is available at import stores here...at a price.)
- Pizza: just as in the States, pizza (in some form) makes its way onto our table about once a week. I am regularly thankful for the restaurant wholesale market near our house that seels 5kg blocks of mozzarella that we shred and freeze in 2 cup portions. Pepperoni (everyone's favorite topping, right?) us virtually impossible to find here, but we have had some very faithful friends send us some from the States!
That gives you a general idea of what we eat. About once every 1-2 weeks, cooking feels a little overwhelming and so we just order Chinese and occasionally McDonald's (by the way, they deliver McD's here! Is that awesome or what?)
Sister Fun
These girls have so much fun together (most of the time). Here's a little song/activity Katie made up for them to play together.
"You have more, I have more,
I love you, Caroline.
Doo doo doo doo doo, that's right."
Chalk
It's amazing how a little bit of colored chalk can make playing outside so much more fun.
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| Katie's cave drawings of nomads (she's been listening to MP3s of Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World during my afternoon tutoring sessions) |
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| Caroline's version of the Statue of Liberty, frequently on her mind thanks to a great Magic School Bus book Adam's mom sent over. |
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| Doesn't she look so old in this picture? Her legs look so long to me. |
English Corner
Because we are native English speakers, we are regularly approached by people interested in practicing English with us. We obviously cannot meet up with everyone, but we do believe that offering ourselves as language partners is a great way for us to contribute to our community and build friendships. So in the final weeks before our fall semester of Chinese class kicked off, we decided to host an English Corner in our home as a way to meet some of our neighbors and offer an opportunity for people to practice their English. It was so much fun!
It ended up being three men (a neighbor, a guy we met outside one evening, and our landlady's friend) who became the regular attenders...along with their kids! We had planned for the English Corner to last from 8pm-9:30pm, after our girls go to bed, so we could have actual conversation. Once the Chinese kids arrived though, we realized pretty quickly that our girls were simply going to have a late night on Wednesdays! So while Adam spoke Chinglish with the men (their English was not that great and it ended up being a great opportunity for Adam to practice Chinese), I played with the kiddos, which was a great chance for me and the girls to practice Chinese. All in all, it was a very encouraging time...we feel more connected to people in our community and learned alot about Chinese culture too.
It ended up being three men (a neighbor, a guy we met outside one evening, and our landlady's friend) who became the regular attenders...along with their kids! We had planned for the English Corner to last from 8pm-9:30pm, after our girls go to bed, so we could have actual conversation. Once the Chinese kids arrived though, we realized pretty quickly that our girls were simply going to have a late night on Wednesdays! So while Adam spoke Chinglish with the men (their English was not that great and it ended up being a great opportunity for Adam to practice Chinese), I played with the kiddos, which was a great chance for me and the girls to practice Chinese. All in all, it was a very encouraging time...we feel more connected to people in our community and learned alot about Chinese culture too.
Enjoying the 'Hood
The evenings here recently have gotten delightfully cool, and we've spent a lot of them outside playing and getting to know our neighbors. It's been encouraging, language-wise, because we've been able to carry on 30 minute-long conversations, all in Chinese!
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| One night we invented a game in which each member of our family had to pretend to be another member of the family. This is a picture of Katie being "Adam" and Adam being "Caroline," hence why Katie is giving Adam a piggyback ride. It was a stitch. |
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| Here's the Bean just being her usual cute self. She is a riot. |
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Some of the kids who played with us that night. They wanted to practice their English, we wanted to practice our Chinese, and we taught them how to throw an American football. A win for all. |
The long version
Most of you will probably be bored by the nitty gritty details of the lost passport saga I mentioned a few days ago, but I've decided (for those few who are interested in the whole story as well as for the sake of catharsis) to post it.
Last Friday I was getting ready to attend a women's retreat with some other expat women here in Beijing. In order to stay overnight in hotels here, you have to have provide your passport/visa information. So (20 minutes before I was supposed to leave, of course) I remembered that I needed to bring my passport and went to the drawer where all those types of documents live. Much to my surprise, when I opened the drawer, I found only Adam's passport; mine and the girls' were all absent. It was then that I remembered packing the passports for our beach trip but never unpacking them. Gulp. Wave of panic, settling into a heavy rock of foreboding in the pit of my stomach. In the next 20 minutes we tore our house apart looking for it....it's always fun to go on a retreat with your last minutes at a home spent in total panic, right? No luck.
I took a copy of my passport and residence card and left for the retreat, hoping that it would suffice. Meanwhile, Adam had our tutor (what would we do without Terry?) call the hotel where we stayed as well as the rental car company to see if they had found our passports. Nothing. By God's grace the hotel let me stay, and I was able to forget about the passports long enough to enjoy the retreat.
Monday morning we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to get new passports and visas for the three of us. Our tutor graciously agreed to accompany me to our district's Public Security Bureau (PSB, basically the police headquarters) to accomplish the first step and file a missing passport report there. It was a little intimidating going there...this huge, landscape-dominating building and the knowledge that this is a place you want to stay out of at all costs. I was so thankful for our tutor's servant-heartedness--not only was his translation help essential but he provided great moral support too. The people there were actually very friendly and helpful, and we were able to file the report with very little stress (except for the motherly "Are you sure you've looked everywhere?" and good-spirited rebuke by the head police lady.) Step one, done.
Tuesday morning the whole family headed over to the American Embassy to submit our application for replacement passports. Can I just say, I love being an American! Everyone at the Embassy was so friendly to us, and it was awesome gettting to deal with this situation in English and with a familiar protocol. I think I'd forgotten how less stressful life is when you can communicate! So, Step Two went off without a hitch. Or so I thought, until I got a phone call that afternoon from the Embassy telling us that my and Katie's photos were out-of-date since they were the same as the lost passports and thus over 6 months old. (I forgot to mention that on Monday I couldn't find any extra passport photos for Caroline and so had to take her to get new ones made.) So, Tuesday afternoon Katie and I went to get new passport photos taken, and I planned to return to the Embassy on Wednesday morning to drop them off. Step Two, almost completed.
Wednesday morning comes. I'm rushing around getting ready to head to the Embassy and am trying to figure out how I can incorporate other items on my to-do list in the this trip back to the Embassy. (Did I mention that the Embassy is on the opposite side of town from us?) Since the subway station is right next to our Wal-mart, I decided to try to return a mattress pad I had bought last week on my way. Ah, but where was the receipt? Missing, of course! (Are you detecting a theme here?) So, before I could leave to go to the Embassy, I was determined to find that receipt. Looked everywhere, of course, to no avail and decided to check my purse one more time. As I was digging around in it, I noticed a "secret pocket" that I never use. Might as well check that, I thought to myself. Unzipped it and did not find my receipt, but I did find our passports! AGH! I couldn't decide whether I should be happy or hoppin' mad. I didn't waste much time then trying to figure out my emotions, but immediately called the Embassy to see what we should do. The lady checked to see if our passport applications had been processed yet. Now, remember the new photos that I was supposed to submit that morning? As it turned out, because our photos were wrong, my passport and Katie's had not yet been cancelled, but Caroline's (because her photos were up-to-date) had been. Good news that we wouldn't have to get new ones for Katie and me, bad news that now I had to go back to the PSB to cancel the missing passport report that I had filed on Monday.
I got our tutor to call the PSB to find out what we needed to do in order to cancel the report. They said they would need an official document from the Embassy stating that my passport and Katie's were still valid. So, that meant another trip to the Embassy. I called the Embassy to see what I would have to do to get said report. They made it pretty easy and told me that I could just come over any time and they'd put something together for me. So, Embassy trip on Wednesday (because it took awhile to figure all that out). And I never did find that Wal-mart receipt, but I decided to risk it and try to return it anyway without the receipt (Wal-mart takes anything back, right?) I was once again loving America and its way of doing business...they gave me store credit without the receipt (which would never happen in a Chinese-owned store. Wait, I take that back...the shoe lady did. God bless her.) And can I just say that it feels like a huge accomplishment to be able to do a seemingly simple task like that in Chinese? I'm not sure if I can really explain to you how stressful/intimidating it can be some days to accomplish simple tasks like...but I digress.
Okay, so Thursday. I left early to get to the Embassy in order to pick up the document stating that Katie's and my passports were still valid. I had high hopes of being able to go from there back to the PSB to submit the document, and so close that aspect of the passport fiasco. I probably would've been able to do that if I had not gotten off the wrong exit of the subway and walked around for AN HOUR before I found the embassy. (Those of you who live in this city can testify what a nightmare it can be if you get off on the wrong exit at a subway stop.) I'll be honest...I was frustrated and feeling pretty much like a loser for the comedy of errors that was my life that week, since I seemed to be at the root of all the disasters. I was really trying hard to follow the way of eucharisteo. Some of the things on my list during my hour long "tour" of the embassy district:
-that of all days to be lost in this city it was one of the 4 "blue" days we've had all summer and the weather was gorgeous
-that I had legs that worked
-that I had enough Chinese to be able to ask where the Embassy is and to understand the answer
-that God sent two English speaking foreigners along the way who had iPhones to help me figure out where I was
-that I had my iPod with Truth-filled music on it
-that I am an American citizen and didn't have to wait in line like all the Chinese people waiting to be interviewed for visas (oh, how my heart went out to them as I thought about so many precious friends who have stood in line at that very same place!)
-that even though the Embassy couldn't reimburse the fees we had already paid for my and Katie's lost passports, they at least didn't charge me for the affidavit to take to the PSB
I finally made it home around lunchtime, not feeling very inspired to go to the PSB. I had previously promised myself that I wouldn't trouble our tutor again and that I could go by myself to do it (so long as he told me all the vocab I would need before hand!). But when he and I began practicing the dialogues I would likely have at the PSB, the stress of the week and the fear of looking foolish at the PSB spilled over, and I completely fell apart in a crying mess. Poor guy, he didn't know what to do! After a few minutes, I composed myself, and then sent off with his and Adam's prayers and our tutor's confidence that I could do it, I got in the taxi and headed back to the PSB to (hopefully) get our missing passport reports cancelled. Thankfully, my taxi driver was super-friendly and kept complimenting my Chinese....just the encouragement I needed! More grace ensued. When I walked up to the gate of the PSB, the guard actually smiled at me, and even though I totally butchered the pronunciation of the office I needed to go to, he figured out what I wanted (mostly because that's the only office there that deals with foreigners!). After a few minutes, a lady from the office came out to me, and I was able to explain to her the whole complicated story. (Just imaging trying to say everything you've just read on this blog post in Chinese! Much less detail and pathos of course, but still!) Then, (I think because the document from the Embassy was all in English), she escorted me back to the office I had visited on Monday. Thankfully, it was a different but still friendly policewoman working (I think I had mostly been dreading having to face that police woman who had asked me if I was sure I had looked everywhere!) This policewoman had great English and said she would take care of it. Problem solved! (At least I hope...I asked her if she could give me any kind of report from their office as confirmation that the "lost passport reports" had been cancelled. She politely declined my request, so I had to leave with nothing to "prove" that our passports are still valid in the Chinese system. Plus, foolish me neglected to make a copy of the Embassy paper before leaving it at the PSB....more opportunity for trust!)
And so, that's the long version of this week's passport debacle. Hopefully in the next week or two we'll get an email from the embassy telling us we can come pick up Caro's new passport. Then we'll have to start the process for getting her replacement visa. We're hoping that at that time we'll also be able to check to make sure that Katie's and my passports are still valid in their system. Pray for grace!
All in all, it was a very humbling week for me. Fighting for joy and contentment was hard, and on most days and in the face of most of the setbacks my first response was not one of trust and gratitude. I'm thankful for such a patient Father who "remains faithful even when we are faithless."
And to reward you for reading the whole thing--two of the cutest passport photos you'll ever see!
Last Friday I was getting ready to attend a women's retreat with some other expat women here in Beijing. In order to stay overnight in hotels here, you have to have provide your passport/visa information. So (20 minutes before I was supposed to leave, of course) I remembered that I needed to bring my passport and went to the drawer where all those types of documents live. Much to my surprise, when I opened the drawer, I found only Adam's passport; mine and the girls' were all absent. It was then that I remembered packing the passports for our beach trip but never unpacking them. Gulp. Wave of panic, settling into a heavy rock of foreboding in the pit of my stomach. In the next 20 minutes we tore our house apart looking for it....it's always fun to go on a retreat with your last minutes at a home spent in total panic, right? No luck.
I took a copy of my passport and residence card and left for the retreat, hoping that it would suffice. Meanwhile, Adam had our tutor (what would we do without Terry?) call the hotel where we stayed as well as the rental car company to see if they had found our passports. Nothing. By God's grace the hotel let me stay, and I was able to forget about the passports long enough to enjoy the retreat.
Monday morning we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to get new passports and visas for the three of us. Our tutor graciously agreed to accompany me to our district's Public Security Bureau (PSB, basically the police headquarters) to accomplish the first step and file a missing passport report there. It was a little intimidating going there...this huge, landscape-dominating building and the knowledge that this is a place you want to stay out of at all costs. I was so thankful for our tutor's servant-heartedness--not only was his translation help essential but he provided great moral support too. The people there were actually very friendly and helpful, and we were able to file the report with very little stress (except for the motherly "Are you sure you've looked everywhere?" and good-spirited rebuke by the head police lady.) Step one, done.
Tuesday morning the whole family headed over to the American Embassy to submit our application for replacement passports. Can I just say, I love being an American! Everyone at the Embassy was so friendly to us, and it was awesome gettting to deal with this situation in English and with a familiar protocol. I think I'd forgotten how less stressful life is when you can communicate! So, Step Two went off without a hitch. Or so I thought, until I got a phone call that afternoon from the Embassy telling us that my and Katie's photos were out-of-date since they were the same as the lost passports and thus over 6 months old. (I forgot to mention that on Monday I couldn't find any extra passport photos for Caroline and so had to take her to get new ones made.) So, Tuesday afternoon Katie and I went to get new passport photos taken, and I planned to return to the Embassy on Wednesday morning to drop them off. Step Two, almost completed.
Wednesday morning comes. I'm rushing around getting ready to head to the Embassy and am trying to figure out how I can incorporate other items on my to-do list in the this trip back to the Embassy. (Did I mention that the Embassy is on the opposite side of town from us?) Since the subway station is right next to our Wal-mart, I decided to try to return a mattress pad I had bought last week on my way. Ah, but where was the receipt? Missing, of course! (Are you detecting a theme here?) So, before I could leave to go to the Embassy, I was determined to find that receipt. Looked everywhere, of course, to no avail and decided to check my purse one more time. As I was digging around in it, I noticed a "secret pocket" that I never use. Might as well check that, I thought to myself. Unzipped it and did not find my receipt, but I did find our passports! AGH! I couldn't decide whether I should be happy or hoppin' mad. I didn't waste much time then trying to figure out my emotions, but immediately called the Embassy to see what we should do. The lady checked to see if our passport applications had been processed yet. Now, remember the new photos that I was supposed to submit that morning? As it turned out, because our photos were wrong, my passport and Katie's had not yet been cancelled, but Caroline's (because her photos were up-to-date) had been. Good news that we wouldn't have to get new ones for Katie and me, bad news that now I had to go back to the PSB to cancel the missing passport report that I had filed on Monday.
I got our tutor to call the PSB to find out what we needed to do in order to cancel the report. They said they would need an official document from the Embassy stating that my passport and Katie's were still valid. So, that meant another trip to the Embassy. I called the Embassy to see what I would have to do to get said report. They made it pretty easy and told me that I could just come over any time and they'd put something together for me. So, Embassy trip on Wednesday (because it took awhile to figure all that out). And I never did find that Wal-mart receipt, but I decided to risk it and try to return it anyway without the receipt (Wal-mart takes anything back, right?) I was once again loving America and its way of doing business...they gave me store credit without the receipt (which would never happen in a Chinese-owned store. Wait, I take that back...the shoe lady did. God bless her.) And can I just say that it feels like a huge accomplishment to be able to do a seemingly simple task like that in Chinese? I'm not sure if I can really explain to you how stressful/intimidating it can be some days to accomplish simple tasks like...but I digress.
Okay, so Thursday. I left early to get to the Embassy in order to pick up the document stating that Katie's and my passports were still valid. I had high hopes of being able to go from there back to the PSB to submit the document, and so close that aspect of the passport fiasco. I probably would've been able to do that if I had not gotten off the wrong exit of the subway and walked around for AN HOUR before I found the embassy. (Those of you who live in this city can testify what a nightmare it can be if you get off on the wrong exit at a subway stop.) I'll be honest...I was frustrated and feeling pretty much like a loser for the comedy of errors that was my life that week, since I seemed to be at the root of all the disasters. I was really trying hard to follow the way of eucharisteo. Some of the things on my list during my hour long "tour" of the embassy district:
-that of all days to be lost in this city it was one of the 4 "blue" days we've had all summer and the weather was gorgeous
-that I had legs that worked
-that I had enough Chinese to be able to ask where the Embassy is and to understand the answer
-that God sent two English speaking foreigners along the way who had iPhones to help me figure out where I was
-that I had my iPod with Truth-filled music on it
-that I am an American citizen and didn't have to wait in line like all the Chinese people waiting to be interviewed for visas (oh, how my heart went out to them as I thought about so many precious friends who have stood in line at that very same place!)
-that even though the Embassy couldn't reimburse the fees we had already paid for my and Katie's lost passports, they at least didn't charge me for the affidavit to take to the PSB
I finally made it home around lunchtime, not feeling very inspired to go to the PSB. I had previously promised myself that I wouldn't trouble our tutor again and that I could go by myself to do it (so long as he told me all the vocab I would need before hand!). But when he and I began practicing the dialogues I would likely have at the PSB, the stress of the week and the fear of looking foolish at the PSB spilled over, and I completely fell apart in a crying mess. Poor guy, he didn't know what to do! After a few minutes, I composed myself, and then sent off with his and Adam's prayers and our tutor's confidence that I could do it, I got in the taxi and headed back to the PSB to (hopefully) get our missing passport reports cancelled. Thankfully, my taxi driver was super-friendly and kept complimenting my Chinese....just the encouragement I needed! More grace ensued. When I walked up to the gate of the PSB, the guard actually smiled at me, and even though I totally butchered the pronunciation of the office I needed to go to, he figured out what I wanted (mostly because that's the only office there that deals with foreigners!). After a few minutes, a lady from the office came out to me, and I was able to explain to her the whole complicated story. (Just imaging trying to say everything you've just read on this blog post in Chinese! Much less detail and pathos of course, but still!) Then, (I think because the document from the Embassy was all in English), she escorted me back to the office I had visited on Monday. Thankfully, it was a different but still friendly policewoman working (I think I had mostly been dreading having to face that police woman who had asked me if I was sure I had looked everywhere!) This policewoman had great English and said she would take care of it. Problem solved! (At least I hope...I asked her if she could give me any kind of report from their office as confirmation that the "lost passport reports" had been cancelled. She politely declined my request, so I had to leave with nothing to "prove" that our passports are still valid in the Chinese system. Plus, foolish me neglected to make a copy of the Embassy paper before leaving it at the PSB....more opportunity for trust!)
And so, that's the long version of this week's passport debacle. Hopefully in the next week or two we'll get an email from the embassy telling us we can come pick up Caro's new passport. Then we'll have to start the process for getting her replacement visa. We're hoping that at that time we'll also be able to check to make sure that Katie's and my passports are still valid in their system. Pray for grace!
All in all, it was a very humbling week for me. Fighting for joy and contentment was hard, and on most days and in the face of most of the setbacks my first response was not one of trust and gratitude. I'm thankful for such a patient Father who "remains faithful even when we are faithless."
And to reward you for reading the whole thing--two of the cutest passport photos you'll ever see!
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