Last moon party and we leave for Xi'an

Well, we finally went to our last Mid-autumn festival celebration last night. After a week of parties, Sophia was quite unruly at this one. Fortunately, Uncle Tian was there to keep the girls occupied. He is quite amused at how attached they are to him. This party was sponsored by the International Faculty office, so all the foreign teachers were there. We sat with Roger who is a retired American engineer teaching English in the business school -- and our neighbor in the guest house, and Bronislav, a Swiss lawyer teaching international business law. His wife is coming soon and he was happy to hear that I had found lots to do in Xiamen. We also sat with the daughter of the director and other staff at the office. We had a great time, but we are all gambled out and have enough toothpaste to last for our whole year here.

Earlier in the day I taught English in Helen's class. I didn't bring the camera because I didn't want to distract them too much. I brought one of my therapy puppets with me on the trip ( a turtle) and Tommy and I went around to every child saying "hello" and "my name is.." The kids seemed to know these simple words, which amazed me. We also sang a song. I think I could have gone on longer, but that was all I had prepared. Helen didn't want me to leave -- she obviously was VERY EXCITED I was there and could hardly stay in her seat. The girls are quite kind to her, and she has 2 very good friends already. The teacher is very patient with me when I need to communicate using my few words of Chinese and sign language! Helen came home proud to tell me that she knows how to say water..:"mommy its 'he shue'" which means "drink water" actually -- but I was pleased to see that some words are emerging for her.

We leave in 3 hours for the airport, so time to finish packing. I may be able to post on our friends' computer, but we are not bringing the laptop, so if you don't hear from me for a while -- check back on October 6th for lots of pictures!!! We are living in China, but really on the very edge of the country! I can't wait to spend some time in the interior.