First - the underwear. This has generated a lot of comments, so I thought I would snap a quick photo to share. Think of this as one of MANY such displays. Of course there are other signs of Spring Festival preparation, but they are really just getting rolling.
It's been an interesting week here in Xiamen. This was us on Saturday:
After this unseasonably warm afternoon, we went to the SM Mall for dinner and some window shopping. Forgot my camera, which I would have liked because while its primarily a mall like any other, there are some unique features, including the best bread in China, the bamboo kiosk and most importantly, the Food Court -- which is a place I really like -- tons of Chinese, ethnic minority and other Asian food stands, and you just walk along and point to what you want and they deduct is from your debit card. Anyone who visits will surely get treated to a meal there, because it is such fun to watch them make the food.
On Sunday it turned cold, and Helen had taken her plunge from the bed and was a little moody (she has since made a full recovery). Michael and I went to our Chinese class and one of his students, Fu Qinqin, has been watching the kids for us each week. This time we were able to go out after class with our teacher and another student, and Fu Qinqin took the kids to McDonald's, where we met up. The kids like her, especially Sophia, who calls her "Foo HIN hin!" By mid week I was wearing my winter coat out in the evening.
Relating to my midlife crisis...many of you know that I am turning 40 in the coming month. I am blaming my sudden desire to go back to school on this fact. Plus I always liked school, and living on a college campus is proving too much for my willpower. This week I applied to enroll at Xiada in the intensive Chinese program. It would only be for one semester, of course, but my tutor thinks I can go straight into the second semester beginner class. I will be taking a written Chinese exam to see if I can place in that class, so I am studying characters like mad! Originally I needed to learn enough Chinese to survive, then my motive was to reinforce what Helen is getting, but somewhere along the line the quest to learn Chinese has become about me -- accepting the challenge, plus giving some rhythm and purpose to my days, now that the routines are established and just surviving isn't a full time occupation anymore. Of course, the issue is Sophia, and feeling a little bored at home with her, tied down by her 2 year old attention span! I think she is a little bored, too. I would like to get her into the campus nursery school, a division of the Kindergarten program, but the principal is not sure if there will be an opening mid year, also she is a few weeks too young, but they could probably overlook that now that she is potty trained. My other option is to hire a nanny/babysitter part time, which most professional families, both Chinese and foreign, have opted to do, because it is very inexpensive. Of course I feel a bit guilty about all this, since I know she loves being with me, but.......? For the time being I haven't committed, just weighing the options, but I can envision myself sitting in a classroom with my books, hard at work on those characters...
I will have to blog some more soon about our Chinese studies so far.
Other updates -- my mom is continuing to tolerate radiation therapy for her tumor, and we love talking to her on Skype. Thanks so much for the ongoing prayers.
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