Christmas...check. New Year's next.

It always seems like we are rushing through the holidays. Thanksgiving counts down to Christmas and then New Year's and then birthdays in January. It feels rushed and hectic, and sometimes I wish we could just stop and enjoy the moment a little longer. It seems like it takes 364 days to get to Christmas and 364 seconds before we reset the clock.

Having said that, I really enjoyed this year. Having the friends over for the big meal on Saturday was a wonderful way to include our national friends in our festivities. They seemed to enjoy it. Having time as a family and a team here was good too.

It is always a little sad to be so far from grandparents, parents, siblings and nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins... during Christmas. Thank goodness for Skype. What a different experience it was when I first came to China. The phone got passed around and sometimes I think they sat the thing down and forgot I was there. Ha. Now, I can actually see them on the screen! Wow.




The other big deal about Christmas was Joel's birthday. We had a little party for him in the afternoon when the Christmas events are usually quieter. I made a gingerbread cake. I cannot believe my little man is a year old. To celebrate, he began using his sippy cup more proficiently. Up until a couple of days ago, he was just gnawing on the thing.


Even though it feels like we waited in line for 3 hours to ride a 30 second roller coaster, I really enjoyed the season so far. I love Thanksgiving to New Year's. It is a wonderful time. I think tomorrow I will post my thoughts from the day Joel was born. I had a cell phone that day and typed out what I had been thinking. I guess a little like Mary who was pondering in her heart. I was doing my share of pondering in that Harbin hospital bed! :) I think I want to share that with anyone who is interested.

Until then. See ya' tomorrow! 明天见！

Preschool Christmas

Well, the Christmas week at preschool has come to an end. Olivia had fun from what I could gather from what she would tell me. She actually talked a little about it, so that tells me something. :) Today started with her being dropped off and kids almost falling over themselves to give her candy. A very interesting beginning, but I am sure it was all very 热闹 renao or fun！

We went up to the classrooms. Kanyon's teacher was leading the way and told us that four of the classes were together for a big performance and then they were separate for their individual parties.

I heard she had a line in the performance (though later she told me all the kids said it together). I asked her what she said and she proudly said, "xie zi" (which means 'to write'). When I asked her if she knew what it meant, she said, "It means, 'Look at me.'" I'm sure that is what it felt like it should mean when all the kids are yelling this word that means something she cannot even do yet.  :)

I'm still not sure where the mask came into play, but she wore it happily and even let me take a picture of her before we left home this morning. She was cute in her Christmas garb and panda mask. I wish I could have seen her in the 35 yuan outfit I bought for her through the school. It came with a santa hat that sported white yarn braids. Oh my!

As usual, preschool remains a bit of a mystery, but I have some plans and ideas for how it can possibly become a little clearer next semester. :) In the meantime, I am glad that Olivia enjoys going, is making friends, and is learning some Chinese too.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! 
Christmas Eve in Chinese is 平安夜 ping'an ye which means "peace night". The ping part sounds like the word for apple, so many Chinese people give apples on Christmas Eve.

So, maybe eat an apple or drink some cider and wish each other a Happy Peace Night! :)

See ya' tomorrow! 明天见！

Christmas phase#... who even remembers anymore?

Sometimes Olivia will say something that I don't think enough about at the time. Later however, I am often struck by her 3 year old insight. 

Yesterday, we were talking about Joel's birthday and what his cake should be like. We have also been talking a lot about Jesus' birthday, so it wasn't surprising when she asked about HIS cake. When I asked her what she thought His cake should be, she said, "A cross." 

I thought about that for awhile. So many times, we have these warm thoughts about Christmas and imagine Jesus as a baby and forget the rest of the story. The truth is that His journey started very humble and was headed for the cross. When we celebrate Christmas, we are to remember the whole reason for the season and the part that takes us on to Easter.  Thank you Olivia for that reminder. 

This week, we have been taking Olivia to preschool everyday in preparation for her school 活动 huodong or activity that will be this Friday (tomorrow actually). Last week sometime I got a call from her teacher saying something about this activity and that I needed to prepare this and that (caught most of it but wasn't sure about some points) and it involved 35 yuan to get it done. I said okay and made a mental note that something was happening though I didn't know exactly what it was going to be. 

When I took Olivia to school Tuesday morning, I also had a small plate of goodies for her teachers and wanted to ask more about the huodong. Her teacher asked her to come everyday and for me to prepare some goodies and candy for Friday. Okay. No problem. 

Wednesday when I picked her up, I found out I needed to prepare a mask for Olivia as well and that I was NOT to attend the huodong. They would take pictures. 

Thursday when we picked Olivia and Kanyon up, I got a little more information from Kanyon's teacher. It seems there will be a whole school activity and individual class activities all morning on Friday. We're to bring a mask, bring the goodies, be prepared for Santa. We get to collect our children at noon and see all they have learned (their papers are on the walls) when we pick them up. I think we have to ask to go up - they don't usually let us since we get them in the middle of the day rather than at 4 in the afternoon. 

So, Olivia now has a panda mask made out of felt, will have cookies and candy bags to hand out to classmates and only the school knows what else will happen tomorrow.  What a blissful state of chaotic confusion I live in in regards to Olivia's preschool experience. 

One interesting note is that she has been talking to herself a lot more in Chinese this week; no doubt because of going daily! :) 

See ya' tomorrow! 明天见！

I'm tired these days.

I am tired. I know I am not the only one, but I am so tired. My children are sick again, there are millions of projects that are backed up and threatening to run me over, I feel overwhelmed by some of the goings on of the season and I am just plain in need of a good old fashioned nap that my children don't seem to think they need.
I'm sorry for complaining, but that is all I have today. Joel is screaming. I have to go.
See ya' soon.

Aaah. Christmas time is here.

Olivia and I transformed these boring old styrofoam sticks into some happenin' snowmen and set them out as decoration. She is really getting into the decorating spirit. When we go through the advent reading books (each little book is an ornament) she wants to put them all on the same branch. Lots of love in one spot is her idea of perfection. :) I love that kid.

We, we  being the team, invited the entire freshman class of English majors over to our apartment. That translated into three groups of students, around 60 students, shuffling through our four apartments doing all kinds of Christmasy things. In the Taylor's apartment, they made and decorated cookies, in the Causby's place they sang songs and heard a story, and at Jodi's they made shrinky dinks.  At our place, well at our place they did something a little different: "live" tree decorating and "pass the present" game.

This student was by far the best "tree." Another student in the class said, "He's our only gentleman in the class." What she meant was he is the only boy. He was a great sport and seemed to have fun too.

It was a blast seeing these college freshman act all goofy as they decorated their classmates. They were almost giddy with excitement as they passed the present around. When they realized there were smaller boxes to open rather than a real present, they got all the more into the deal. It was a ton of fun and even Joel got squeally with joy when he saw all the students coming and going. I think that boy loves people. 

Olivia enjoyed drinking some home-made apple cider and being with the students. Even though she was a bit shy, she said to me, "Will you ask those students if one of those students will play with me?" What do you think they said? Ha ha! We had to hold them back before all 20 of them went in her bedroom. :)

Honestly, I was a little nervous anticipating this afternoon and all its goings on, but it was a thrill to have the students over and see them having fun even though they don't really know us well yet. 

One wonderful thing is that Steve might be teaching these same students next semester, so it was a great preview for them to see our apartment and meet our family. May this, along with everything, work together for good purposes in the future. 

Merry Christmas!  sheng dan jie kuai le 圣诞节快乐

(Just a note: Sheng dan in Chinese means "birthday of an emperor/ empress" Hmm.) :)

See ya' tomorrow! 明天见！

Olivia Bakes a Cake

OK, so she's really helping her mama. :-)

You'll love the video linked below. Robin's really busy these days, so we'll share a window into our kitchen, where she's making a wonderful carrot cake and a DELICIOUS Banana Cream Pie. Yum!

This post is dedicated to our neighbor, Jodi Poon, who's birthday is the 20th. :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenrobin/6524773465/

Completed observation three; now I'm free.

For the mentor teacher certificate program I am participating in this semester, I had to observe a foreign teacher and a Chinese teacher for a total of five observations. I observed the foreign teacher twice earlier in the semester, and I just completed the third observation of the Chinese teacher today.

The teachers have to have no more than five years teaching experience and that made it rather hard to find a national teacher here at our school. The "newest" teacher I could find had been teaching seven years. That sent me to the other side of the city (an hour long bus ride away) to a college where I have some guanxi (relationship and connections).

I observed the teacher three times in the past two weeks. That was a lot of traveling back and forth toting Joel each time and Olivia one of the three times. Thankfully, the foreign teachers there graciously watched them while I observed the teacher. It was such a blessing - both the observation and the baby-sitting.

As I watched her teach, I was struck by how much we all benefit from watching each other teach. When I first came to China, I think I thought the Chinese teachers would gain so much insight into Western methodology and teaching styles by observing foreign teachers. The more time I spend in the Chinese teachers' classrooms however, the more I realize that it isn't so much about them learning anything from us. It is about teaching, period. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Some of those strengths stem from our past experiences as students and as teachers. We naturally gravitate toward certain tendencies.

To put this in plain terms, let me give an example that I have noticed from my time observing both foreign (non-Chinese) and national (Chinese) teachers over the years. The foreign teachers have a tendency to be very group and pair work oriented. They spend a lot of time having the students talk to each other and to the teacher as well. This could be classified as a strength. They tend to shy away from error correction and teaching grammar. This might be viewed as a weakness. The national teachers however, seem to have a natural approach to correcting the students and teaching grammar in a way that doesn't bring the lesson to a screeching halt. This, generally, is seen as a strength. They have a tendency to lecture and call on students one by one or have the whole class answer, thus limiting the amount of time students talk in class. This can be seen as a weakness.

This example does not account for every foreign and national teacher, but my point is that these teachers have these tendencies in their teaching. If that is true, it seems reasonable that if they spent time talking about their teaching or at least observing each others' classes that everyone would benefit. This seems to have less to do with "Western" or "Asian" teaching methods and more to do with general areas of strength and growth, don't you think?

So, why is it so hard for us to get into each others' classrooms? What is the big scare or deterrent? I'm not sure. Perhaps it is a lack of understanding or past experiences that have lead both sides to see each other as "sides" rather than see each other as partners in the same game. This is one reason why I enjoy this program so much. It allows me to get involved with both groups and help bridge the gap in a small way.

Next semester I get to form a teacher support group that includes both foreign and national teachers. I am extremely excited about this and cannot wait to see who will be involved and how much they grow as teachers through the process.

Thanks for reading.
See ya' tomorrow! 明天见！