JUST A FEW RECENT PICTURES

We were invited to a birthday party for a team member's daughter last month. Jim was asked to sing. He sang the Beatles song "Birthday" and was a huge hit. He has everyone clapping and singing along.....he had a blast!

At the same party the Howe family was asked to say something about the birthday girl. We weren't sure what to say (we really don't know her very well) so we read a Happy Birthday poem to her. I thought it to be a little cheesy, but everyone seemed to like it. The newspaper was even there and took pictures of us. Emma says it's because we are a "freakishly large" family!

My Joseph Wayne all bundled up to go outside....

Hello Mrs. James Howe

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I'm Back!!

It has been over a month since I last blogged, and I'm full of excuses, but I won't spend my whole time with the computer explaining my lack of writing.

Sometimes I feel I have nothing new to write....we are so used to our new life here, that it seems like everything is normal now. Jim has been teaching English for awhile. His class is from 3 to 4:30 every afternoon. He admits it's not his favorite thing to do, but he's doing really well. It takes him about 1 and a half hours every day to prepare for a days' lesson. He is very dedicated and I'm so proud of him. Neither one of us absolutely LOVE teaching English but it's what we have to do while we're here. Jim will probably only teach this term, which ends March 27 but I teach every weekend. Teaching English is a great way for us to meet people in our community. We went to dinner with Jim's class one Saturday and I invite a few children at a time from my class over to our home for dinner and to play our Wii.

One place we love to go and teach English is the orphanage near our home. We are treated like regulars there and we spend time their every Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The kids are very attentive during class and then we just visit awhile afterwards. Our young friend, Feng Sian is always a treat to visit with. He is one month younger than Joseph. He has a nanny that spends all her time with him. She sleeps in his private room and he is the king of that place!! He is the youngest, and all the kids there love him......and so do we. He doesn't reach for me yet, but he will let me take him from his nanny and she will gladly hold Joseph while I love on him. His nanny refers to Jim and I as his American mamma and pappa. His nanny wants me to talk to him in English all the time so he can grow up learning English. Everyone thinks it's a big deal to know English. Feng Sian's nanny is kinda a funny lady. She doesn't speak any English and always talks to me like I know Chinese fluently......apparently I've snowed her with my smiles and nods.....she nods, then I nod......she smiles, I smile.....she frowns, I frown....ect. I always take time to find her and visit. She is working as Feng Sian's nanny in order to save money so her son can offer a large amount of money to the father of the girl he wants to marry. Before some of you freak out, that is not the regular custom in our community but she is from a remote village in the country that apparently still practices this custom. I don't know much more, but I'm very interested in her story.

Our Chines lessons are going well......but slowly. Apparently Jim has beautiful Chinese handwriting.....who would have guessed? His English handwriting stinks, but our teacher says his Chinese characters are wonderful and that I need more practice. I'm not upset, my cursive is prettier than his!! We learn new vocabulary every day from our in-home helper and then 3 days a week we go to a classroom to work on writing and pronunciation. We are holding our own. I can only use Chinese in the community, so that's where I get my practice speaking. I've written before about my friend who's the baker. I now go to her bakery every Tuesday and Thursday mornings to visit with her. She has a friend who now joins us. Her friend knows more English than she does.....but it still isn't very much. We just sit and try to visit in the bakery as people come in and out. Joseph is usually with me and he is always a conversation piece. We also eat fresh bread from the oven !! Joseph goes into the baking area and watches her make bread, and if he points to anything and grunts, he gets to eat it. He takes a few bites of one cookie and then grunts for another and gets it!!! Those two women spoil him rotten and then I have to take him home. Yesterday when hot pans were taken out of the oven and set on the cooling rack, Joseph said "Hot! Hot!" without any prompting. Those women roared and had to tell everyone who came in what he did. So fun to watch others enjoy him!!

My children are not making friends as quickly as we hoped. We've just decided that they aren't the friendliest kids. They are given opportunities to meet new friends, but they won't do it.....I must admit it's the Day in them. Jameson has a Korean friend that visits us every Friday night. His parents are team members of ours, but their family lives in a nearby town. They come here every Friday for the weekend meetings. His name is Heman but some call him Ernie....I love calling him Heman because I don't know anyone else with that name. He and Jameson are so funny together. They talk a little, play video games together separately and wrestle on the floor alot. It's fun to watch these two boys interact. Jameson is content with Heman and when he has the opportunity to meet other boys, he turns it down.

The girls are still doing okay. Selah is refusing to do her school work, so she spends alot of time staring at her books. Emma gets her work done quickly so she can watch the latest American Idol on the computer. Emma is also a movie watcher and spends her spare time watching DVD's. Selah is like me. We don't watch movies much. She'd rather play in our sun room with her Barbies. She has some Barbie furniture and she has taken over a corner of the sun room, where our clothes hang to dry, for her Barbie world.

We keep so busy that our weeks fly by and our weekends zoom past. We are very happy and know that we are right where we're suppose to be!!

A HOWE'S WEEK IN REVIEW

It has been a week since I last blogged. We have been so busy and when I have time to blog I'm too tired. So I have a little time now and would love to share with you some highlights of our past week.
A team member introduced us to a young College guy last Sunday evening. He was in our area on winter break and agreed to come to our apartment to teach our children Chinese. So he came every morning this past week except Friday. He seemed to enjoy the children and using English. The children enjoyed his company and each day he stayed and ate lunch with us. He lives a couple hours away and doesn't have the means to come here very often, but we invited him to stop by anytime he's in our town. We hope we see more of him.
Jim finsished his second week of teaching and is getting used to it. He has made plans to meet with his students next Saturday at Jim's favorite dumpling restaurant. I accuse Jim of "using" them because we can't go there without a translator to order for us. I look forward to meeting his students...and I must admit....the dumplings too!
This past Friday we invited two boys from my English class to our home. They loved to play our wii and we ordered pizza and spaghetti. They were very well behaved and when they left they said they had a "great time". We didn't even plan much, and the boys still loved being in our home. They were such good guests that I look forward to their next visit. I'm trying to have each student over to our home.....it's fun to get to know the children one-on-one.
Tuesdays is our regular night at the orphanage. The directors invited us to roller skate with the children instead of English class. We had a wonderful evening of watching children skate. What a blessing it was to watch children enjoying a treat they rarely get. My kids had a good time and didn't want to leave. Thursday was our other evening to teach at the orphanage, but we had to cancel. Jim and I have been having headaches and we both had one Thursday night. I have been having them daily....if I don't wake up with one, then I usually go to bed with one.
This morning (Saturday) Jim spoke at our weekly meeting and I helped with the breakfast. I hated not hearing him, but then again I got to pick what everyone had for breakfast. We had biscuits and gravy, egg casserole, fried potatos and fruit salad. I don't know what the Korean team members thought of it, but the Americans loved it! This evening we met a family who lives outside of our town. This family is from Virginia and they run a dairy farm. We have heard alot about them and we get our milk from them, but we had never met face to face. We met tonight at a restaurant that you cook raw meat at your table over hot coals....it's probably Jim and Jameson's favorite place. They have 5 children ages 11 years to 7 months. The man will be a great help to Jim, as far as knowing where to buy tools and how to build things the Chinese way. They have been here for 5 years. They also home-school their children. The restaurant we went to was a little noisy, so I look forward visiting with them another time when I can hear a little better. They are currently managing a dairy farm, but hope to help feed orphans some day....and we hope to provide homes for orphans some day so I'm sure we'll keep in touch with them. When we met they gave us a huge block of mozzarella cheese that they make. YUM!! It was frozen, so Jim cut it in half when we got home so we could eat some now and save some. We are all pretty excited about the cheese...now only if we could get some butter!

HOT JOUT ZI

Yesterday was such a busy day....I knew it would be and had trouble getting out of bed and getting the day going. But the day did start and Jim took the kids to the school where we teach the children and I got Joseph ready for our outing. I had been invited to my new friend's home (the friend I met at the grocery store) to meet her husband who would fix us lunch.Yeah! Joseph and I headed out all bundled up and went to the nearest mall/market to buy something so we'd be very Chinese and not go to a home for the first time empty handed. I finally decided to buy fruit as my "thank you for inviting me to your home" gift but found all the fruit vendors packing up when I got there.....I'm not sure why they were boxing up all their belongings......but that's just how things work for me sometimes. So I glanced around and saw a nut vendor. This woman had every kind of nut and I remembered how nuts are one of the most favorite snacks, so a bought half a jin (similar to a pound) of pistachios.....who wouldn't love that! Joseph and I then headed for a taxi and began our journey across town. My friend told me to call when I got close, but because I've never been there that was hard to do. The taxi stopped in front of a building so I got out and called my friend. She came down from her second floor apartment and led the way for us.
This was my first time in a Chinese home. I was kind of surprised by the apartment. It was considerably smaller than ours and there were very few belongings. The furniture was old and simple and the kitchen had no modern conveniences. My friend's husband (a doctor at the city hospital) was busy making jout zi (dumplings) for our lunch. He carefully rolled out each piece of dough while sitting on a short stool at a table mayber 9 inches off the floor. They were very hospitable to Joseph and me and made sure we sat in the warmest part of the floor (everyone's heat is thru the floor) . My friend and I visited and waited for lunch. Her husband's English is not as good as hers, but I could understand his questions. When lunch was ready they carried the short table from the kitchen into the living area and we ate home-made dumplings filled with pork, celery and onions. YUM! My friend's husband showed me how to eat them, and even though I've had them many times, I watched him and did as he did. I, too , picked up a dumpling with my chopsticks (it took me a longer time) and dipped it in the soy sauce and vinegar mixture and popped it into my mouth and I wasn't done until I took a bite of raw garlic with a mouth full of dumpling. I was doing good until I realized how very hot the inside of the dumpling was. I tried to act big.....I didn't want them to think I didn't like what was in my mouth, but WOWEEE was it hot! And I still had to bite the garlic clove.......I did my best......but was not lady like at all! I had to prove I liked it and that I could do it the same way. My mouth was burned in several spots, but I it didn't slow me down too much. I ate all the dumplings given to me and some of Joseph's rice porridge (made especially for his visit). Right after lunch I had to leave. Joseph and I made it home in time for me to drop him off, touch base with Jim and the kids and get to my English classs.
Jim and I both now have busy teaching schedules. I get done at 3pm and he starts at 3pm. I go home and our helper leaves at 4pm. Well, when I got home, I got a phone call that a reporter was at the Foreign Language school and wanted to take our family picture for an article he was writing about our time in Hunchun. What a crazy request! I didn't have time to bathe the children, or even dress them in nicer clothes. We ran a brush thru our hair and headed back to the school When Jim got done teaching we were ready for the picture but the reporter was 45 minutes late. Finally he arrived and we ended up having a photo shoot with another American teacher and her infant son. The reporter posed us with Jim at a dry-erase board like he was teaching us and we looked at him like he was saying something profound......it sure was hard! We kept giggling and the reporter wanted us to smile or just look at Jim. I'm still confused why we got our picture taken this way. If you subscribe to the Tumen newspaper then you could see the picture of us.
We now have an extra child every evening from 5 to 8 pm. We babysit fellow team member's son (one month younger than Joseph) while they teach English each evening. The kids love having an extra baby to love......and Jim and I enjoy having the extra baby in the home, but both agree we don't think we would do well with two the same age for more than 3 hours at a time.
Last night was our evening at the orphanage. So we packed up both babies, bundled up the kids and took our bi-weekly walk to the orphanage. We had a good time, as usual and have made plans with the orphanage directors for lunch this Monday...just us adults (and Joseph of course). My nine month old friend ,Feng Sian ,was sick. He had a fever and cold and looked like he felt awful. He still didn't like me, but I think it was because he doesn't feel well....atleast that's what I'm telling myself.
Once home, and the kids in bed I curled up on my bed and reflected on the busy day. I'm concerned about Feng Sian, so I will make an extra trip to his home tomorrow to check on him (and take him a treat so he'll like me). I also thought about my home and my friend's home. We live so modestly compared to our US home, yet so extravagantly compared to a typical Chinese family. I think I need so much, but after visiting that home, realize I don't NEED anything......besides food, it's all WANTS. I'll never fully live Chinese, because we are not a Chinese family, but I did learn something. Our household is truly blessed. We live very simply and I like that. Too much stuff will bogg us down and we won't be able to stay focused on our tasks ahead.

A NEW FRIEND

Emma playing a game with the girls at the orphanage....she's doing so well with teaching English to anyone who wants to learn.

Joseph and his friend Thomas at the orphanage.

Yesterday Emma and I went shopping. She still had Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa and was making me crazy about spending it. She had it in her head that she wanted a shelf for her room. When out without her, I found what she wanted so we ventured out together to try to buy it. We first went to a new grocery store (new to me not to Hunchun) so we didn't have to carry a large shelf with us to the grocery store if our shopping was successful. Emma and I were talking in an aisle when a woman approached me and asked if I was from America. Her English was very good and she was so excited to meet Americans. We visited a little while in the grocery store and then we exchanged phone numbers. I asked if she could come to our home the next evening for dinner (tonight) and we made plans for her to visit our home. Her name is Rose and she came this evening with her 5 year old son. Even though she is Korean/Chinese she has studied English for a long time and her profession is an English teacher. She teaches adults and a few children private English classes in her home. I was excited to fix dinner for them but was unsure what to fix. So I decided to fix the perfect American meal for a five year old boy. We had chicken nuggets, french fries and macaroni and cheese! The first time I've ever entertained with such an easy meal! We had Country Bobs, ketchup and mustard for dipping and lemonade with oranges. Rose and her son Allan really seemed to enjoy it.....kinda funny! I may just be giving good cooks in America a bad name....I hope they don't think chicken nuggets is the best we have. We enjoyed the company and next visit I promised to cook adult American dinner. Rose's husband is an emergency room doctor.....I hope that never comes in handy! And Rose helped me with my Chinese pronunciation. She will be a great tutor. She has time to help me and the excitement to also. Chinese women are never shy to ask me my age, so when Rose did I asked in return. She will be 40 this May.....how nice to make a friend close to my age. What a blessing and productive trip to the grocery store......Emma thought so too......we ended up carrying home a green free-standing shelf she bought with her own money.

Last night was our night to go to the orphanage. We love going there and I always have to play with the 8 month old boy, Feng Sian. It makes me crazy that he doesn't like me so I took cookies for him this time......and wouldn't you know......he just got done eating and wasn't hungry!! I can't win. But I still play peek-a-boo across his nanny and visit with her about this sweet boy. How my heart aches that he will be in an orphanage his whole childhood. Most of the children there have some type of family to visit and have lived with family at some point during their childhood, but Feng Sian has no one outside the orphanage. For our class time we played Go-Fish using phonics sounds and we talked about the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. We try to teach a little English and then teach a little about our culture....so we introduced Sweetarts! No one spit theirs out, so they must have liked them.

Our days zip by and we keep very busy. We're amazed at how fast the days fly by....except I feel like we have been away from the States longer than we actually have. I feel like we've been gone forever....our past life seems so long ago.....and this life becomes more natural and normal to us every day.

WELCOME 2009!

A well-bathed Jameson sneaking a chicken wing from our New Year's Eve buffet.

Our New Year arrived with very little excitement this year. We ate junk food for dinner, buffet style and Jameson said, before he even took a bite, "This will be my favorite meal yet". We bought fried chicken wings from the restaurant near our home, leftover meatballs and potatoe soup from dinner the night before, assorted chips, cookies, fudge and french bread and cream puffs from our baker friends. I kept asking Jim what he would like to eat, but he wouldn't answer seriousely, so Jameson and I went to the store by ourselves and came home with the junk food. We settled in our living room with full plates around 7pm and watched the pilot of the 1970's Incredible Hulk with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferigno.....the kids found it....interesting. Emma wanted to continue, as we bought Jameson the complete first season for Christmas, but the rest of us had had enought. We then watched the movie "Hildago". We would have enjoyed it more if we could have heard it above the kids' constant talking and questions. By 11:30 I was so tired(and relaxed with Joseph asleep with me on the couch ) that I said my "Happy New Years"s" and went to bed. Straight up midnight fireworks....loud fireworks.......went off and the kids tried to see them out our windows. I don't remember anything after that.

On the first, we lounged around in the morning and then walked to a mall close by to try out their food court. We were clearly the only foreigners there, and we each had something different. I had cold noodles in a vinegar-based sauce. It was very good and I'd probably get it again.....reminded me of my mom's cold spaghetti salad....YUM! After lunch we walked to a nicer mall and Jameson and Emma used Christmas money to buy remote control cars.

Once home, Emma and I snuggled together on my bed and watched "Gone with the Wind" and Jim made sure we had few interruptions. She liked it, but had trouble understanding why some of the women were so frail and weak....Emma can't relate to that!! Like the scene where the women take a nap after the BBQ while the men talked politics and smoked cigars......Emma couldn't grasp that, but I wish we still did that on busy days! Anyway, a nice memory for me to treasure....introducing my daughter to Rhett Butler and being glad she saw the wickedness in Scarlett O' Hara.

Speaking of Emma, we didn't have internet connection for the biggest part of the day, and she is so disapointed that she couldn't skype Sienna at Sienna's midnight. When our computer is down, it's always a big bummer. We rely on it so much. We make all our calls back home thru the internet as well as keeping in touch with skype and emails. Although Jim and I are limited with our computer skills, we try everything when it won't work....tonight we must have done something right and I am now able to wish all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

HEATHER'S THEORY TESTED

Here is a picture of me and my assistant, Bernice, during one of our Saturday morning English classes. She is a huge help interpretting for me....sometimes the kids don't think I'm as funny as I do until Bernice says it in Chinese. I have 18 in that class and I'm expected to have more children join soon.

A few weeks ago I blogged about all the freebies I receive when I take Joseph with me shopping. Heather left a message asking if I needed Joseph to get the free items or if I could get them on my own. Well this evening I went to the bakery we love to visit alone. I chose the bread (french bread hot from the oven because Jameson requested meatball subs for dinner) and the owner proceeded to bag 8 dinner rolls (made from the same french bread dough) and long sweet danishes (hard to describe but very yummy). So as I walked home with a spring in my step, I thought of Heather and her doubtfulness that I can't get freebies on my own. So the the hypothesis is this. With or without Joseph with me, the bakery gives me extras and now I know it's not just because I let them see my blue-eyed boy.......Hey......I have blue eyes too......maybe that's the reason for the freebies.....now we need to test if Jim and his green eyes can get extras!!

We went to the orphanage again tonight. We enjoy our time there and the director always shares a little more of the ins and outs of the orphanage world with me. I'm learning a little each visit and the kids seem to enjoy the interaction with us. We play games with the children ages 11-15. One girl is there because she broke her hip at the University. She's 20 and can't walk and is becoming depressed. Emma met her tonight and Emma wants to go back to just visit with her. The girl speaks Chinese, Korean and English. I told Emma she could take her portable DVD player, games and cards and Emma liked that idea.....maybe this young woman can help Emma with language study and Emma can help her feel less lonely.....we'll see how that goes.

After getting an oven for Christmas, I am just now able to use it. When I tried to turn it on for the first time it wouldn't work. Jim and Sunny's brother took it back to the store and they fixed it. Tonight I made meatball subs.....and we loved them!! I also made potatoe soup, a favorite of ours. I enjoy cooking here because it's such a challenge. My oven is so small, but I'm so excited to cook with an oven again. I will find out how to buy flour soon and make brownies (the cocoa can't be found here, but I have a little) and cookies, quick breads, ect. My family also seems to really appreciate what I cook now because they don't have any other American food to compare it too......Even my well done meatballs were a hit!!!

JAMESON'S 11th BIRTHDAY

A STREET SCENE OF YANGI, CHINA

OUR 11 YEAR OLD BOY

IT WAS COLD, BUT LIKE ALL GOOD SISTERS , EMMA BRAVED THE COLD WHILE SHOPPING IN YANGI

"LOOK AT MY BIG KING CHEESEBURGER AND FRIES...WHAT A GREAT BIRTHDAY!"

Today we celebrated the birth of Jameson. Although Jim says because he was born on American time and that we're now on Chinese time, he wasn't really born until tomorrow and so it's not really his birthday yet!! We started our day running late. We have a mandatory meeting every Saturday morning at 7am. Jim woke me up at 6:32.....Ugggh!! We usually wake at 5:30 on Saturdays!! So after 30 minutes of me shouting out commands, Jay, Joe , Selah and I hailed a taxi and headed to the meeting. Jim and Emma were to follow after Jim got his act together! (He is always so slow when we're in a hurry.....I was a tad bit upset with his slow-pokey-ness and left without him thinking I was making a point). The taxi driver we got was not familiar with the location of our meeting place and took a few wrong turns. Eventually we arrived and walked to the third floor to our meeting and guess who greeted us at the door? Yep.....JIM!! His taxi driver knew where he was going and he arrived before I did......YIKES!....lessoned learned early this am not to be spiteful!!

After the meeting and breakfast, we said good-bye to team members who are returning to the States. After a few tears we went by 2 taxis to Yangi, the nearest big city. We met other team members at Ginna's Place, a restaurant specializing in Western food. Jameson wanted to go here in order to get a big American cheeseburger and french fries. He and I shared a Big King Burger with bacon and BBQ wings. He loved every bite. Emma enjoyed her tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich (we can't get cheese here, so the grilled cheese was quite a treat!). Jim and Selah shared a Big King Burger with bacon also and Jim had a bowl of Mexican soup. We had tortilla chips and salsa for appetizer and we enjoyed fresh brewed iced-tea (another treat we can't get here) With our bellies full, we went shopping. Jay had quite a wallet full of money and the girls had Christmas $$ to spend. Selah found very quickly Barbie accessories (a bedroom and kitchen set) and Jameson found a remote control spider-type robot. Emma couldn't find anything and the price wasn't right on the rocking horse (actually a giraffe) I wanted Josephto get. We walked from the mall to DVD store. We have heard of this store before because they have a wide selection of English movies and they are only 8yuan.....which is $1.32!! Isn't that crazy? Many are taped from a movie theater...totally illegal.....but it's all we can get.....and we love them. We came home with lots of movies......everyone got something they liked. I got a few chick flicks to watch late at night with Jim and I can't wait to pull out Gone with the Wind and introduce Emma to it. This store also sells tv show series, so Jim will be busy watching Star Trek Voyager whenever possible. The kids had a blast and it was fun not having to say "no" all the time. We finished our visit to Yangi with hot chocolate and coffee (I had mine iced---YUM!---but not as good as a Stevelatte!!) at a coffee shop that tried to make their logo look like Starbucks, but we weren't fooled....but still paid the high prices!! Joseph cried and screamed the hour and 45 minutes home. We were tempted to take him out of his seat but it was dark and the roads are very dangerous, so we just listened to him. He's just as stubborn as his dad.....you'd think he would have realized after the first hour that we weren't going to get him out of his seat but he continued to scream. Once home, I stripped him of his warm clothing and he has been playing on the floor for the past 2 hours, the happiest boy you'd ever meet. We're all home now and Jameson just opened cards from the States. Thank you to all who sent him a birthday message. It was fun for him to opend cards from friends back home.....he appreciates it more than most eleven year old boys. Thank you.

What a busy day.....we'll all sleep well tonight.....and YEAH! we made it thru the December birthdays again. We have a rest now until Joseph's first birthday on March 6!!

SHENG DAN QAI LE

Jameson opening Incredible Hulk videos on Christmas morning

Joseph being so helpful the night we decorated our Christmas cactus.

Selah and the present she received from Sadie Edwards on christmas morning

Emma and Joseph using the gift she was so excited to give to him...his first toothbrush.

Our unforgettable Christmas cactus with very few ornaments and too much garland.....but now we know why we use trees.....OUCH!!

Sheng Dan Qai Le....or .....Merry Christmas!!

Christmas evening 6:30

As I write this our living room is full of scattered opened presents and shredded wrapping paper. Mork and Mindy (season 1) is on our tv (a gift we introduced our children to) Selah is loving her new Barbies with fun clothes and 4 of us are in our new pajamas. Emma is using her new gel pens and Jim has just popped Chinese popcorn for a snack. Joseph is taking advantage of everyone being busy and trying to eat wrapping paper and spilling Christmas candy on the floor....just a relaxing evening!!

Our morning began as Christmas mornings always have with all the kids coming into our room earlier than we would like and we read The Christmas Story by Luke and then entered into the living room where we saw that we had a visitor during the night. The kids were really excited and of course it was fun to hear their laughter at what they got. Emma's favorite gift was her Marilyn Monroe tote bag, Jameson's favorite was his MP3 player (also a camera), Selah's favorite was a stuffed pink elephand and the barbies, and Joseph loved his duck that rolls around on the floors playing very obnoxious music and then stops and lays an egg....I must admit it might be my favorite too!

My hightlight this morning was the oven Jim and the kids gave me. We've been here 2 months now without an oven. I miss making cookies, quick breads, casseroles and brownies. Jim is already requesting a pot roast with potatoes and carrots this week. The ovens here are a little smaller than toaster ovens back home. It fits on top of my small refrigerator and is too small for a 9x13 inch pan.....but I feel like I've been given a fancy appliance! This will help me feel like I'm taking care of my family the way I use too.

We joined other team members for Christmas dinner at 1:00 at the theater at the Foreign Language School. I spent several hours at another team members home (she has 2 ovens!) and helped her cook. We made apple pies, pumpkin pies, green bean casserole, brocoli and rice casserole, 2 baked chickens and a pot roast. We also made fudge and pumpkin muffins and banana bread to give as gifts. We spent days cooking and it was all very delicious. The Korean team members brought Korean dishes and the Russian team members brought food they like as well. I only ate the American food because it's so hard to make here and we rarely eat that way. It was quite a treat. We all brought a present to open. We sat in a large circle (26 of us) and drew numbers. Number one chose a present and opened it. Then number 2 could choose one to open, or steal one that was already opened. We did this until all presents were open. It was so fun and the kids had a great time. Emma walked away with gel pens and black paper, Selah got matrishka dolls and Jameson got a dorky leather hat! We had a great day!!

On the walk to the theater we stopped at few places to deliver candy canes that I received from the States. In Chinese, I was able to say that today is Christmas and that we wanted to share our candy canes. We delivered them to our bakery family, our vegetable lady and her husband and the baker with the great biscuits and the taxi driver who drove us to the theater. It was such a blessing to see the smiles! Thank you to all who sent candy canes to us....you provided smiles in China!

I must admit it was a little hard last night as I got ready for bed. It's harder than I thought to be away during the Holidays. I miss our usual Holiday routine and we miss our families back home. We enjoyed skyping Jim's family on their Christmas Eve and we will set our alarm to get up in the middle of the night to skype my family. We love being able to see and talk to our families thru the computer....technology is great!

So Nar

Today was another busy day. Once again, I didn't make it to body shaping. After teaching the kids, I gave Jameson to his drum lessons and Selah went with Andrea to practice her part in an upcoming play for the Special Education School Christmas Party the team is hosting on the 23rd. Emma and I went home for lunch. I'm so proud of her. She can hail a taxi, tell the driver where to go, pay the correct amount and say thank you. She is just about ready to be able to come hom without an adult with her. She may be ready, but I'm not. She sat in the front seat today and I vegged out in the back. Sunny had lunch ready for us. We didn't care for the meat she gave us, but I think it was from a bag and not something she made. She said it was beef, but I'm not sure if I believe her. The side dish she ms ade was excellent. She makes it often for us. It is potatoes (VERY thinly sliced) with carrots and celery. It is sauteed in some type of oil and is way yummy!! We eat it with rice and all 5 of us like it, but Jameson only eats the potatoes. After lunch, Jim and I went to our Chinese class. I'm learning something new every day, but I'm thinking about getting my own personal tutor. I'll still go to the class, but I would rather work at my pace and not the classes pace. Tutors are fairly inexpensive, so Jim says it would probably be a good idea. Now the hard part....finding one. Andrea is helping me, but we haven't found one yet.

After class, Jim and I toured the newly renovated building that will house the children's English Department when finished. They are letting me make all the decisions about how the classrooms will be finished. Like what walls I want to keep and what walls I want taken out...pretty big decisions. Jim is the one doing the cabinetry in there and I think he hopes I choose for a wall to go down so he can get in on that. If you know me at all, you know I dream big so I'm dreaming in that building now. I can see some fun things going on in there. I even get my own office, which my kids think is really cool (and so do I!) There is also a room with a large window that leads into a hall....looks like a snack bar to me!! Those in charge want this program for the kids up and running and firmly established and they know when the orphanage is built, I will be busy with other responsibilities. But for the mean time, I'm giving my 2 cents on what I think the building should be used for.

I am so busy preparing for a Christmas party for my English classes and for the Christmas concert. Why did I think this Christmas would be any different? We are busy and of course, I have little shopping done. Emma reminds me daily of her upcoming 13th Birthday and then Jameson has his own countdown going on. This time of year is always crazy....

A quick, funny story before I close. When I got in the taxit this am to go to the school, I said hello to the driver and he said hello in return. Then he said "So nar" (not the real Chinese spelling of course) I have no idea what this meant (I kind of thought it was a greeting ) so I very proudly said "So nar" back to him. I then got out the card with the school address printed on it and showed it to him. I asked him what "So nar" meant and he answered me (but my Chinese is so limited I can only ask questions...I can't understand the answers!) When I got to the school I asked the receptionist what "So nar" means and she said it means "Where are you going?' So when the taxi driver asked me where I was going, I probably looked like a smarty britches and asked him where he was going!

So much to tell everyone....I'll write more later.
Hugs and Kisses.....Andra

WE'VE GOT MILK!

We've been very this week for it only being Tuesday, but even here in China we can't escape the crazy Holiday Season. Yesterday (Monday) I got up and took Emma to Korean class and then I planned to stay for Body Shaping class. Our instructor was sick so I stayed at the school and visited with friends. It was then that I made arrangements to have fresh milk delivered to our apartment every morning. The milk we can get at the grocery store is not refrigerated and because I can't read the labels, I've come home with apple milk before (YUCK!) Jim is scared of the milk and wouldn't drink it, but I was still cooking with it. The kids were really missing milk, so when I heard of this opportunity I jumped on it. The farmer who will deliver the milk said he could deliver to us last, which would be between 2 and 3 am YIKES! Is milk really worth hearing the door bell every morning at 3...I think not! So we came up with the solution to put a covered trash can (very small) outside ouir apartment door when we go to bed and when we get up at 6am to turn on our hot water heater (for our baths at 7) we can get the trash can with bags of milk in it. Well, I put a clean liner in a covered trash can that we had and Jim flipped out! It grossed him out that our milk was in our trash can. It doesn't bother me at all. Our stairwell is cold so it stays cold and the bags are sealed so I think it's a great set up. Jim is still hesitant. I invested in a box of cocoa cereal (very expensive import food for these parts) so the kids (and Jim) would eat it with milk as we try to adjust to the new milk. I'm not even a milk drinker but had trouble living without milk. I hope to get some milk fat and cream from this farmer too and make butter and whipped cream. It's only getting better. I did a little shopping later in the day and Jim finally took me to the bank so I can go by myself some day. He must have gotten tired of asking for money.....now he'll make me go.....I liked not knowing so I didn't have to make the 10 minute walk. It's been a big deal not having tea bags that I can make iced tea with. I found some yesterday but it still wasn't anything like Lipton. I thought it would work though. Then we received 2 packages in the mail. Tea bags were in one box and so we had iced tea with our dinner.....what a treat. Thank you to all who helped fill the boxes...we are so very blessed!

Tonight we went to the orphanage to teach English for the first time. We had 5 elementary students and we really enjoyed it. We didn't know how much English they knew, so we started with numbers and played games. A young man I see at the Foreign Language School sometimes was visiting there, and he offered to translate for us so it worked out really well. We also found a short cut to the orphanage. We live about 3 walking minutes away!! Not only is His timing always right, His location is too! It took us longer to get our coats, shoes and gloves on than it did to walk there. The directors (a married couple) said they'd love to see where we live....they are foreigners here too (Korean) and don't know very many people. The wife said " please invite us some day" Her desperation to "get away" made me realize the importance of meeting with them outside of the orphanage. Sometimes I feeel we don't get invited very many places because of our 4 children, could you imagine having 34!! I bet they get very few invites out. There's no way our loud household would frazzle them, so we plan to invite them over soon.

I am busy getting things in order for my English students' Christmas party and concert. Jim is learning a song for the same concert and Selah is learning a part for a play for a different program. Emma and Jameson are learning how to do the lights and sound board in the theater so they can help at various programs in the theater. Our Holiday Season is so very different here, but we still figured out how to stay busy.
Sorry. No pictures this time, but I should have alot after this weekends' events.

A LONG AWAITED ORPHANAGE VISIT

A new 8 month old friend and his caregiver at the orphanage.

Joseph making new friends at the orphanage ( He's the one with

the passy in his mouth!)

This past Thursday we got to visit the orphanage already established here. It is supported by an organization in So. Korea. The directors are a married couple and they live with their 2 sons at the orphanage. The orphanage is on the third floor of a 5 floor building. (The fifth floor is a skating rink...can't wait to try that out!) I think they use the full floor and there's alot of room. 34 children live there. They have a large kitchen/dining room, several bedrooms (4-6 children to a room), a large library and classroom for studying. They also have a rec. room with a pool table, ping pong table, weights, and a stage with karaoke. I was very impressed and it did not look like we expected it to. The children were studying and getting home from school when we arrived ( it was after 7pm and the high school students were just coming home from school!) The directors were very open with us and are willing to share what they know about Chinese orphanages. The husband, Daniel, expressed a need for fellowship and I hope he and Jim will be able to find time to just "hang out". His wife is Soo Son and she is close to my age. We made arrangements with them to teach Eng. on Tues. and Thurs. evenings. They seemed very appreciative of our volunteering. We are excited to go back....my kids will have fun there and I'm craving to learn the ins and outs of the orphanage world. We had an interpretter with us, but the directors' English was pretty good.....I don't think we will always need a translater when we go there. It is also only a 5 minute walk from our apartment.

We had dinner this evening with many of the volunteers. Cy is here now. It was good to see him again. We ate at the hotel that we stayed at when we first arrived. It was Korean food. I'm really enjoying the "grassy" and "weedy" side dishes. I have no idea what we're eating but because it looks like grass and weeds, I assume I'm eating healthy. Our helper Sunny makes these dishes too and I love it. Emma is starting to complain that we eat too much grass......but I'm not. We also had fried tofu (Jameson loved), duck, sweet and sour pork, kimchi, rice and other vegetable dishes that are too hard to explain. We eat veggies here that I've never heard of...alot of roots I didn't know you could eat!!

We have a busy weekend. Jameson is going to meet a boy who lives here with his extended family but was born in the States....English is his first language so we're excited to get the two boys together. Emma has a play date with a Korean girl from my English class. They live near us and after our spaghetti party, the mother invited Emma over to play at her house...she is only a year younger than Emma. Emma is excited to go. We are going to a Christmas dinner for all the Hope School teachers at the Pizza place we love to go to on Saturday afternoon. We are also meeting with a friend for family pictures.....and of course I teach 2 English classes on Saturday and we have mandatory meetings on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon......is it even possible to fit so much in one weekend.....we'll find out!!

SHOWERS OF FREEBIES

Today wase a day of Freebies. It began this am when Joseph and I walked to Andrea's apartment. We walk there every Tuesday am to meet with the ladies on our team. The Korean, Belarussian and American women meet to spend time together and to eat lunch. On the way I stopped at a bakery to buy some sweets for the meeting. Joseph was with me and the workers at the bakery made over him, and then when I paid they gave me a free loaf of sweet bread with raisins. That'll work. Later in the afternoon Jim and I took the kids to the new mall by our home. I purchased gifts for the girls in my English class. The sales clerks fussed over Joseph, who was in a good mood and smiled and shook his head "no-no" for the ladies. Who wouldn't love that? When I paid for the gifts they gave us a free plush turtle puppet (I assume for Joseph). It really is cute and of pretty good quality. Hooray, a turtle! As we were leaving the mall, Jim surprised us all by suggesting we eat at the new chicken sandwich fast food restaurant. It's called "Do and Me"....I don't know why......it just is. I was trying to order in Chinese and I was pointing at pictures alot. As I was going thru all that a worker was filling cups of " ice-cream" for us.....once again free.....they must have gotten the memo on it being freebies for Howes Day. We were thankful for the pastel scoops of "ice-cream" . The consistancy was a little different than we're use to, but it wasn't horrible. Emma hated the lavendrer (she said it tasted like butter) but Selah loved the green (melon flavored). The white scoops were just a sweet flavor. We found a seat and studied our ice-cream and our fries were brought to us. And because Joseph is just so handsome, they brought toys for him.......a truck that goes when wheeled backwards, and a set of matching fork, spoon and chopsticks. Can't beat that. After dinner we walked to the grocery store. We knew the day was over and time to go home when nothing free was offered to us there. The walk home was slow with groceries and full bellies. But what a great day being showered with freebies!

OUR FAVORITE VILLAGE

JIM AND I HAVE REALLY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE VILLAGE OF YANG PAO. I WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOME HOMES AND A STREET SCENE. THE OPEN FIELD IS THE PROPERTY PURCHASED FOR THE ORPHANAGE WE ARE WANTING TO BUILD. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS IS RUSSIA. NOTICE THE PINK OUTHOUSE IN THE FIRST PICTURE....PRETTY!

SUNDAY SHOPPING

(street scene by our apartment)

Today I went to the Russian market on the outskirts of Hunchun. The market caters to Russians who cross the border for cheap shopping. The shops (more like booths) are owned by Chinese, but they speak Russian and sell items Russians may like. The average Chinese person doesn't shop there. I went there with another team member and a translator to try to find shoes to keep in the studio I've been taking aerobics in. I can't find shoes because most Chinese women don't have a size 9 foot like me. So we ventured to the Russian market. First of all, all the Chinese spoke Russian to us, but when they realized we were with our own translator, they quoted us fair prices. I bought shoes, mens but they'll work, that are so name-brand they used two brand names.....on the side "goodyear" is printed and on the back "adidas" is printed (Did you even know Goodyear made shoes? Me either....but I now own a pair!) They just put any old American name on merchandise and most don't realize it's not authentic, or even makes sense. I also was tickled to buy Jim running pants for Christmas. (Then this evening at our Sunday meeting another team member gave Jim a pair that he loves.....just my luck!) I bought a few gifts for the kids, but not very much. We rode the bus home from the market and the 3 of us ate at a fast food chicken sandwich restaurant that just opened today. It was pretty good....salty fries and lettuce on the sandwiches (usually cabbage is on the sandwich instead, which I've learned to like.) We went to a new mall near my home that had it's grand opening today. I don't know how long it'll stay open. The prices were way too high for Hunchun. The shopping is more like our department stores and I can't wait to take Jim and the kids there. It's not like Chinese shopping at all. I'm glad it's there.

At our Sunday night meeting Jim led songs for the first time. He called the team member kind of in charge and asked what he thought about Jim taking over the singing part and was told that would be great. It really was a need. I could tell others enjoyed it and I'm glad Jim has that to prepare for each weekend. It gives him more of a purpose here.

A SPAGHETTI PARTY

Last night, Friday, we invited my afternoon English class to our apartment for an evening of games and American food. The students wanted me to make spaghetti, which is one of the only American dishes they could think of. I was excited for my 3 children have young people to play with for an evening and I think my kids were excited too. After a busy Friday, I walked to the nearest restaurant to meet my students (You see, I invited these students to my home but I still can't say my address, so I had to meet them and escort them to my apartment....maybe I need to learn my address!) It was extremely cold and 3 out of my 4 students met me at the restaurant. The only one who didn't show was my translator!! One student speaks much better than the others and so I use her as a translator (I still don't know why she didn't show) Two of the students brought gifts for me and one brought food to share. I had to make spaghetti sauce from scratch the night before and at the baby specialty shop I found spaghetti noodles (yes, I know that doesn't make sense...few things do here). We also had french bread with garlic butter. We found a bakery near our apartment that makes incredible french bread and if we ask for fresh then they make it and tell us when to return to get ift hot and fresh from the oven....such a treat for a family that doesn't own an oven! In fact, the bakery offered to deliver it from the oven to our apartment, but once again not knowing my address wasn't very smart. We played games like checkers and Guess Who and all the children loved the Wii. One mother stayed with her daughter, which was fine because she kept Joseph busy so I could play with the children. We had a wonderful evening. I don't think all the Chinese children enjoyed the spaghetti, but my Howe kids loved it!! For dessert we had American oreos and Chips Ahoy cookies. A delicious American meal. We had such a nice evening that we look forward to doing it again.

Jim and I have started Chinese class. We'll meet with other team members Mon, Wed, and Fridays for an hour each time. There is an expense but very small...$1.40 per person per hour! Nothing to complain about. We were given Chines names.....mine sounds pretty, but when translated means "day 10". Jim's name sounds similar to Jacob.....but not really! The class is casual, and I think we will enjoy it. I'm excited to build my vocabulary. I like learning the language from the public when I'm out. I talk to anyone who looks like they would talk back to me. Taxi drivers always want to say something.....my Chinese may sound like I'm a taxi driver! I repeat what they say to me and listen as they correct me....it's such a hard language to learn. The few phrases I know I say whenever someone speaks to me, like: it's cold today, I have 4 children, I'm an American English teacher, That's too expensive, thank you and no good (this is polite to say when you don't want something) In fact I say these things even if they ask me something I don't understan in hopes they start to talk about something I can respond too.

Our family may begin teaching English 2 nights a week at an orphanage for older children by our home. This would be another opportunity for our kids to be around other children. We don't know details yet, but we have offered to teach in the evenings and the orphanage is open to that. This will also be a great opportunity to see how a Chinese orphanage is ran and to get experience before our orphanage is built. All of our evenings are free right now, so getting out a couple nights a week is okay with us. Our evenings are so long because we're all home in the afternoons so I fix dinner early and I'm not a slave to dishes any more becuase I have a Sunny.

Times up! Joseph just woke from his nap. I'll write more later. Thanks for reading and being a part of this Great Adventure!

WHY I FEEL SKINNIER IN CHINA

I've been having a hard time finding time to post lately. My children love being on the computer and so I asserted myself tonight and kicked Jameson off, that's the only way for me to have enought time in front of the computer to post. Funny things happen to us all the time so I'd like to share just a few tonight in hopes it makes you smile. We have learned to laugh at ourselves daily....so it's okay if you laugh at us too.
When hailing a taxi here, you simply raise your hand slightly and a driver knows to pull over. It's a subtle movement. One day as Selah, Jameson and I began our walk to school, I realized the wind was cutting thru my pants and so to be the popular mom I suggested we take a taxi. Jameson eagerly said he'd flag down the taxi. He ran ahead of me and flailed his arms as if his pants were on fire!! A taxi slammed on his brakes and the man who was in the back seat got out to give us his ride. I imagine he thought we had an emergency and felt we needed the ride more than he. I refused to get in and explained the misunderstanding as best I could with body language. The man was kind but I couldn't see getting into the taxi and not saying "Take us to the hospital....quick!" Instead all I could say was " my pants were thin so I wanted a ride" We continued walking and I flagged down the next taxi. Jameson learned his lesson and now he flags down a taxi as well as the Chinese do.
The first several weeks we were here I thought I was shrinking! My jeans were so loose and it appeared I was losing weight like crazy. Then I realized that because we don't have a dryer and because all our clothes air dry after being washed, my jeans were not shrinking....and because I have to wear them a few days in a row I was stretching them out. I may not be skinnier in China but my jeans help me feel like I am!
Last Saturday in my English class, I asked one of my students if I was saying the Chinese for "English teacher" correctly. I said "ying yu" for English and she corrected me and said "ying row". I was surprised I've been saying it wrong for the past 6 weeks so I double checked with her. Once again she said "ying row". We discussed this for awhile and I said how do you say "English " and she said "mutton" Over and over we tried to figure what each other was saying. It was like the who's on first routine. Finally we realized that she thought I asked how to say mutton. I laughed because if I would not have persisted with correcting her, I may have gone around the city telling everyone that I'm a mutton teacher!!
I'll write more later.......so much to tell!

Andra

UPDATE ON JOSEPH

Yikes....I forgot to update everyone on Joseph.

A nurse on our team visited us yesterday to check out Joseph. She saw that his throat was red and left and then brought back an antibiotic for him. He has a rash and earlier today it looked like it was getting worse, but this evening it looks really good. He no longer has a fever, but is still a little grouchy and doesn't eat as many solids as before. His fever got really high at night(103.8) so we haven't slept well the past couple of nights. He is on the mend and he went to his first Thanksgiving and loved it!

WHY I HAVE A DEEPER RESPECT FOR THE PILGRIMS

We have survived our first Thanksgiving in China!!

The day before Thanksgiving, I went to another team member's home to help with preparations because I don't have an oven.....that really limits me to what I can bring. When I arrived I was amazed at how much prep. work she had to do before I even got there. She had to boil the pumpkin for the pies, and make the apple pies because she only has 2 small ovens and there's only so much time. We made the pumpkin pies from scratch (she did the crust....and shortening is not available here)and I did the filling. We then prepared a yam recipe that she would bake the next day. We then prepared the 4 chickens.....no turkeys are here either!! We had to cut the necks and feet off and then remove all the insides...this was knew to me and I tried not to show how naive I am when there wasn't a little pouch with the insides in it. I now know how to clean out the inside of a chicken....something I thought I could go my whole life without ever needing to know. We marinated the chickens in a seasoning overnight and she baked them this am. I told her I felt like a Pilgrim woman cooking the way we did except we didn't wear little while caps and aprons! It is so hard to cook anything like we are use to because we have to do everything from scratch. Nothing is in cans here.....all ingredients are fresh or you do without.

Thanksgiving morning we slept in until the Gans' skyped us....which is always a reason to get up! We enjoyed seeing into their world a little while and then off into my kitchen I went to make Rice Krispy Treats (thank you, Connie, for sending the ingredients with us....otherwise I don't know what I would have made) We talked to Jim's mom on skype for awhile and then got ready to go to our dinner with the rest of the team members.

More people were there than I expected....probably 40. Some people invited friends so there were alot of new faces. The Korean team members made Korean food but seemed happy to try the American-traditional Thanksgiving food. We had the following: mashed potatoes with gravy, green bean casserole (made without canned cream of mushroom soup.....it was made from scratch) baked chickens, King crabs, biscuits, assorted fruits, vegetable tray with dip, dressing (the dressing was from scratch and the recipe called for breakfast sausage so my friend had to make the breakfast sausage in order to use it....I'm so glad she knows how to do that now....I so want to benefit from that) and then we had all the Korean foods. I didn't eat any Korean food, even though I love it, because I won't get another chance to eat the American food for a long time.

After dessert (apple pies, mock-pecan pie made witih oatmeal and walnuts, pumpkin pies, and my Rice Krispy treats....which the Korean and Bella-Russian team members loved....who knew!) we watched the movie Wall-E on the wall with a projector and some played board games. The kids enjoyed this. Then before we left we sang some praise songs from the dvds we broght (thanks Dan!) and went around the room and said what we're thankful for.....very moving. Then we slowly dismissed.

It really was a fun afternoon and we enjoyed the casual atmosphere and sharing laughter with new friends. Today was not like what we've been use to for so many years, but we were comfortable where we were and loved the day. One of the other team members mentioned during our time of sharing what we are thankful for that she is thankful for the kids being here. Their youth and energy is welcomed by these members and several of them are really connecting with the kids. They take time to play games with them on the computer or board games and of course they love hanging out with Joseph. My kids are the only kids here on the team, except for a boy 1 month younger than Joseph. It's fun watching the 2 boys together....I'm enjoying them noticing each other and imagine what they will be like together when they're 2!

We are thankful for so many things....too many to write tonight. We are especially thankful this Thanksgiving for our family and friends back home who are celebrating the same things we are here except 14 hours later (except Vanessa who is 17 hours behind!). We are thankful for the memories we have of past Thanksgivings....memories are precious to us now more than ever.

I have a better appreciation of those first Thanksgiving women who had so many preparations to do.....I'm learning how much work goes into a meal without so many of the modern conveniences I thought were normal......and I now know it's just easier to eat what the Chinese and Koreans do.....rice, rice, rice.

Happy Thanksgiving.......We wish you the best on this day of gratitude.