The Post-Christmas Party

It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Church Christmas party! Our little Jinan group broke with tradition and had our party the day AFTER Christmas, since that was what worked with everyone's schedules. It was a hit with adults and children alike.

The newest member of our Jinan group, Sister Kathy (Hong) Guo, invited everyone to her home for a huge Chinese feast. It was wildly generous of her, and she and her husband, who is not even a member, provided all the food. Everyone brought some type of treat or gift, of course, but one of the hard and fast rules that we have learned from living in China is that you simply cannot out-gift the Chinese. Don't even try.

Not only was there more food than any of us could possibly eat (see above), but they also ordered pizza for the kids (just in case they didn't like the adult food . . . I think it was mainly for their own son). When we left, Sister Guo plied us with extra pork cutlets and dumplings to take home. What's more, Kathy's mother (pictured above with the children) had bought silk scarves for all the women, and stuffed animals for the kids. Seriously, you can NOT out-gift the Chinese.

Sister Guo is a Jinan native, but she and her husband lived in the US and Canada for 15 years before returning to China to live near their parents. They both hold Canadian passports, which is why Sister Guo can meet with our group. Their son, Hansen, is eight years old and was born in the US, which, of course, makes him a US citizen. He and Phoenix get along great. They bond over the iPad :).

Stayc in Chinese mode with Simon, Kathy's husband.

It was a wonderful branch party and I think perhaps all future ward parties will pale in comparison. It's hard to beat an intimate gathering of 20 good friends with gifts to boot :).

Homeschool Study ~ The Respiratory System

During the month of December, we studied the respiratory system. It was a pretty straightforward unit of study, but I was able to find several activities that better helped the kids understand how the respiratory system works and how to strengthen their own.

The kids did cotton ball races. Did you know that slow, regulated breaths are more controlled than fast, sporadic breaths? Yeah, pretty intuitive. Still, sometimes it's not enough just to say it; you have to PROVE it.

That same day the kids tested their lung capacity with a messy little experiment. As they blew air through the straw into the upside-down container, they replaced the water with air and thus could see how much air was in their lungs. It wasn't a contest, but if it HAD been, Phoneix would have won hands down.

Also, the kids learned that if you blow really hard and fast, water gets all over the table. They thought that was funny. I did not. Obviously the slow, regulated breathing idea didn't really stick.

Finally, we made a model of the lungs and the diaphragm to get a good idea of exactly how the diaphragm works. When you pull on the plastic "diaphragm," the balloon "lung" inflates. Fascinating. We called it our "baby respiratory system" since the best way to manage it was by cradling it.

On a different day*, the kids tested their knowledge of the respiratory system by building a complete model of it using recycled junk from around the house (I had been saving some items for this activity). I really tried to stay out of the mix and let them figure things out for themselves. I think the only help I gave was (at their request) to tape the bronchiolles (straws) to the lungs (ballons). The *teamwork* was spotty at the beginning, but once they figured things out, the project went smoothly.
 

When they were done, they gave a mini oral presentation explaining the process of respiration using their model. I have to admit, I was impressed, and it takes a lot to impress me (sadly). They even remembered to include details, like the epiglottis.

We have since then moved on to the reproductive system at their persistent request. Don't count on any pictures of that unit of study :). Fortunately, Stayc and I have already had multiple talks with the kids on the subject, so the general idea of reproduction is not foreign to them. Still, it gave me another good opportunity last week to talk about the Law of Chastity and our own religious beliefs. You definitely wouldn't get THAT in a public school.

* Don't be deceived by the fact that Phoenix is wearing the same clothes in every picture. These were, in fact, separate days (evinced by Lu's different outfits). We just wear the same clothes over and over again. It's a China thing . . . but one that I would really like to keep when we get back home. I do entirely too much laundry in the States.

For the Love of Books

 

The Kindles have proven to be lifesavers in China. Honestly, I can't imagine what our lives would be like without them. If we had spent a year abroad just one or two years ago, it would have been decidedly more difficult to read as much as we have.

Still, sometimes it's good to just hold a book in your hand. Sometimes, you simply can't find the book you want, perhaps your very FAVORITE book, in electronic format (think lots of classic children's literature). Sadly, only ONE of the five books I ordered for the kids arrived in time for Christmas (or at all thus far), even though I ordered them over a month ago. Hrumph. I'm still hoping the China Postal Service won't let me down.

Phoenix's current reading list:
How to Train Your Dragon series (We have most of these in audio format since they don't come in electronic format yet.)
The Harry Potter series (books 1-4)
The Horrid Henry series
The Warriors series (based on his sister's recommendation)

Lutece's current reading list:
The Warriors series (She has loved these violent books about cat clans. Not really my cup of tea.)
The Percy Jackson series
The Name of This Book Is Secret series
All the Wrong Questions (She received this, the newest book by Lemony Snicket, for Christmas.)

If you have any suggestions for good books, we welcome your ideas!

p.s. Also, as a family, we've been reading the Chronicles of Narnia (a bit out of order). We just finished The Horse and His Boy (which may be my new favorite), and tonight we are starting The Last Battle.

A Homemade Holiday

In the spirit of simplifying Christmas, we encouraged Lutece and Phoenix to give each other handmade gifts this year. The kids come up with some creative and thoughtful ideas, and I feel like it made giving gifts even more meaningful for them. We will definitely repeat this in future years.

After much consideration, Lutece decided to make a wand for Phoenix. This has been a Harry Potter year for the kids. Stayc spent a month reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to all of us, and the kids re-read the other books on their own. (Although they are not allowed to read past the fifth book since our tradition has been to read them together as a family first. They will have to wait until next summer for the sixth book in the series.)

Lutece fashioned the wand out of a chopstick and Chinese playdoh, which seems to be sturdier and less crumbly than its American counterpart when dry. We weren't sure how the wand would fare when dry, so Lutece made a "back-up" wand (and I made two back-up back-up wands). I think Lutece's wands turned out pretty cool.

Phoenix wanted to make a sidewalk paintbrush for Lutece. Ever since arriving in China, we have seen old men (always men) at the parks and squares writing poems on the sidewalk tiles using large sponge brushes. They are perfect for creating lovely Chinese characters. Lutece is fascinated by this practice and has been asking for a "brush" of her own. We finally approached a couple of the old men and asked where they got the brushes. Always the answer was that they had made it themselves, and indeed, the more we examined them, the more clear it became that each brush was different and each was (more or less crudely) handmade.

For Lutece's present, we bought a mop head for the sponge part of the brush, which I then shaped using scissors (under Phoenix's direction, of course). Then we taped it to a mop handle, purchased separately. Sadly, the weather is too frozen to try out the brush now, but come March? Hello park, here we come!

Christmas Day in China

Christmas has come and gone for us in China. The lead up to Christmas felt fairly normal, but the aftermath has definitely been different. Today, the day after Christmas, Stayc left at 7:30 a.m. to go to work, and the kids and I got down to homeschool. Business as usual.*

But YESTERDAY? Well, yesterday felt just like Christmas!

At least, it felt like a toned-down version of Christmas, which was actually much nicer. Santa came the night before and set presents out. Thank goodness he found us at our new address in China!

I brought our stockings from home, which was a very nice touch of familiarity and tradition. Santa filled them, and I set out the art kits I had compiled for the kids. They included some new markers (Lu) and colored pencils (Phx), art books, origami paper, scissors, and other nic-nacs.

In the morning the kids were excited to find that they had received *some* of the things on their lists and some other fun surprises, like a dart board that Phoenix has been eying longingly at the market and some faux-Lego (fego :) sets that I bought after Annie mentioned that their boys were getting Chinese faux-Lego sets too. They cost one third the price (or less) and seem just as good so far.

The kids were delighted (and surprised) to receive gifts from Grandma and Grandpa DuBravac who sent these code-breaking books all the way from the USA.
 

The rest of the day was just like any lazy Christmas afternoon. When the kids got bored with new toys, we sent them into their room with the iPad and let them watch a movie (gasp!). It's true. Best two hours of the day :).

I made a braised pork loin with mashed potatoes and vegetables for dinner, and we had a Christmas cake for dessert. I suppose it wasn't normal to go out to the market at 2:00 p.m. on Christmas day to pick up the pork loin, but you know, I wanted fresh meat. We DID miss being around family on this special day, but as my Mom said, we still feel close to everyone however far away they are. Christmas in China was a once in a lifetime (we hope :) experience!

* The rest of China never even took Christmas off. In fact, Stayc was the only foreign teacher who didn't teach on Christmas day. Shandong University gave teachers permission to take the day off, but everyone else taught their classes as usual. (To be fair, Stayc is the only one who has children at home.) Also, life in China will grind to a halt in February for Chinese New Year, so we will take our homeschool winter vacation then.

Day 24: Christmas Eve Bowling

Something as trivial as "Being in China" was not going to keep us from our traditional Christmas Eve (morning) activity. Stayc and I secretly found and bought a toy bowling set at the market for 25 yuan. We thought it was totally worth it, since we would have spent four times that much to go bowling in Kentucky.

We wrapped it up and put it under the tree on the EVE of Christmas Eve. In the morning, when the kids opened the last gnome elf in the Christmas advent calendar, they spent breakfast time trying to figure out how to make their own bowling set. (Their idea was to use the advent elves as bowling pins and an ornament from the tree as the ball.)

That was when Stayc and I slyly pointed out that there was a new present under the tree. Huh? Why don't you open it? Sometimes it is so fun to be a parent (although, sometimes it's not . . . It depends on the day hour minute). The kids were super excited!

We set up a miniature bowling alley in the living room, made a score chart, chose "bowling names," and got down to business. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had. I guess I didn't expect to have a "real" game. I just thought the kids would play by themselves for a while and call it good. Luckily, Stayc infused a little more "seriousness" into the activity, helping the kids with the scoring, which made it much more fun.

As you can see, much to Stayc's chagrin, he and I tied for first place. ePay (pee in pig latin . . . Phoenix's chosen moniker) came in third, with L a distant fourth. Please forget I mentioned that though, as she was a bit sore about it.

Christmas morning has come and gone for us, and most of you are tucked away safe in your beds awaiting your Christmas morning on the other side of the globe. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas wherever you are!!

Making a List, Checking it Twice

On the twelfth day of Advent my children wrote to me Santa . . . wait, I think I'm getting my songs mixed up. When I pulled out the letters to double check them send them to Santa, I realized I had never posted them. So here they are, so we can remember them in years to come.

Dear Santa,
     Does Rudolph have a cold? I hope he does not. With my advice you should let Rudolph drive the sleigh. Also, how are you going to get in? The sink pipes are probably too small. Please go to Hogwarts to learn how to dissaparate and apparate!
     I also wonder what I should give you for your midnight snack? Do you like cream puffs? Or should we leave you candy?
     May I please have a pengin? If the pengin is going to die then may I have a top set, candy (esspesially mints!) and cold, hard, cash. I would also like you to leave some dust rags so mom doesn't have to do all the work. May I also have three small oranges other than one big orange?
     Thank you for the attenitoin and please keep the origami pengin [small origami penguin enclosed in the letter].

p.s. Do you have a one reindeer open sleigh?
p.p.s. Please answer the questions!


Dear Santa,
Thank you for the presents you gave me last Christmas. I really liked the polar bears. I also liked the orange.

I would like a plastic lemur. I would also like 24 元 ($6). I would also like more polar bears. I also would like you to tell me what food to give to you.

Greetings, Phoenix in 济南, 山东, 中国

p.s. I left the spelling intact in these letters. I love her dearly, but Lutece is a horrendous speller. Also, the Chinese characters on the front of Phoenix's letter read "To the North Pole." The ones at the end read, "Jinan, Shandong, China," just in case Santa has forgotten Phoenix is not in Kentucky this year.

p.p.s. I thought I had posted letters from other years, but I could only find last year's. However, I came across these posts that made me laugh. 

Christmas in the CCID Virtual Branch

Members of our Jinan group practicing for our musical number.

We had our Christmas program at Church today, and it was really beautiful. Our group in Jinan did a special musical number of "Silent Night," with the first verse in Chinese. The Spirit was strong, and I was once again amazed that Church via teleconference can be a spiritual experience. It didn't start out that way. It was really distracting the first month or so, but then something happened and I found I could focus and feel connected to the other branch members. 

There are about 150 members in the Central China International District Virtual Branch, all of us scattered in cities spread across China. Some of our members live as far away as Karamay, near the Kazakhstan border. Some are the only foreign member in their city. We are fortunate to be in one of the larger "groups" of our branch. There are typically 14-16 of us in attendance in Jinan on a given Sunday.

We meet in one of our member's apartments at the Hanlin Hotel, where we sit together and listen to sacrament meeting via teleconference. We have about eight minutes when the meeting goes "radio silent" to do the sacrament in our separate cities. All the talks and prayers begin with someone saying, "Can you hear me?" Technological problems are a given.

Our branch president lives in Xiamen (near Taiwan), and his counselors are in two different cities hundreds of miles away. Still, as far away as everyone is, I find that there is a feeling of closeness in our little Branch. There is a branch website that gets a lot of use. I have found a few of the sisters' emails through it and have corresponded with some new friends. Every week without fail I receive the Relief Society Newsletter full of articles and experiences submitted by the various sisters in the Branch.

It is not perfect, and I still find that loneliness creeps in, but not much more than in the States. I am extremely grateful to have the Church available to us in China. Ours is a wonderful Branch.

Day 20: Do Christmas Beading

Or just make more lizards.

At least the snake I made sported Christmas colors.

Day 19: Create a Christmas Newspaper

Believe it or not, this was Lutece's idea. In fact, there were a couple of advent activities involving writing, and they always just happened to be on a Wednesday when we could use them for the day's homeschool writing assignment. Huh. How convenient.

Now, I don't expect you to read any further into this blog post because, as you guessed it, I plan to reprint, in their entirety, the articles Lutece and Phoenix wrote for the their "Christmas Newspaper," which Lutece entitled Secrets Revealed! They are really wacky articles and Lutece's involves an elaborate family inside joke*. Also, they indicate an alarming attitude toward Santa that dare I say, most children don't share. Really, you can just stop reading now. I won't be offended. I am doing this for the sake of family history.

Lutece: Santa . . . Have You Ever Seen Him?

     I bet the answer is . . . NO! Most people say he comes on Christmas eve at 12:00, but no! He comes every night at 12:00! Parents are cruelly associated with Santa. Have you heard of Elija? The parents leave him food. The truth is . . . Santa is Elija!
     So, here is how it goes. The kids eat. Next, the parents leave the extras for Santa, who eats them. Then, he gives the parents somthing like ideas for wrting that their kids will hate. After than, he leaves! So next time your parents leave somthing for Elija, stay up and watch!

Phoenix: The Cruel Santa!

     Santa E. Claus is after cookies. DO NOT leave out cookies at night. His symbol is [drawn symbol]. If you paint, mark, or draw his symbol on a jar of cookies, you give him permission to eat the cookies. He tries to look innocent by giving people presents. But really, his elves do all the work. They make his presents for him. He also has reindeer that pull his sleigh for him. He really loves Christmas, though. His archenemy is the Grinch. Booby trapping Santa is a good idea. Then you can grab all his toys. The reward is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 元. He keeps a knife underneath his hat, so BEWARE. The cruel Santa will give you a lump of charcoal if you don't say "please" one tiny time. So be very, very, very, VERY ware of the cruel Santa Edmund Claus.

* Whenever the kids ask "who gets the last piece" of any particularly tasty food, Stayc and I respond that it is "for Elija." It is our own sacrilegious version of the Jewish tradition of setting an extra place for Elija at the Passover Seder, and a way to let the kids know that they don't get it. After years of hearing this response, they have taken to rolling their eyes and saying, "Yeah, yeah, Elija and his wife are going to eat it after we go to bed." Darn right we are!

Snow Day!

This is what we woke up to today. Three inches of freshly fallen snow. The kids were ecstatic.

After breakfast, they settled down to do homeschool, but the yelling and laughter of children outside made me take pause. I sent the kids outside to play in the snow instead. It was 8:00 a.m.

As it turned out, school was canceled in Jinan (remember, this is a city of seven million people). Apparently, the last time it snowed this much was three years ago.

The kids came back inside two hours later wet to the bone. They had built the "Himalayas" out of piled up snow, carried out snowball fights with friends, and generally had a blast with all the other Chinese children in the neighborhood who were also happy to be out of school for the day.

Hooray for a snow day!

p.s. Sadly, in our homeschool, there is no such thing as a *complete* snow day. They did math and writing from 10 to noon. Hey, they get two days off next week for Christmas! Ok, maybe three.

There Is a Story Behind This Pomelo

Have you ever tasted a pomelo? They are outrageously good. If you like citrus fruit, and grapefruit in particular, then you will love pomelos. It is sweeter than a grapefruit and more substantial than other citrus, both in texture and size. They are not cheap at about $3.00 each, so I don't think we would have thought to buy one on our own if we hadn't first been introduced to them by a very generous Thai woman.

Three months ago, on our very last day in Thailand, the kids and I were heading back to our hotel on the Skyrail after a day of sight-seeing in Bangkok. Stayc had gotten off two stops before ours to pick up some pizza (a quick, easy dinner on our last night . . . don't judge me). The old woman sitting across from us on the train seemed to enjoy watching the kids as they chatted together. Suddenly, she got up from her seat, reached over, and placed one of the two pomelos she was carrying in my hands, insisting I take it.

It was such a sweet gesture, and I remember it every time we eat a pomelo. The kids and I disembarked and walked to our hotel with our newly acquired pomelo in tow. It was a pain to get open (think one to two inches of think rind and pith), but it delicious and we were hooked.

At the beginning of October, the pomelo season started in earnest in China. We buy one occasionally when the kids beg for it. They are so large though, that they last a few days as we peel them segment by segment. A while back, our neighborhood green grocer insisted that Stayc buy the "red" variety. Who knew? It looked the same on the outside, but on the inside it was the color of red grapefruit. Yum!! It is one of our new favorite fruits, and we have a kind Thai woman to thank for it.

Day 18: Do Christmas Origami

Last year I purchased a great little book of simple Christmas origami by John Montroll. Alas, it is sitting somewhere in our home in Kentucky. However, the internet is a treasure trove of information, and we found a particularly good origami website for kids with step-by-step instructions for all sorts of simple origami models. Perfect for the kids and fun for me too.

Day 16: Create a Nativity Scene with Animals

I tried to maintain some continuity with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. All birds, at least.

Despite the Chinese infatuation with Christmas, it is really only about the tinsel, the glitz, the trees and Santa . . . in essence, the decorations. Presents are reserved for Chinese New Year, and Christ is totally out of the picture. It is Christmas devoid of commercialization (good) and religion (bad).

Needless to say, we didn't even try to find a Nativity scene to grace our home in China. Instead, we decided to create our own with what we had. Perhaps for some it may seem sacrilegious to act out the Nativity with plastic animals. For us, a new tradition may have been born. (Hey, we did it for years with Little People. Animals are hardly much different.)

Lutece and Phoenix were totally into this activity. You see, they play with these animals EVERY day. Each animal has a name and a personality (and a family and friends and, recently, a clan). It is all so complicated. (I know, my children are a little odd. I am coming to terms with that.)

Lutece lined up all the animals in rows, grouped by which part the animals wanted to be "considered for." Then the kids allowed me to select the animal for each respective part. Occasionally, when I chose a certain animal, the kids would laugh and tell me that animal was particularly rowdy and would probably try to mess up the Nativity. Meta-theater at its best. We finally came up with the "cast."

The angel (wearing a halo) announces Jesus' birth to the shepherds and their herd of "sheep," played by a band of frogs.

As Stayc and I read the account of Jesus' birth from Luke and Matthew, the animals (with the help of the kids), acted out the Nativity.

The shepherds visit the Christ child in Bethlehem.

The wise men (all eight of them . . . the scriptures never say how many wise men there were, only how many gifts) go to King Herod to ask about the birth of the King of the Jews.

We have already had a few renditions of the Nativity in our home for Family Home Evenings and Primary, and we will, most assuredly, hold a more spiritual reading of the Christmas story on Christmas Eve, but this version was definitely one of the more memorable experiences we have had with the Nativity. 

. . . and on earth peace, good will toward men . . . and animals.

Glitches in the System

Stayc is discussing the day's options with the kids. We are all by the window because it is the only source of light in the house at this point.

I don't think I mentioned in either of my posts about Saturday that the electricity in our apartment was out for the whole day. Not just our apartment, but the entire two block radius, including at least 10 apartment buildings, a hotel, and numerous banks, shops, and markets.

It isn't as surprising as it used to be when things like this happen. We just sigh and figure out a way to deal with it, which in this case meant getting out of the house for a day of strolling around the lake, eating at a restaurant, and exploring the downtown shopping malls.

I used to think that the reason we are always taken by surprise by these repairs and general maintenance is because we are foreigners. We don't speak the language. Why bother telling us? It's not like we're going to dispute it, right? Now I realize that this is just the Chinese way. They don't tell ANYONE, Chinese nationals and foreigners alike. Apparently, when the electricity went off at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, no one had any idea about the maintenance. It's not like anyone's going to dispute it, right?

Christmas Shopping

After we left Daming Lake, our general destination was the vast shopping area of Jinan that seems to be the city's hub of luxury and style. We've been down this way a few times since it is also near Baotu Springs and the Lotus Street food area, so we felt comfortable exploring new shops and restaurants.

There were lots of tiny eateries among the hutongs that we passed through on our way to the shopping area, but Stayc and I are wary of unknown restaurants, not having had good experiences in the past. Restaurants seem to be hit or miss for us.

 

We decided to stop in at a nice little corner restaurant, close to the main road, but still tucked away on a side street. It was already full of patrons (a good sign) and it looked clean and bright (another good sign). It turned out to be an excellent choice for lunch.

When they brought the menu over, we noticed that there were absolutely no pictures . . . a sure sign that an establishment does not cater to foreigners. Fortunately, there was one waitress who spoke a tiny bit of English, and with our tiny bit of Chinese, we were able to order some good dishes.

The dumplings were delicious (dipped in garlic and vinegar). We ordered two different types (one plate is not pictured). But the real star of the show was the di gua, or carmelized sweet potatoes. Stayc had eaten it previously and wanted me to try the dish. Oh. My. They were so tasty. Better than any Thanksgiving sweet potato dish I've ever eaten. I need to figure out how to make them.

After a huge lunch (of which the kids ate next to nothing . . . I don't even bother nagging them to eat anymore. If you don't like the food, tough luck. You'll get some food at the next meal), we hit the shopping malls. Look, it could be anywhere in the United States.

Parc 66 is huge. Next time we go, Stayc wants to check out the movie theater in the basement level. Right now they are playing Life of Pi in 3D. We might wait until The Hobbit opens in China.

I've mentioned before that half of the fifth floor is dedicated to children stores, including clothing, shoes, toys and books, and baby equipment. It is also home to numerous play areas for toddlers (none for older children) and at least eight dinosaur installations like the one pictured above scattered throughout the area. The dinosaurs are mechanized and the kids love watching them.

We ended up back at our favorite toy store because who can resist so many plastic animals in one place? Also because I told Scott I would take pictures. The shop has a couple of Lego play areas that the kids took advantage of while Stayc and I browsed the small shop (and maybe purchased a couple of tiny items unbeknownst to the children). All in all a fruitful day for everyone.

p.s. I've been feeling a bit under the weather since Saturday, hence the spotty blogging. The main symptom is just a constant feeling of nausea. It's more of a nuisance than a crisis.