Raindrops on Roses

Scooter street. Where Josh just about lost his mind.

Tap. Tap. Is this thing still on? Anyone still checking in on us? I get it that we are probably old news by now. But, we are just hitting our stride! I did (I am sorry, Lolo) count how many more weeks we have left and it turns out we are over half way done with our China life. I decided that a little self-induced gratitude status check would be a good exercise. So I made this list of things that I like about China or about our China life. No quota to reach, just a free response list. I might even need to add to this later as I remember additional things. (Edited: I already got up in the middle of the night to add some more!) The pictures here are mostly superfluous, but they might help illustrate a point or help Hudson and Tucker remember something about our time here.

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT CHINA OR LIVING HERE:
1. Items for sale are organized in areas of town together. Coffee street, scooter street, tea street, snack street, tool market, electric bike street, fabric market, and so on.
2. You can have clothes made to your specific measurements for cheap. So far we have had Josh's suit made, my Chinese dress, and a silk top.

Disney buddy.

3. We walk to the grocery store, fruit store, to dinner, to the mall, to church, and many other places. We don't have a choice either. Taxis won't take us less than a mile, so we walk often.
4. Houseplants here are super cheap. Therefore, our apartment has several!

5. I love our driver, Song. He has been a real gift to us. I really wish that I could talk to him more! The kids love him and I think he likes them too.

Buddies.

6. There is no sales tax.

7. The boys have learned some genuine street smarts. 

8. This bread. It is the bomb. Like amazing. Like I could (and maybe did) eat a pound of it this week alone. #whyIgained20poundsinChina

 9. We will have been in China for 21 weeks and our teeny tiny apartment has a tool drawer. (Of course it does.) Just because we are in China does not mean that we have changed who we are!
10. Our apartment has really hot water in every fawcet seconds after turning it on.
11. My kids have learned to live with less toys.
12. We do not have utility bills.
13. When they open a new store here (which happens all the stinking time) they have a whole celebration with music and drums and dancers.

These dancers and drummers walked around out block with loud music to let us know
a new business had opened up. This is our main walkway to the grocery.

14. When we see people that we know from our apartment building out and about, it is like a holiday.
15. The people who work at the front desk and at the breakfast room love our kids. Like really love them.

More on this trip later, but the woman on the left is our friend Jenny who works for our apartment hotel.

15. My washing machine plays "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" when the cycle is done.

What a fun day.

16. I like that the people in this country are scared of their government. I believe that the United States has developed into too litigious of a society. Yes, I get that they are Communist, but there is more respect for the government which actually is helpful.
17. I like speaking a new language.
18. I like that when I see their staring faces and I smile and say, "Zou shang hao" they get all disarmed and embarrassed and smile at me.

 19. I like that the women here are more girlish. They dress extremely feminine. They love lace and pink. They play jumprope in public and dance in the streets. They are silly. They hold hands walking down the streets. You rarely see two women walking together and not touching in some way. Sisters or mother/daughters or just best friends...it is really interesting.

 20. I love our church. It is such a sacred place to me. People back home are having qualms about 25 minute sermons. Our services are 2 hours long and frankly, they could be longer. I think when people are really thirsty for the Lord, they don't watch their clocks. That-- and we have absolutely nothing else we need to do (no yard to mow, gutters to clean, school projects to finish).
21. I love that I get to hold the kids in the car. And there are no car seats. And they still are well-behaved.
22. Although parks don't have playgrounds, I like that their parks have physical activity stuff for free. This one park we went to on Sunday had several obstacles courses, like this one where you went (without a harness) across a pond. AND it was not like the parks department is worried that someone is going to sue them if they hurt themselves because...they are not sue happy like Americans (see #16).

23. Right outside our building we have a corner store which we LOVE to visit and do just about everyday. Instead of things being more expensive based on convenience here, they are all very reasonable. (Hence why I now drink a 3 RMB drink --as do my kids-- every day! Hudson wants me to add he likes the tea in China.)
24. (Hudson's addition) Hudson likes that his favorite restaurant--a Japanese one-- is just a couple steps from our front door too.
25. I love that good, bad, or ugly, my entire China life has been based on the health and happiness of my little family bubble. We have really learned a lot about each other:

26. We bought a bike! And it does this:

 27. Our expat shipment is coming TOMORROW! This is a miracle! I have a new toothbrush almost here! New clothes! Do you realize that we have all been wearing the same handful of clothes for 12 weeks now!!! Thank goodness it is nearly Halloween and still in the 80s.

Found on WeChat: picture of our receptionist and our 3 year old making duck lips. Hilarious.

28. We have a gym downstairs.
29. Fruit and vegetable markets (aka normal shopping) are so interesting and always an adventure. Produce does NOT LAST LONG here. At first I was annoyed. Now I am just completely freaked out by what is happening to the fruit & vegetables back home that they do not rot.
30. This is our bedroom. When else would I allow Hudson's art to decorate an entire wall in my home?!?!

 31. I love that when Tucker sees a white person (French or American) he says, "Hello" without prompting. And when he sees an Asian (Chinese or Japanese) he says, "Nihao!"

32. We do crazy things like eat chips and popcorn in MY BED. We also watch movies and hang out in there all the time (because our Barbie and Ken-sized couch is too small).
33. Most days I feel like I am going to lose my marbles because of all of our togetherness, but I still miss those little ones when they go to bed.

34. We have had some really cool adventures. And survived some terrorizing taxi rides.

35. People don't understand me when I speak in rapid fire English. Therefore, I can do this when they make me mad. Or when they tell me what to do. This is happening frequently lately since, even though it is still 80 degrees, everyone is now wearing fleece and jeans and closed-toe shoes. Grandmas come up to me and indicate (with gestures and touching) that my boys are freezing. To which I now respond, "No granny, they are just fine. It is the same temperature it was last month when everyone was wearing tank tops and sandals. Just because you look like you are ready to head off to the Arctic with that down coat and hose on, does not mean that it is the proper clothes for the occasion. Thank you so much for your interest in my child's welfare. Why don't you go out and regulate the traffic flow and leave me be. Mmmmmkay? Thanks." If I do this while nodding and smiling they think that I on board with their reprimand. It is awesome!

It IS a small world after all.

36. No sirens. I have yet to hear a fire truck, ambulance, or police siren while in Wuhan. I think I saw one in Beijing once. But that is all. Hmmm...
37. We have learned so much about the qualities of a good friend and loved one. I am continually appreciative for those who have made time to keep us in their thoughts and prayers. I love getting emails from you!

Dave is here! Dave is here!

38. Fast food, like the lunch Holly and I grabbed today outside the mall, was absolutely the most amazing Chinese food I have ever had. (McDonalds tastes even more disgusting now.) And it was 12 RMB for both of us to eat a bowl of noodles that burned our face off. ($2 total) And I can not tell you the name of what I ate. But the guy making it was having a great time!
39. We continue to see stuff every day that blows my mind.

40. Several local restaurants know us and our exact order like Gee Cafe (which I can see from my bedroom window!) knows we want the Thai fried rice and two orders of jaozi with their special amazing spicy sauce.
41. I get to write and edit at my window desk just like some sort of displaced Carrie Bradshaw character.
42. I can speak another language. Kinda. Sorta. A little bit. Well, I can DEFINITELY sing you Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Oh and I can read Chinese menus.
43. Lots of escalators.
44. Very few chain stores.
45. My friend Holly and I play this game where we monumentalize a moment by stating out loud, to each other, "Remember that day in China when..." which is usually followed by something absolutely crazy we are witnessing. Like the time when we told a shop owner that I was American and she was French and the clerk grabbed her heart in sheer joy to have such foreigners in her scarf shop.
46. I know how little I can live on. I know exactly what beauty products I need. And exactly how many pairs of shoes are necessary. I just might purge everything in my life when I return to the states. Maybe.
47. My three year olds closest friend does not speak English.
48. I know what real Chinese food tastes like. I know that Chinese do not even know what fortune cookies ARE. And that they don't eat egg rolls. And that we have been exposed to so many new flavors. Did I mention all the amazing food they have here?!?
49. Mr. Mai's Coffe Shop/Foreign Language Club next door: their cinnamon cake is heavenly and they have free check out of little kid books!
50. Weighing yourself in kg is MUCH better than lbs! When is the last time you saw a number less than 100?!?

Lotus fries. Get ya some.

The feast of favorites

Hudson's school hosts a feast of favorites meal on the last day before Thanksgiving break. Each kids told their teacher their favorite food and a letter was sent home requesting parents bring that item to school. Funny thing when kids are asked what they like with no one parents around. Hudson, of all things, said watermelon. I am really glad he picked a fruit, but finding a decent watermelon in November was impossible. The light pink, tasteless fruit he brought in resembled nothing of the sugary, juicy thing he and his brother ate all summer. However,  the mismatched bounty of donuts and macaroni and cheese and PopTarts and chicken nuggets was an adorable representation of the mind of four and five year olds.

Tuck-a-tuck (Hudson's new nickname for T) and I went in to participate in the feat. I about cried as Tucker sat like a big boy right next to his brother. Where does the time go? Oh my. Soon after the meal was finished a new favorite was figured out by all the little girls of Hudson's class: Tucker. About six little ladies took Tucker off and walked with him hand and hand all around the cafeteria. I was laughing too hard to get a decent picture.

Hudson was less than amused. Especially when his best girl started showing interest in Tucker. She is to the immediate left of T in the picture below. Her name is Nora and Hudson is completely smitten by her. Thankfully she has triplet little brothers so she did not pay attention to T for too long.

Other favorites in our home right now...

Hudson loves the show Alaska: The Last Frontier on the Discovery channel. And reading! Hudson is really into sounding out words. I am excited and daunted.

Tucker loves building blocks towers and eating apples. Today he built a block tower seven blocks high! Also, know that he wants the whole apple. You cut that baby up and you have destroyed it.

Josh loves that he has finally taken the lead in the Harris Family Football picks. Hudson doesn't read enough of the sports section to know about injuries and a couple of weeks of really bad picks. :)

Heather loves Jayne who brought her chicken for soup and Sprite for drink so that she could write this blog and get off the couch! (I have the nastiest cold and feel like a brick hit me in the face.)