Thursday, June 7

The school is in the full throes of getting ready for the last day performances and celebration, which will be held on June 13.  I don’t know that a lot of work got done! But a lot of rehearsing did. Consequently, Julia had 8 pages of math review homework to do—too much for a little girl at the end of the day.  Good thing we don’t care about the grades here!  Julia’s class is doing “We’re going on a Bear Hunt” which has a nice musicality to it. 

We got take-out tonight—Chinese take out!  Guess what? It does not come in cute little white boxes with wire handles.  Instead, it came in plastic bags, of course!  A bag of rice, a bag of beef dumplings, a bag of bamboo shoots in a dressing, etc.  I was a bit abashed and then amused to find myself walking home with 4 plastic bags hanging on my arm!  I think, too, we may have eaten just about our last Chinese meal, despite the plans for further restaurant outings the aides made for me this afternoon!  The reason:  both Julia and I really like the first about 4 bites we have of whatever it is that we are eating (rice doesn’t count here).  Then…not so much.  I think it is one of two things (or both):  something in the seasonings used, or, an overall taste that doesn’t sit well after a cumulative tasting.  It could be an oiliness that accumulates, or the vinegar that is significant to Qingdao cooking.  I’m not sure, but it is a fact that we almost never want to finish what we start when it’s Chinese food.  We’ve now tried dumplings in 4 different places and Julia has liked them 2 of the 4 times (plus, I’ve bought frozen twice and she didn’t like either of them at all).  So, we could go back to the chain dumpling restaurant—she liked the dumplings and loved the sticky rice!  McDonald’s wins every time!  Actually, this restaurant was much nicer than a McDonald’s.

Authentic Chinese take out!

A bag of dumplings - look how thin the plastic is!

Bags of salads or vegetables

It all certainly looks much more appetizing on a plate!

Julia considered the dumplings

Isn't this just odd looking?

On our way to the restaurant, we hit the hill where scootering was happening.  “the boy”—wish I knew his name—spotted Julia coming down the hill and circled around to arrive at the foot of the hill when she did.  He rode right up to her and tried to engage her in conversation—it was so fun and funny to watch from a distance as I walked down.  Clearly he wanted to have a race, and for some reason she was hesitating.  As I reached them, ‘grandfather’ made eye contact with me, and said “hello” (in English!); clearly he has the same picture of things that I have!  And then, in a final perfect touch, a woman with whom we rode the bus on Tuesday—who was fascinated by Julia, and who speaks a smitch of English—was there in the mix, with her scootering 5 year old son.  She came over, chatted me up, the kids all clustered around, and finally a group of 4 kids, including Julia, dashed up and down the hill for 5 minutes, almost like the neighborhood gang!  It’s proof, among other things, that living somewhere gives you an experience that visiting simply cannot.  This woman lives where I live; we have something in common; we have a chance of seeing each other more than once.  The smile the grandfather gave me was a personal one, not an impersonal one; we have a connection.  The aides have really entered into the project of making sure Julia and I have a comprehensive experience; they had food and entertainment suggestions today that they ‘insisted’ we needed to try.  We’ve passed the test—we are genuine, we aren’t judging or poaching.  We can be let in on the real life.  Maybe I overstate it, but that’s the feeling I‘ve had this week:  Let me tell you the ‘best’ place to buy a scooter, now that I recognize you for a real and regular person. 

Scooters galore!

Our new scootering friend

"The boy" - will we ever learn his name??

Julia swooshing down the hill!

Interestingly, this kind of connecting is occurring primarily with Chinese, not with the other international people.  They haven’t been particularly forthcoming in providing assistance or company (Alice and Nick excepted).  Too busy making their own place in China?  If I attended the international community ecumenical service on Sundays, I’d find a coherent community, I believe.  So that could be a choice I’ve made, and given the short length of time we’re here, I don’t think I have lost out that much by that decision.  Heck, we’ve got a nightly date on the hill; what could improve that?

Right now Julia is sleeping - it is midnight in Qingdao, as Maggie posts this from the United States - eagerly awaiting tomorrow, which is her birthday! Here is a sneak peek at what awaits her on the table in the morning:

Presents! (note the Chinese wrapping paper)

And her very own, specially selected cake, which she plans to take to school tomorrow.

More on the birthday celebration tomorrow!