Adjusting to the Culture

Today is Wed. in Langfang. Yesterday afternoon we helped a team from Mo. with crafts with the kids. The ayis (nannys) bring the kids over to the covered patio to do crafts and activitIes with the foriengers. The kids love this. WE had about 30 kids with markers coloring on wooden stick people. It was fun especially when the kids try to eat the markers!! At 4pm we had a special concert by a violinist from the US. he is Korean but lives in the Us now and is a professor at Wright State. He was stricken with Polio at age2 and was sent to an institution at age 9. He is in a wheelchair. He played beautifully and children listened carefully. He was very moved emotionally by SFCV and the work that is done here. He encouraged the kids to find an interest and stick with it as he did with his violin. He said that at some points in his life that is all he had.
For dinner we had an experience-Hot Pot. It is like fondue but with a pot of water with spices. You put raw meat, shrimp(head and shell), cabbage, lotus root, garlic, peppers and other veggies in it, let it cook and pull it out and eat it. Mary Morgan enjoyed this..Carter had a different perspective on it. He got upset because it all looked strange-some of the adults agreed!! The waitresses were very attentive and tried to find something that he would eat. He ended up eating some shrimp and some apple. Next time we Hot Pot he can have Mac-n-cheese before we leave. (I did bring an emergency stash from home!)
This morning MM and C got up and off they went to the kids homes to visit. MM has a favorite House..House of Peace. She is really bonding with these kids. They are calling her Jie-Jie "Big Sister" it is really cute and Carter is "Ge-Ge" Big Brother. The interesting thing is that we did not tell the kids to call them that they came up with that on their own!! Carter enjoys hanging out with the older boys. There are 7 boys between the ages of 7-14-they go to school most of the day but, Carter knows when to find them! Carter will play with anyone though. Actually, as I type this he is playing baseball with the drivers fromSFCV!!! What an experience this is for them! That is all for now..must go see what interesting food we are having for lunch. Yesterday it was Kung Poa Chicken, rice and SEAWEED!!!! More later...Dawn, Mary Morgan and Carter