Fire Fighting Filter Type Self-Saving Breather

by Amy


We went out of town earlier this month and our safety conscience hotel provided a lovely can of "Fire Fighting Filter Type Self-Saving Breather."  But, just in case the name doesn't say it all, they were kind enough to provide some English instructions.

1) Take out Fire Fighting Filter Type Self Saving Breather.

2) Tear at the package bag of Fire Fighting Filter Type Self Saving Breather.

3) Wear helmet and pull contractive belt fast.

4) Choose way and flee for your life decidedly.

Point for attention:

Once find fire condition, tear at the packaging bag of breather immediately, wear helmet of breather imperturbably and correctly and get away from fire field as quick as possible.

Thankfully, there were no fires in our hotel, so we did not have to flee for our lives decidedly.  

**Special thanks to Beck for posting this on your blog! After we laughed so hard reading this together, I just had to steal your pic! **

School Days

by Amy

Well, it's mid-October and my kids have been attending the local school for 6 weeks.  But, if you recall, when they started school, I wasn't in a blog-postin-mood.  So, now I'll tell you the story....  You may or may not remember from my posts last September talking about Savannah's first grade, that schools here are a little different than they are in the States.  There's lots of differences, but the one that causes this routine-lovin'-mama the most issues is the way they schedule classes.  No two days are alike.  And, no two classes in one grade are even alike.  (Each grade has 6 classes.)  It was challenging when I was taking one kid to school; I knew the challenges would multiply when taking three kids to school.  Sidenote: Peter and Alex started attending the local first grade this year.

Every grade and class either has local language or math for first period and the other for second period.  Since I teach my kids math at home, math class isn't a priority for us.  But, the local language class is top priority.   And, since we have to leave the house at 7.30 to walk to school for first period, I'm happy to let them skip math class so we can have a less-rushed morning routine.  Last year, Savannah's first grade class had local language for first period on Mondays and Tuesdays, then it was second period on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

When we decided last May that we really wanted to send the boys to first grade (instead of doing one more year in a local kindergarten), I began praying about their schedules (and other aspects of school).  About two weeks before school started, Brad sent the principal a text message, asking if they could get together to discuss our boys attending first grade.  He never replied.  Come to find out, he was out of the country, so couldn't receive texts.  A week before school started, we tried to call and were told to call back several days later.  On the Friday before classes would begin on the following Wednesday, Brad and I went up to the school.  We weren't actually allowed in to see the principal, but we were able to talk to him by phone, from the front gate.  He asked Brad to come back to the school on Saturday morning.  Brad went back....  The principal said he'd have to wait and see if there was enough space in the school before he allowed our boys to registrar.  Local students pay a large sum when they enter first grade, and that is their tuition for all 6 years of elementary school.  He knew we were not willing to pay that large sum since our kids will not be attending local school for 6 years.  He asked us to come back an hour after school began on the following Wednesday morning. FYI- Savannah's been attending for free, but we knew we couldn't expect that for our boys.

All along, I had planned on asking to see the class schedules and pick the schedule that was most similar to Savannah's class schedule.  (She has the same teacher and classmates as last year, so her schedule is set.)  So, finally, after approval was given and a price agreed upon, it was time to choose which class they'd be in. I had given up on having them in separate classes, like I originally planned.  He wanted them in the same class, so I didn't argue that.  The principal and assistant principal were talking about all the different teachers and their English ability.  I piped up and asked if I could see the class schedules and chose the best class that way.  They both stared at me, then each other for a second.  Neither one decided to respond, so they went back to talking about teachers and how many students were in each class.  Again, I interrupted and said that the teacher's English ability wasn't so important to me, but that I really would like to have all my kids on the same schedule.  The principal responded with, "The teacher will give you the schedule after we pick the class."  -- Not helpful.  But rather than push it I prayed.  The Lord knew Savannah's schedule and the schedule of each first grade class.  If He wanted my kids to take math at the local school, then I'd be OK with that.  I had no intentions of taking Savannah for first period and the boys for second period, or visa versa.  They were all leaving together each morning.

One that first day of school,  after they attended the second half of the morning classes, I picked my kids up for lunch.  At KFC, Savannah pull out her notebook to show me that she had copied her class schedule off the back board - using characters!  I was so impressed - I couldn't even read it and my 8 year old could write it!  Amazing!  One schedule down, one to go.  I decided that the kids should go back to school, just in case any important rules or information were covered in the afternoon of the first day.  So, when I picked up my boys, I asked their teacher for a class schedule.

Would you believe it's EXACTLY the same as Savannah's!  I was absolutely amazed!  It sounds crazy, but  in my world, that was a miracle!

And, another equally miraculous part of this whole things is that I wasn't worried about school all summer long.  Last summer, I struggled with not knowing if Savannah would be admitted or not.  I was constantly handing my fears and concerns to the Lord, only to pick them back up again the next day.  This year, I prayed about their school situation all summer long, but I had complete peace as I looked ahead at the unknown future.  Even my house helper, Leigh, noticed and commented on how differently I handled school this year.  Praise the Lord for his grace!

I'll share more about what a normal weeks looks like and how my kids are doing in school in a later post, but for now I'll share that they're doing well.  I'm especially thankful for how my boys are doing!

A Peter Funny, from Brad

Last night I read the story of Shadrack, Meshak and Abed-nego to my children (you know, they refused to worship the King's idols so they were thrown into the blazing fire). Knowing the importance of this story, this morning I wanted to further impress it upon Peter who was the first one awake. So I asked him, “Peter, let’s talk about last night’s story. What happened to Daniel’s three friends Shadrack, Meshak and Abed-nego?” Peter looked up as if this question was just too easy and replied, “They got fired!”

Of course I laughed and it reminded me of what I often do over here. I take a noun like ‘fire’ and in the middle of speaking, sometimes I’ll need the verb form. If I haven’t studied it or don’t remember it I simply improvise. Often I’ll get it right since this language can be simplistic in its grammar, but there are definitely times I end up misusing a word or saying it incorrectly (like my son). It’s a good thing I’ve learned to laugh at myself, because sometimes the result is quite funny.

The Man

by Amy

A few months ago, Brad and I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding again.  We hadn't watched it since moving overseas and found it to be even funnier than we remembered.  It was hilarious watching two cultures clash!  We could relate in so many ways!!  Soon, after we watched it, our friends Kevin and Becky re-watched it as well.  That movie is full of some classic lines that the four of us often quote any time we're together.  This is our all time favorite scene:

So, two Greek sisters are working together, trying to figure out how to talk Sister #1's husband into letting their daughter work at Sister #2's travel agency instead of the husband's restaurant.  So, as they approach the husband, they completely manipulate the conversation until the husband comes up with this "great idea": Daughter should work at Sister #2's travel agency!  As the sisters are ohhhing and ahhhing over how smart the husband is to come us with such a plan, he leans back with a smug look on his face, takes his finger, lightly taps his right temple and says, "the man, the man."

So now, anytime Brad does something I couldn't do or know something I didn't know, he looks at me, taps his head and repeats this line.  It's pretty funny, but not nearly as funny as when my kids do it.  Here's a recent recap of a conversation I had with Alex yesterday:

Me:  Alex, run into my bathroom with me.  I’ll get some cream for your face. 

Alex [he had entered the bathroom before me]:  Look, Mom!  I opened the medicine cabinets for you. 

Me:  Thanks, but I don’t think it’s there; it’s still in my make-up bag from our trip.

[I close the medicine cabinet doors so I can dig in my bag without banging my head.  But, low and behold…. The cream wasn’t there.  So, I open the medicine cabinet doors again.]

Me:  Alex you were right.  It wasn’t in my bag; it’s right here in the cabinet like you thought.

Alex, without missing a beat, looks right up at me with a smug look on his face, uses his pointer finger to tap his head and says, “The Man, Mama, the man!” 

I laughed, hard, of course.  Then, I asked:

Me:  What would I say if I were right?

Alex:  You’d say ‘the woman,’ but you’ve never been right before.