Savannah's Smile

by Amy (again!)

I know, it's shocking for me to post twice in one day (especially as I've been a slacker blogger lately) but this couldn't wait!

About two weeks ago, Savannah came to us reporting that one of her teeth was moving. After confirming this, my heart sank.... This is just one more evidence that my little girl has moved out of the "little" phase. She's growing up! But, as is clear from previous posts, I'm proud of the young girl she's becoming. Her sweet smile and thoughtfulness continually bless me....

So, today is the day that the tooth finally fell out. Savannah has been struggling with eating for the past several meals, complaining that chewing hurts her tooth. And, for the last several days, there has hardly been a moment when her fingers were not in her mouth wiggling that tooth! I could hardly handle watching it move in her mouth ~ it gave me the heebee-jeebees. I kept telling her to pull it out, but she was afraid of it hurting. Well, after her continual wiggling, it finally just fell out, and look at that cute smile I have to greet me each day!

Green What!??!

by Amy

In America have you ever noticed what the color green indicates when it comes to food? Most often it could imply one of two things: First of all -- low fat (healthy choice started this I think). You know, you can buy "normal Ritz" or the ones with the a green stripe somewhere on the label showing that these are the low fat variety. The same is true with other crackers, ice cream or cookies (not that I can handle low fat oreos!) Secondly, green could also indicate mint flavor. -- Think Andies Chocolates, think mint-oreos, think mint chocolate chip ice cream.....Clearly this second implication is my favorite! :) I love mint. Those of you who know me well, (and probably even those of you who don't) know that mint, particularly a mint-chocolate combo, is one of my all-time-forever-favorite flavors!


Well, the first week we were here, our American friends took us to a 4 start hotel to enjoy their western lunch buffet! As I scoped out the options, my heart was warmed with the sight of light green ice cream.... Later I discovered that it was not mint flavor, but GREEN TEA flavor. Little did I know that would be a foretaste of things to come. Not long after that, I bought some tooth paste, Crest toothpaste, mind you. When I got home, I was dismayed to discover the picture on the box did not match the picture on the tube inside the box....I'm sure that's OK....I mean, who's ever heard of adult tooth paste any flavor other than mint? (wintermint, spearmint, peppermint, but all mint) Well, we were shocked to discover locals here find GREEN TEA toothpaste refreshing! YUCK! We tried to deal with it for a few days, but just couldn't handle it! Then, a few weeks ago Brad bought some Wrigley's Gum, once again in the light green package. So, on our way home from the store, the kids were excited to chew some new gum! So, Brad whipped out the pack, passed it around and within three chomps, I knew this was not Wrigley's spearmint as I was anticipating. Again, it was green tea flavor. The kids, and even Brad, didn't seem too disturbed by the green tea gum, but I just couldn't handle it.

Well, for the last 8-10 days, we've all been fighting something.... our throats have been raw, noses running and even a touch of a fever here and there. Well, one of the results of this 'bout with illness was that we ran out of Kleenex. No problem, my sweet house helper was heading to the store, so I asked her to buy 6 boxes for us. (Winter is coming and I know we'll go through the Kleenex!) So, since I don't know the word for Kleenex in my new language, I had saved one box so I could show her what I wanted. But, I was sure to tell her any brand would be OK -- it did not have to be exactly what I had previously bought. (BIG MISTAKE!) What did she come home with? 6 mint green colored boxes with GREEN TEA scented tissues! You've got to be kidding me!

As as side note, I am happy to report that even though mint is not a common flavor, we just reciently discovered a Baskin' Robins down the street ~ And, yes, they do carry mint chocolate chip! What a great discovery! I also had a sweet friend mail me some extract, so I've been able to make some delightful mint chocolate brownies when I get the craving!

The New Uniform

by Amy

Savannah's kindergarten has uniforms that the kids should wear every Monday. When I asked why only on Monday, I was told that, "Mondays are very special days in our country.... That's the day the flag is raised." "Ooohhhh," I exclaimed in an understanding sort of way. Well last Friday when I went to go pick Savannah up from school, her teacher told me that her uniform would be in that afternoon and she could change into it on Monday morning before class began. Then she informed me that Savannah was selected to be one of the all-important "flag-raisers" and needed to practice saying a particular phrase loudly. She had Savannah say it for me, then we headed home. Well, by the time we got to the gate of the school, we had both forgotten her special sentence, so there was no practicing over the weekend....

On Monday morning we arrived at the school 20 min. earlier than normal so we'd have plenty of time to get her dressed and practice her special line. (FYI~ That means I walked -pushing the stroller with all three kids in it - 20 minutes to arrive at her school by 8:10 AM ~ shocking, I know!) After getting Savannah dressed and settled, the boys and I waited for the special ceremony, camera in hand.

When we got outside, Savannah and her friend (she has two girls that she often talks about at home. This was one of those two) were given special sashes. It reminded me a little bit of a beauty pageant. :) Then, they stood on either side of the flag pole and waited for all the kids to come outside. They must have posed for a trillion pictures for her teacher.

Then, finally the time came for Savannah to say her special sentence, loudly, into the microphone. I still don't know what she was supposed to say, but I assume what she said was OK -- it was loud, about as long as what the other little girl said, and no one laughed when she finished -- all good signs, I thought.

Then, Savannah's job was the all important flag-thrower.... They played some special music, and at the climax of the music she was supposed to throw the flag while the other girl pulled the rope to send it soaring in the air.... Well, Savannah threw the flag at the right time, but it landed on the ground and gasping was heard all around. The teacher quickly pulled the rope to get the flag off the floor as a few brave kids let their chuckes out. Soon, the flag was flying high overhead! Then, a few of Savannah's classmates marched out in front and did a song/chant with hand-motions. It was cute.

I'm continually thankful for how well Savannah is adapting to our new country. She's enjoying school, making a few friends and beginning to pick up the language. On Monday afternoon, after the flag raising, my house helper cooked mac'n cheese for lunch ~ a favorite in our home! When Savannah came to the table, knowing it was my helper's first time to make this dish, said, in our new language, "Great job, Auntie, We love you!" I had never said that particular phrase for "good job" so I was impressed and my helper was delighted!

What's in a Name?

From Brad.

Well, almost 4 months into our new life here and we finally decided on new names. Why you ask? Why not just have them call us Brad, Amy, etc. Well, for the same reason that foreigners studying in America often use English names. It is a bit hard for Americans to say names like byun-kim jung and usually leads to people terribly mispronouncing them or just avoiding using their name. Guidelines for choosing our name were as follows
1) The name needs to be somewhat familiar to the culture. I have met friends here who study english who have english names like 'Early', 'Potter' and my favorite 'James Bond'...yes, a tad bit strange.
2) The character associated with name needs to be somewhat easy to write as we'll be asked to write it often.
3) The meaning needs to be appropriate, not offensive.
4) Somewhat easy to pronounce as some sounds in this language are just terribly difficult for us.

As a quick aside, some names here are becoming so common (close to 1 million people in our country have the same exact name) that the police strongly encourage you to pick an uncommon name when you register your new baby with the govt. That's a little different, heh?

As a result we arrived at some names with some local friends not long ago. We were satisfied with the names until we learned something. Before I get to that something, I need to explain a little about our language. Our language has tons and tons of homophones. Words that have the same sound, but different meanings (maybe even different spellings). For example, in English, Bear and bare are homophones (can you sing..."Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities..."). In conversation, if a homophone is used and it is unclear which meaning is intended, one might say "bear as in grizzly bear". In English this rarely happens. However, this is not uncommon in our language (which makes language learning all the more exciting...Ha!). So much so that when you explain your name, you typically need to clarify which word/character you name is. So an introduction might go like this. My name is Jin Fu (translated...Gold Happy) ... Jin Yin de Jin (Gold Silver's Gold...not today, or weight which is also translated Jin), XingFu de Fu (happiness's Fu, not husband, man or skin).

So when we learned how to explain one's name, we asked...how do we explain our name. Our last name here is Mu (not too far from the first syllable in our English last name). We were told (after choosing this name weeks ago), Mu-si-lim de Mu is what we should say. Ohhh, we said that's interesting, what could be that meaning? Yep, after consulting the dictionary, sure enough it means Muslim. :) Can't you see some Japanese kid coming to American and wanting an English name to 'fit in' and calling himself "Muhammad".

Well, we've been told that this name is common among a minority group here who are predominately Muslim, but that tons of other non-Muslims here have that name. So I'm not sure, but I think we'll change it since its not too late.

New Neighbors

by Amy

A couple of weeks ago we finished dinner about 6:00 and decided to head to the lake in the middle of our town to play for a while before bedtime. So, we walked to the street in front of our home and waited for a taxi. We waited and waited and waited. (The taxi drivers go off shift between 6:00 and 7:00ish so none of the drivers want to pick someone up and drive somewhere if it will make them work longer.) There was also another woman with her son trying to flag a taxi as well. Eventually, she asked us where we were heading, and funny thing....they were also heading to the same lake to meet her husband for dinner. So, she tells us to wait and soon returns driving her car. We rig Savannah's bike in her trunk and pile in. (She was trying to take a taxi because her husband was already there with his car.) Once we arrived at the lake, we went our separate ways, promising to see each other again.

Well less than a week later, we were at the local grocery super-store to buy a ball (since Brad had kicked our ball over a brick wall and couldn't get it back). We get in line to check-out behind our friendly neighbor. She insists on buying our ball since she had a gift card for the store and offers to drive us home. Then, she invites us in her home and our kids have fun playing with her 9 year old son. We tentatively make plans to get together again on Sunday for a meal. We left her home feeling unsure if we'd really see them on Sunday and not positive if we were talking about eating lunch or dinner. So we just decide to leave Sunday pretty open and see what happens.....

Well, at 8:30am her son rings our door bell. (I hide in my bedroom because I'm still in my PJs.) He asks us to be ready at 11am, then he heads to his Sunday AM English class. As it turns out, his class was let out earlier than expected; they find us playing on the playground downstairs about 1o am and ask if we're ready to go. After washing up we hopped in their car, still unsure what exactly we're doing or where we're going. But, we decided to sit back and enjoy the ride (as much as you can with three people in the front and five in the back seat ~ Brad and I each had a boy on our lap.)

After driving about 45 min. we come to a river. We ooh and ahh as we see the mini waterfalls (dams) and wooden plank foot bridges as well as many little boats and fun water activities. We soon park the car and head to the river. (I have to confess I was kicking myself for not bringing the camera. So the only pics we have were taken with Brad's cell phone.) As soon as we cross the bridge, our host rents a little duck shaped boat powered by using bicycle pedals. So, Brad and the kids hop in! I sit on the side trying to make conversation with our sweet neighbor while her husband took care of some other business.


After playing on the boat for a while, and after our host bought my three kids water guns, we crossed the bridge again and headed to a "restaurant" where we would eat lunch.... Brad was promptly handed a fishing pole and asked to catch our lunch. So, he and Savannah sat next to a stock-pond and fished! I sat at a mini-table with the wife eating some fruit while Peter and Alex used their water guns to torment the chickens and anything else they could find. The husband had fun playing with them while we chatted. After Brad and Savannah caught 3 or 4 fish, we headed to screened in area with a large table covered with food. They had probably bought three times as much food as we could have ever eaten! And, in the middle, was a plate of locust. Yes, they were fried and put on a plate for our eating enjoyment. At least they weren't alive!
And, I am glad to report that we were not pressured to eat any of them! I hope we did not offend our host by not partaking, but neither one of us could bring ourselves to do it..... When Peter saw them, he said, "Oh look, stinky bugs, Mom!" At that moment I was thankful our hosts couldn't understand English!

After lunch the wife and I took the kids back to the river to walk around and play while Brad and the husband did a little more fishing. Peter and Alex shot everyone and everything we walked by with their water guns and had a blast! We ended up getting back home around 4:00, totally exhausted, but so thankful for our new friends! What a great day we had!

Baseball Anyone?

From Brad.


Although we have a long ways to go as parents, we do labor to establish in the hearts of our children some absolutes. One absolute in life that has not received adequate attention (in my humble opinion) is that most anything in life can be used as a pretend baseball bat.





Just because there may not be batting cages to visit or time to visit them even (if they are available), does not mean one cannot practice and perfect his/her swing. My children are catching on to this wonderful truth (absolute) and I have included a small sampling below of how they live it out in their everyday life.
We caught Alex the other day using his straw to smack that imaginary baseball.









Peter will occasionally use sundry kitchen utensils to visualize crushing a home-run to the opposite field...much to his Mother's chagrin.










Even Vanna gets into the act occasionally, showing her promise as a slugging softballer. Pink is of course the color of choice.










Almost all of the drinks you buy here come in a bottle. My boys are especially delighted when the last drop is consumed so they can exclaim, "A Baseball Bat, A Baseball Bat!" Where did they gain such a passionate love for baseball?!!









The bigger 2 liter bottles are much for suitable for actually striking a hollow plastic ball that will do little to no damage upon impact. It will really send them flying also.

These bottles, additionally, double as bowling pins. With a simple tennis ball and 6-10 of these bottles, you have an evening full of cheap entertainment.

You did hear me say that "most anything" qualifies. Even I don't place this fluorescent tube in the 'most anything' category. But alas, the youngsters have their own opinions.

It was fun to watch David Letterman (years ago) throw these things off the top of a building pretending to be Zeus. :)







Oh my, its a good thing Mom isn't home to see this.

I did find an interesting article on MSNBC where a local guy has organized some little league baseball teams here in my city. It would be amazing if it works out in a couple of years that my boys could play. This was one of those things I thought they would miss by growing up overseas...but maybe not!

Trip to the Beach!

From Brad.

Well as school was approaching, I thought it might be nice to get away for a few days, take a break from language study (although, impossible to take a complete break...and undesirable to some degree), and travel to a nearby beach. Our kids love the sand, beach, water and the weather is just about right...not too hot, but warm enough to still swim. So we hopped on a choo-choo train (basically an amusement ride as far as our boys are concerned) and within a couple of hours, our vacation had begun. Here’s a slideshow of about 40 picts which I’ll comment on below



A few interesting facts about the beach here…

· Very crowded, tons of people
· Many children up to about 8 years old…no bathing suit
· Thankfully the adults had them on, but I did notice a few men who would swim out to the deeper water and take theirs off for some reason. Floating on the water right next to them.
· The sand apparently had some clay in it and was terribly difficult to mold and shape.
· The people here love to cover themselves in sand. We saw a number of people who simply buried themselves up to their head and just laid there.

Other highlights of our trip included several western (mostly European) restaurants that were frequented by us. This included a Mexican restaurant. Not nearly as good as the worst Mexican place in the states, but still in the Mexican category and thus enjoyable to us. You’ll also notice some pictures of an aquarium we visited. It was really nice and well worth the $30 we paid for admission (not cheap in these parts). They love Christmas decorations here and some do it year round ‘because they are so beautiful’…thus the pictures. Its also been funny shopping occasionally in July and hearing 'Jingle Bells' of all things. Finally, there’s a really funky looking monument built close to the beach which we captured a couple of times.