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.     

Hong Kong Fun -- Part 2

by Amy

When we're at home we take taxi's everywhere.  Occasionally I'll hop on a bus if the one outside my gate will take me directly where I want to go (without having to change buses.) But, since there's been construction, there's bus outside my gate, so that means I don't do buses anymore!  Most places I go (my friends houses, Brad's office, the square, etc,) can all be reached for under $2 USD.  Occasionally I'll have a $3.50 taxi ride in traffic when we go all the way across town to the new Dairy Queen, but that's rare and so worth the $3.50!  In Hong Kong, though, we NEVER do taxis!  They are super expensive, comparatively speaking, of course.  So, we ride buses or subways everywhere.  The flat we often stay is near a big bus stop and subway station, so it's super convenient!  For some reason, on this trip, we took pictures while we were riding the subway.  I'm not sure if it was a way to provide entertainment for the kids or what, but we did get some pretty cute shots....

Here we're coming home from swimming somewhere...

and here we're heading out to dinner one night....

But these are my favorite...

So, first Brad snapped a shot of Sue and Savannah, then Peter and me.  Then, he decided to get all four of us.  But there was one problem ... the dude between us...  Oh well, maybe he'll smile, too  -- or not!

And now, this last subway pic will prepare you for the rest of the post.  We're on the Disneyline heading out to HK Disneyland.  You can barely tell that this train has Mickey Mouse shaped windows.  It's really cool!  We were all so excited!  

HK Disneyland is the only Disneyland/world I've been to (that I remember.)  So, I can't compare it to the others, but as far as I'm concerned, it ROCKS!!  It is so clean and everything they do is top quality!  This was our third trip and we still loved every show, every ride, every minute!

Alice walked by us about 5 hours after snapping this picuture and she waved and said, "Oh, hello, Savannah!"  I was shocked she remembered her.  Savannah promptly said, "She must remember me because I'm so pretty!"  Clearly, she hears that a lot!  We've got to work on teaching modesty!

Those three pics above were taken as we waited to meet Belle and Aurora.  (Can you see why people tell her she's pretty all the time?)

And, of course, we rode Space Mountain!  It's my favorite!  The kids each wanted a chance to ride next to Sue, so we did it three times.  (Good thing the lines weren't long!)  So, even though she was ready to be done after second ride, she was quite the trooper and made my Peter a happy guy!  

(Brad made Sue a nervous wreck as he held her camera over her head snapping pics behind him through the whole ride. It was hilarious riding between the two of them as she hollered at him!)  

    

That was taken at the end of a long, fun day at Disneyland!  We were tired, but it was great!

Here are a few random pics that were taken while we were there, but I can't remember where we were or what we were doing.  So, just in case your not pictured out, here's a few more....

We also went swimming twice.  I had a blast watching my kids jump of the diving board -- too bad the pool wouldn't allow us to bring cameras in -- and slide down water slides.  We also spent several hours playing in Toys R Us with all the cool toys that are out there now!  And, thanks to my parents birthday money, the kids each got to choose a few toys to bring back home.  And, Sue and I did some shopping at markets around town.  It was a really great trip!  We loved having Sue there to share it with us!   

Hong Kong Fun -- Part 1

by Amy

Rather than give the day-by-day playback of everything we did in HK, I'm going to let the pictures speak for me....  But, since I selected over 30 pictures to post, I think I'm going to divide it into two posts!  So here we go....

Starting at the beach:

We spent 2 days at the beach.  Notice how calm the water was!  It was crazy!  This beach is our favorite because it’s never crowded - look at the wide open space behind the boys!  Compare that to our Tuesday morning beach pics from my Vacation  post.... Crazy! We were even there over the weekend, and it was empty!  My boys especially love this beach because there's a play area on the sand.  

  

We also spent a day visiting a life-size replica of Noah's Ark.  It was really cool!!

As we walked from the ferry to the ark, we saw this precious dog.  My kids instantly fell in love!

Several morning, we walked over to a great park that was near the place we stayed.  Brad had fun jogging while the kids played.  It was hot, but we had fun!  (Notice that BLUE sky!!)  

And, we spent an evening at The Peak.  We rode a tram up a really steep mountain side so we could look down over the harbor.  What a great view!  The pictures don't do it justice!  (that's where the family pic I posted yesterday was taken.)

So, I guess that wraps up the first round of our HK pics.  Sorry there weren't more pictures of Savannah.  I think she took a lot of the pictures above.  That will definitely change when I post the Disneyland pics!  I got some cute snapshots of her!   

Bloggin' Blahs...

by Amy

I've been in a blogging funk lately.  I haven't felt like there's been anything blog-worthy happening in my world, so I just couldn't come up with anything to say.  Finally, we went to the beach town last month, so I decided I could at least post some pictures for my dad to see.  But, he since has informed me that those pictures were nice, but now they're OLD!  So, we just got home from Hong Kong, so I promise to post some new pics soon....

I have not only been in a blogging funk lately, but it seems my whole life has been in a funk.  If my mom could see me lately, she'd say I've been frumpy.  As Brad and I were talking about it last night, I think there's been a combination of things that have affected my outlook on life.  One of the main factors has been the weather.  I've never really thought of myself as one who is affected by the weather, but I think it's played a huge role in my attitude over the last couple of months.  I don't mean to complain, but our skies have been gray for almost 2 months straight (maybe more, actually.)  Not cloudy gray where you can see cool designs in the sky, but heavy, low, solid pollution gray.  There have been many days that I could not see the store half a km away from my 13 story window. (I have no idea how to say that in miles - maybe half a km is 1/3 mile - I don't know.)  And, on top of that, the street in front of our apartment complex has been under construction since early June.  The gray skies of the last few months often gave way to rain which turned our "street" into a muddy swamp.  It was smelly, slimy and yucky - and couldn't be avoided if I needed to leave my apartment complex!

Thankfully, the Lord knew what I would need long before I did.  Back in February, when Sue bought her plane tickets to come visit us, we planned a trip to Hong Kong.  Right as I was at my breaking point, we got on an airplane and flew away....  After being in HK for a few days, seeing blue skies and big puffy clouds, the tension began to drain from my neck and shoulders.  I was able to laugh and have fun with my kids - outside!  I wasn't trying to hold back tears as I opened the curtains each morning.  It was a great, much needed break.  And, as we drove home from the airport, (through the thick, hazy pollution) I almost shed tears of relief when I saw that the mud was covered by concrete outside my house!  I'm sure that was arranged just for me by my loving Heavenly Father, who promises never to give me more than I can handle.  =)

Now that we're back to normal life here, I'm working hard to getting my heart and attitude back to normal as well.  I'm not there yet, but I'm closer than I was before our trip.  The Lord is faithful.  He will draw near to those that draw near to Him.  Thankfully, my joy isn't found in blue skies and clean streets!

Now, for all those who only read my blog to see pics, here's a preview of the HK post that's coming soon....