American Day

We're closing in on our eighth month here in China and we celebrated our very first "American Day" last Sunday. If you happened to miss this grand holiday, then I send you a belated Happy American Day salutation! This holiday was actually the idea of our friends, the Edminsons, but we gladly stole and ran with it. We did everything American last Sunday - absolutely no Chinese. We had a HUGE brunch with scrambled eggs, pancakes, french toast, home-made syrup, fruit, hashed browns, and biscuits. Sadly, no bacon. We watched American TV shows, read American books, and ended the day with a great big helping of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, courtesy of the Edminsons. We sure do know how to celebrate American Day.

I would be willing to put money on the idea that any person who has lived most of there life in one place and then moves somewhere else with a completely different culture will go through what we've felt this past week. I know what you might be thinking..."um...guys, that's a well-known phenomenon called 'culture shock'". Well, we did experienced culture shock our first month or two here, but I don't think this is culture shock. There comes a point, long after culture shock, when all those cultural differences that you have actually grown accustomed to rally together and blindside you, temporarily making you think that you can't make it another day in this annoying, oddly enjoyable country. That's what happened to both of us, and unfortunately it happened at the same time so that we couldn't balance each other out with encouragement or nice words. That's when you need an American Day.

As you heard, our American Day was enjoyable and served its purpose for the most part. We're back to work at school, only two weeks away from our Spring Break known as "May Holiday". We had promised to put up some pictures of our new birds and our redecorated porch, so here they are! It doesn't look like much, but it is definitely an improvement over what it was. The windows used to be dirty, the floor was dusty and the whole place just smelled. The improvement is such that last week we had the Edminsons over for some fajitas that our mom sent from the States out on the porch. Oh my word, it was good! The breeze was cool, the meal was fantastic and the sun didn't set until well after 8:30. We stayed out afterward to play games and talk, the music from the bedroom serenading our lovely porch adventure.

Spring is in full force here in China, which means nice meals on the porch and an open (and cheap) vegetable market, but it also has its weird side. The parts of this concrete city that are designated for grass, besides being forbidden to walk on (which is strictly enforced), are watered in the most odd fashion. Once or twice a day, a water spigot connected to the city water main is just opened and allowed to pour until the entire plot of dirt-land is actually flooded under inches of water. They do it even when it rains. The grass is turning green, though, and the trees are blooming and adding color to our lives. While eating outside today at a local restaurant we noticed a man pulling down a branch from a tree nearby, picking the buds off and eating them right there on the spot. Apparently that's a common thing and everybody, even the children, know that these leaves are not just edible but actually good. I might have to try it someday, but only after seeing a Chinese man eat and not collapse - I'd hate to have to write home to say we're done here in China because I ate from the wrong tree.

Well, Tiff's birthday is coming up on Thursday, so we'll be celebrating it with a few friends. We already had a birthday party for Kyle last Thursday and a 3-person birthday celebration on Saturday for Kyle, Tiff and Sam (a Chinese friend), so we'll post pictures of the three cakes after we have this party. I sprained my ankle playing basketball last weekend so I'm recovering from that. There's no ice to get here so I had to ice my foot using a bag of frozen dumplings...I think we might be throwing that bag away soon. So if you get the chance, say a little extra something for Tiff this Thursday and for me that my foot would heal quickly and completely.

We might have gone through a rough patch this past week, but we are very much enjoying where we are right now. Our school kids are great, our friends are wonderful, and the weather is just gorgeous. The American Day we had was just what I needed, I think...pretty soon we're gonna be in need of an American Month, though, so come August be ready, cause we're gonna be on an "everything American" warpath. American Month - it'll be so much fun.