Update

Thanksgiving:

If you didn't read my last post about our Thanksgiving plans, don't fret, because everything we had planned changed! We had a great time, though. On Thursday afternoon a group of us went to see "Wreck it Ralph." Since we were the only people in the theater at first, they switched the language setting from Chinese to English. Good thing, because if they hadn't switched it, I might have missed the surprising and life-changing message of the movie: "Be true to yourself." What will they come up with next?

Later that evening we shared a delicious meal with friends. Our tastebuds felt like they were home. We also sang together, went around the room sharing what we are thankful for, and then played a fun game that involved racing to dress up in mis-matched winter clothes. (Thanks to Uncle Harlan for the game idea.)

R with two of his future co-workers.

As you can see, our friend Ned (left) is just about as tall as R, and we see many tall Chinese people. However, R still gets comments like we heard today: "It seems that Yao Ming has come to Beijing!" A man said this to no one in particular as he passed by our family on the sidewalk, and we actually understood that he was talking about us! A break-through!

The kids all got along well, I thnk...

Should have wrapped the scarf around my double chin. R's tutor ("Judy") is behind me.

Friday was school as usual, though we did have the chance for a quick Skype call with R's family after class.

RA came down with a cold, so he didn’t play football on Saturday as planned. The kids still played, and had a good time. AA was on the winning team. After football, we all met up at a local pre-school building for another huge American meal, a time of sharing, singing and an entertaining talent show. We were blessed by this time spent with many joyful, grateful, kindhearted people.

We were glad to see that the school had western-style toilets. Size was a bit of an issue, though.

School Update:

Our teachers are using more and more characters, less and less pinyin!

Our Chinese lessons were challenging today, but it is exciting to see our progress when we go out into the city and use what we have learned. Every day is its own adventure! Today I mailed the last batch of our Christmas cards, and as always, the post office held a few challenges.  Buying the right stamps, waiting while someone glues each stamp on. (They are the kind you can lick. Not sure why they use glue. Someday I will ask when I have a fighting chance of understanding the answer.) Everything went pretty smoothly today, and all the letters were set to go, when I realized I had overlooked one card. I decided I would just save it for another day rather than start the process again. This was a mistake, because after running a few more errands, I couldn’t find the card anywhere! I retraced my steps and told everyone, “I am looking for my post card! Do you know where it is?” No one knew. They understood my question, however, so I felt successful anyway!

So, if YOU don’t get a Christmas card from us, you can just assume it was yours that I lost! (Wink, wink.)