Exercise plan

April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 / katylin1l / 3 Comments

A., at seven years old, has made a weekly exercise plan for himself.

In case it’s not totally clear: Sunday is soccer practice, Monday and Wednesday are rest days, Thursday is push-ups, Friday is running and Saturday is bike riding.

And if you’re wondering what Tuesday’s exercise is, here is an explanatory photo:

He takes the plan pretty seriously. Yesterday was running day. He missed running with me in the morning because he didn’t get up early enough, so I suggested he ask Daddy to take him to P.E. co-op a little early so he could run around the track. He got there and said, “I’m going to run two miles.” Nick suggested he stick with one. He ran four laps around the track and said, “I’m going to run two miles!” and ran four more. He’s a little sore today…but he says he’s going for three miles next Friday.

A’s photos

April 22, 2016April 18, 2016 / katylin1l / 7 Comments

A. has recently gotten interested in photography as well and has learned a few things from his dad. Here are a few shots he took on a trip to the park. One of my favorite things about the pictures is that you can see how some of the older people enjoying their hobbies started smiling and showing off for the little foreign kid with a camera.

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Chengdu at night

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016 / katylin1l / Leave a comment

Nick’s taken up night photography as a hobby. Because, as one of our friends put it, Chinese cities always look better at night.

Many of you have already seen his pictures on Facebook or Instagram, but for those who haven’t, here are a few of his favorites:

Cultural moment reveal

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016 / katylin1l / Leave a comment

If you’ve been on the edge of your seat waiting to hear why my Chinese friend said everyone was staring at her and her husband when they left the house with their three-month-old twins strapped to their backs, this post’s for you! (There was a winner to the guessing contest in my last post–you can see it in the comments.)

The first reason my friend gave was that it’s not common to see dads carrying their babies. It is getting more common, but apparently it’s still rare enough to make people stare.

But the number one reason she gave me? People couldn’t believe that she and her husband were caring for their children themselves. Usually it’s Grandma and Grandpa who care for small children, not Mom and Dad. I knew this was true already, of course, but didn’t realize it was true to the extent that parents seen carrying their own children in public would get stares and questions from strangers!

Another cultural moment

April 8, 2016 / katylin1l / 7 Comments

I had another cultural moment on Sunday as I was chatting with a couple Chinese friends. One had twin baby boys just three months ago (they are super cute!!), and she was telling us about how she and her husband had just taken them out for the first time in the Ergo baby carriers another friend and I had given them. Then she started telling us about all the attention she and her husband got while they were doing this. I have to admit, it was nice to know that expats in China aren’t the only objects of staring and random comments from strangers. Some of the things people had said to her were pretty funny–like one lady who asked whether the babies were real or fake.

I asked my friend why so many people were staring at them, and she gave me two reasons which, when I reflected on what I know of contemporary Chinese culture, made sense, but which shocked me when I first heard them. Can you guess what one or both of those reasons might be?

I’ll give you a couple hints. First, maybe you are wondering whether it’s normal for people in China to “wear” babies, or carry them in a backpack-style carrier. Yes, it’s totally normal. There are traditional ways of doing this, from traditional embroidered cloth carriers to bushel-type baskets with a built-in seat that you strap to your back, and now there are a number of different styles of modern baby-bearing devices. So that was not one of the reasons people were staring.

Next, you might be wondering whether it was because the babies are twins. Twins are pretty common in China these days, and while they do get lots of smiles and attention, this was not one of the top two reasons my friend said they were being rubber-necked by strangers.

So…why? Can you guess? I’ll post the answer in a couple days.

The baby carrier was one of M’s favorite places to be

Mushroom safety

March 31, 2016 / katylin1l / 4 Comments

I had an interesting cultural moment the other day. Our house helper and I were sharing kitchen space while I was making a ham and mushroom quiche for dinner.

“You’d better soak those mushrooms in salt water so they won’t poison you,” she suggested. I knew local people did that, though I usually don’t. But I went ahead and took her suggestion.

As I was cooking the mushrooms with some onions, she said, “You should cook mushrooms with garlic.”

“They do taste good that way,” I offered.

“No, it’s not because they taste good. It’s so they won’t poison you. If you put in a piece of garlic and it stays white, the mushrooms are okay. But if it turns black, they’re poisonous.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Once in my hometown, my younger brother’s wife’s brother was cooking mushrooms one time and for some reason didn’t put in garlic. I don’t know why; we always put it in. Their whole family got poisoned and ended up in the hospital.”

Huh. I listened to her story with interest, but didn’t put any garlic in the mushrooms. We survived…this time.

Art show

March 17, 2016March 14, 2016 / katylin1l / 2 Comments

Our homeschool community in Chengdu has the opportunity to participate in various events hosted by the international schools here. One of the kids’ favorites is the art show. Last year A. participated as a kindergartener; this year, M. got to do it, too. The theme was “Mixed Up”.

Nick helped the kids refine and implement their ideas.