Those Kinds Of Friends

Yesterday we had a visit from Charlee and her kids - Judah, Ellie and Dominic.  Judah will be in Nicholas's class this year which is nice because they get along really well.  Actually, all the kids do.  Ellie is the same age as Ryan and Dominic isn't yet two but for the three or so hours that they were here there were no fights or whining and the only tears were from falls or scrapes.  It was great!  Charlee and I were able to sit an chat without too much chaos or drama.

Perhaps the nicest thing about our play date yesterday was that despite the fact that they had never been to our home before, I didn't feel the need to clean obsessively or even shower.  I did get dressed and put my hair up (pretty ambitious I thought) but there was no need to "prepare" for their visit.  Last night I realized that in China I have a few friends that fall into this category.  What can I conclude from this revelation?  Well, either I am becoming either very lazy or I am incredibly fortunate to have some great friends that I feel comfortable enough with to just be myself.  I'd like to think that it's the latter.

After our visitors left I chilled out for a while to try and clear my mind before Amanda came for my Chinese lesson.  Twenty minutes before she was due to arrive, I decided to bake a banana bread.  I'm not sure why other than she and I had talked about it before and I thought she might like to try it.  Halfway through our lesson it was ready and I gave her a piece.  In general most Chinese people don't bake and I'm not sure if it's because they don't care for desserts or because most of them don't have ovens, but I didn't want her to feel obligated to eat the bread if she didn't care for it.  However, she gobbled down the piece I gave her and when I offered another she said yes right away.  I guess she liked it!  I gave her a third piece to take home and she seemed happy about that.  This morning when Ayi came I offered her some and wasn't sure if she would want it.  I had given her a piece the last time we baked it (she had been wondering why I was keeping rotten bananas around and I had to show her) but wasn't sure if she had really enjoyed it.  Apparently she had because she accepted the bread and finished it in about ten seconds.  

Since Tim ended up working late last night, instead of making supper I took the boys out to run around and play.  Nicholas took his soccer ball and managed to attract some other kids and they played for about an hour and a half.  While they did that a nice lady who was walking by came and sat beside me and started talking.  I really liked her because she spoke slow so I could try and understand what she was asking me.  For the most part I understood and when I didn't I just told her that I didn't know that word and she would smile at me.  I'm picking up more and more all the time although I admitted to Amanda earlier in the day that sometimes I pretend I don't speak any Chinese even if I understand what someone is asking me.  Mostly it's because once I answer a question or two people assume I am fluent and start talking faster with more difficult questions.  Rather than try to explain that I am just learning (I suppose I should learn how to say that!) I just smile and move on like I don't know what they have said to me.

This morning I took the boys to one of our indoor playgrounds at the Tesco mall.  As we arrived we realized that it was under construction so there would be no playing.  Instead we ventured into the Tesco store and tried to find some of the school and trip supplies I have been looking for.  We actually made out pretty well, finding several items on my list.  It was nice to get some tasks accomplished unexpectedly.  Afterward we went to YooHoo for subs, fried rice and groceries.  By the time we were done all that I was ready to come home.  Now, here I sit, typing away, trying to keep myself from going online for any other reason than to blog.  A couple nights ago I got back into researching our home trip for next year and found some great stuff.  Part of me (well, most of me) wants to start booking things but I must resist.  We already have two trips all planned out and this one would be almost a year away.  Tim thinks I'd better pace myself a little and he's probably right.  I will need something to do when we get back from this home trip.

I think that's it for now.  I hope everyone's having a pleasant July.  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!