Je ne sais pas Français!

In the most-fun family activity hosted by preschool yet, grandparents and parents met their kids at school on a Friday afternoon. With the teachers, we all hiked up the mountain to a secluded pavilion. The children created a mural to represent their own idea of spring. Titus painted a sailboat. 

Drew and I appreciate a chance to connect with other parents. I had a lovely time talking with a newer student's mama -- after ten years in France, she and her French husband have relocated back to Changsha with son Mo Mo. He's a nice little buddy to Titus and fluent in French as well as Chinese.

It's been cool talking with Mo Mo's daddy. 

Je ne sais pas Français!  Il ne sait pas l'anglais!  

(I don't know French! He doesn't know English!)

We communicate in Chinese. Nice guy.

Chinese as our medium for communication with random nationalities is pretty rad. Yemeni, Russian, German, Korean, Japanese, Saudi Arabian, Vietnamese, Burmese, Ghanaian, Angolan, Iraqi...

Iraqi. That reminds me. A couple years back the kids and I were played at the university track while a bunch of international students had a soccer game going in the field. Missed shot on the goal, I retrieved the ball. When I tossed it back, the athletic player asked me where I was from (all of this in Chinese). United States. And you? Iraq. He smiled kindly, handsome guy with curly hair, and made a playful little fist-fighting gesture. 战争, he said, which means, war. 

Ok. Regardless of your position on the war in Iraq... have you ever met and talked with a person from a nation with which your nation is currently at war? Have you? It was my first time. It was sobering, bizzarre, humbling, leveling, and made the whole thing feel completely misguided and ridiculous and embarrassing.

Sorry. What does one say in that moment, human-sister to human-brother?

I am really maundering. Where were we?

Right. There's French dad on the right, white shirt.

And here are children painting a spring mural.

Earlier this week I went into the classroom to help Titus teach English Time lesson. 

Wanna read over my lesson plan?

Head, shoulders, knees, toes. 

Eyes, ears, mouth, nose.

Pedagogical genius, I know.

counting the graces

thank you Father for

this week Drew had a chance to tell a funny story to a group in Chinese and it went over great

honest, open, free communication with Auntie Wang

naps next to my babies (they're not babies anymore!)

wise prayer from an understanding friend

boys enjoying carrying their own umbrellas

you woke me up naturally at 2am so I could finish the jello fruit desserts for Jon's birthday party

a green potted plant on the dining table

thankfulness level exceeds stress level!