Well folks, that’s it.  We can’t take this China thing anymore.  It’s too hard.  We’re heading home in two days.

April Fools’!

I got an email from my sister today asking if I had given up blogging for Lent.  Yes, yes, yes, it’s been a while.  Here are my reasons:

1)  I can’t think.  I haven’t been this tired…ever.   Wee P is still waking me up every 1-2 hours all night, every night.  The effects on my mind are striking.  The effects on my face are worse.  I was in a store the other day and caught a glimpse of a truly run-down, haggard-looking Western woman.   To my horror, I realized after a second or two that I had walked past a mirror.

2)    …

You see?  You see?  When I began this post, I had at least four reasons to list.  I honestly have no idea what the other three were now.  In any case, I’m vowing now to get back into the swing of things.  Let’s start with a little update on P’s school.

The kindergarten is fantastic.  We had some rough weeks while P adjusted to all the changes, bu now that she’s no longer running around playing while the other kids nap (at least, I think this is what her teacher was trying to tell us was going on), the nightly tantrums are gone, and she’s a much happier child.  I think one of the problems is that P is given extra special treatment by her teachers, and nothing good can come from that.  For example, I witnessed the following scene one morning when I dropped P off at school.  Keep in mind the fact that the teachers speak virtually no English.

Teacher:  Ah, P, Hello.

P (grunting and scowling):  Don’t talk to me.

Teacher:  Ha ha ha!  Ah, P.  Hello, P.

P (now screaming):  Cookie!  Cookie!

Teacher (getting P a cookie from a stash she brings in daily just for P):  Ha ha ha!

Me (very embarrassed):  P, can you thank your teacher?

P (still scowling):  Another cookie!

Teacher (grabbing cookie #2 from bag):  Ah, P.  I love you!  I love you!

P (scowling and chewing):  Don’t talk to me.

Would it surprise you to hear that P. is getting a little fat?  Luckily, she’s now branching out and eating more and more Chinese food at school, so the constant cookie stream is finally drying up.  We had to eventually bribe her with stickers and extra play time after school for trying new foods, and this tactic seems to be working.  Last week, I caught her shoving a huge piece of dehydrated seaweed (think nasty fruit rollup) in her mouth as an after school snack.  This is quite an accomplishment for the kid who ate nothing but rice and peanut butter sandwiches for a couple of weeks.  I should add that she ate the rice only because we repeatedly assured her that there is nothing whatsoever Chinese about rice.

In addition to expanding her palate, P is also learning to be a good little member of a collective.  I happened to bike past the school playground last week during recess.  I could hear kids outside, so I got on my hands and knees in order to watch what was going on through a hole in the brick fence.  I assumed I’d see kids running wild, playing on the slides and swings, just like on any American playground.  Instead, I saw many groups of kids all standing in circles doing various calisthenics and marching exercises.  Everything was orderly, and all the kids were obediently following their teachers’ orders – even my kid!  At one point, I saw her marching, head held high, as she shouted the Chinese version of “left, right, left” along with the other kids.  This was a truly bizarre, but strangely touching sight for me to behold.

I’m off to pick her up from school now, so I’ll close with some shots from her first week of school.  I’m ashamed to say this was five weeks ago.  Time is flying by!  Well, except the nights…

The first shot is of P, her cookie-distributing teacher, Wu Laoshi, and Wu Laoshi’s helpers.  Unfortunately, Wu Laoshi was promoted to some administrative position recently and is no longer the teacher.    She still visits the class occasionally, and P still loves her.

Here’s P in the bathroom at school.  Notice all the squat potties.  Chris had the good fortune of witnessing potty time one morning.  Apparently, even using the toilet is done as a collective.  All the kids march in holding hands and then squat together.  Chris said it was quite possibly the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

Here is the row of sinks in the bathroom and all the kids’ toothbrushes lines up on the shelf.  It’s good to know that oral hygiene is a priority given all the cookie and seaweed eating that goes on.

Here’s a shot from inside the classroom.  Check out how colorful it is.

Here are the beds where the kids nap.  This is a really clever design – the beds stack together during the day and then pull out – almost like a bunk bed with four levels – during nap time.  Chris also got to see the nap scene one afternoon when he went to pick P up early.  He said you just see four levels of jet black hair sticking out from the identical white blankets on each bed – that and one little Western kid running around like an ill-behaved monkey.

This is a terrible photo that doesn’t do the school playground justice.  It’s the most amazingly well-equipped, most beautiful playground I’ve ever seen.  School ends at 5pm, but the gates stay open until 6:30 for parents and grandparents to play with their kids.  I’ll post more shots of this soon.

Here’s a kid getting a ride home from school on the back of her grandfather’s bike.

Finally, here’s P on her way home from school.  Don’t they look like they’ve been here forever?

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