This Year's Best Neighbors Goes To....

Last Monday, we went and visited our old upstairs neighbors. While we were there, I was reminded how great they are and how much we loved living below them. It was fun to always have friends to play outside with and an adult to talk to while the kids played in the yard. Also, that yard is still the best yard in the world for kids. I miss the creek and shade trees so much. So, this post is dedicated to our old neighbors and friends, the Monets.

When we looked at the house- back in March, we learned that the Monets were the upstairs renters. We were in the same ward in Provo about 2 years previous. Kristen and I were pregnant and due around the same time. We got together a couple of times when we were living in Provo, but then they moved to Salt Lake, and we moved to China, and I thought we'd never see them again...so naturally, we would end up being neighbors.

They were the best neighbors. Peter and I ate lunch at their house many days. Kristen and I swapped babysitting from time to time, and sometimes she just offered to have Peter come upstairs and play for an hour or two if I was feeling sick or when I was packing for the move. We always had someone to borrow a missing ingredient we needed for dinner or someone to get a good quick kid-approved recipe. Here's a bunch of photos that document our fun times. 

Cow boys!

Cutest cow I've ever seen!

So, Chick-fil-a has a day that if you dress up as a cow, you get a free meal. Kristen knew about it and told us, so naturally, we threw together quick cow costumes and got free dinner! It was fantastic.

Ty and Peter, Popsicle Boys

There were many days that the Monets shared treats with us as we were playing outside. I can't even recall the number of popsicles that Peter got this summer that I didn't buy. They were so kind to always share their treats.

Cake day!

Also, they had tons of fun water toys. Many days were spent playing at the water table, or filling up the sled, or using the squirt guns. We found these sweet watering buckets at the DI, and they were a great addition to the water toys in the back. The boys usually used them to water the plants, but sometimes they used them to be robots...or something.

Bucket Heads!

Pool Day Everyday!

All the boys in the pool!

Water fun!

One day, Kristen was doing a volcano activity with her boys when we came outside, so we learned about volcanoes too! They put some baking soda in a bottle, put the lid on and buried it, then took the lid off and poured in some vinegar. The boys thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. I'm fairly certain they could have watched it explode for hours and wouldn't have gotten the least bit bored.

The Volcano!

The Monets are fantastic. I'm glad that we can still go over and play with them. When we went over on Monday, Peter had a blast and we stayed 2 hours longer than I planned because the kids were playing so nicely together. It was fun to be able to talk to someone again who is in a similar phase of life. Kristen and I could commiserate about potty-training, and share successes in life. We shared thoughts from the Women's Session of General Conference and caught up about life. Great neighbors make life so much happier and I'm glad we got to be neighbors with this great family. They are such a fantastic example of what it means to love your neighbors. We miss them, but I'm glad we still live close enough to visit.

Reverse Culture Shock Part 2

Alright, welcome back to part 2. Here are the other things we had to get used to after we got back "home."

7) Driving: There were a number of things we noticed about cars and bikes in America that I never paid attention to before. First, people use cars way more often than they need to. Now, I recognize that there are many, many places in America that are not conducive to walking. I grew up in those places. Places where it is at least a 10 minute drive to get to the nearest grocery store and there isn't any public transportation. I get it. You guys are off the hook. But, right now, I live in a college town. The grocery store is about 6 blocks from my house, the public library is about 7 blocks, the university is about 7 blocks away, and our church used to be 4 blocks (they changed our meeting house location and now we are about 11 blocks away). And so many people drive! When our church was 4 blocks away, most of our congregation drove their cars....in August, when it was really quite pleasant outside. It blew my mind. The distance to church is about the distance it took me to walk to the bus stop from our second apartment in Nanjing, and these people were driving their cars. I don't even get it. I have the same feelings about driving to school. I see so many university students who drive about 5 blocks, or less, to get to school. Then they complain about how it is so hard to find parking! Well, I've got a genius solution for you. Use your feet! You get exercise, you don't have to put more gas in your car, and you don't have to hope you find a parking spot. The amount of cars on the roads here is insane, and people don't walk. Vent over.

7a) Driving- Learning to Drive Again: In China, we didn't drive. Sometimes we rode in cars with people, but even that was rare. We mostly walked, or took the bus/subway if we were going a longer distance. So, I came back and started driving again, and it wasn't hard to get used to driving again. Except for one thing. I drove a lot slower than I used to. I was under the speed limit frequently, and Jonathan would point it out always. I was usually 5-10 under the limit. But it didn't feel slow to me. It felt normal, for no reason than being out of practice of driving. We've been back over three months now, and I'm back to normal driving, most of the time. But, it took a month or two to get there. Also, sometimes I really miss having a good public transport system. I often missed my car in China, but I now miss having someone else drive for me. Go figure.

Peter was an expert metro/bus rider.

7b) Driving- Bikes: The last thing driving related is how unfriendly the United States is for bikers (as in pedal bikes, not scooters/motorcycles). When we first got to China, the traffic terrified me, and when Jonathan told me he was getting a bike I was sure he'd be dead in a week. The Chinese aren't any worse of drivers, in fact, I think they are better drivers than we are, but it feels a lot crazier because they squeeze into places they shouldn't fit and they are pretty aggressive drivers. But, the bikes/scooters have their own lane in many parts of the city, and Jonathan never had any problems. He always felt safe. Now, we come back here and he feels a lot less safe riding a bike around the city. We still ride (before it got so cold, we rode to church, and that was lovely), but I feel less safe with Jonathan on his bike here than I eventually did in China. Even though the traffic seemed crazy, they had their own order. People here seem to pay attention less and not know their cars as well. Also, very few roads have bike lanes, and the ones that do have no partition between the road and the bike lane.

8) Water: Maybe this should have gone along with the food/cleanliness sections, but here it is in its very own section. You don't really realize how awesome it is to be in America and be able to drink water out of any faucet in your home and not worry about getting sick until you have lived in a place where that doesn't happen. In China, all water must be boiled/filtered before drinking it or you could get sick. Also there are no drinking fountains anywhere. So, it was a really nice thing to come back and just turn on the tap and drink some water. People complain about water in different areas tasting not so awesome, but hey, at least you can drink it and not worry about having the runs tomorrow. It was great to come back and not have to worry so much about Peter drinking his bath water...which he loves to do. We still try to get him not to do it, but it doesn't stress me out as much. We didn't have to really adjust to this, but it was a nicety that I was happy to have back.

9) Possessions: Something that still blows my mind is the sheer amount of things people have (us included). We went to China with 3 suitcases, one for each person because we didn't have any other option. We knew what whatever we packed, we would have to transport. so we packed light. We got by fine with few clothes and not lots of extras. Sometimes I really missed having other shoes or my green jacket or other things, but we were fine. We didn't bring any kitchen things and we were stingy in what we bought because we knew we'd be leaving it behind in a year. We acquired the necessities and made do. We got used to having just a few things. So, when we came back and unpacked everything in storage it was crazy how many clothes, shoes, towels, blankets, plates, cups, pans and everything else we had. I've slowly been downsizing because I don't need everything I have and I know it is likely we will move within the next 6 months or so, and I'd rather not pack up a bunch of things we don't need. Also, after living in a small apartment, the houses in America are huge! People here have rooms in their house that are rarely used (dining rooms), or extra bedrooms that are only used on holiday. It is strange to see such big houses in which the space is not needed. China (in the cities, which is where we lived) builds apartments, not houses. Also since being home, it is harder for me to not get frustrated with people at times who complain about money being tight or how life is hard, because I think back to people I knew in China and what life was like there. People say money is tight and they go out to eat once a week, or buy new clothes/technology/anything. People say that they don't have money, yet they have cell phones, computers, cars, and houses with more space than they need. They have enough food to eat and clothes to wear. We have so much here, more than we realize. We are so incredibly fortunate here. Again, I know this isn't true for everyone. I know there are people that really don't have much money and they don't go out to eat or buy anything new, they live with one phone, and they budget incredibly well, but even then, just by being in America, we are so fortunate.

Peter and his life of fame.
The man holding him couldn't have been happier

10) Clothing: Another big difference is in the way people dress in China verses America. The Chinese, overall, dress much nicer. The men are usually in slacks and button up shirts. Women are in nice clothes and are pulled together. In America, I tend to see more casual dress but trendy. It was harder to see what the big trends were in China, but in America it is far easier to pick out. Also in America, I see way more skin than in China. There were lots of short skirts/shorts in China, but they were almost always layered with tights or leggings. Here there is much more exposed. The last big thing I noticed coming back was that in China, kids dress like kids. They wear sweat pants and colorful shirts. But in America, kids dress like little adults. Kids have very trendy outfits here and just look like small versions of older kids.

11) Weight: The last thing that took some time to get used to again is a more touchy subject for some. So, I ask that you don't get in a tiff because of this one. But, the last thing that we had to adjust to was fat people. The Chinese eat less junk food than we do, there aren't as many fast food places, and they walk a lot more than we do. In the grocery store in America the aisles of chips, cookies and candy is so much bigger than in China, and there isn't really a section for microwave/boxed meals that we have here. It was rare to see a Chinese who was overweight. There were fat kids, and lots of the babies have the fattest faces ever, but usually by middle school age, they had slimmed down. Even when you do see fat people, it is nothing compared to America. Chinese might be a little cushioned, but Americans take up two seats. That was something we had to get used to when we came back. Now, I'm not trying to say that everyone needs to be stick thin, so don't get that idea. It is okay to have curves. But, America, get into shape. Stop letting kids eat junk food and play video games. Stop watching so much tv. Cut fast food out of your life- it's not good for you. Stop drinking soda and go for a walk or take up a sport. Move your bodies and eat some vegetables.

I think one of the biggest things I've learned from living in China and then coming back to America is to be grateful. I am grateful for drinkable water, cars (even if we drive them too much), the amazing house I live in, being able to buy shampoo I like, carpet, that I know where to go to buy things, having a temple in the same city as I live in and being able to share the gospel with anyone I meet, and having family close by.

I also learned that just because we do something one way and someone else does it another way doesn't always mean one of us is right/wrong. We learned from China that consumerism isn't everything- and having stuff doesn't make you happy, that it's okay to take a little longer to get somewhere and walk there, and that it's good to dress nicer. Now I'm not perfect with the things I've learned. I still like to buy new things, but I try to give away when every I get something new. So, if I get some new clothes, I have to give away the same number of items that I bought. Sometimes I wear sweats all day, but I don't leave the house. Sometimes I take for granted our nearby temple and I don't make it a priority. But, I'm working on it.

We came home different people because we learned more about ourselves and what we wanted from life. I think everyone should live abroad or travel, because you learn things when you are around people much different from you. It rocks your comfort zone, but it is usually a good thing in the long run.

Thanks for reading my novel. I'm going to try in the month of December to catch up on things that have happened since we got back to America...it's a long list, but if I don't write it I'll forget it.

First Adventures in Japan- Aka- getting lost in Japan

After landing in Osaka, we had our first encounter with the Japanese rail system. We needed to buy tickets to take us from Osaka to Kyoto where we would be staying for the first 3 nights in Japan. Now, I've traveled a number of times outside of America to countries in which I did not speak the language nor did I have beforehand memorize rail lines or how the rail systems functioned. In all of these countries, I was able to travel around just fine. True sometimes we missed a stop and had to backtrack or slept very uncomfortably because we didn't know the seats could recline into beds, but we always got to where we needed to go. I felt fairly comfortable that I would be just fine in Japan. We had even done a fair amount of reading about how to get to Kyoto from the airport, everything seemed pretty simple...until we looked at the rail boards. Turns out, Japans railway system is all sorts of insane. I'll talk more about it in Tokyo posts, but just know, it's all sorts of crazy town trying to figure them out. There were all different colors of lines and we couldn't always tell which one stopped where, or even how to make sure we were buying the right tickets. There were little machines that you used to buy tickets and it was more complicated than I expected.

There may or may not have been some great amounts of frustration passed around as Jonathan and I discussed which tickets to buy and which machine to use, or if it was better to go stand in line and ask the people at the desks. I was positive we could figure out the machines (I'd done so in Italy, Russia, France, Denmark, Sweden and Finland...I could figure out Japan), which had no line, but Jonathan wanted to ask a person. 

We learned on this trip that we travel differently. Jonathan does not like the idea of trains because it is easier to get on the wrong one or miss your stop, which is impossible on a plane. Whereas, I would much rather take a train and am not really worried about missing a train (although we have had to run for so many trains, you would think I would be more concerned about missing a train.) He would rather have everything planned out exactly, whereas I am fine as long as we have housing and a basic plan of details. 

Sometimes our different travel styles caused strife. On this trip through Asia, we learned how to forgive quickly, and how to recognize that sometimes (frequently) anger is caused by lack of sleep or a need to eat and you really do love the person you are traveling with even if you don't want to be with that in that moment. We also learned how to acknowledge that sometimes you get to be right, sometimes you have to accept you are wrong, and sometimes both people are completely right but they do it two different ways, and that's okay. 

Anyway, back to the trains. We finally figured everything out...well, mostly, we finally just bought tickets and prayed they were the right ones. Turns out, my train knowledge worked in Japan too and we did buy the right tickets and we found our seats and finally got to sit down, take our packs off and eat some dinner! Once we were fed and off our feet, everyone was in much better moods. We traded off in the lovely game of "follow the toddler down the train cars" while resting. 

We finally arrived in Kyoto about an hour later. Our train from Taiwan had been delayed, so we got in much later than we were expecting. The roads were vacant and still. There were a few people walking around, but for the most part, it was like a ghost town. But, an immaculately clean ghost town. I have never been in a cleaner place than Japan. It was lovely. A little cool, but just enough so that we felt nice carrying the bags and pushing the sleeping baby in the stroller. 

I had written the exact directions from the metro stop to our guesthouse in Kyoto. I wrote down each street name along with any landmarks I could see on Google maps. We started on our way, admiring the beauty and quaintness of the city and how nice it was to have a cool night coming from the melting heat of Taiwan. Then we got to a road sign and the name was close to the name I'd written down, but not exact. We decided to walk a bit further to see if the road we needed was up a bit. It wasn't. Instead, after 10 minutes of walking, we came to an intersection that was not a road I'd written down and the option to continue going straight wasn't an option any longer. 

But, luckily for us, there was a map of the area on the street corner, so we went to the map and compared it to the directions in hand, debating whether to take this road or turn back to the other road that almost seemed like the correct roads. As we were trying to figure it out, a middle aged Japanese woman paused in her jog and came over asking, "Excuse me, but do you need some help?" Yes! Bless her. We showed her the address and she expressed some concern that it was a bit away, but directed us how to get to the approximate location. She was a huge help. She gave very precise directions. We were now back on our way with new directions. 

Peter and our guesthouse sign in Kyoto, Japan 

We followed exactly as she said and we made it to the crossroads listed on my directions! Huzzah! Back on track. We passed the museum and the zoo. Check. We went down a small side street as Google had told me to and we walked past many dark houses, but did not see a sign anywhere for the guesthouse. As a side note, I have also never felt as safe as I did walking through Kyoto late at night. Even though places were not always well lit, they always had a clean safe feeling. Back to walking, we checked the house numbers again, grateful for the small flashlight key chain we'd bought in Nanjing, but couldn't find the one we needed and we could find a street sign to save us. 

Then, we saw him. A young guy, probably early twenties, out walking his dog. Jonathan asked him if he knew where the Kobako Guest House was and showed him the address. The man looked at it and said, "Kobako...Kobako...yes." He pointed down the street and then looked at us and then just motioned for us to follow him. We walked with him for 3-4 minutes. In silence. He picked up his dog and just walked us to the door of the guesthouse. Good thing, because we made 2-3 turns and I don't know if we would have made it with any directions and no street signs. I was really impressed with the kindness of the Japanese we had run into. They were willing to stop and go out of their way to make sure we got where we needed to go. They were a huge blessing in having our first day...night...be successful. 

We got in to the guesthouse and they got us settled into our room. It was a traditional Japanese room, with mats on the floor. It was nice because then we didn't have to worry about Peter falling off the bed, but it was a little obnoxious because Peter has no ability to stay in one spot at night, so in the middle of the night there will be a little foot in your face or a small head burrowing into your side. Although he is small, it makes for a rocky nights sleep. But, the bamboo mats smelled nice, and we weren't sharing the room with anyone, so we hit the mats and were out. First day in Japan, crazy trains, clean streets, cool nights and kind people. It was looking like we might love it there.

Packing and Leaving Nanjing

Our last few days in Nanjing were slightly stressful trying to get everything packed, cleaned and taken where it needed to go. Jonathan's sisters came out to visit us in Nanjing and were going to travel with us when we left. I had plans to show them all around Nanjing and take them to the coolest places. Instead, I think they saw 2 or 3 places and spent most of their time in our apartment.

All of our things had to go one of four places: the flagship office for the next group of students to have, suitcases to send home with a friend, sold to Chinese, or in the backpack to take with us. We thought we had a van and driver set up to drive us to the flagship office and to take the suitcases to our friends home, but that fell through. Then, we talked to our friend who was bringing suitcases back and found out he could only take 1- which was a huge help, but that would leave us traveling with a big suitcase and a baby. We looked into shipping things home so we would have room in our suitcase just for travel things and we talked to other people. On top of that, big things I thought would be easy to sell weren't being sold, so we had tons more things than I expected to at that point. I was frustrated because I felt like I had a million things to do and we had a day to do it in.

But, like always, things worked out. Our branch president stopped by in the morning on his way to work and took the suitcases as well as a cot and blankets we had borrowed from his family, and also many of the things headed to the flagship office. Jonathan convinced me to send them with 2 suitcases and we would just pay for the extra bag- it killed me at the time, because that's a good chunk of money, but since traveling, I'm glad we don't have a big suitcase. Another flagship couple in the branch who are here until December came down and helped us pack up and take a bunch of things to the flagship office- bless them for being super awesome. Another flagship couple came and took a bunch of baby things we hadn't been able to sell as they are expecting their first in December- Peter's things will get used again! We ended up just giving away lots of things to the building cleaning lady who would sell/recycle it all later. 

Also, we had 2 extra people there to help clean and pack and entertain Peter. So, it was crazy, but we did it. Thanks to everyone who helped us in the crazy day. You are fantastic.

Farewell picture- Jonathan, Beccah, Robin, our landlord, Peter and Christina.

Weighed down- everyone has a camping backpack and a small backpack, and usually a side bag, except me- I carry the diaper bag, and stroller with Peter. We also have 3 umbrellas making the trip with us.

Peter, looking pretty cool in dad's hat, on his way to Beijing.

I can't believe we have only been traveling for a week and a half. Sometimes it feels like it's been much longer since we've been in our little apartment in Nanjing. I will miss some things about China, but traveling has been exciting, and the thought of being America home is super great.

Laundry and Pajamas

There are two things I will address today about China. The first is the difference in doing laundry in the US verses in China. In the States, we have lovely things called clothes dryers. For those of you who have forgotten what amazing machines these are, repent of your ways and thank your dryer today. Having a dryer means you can do multiple loads of laundry a day- unless you have huge laundry lines where you can dry more than one load at a time- I do not. Having a dryer means that your clothes come out feeling soft and warm, and most likely smelling lovely. Having a dryer means that your clothes do not stretch out over time and stop fitting you properly. You know how sometimes you wear a pair of jeans many times and they get looser and looser and you know that you just have to wash and dry them and they will fit you again. Now imagine that you wash them and dry them and they are still loose. Bothersome. 

Our sun room/laundry room/closet/Peter's play area with one line up and one down.

Now, I will say that we have a fantastic drying system here at our new place for which I am incredibly grateful. There are 2 lines that can be lowered and raised as needed. I hang our clothes and put them out of the reach of little hands, which is brilliant, because the child of mine loves to grab and pull. Our last place just had a small clothes rack that couldn't even hold a full load from the washer and I had to hang clothes wherever I found space- backs of chairs, the baby's crib, etc. It is nice to have the needed space here. But doing laundry is frustrating when it is a rainy day and it takes double the time to dry- meaning about 2 days. It's hard when Peter's blanket gets dirty and he has to nap without it because it is drying...let's be honest though, there have been many times I've given him a damp blankie to nap with because then he goes to sleep without screaming. I miss being able to attack the laundry and get multiple loads washed, dried and put away in one day. 

Now, because houses here don't have dryers, you see lots of clothes and blankets being hung out to dry on lines outside. There is no shame either in hanging your underwear out to dry, which is an interesting difference between China and America. And, since we live in a complex with thousands of other people, we see a lot of clothes in the small grass areas. People string their own lines, use any horizontal poles they can find- including playground equipment and shrubbery, and use drying racks attached to their windows outside. 

String a line...also, please note the mushroom. I don't understand it, but I like it.

The railing by the pond makes a great laundry line.

You know it's a good weather day when you go outside and see this.

A bush makes a fine laundry line.

I'm a little jealous our home doesn't have an outside balcony line. I feel like it would help things dry faster.

Or, just drag your clothes hanger onto the sidewalk and put it in the sunshine. You gotta make do when you don't have your own yard. Living here has made me realize how great some machines are, but it has also reminded me that you can get by just fine without one. You might just have to plan a little better and not try to wash your sheets at 4 in the afternoon....because they will still be damp when you go to bed.

The other thing that is interesting about Nanjing are the pajama people. You might be outside, walking to the grocery store or the bus stop in the middle of the day and see this:

Grown adults in puffy quilted pajamas, during winter, and thinner cotton ones when it's warmer. It's not close to the morning or to night. These people are not going to bed, they are going on a walk....in their pajamas. I know that you see people in sweats in the States, but it still makes me laugh to see it here. I see it a lot. 

Jonathan bought a pair of puffy pants during the winter and the sales lady showed him 2 kinds. He asked what the difference was, as they looked pretty much the same but one was lots more money than the other, and she told him that one pair you could go out in, but the other pair was just for staying indoors. So, apparently there are rules, I just don't know what they are.

Going to the playground, I think I'll stay in my pajamas. They are so puffy and warm. 

I love the pajama people and I love clothes dryers.

Tomb Sweeping Festival- Going to the country

Last Saturday, a former student of mine, Keer, called and asked if we had any plans for the next day and invited us to go to the countryside with her family for the holiday. I explained we had church, but if they could go a little bit later, then we would leave church early and go with them. After passing the phone to Jonathan and some Chinese talking, things were planned and we were excited.

Keer and her dad picked us up from church and led us to their cars. We were going with another one of my former students, Peter, and his mom. Peter's mom drove us and Keer while Peter and Keer's dad drove the other car. We don't use a car seat in China- most Chinese don't either. Peter loves his freedom in the backseat, and I'm pretty nervous for when we get back to America and we buckle him in again. On the ride up (it was about a 40 minute drive outside the city), Peter's mom gave Jonathan some riddles in Chinese to "test" his language skills. Even though he didn't get the riddles, she was still impressed with his Chinese.

When we got to the house, Keer took us around and showed us the land that belongs to her grandfather. Also, you can see all of the cars parked on the sides of the road. This area has become a very popular tourist spot for the Tomb Sweeping Festival, which China was celebrating that day. People go to temples and burn fake money to send to their ancestors and remember them. They also spend time with families. 

More of the farm/garden area. While we were looking at the land from the porch, they asked if we wanted to "have a look" and of course we did! So we went out to the land to look at their plants.

The house through the branches in the house we were visiting. This tree is a peach tree and the family was very proud of it.

They told us we had to get a picture of Peter in the yellow flowers. So, they set him down in a patch of them and broke off a little bundle of them for him to hold.

Flower child.

They had some part of the garden that was full of vegetables and part where tea trees were growing.

We returned to the house to eat lunch. These two women prepared everything we ate. They were hard at work when we arrived, but were at ease working together. I think the one on the right is Keer's mom and the one on the left her sister (?- Keer said the other little girl there- Jing Xiu- was her cousin and the woman on the left was Jing Xiu's mom, but sometimes they use the word cousin even when they aren't actually related, so I'm not sure if they are family or just friends.)

The eating area was next door to the kitchen. 

We waited for lunch in the courtyard area. Peter loved all the attention and always found new things to play with. Keer is in the green jacket, the other little one in the red is Jing Xiu (she loved Peter and tried to hold him as much as she could), and big Peter in the blue. 

Then it was time to eat. There were lots of vegetable dishes, my favorite is the green on on the bottom, one mushroom and egg, a couple of meat dishes, duck, tofu, and later they brought out rice and a soup. Everything was delicious. I loved that it was all very simple, but such different flavors and textures. I didn't think about it until afterwards, but I wish I had stayed in the kitchen and watched the women making the food and learned a thing or two. We sat around and ate for a while. They made a special egg custard thing for little Peter, but he mostly ate the same things we did. 

After we ate, we went on a long walk to look more at their land and the town. This area is most famous for their tea trees, and this is the time of year that they pick and make the first batch of tea, so it's the most expensive. 

Little bridges to cross little streams.

All the tea trees in this section belonged to the family we were visiting.

Then we started to walk to the little town. It was here that we noticed that little Peter was falling asleep on Jonathan's shoulders. Jonathan lifted him down and the other adults all wanted to hold him. They were also all very concerned for Peter's warmth- there was a cool steady wind- so they wrapped Peter in Keer's dad's jacket and passed him around as we walked. 

A teapot made from a bush.

It even has water that pours out of its spout. 

We began walking through the little town. Then the man who had been holding Peter came up to Jonathan and I and said that Peter was sleeping and getting some sun. My first thought was that he had set Peter down somewhere with the intent of getting him when we went back. I was confused/worried as Chinese talk went back and forth between Jonathan and the man, then it was cleared up that Peter was with another one of the adults with us. Then I was able to relax. They didn't leave Peter alone, just with another dad- that baby was passed around all day. I held him maybe 5% of the day. Luckily Peter does not get scared of strangers or it would have been a rough day. 

Why doesn't Peter have one of these?! Cutest elephant ever.

This is what the street looked like of the little town. We were told that it used to be just a small little town, with clean air and water, very quiet and everyone knew each other. But the government came in and made it touristy and it is much busier and louder.

We walked past a window and we could see in and watch them drying and rolling the leaves. The man we were with knew one of the guys inside and he let us in so we could get a good picture of them at work. It was good to have a local with us. The metal bowl is heated to help with the drying. They pick up a handful and rub it together and let it fall back in and the pick up some more, over and over and over. A simple step, but a very important one.

This is one of the traditional tea houses.

Peter was still sleeping, so just us.

Keer, Jonathan, Robin and Jing Xiu

Big Peter wanted to get into this boat. He's a little bit mischievous, but a fun kid.

There was a big area where lots of families had gathered to spend the day. When we do picnics in America, we bring a blanket. When the Chinese do picnics, they bring tents. So many tents. Also, the hedge is in the shape of a dragon, but this picture doesn't do it justice.

Jing Xiu and her dad. They would keep Peter if we let them. Like I said, we barely touched the baby all day, because everyone else wanted to and as long as Peter is okay with it then so am I.

After visiting the touristy town, they took us on a hike through the bamboo grove in the mountain (very low mountain, but a mountain it was). It was a beautiful hike. We passed lots of tea tree fields, some of them had workers picking leaves, and some were empty.

I loved being in an area so green. It was gorgeous. 

Peter is now with Keer's dad. 

Bamboo all around.

Keer's dad found the thinner bamboo and would pull it down a release it and it would bounce back up. Peter thought that was hilarious. 

Jing Xiu's dad was the ultimate wilderness man. He would find plants and tell us what they are and he knew if they were edible or what you could use them for. The one Jonathan is trying out was sour, but he thought it was delicious. It was neat to go around with Jing Xiu's dad.

Jing Xiu and Peter on the bench. Peter lately likes to stick his tongue out all the time. Little baby snake.

Peter got off the bench and just started walking. I followed him, but he was content to just go. He didn't care that no one was going that way. He made snuffling noises the whole way. He just has to move, has to explore. 

I reigned Peter in and then we were off again. From left to right in this picture- Jonathan, Jing Xiu's dad, Peter, big Peter's mom, Keer, and Peter. 

Focused on walking, so the tongue pokes out.

Family photo in the Chinese country.

A shot of almost everyone we spent time with that day. Left to right- Keer, big Peter, Jonathan, little Peter, Keer's dad, Jing Xiu, Peter's mom, Jing Xiu's dad, and the last two people- friends of the family whose name I never caught. Everyone was super nice and we had a great day.

More tea leaf picking.

More China countryside. I later learned that the road we were on was one of the first roads to connect Nanjing with another important city, but only royalty or very wealthy people could use it. Now, it's just a little paved road.

Close up tea leaf picking.

Tea leaf basket.

The pick of the day.

Sights like this used to shock me, now they seem pretty normal. Ducks out to dry.

Tea and rice.

We did not know this grandma, but I thought she was adorable, and she thought Peter was adorable. Win-win.

We finally got back to the house. Peter played with the kids in the area across the courtyard while the adults talked. We talked about how to teach kids English, how Jonathan learned to speak Chinese, and about Jonathan's internship company. It turns out, that Peter's mom has recently applied to Jonathan's work for them to help get her non-profit group running. They want to set up "reading rooms", which, from my understanding, would be similar to libraries, but also staffed with people who teach underprivileged kids- especially in the mountain areas- how to read. It sounds like a fantastic idea, and I hope they get picked for funding. 

Peter is learning some ninja skills. 

We ate one more time before we said goodbye and headed home. We had a great time. They told us that maybe we could come with them again, but they will try to do it on a Saturday since we have church. I hope it works out again. It was so nice to get out of the city and be outside and see a different side of China. I am grateful for the hospitality of the friends we made and their love. I am grateful for this experience to live in China and see so many different types of life. Living here has taught me so much and given me a great perspective on so many things.