Jacob playing pillow for a snoozing Ben and Julia.
On Friday (12/14), we took 6 of the kids to the Lai Tai Flower Market in Beijing. It is a beautiful place... the best smelling place in Beijing, and possibly ranks up there in the world. It is filled with fresh cut flowers and lots of plants. A giant greenhouse... the reason we went was to see the Christmas decorations and Christmas trees. They also got to see a bunch of beautiful tropical fish. Lunch afterwards was at Asian Star, a restaurant that gives the foster home one free lunch a month because they support what we're doing... and it is a great restaurant. During lunch, the following conversation transpired as I tried to learn how to properly say "Chicken" in Chinese.
Carrie (to Chinese Adult): How do you say chicken. Is it Ji Rou?
Sarah (Chinese Adult): Yes... Ji Rou. (with slight correction of pronunciation.)
Carrie: Ji Rou (Practicing correct pronunciation)
Jeff (6 years old): Bu Shir! Bu Shir! (Which means: No!) -- Proceeds to give different pronunciation; Carefully, loudly, and slowly pronouncing the word several times so that this obviously slow learner can catch on.
Carrie -- Tries it Jeff's way.
Julia (3.5 years old): Bu Shir! Bu Shir! -- Proceeds to give different pronunciation. (This from a girl who says the English word for "bus" this way: bush-ey.)
Carrie - Tries it Julia's way.
Ben (3 yrs old): Bu Shir! Bu Shir! -- Proceeds to give different pronunciation.
Carrie - Tries it Ben's way, which sets Jeff off again.
At this point, all of the adults in the restaurant, including the wait staff, are cracking up. Sarah later told me she is concerned I'm going to have the Chinese of a 3 yr old if the kids have their way. Hey... guess it's better than the Chinese I have now.
After that, we took a bunch of full and sleepy kids home. This pic, and a couple on Flickr were shot at that time... isn't it sweet?
Lest you think our lives are too idyllic, I'll only mention the fact that on the way to town, 3 of the 6 children got car sick and threw up. You can imagine how pleasant THAT was.
1 comment:
Getting sick in the car.....that makes you almost official parents!!! Must be difficult with all the different pronunciations of words.
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