It's good to be back

Spending all day teaching at an international school doesn't afford me much time to get to know the locals. Or spend much time in the Chinese culture. So when our house helper invited us to come to her apartment over the holiday, I was delighted to honor her request.

It’s good to be back in the home of Chinese friends sharing unmatched hospitality and home cooked food. And it’s such a cultural experience.

Immediately the kids were given gifts, a spinning top and Talking Tom Cat. We offered our gifts of a box of oranges, nuts, and cranberries but didn't come close to matching the endless gifts offered to us in return. Unmatched hospitality at work. M’Lynn did most of the talking since she’s the one with the Chinese skills. I did some listening and made up for my lack of Chinese with my ability to make jiaozi. And the kids did all the eating, of snacks at least. They were full by the time the meal was served.

We spent the afternoon sharing stories in a mix of English and Chinese. It was good to be back. We've got to do this again.

And we did, exactly 5 minutes later. We left one apartment and followed M’Lynn’s language tutor around the corner to her house where we were once again treated to snacks.