TIC (This Is China)

Karen and I at the reception. Not sure what we're laughing at!

Cory and Lara with her parents at the "Bride Pick-Up"

For people who have lived in China, you've probably heard this phrase before. TIC would be the best description of my last few weeks here. Different...funny....kind of weird.....and fun!

Last Saturday (Apr. 3), Cory and Lara had their wedding. It was fun to be a part of such a mixed-tradition experience. In Chinese culture, the groom has to drive to the bride's home and pick up the bride to take her to the reception. The bride is hiding in a room. The man and his groomsmen have to get through her bridesmaids as they have lots of different challenges: answering questions, singing songs, doing push-ups, giving money, etc. Lara's hometown is an hour and a half away from Wuhan. We were supposed to leave at 7:30am to pick her up. We didn't end up leaving until after 9am, and traffic was terrible on top of that! Because we had to hurry back for the ceremony (and because we were a group of foreigners!), the bridesmaids went easy on Cory. He only had to pass out a few money envelopes, answer some questions about Lara, and then we all sang a Backstreet Boys song outside Lara's bedroom door to convince her to let him in.

After that, we headed back to Wuhan for the American-style wedding ceremony and Chinese reception. It was a learning experience for everyone there. We got to see a Chinese wedding reception, and they witnessed a wedding ceremony. Chinese weddings just consist of the bride pick-up and a reception. After that, Cory, Lara, and Cory's family headed off for a family vacation around China.

Kirk, Rebecca, Adam, Ben, and I were invited by Lily (a Chinese friend) to go to the park to fly kites the next day. I received a kite for my birthday from a Chinese friend, so I decided to give it a try. We decided to bring a football and frisbee "just in case." I'm glad we did. As we were putting my kite together, we realized that it was missing some pieces. It was still flyable, but barely! I think Kirk had it up in the air for awhile once. Most of the other attempts ended with us trying to get it untangled from a tree.

Since the kite wasn't working too well, we decided to start throwing the football and frisbee around. Foreigners will attract a crowd any time, but foreigners playing games they haven't seen very often will attract big crowds, and kids who want to play as well! It was fun teaching them how to throw, but it's easy to see why Chinese kids are often called "Little Emperors." They don't like to share, and they love to push and shove others to get what they want. We played catch with them for awhile, and then decided it was time to head home before one of the kids hurt each other!

Last Friday, Molly (Chinese teacher) invited Kirk and I to go to a golf driving range with her 6 year-old daughter (Shirley) and her friend (Winnie). I've done a few things with them now. I love talking to Shirley and Winnie. They can both speak a little English, and they're actually two of the best people for me to learn Chinese from! I can ask them to repeat the same word over and over and they never get impatient with me like most Chinese. It seems like most adults think that I should understand them after they speak once at their normal speed!

We arrived to the driving range, and the workers immediately greeted us and were excited to teach us how to hit a golf ball. They didn't realize that Kirk and I had been playing golf longer than them. We stepped up to hit our first balls, and a lady with high heels was trying to tell us to keep our heads down, spread our feet apart, etc. We tried to listen nicely, and then both hit our balls 200 yards or so. She looked at us and said, "Oh, you guys have played before." It was pretty funny. After that, they tried to sell us a membership to the range. I like to play golf, but I'm not paying to be a member at a driving range!

After golf, we went out to eat with Molly and the girls. We went to a pseudo-Western style buffet that was pretty good. I'm glad I've been able to do some things outside of the office with Molly. She's a little more "traditional" Chinese. I've been sharing an office with her this whole year, and I feel like just the last month or so she's finally started to relax around me and the other teachers.

That's all for now. Hope you're doing well!