Sunday, April 29, 2007

This week is the May Day Labor Day holiday in China (and other communist countries, apparently). It's a big deal - most schools are closed for the week, although since the holiday is officially Tuesday - Thursday, they go to school Saturday and Sunday so they get the whole week off. Tim's company is closed for the week, except for Monday. The kids' school is only closed Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. We had originally planned to travel to Macau for the break, but we heard that all of China will be traveling and vacationing, so we'd best not go there. Then we thought we'd go to Beijing for the week, but, same thing, just tons and tons of crowds, even moreso than usual. So, we're staying home and hanging out here. It will actually be nice, I think.

Today was Andrew's birthday, he turned 5. Amazing, I remember quite vividly the events that led up to his early birth, as I'm sure anybody who knew me then remembers. Lucky us, how blessed are we to have that little boy around! He's so funny.

I made him a racecar cake, as I have done for his past 3 birthdays (thanks, Mom, for sending the pan!). I made it Friday and planned to decorate it for the party on Saturday. Saturday afternoon rolled around - I waiting as long as possible to decorate it because the humidity melts icing - and I realized the cake wasn't cooked all the way through, all gooey and such in the middle. So, stressing like only I can, I baked another cake, waited patiently for it to cool (well, kind of patiently) and decorated it about 1 hour before the party. Since it took 1 1/2 hours to decorate, I was still scrambling when everyone got here. Bummer. My cheesecake was also subpar, which was disappointing and embarrassing because I truly am the Queen of the Cheesecake. Ah, well, Andrew had a nice party and it was really nice to spend time with our friends. The pizza was good - they have Papa John's here which taste pretty much the same as it does back home. Except they also deliver salad and the Ranch dressing tastes like nothing but plastic with some pepper in it. It's strange, nasty and scary. But, I digress...

Today I went to the Protestant service with the boys and really enjoyed it. I met some more very nice people, saw some people I already knew, which was very nice, and felt "spoken to" during the message. In all, it was a refreshing, grounding experience and I felt blessed to be there.

This past Friday I went to the neighborhood pool with the boys (they didn't have school Friday because they really never have school, now, do they?). On the way down I had this feeling of deja vu, only it was us heading to our neighborhood pool in Knoxville. It was really lonely to realize that I would, indeed, not be running into my friends Carolyn, Mary, Heidy and Barb and their lovely kids at the pool, I would just be running into a bunch of people I don't know so well and their kids. It was a very lonely moment for me and I felt so homesick for my neighbors and friends. I miss you, pals!! And your lovely children! The really nice thing was, though, that I did run into some new friends I had met before through my wonderful neighbor. They hung out with me and made me feel quite welcome and included. It was very enjoyable. The sad thing is, they're both moving back to the States this summer. I am going to have to get used to the incredibly temporary situation everyone is in here and not guard my heart too closely. I'm going to have to be open to friends who may not live near me for very long but who very well may stay in my heart and in my life even after we return to our respective homes.

2 comments:

ANGIE said...

MICHELLE,
I FINALLY LOGGED ONTO YOUR BLOG. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE COMPUTERS, SO THAT'S AN ACCOMPLISHMENT. IT'S ALMOST LIKE HEARING YOUR VOICE. IT REMINDS ME HOW MUCH I MISS YOU AND THAT "VERY-SPECIAL-MICHELLE-SENSE-OF-HUMOR". I'M GLAD YOU ARE MAKING SO MANY LASTING MEMORIES THERE! I LOVE YOU! ANGIE

Michelle W. said...

Michelle,
(I finally re-registered with Blogger so I can comment again!)

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!
Wow! I can't believe he's 5!
It seems like only yesterday that you surprised us with the news that "....he's here!"

I feel for you on the homesickness! I remember it vividly from when we moved to California. I felt like I would never 'fit in' out there... but eventually I did. ( I'm sure it is completely different being in a whole other country, but the 'heart-pains' and longing are probably the same no matter where you are?)

I'm so happy that you found a church that you like, though. sometimes that can make a really big difference...knowing that although you come from all walks of life - you all share the same God!

Take Care a & God Bless,
Michelle W.