Ballet and Tae Kwon Do

Isabella has really wanted to study Ballet. Her demeanor and body type is a great fit for this, but our little town has had nothing legit. I got on some of my group chats (of their respective school classes) and asked around until I found this. I was still skeptical, but in her first ten days the teacher didn't mess around. Yes, they are younger kids, the only drawback, but Isabella opted to stay in to learn all the lingo and positions needed to progress with confidence. It was a good choice. 

 She did great and we signed her up for the whole next year!

Tobin has been talking about Kung Fu a lot. We explained that what he was seeing was TaeKwonDo, so we signed him up. He has done great, though some of it is a little hard, he really likes it. It too ends at the end of this week for the Chinese New Year.

Winter Break: What I LOVE...Five things

1. No more school, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks (we have had a couple of interactions/discussions with some teachers this semester)...(I taught this to the kids in jest, but was then convicted by it...I am often the teacher with the scowl...they loved the rhyme though). 

2. Daddy dates...out at the market for local dessert, they chose this over KFC ice cream. 

3. The neighborhood kids at our doorstep. Lots of kids calling to play, riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline and joining us for our afternoon 'Extra' which switches from art history (+ art project) to classical artists (listening + drawing), to science (=participation). Switching to Chinese for these went fine until the French Art History of the 1800s, but I managed. I did a lot better talking about taste buds and how our ear helps us balance.

(this is our back gate)

4. Time together, all together. 

 This was the first semester these two were not home together.

And all four, though not without some altercations, have had a blast really getting some good play time in.




5. TIME to explore and create...

Sophia's soccer ended after the tournament, while Isabella's Ballet lasted just ten days. Tobin is still in TaiKwonDo. This means most school work is done by mid-day (except Tobin's) and they have from almost 2 p.m. onward to PLAY, CREATE, EXPLORE.

Sophia came up with this idea and wondered if the thick Styrofoam would hold body weight. They tested it on Isabella, the lightest of the oldest. It worked and from then, it was on! Daily the clean(er) water poured in the stream near our house and the kids took turns on their boats.

 On day two they set up stations and a game to find certain clam shells and win a prize, you had to pay of course, They made a little dough from some friends.

 Thankfully I was not out there too much to get scolded by all the parents passing by. In the water in the winter! So little clothes on! Put on more clothes! I did make them wear sunscreen and hats, I am not that neglectful.

 And finally I let them escort Gabrielle on a boat tour too.

Life through the Chaos

Everyone was looking forward to the Winter Break from Chinese School. 

For the kids it meant less late nights of homework, for me it meant less late nights of homework...

and towing the line with all the home school that got shoved aside to prep for Chinese tests. 

I prepared the kids hearts for this: we will still do school. But we will do more fun things too (Science, music, art...play!), and we will finish early!

However, we also found and signed up for some great events/opportunities. As I put these on our schedule my brain wigged out. What was I doing and how would it all work? 

Deep Breath in...let's be a blessing this break, not a tiger mom....

I decided on a transition week. They did need a break. A real day (and some half days) with no school.

Early in the week they had exams, the rest of the week we eased into home school, got our bearings and tried to make sense of some sort of schedule...

Of course it started with the Soccer tourney, in the middle of which Isabella started a real Ballet class. With only me to haul them, we were all over the place!

But let's back up a tad. 

The tidbits in between the chaos are also worth mentioning. 

While the older kids toiled at exams...G and I fed fish in our neighborhood.

And we finished up our letter of the week curriculum. I am not sure I have any pics of me teaching the kids or at least not candid ones...David caught us in action. 

David's shoulder is causing all kinds of issues (this has been a problem for years). The blind guys that give therapeutic massage also did cupping. This helped some.

End of the year parent-teacher meeting: Gabrielle made the slide show.

And Mommy Dates! One-on-one time with kids, I probe their hearts a little, we play a lot, and eat yummy snacks.

 Tobin's choice was hot chocolate.

Tobin has been wanting to do TaiKwonDo for a long time. We signed him up and on David's agenda before leaving town was to make sure I knew where I was going with each kid across town. He found the place and they immediately gave Tobin and Sophia a free lesson. 

More school break adventures coming up...

School Break Soccer Tourney

As soon as exams were over, the soccer team prepped a few days for the big tournament of the year. 

Competitions in track, basketball, ping pong, soccer, and a few other events between elementary, middle and high schoolers made for a huge event. And the Chinese know how to put on a show. 

Sophia and her crew going to rehearsal for the opening ceremony. 

Representing MangShi No. 4 Elementary School

 

The host was the MangShi No. 1 Middle School. We had not been back here in fifteen years. I did not recognize it at all. New fields, track, basketball courts still plopped in the middle of a village. but the entire area now has paved streets (no cobblestone, like when we arrived), and lots of new houses.

Lots of pomp, lots of entertaining shows...

It all seems pleasant but these guys were freezing. It was cold. 

Each school was announced and walked a lap just like the Olympics.

 We were at the field daily, almost all day some days. David was traveling after the first day, so all the kids came along. They enjoyed it, and  they learned the word Paparazzi. At first I was quite patient. A lot of these kids were from village schools, they had never seen a foreigner before. I get it. But at times I had to make space. 

The team looking tough.

Trying out the starting blocks.

Tobin knows what these are, he aspires to be Usain Bolt, don't tell him his gene pool is not quite in his favor.

Oh yes, cheerleaders for every game. They weren't too bad but some were clearly mimicking (in not great ways) the American flavor in apparel (or lack of).

 
The bows and thank yous at the end of the match.

Watching the boys final. Yes, still cold. Most of these days on returning home, I just could not warm up.

How did they do? 2nd place!!! Silver medals. It was so much fun. And while Sophia doesn't start (five on five, short fields), she loves being a part and does great when she gets in. The starters are really good and are only 4th and 5th graders!

 

The entire school's teams 

A Tribute to Dr. Sailhamer, a Year Later

I wrote most of these words a year ago.  They festered for a while because the emotion can't accurately be portrayed by the written word and I feared it would just sound overdone. But the past year has taught me to tribute people as often as you can, while you can, preferably when they can receive it. And while Dr. Sailhamer cannot receive this, God can receive the glory for his imprint left on me. I publish this now, to let the world know that Dr. Sailhamer had great impact on my walk with Christ, on my study of the word, on my marriage even. All of this will not be unpacked here; just a small glimpse in honor him (a little over a year after his death) and in praise of our Great God.

Who was I to Dr. Sailhamer? No one. I was quite simply one of his students of Hebrew I and II (one of two women in the class). That is all. He taught me Hebrew. But like everyone else who has spoken about Dr. Sailhamer, his words, anecdotes, jokes, wisdom, his breathtaking grasp of the entire word of God spurred me on and on past those two semesters. 

I watched part of his funeral service, where he was called a "theological rock star", a "Lion of the Word", a "cerebral man…contemplating deep concepts…" and letting us get a peek of his brilliant understanding of it all. Grudem called him "a brilliant scholar…always relaxed, friendly and easy to talk to." Piper of course put it poignantly: Sailhamer's "exegetical toil put fire in my soul for the gospel……..made me feel as If I had scarcely begun to read the Bible." Yes. Yes. All of this is so true. Yet I still feel compelled to write how Sailhamer rocked my world, and continues to 15 years later as I raise my four kids in small town Asia.

I arrived at Southeastern as a 21 year-old college grad doing a complete turn-about in my life.  Though I had been walking with Jesus for 8 years I had not even known there were schools like this until the year prior, schools where all you do is study the Word and write and research and defend and grow. I was one of about ten ladies in a wash of men. The Women Studies program was a year or two old. I wanted rigor and it had it.

It wasn't until my third year that I started Hebrew, but Dr. Sailhamer had been a buzzword long before. I even bought his NIV compact commentary and was astounded at its depth while being so succinct.

When he started helping us translate Genesis, and everyone's eyes got wide as he unpacked the Hebrew, he joked, "This is when I start telling Patty to 'pack the bags'". His translation gave new insight to the meaning of the text, though apparently not all agreed (I didn't know enough at that point to know it could be so controversial). When all hands went up with questions and the final one: 'have you written about this?' He would mention the book and its price would soar over-night, as everyone wanted one.

When asked who else held certain views of his, he would smile and say: 'well if you do that makes two of us'. He often spoke of 'the little men in your brain sorting out language and filing things away'. He must have had some over eager ones in his because he was brilliant in language and so many other areas.

Dr. Sailhamer, as a teacher, was more like a kind father graciously bestowing gifts upon his children in ways that they could understand. My husband called it : 'bringing it to the bottom shelf' so that we could partake of the richness of the word as he taught. And he got such a kick out of watching the Word unfold for us, he delighted in the process and the reality within, over and over again.

This has helped me be a better teacher of the word to my children and friends, it has helped my husband help me with all my questions….we often re-listen to Dr. Sailhamer teach Exodus and still gather nuggets. Currently…as I start 2018, I am studying the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) and letting Sailhamer put things together for me again. And it is so devotional. He is pointing me again and again to God's Holiness, His working, His Covenant Promise. When Moses falters, Sailhamer reminds: He wasn’t hungry for power, he had some humility here. But the calling of God on his life was met with doubt and fear. Who can't relate to this?

So I get it. When David starts talking through stuff about OT or this 'thread' or the 'bag of laws', I get it. It is not knowledge for knowledge's sake. And it never was for someone as brilliant as Dr. Sailhamer either, it was always enjoyment, always a better handle on the beauty of Christ found in every facet, every 'yodh'. And his ability to share that beauty has left an indelible mark on me, my husband, our kids, and the upg we have served for almost fifteen years now.

Praise God for Dr. Sailhamer.