Ni Hao! Day 1

6 months ago, I left a high school in Changchun, China.As we left, Chinese and American students were crying like they were leaving their brothers and sisters (click on this pic up and look at their eyes for proof). The boy of the far right said, "You say you will see me again, but I do not think so."

He was wrong! This last week 6 students and two teachers from the high school in China (4 of them were in the previous photo), came to Chicago!


On Sunday the 18th, we began the day with a tour of University of Chicago. gairette literally latched on to our tour guide (a grad from my high school), the minute we got off the bus. Despite my qualms because she went to a complete stranger on her own and stuck to her like glue, it was so stinkin' cute.

Click on the picture and read the sign. It made us smile.

The male teacher told me multiple times, "Your husband very good father with three girls." The girls are happiest when Al is all theirs.

I can't write under the next picture. Does T look like she belongs here? Since second grade she has said she wants to go to University of Chicago (I have no idea where she heard about it). We hate to crush her dreams, but at $54,000 tuition plus another $6,000 of incidentals per year in 2008-2009, it is probably a no.

We are going to be so sad when we don't have any little ones for Al to put on his shoulders.

Feeling at home at the Booth School of Business.

After driving by President Obama's street, we took the students to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Hanging off the trolley!



We wish this were real, but it is just the 727 hanging from the ceiling ...

A bit of climbing. I like China a lot, but our museums are wayyyy better, at least better than the ones visited (to be fair, we never did get to to the national museum in Beijing)

The coolest handwashing station ever.

One small step... When we were in this section of the museum, Al and I both though the other had gairette. When we realized she was missing, Al and T went to look for her and Saige and I stayed in one place. Within a minute or two, I saw her with a security guard and she began crying as soon as she saw me. The good news is that she followed our family's "lost"plan exactly: 1. Stay in one place. 2. Find a grandma or a mom with kids. 3. Go with the worker the grandma or mom bring you to. All of our rehearsals paid off.

After the museum, we headed to Ed Debevic's.

This is the first time the students had to order off a menu, the first time a waitress yelled at them, danced on the window sills, and called them "honey."




Our day ended with a performance of Blue Man (Al and the girls left after Ed's). You can't get much more American than them. They loved it! What is really amazing about this is that one year ago, China was just a place I read a lot about and prayed for. In less than a year, I have visited China twice and hosted a group of students from the country. God really does do more than we can ask or think.