Taking care of the kiddies

All present and accounted for in Beijing. I had a delightful month in my old city of Hengyang and when it was time to leave, I was ready. I was able to finally to say goodbye to that place. I cannot effectively move on to a new area until I've had closure. It really just takes time. It's time to go home to Siping, northeast China.

First stop, however, is Beijing. I have been here for almost two weeks and am loving it here. I'm helping out with new teacher orientation for my organization. While I spend a lot of time handling money and doing office work, I spend most of my days with the kids during childcare (childcare, not babysitting :) ). I am the assistant to the children's director, which means I handle most of the logistics and crisis control. It's like taking VBS and making the theme about adjusting to China. We intercede for our teammates, but often forget about what the kids are going through. They are making huge transitions, too. For the little babies we have hired aiyis (the word for aunt in Chinese-- older Chinese women who take care of children and can come to clean and cook for the family) and it is funny watching my little teammate Will (he's 1 1/2) being handed off to the care of an aiyi. The look on confusion on his face is priceless, but soon warms up to her and flashes his big smile. He doesn't seem too afraid by the masses of people who come up to him every day wanting to take his picture or touch his head. His older brother Jude (he's 5) is a little more sensitive to those kind of things. It's fun watching the little guys experience their new culture for the first time. The older kids are doing lessons and cultural activities and learning some Chinese (they are expected to perform some Chinese songs and poems at the SAFEA banquet this week- State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs- the umbrella government organization we are under, the bigwigs who have allowed us to be here). :) These kids want to make an impression :). The government officials absolutely LOVE when they do things like this. :)
The highlight of the kids' time is venturing out into the city for cultural outings (yesterday it was the Ethnic Minorities Park). I tell you, corralling a bunch of kids through the streets and taxis of Beijing, China is a quite unsettling at times (especially when these kids are somebody else's who've entrusted me with the most precious things in their lives--in a foreign country!). So far nobody has been lost or hurt, thank the Lord! At the end of the day if I get all the kids back with their parents I consider it a day well done :) ). Right now it's only 18 kids (new families), but imagine the task when all of our kids of all of our teachers come parading in next week (about 60!). Please think of these kids and that this will be a time of learning for them as they adjust to their new surroundings. Ask that they remain safe in this gigantic city.