Ni Hao Ya'll ...

Her name is Wanda and she teaches us how to speak Chinese. Now, if that doesn't crack you up, you need to check your funny bone. A couple of boys from 'bama learning how to shoot the breeze with the Chinese. We've had several lessons now and Austin has seemingly taken a commanding lead in the intonation and pronunciation of the Chinese characters. Ms Wanda says goooood, verrry gooood each time he volunteers to read the next page. Then she looks at me with a look of impending disappointment, as if she knows already how badly I'm going to butcher "Good Morning!" She asked me for a picture. I think she's going to use it as a poster child for Chinese challenged southern boys.

Of course, I've already learned more than my southern girl and her mom and my mom learned a couple of years ago from the same Ms Wanda. Seems they couldn't do anything but laugh - as I write this, I'm having deja vu about their learning disorder - at the various nuances of the Chinese language. I don't know what happened in those classes, but I do know that none of the three amigoettes ever uttered a word of Chinese in Beijing, except for the occasional "Knee How" that elicited strange looks and sent locals slowly moving away, confused looks populating their countenance! Poor Wanda, had to deal with the ladies a couple of years ago and now this. Oh well, at least Austin gets it. He'll probably have to be my interpreter to the interpreter when we go back to China to bring home Lia Faith.

So far, we have learned many vowels and many other characters that aren't vowels and we've learned the four tones. We've learned that the Chinese language is a monosyllabic language - each word consists of only one syllable. The only thing close to our multi-syllable expressions is the fourth tone which calls for the pitch to start high, decrease to a certain point, and then increase again. I can't help but make my head go down then back up as I try desperately to get it right. I must look like Jar Jar Binks in my efforts. But, we've turned what we've got so far into over 100 words and can even put a few together to utter something that sounds Chinese. There's a good side and a bad side to getting the tones correct. The good side is that you're not likely to call your mother a horse. The bad is that if the Chinese see that you get the tones correct, they will assume you know Chinese and it'll be off to the races!!! At least this time, maybe I won't order vegetarian cheeseburgers at the Beijing McDonalds - you know, hamburgers without the hamburger. The clerks and cooks were all giggling and looking at me when I did that in Nanchang and finally Sally (our local interpreter) cleared the matter up by curiously asking me if my family were vegetarians. The she too joined in the laugh fest and I felt like Gomer Pyle at a logistics convention!

Anyway, we've been very busy lately trying to get Lily and Lia's bedroom and playroom finished before we leave - cause we know for sure when we get back, time for projects is probably nil. We turned the playroom into a bedroom and the bedroom into a playroom. Painted the walls of the newly annointed bedroom a shade of lime green that glows like Reactor Number 3 at Brownsferry. Seriously, from downstairs, you can see up the stairs, around the corner, and out the window, the refraction is so signficant from the color choice. If that weren't enough, we painted the ceiling in the new bedroom first pink, then yellow. Where's my Pepto Bismal? Poor Austin. His room upstairs is the last remnant of manly paint schemes in the entire upstairs. A pink room, a purple room, and now a lime green room. Pink ceilings, purple ceilings and yellow ceilings. Not to be outdone by the walls, the new ceiling fan sports 5 blades, each a different color!

As far as our adoption of Lia, we are on our way!!! TA came and travel arrangements were made. As I worked on Lily and Lia's new bedroom, no less than four ladybugs joined me. As I entered church this morning, a ladybug greeted me at the door. And Connie and Austin have been seeing them too. So, here we come Lia Faith. Ready or not. Ni cuh ma?

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five