Taekwondo

Nicole has been taking Taekwondo after school once a week. She doesn't seem like the type to be learning a martial art but she can act pretty tough when she is practicing. The school has after school activities for the elementary students. Nicole takes Chinese on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then Taekwondo on Tuesdays and Choir on Thursdays. Then on Saturdays she is in soccer. She is quite the busy girl but is happy. Besides taking Chinese after school twice a week she has class during school everyday. She has become our interpreter. It's amazing how much kids can pick up. Gavin and I try but it is hard to remember. I have learned how to get around in a Taxi and can communicate a little more with our AYI but I have a long way to go to be able to carry on a conversation with someone.

Last week all our grades were due at school and the quintile ends Friday. That means we are 1/4 the way through with school. It has gone fast. Added to all that I wasn't feeling well and had to squeeze in a visit to the doctors. We have been fortunate to find a CanAm International Clinic that just opened up six weeks ago. It is only a few blocks from our school and has been a real life saver to us. Rachel sprained her ankle a few weeks ago and we had no idea where to take her. We called the clinic and they were very helpful. They didn't have their x-ray machine yet so the doctor and an interpreter went with Rachel and Gavin to the hospital. They took care of it all and directly billed our insurance which is unusual in mainland China. Then last week I was able to get in to see the doctor during my prep period and was out of their office in 30 minutes with my prescription in hand. They have a pharmacy right on the premises. Then Monday night Vika came down with a fever and was complaining about her ear. I called the next morning and they took her right in. We were home with the prescription in no time. Normally we would have had to take a trip to Hong Kong to get any decent medical attention which would take pretty much the whole day and extra costs for transportation. Sometimes we took for granted the conveniences we had in the States and getting medical care was one of them. The doctor at the clinic said he should give us a group discount because he has already seen three of our six family members in just a few weeks.

Vika had a hard few nights and days with her fever. She was diagnosed with tonsillitis and was in quite a bit of pain. She was feeling better today so Gavin and I brought her home a few of her favorite movies. Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Cinderella II, and Cinderella III. She loves the princesses and we didn't have these on DVD. There is a guy who sales DVDs out of a cart in front of our school. These only cost us 30 RMB ($5.00 for all four). It is quite the deal. You have to be careful though because we bought the new "Get Smart" a few weeks ago and it is a copy made using a camcorder in a movie theatre. You can hear the audience laughing in the background and the sound isn't too good. That usually only happens on the new releases. If you wait a few months then they will have the normal copies.

We brought these home and had to have a Cinderella night with Vika. She was quite the happy little girl.