Wonka Gates- Shanghai Style

The first day of School!!!

Since we moved to Beijing when Miriam was 3.5 and Asa 7 months old we knew that learning Chinese would be a priority. Perhaps because Joab could already speak it quite well or maybe we are just stubborn and will not give up! In any case since Miriam was 3.5 we have talked about the day when she would enter- Chinese elementary school. And yesterday was the big day. There are a lot of stories from yesterday- bottom line she did great and was so excited to go. Here is my story-

I got to her school about ten minutes early to pick her up because I took a new bus line there and did not want to be late! As I rounded the corner I saw that I was not the only one who was early. Remember the scene in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when they are all waiting for the gates to open to see Mr. Wonka. That is basically how I felt. It is a bit intimating entering a huge crowd of Chinese people you do not know. Even more so when you daughter is the first white kid to ever attend this school- everyone knows who you are- and you do not know who anyone is. So, I decided to sit down (at almost six months pregnant you are always on the lookout for an open spot) but before I could a nice Grandpa looking guy smiled at me. I gave him a hello back and we started to chat. His wife said "I know your daughter- my Grandson is in the same class as her". So we chatted back and forth and slowly a crowd started to gather around us. I was so thankful the Grandma was pretty open with questions to me like : "Why are you sending your daughter here?" and " I am glad you are pregnant and not just fat!". Her smile was what I needed in the midst of the Wonka Candy Crowd. Once we gathered enough information about me she started to translate from Chinese into the local dialect (Shanghaiese) to the crowd gathered around. They all had questions the biggest one being "Is your government paying you money to have more kids". I said I WISH! We all laughed and with that the huge iron gates opened.

However, we were stopped about 100 feet after the gates by the Security Guards. I had no idea what was going on and really wanted to get Miriam. So went back to find my cute Grandma and she said it would not be safe if we all tramped in to get our kids. So we needed to wait out here for them to come out. So we waited..and waited. In the midst of waiting this Mom walked up to me and in broken English said that she had lived in San Fransisco for four years. She was waiting for her daughter too and that her name was Karen. It is was so nice to talk to yet another person! I know it might sound strange- but a lot of people here just stare at you and never ask any questions. So to have two people actually communicate with you- well in made my day! As I was talking to Karen I saw my Miriam. Walking out hand in hand with this adorable Chinese boy. She was glowing- literally glowing. Biggest smile on her face! She was happy to see me and was talking a mile a minute about her day. The only problem really all day was that she was so excited she forgot to go to the bathroom!

So all in all we are so thankful for a good school- nice Grandpas, Grandmas and Karen to help me at the Wonka Gates. I actually am looking forward to picking her up again today! Asa did great too- his second year back at the same Preschool as last year. Turns out he will have the same teachers all four years at preschool! So he was going back to the teachers who had loved him so well last year- a gift indeed.