Public school?

I went to lunch with the church ladies today. We went to Cafe Onion. Is it just me, or do you think a restaurant with that name would do well in America? I'm thinking no...They served western food and it was pretty tasty and definitely good prices. They also showed me where a Dairy Queen is! It amazes me that there are always so many new things to discover here. Around every corner a surprise awaits you.

It was really nice to have some time away from the kids. I can tell it did them a lot of good too. I suppose I should introduce the church ladies by name:Yvonne and Lonnie. Yvonne is Cantonese and from Hong Kong, although she has also lived in Paris and Vancouver. Lonnie is from Michigan and her hubby works for the Ford company. Both of these womens' children attend the International school. Ford pays for Lonnie's kids and Yvonne pays for her kids herself. We talked a lot about schooling, home schooling and the possibility of sending my kids to public school here in China. Lonnie sent her youngest son to a public preschool last year. She was honest with me about the difficulties he faced, but she says she is really glad that she did it. Likewise, Yvonne sent both her kids to Chinese public school for the first two years that they lived here. Both her kids were born in Cananda and spoke English as their primary language. She said it was difficult for them, but looking back on it they are glad they had the opportunity.

There are a couple reasons that I'm thinking about this possibility. First, Chris and I have been discussing staying for 2 years instead of just one. Also, I feel like the kids are not going to learn Chinese when they are stuck at home virtually all the time. They aren't having a "real" cultural experience and neither am I. I'm also stuck at home all day with them, not out and about exploring the city. If it were just Connor and I we'd be able to do a lot more. Still, this we can't make any decision about this until we move out to the campus. At that point, we'll have to look and see what our options are for a school near there. If I do put the kids in school, I need to wait for that move because I don't want them to have to try and make that huge adjustment twice.

I was thinking about a boy in my 5th grade class from France. He spoke no English at all when he started school, yet soon he spoke English fluently. Maybe I'm trying to protect the boys too much, thinking about how hard and scary it would be for me to be in that situation? It's really a lot to think about.

Finally

The boys made it through a complete TKD class with no tears. They stayed until the end of the class with virtually no complaints. There was still a bit of a disagreement between them because Zack tries to boss Petey around which in turn upsets Petey. Zack's just trying to get Petey to behave. He really has taken on a more active role as the "big brother" since we've moved here. I'm so happy that the boys finally finished a class with out any drama! Today there were two instructors and that really seemed to make a difference. One instructor was able to work with the white belts while the other instructor worked with the more advanced students.

Before class started up, all the kids were chasing a young man from the adult class. They were trying to kick him and he was dodging all their efforts. Zack really gets into these type of games and tends to get over zealous. I noticed that he was kicking the guy a lot more often than the other kids, but I didn't say anything to him. I figured the guy was old enough to tell them to stop if he didn't like it. Well, he certainly had a unique way of telling them to stop. He kicked Zack back. This is a guy who is highly trained in martial arts. I was watching him later in the evening as he spared with the other adults and he was taking down every one who came up against him. He is very skilled. When he kicked Zack, he really hurt him. Zack came over to me immediately and started crying because it hurt him so badly (I don't count these tears as crying during class, because this was before it started.) Of course, my motherly instincts were to go over and give that guy what-for for hurting my sweet boy. Still, my cowardly I-don't-speak-Chinese self won out. Besides, I felt certain the guy didn't mean to hurt Zack. I'm hoping he just didn't realize how powerful his kick was? It was like a little sideways tap on the side of Zack's hip (I saw it happen. Zack had grabbed on to him and wouldn't let go. You see, he really did bring it on himself.)

Maybe some of you experienced TKDers can clue me in on something else. It is pretty common for the teachers to whack the kids on the butt with the leather clappers. Is that normal in the US, too? I just wondered. I'm so relieved that TKD is finally becoming easier for them. And they are making friends with kids in the class, too. That's really what it's all about.