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Dec. 5th, 2006 09:02 amYesterday, I ended up riding home from Nanjing in the car with Peter, Chris' boss. Peter is rarely around. He has a business in Shanghai and the study abroad program is like a side project for him. That's not to say that he hasn't devoted a massive amount of time, energy and resources to the program. He is working hard to help it succeed. Still, he lives in Shanghai most of the time and we only see him once or twice a month. For example, he came to town yesterday and will be gone again today.
Back to the point at hand, I haven't really had the opportunity to speak one on one with him before. Yet, here we were stuck in a car for an hour. There was also Peter's friend, Steven, who had come along to be a guest lecturer for the business program. Steven was trying to make polite conversation, yet many of the questions he asked me I couldn't answer completely honestly without seeming to criticize the program and the circumstances it has put us in.
For example, Steven asked me if the children attended the International school. True answer:NO. We'd LOVE them to be able to attend it, but even if we spent every cent of our salary on their tuition, it wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of both boys attending. NO, the program offers us no compensation to provide for the children's education, despite the fact that even public schools expect some amount of tuition. Instead I smiled and said "We've decided to home school while we're here."
Next question: I bet your kids really love living in China, don't they? True answer: NO, they are miserable here and constantly talk about how much they miss Arizona, how perfect life was in Arizona, and how they cannot wait to return to Arizona. Instead, I said "They miss having friends, but they realize this is a special experience. I know they enjoy it most of the time."
I didn't want to say anything that would make Peter lose face in front of his guest, but goodness, it was awkward.
Back to the point at hand, I haven't really had the opportunity to speak one on one with him before. Yet, here we were stuck in a car for an hour. There was also Peter's friend, Steven, who had come along to be a guest lecturer for the business program. Steven was trying to make polite conversation, yet many of the questions he asked me I couldn't answer completely honestly without seeming to criticize the program and the circumstances it has put us in.
For example, Steven asked me if the children attended the International school. True answer:NO. We'd LOVE them to be able to attend it, but even if we spent every cent of our salary on their tuition, it wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of both boys attending. NO, the program offers us no compensation to provide for the children's education, despite the fact that even public schools expect some amount of tuition. Instead I smiled and said "We've decided to home school while we're here."
Next question: I bet your kids really love living in China, don't they? True answer: NO, they are miserable here and constantly talk about how much they miss Arizona, how perfect life was in Arizona, and how they cannot wait to return to Arizona. Instead, I said "They miss having friends, but they realize this is a special experience. I know they enjoy it most of the time."
I didn't want to say anything that would make Peter lose face in front of his guest, but goodness, it was awkward.