Ayi

On Sunday we tried a new church near the French Concession in Puxi (which means “west of the River” we are in “Pudong” which means, east of the river). The service started at 2:00 PM so we knew it might not work so well for Jameson as that is right in the middle of his naptime. Since they did not have child-care we had to leave early, but ended up having a fabulous lunch at a Brazilian Churrascura just across the street. It was strange speaking Portuguese and Mandarin in the same sentence! “Obrigada Zai Jian”. The food was fabulous and compared to what we have been eating it seemed very Western!

We then explored the French concession, took the metro (which is fabulously clean) to People’s square where we did a little window shopping and finally took the metro back to the Museum of Science and Technology which is the closest station to our apartment in Pudong. Here are the boys near our metro station.


Last week I began searching for an Ayi (I.E. Auntie, typically the maternal younger sister, but is often used as the title given to household help/nanny and is pronounced “Aaaaayeee”). We found an Ayi who is kind, hardworking, patient and who loves Jameson. We are trying our Ayi out for a week and we already love her to pieces. Jameson called her “Aaaayee” today and it brought such joy to her eyes.

Our Ayi does not speak any English and my Mandarin is limited so now I must learn Chinese as quickly as possible. Luckily, Ayi is patient with me and we have the help of an on-line translator when needed. I am finding Mandarin to be the toughest language I have ever studied. In my lifetime I studied German for four years, French for one year and I studied Portuguese enough to visit the Brazil. I have also sung in over 11 languages and can fake many accents. Most of the languages I have sung in were based on Roman, Greek or Latin roots, so they were relatively easy to grasp. Mandarin feels more like Martian to my tongue. Luckily it is a very musical language and that is my saving grace. There are five different inflections and they all have different meanings. For example, if I say Mama with the wrong inflection I may very well end up saying a swear word.

But, I’ve learned that if I “sing” the exact notes that our Ayi uses, my language improves. For instance, Ayi sounds like a minor third “Aaaa” on Eb and “yee” on C.

Anyway, that’s what I have learned so far. I’ve also learned that no matter who you are, what your I.Q. is and how much you think you know, if you do not speak the language in the country of your residence, you are in idiot. You are bound to do things incorrectly, insult people inadvertently, and you might even get yelled at. Luckily, the people are patient here and are happy to help especially if you smile and have your son wave at them. The locals enjoy seeing foreigners who are making an effort to fit into the culture.

Ok, that’s all for today. Besides, what you really want to see are sweet photos of our boy Jameson!


Here he is looking out his nursery window!

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