Last week I had to go pick up my tailored pants. On a quick side note, having suits and pants tailored made here on the cheap is a really really cool thing about being in China. Anyway, last weekend (similar to this weekend) was snowing in Shanghai and the temperatures were right around freezing. Renee had a church retreat to go to, so it was me and the two kids to head into downtown Shanghai.
Renee helped me with dressing the kids and I thought they were dressed fine for the weather. Anyway, we arrived at the place to pick up my pants after taking a ferry ride across the river. To give you an idea, the place is full of different stalls and stands where someone can get suits made, pants made, shirts made, basically anything made out of cloth, silk or wool can be made by the people in these stalls. So as I was trying on my pants to make sure they fit, people were coming up to the kids to take a look (typical cause they are white). They then noticed that Jacob was only wearing one pair of pants and they started to make comments to me. For those of you who don't know, a great majority of the Chinese tend to put about 5 or 6 layers on their kids before heading out into the cold…so many layers to the point that usually the kids faces get red, not red from the cold, but red because they are burning up. God forbid that Jacob was only wearing one layer. Well I tried to convince the people that he is fine, but since my language skills are pretty non-existent, I don't think me standing up and pounding on my chest like I was a bite size Gorilla implying that us Americans are tough translated too well. So the ridicule continued until we made our escape.
For all of you who really wanted to know, Jacob's hands were a little cold (only because he kept taking off his gloves), but the rest of him and all of Maddie were perfectly warm enough for the weather.
Renee helped me with dressing the kids and I thought they were dressed fine for the weather. Anyway, we arrived at the place to pick up my pants after taking a ferry ride across the river. To give you an idea, the place is full of different stalls and stands where someone can get suits made, pants made, shirts made, basically anything made out of cloth, silk or wool can be made by the people in these stalls. So as I was trying on my pants to make sure they fit, people were coming up to the kids to take a look (typical cause they are white). They then noticed that Jacob was only wearing one pair of pants and they started to make comments to me. For those of you who don't know, a great majority of the Chinese tend to put about 5 or 6 layers on their kids before heading out into the cold…so many layers to the point that usually the kids faces get red, not red from the cold, but red because they are burning up. God forbid that Jacob was only wearing one layer. Well I tried to convince the people that he is fine, but since my language skills are pretty non-existent, I don't think me standing up and pounding on my chest like I was a bite size Gorilla implying that us Americans are tough translated too well. So the ridicule continued until we made our escape.
For all of you who really wanted to know, Jacob's hands were a little cold (only because he kept taking off his gloves), but the rest of him and all of Maddie were perfectly warm enough for the weather.
1 comment:
Please tell me you didn't REALLY pound your chest?!? This made me smile on a gray afternoon!
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