No you may not pet them or pick them up!!!

the gathering crowd when we stopped to get ice cream in Chengdu
taking pictures of my kids. i should charge for this.

My kids are like super stars here. The moment we step out our door they are admired, fawned over, commented about, and touched. My kids handle it pretty well because they've both lived here their whole lives, but sometimes it's just too overwhelming and they freak out. The attention comes because they look so different from Chinese children. These are the comments we hear all the time: "Look at the foreign children! " "Look!" "Wow they're noses are so long!" "Their eyes are so clear, like glass!" "Their hair is so yellow!!" "Pretty or not pretty?" "Pretty or not pretty?" "Pretty or not pretty?" I'm not kidding. These phrases follow us around EVERYWHERE. Let me just say I love the fact that America is a melting pot. I love that you can step outside and see people of every color and that' s normal. Here in China there are no hair color variations or eye color variations. Obviously my kids do not have yellow hair. It's dark brown and light brown. Bailey's eyes are hazel not blue. It's so interesting to me that these variations cannot even be expressed here. Your hair is either black or yellow. Your eyes are either dark or light. And the comments "Pretty or not pretty?". Yeah, this is what they ask their children all the time in our presence. This kind of sentence structure is very common in Chinese ( Hungry not hungry?" "Tired not tired?") But I HATE this sentence structure when this sentence is said to my children all the time.

I think my biggest problem with these constant verbal tirades is the fact that the differences between my children and the Chinese children are constantly being pointed out rather than the similarities. When Chinese children see us, every single difference is pointed out, and we are specifically called outsiders or foreign. "Hey look there's a yellow haired, light eyed, long nosed old foreign!" Sometimes I feel like shouting, "Hey look there's a yellow skinned, dark haired, slanty eyed Chinese person!" back, but I don't. China thinks it's moving forward, but until they can stop only looking at differences and start seeing the similarities in the fact that we are all people, China is going to be backwards. In the mean time I'm trying to be patient, trying to help my children be patient, and trying to have a good attitude about it.

Oh, and don't get me started on the constant petting, attempted picking up, photo taking, and pawing of my children that takes place on a daily basis. They are not dogs, and you may not pet them or pick them up!