The SIFLS Family

Family is all about sharing experiences, making lasting bonds, and coming together, both for happy occasions and during times of stress. Although I am in China and a world away from my real family, I have the fantastic luck to have made a whole new family right here at SIFLS (Suzhou International Foreign Language School). This family is not made up of any blood relatives, and many of us are not even from the same country or continent, but we have all come together to create a home at SIFLS.

For those that are interested, there will now be a list of some of my SIFLS family members, as well as any descriptions I think might be interesting:

Grandma and Grandpa: Grandma Dolores and Grandpa Bob are from Canada. Because Grandma has grandchildren my age, and because she treats me like a granddaughter (such as inviting me in to talk after being out in the freezing cold, giving me hot chocolate, and giving me grandmotherly advice), Sable and I decided to start calling her Grandma. Since we call her Grandma, it seemed silly not to call her husband Grandpa, and there you go - a new Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpapa: Yes, besides a Grandpa and Grandpa, I have a Grandpapa. Paul is a very kind man who I became close to when he helped me translate some things because I was sick and I needed to go to the doctor. His Chinese is absolutely amazing, having lived here for the past 25 years, so he can do any kind of translating necessary. He worked here last term and this term he lives and works in Hangzhou, so last weekend Sable and I went to visit him and we became even closer to Grandpapa. He showed us around and became our tourguide.

Naomy: A cousin. Every family has cousins whom you hang out with, and in this case, Naomy is a very fun-loving cousin. She is from Kenya and she is a great person to be around to have a good time.

My son: Yes, in this SIFLS family, I have a son. His name is Paul (different, of course, from Grandpapa). He is 3 years old and he is actually the son of a Mexican woman and American man who are teaching at the school. Because Paul is one of my students in the kindergarten, the children always see me with him and automatically equate a foreign child with a foreign woman (me) and think that he is my child. Therefore, according to all the children in the preschools, in the kindergartens, and even in the elementary schools (the rumor has grown considerably), Paul is my son. Even when I try to tell them he is not and explain to them, they do not believe me. They have made up their minds that Paul is my son and nothing I can do will change it.

Gricelda: Gricelda must be my mother. I didn't plan to pick up another mother, but I also didn't plan to have a son...She is actually Paul's mother, so if in this family Paul is my son, then she is my mother and Paul's grandmother. Which would make sense in the Chinese customs, with the grandmother always taking care of the children, dropping them off and picking them up from school, etc. Gricelda is very kind and sweet. Because she is from Mexico, she generously gives me the opportunity to practice my Spanish with her so that I do not completely forget it here in China. This time spent practicing my Spanish with her is one of my favorite parts of the week because it is so wonderful to just sit down and talk with her.

Then, of course, there is my sister - Sable: In China, Sable is considered my sister, my jie jie. In the United States, this kind of relationship would probably be considered more of a cousinly relationship. We do many things together - we travel together, we often eat dinner and lunch together, we explore Suzhou together, and we watch movies and television series together to relax. It is wonderful to have someone that I have known for longer than just this one year, someone who knows me better than everyone else, and someone that I can really relax around.

So that is most of my SIFLS family. There are more, but I don't want to bore you all too much, so I will stop here. Above is a picture of some of the people in the family, so you can get to know them a little better.