It seems I either have a spy or a stalker. Considering where we are, either is a possibility. A young, handsome even, man with a “Marines” T-shirt was in our square this afternoon. I first noticed him because his look was kind of striking and reminded me of a husband of someone I know. After a while I realized he wasn’t talking to anyone and didn’t seem to know anyone there, and what’s more kept looking at us. He smiled sometimes watching the boys and I thought perhaps he just thought they were cute (who wouldn’t?) but even when we moved off the square to another small park then over to the fruit vendor, he would turn and watch us each place. Very peculiar.

We also found out it really is a small world. One of the friendlier folks here is a native Beijinger, very traditional, very Beijinger, but friendly. He is a little older with a 25-year-old daughter and wife probably not much older than that and a boy a little older than Ethan and Isaac. I have been making observations about Olympic preparations and asked Jack to ask him if he thought Beijing was ready. He said yes right away, then kind of back-tracked and said well, not completely. But it turned out he works for the Volleyball committee and is also in charge of the Taiwan delegation. On hearing this, Jack immediately asked if he knew his old boss at Mikado in Indianapolis, who is in Beijing on the delegation for the Games. Turned out he did. Jack was amazed and still can’t get over it.

We find we have to get a bit more creative with entertainment, especially on rainy days in such a small apartment with five us. Coloring and painting last for a brief time. The scooter is also popular as an indoor toy. The other day, they insisted on making robots, which turned out to be wrapping paper around their legs, arms and head. They were very eager to go outside like this after their nap to show off, but were disappointed (I was relieved!) to find the square mostly empty of other kids. They are getting familiar and friendlier with the other kids. Some kids are very possessive of their toys but others share freely and play well with them. When we have something to share like the scooter it certainly helps. They take turns riding bikes or kicking balls around. They also start to try to "read" in bed like mama or on the potty (which is still hit and miss - literally)

At the same time, we find ourselves collecting more toys than we probably should. On a visit to the local planetarium, Jack, who’s usually more “mean” about these things, bought them a ball rolling device. It’s taken us longer to put it together, or fix it, than they actually play with it. Still, it provides us all entertainment.

But said trip to the planetarium proved mildly disastrous. We thought we’d try the 4-D movie, thought the boys would like it, like a roller coaster, and spent a bit of money of that. Well, it turned out to be some under-the-sea kind of thing and the boys were absolutely terrified when air would blow on us and some scary-looking fish would jump out. So we had to take them out before the very short film was even halfway through. They kept saying they were “scared” after the fact, not a word I knew they knew! I kept telling them, “you want to ride scary, dangerous roller coasters but a movie with some fish scares you??” It’s kind of a relief though to know something does scare them!