学期的最后一天，暑假到了！ 今天是这边的学校的最后一天！我儿子完成了四年级，我女儿完成了七年级（在美国，这是初中的第二年）。全面的来看，今年他们过得很好。 我儿子很幸运有一位很棒的老师，叫 Mr. Lamb。这位老师个子很高，超过6英尺（183厘米），不过他的精神真的特别和蔼又温柔，而且他今年对孩子的教导很勤奋。他的专长是教数学和科学，这两种学科是我儿子特别喜欢的。 在个人有条理这方面，我女儿今年很有进步：记住写家庭作业，记住把家庭作业交给老师等等。除此之外，她还测试进入8年级最高的数学班，以及最高等的学校乐队和交响乐队。 (Today was the last day of school! My son finished 4th grade this year, and my daughter finished 7th grade (which is the 2nd year of middle school in the US). Overall, they had a good year. My son was very lucky to have a great teacher named Mr. Lamb. Mr. Lamb is a big guy, over 6 feet tall (183 cm), but he has a very kind and gentle spirit, and he worked so hard teaching the kids this year. He specializes in math and science, which my son particularly likes. My daughter made a lot of progress in personal organization this year: remembering to do assignments, remembering to turn in those assignments, etc. She also tested into the top math for 8th grade, and into the top band and orchestra as well.)

宝宝生病了 :( 我宝宝今天生病了。他早晨4：30哭着醒了过来，然后回去睡觉，但从那时直到早上6：30他继续时不时地哭。他起床之后，我摸了摸他的身体，发现他感到很热，因此量了他的体温。他的体温快华氏100度（正常的体温是华氏98.6度）。除了发烧和哭闹之外，他别的病状都没有。我给他布洛芬，但吃了之后他仍然发着烧。现在他想睡午觉，不过他还是断断续续地哭，很可怜！ (My baby has been sick today. He woke up crying around 4:30am. He went back to sleep, but cried off and on until 6:30am. After he got up, I realized that his body felt hot, and took his temperature. It was almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit (normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Besides fever and feeling bad, he has no other symptoms. I gave him some ibuprofen, but even after taking it, he still has a fever. Now he is trying to take a nap, but he keeps crying periodically. Poor little guy!)

关于 Piñatas A piñata (念 pin-YAH-tuh)来源于墨西哥，它们通常在举办派对时使用。Piñatas里面藏着糖果，外面是用一种很硬的纸做的。参加派对的小朋友们轮流用球棒或棍子打piñata，继续轮流打到piñata裂开了，然后抢着把掉在地上的糖果全部捡起来。Piñatas在我所在的新墨西哥州比较常见，尤其是在孩子的生日派对。

关于种菜 / 数学俱乐部的颁奖典礼 我丈夫每年在我们家的后院种菜。他种的是很多种中国蔬菜，例如韭菜，以及很多种绿叶蔬菜，这些对身体健康很有利。我们这边的阳光很丰富，但这所谓“高沙漠”的地方很干燥，因此我们必须很认真地给植物浇水。我们还有五棵水果树：一棵油桃树，一棵柿子树，一棵亚洲梨树，和两棵无花果树。 我大儿子今天下午参加了他的课外数学俱乐部的颁奖典礼。这个俱乐部会跟美国全国类似的俱乐部互相竞争。俱乐部的会员其中有几个白人，不过大部分的会员是东亚洲，印度，或者中东血统的孩子。我儿子获得了综合第三名，我们为他感觉很骄傲。 (My husband grows vegetables in our back yard every year. He grows lots of Chinese varieties, such as Chinese garlic chives, as well as lots of leafy greens, which are so good for you. We get lots of sunshine, but it’s very arid here in the so-called “high desert” of New Mexico, so we must be diligent about watering the plants. We also have five fruit trees: a nectarine tree, a persimmon tree, an Asian pear tree, and two fig trees. My son went to an awards ceremony for his after-school math club this afternoon. It is a competitive club that competes against similar clubs from all over the US. There are a few white kids, but the majority is East Asian, Indian or Middle Eastern. My son got an award for 3rd place overall, out of about 20 kids, so we are very proud of him.)

Una clase de chino Hoy fue el primero día en un tiempo muy largo que tenía una clase con una maestra de chino en Skype. Hablé con Jenny, una maestra de italki que vive en Shanghai. Ella tiene una hija que tiene casi dos años, por eso hablamos con frecuencia sobre los niños y ser padres. Hoy hablamos de maquillaje, porque tengo una hija de séptimo grado que empezó a usar maquillaje este año. Ella se sorprendió mucho, como la mayoría de chinos, pero le dije a ella que es maquillaje muy ligero, y la diferencia en su aspecto antes y después no es muy grande. También hablamos de convencer a los niños pequeños a cepillar los dientes, y de los diferencias entre las escuelas primerias y jardínes de infancia en China y los EE.UU. (Today was the first day in a very long time that I had a lesson with a Chinese teacher on Skype. I talked to Jenny, an italki teacher who lives in Shanghai. She has a baby girl who’s almost 2 years old, so we often talk about children and parenting. Today we talked about makeup, since my 7th grade daughter started wearing makeup this year. She was surprised at this, as most Chinese people are, but I told her it’s very light makeup, and the difference in her appearance “before and after” is not very dramatic at all. We also talked about getting toddlers to brush their teeth, and the differences between elementary schools and preschools in China and the US.)

好久以来第一天上课！ 今天是好久以来第一天通过Skype和一位中文老师上课。我和Jenny上了课，她是住在上海的Italki网站上的老师之一。她有一个快两岁的女儿，所以我们常常会谈孩子和当父母的事。今天我们谈了化妆品这个话题，因为我七年级的女儿今年开始化妆了。Jenny一听到这个消息就感觉很惊讶，其实我发现过大部分的华人也有同样的感觉，但我告诉她我女儿都会化淡妆，而且我觉得她化妆前后的样子没有什么大的区别。此外，我们也谈了让两三岁的孩子刷牙，以及中国的托儿所，幼儿园，和小学跟美国的有什么不同。 (Today was the first day in a very long time that I had a lesson with a Chinese teacher on Skype. I talked to Jenny, an italki teacher who lives in Shanghai. She has a baby girl who’s almost 2 years old, so we often talk about children and parenting. Today we talked about makeup, since my 7th grade daughter started wearing makeup this year. She was surprised at this, as most Chinese people are, but I told her it’s very light makeup, and the difference in her appearance “before and after” is not very dramatic at all. We also talked about getting toddlers to brush their teeth, and the differences between elementary schools and preschools in China and the US.)

练习中文的好机会：妈妈团契，语言交流 今天早上我们华人教会的妈妈团契聚会了。这是一个由华人组成的团契，所以大家都会讲中文，这样我能够好好练习听力和口语。我们平时尽量去学一本教育孩子的书的一部分，但实际上做到这个很难，因为孩子们一直不停地跑来跑去吵闹。然后，我们都会吃一顿potluck午餐（就是每个人带菜分享）。下午我带了孩子去超市买冰淇淋和糖果，然后送他们去奶奶家过夜。晚上在三岁的宝宝看电影的时候，我跟一个台湾语言伙伴聊了一个小时。 (Our church moms group met this morning. This is a Chinese moms group, so everyone speaks Chinese, which is a great opportunity for me to practice listening and speaking. We try to discuss a section of a parenting book, but it’s very difficult with the kids all running around making lots of noise. After that, we always eat a potluck lunch together. In the afternoon, I took the kids to the store to get ice cream and candy, and then over to their grandmother’s house to spend the night. Then in the evening, I talked to my Taiwanese language exchange partner for an hour while the 3-year-old watched “Toy Story”.)

茶叶蛋的做法 首先，我拿十个生鸡蛋放到锅里，然后用冷水盖住。我把锅放在炉子上，用中火煮开。轻轻地煮十分钟左右，煮完了之后把鸡蛋放到冰水。当它们都变凉后，用勺子的背面把蛋壳敲碎。把蛋回到空锅里，然后加入1/4杯生抽，1/4杯老抽，葱，姜，八角，和四包红茶（我用的是爱尔兰早餐茶或者英式的那种）。我又加入新鲜的冷水勉强够盖住鸡蛋，煮开煮大约半个小时。最后，我关火让鸡蛋在那天中剩下的时间泡在液体里。第二天早上，茶叶蛋的味道很好，大家可以吃了! (First, I take 10 uncooked eggs, put them in a pot, and cover them with cold water. I put the pot on the stove on medium heat, and bring it to a boil. I let it lightly boil for about 10 minutes, and then I take the eggs and cool them in some ice water. After they’re cool, I use the back of a spoon to crack the shells all over. I put them back into the empty pot, and add ¼ cup of soy sauce, ¼ cup of dark soy sauce, green onions, ginger, star anise, and 4 black tea bags (I use the Irish Breakfast or British style). I add fresh cold water to just barely cover the eggs, and then bring to a boil and cook for about half an hour. Then I turn the heat off and let them sit in the liquid for the rest of the day. The next morning, the tea eggs have a wonderful flavor and are ready to eat!)

当钢琴老师 我当钢琴老师已经七年了。我开始教钢琴是因为我的邻居想要我教她孙女，以及自己的女儿满了六岁，因此准备开始学。因为我没有音乐学位，所以我当时觉得自己不能胜任教钢琴，其实我有的时候还会感觉一样！我现在一共有七个学生：五个是孩子，两个是大人。 我五岁时开始学钢琴，一直学到十五岁那年。作为一个成年人，我在教会里面弹钢琴弹了十年多了。我读初中和高中的时候，我是学校乐队的一个队员，而且我从小到大都在教会的唱诗班唱歌。我一直都在参与音乐活动！ (I have been a piano teacher for 7 years now. I started teaching because my neighbor wanted me to teach her granddaughter, and because my own daughter had just turned 6 and was ready for lessons. I do not have a music degree, so I felt very inadequate to teach, and sometimes I still feel that way! I have 7 students now: 5 children, and 2 adults. I started studying piano when I was 5 years old, and took lessons until I was 15. As an adult, I have played the piano in church for more than 10 years. I was also in the school band in middle school and high school, and have sung in church choirs since I was a child. I have always been involved in musical activities!)