In which I introduce ‘my new Chinese family’ yet again.
I started the last week of September by packing up all of my belongings yet again. This time, though, I would only be going a 20 minute drive. My newest family lives in Beijing, in the northeast part of the city.
They have three kids: Leeya (age 7), Sophia (age 4), and Aiyou (age 2).
Leeya and Sophia
Leeya goes to an international school and her English is fluent, which is good since she’s very talkative. Currently she’s working on the doubly impossible task of learning to read and write Chinese and English. Mostly I help her with reading and writing homework and practice. She likes to ice skate, play piano, make paper crafts, and draw (especially with my sparkly colored pens!)
This family likes to ice skate. Leeya has lessons and does competitions.
Leeya loves making paper envelopes. Sophia helped her make 20 altogether!
Leeya enjoys writing (I didn’t help her at all with this!) Look, there I am with the curly hair!
Sophia, the 4 year old, is absolutely adorable. Her English is still limited, but she’s great at listening and speaking using what she knows. Her mandarin is naturally very slow and clear, too, and she’s very patient so we don’t have problems understanding each other. She happily repeats everything I say in the cutest little kid voice. Best of all, she copies all the unnecessary sound effects that I add to mundane tasks. Picking up a piece of paper off the floor needs a sound! Finally, I’ve met someone who understands!
Sophia on the amusement ride at the park.
Testing the new bicycle in the park
The baby, Aiyou, is still learning Chinese. The nanny takes care of her full time and I mostly work with the older kids. She’s pretty darn cute too, though. Maybe I’ll get her speaking a few words in English. We’ll see.
Aiyou! (Is that the sound you make when you see a baby getting into trouble?)
This time around I was interviewing parents as much (no… definitely more) than the kids. The mom, Danqing is soft-spoken but very sweet. She’s very to-the-point on work, schedule, and expectations which was a big selling point for me. Her English is excellent and we’ve made room in the schedule to work together on reading through some English books. The ones she picked are pretty intense. We haven’t had a chance to start yet.
Danqing and Sophia out on a walk.
Time to put my liberal arts education to work!
Their father (are you ready for this?) is an artist. Yes, this is how they made their fortune. He is a famous Chinese artist and has a studio in 798 Art District here in Beijing. He has two brothers that are also artists, and they have adjacent studio work spaces. The family often spends the night there on the weekends and as far as I know grandma lives there full-time.
Drawing in their uncle’s art studio with their friend (cousin?)
Giant workshop
Work space, gallery, and mansion. This is a view of the building and courtyard as seen from the rooftop.
Well, I’ve said it all before but I’ll say it again. I’m their first Au Pair but things are going smoothly so far. The kids love me, the mom likes me a lot, the father is nice but busy, and the nannies are trying to fatten me up (many have tried, all have failed.) I’m quite happy here, and hopefully it will stay that way!