1. Go outside and take pictures with the flowering trees
2. Learn how to put on makeup
3. Learn about life in America
As you can see from my last post, we did number one. It wasn't on our regularly scheduled day, but I think it was enough. So on Tuesday I taught them how to put on makeup. I kept it very simple for them, and explained that it needed to look natural. It was funny to see their reaction to this. They had never used any makeup before, and had never seen their mothers wear makeup. One of the girls, while trying to put on some makeup said, "This is hard!" I should have taken some pictures, but to me they didn't quite look finished because I didn't have them put on mascara. You can spread eye infections by sharing mascara, and I couldn't find any to buy for them.
Another problem one of the girls in particular had was that any time I, or she tried to put on eye makeup, her eyes would start watering. This is a natural reaction that most people are able to overcome with practice. But we kept having to reapply her makeup because she kept smudging it all off when she dabbed her watering eyes.
I learned something new about Chinese eyes. First of all, I wasn't quite sure how to use makeup on Chinese eyes, but it was easy to figure out as we went along. But then one of the girls said a term in Chinese that means "double skin". I asked her what that meant, and she pointed out how her own eyes don't have an eyelid like most caucasians, but it goes straight from the eyebrow down to the eyelashes without curving in. She was quite miffed when she asked if caucasians have eyes like that and I told her no. I had never noticed this trait before, although I have seen her style of eyes many times. I just assumed that everyone's eyes have the indent on the eyelid. You learn something new every day. The girls were happy to play with the makeup though; just like any other teenagers.
Yesterday I did a sort of slide show and told them about life in America. I had thrown in pictures of my son's prom. They were VERY interested in the prom, and asked a lot of questions about it. They don't have proms here in China, and most kids don't date until they are in their college years. They have school romances, but they don't actually go out on dates together. So the girls were interested to learn about dating in America.
When it was time for them to go home, I asked them what else they would like to do for our activities. They were kind of embarrassed, but asked if I could teach them how to dance. They said they had never learned how to dance and knew nothing about it. Of course, I would be the embarrassed one if I taught them normal dance for rock music. So I decided that a good foundation for dance is to learn some of the standard ballroom dancing. That I can teach without looking stupid. lol Everyone needs to know how to waltz, and I thought I would teach a little swing dancing too. They will have to figure out the "free form" dancing on their own. lol But they were adamant that my husband shouldn't be home while I teach them. :) I said, "Well, maybe he could help me teach you!" They were so embarrassed at the thought! lol
I've had them doing every imaginable craft (crochet, embroidery, sewing, salt dough, etc.) as well as have taught them cooking, showed movies in English, played games etc. I will be interested to see what other kinds of girly things they will come up with.
Ha, I made them pose for this shot, but it was so sunny they couldn't open their eyes. And they were apalled that I wanted them to lay on the ground. lol
2 comments:
it is good that they have someone like you in their lives. Twenty years down the line, they will be mothers and will be as kind to some young girls as you are to them now.
I would be appalled if you asked me to lay on the ground in China too!
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