Camellia

CAMELLIA JUNE TEEL

Date:        9.26.17
Time:       1:05pm
Weight:    3.5 kg (7 lbs. 12 oz.)
Height:    47.5 cm (19 in.)
Eyes:        Blue
Hair:        Brown
Where:     Chengdu, China
Hospital:  Chengdu Western Hospital
Doctor:    Dr. Yang
Doula:      Lisa N.

Our sweet Camellia is almost three months old now! What a joy it has been learning to be her parents. Now we know some of things you’ve experienced, mom and dad (and others of you with children)! There are so many interesting joys that happen after becoming parents, and some might be a little different since we live in China. One thing that is still very strong culturally in China is the community mindset, which we have learned to embrace. We have also adopted (albeit partially) some Chinese traditions for raising Camellia because we respect the ideas and are affected by the cultural “peer pressure.”

TRADITIONS

One tradition that was difficult to keep was staying indoors for thirty days. We had to return to Chengdu for a doctor check-up, birth certificate finalization, and passport application the week after Camellia’s birth. In China many people still practice 坐月子(zuo yue zi) which literally means ‘confinement’. It’s considered very wrong for the mother or baby to leave their home before thirty days after birth. We’ve mentioned before that we call all older women 阿姨（ayi), which means ‘auntie’.

[Side-note:  let me tell you, the aunties on campus will treat your baby as their own niece. The title ‘auntie’ on campus is held primarily by the women who clean the campus grounds—people we see every day. You better believe these sweet ladies knew exactly how pregnant Sara was, and after she gave birth they couldn’t wait to see their new “niece.”]

How were we greeted the week after we came home as we were heading off campus? With a big hug and excitement? NO! Each campus ayi told us we were terrible for taking little Camellia out of our home. They said we needed to stay inside for at least one month! We politely agreed that we should but that we must go to the hospital now for a checkup.

We love these ladies, and they love us, especially Camellia. I’m sure any of them would give their left foot if they thought our baby needed it. That’s why we know that our aunties scolded us out of love. In order to respect this cultural norm, after the doctor checkup and paperwork trip, we did try to keep both Camellia and Sara inside as much as possible for the rest of October. It was easier than being scolded on the bus, in the grocery store, and at the market. Plus, it was a great time for bonding and getting our parenting feet under us.

HER NAME

Our time in China has forever changed us, in the same way that a good friend will change you. We do some things differently than we probably would have had we not lived here. We view things about Chinese culture differently and many things that are American cultural norms that we thought might have been our own idea, we are now seeing as a lifestyle choice that isn’t always necessary. Camellia will both suffer and benefit from our changed mindset. Our home is here in China and our heart is here 100%. Our heartbeat is for the community here that surrounds us.

While we are fully invested in this place we have so many roots in Auburn and so much of who we are now was formed there. Since Camellia is the fruit of both our time spent in Alabama and here in China, her name comes from the State Flower of Alabama, and it is also what tea is made out of (translated to “mountain tea flower” in Chinese). Yes, you read that right—there’s a good chance that the bush on the side of your mom’s house is the same kind that is grown here in Dujiangyan to make green tea, black tea, and red tea. The flower is also edible, and many people here grew up collecting sweet drops of water from camellia flowers the same way you might have picked and eaten from the pit of honeysuckles.

We know that the Master has been in our lives, guiding us to this place, and Camellia is part of that now. May she always follow the Light, spreading His kingdom far and wide, just as the camellia plants cover the mountainsides of Sichuan province and the rolling countryside of Alabama.

Thank you for lifting up her little life and continuing to do so as she grows. We give her completely over to our Father.

~ Jesse & Sara