Golden Week - Part II

Our Golden Week continued with a mini-vaca to Hangzhou. The city is located in the Zhejiang province, along the southeast shore of China. We toured Fei Lai Feng, the legendary peak's caves with numerous engravings of Buddha's, as well as Lingyin Temple, where we taught the kids the little we knew about Buddhism. We stayed on West Lake (Xi Hu), and biked the lake, hiked the hills, walked the causeways, witnessed exemplary water shows, and so much more.

We have so many photos of our time there, it was only fair to make a slideshow. In it you'll see many "peace signs" -- something we've picked up from the locals and even taught Paisley to do :) And you might notice the many crowds of people. It's China, folks.

Golden Week - Part I

It's Golden Week! Seven days to celebrate national day here in China. I'm finding that there is some truth behind the words when people tell you to leave the country during this week -- listen! We didn't know any better, and after just arriving two months ago, where is there to run to already? I feel there is so much left to uncover here in Shanghai.

Although, with everyone else off work too, that leaves 1.4 billion people in China exploring with us.

It's Simple

Many people ask why we chose to live in Lujiazui, instead of the expat community closer to the kids' school. It's pretty simple, really. One of the best days we had so far was being able to walk to daddy's office for lunch.

Allergies Abroad

When Alayna was just 15 months, I had one of the biggest scares of my life... Her first allergic reaction to peanuts. [Stories shared here and here.]

Over the years we've gotten really great at knowing what she can and can't have. She always asks for the wrapper to be read before trying anything new, and Halloween is always a tricky time as she yearns for all the great candy that every other child receives. But, we've adapted. We carry Epi-Pens along with us, and thank the Lord, have never been required to use them. She is tested with blood work and a skin graph every two years to measure the depth of her allergy and prior to every visit we pray that the numbers are slowly decreasing. I think it's fair to say that we've gotten pretty comfortable living with a peanut allergy.

Five years later, we are in a whole different ball game. Living abroad, the food choices are different and our safe "go-to's" aren't avidly available on the store shelves. Restaurants are tough because we don't know what oils they cook with, and many don't speak fluent English to converse about this in depth before ordering. That which we do purchase from the market, is brought home and reviewed by our Ayi, who helps us translate the labels. And now, I carry along a small card that reads:

没有花生

Méiyǒu huāshēng

我对花生过敏

Wǒ duì huāshēng guòmǐn

It means, "No peanuts. I am allergic to peanuts." 

The biggest hurdle has been the lack of awareness here. Unfortunately, it's such a huge epidemic in the states that schools know what to do, have strict rules for avoidance, snack policies are in place, clearly printed ingredients are bolded on packages, etc. Here in China, even though we are at an American school, it's just not a common issue.

Last week, Alayna began a six-week co-curricular group titled, No-Bake Cooking. After week one, I found out that they would be using peanut butter during week 4 and during week 2 they were using cookies that they were "unsure whether or not contained peanuts." WHAT?!?! How do you not know? Of course, I turned into crazy-mom-out-to-save-the-day and began trying to fix this issue. At first I thought I could just "Amazon China" some sunbutter (because ours is still on the boat making its way around the world), but holy-good-God! It was going to cost me $71.63 (without shipping!) for a 16 oz jar that I typically get for about $6!

After I came to my senses that that was asinine, I contacted the teachers and coordinators who have been wonderful. I'm working with them on alternatives for Miss Aly, instead of having to miss out on 1/3 of the classes, and they are changing the menu for all upcoming co-curricular cooking classes to eliminate peanut butter all together! Ah, a step in the right direction for all other kids coming behind Alayna, dragging along this annoying headache known as allergies.

Travel to Beijing

One of the perks of coming to Shanghai was having the ability to travel Asia. We've started small, with places near our home, and have been fortunate enough to have a few visitors already come who've made the exploring that much more enjoyable. Recently, friends from Minneapolis flew in for a few days of touring. Not sure I've laughed this hard in a long time! Love those Hovick's!

The first few days were around Shanghai with fake markets, YuYuan Garden, and a night out on the town...none of which really worked out in our favor. To say the least, we made good stories with every outing we took!

The fake market ended with difficulty in getting a cab home -- go figure!! This time it was because of a 6' canvas painting that I bought (which was very well worth it, but wouldn't fit into ANY car in China!) With Jarin at the office that day, Jared somehow flagged down a van with taxi written on the side. Come to find out it was a delivery truck, and we had a make "a stop" before he could take us home! I sat in the front, following our path on my GPS, realizing we were not heading in the right direction. But, with no common language between me and the driver, we were stuck at his mercy. So much for getting us to the school to pick up my daughter in time! I quickly typed "fast" into my iTranslate app, and learned that "kuai" made him get some fire under his ass. Still, poor Alayna sat in the office until we made it there to get her. In the meantime, Paisley was holding on tight to Brooke and Jared in the rear of this shady ol' get-up.

 
Being the great tour guides that we are, Jarin and I arranged our ayi to watch the little bambinos one night while we led our buds to a favorite spot on top of the Bund for pre-dinner drinks. The view from New Heights was so great that we spent too much time there, and had trouble finding a restaurant nearby that served food past 9 p.m. Well, we did find one, but the menu looked awful... we ended up walking out on them after being seated and then called down to our fall-back, New York Pizza, for a late night delivery. (Hey, Jared and Brooke... glad you could come around the world for NY pizza!)

We spent one day in Zhujiajiao, an ancient water town created during the Ming and Qing dynasties. What a blast! We didn't even indulge in the tourist museum traps they had set up, but instead had more fun walking the cobblestone streets, riding in the gondola, and of course trying our fashion and flavor in some traditional Chinese.

 

 

As you can presumably guess, we were the center of attention in this town! Between our boys who acted as though they were kids again, to our adorable Miss P, who caught the eye of every local, we had a few crowds around us most of the time. Oh, and did I mention there was a 90 min bus ride to get there, where our four seats somehow were elevated, facing the rear of the bus. It was at that point that our little one managed to pull down the emergency hammer creating a screaming buzzer for everyone to stare even harder... talk about embarrassing!

The majority of our time with Jared and Brooke was devoted to Beijing. We did so much in the few days that we had, I don't know how B did it being 7 months pregnant! First came the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square, where we enjoyed a fantastic lunch at a small Oasis Cafe. Oddly enough, this area was also where Alayna reached one of her biggest accomplishments yet in China. She used a squatter!! She was a little embarrassed, but daddy was proud!

 

With Jared as our tour guide (ah-hum) we did make it into the gates of this massive structure known as Forbidden City, where for about 500 years it was home to many emperors. It spans about 180 acres and holds some very impressive architecture which took over 14 years to build.

 

 
It wouldn't be Beijing without the Great Wall of China! We took the cable car to the top of the Mutianyu section (made famous from Michelle Obama's visit) and hiked about 8 towers. Even with the pollution at 224 on the day we went, it was still beautiful!

 

 

 

 

As you can tell, everyone enjoyed the climbs! Paisley was a trooper and independent as usual. Jarin was quite the daredevil and encouraged Cade and Layna to walk the walls of the wall on numerous occasions. I tried to capture lots of pictures, but most of the time I was praying that no one would die. On the way down, us smart ones took the cable car back for a quiet ride and rested at the country store for a cold beer and ice cream. Those other three crazies decided the toboggan ride down would be best. Apparently, this was ultimately the best part of the whole trip.

Finally, in Beijing, we bellied up to the table for the infamous Peking Duck -- a delicacy in this part of the world. I was rather sure I'd be foregoing dinner this night, but one had to be in awe of the presentation. The chef wheeled out the duck and butchered it before our eyes. (You could still see the duck's eye!)  It was served with pancakes and loads of toppings and tasty sides. We all enjoyed the fest, and Cade was even pretty surprised that he ate 5 pancakes full of duck!

 

As you can gather, with this slim selection from the hundreds of photos I've taken, our travel is something of envy. I feel so fortunate to have these experiences, and more so that we are providing them for our children. Here's to the many more trips, explorations, and journeys we are about to endeavor.

International Medicine

Before Jarin left the country for 2 weeks (yes, you have my permission to gasp!), I had a few to-do's on my list that had to be taken care of. Unlike America, there is no 911 number here. There is a 120, 119, and a 110 but you must understand what number is for what need, and pray to God that they speak English. Oh, and if it really is an emergency, count your lucky stars that an ambulance gets to you in time. Here in China, no one moves out of your way, not even if you are an ambulance driver.

Instead, they recommend hailing a cabby.

For anyone who has talked to me in the past month, you'll know how much I hate cabs. As in, I truly despise having to wait... then translate on my phone where I'm going... then put all my trust and courage that God ever gave me into the sheer hope that they are taking me to the right place... then corral the 17 month old from crawling on the floor, licking the seat, opening the door, being killed because she is seatbelt-less (you get the picture). I've been stuck for over 40 minutes with three children, all starving, and one screaming, trying to get a cab to no avail. Today, I happened to read a post from another Shanghai mom who asked if others with strollers get passed up by taxi drivers. Glad to know it's not just me who they have it out for. There may or may not have even been times that I've cussed as we've pounded our feet down the sidewalk, watching taxi-jerks drive right past, while we are sweating our pa-toots off. And the kids have looked at me and questioned, "what'd you just say, mom?" Blatantly, my response was a repeat of, "oh, nothing, I just don't understand why these douche bags don't stop."

So, back to my point: I can only imagine getting a taxi for an emergency. And to think the ambulance is worse....

Awesome.

Gives you a pretty clear outlook of the medical services here, huh? Well, if it's true that I need to be prepared to hail a cab while caring for a child with emergency needs (albeit broken arm, poked out eye, bleeding from [any body part], etc.), then I best know the what's and how's of getting to the hospital.

And so, last Friday, Jarin and I took a field trip. We cabbed it to the closest emergency hospital: Shanghai East. This is what I found...

Sweet. Just where I'd want to go for "intestinal" or "fever disease". Creeped out, I nearly left. I would honestly fly around the world before getting care here.

But, we continued on until we found the main entrance. That's where we experienced every part of favored discrimination.

We were met in the front lobby -- near the Starbucks, none the less, because of course this hospital looks like it would have a multi-billion dollar coffee house embedded in it. We were escorted to elevator #7 (the international elevator), and when it was found to be under repair, they budged us to the front of the line for elevator #5 (the local elevator). Mind you, we were on a tour. There was no medical attention needed for our family. And yet, more than 20 locals were shoved behind to wait for us first.

When we got to the 12th floor, we found Shanghai East International Hospital. A whole new world. Clean, orderly, English-speaking, large and roomy, comfortable, quiet. A private pharmacy and billing lines, acceptance of insurance guarantees, and no hub-bub of what was just a few floors below, staged like an airport:

No, it was nothing like this. Can you believe this is what it really looked like inside?

Talk about an entirely different experience. They even showed us the private maternity rooms with whirlpools and room for the entire family to stay. Jarin was quick to inform our tour guide that those would not be needed for our family. :)

It was a strange serenity of feelings that afternoon. Feeling compelled to never step foot into the hospital again, and then being treated like royalty, humbled by being foreigners, and feeling overwhelmingly pampered by the services that we would receive compared to the locals. I'm sure proud of my heritage, the emphasis that us American's put on healthcare, the safety standards and seriousness that we proclaim in the medical field, and the respect that we hold for all those needing attention.

On that note, the kids' well-checks are still scheduled with our favorite Dr. Halverson during each visit back to the states. But, if anything were to come up, I will know what to do and where to go!

--------------------------------------------

Thought this would also be the time to share a fun anecdote on the societal (and cleanliness) levels in this community... It's amazing what the kids notice and moreso what their cognitive path is :)

Tonight Cade asked: "Mom, if you were one of those poor people here, would you pee on your hands to wash them?"

My response: "uh, no."

Cade's logical thinking kicks in: "I would if they were really dirty. But then they would probably stink."

Nice, kid, nice.

#imagineconcordia

Last fall, when we were deciding whether or not to begin this endeavor, many family, friends and colleagues tried convincing me that we'd be providing our children with this [insert oober-dramatic-emphasized voice here] amazing opportunity by bringing them to China. I understood that ... to an extent. I knew that there would be a new culture, a new language, new people, a new perspective. But after just being in Shanghai for one month, and after digging through all the muck and crap that we have dealt with, I can see the benefits far outweigh the setbacks. One of the pieces of our life that will be forever changed after having this experience is education.

I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am about the kids' school. I whole-heartedly believe that we hand-picked the #1 international school in the world. At first glance, we saw test scores, standards and curriculum and thought, "hey, this will be a good fit." And now, I'm diving into some of the best parts of the school. There is a community here that I never could have created in my wildest dreams. Each day after school kids and parents gather on the playground to socialize, share experiences and stories, swap recommendations and tackle the "slushie place" together for a cold treat. I've also attended new parent meetings, elementary school parent meetings, back to school meetings and more.

Yesterday I participated in the best meeting yet. It was a general parent support organization (PSO) meeting to kick off the year. I was so moved that by the end I signed up to be room parents for both Cade and Layna's classrooms! I figured, hell, if I screw up too bad, I can always just blame it on being the newbie, right? :)

Anyway, the head of school said a few words at this meeting, and then he shared a story about how things work at Concordia. He said, "it's not about numbers, it's about stories." To prove that, he explained that at the beginning of the year they randomly divide all the 1300 student names amongst the school staff (giving each staff person roughly 9 names). Then at each meeting throughout the year, they go around the room and each staff person reads one name aloud from their list. As a group they then ask for God's prayers for that one child.

Can you imagine hearing that power? Those children's names read one after another around the room, as they jointly ask for a blessing? How fascinating!

It doesn't stop there.

The community of parents, staff, teachers, and volunteers help you find the best place to buy meat and produce (an enormous feat here in Shanghai!), how to get a cell phone (more to come on my experience soon!), and even where to get your hair did. They understand that if those necessities don't come easy, your whole day week can be thrown for a loop. And the teachers and administrators want you there all day, every day. They beg for parent involvement and then thank you endlessly for supporting their children.

Isn't that what I should be saying to them?


This school puts on pep rally's and cheers on their volleyball teams every Friday night with popcorn and hotdogs. They send communication from the head of school every other week to let you know what they are doing in classes. The teachers update their websites and send electronic newsletters weekly with pictures of our own children laughing and learning around their desks, and with their new friends. They truly believe and instill that "we are a small community of 24 million."

During the first week, I received personal notes from each teacher letting me know how the kids were doing since they were new. All the things I worried about as a parent were put to rest without asking. Alayna's teacher from South Africa wrote: "This week has been filled with laughter and sparkling eyes as we have spent time getting to know each other. Our classroom has been a hive of activity and I have had the amazing privilege of spending time with your child."

To some, this may be fluff, but for me, it means a lot to see the time and energy spent on saying just the right thing to feel comforted. Let me tell you, Concordia rocks!! And on top of how awesome this community of school friends is, the babes are even kicking butt in math, reading, Mandarin, and religion during the day, as well as co-curricular activities at night.

 We are busy here in Shanghai, and that's a good thing, because we miss y'all!

Learning the Perks

Remember the jokes that started with: "how many blondes does it take to...." Well, I feel as though I'm cracking a new line of riddles here in Shanghai. They should start with: "In China, how many American's does it take to...." and then fill in the blank with...
- purchase a phone
- get to the market
- turn the channel on the TV
- find bedding
- replace a light bulb
and on, and on, and on...

Many people told me we should go on the show House Hunters International, but I think a better one for me is Candid Camera. I feel like an idiot here!!!

Wednesday I attended a new parent coffee meeting at the kids' school. Talk about informative!

Who knew that you should not buy meat at the market we've been visiting? Or that all vegetables and fruits needed to be scrubbed with a pesticide spray, not just run under filtered water? Or that at the market there are Chinese prices and Western prices -- I'll let you guess which is more. Or that spending 3 hours or more grocery shopping is totally the norm?

Who knew that you employ a driver, not only for a personal taxi, but to pay your bills, fix your shoes, repair the Wii that we blew up when we first plugged it in, take care of dry cleaning, or have furniture made by his local friends for way cheap? Or that your Ayi is the one who can wait at the house all day for a grocery (or phone) delivery, while you enjoy the city?

I need to come to grips with this culture!!

In the meantime, we've called the engineer to replace lightbulbs. [Shut up. I know it sounds ridiculous!] I've ordered a phone on Amazon for Cash on Delivery, and waited for like 5 complete days for it to arrive because my address wasn't entered in Chinese. I've wandered pharmacies for a whole morning looking for medicine for my sick children, when my Ayi completed the task in the blink of an eye and then handed me the receipt for reimbursement.

Well, I got this now!

From here out, I'm attending classes, going on tours, and meeting up with friends... because let me tell you, when diapers and dinner can be delivered to your door on the same day, for free, why wouldn't I?

Our First Day of School

Now that I have VPN, I've been scrolling through social media and seeing everyone's adorable chalkboard signs on the first day of school. Beautiful, colorful bubble letters explaining the grade, the child's admirations, and of course what they want to be when they grow up.

Us, here in Shanghai... we don't quite roll like that. (Not to discount the big shout out deserved by all the kick ass mom's who have their stuff together.)

Wednesday marked our first day of school for the kiddos. Oh, the many "first" experiences that we have coming! Beginning at an international school, meeting their teachers from England and South Africa -- how fascinating is that!?!?, wearing uniforms, and boarding a small charter bus to transport them. The kids were overwhelmed with excitement!

 

They tucked in early Tuesday evening, and I wished I would have gone to bed with them. I dilly-dallied around on this computer (because HELLO!! that's when all my American friends are active!) and finally settled in around 11:30. Jarin was still traveling, and then the remainder of my night went as such:

1 a.m. Paisley awakes. I try to get her back down, but good luck. 
1:34 a.m. I'm putting her to bed, and don't care how long she "cries-it-out."
1:37 a.m. I can't handle it anymore. I go get her and bring her to my bed.
1:55 a.m. She is so restless, and has been crawling all over my head. BTW, Alayna had asked to sleep with me since Jarin was out of town, so now I'm afraid she is going to be waken too.
2:10 a.m. P drinks a full glass of water, lets out two huge, manly farts, and says "yeah" when I ask if she's ready for bed.
2:22 a.m. She is still crying
2:24 a.m. I get back up and we take in the view from the living room... and also spy a little into all the other windows with lights on.
2:30 a.m. I take her back to my room. Bad idea. She now has Alayna up, giving her kisses.
2:47 a.m. We go to Paisley's room, I rock her and rub her back until she breaks down and falls asleep.
3:03 a.m. Finally. My turn to sleep.
3:34 a.m. Alayna awakes to tell me her tummy hurts. I sit in the bathroom with her while she explodes.

Oh my God, I can't handle the smell.

3:45 a.m. She is ready to go back to bed, but not sure if she might puke. I go get a bowl to keep next to her in bed. Oh yeah, we don't have any bowls. So I bring the largest soup kettle I can find and place it on her pillow.
4:34 a.m. I wake to hear her vomitting beside me.

Okay. Now this is the worst smell ever.

5:07 a.m. The rally is finally over and I clean everything up and try to go back to bed, knowing that my alarm is set for less than 40 min from now.
6:20 a.m. I finally roll out of bed and get Cade up for school. I inform him that Alayna has been sick and won't be going to school. He breaks down because he doesn't want to ride the bus alone.
6:32 a.m. We check on Alayna. She is fine and cheery! She puts on her uniform, takes a swig from her water bottle and pukes everywhere.

Great.

Of course, P is still sleeping because she partied last night. Aly is puking, Cade still needs breakfast and walked down to the bus stop in less than 20 min. But he's upset. This is when super-mom-powers kick in and before long, I have this handsome boy all ready to board his bus... in the rain!

Sidenote: I'm sitting here typing this blog entry and I just heard an awful-vomit-like sound. I jumped from the office to uncover which child is spewing all over this time. After seeing three peaceful babies asleep in their beds, I realize that the bacon was ready to be collected on Cade's Hay Day game.
 
Seriously, this is my life.

So, we begin with Day 2, which is really Day 1 for Alayna.

Jarin is home now, but we are all exhausted from travel and being up all night. We sleep through the alarm, and wake 6 minutes before the bus is departing. Frantically, Jarin gets the kids dressed, I call the bus monitor, we meet at the second stop, and the kids get yelled at for being late. They now think that "Chinese people get mad easily."

I truly can't imagine trying to get a photo with the kids posed next to their personalized chalkboard sign. Shoot. I just want a photo of them going to school together!

And so, we pretend... even though it's the start of day 5... how cute are these 1st and 3rd graders?

 

The Good, Bad and Ugly

In Shanghai, it might be better said as: the fascinating, the frightening, and the frustrating. Seriously, after two weeks here, I'm not sure there is another city in this world as complex with culture and systems quite like this one. We've seen every walk of life, every kind of food, a variety of transportation, a lack of rules and standards, some of the most amazing architechture, and the biggest slums. We've been taken back by beauty and by rudeness, and for the first time in my life, I've shoved people aside who stared at my children. I've had long talks with people I've never met before, shared stories, frustrations, and (believe-it-or-not) things I knew that someone else didn't. I feel like I've been here forever, while also feeling like I just stepped foot off the airplane.

Backing up....
The trip here was utterly miserable. We boarded the plane to find no outlets, USB or personal TV's. With 14 hours ahead of us, I thought for sure we were doomed because my plans for the older two had just backfired. But, to my surprise, it was the baby who didn't sleep, nor sit in her own chair, for the entire flight around the world. Even when waking her at 3 a.m. for take off, she still stayed up, kicking the chair in front of her, running the aisles, rolling on the back galley floor (trust me, I just puked in my mouth too), and annoying the hundred's of others on the plane who wanted shut-eye. So I held her, because of course at 16 months, she clearly let's us know that no one else can set finger on her -- even daddy. Cade and Layna, however, thought the flight to be amazing. They watched out the window for quite some time, and continued guessing what part of the world we were hovering at any given time.

Upon arriving here on August 4th, the apartment that Jarin had picked out was unveiled. In my crabby, cranky self, I told him I was disappointed. It wasn't clean, stunk like mold, had broken appliances and lights everywhere, and obviously held zilch of our personal belongings. We unpacked the 8 suitcases...which, did I mentioned cost us $1100 EXTRA? With no hangers, bedding, pillows, phone, dishes or food I felt a little lost. I didn't even know where to go to get this stuff! Nor, how to talk to the taxi driver to get me there!

I was stuck. In an apartment that I hated.

The next two days were still tricky. The hubs helped with getting a phone lined up, he provided me access to VPN so that I could Facebook and blog (thank God!), and then he was off on business for two days. It was funny listening to the kids who said, "how are we going to get anywhere because only daddy knows where to go." Yeah, yeah -- shut it. I can do this too, I thought. Well, that turned into a few consecutive days at the pool, because we figured out the clubhouse pretty quick :)

After that though, first thing was first. My fabulous BOB jogger was not going to cut it on these narrow sidewalks lined with 23 million people. No way. No how. Against the liking of my bean-counting husband, that meant a new, compact, light-weight $200 stroller. And, of course, that trip led to a few other purchases at this mega-amazing 6-story Super Brand Mall which just happens to be a couple miles from my home.

I also attempted IKEA in week #1, which was probably the most frightening experience of my life. I was in dire need of a bed for the baby, who had been co-sleeping with us for way too long in my book, and as I exited with a cart full of necessities (wine glasses, pillows, and bath towels) it was pouring. And just like the next 14 times it rained here, I didn't have an umbrella. I took my first cab that I found, which could have easily had rats running the floor boards. Black curtains covered the back windows, and at every stop the cabby pulled the emergency break and turned off the car. I seriously thought I was going to die. He scammed me for all I had, and drove so far around the city to take me home that I paid more than double my trip there. All the while I was texting Jarin with updates, and watching my phone battery quickly dwindle to 6%. I had never been so happy to see this apartment complex.

Exactly one week after our arrival here, we had visitors! And WOW! what a blessing. We toured on buses and cruises, went up in the Pearl Tower, ate at some amazing restaurants (and tried McDonalds), bardered with the best at the fake markets, and ultimately experienced Shanghai in 5 days. These dear Minnesota friends of ours also allowed for me to spend 2 hours purchasing one set of sheets, because God-forbid I be able to speak a lick of Mandrin. Before saying farewell, us lovebirds snuck out for a quick date night at a fab Thai restaurant right next to the Louis Vuitton.  Of course, I had to stop in to check out the purse I dreamed about .... only 35000 RMB! No worries, our high-class cabbie dropped us off right in front of the Bentley.

In the last week, we also interviewed and hired our ayi, Xiao Fang, who started helping at the house on Monday. She is amazing and so in love with the kids. She speaks very good English, and is even teaching us some Mandrin. She has allowed me to fall in love with this apartment afterall. It's crazy how nice it is when it's clean! I also lost my brand new iPhone, which has been hell on wheels to track among the streets of Shanghai. I've given up on that idea now, and am just buying a new one, which she is helping me to do.

It's been two days since our visitors left, and the kids have had school orientation and are ready for their first day tomorrow. Jarin is now in Hong Kong to finally pick up our residence visa. It's all coming together so well, and I couldn't be happier. Yes, things are challenging, but we have to laugh at how ass-backwards it is here. I know that it's worth it though when I compare these feelings with the utter stress and annoyance I felt living apart. And then I see the kids' faces. They are lighting up here. They love their teachers, are eager to sign up for co-curriculars, have begun introducing themselves by their first name and homeland, and are begging for the ayi to babysit them. I know this isn't the life many would chose, but for us, it's going to be a good one.