I keep hearing the voices of the Who's from "Horton Hears a Who" reverberate through my mind! Yes, we are truly "here" in China! After years of preparation, it still doesn't feel totally real! Our first 3 weeks in country have really been great. We have had some of the busiest weeks ever. And I've definitely done more shopping than I have in my entire life! It's not often that a family of 6 moves into a complete unfurnished apartment with only our suitcases in tow to start us off! (We did ship about 20 boxes of stuff--mainly books and things that we heard we couldn't find here--but those are of course still sitting in customs!!) The process has been fun and challenging, and we are super thankful for the many hands who have been helping us out daily to make it all happen!
Everyone is adjusting to life and it's many differences here in Asia. We've seen just how adaptable kids can be. In everything from eating to sleeping, all of our little ones have endured a great deal of change--with remarkably little distress from it all! Noah now takes most of his naps in the Baby Bjorn and nurses anywhere and everywhere (and not even while being covered up by my "Hooter Hider" nursing blanket. I abandoned carrying it around when I realized that every time I used it it was lifted up by some well-meaning Chinese person who was just curious as to what was going on underneath!!). Eli has learned to really like rice. The kids have no problem sleeping without a noisemaker in their room, and even naptime can be accomplished while crammed into the back seat of a taxi!
Kevin and I have had 2 weeks of classes learning Mandarin and are really enjoying it. We definitely have tough and discouraging days. Talk about a challenging language to learn! But our teachers and school are wonderful and we are super motivated to speak and understand as much as we possibly can. We are reminded daily how little interaction we can have with these wonderful people without a good handle on the heart language they speak!
We probably had our hardest day yet today. We unfortunately had to send my mom (Nana) back to Dallas yesterday. And it was so hard for us all! Even the neighbors in our community (there are over 3000 living in our complex) were asking where Lau lau was today (Mandarin for grandmother)! China just isn't the same without her :( We're certainly looking forward to her next visit (and that of other friends and family, too!)
I'll write more on daily life stuff later, but for now, know that the Josephs have arrived safely and are doing our best to figure out the new normal for our family and life overseas!
