This week has been one of transitioning back into the "regular routine" we've started to develop--plus a few fireworks to add a little action! Kevin and I started up with classes again (this semester with me adding one day--so I'm now up to three days per week of Mandarin study. Yikes!) Kevin and I both go one-on-one for two-hour stints of time; he continues to go every weekday morning. We have new teachers this semester, so we're transitioning there too as far as figuring out classroom expectations. (But we are both super thrilled with the teachers that we have!)
Kevin also is still meeting up with the baseball team two afternoons each week, and is feeling it physically as their workouts are ramping up a bit in preparation for the season. Being government run makes things there very typically "Chinese-ee", which in this case, means a lot of uncertainty! Last year the season for the baseball team began in March, but this year (please note that it is almost the end of February) they still haven't even been given a start date! The players are assuming that they will have a season, but they just have to be ready at a moment's notice to have games begin. Talk about an out of control feeling.
We've also gotten back into the homeschool routine. The kids have been troopers, but their mom is feeling pretty worn out! I don't think I realized how much we really have to be geared up just to "do" life here. Between the pace that we're trying to keep up and the challenges that we encounter just in daily cross-cultural living, Kevin and I are both feeling fatigued just trying to get back into the swing of things. We had a friend from the States who spent a large amount of his life living overseas staying with us this past week, and he wisely counseled us to make sure that we are pacing ourselves, as we are planing on staying here for the long-haul. We figure it was wise advice!
This weekend we will take the kids to our school banquet (which I hear has all the teachers excited, as they ALL love kids!) and try to make a family trip to Home Depot on Saturday. A few of our teacher friends from the International School are coming over for dinner on Saturday, and then we'll go have lunch at some other friends' house after church on Sunday. So it should be a fun weekend of social activities!
One of the kids' highlights this week has been doing fireworks each night on our balcony with Kevin. The past two weeks (from Chinese New Year until this upcoming Sunday, when they celebrate the Lantern Festival) there are firework stands on every corner. Kevin has been buying really cheap sparklers and these little snap firecrackers for he and the kids to enjoy. They are having a ball with them! It's a fun adventure every night to see what will come out of the newly purchased fireworks!
