. . . These are Karis' awestruck words our first day here in Thailand. We have been so enjoying wearing shorts and flip flops the last three days we've been out of the cold here in Chiang Mai. We arrived with just a few challenges to overcome--including a full 24 hours of travel to finally arrive at our destination, only 6 hours of sleep our first night in a hotel (which was interrupted by one child vomiting, one child awakening and crying for unknown reasons, and the baby trying to go to sleep finally at 1 am without being in a baby bed)! Oh, and did I mention that the pillows in the hotel were so thick that we were finally able to use them as a blockade to keep Noah in his makeshift bed? How do you know your pillows are truly overstuffed? When your extremely agile and crawling 8 month old can't even get over them!
Anyway, we finally made it to Chiang Mai and have been having a great last 3 days. We've had meetings and teaching time, and we've had such sweet time connecting with others and getting refreshed in many ways. The kids have already made dear friends here, and they are especially loving that there is a pool right out our front door! When I asked Karis before we left home if she was excited to get to meet some new kids during this time, her wide-eyed question to me was, "Mom, do you think there will be some kids there who speak English?!" I assured her there would be, so she had been greatly anticipating this week! Her two closest new friends this far are the two youngest in a family with 10 kids! (Harriet and Audrey) We love it because it makes our family look a little less crazy with only 4!
Kevin and I have had some good time reflecting over our last 5 months in China in the evenings once the kids are down for bed. I've been compiling a list of things I've learned (or in some cases, just had reinforced) during our time of transition to this new place. Here are just a few!
What I've learned in China (thus far!):
- PF Chang's is NOT authentic Chinese food
- A dinner of mainly veggies and rice is not so bad
- there is ALWAYS room for one more on an elevator
- 32 degrees can actually feel relatively warm in the winter
- Chinese people (including men!) LOVE kids (unless it is raining and they are taxi drivers worried about getting muddy footprints on their highly valued seat covers)
- I want to spend as little time as possible in a Chinese hospital
- Chinese people are much kinder and more patient towards foreigners than Americans are (in general, of course)
- Eggs do NOT have to be refrigerated as attentively as previously thought
- Not everyone uses cheese and butter in their cooking like we do in the West
- It is possible to use a squatty potty while having an infant strapped to you in a Baby Bjorn (no, photo not included!)
- I LOVE my kids and can't believe how much fun they are to be with
- Deep bonds of friendship can develop more quickly than I imagined
- Goodbyes are gut-wrenching and heart-breaking and leave an ache long after the guest room is cleaned and the towels are washed
- A lot of the sub-culture of sports transcends those even larger cultural differences between ethnicities
- I am married to the greatest guy in the world and am so thankful that he is also my best friend
- You don't just "pick up" Mandarin without really working at it
- Much of communication is non-verbal
- He will not lead without coming with us
- It is possible to feel joy, loneliness, and peace all at the same time
- Our family is blessed with a Stateside support system that is truly rare and unique
- I need Him every hour!
