We've survived the first week and 2 days of school! We're off and running on another school year, and it's hard to believe how quickly it feels like everything starts up again around here. So far, we've been incredibly thankful at how much the kids have all enjoyed their classmates and teachers. Karis is in 4th grade, and just loves everything about school. Eli is in 2nd, and is super excited to have a male teacher. He does fun things like teach the kids how seeds are spread through bird poop, complete with the tooting sound effects and bottom-wriggle motion that would help them remember the whole process! Hudson made it through the first week of 1st grade with very few tears, except the one day he accidentally went into the girls' bathroom and had the whole class laughing at him (he did recover quickly, however, according to his teacher). And Noah is in junior kindergarten and still begging me every day to let him stay for the full day instead of coming home with me at noon! Kevin and I are each teaching 2 high school classes, and we've even already made it through the first parent Open House and the presentations we had to give the parents (Korean parents, which make up most of the families enrolled in the school, traditionally take education VERY seriously and are extremely competitive about their child's academic success.)In spite of the first week going well, I must confess that it was a bit overwhelming for me personally. I had forgotten how much time and energy (both physical and emotional) it takes to teach only 2 hours per day! I think a combination of the early mornings and getting into a new routine rattled me more than I expected it to. That was coupled with the fact that Kevin ended up getting sick for 2 days, so I was minus the pair of extremely capable hands I have come to count on, and even had to teach 2 of his classes for him on one day since he had to go home sick. Our weekend has been pretty low-key, and has helped me re-group and be reminded that I need to give myself and everyone else in the family some time to make the adjustment from the summer schedule to that of the school year. I'm hoping that as things become a bit more routine, the "extra" things that we like to do, that are anything beyond that of basic survival, will become more of a joy and less of a burden in my mind! At our fellowship time this morning, the message was on II Thess 5, and I must confess that my heart leaped as the teacher closed with the words that "One day we will be entering the rest that we receive in His presence...." Thinking I need to experience a bit of that rest right here, right now, even if it is but a shadow of what is to come!
Karis and Eli spent the last week of their summer break helping out our friend Ms. Barbara teach an English camp to some of the Chinese kids in her community. It was really precious to see their enthusiasm and willingness to jump in. I stayed on the first day of camp to make sure that my crew could be the helpers they were intended to be, and was cracking up as the kids attending the camp were writing out their name tags. There were three little boys the first week; their names were Perry, Larry, and Harry! Not really sure who came up with them, or if maybe one of them did to start and the rest just followed suit with whatever rhyming words they could, but thought it was pretty cute (even if somewhat confusing!).I also spent some time before school started visiting a Chinese friend who has recently had a baby (her first, of course). The poor girl was so confused because she was getting so many mixed messages! The situation in China is that usually a new mother has both her mother and mother-in-law come and help her right after the birth of a baby. So she's got LOTS of suggestions and advice being offered at every crossroad! Both grandmothers were insistent that the baby should never cry. The mother-in-law had even convinced my friend that because her child was a boy, if he did cry very much at all, he would have problems with his male anatomy later in life! I didn't ask for specifics, but tried to hide my shock and assure her that as far as I was aware, my 3 male-cryers had no such issue, in spite of the fact that I was not afraid to let them cry it out a bit in certain situations!
Our first weekend after school started we decided to celebrate by going to 2 of the kids favorite places--the newest mall in town that has an indoor arcade-type play place, and the lake where we've been letting them swim. Kevin kept all 4 kids afloat long enough for me to get some swim training in for the triathlon I'm training for, and we were able to come home and turn the bathtub water a dingy gray as we washed off (but still no signs of any sickness as a result!). I am in countdown for the tri--only 1 month away before I head out of town on an overnight train to compete in a sprint triathlon with 3 other friends. We'll be swimming 750m, biking 20k, and running 5k. I've felt pretty good about the training until recently, as I've run into more people who have shared some pretty scary stories! Evidently this is the most difficult course in China due to the hills. There's one that you bike up and down that the majority of women supposedly get off and walk their bikes! Not sure about my planning in doing this course as my very first one, but I figure if I survive it without having a disastrous experience, I might be hooked to do others around China! 
The mall excitement, in addition to playing ski ball and some fun basketball games, was when we found this huge screen outside a department store. It was a huge interactive screen that projected a video of the people (mainly kids) standing in front of the stage area. The kids can move around and virtually pop balloons, wipe away drops of water, etc. But the funniest part was the lightning and fire. At one point, there were virtual bolts of lightning that would come down and strike anything that was in motion on the screen! Kevin and I were trying to imagine this ever being considered okay in the US! The other funny screen was when those in motion turned into fire balls. Kevin and I couldn't help but chuckle as we watched our kids being "struck by lightning" and then bursting into flame every time they moved, which as you could imagine, was quite often!
The last cute Noah-ism to share was from this week when Noah came home with stories from his classroom. He explained that the 3 caterpillars that had been brought in earlier in the week had changed into "raccoons"! When I questioned if he was sure they hadn't become "cocoons", he assured me that they were most definitely raccoons. His teacher had said so, and she knows. How can I argue with that?!
