Hello all! Month one is behind us. We have lived in China for one whole month. I will not lie, some days it feels a lot longer than one month.
With that being said, we really are continuing to do well. We just got back from spending a week in Langkawi, Malaysia for the Chinese New Year (CNY)! OMG!!! It was simply breathtaking!! I guess living in China has some perks! The five of us had an amazing time despite the many bumps we hit along the way (cut hand, two kids with swimmers ear, one kid falling in a ditch, same kid barfing on the shuttle back to the airport, and another kid running a fever the last two days of vacation)! I now know what paradise looks like! We look forward to seeing much more of Asia while living here!
The kids continue to do great at school! Both of them have very wonderful teachers. Energetic and very dedicated to the profession! They both are making friends and fitting in just fine! I am a little blown away with the freedom that some of the kids that live in our compound get. I know that I am somewhat of a protective mother (heck I JUST started letting the boys play outside in Michigan without me just this fall...as long as they were together and with a group of kids), but it blows my mind that I have had kids come knocking on the door to play inside. I have no clue where they live or who their parents are or anything. The same kid comes over almost everyday to play. He tells me what time he has to be home and he plays until that time. Then he gets on his bike or scooter in the dark and goes home. I am just a little dumbfounded that his mom is okay with this! I guess not all moms are as paranoid and protective as this one!!
Natalie is good. I am sure she is sick of me by now. The two of us have been inseparable since we arrived. There are very few kids here age to play with as most of them go to preschool full time. Chrysler will not pay for preschool so she is stuck with me until she starts Kindergarten in the Fall. It is one of my CNY goals to find something/someone for her to play with in the next week or two. I mean there has to be someone else here that is in the same situation as me (I hope)!!!
So yes I have some CNY goals. I never set any new year resolutions a month ago b/c I thought moving to China was enough! Well now that I have been here a month I have some goals I want to tackle. I actually have done one already, and it was unintentional. I drink less pop than I did in the US, and I eat a lot healthier (way more veggies and fruit are in my diet now). And I do not pick on junk as much as I did back home....one of the reasons being who wants to munch on Beef flavored Cheetos!!
I want to start exercising ! I always had an excuse such as cleaning the house and doing laundry. Well thanks to having an Ayi that is no longer an excuse. I have plenty of time on my hands and a gym two minutes away. Looks like I will be hitting the gym soon!! The Ayi has watched Natalie for me a couple of times while I go to pick up the boys so I am feeling more and more comfortable leaving Natalie with her for an hour so I can go work out!! I really have no excuses anymore!
Another goal is to just keep putting myself out there to meet new people. While everyone is very friendly, I find that most of the ladies have there "clicks". I need to keep putting myself out there to find which click I can be a part of! I find myself searching for people that I may have something in common with...I had a lovely conversation yesterday at pickup with a Grandpa who was wearing a Red Sox cap. While he is just here visiting, it was nice to be able to talk to someone I had something in common with as we talked about the east coast and the Patriots hopefully kicking butt in the Super Bowl (that we probably will not be able to watch). I often wonder if these people who I "seek" out think I have a screw loose (or maybe even two), but then I remember I am living in China and that is what you have to do to survive living in China! So I will continue to just walk up to people and talk to them, and I just know that one of them is lonely like me and is looking for a placeto fit in.
Okay off to see what the kiddos are doing. Nat has a playmate today...Patrick was running a very high fever last night so he did not go to school today!!
Love to all of you!!!
Congrats on your one month in!! I'm sure it must be hard to figure out what comes next. I'm glad you settling in and figuring that out though! Just take it one step at a time and I'm sure in time you'll find your people and get used to things and it will become the norm for you...just give it time. I wondered what eating would be like there...when Tony went to China he ate mostly at the Hard Rock Cafe and McDonalds, so it wasn't a true gauge of what international cuisine would really be like, I hoped it would be veggie based.
ReplyDeleteI came across a new fruit the other day called Budda's hand...I guess it's like lemon and comes from China. It's the same color, texture, smell as the outside of a lemon, but it looks like a small octopus, with many "fingers". I had to buy it in honor of you, knowing you are forced to try many new things right now and we could all stand to try a little something new now and again. It would have worked well for anything needing a Zest of lemon, but I used a "finger" of it to flavor my water and it was a bit to "rindy" for my taste, but it was cool to try regardless!
I'm glad to hear you have some time for yourself to gym, or do whatever, and I'm sure as you get more settled and comfortable you'll have to opportunity to explore a bit on your own and find more of your people! Just keep putting yourself out there like you're doing and you'll find someone you connect with. You a wonderfully sweet, caring, friendly person and anyone, in any culture, should recognize that in short order!
Hugs to everyone there from everyone here!