It's our anniversary! One year ago today, we arrived in China. Boy has this year been full of ups and downs, laughter and tears, bonding and self-awareness. "It seems like yesterday" is such a cliche that I hesitate to use it here, but really...it seems like yesterday.
My goal from the beginning of this journey was to remember to appreciate everything within the experience. I knew that there would be challenges, and I knew that I would tend to let the challenges overshadow the gems. And, to be honest, most days my brain was so overloaded that I took little time to truly reflect on what an amazing experience this is for my family. Every now and then, however, I would slap myself on the cheeks, pull myself out of the look-at-what-I-can't-do rut, and flip through the mental photo album of this journey so far. Wow! What an experience! I can sincerely say that I'm thankful for every moment - from simple every day victories like making macaroni and cheese to once-in-a-lifetime feats like climbing the Great Wall.
Today, on our China anniversary, I'm feeling nostalgic (if nostalgic can apply to a mere one year of experiences). At any rate, just look at what we've done! Correction...look at what God is doing.
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| On our way to China: This was the first plane ride for the kids. Now, they have flown on more than a dozen planes. |
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| Morgan's birthday was about three weeks after we arrived. I spoke NO Chinese at that point, and it took three painfully confusing hours to order this birthday cake. |
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| We arrived in the heart of winter's deep freeze. Brrrrrr! |
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| The kids started school a little over a week after arriving. It took a while for all of us to adjust to the differences, but now they run the place. ;-) |
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| The fireworks during Chinese New Year |
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| Christian earned a spot in the school spelling bee with only two weeks of preparation. The other students had two months. |
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| Here's one of the ways we adapted to Chinese lifestyle. We have no clothes dryer, so we hang our laundry in the window. Homeowners associations all over the U.S. are cringing. |
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| Farell quickly found ways to stay active. The basketball team even gave him a Chinese name. |
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| Hong Kong Disney By March, we were all in need of a get away. The kids accepted all the sacrifices and adjustments without uttering one single complaint. They deserved an awesome get-away. |
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| Prior to Chinese New Year we envisioned huge festivals with dancing dragons, but there was none of that here. Our first authentic lion/dragon dance occurred months later in Hong Kong. |
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| The temperature outside was still a little nippy, but it was just right inside the greenhouse for strawberries. Of course in China we wouldn't dare eat them while picking, but after a good soaking in veggie wash and vinegar... YUMMY! |
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| Chinese food-eating adventures |
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| This was the first Easter that we didn't have an egg hunt and dye eggs at my mother's house, but she made sure we had plastic eggs and decorating supplies. Thank God for my mama and DHL! |
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| Just as I was beginning to feel defeated by all things China, our driver helped me find some gorgeous lilies for Easter. |
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| International day at the Christian fellowship we attend. What a blessing it is for all us to worship along with believers from all over the world. Chinese nationals are not permitted by the government to attend. |
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| Spring finally arrived. We were so excited to see that the trees here actually do have leaves. |
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| With Spring came new bikes. By this time my Chinese was good enough to negotiate at the bike shop. I got both of these for about $60. |
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Another lovely occurrence with the arrival of spring is
the 4 am sunrise. Good grief! That's even tough for early
birds like me.
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| Just before his birthday, Christian started guitar lessons and picked out a cool new guitar. I was so glad he finally had something to call his own. |
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| Tea, glorious tea. I've fallen in love with Chinese tea. |
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For Mother's day my family gave me my first authentic
tea set. Tea party anyone?
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| On Monday, we received a note that on Friday students should dress up as their favorite book character. What?!! I spent four hours at Wu Ai market searching for inspiration.Whoo hoo! Harry Potter glasses! |
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| Summer came and we wasted no time heading back to the states. We heard the summer heat is as extreme as the winter cold. |
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School resumed with lots of fun. This was the BEST
field day I've ever attended. Fun! Fun! Fun!
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Fall comes quickly here and it's beautiful. There's full
color by early October. |
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| The fall also brought a new job for me. I began teaching at a small Chinese school. It takes another blog post to tell about how God has used this experience to prune me and shape me. I'll never be the same. |
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| I asked for pumpkins, and pumpkins I received. I was met with blank stares when I said, "Um, do you have any orange ones?" (We did eventually find some.) |
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During fall break, we went to the aquarium with our driver
and his family. Outings like this are universal; no
translations necessary.
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I love that Morgan has a great balance of girlie and sporty.
Her volleyball team came in 2nd place at the tournament.
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| Still haven't found any regular team sports or physical activities for Christian, but in October his P.E. teacher introduced him to cup stacking (it's a serious sport). He's actually quite good, but as of yet, there are no official competitions in China. |
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Our Non-traditional Thanksgiving Day
I can't say enough about the awe I felt
walking the Great Wall with my children.
No textbook or website can compete
with this.
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| After doggedly turning down many peddlers trying to get over on the foreigners, we decided to accept a rickshaw ride. This driver took our money ($7), then dropped us off one hours walk from our desired destination. Life lessons learned the hard way... |
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Outside the Imperial Palace in Beijing.
After the frustrating rickshaw incident, this is what God
presented to us. Our feet were aching and so was our pride,
but how can you focus on that with such
tranquility in front of you.
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| I got the boys to drink tea! Unfortunately, this tea vendor in Beijing tried to take advantage of us and I came home to discover I had purchased a used package of tea. |
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| I don't know if they still do them in the states, but this school had middle school science fair. As usual, my baby went above and beyond. We put this one away for her PhD thesis. |
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| I was determined to have a Christmas tree. Once again, I came home with something less than I anticipated. The tree on display was much fuller than this one, but "yay me" for accomplishing the purchase. |
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| Another Christmas tradition I was determined to fulfill was Christmas dinner. No turkeys in Shenyang, but whole chickens are no problem! Ewww! Yes, I chopped off the head and feet and removed whatever organs those were inside. I tell you what, it was the tastiest bird I've ever roasted. (I forgot to take an after picture.) |
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| A new tradition we began this year was ice skating on Christmas Eve. |
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| We've come full circle, back to winter. This is our New Year's ski trip. Fun, but c-c-cold! I don't think any of us are in a hurry to do it again. |
Bring it on 2012!
