Universally Acknowledged Truth

Some days I find it very difficult to find time to write in my journal. This saddens me, because I really want to chronicle our adventures here. I suppose I could justify it in saying that we're having so many adventures that I don't have time to write them down :) However, I think the fact of the matter is that we're just trying to settle into our new life here and I'm not on any sort of schedule yet. Whenever I sit down to the computer, there is so much to do that lj seems to get pushed aside. Also, our Internet connection is much slower than I'm used to (chalk that up to a just-barely DSL connection as well as a wi-fi system that Chris set up but can't figure out how to make secure. I suppose Chinese instructions are very confusing, lol. One of our collegues who lives two buildings away said she picked up our wi-fi signal. That's frustrating because sometimes when I'm in the next room over I can't pick it up! Our walls are solid cement.) Anyway, my point is that I wish I had more time and ease to just pop on LJ and write random thoughts like I used to. There is so much here that I want to comment on or remember.

Yesterday was our first day of "church". I put that in quotes because it was held at someone's apartment and there were only two other families attending. However, it was wonderful to be around kindred spirits. The Yui's are from Hong Kong. They have 2 kids and the 15 year old girl totally talks with an American accent. Ok, actually it is Canadian as they lived there for several years. The Watley's are from Michigan. They have 5 kids, spanning ages 16 to 4. They have 2 boys the same ages as Zack and Petey!! Our kids hit it off so well together, I'm very happy. Zack and Jay were sitting on the couch, making farting noises with their armpits and laughing their heads off (this was after the church service was over, not during!) Petey and Eli were wrestling. Connor bounced around from one pile of boys to the other. Unfortunately, they live pretty far away from us, so we probably won't be getting together outside of church, but still it's great that they have buddies. AND the Whatley's have an oven so she made lasagna and muffins for the pot luck. It was wonderful to have some familiar food.

Today was Cici's first day AND the first day of homeschool. I'm exhausted! Cici seems like she will work out well. She wore high heels which I find amusing but is totally an everyday footwear in China. She had a hard time keeping Connor occupied during homeschool. He just did not want her around him. I felt bad for her because she really tried, but he wanted me and no one else. She'd try to hand him a crayon and he'd take it from her and throw it across the room. I was a little embarrassed by his behavior. But later, he went in the bedroom and called her "Cici, toys." He said it in a sing-song voice, inviting her to come play with him. After lunch (we ate with the group) Chris and I took off for a couple of hours and left her alone with the kids. This was our first time alone in about 3 weeks. He took me to the electronics district where we tried to find the best deal on a printer/copier/scanner. I need one to print out worksheets for the boys. We found an HP for about $60, but we didn't get it. We kept looking for the next best deal and ended up with nothing :) We'll have to go back.

When we got home, the boys were still right where we left them: playing video games. We had told her they are only allowed to play for 30 mintues a day. I don't know if she misunderstood us or disregarded what we said. We'll have to try that again tomorrow. She did have Connor asleep so that was good. I think it may be easier for her once the weather cools off. It was much too hot/humid to play for long outside today. As Petey points out, it's almost difficult to breath because of the thick humidity. I'm pleased with her so far. She commented on how the boys hardly ate any lunch. As far as I can tell, the Chinese don't subscribe to the American custom of expecting kids to eat what's served to them, whether they like it or not. It really worries them when my kids don't eat well at lunch and they are often asking me what my kids would prefer to eat. I'm ok with what we are served for lunch, and I feel that eventually my kids will start to eat it if that's all there is. Chris says this is all part of the "little emperor"syndrome that has swept across China. Little emperor's are the pampered children of China. Because most families can only have one child, the children are usually very indulged. It makes sense if you think about it. There is only one grandchild to two sets of grandparents. Anyway, back to the point here: Cici says she can fix food that she knows the boys will like better. Apparently she has know several Italians and learned to cook Italian food. She says she'd be happy to fix lunch for the boys. I think we'll give it a try and see how that goes.

And now for the homeschool report: it went pretty well for the first day. The kids were excited about it and pretty cooperative. We did math first and then we painted Chinese characters. They liked that a lot. Next, I put one kid a typing lesson (it's a game, they really liked it) and the other did reading lessons. We swapped it up after a few minutes. We only did about 2 hours of homeschool today, but I'd like to do 3. I know everyday will go more smoothly as we settle into a routine and Connor gets more accustomed to Cici. I hope things with her will work out. I was worried she was overwhelmed, but she said she'd be back tomorrow :)