Ni Hao from Shanghai

Ni Hao, Ya'll! I can hardly believe that as of tomorrow, we have been here 7 weeks. Some days it feels like time has flown by and other days make me feel like we have been here 7 years. We hit the ground running and it still has not stopped. We are starting to settle the house little by little and we are already halfway through the first quarter. Mid-term progress reports go out on Monday. Whew! School keeps us busy to say the least. Sean is doing incredibly well. He seems to really enjoy school and all the amazing activities that his teacher creates. Here is a link to his teacher's blog to see him in action.

Jasmine's honeymoon period ended not when Mommy and Daddy started work 3 days after we arrived because she had her brother. The world came to an end for her once Sean started school and the 3 of us left her with the ayi. "But Mommmmmeeeeeeeyyyyyy! She doesn't understand a word I say, and I don't understand Chinese!!!!" Tears flowing from her eyes, arms flailing, my heart breaking! It was sooo hard. This happened every morning for 2 weeks. Then she started school. WOW! What a difference! She attends from 8:30 to 1:00, and rides a big kid bus with 2 other students from our compound. She loves it and the teacher says she acts like she has been there forever. She is doing great, picking up more Chinese than any one of us, for sure!

Me, well, it has been a challenge as I expected. I would say the most difficult things have been related to the language barrier and how far the school is from where we live. I truly can not stand that 45 minute bus ride to school every morning and 1 hour (or more) ride home every afternoon. Poor Sean gets headaches induced by motion sickness and that just stinks! I feel for the kid. Mostly though, I feel for Jasmine. Coming here next year would have been more ideal as she would have been 4 years old and able to come to our school. It truly is hard for her! This Thursday will be an even bigger challenge as we have Open House. The school is too far for us to come home between the end of school and Open House. That day we will depart our apartment at 6:45 am and not return until late that night, around 10:00 pm. Not looking forward to that, but I absolutely enjoy being back in the classroom, though. I LOVE teaching Humanities, and my sixth graders are lots of fun. Click here to see my Humanities blog.

Anyway, just wanted to post an update now that I have a way to access this blog. Yes, I found a way around the Great Firewall and I hope it lasts! I'll post some pics tonight or tomorrow:)