They came back smiling...

So...we're delighted to report that the junior H members came back yesterday from their time at Kindergarten and the Science museum red-cheeked, sweating and delighted from their day! We were ever so thankful for the wonderful day they had. We spent over an hour listening in dramatic detail (when the Bug was sharing) the blow by blow details...including some boy who kept smiling at the Bug! (Dad tried to close that down, right quick!)

We were the most concerned that Busy Bee would really struggle with the separation...especially after the elevator trauma...but she evidently sailed through and has now asked me 10-20 times... "When are we going to learn to speak "the local language" here?"

It tried to explain that it's going to take some time...but she said..."No Momma! Teach it to me!" Everything in time...

Potato said, with her flushed face alight, "Momma, we had CHINESE food for lunch today at our school!" Imagine that...

Bub apparently was the least happy in his classroom and so ended up glomming onto Potato and Busy Bee in their 4 year old room...but apparently went down without any trouble for the nap...and THOROUGHLY enjoyed the ice cream treat!

Magpie's fever is gone..still a nasty cough if you'll continue to think about her. She said at dinner last night..."Momma, I think we're going to be here for a long time." When I asked why, she replied, "I just can see us being here for awhile, though right now it's hard for me to believe that we're really here." She's really thinking about things...

The Bug is once again mugging for all who smile her direction and is working on using all 15 words in her foreign language with every stranger she meets...okay, she's really never met a stranger...

Yesterday we went to a fantastic classical garden with several pieces of architecture that date back to the mid-1500's. The Engineer and the Tender Hearted one, really enjoyed themselves, as did Dad and I. I told Dad when we were walking about in the (now I know, thanks to some great Blog readers) 100.4 F heat, that I felt really hopeful and ALIVE. This is all due to the waves of good thinking that are lifting us up. PLEASE DON'T STOP...IT IS MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN OUR MINUTE BY MINUTE EXPERIENCES!

We spent this morning meeting with a Principal of a large elementary school in the Dallas/Mansfield area. He was so awesome! Gave us tons and tons of pointers and info to assist us for our trip further inland and our meetings to begin to set up the school there! This was definitely a G-arrangement!

One note about some interesting food the other night...we were eating this lovely, spicy dish in a savory gravy but really struggling to get through some crunchy (well we really couldn't crunch them...had to pick them out of our mouths with our chopsticks)elements. Dad first guess was that it was some sort of bird's beaks...but I had heard that they were froglegs...

Let us tell you...frog femurs are STRONG...and STRANGE to have in your mouth!

For our mom's: sleeping is going quite well...no noticeable problems with jet-lag. Eating is sufficient although continuously adventurous. We are drinking lots and lots of bottled water. The people here are gracious and lovely and speak some decent English. It has been really fun for the kids to meet several kind adults and children. Dad's back is fine from the lifting of bags...not so fine (nor is mine) from the box-springs sleeping. We're thinking of crying out for a mercy shipment of foam mattress toppers...that is, if we're unable to find it at Wal-mart or another big retailer here!

The campus on which we're staying is quite modern...very clean with bathtubs in our bathrooms and a western-style potty! This morning I took all the kids down to the playground where they enjoyed the slides, swings,etc. We were met there by dozens of grandparents with the blessed single grandchildren. As this morning was also Saturday here, lots of fathers with their babies out at the playground in the early am (we were there at 6:30 to try to avoid a bit of the heat). I did note that here in a single child culture, very few kids are on the teeter-totter...no siblings for the other side.

Several of the kind faces watched me in wonderment as I pushed 3 kids on the swings at once. I'm certain the questions were dying to be translated to me...are ALL THOSE KIDS IN ONE FAMILY?

Another interesting recent question given us by the man at customs at the airport. "Is that girl your daughter?" "Yes." "Where she come from?" after I smiled and told him he eagerly and most genuinely asked "You like her?" I smiled and laughed and said "I love her dearly!" He smiled and gave me a big thumbs up sign...

Our facilitator here, the wonderful woman who hired us...we'll call her "The Chancellor," is clearly sent from above. She is so gracious, kind and loving to us. In fact, as we're stealing away a few moments to get into a private office and post this, she has all five of the kids with her at the market getting some items picked up for us! She is brave! We have been amazed at how attentive she has been to us.

Tomorrow we'll go to a large meeting on Sunday morning here near the campus. It is a registered meeting, so no concerns. We're really excited to experience it here and to meet the new people. Then tomorrow evening, we have a gathering in The Chancellor's home where we'll get to visit with 25 college-aged kids from the Dallas area who have been here teaching an ESL camp. We're looking forward to visiting with them.

Though he's going to die when he finds out that I wrote this...

Yesterday when we were touring this gorgeous, garden...peaceful and serene...flowing waters, magnificent buildings, historical markers around every turn and the sometimes deafening sounds of cicadas in the trees...Dad suffered an indiscretion...apparently he was attempting to use the cacophony of sound created by the cicadas to relieve some internal pressure (I cannot believe I'm even writing about this and I apologize to any sensitive readers...especially my mother)...

...however...just as Dad himself created a significant sound offering against the rock formation in the garden, the cicadas momentarily went silent and an innocent (though stealthily) passerby came along to hear what I myself heard CLEARLY from 100 paces away...

Dad flushed even more in his embarrassment...I laughed so hard I nearly fell down...

the worst part was that time and time again as we made our way through the maze of the buildings...we kept seeing the same guy who had witnessed the embarrassment...

As we read your emails and blog comments tears poured down our cheeks. Thanks to all of you for your support. Really, don't have any idea how this would go without you...now our hope is that you won't forget about us though we're so far away.

We'll try to respond to individual emails as soon as we can...know that we're delighted for each one but I must run from this office ASAP to get to the kids...

Making lasting first impressions everywhere we go... :)