"Do we give up?" This is what Max asks me every morning as I make the decision on whether it will be possible to sleep any longer. Today we made it to 5 a.m. which is progress from the last few days of 4 a.m. wakings. Some of this is the shifting time zones. But I think it also has something to do with the sunrise/sunset times. It is light outside at 5 a.m. and full darkness by 7 p.m. - in the midst of summer! Now imagine this: ALL of China is on the same time. That is like New York and LA being on the same time. So in west China the sun rises somewhere around 8 or 9 a.m. and sets at 10 or 11 p.m.! Try to get your kids to sleep over there!!! Here, we are falling asleep early. Last night I lasted until 8:15 p.m.
I am learning that even the simplest of tasks takes a long time to accomplish. Gone are the days of dashing up to Kroger to pick up a few things. I realize I will become more efficient as I figure out where to buy what, but for now I am resigned to standing in front of a bunch of colorful packages trying to decipher from the pictures if this particular item is meant to clean clothes, dishes, or toilets. I purchase something called 'laundry sanitizer' the other day, thinking it was laundry detergent. There were, after all, pictures of bright, clean clothes boasted on the back of the bottle. However, when no suds or bubbles appeared during the wash cycle, I rethought. I then bought something that actually had the word "detergent" somewhere in small print among the Chinese characters. So now I am using both detergent and sanitizer in my loads of laundry. I'm thinking that sanitization sounds good considering the water quality here??? Of course, there is the issue of working the actual washer and dryer which is all in Chinese so I am literally pressing buttons and staring and hoping I am putting my clothes through the wash cycle - which seems to take, like, 90 minutes. The dryer seems to take even longer - which explains the many racks for hanging clothes to dry...
The kids start school tomorrow. We have to attend three orientations - one for each kid - prior to the start of school. All three kids attend each of these orientations with me which are (based on the one we went to yesterday) quite boring, but necessary nonetheless. At this point, I am longing for a Quarton curriculum night. Nostalgia has a way of working like that. I think the kids are as ready to start school as I am. They are getting a little stir crazy doing all this running around with me. Soon I must get their gymnastics classes found and set - to exert all this extra manic energy!!!
where are you again?
amazing...im going to enjoy watching your family's adventures..
Posted by: steven | 08/18/2009 at 09:04 PM