Settling In

My head is in a million places, making me wonder how I thoughtfully composed blog postings when we moved to China last September. I'm doing well just to find a moment and put a quick journal posting of our day.

Today was L--'s second day of school, and this little girl is really a star. I feel blessedly confident that the timing in starting school is perfect. She happily allowed me to leave after a quick 5 minutes this morning, and didn't want to go when I picked her up this afternoon. Her teacher sent pictures of her climbing a tree, and examining a bull frog with a magnifying glass. Makes me jealous!

S-- is settling into a quiet enjoyment of her time without big sister. Today she had the complete attention of both Nana and myself, making for a particularly pleasant morning. She asks after her sister every so often, but finds school a satisfactory location for her absent sister.

I'm settling in to the new place as well. The apartment is quite spacious, and really quite nice. The complex is rather dreary, but the girls enjoy the fountains and goldfish in the middle and the playgrounds keep them happy for hours. Our first visit to the playground, and not one Western face. Not one word of English met my ears. My heart fell. But upon checking email this evening, I now have connections inside the complex to people with 2 year olds. Between school, our friends back in Pudong, and these new friends in the complex, S-- and I should keep plenty busy. Plus, we now truly live in China. This is no expat enclave, hiding away from the fact that we live in China. This is a complex primarily of upper class Chinese, in a very Chinese neighborhood. They're selling interesting food on the street, and we pass small alleys full of life on our way to school every morning. There's a small park across the street, which fills with tai chi practitioners and old men displaying their song birds in the mornings. Exploring every corner of our neighborhood will take months, and certainly yield all sorts of new treasures.

We look forward to Daddy's return from the states on Friday afternoon, and I'm so glad that Nana came to stay with us this week. Without her, this would certainly have been a difficult week. But with her around to help, and to enjoy the exploring, the girls and I have really enjoyed the first few days in our new home.