Interesting Tidbits & Real News

Just some interesting tidbits:

I woke up to a beautiful sky and a cool breeze coming through the open windows this morning. This photo is taken from our kitchen patio area.

From the other side of the house we have a view of a pre-school play yard. On weekday mornings it is entertaining to watch the kids playing down below. Aren't they cute? (The little girls "sleeping" on the ground were playing house, or something.)

 Many people use the exercise equipment in our apartment complex courtyard, especially in the evenings, and I think spending some time each day there will be a good way to strike up conversations and meet some new people.

Just like in California, R has been busywith home projects. Today the big item on his list is installing a shower head in our master bathroom. The difference is that where we once had a quick and easy trip over to Home Depot for parts, we now have a subway ride followed by a long walk to the nearest home improvement store (B&Q). He is currently on his second trip for this project, and I'm sure is taking great care to make sure he doesn't need to go back again!

Now for some "real" news:

We were asked if we would be willing to teach English to some children during the week. This would be something we volunteer to do as a family one day per week. We are excited for this opportunity for a variety of reasons! Once the summer holiday is over and school is in session, we will be contacted about finding a good time for the classes to begin. The location is a nice 20 minute bike ride away from our house, so it would be very convenient for us.

We are delighted that our dear friends the B’s are also going to be our near neighbors! They have been looking for an apartment for quite some time now, and on Sunday signed the papers for a unit that is in our same building, 12 floors above our own!

The B's from the back!



We went to register for language school today, and they are accommodating our family with a special class just for us. Our classes (four 45 minute sessions per day) will be MWF from 8:30am-11:45pm beginning September 3^rd. The school is a 45 minute trip from our house via subway, so I’m thankful we don’t have to go a full five days a week.  Clean, well-lit rooms, a friendly and helpful staff, and some nice perks will make "Dian Da" a pleasant place to go each week.

A touching father/son moment as we approached our new school.

One of the perks! We also have use of a small work-out room.

The school is also equipped with several lovely study rooms and lunch rooms.

 After being here for a couple of weeks now and relying heavily upon others to translate for us, we are highly motivated to begin our studies! Until then I’m finding a lot of opportunities to say, “Wo zheng zai xue han yu, ke shi wo shuo de bu hao. Wo bu ming bai ni shuo shen me!” Translation: I am just now learning Chinese, but I speak very poorly. I don’t understand what you are saying! :)