Welcome to China!

This is a pic of our apartment building. It is a great location!

Here I am!

We have been here a little over two weeks now and we are settling in little by little! We have a large to do list and are working our way down, item by item. One of the items was to find a VPN (virtual private network) so we can access what we desire on the internet . Yay!

I have been sending email updates that have worked out great. I have not decided if I will change to just a blog format or keep up with the emails. Blog writing and email writing are much different. I had really concluded that I would not be blogging so I am still in shock that I am even making this post.

The sun is out today for only the second time since I've been here. It has not been smog so much, but thick haze brought on by the high humidity. The humidity makes us all crabby...and sweaty.

Kids have settled into school at ISB (International School of Beijing). Despite their hour long bus ride each way, they are really liking their school. They even like the bus ride as they can socialize, play and do homework. Today our new American Ambassador's children joined their bus...very exciting. E is playing softball, which gets her home past 7:00 two nights a week. We are looking forward to D finding something he'd like to do.

There have been many challenges here, which will make an amusing post for the future, but for now I am just working out how to get to places. Each day is a new challenge and place to go. Deciding to take the subway or a taxi is one thing, then communicating with the driver is another. Last night E needed to go to a church function at 6pm to a home we had not been to. We began getting directions at our front desk at 5:10 and started hailing taxis at 5:15. Of course it began to rain. Getting a taxi during evening hours, especially in the rain, is nearly impossible. Right at 6:00 we lucked out. D and I rode with Emma and were going to have the taxi driver just take us back, he would not do it. So we got out and walked home. It was about a 40 minute walk which was refreshing in the rain. Anywhere we go seems to be an adventure like that. I am very envious of all the people I know who have private drivers!

Today I will go grocery shopping, which is not a easy as it sounds. Then I will go find the vet and buy some things in preparation for Jupiter getting out of quarantine this weekend!