Summer Break

Right now we are on our three week summer break. It's really nice. No worrying about going to school or getting up early. We are REALLY enjoying it. We haven't gone to see anything yet. Every time we ask the kids if they want to go somewhere, they say no. But I'm thinking we'll take them somewhere tomorrow. Maybe downtown. There is the Bell Tower in the middle of the walled city (which is downtow), and a bunch of cool shopping. I'll take plenty of pictures if we go.

Well, that the update of our summer break so far.

It's Just Been Sooo Busy...

I haven't forgotten to write, not really. We've just been soo busy here.

So, we have been here 2 mos. now. Language school has started in full swing. Yikes! I'm sure most of you know that Chinese is not the easiest of languages to learn. But I think Keith and I are doing pretty well. It's fun to be able to use it outside on the streets. We can only say a few words and a few sentences, but it's really exciting when people understand you. So, I'm trying to use it as much as possible, even if it is just one word.

We haven't done a whole bunch of sight-seeing. Really everything we see is new anyway. I think we've gotten pretty settled in so far. I know how to do all my grocery shopping, and things like that. It is more of an effort here to shop than at home in the states, but I'm learning my own ways to do it as efficiently as possible. Our fridge and cabinet space are really small, so trying to keep food in the house is a bit of a problem, but we're working on it. I'm think of getting a small deep freeze. I think that will really help out.

We get a "summer break" starting next week. It will be three weeks long. So, we're hoping to take the kids to see a few things. It's insanely hot here, so it's not really fun to go out walking during the day. But we'll see what we can. I'll try and put more pictures up on Flickr. I don't alway remember to bring my camera with me, but I'll try to do better.

Well, speaking of being busy...I guess I better go off and study, or clean, or take care of kids, or....

How We're Doing So Far

Pretty good, I must say. We've had our struggles with some sickness--stomach issues (to be expected) and cold/sinus trouble, but we seem to be recovered or almost recovered. Glad that's behind us.

I went today for the first time by myself (well, Nicole was with me, but that doesn't count :) to the market across the street. It's in the back of a village. I bought some chicken--interesting experience--and a bunch of veggies/fruit. I love buying the veggies. It's like a big farmer's market. Fun. And everything looks so good and fresh. The chicken is fresh too, I mean like just killed a few minutes before. Yikes! But I forged ahead and bought some chicken breasts and a whole chicken, with head and feet intact. Yeah! But that's not freaking me out so much anymore. I put the pictures on Flickr.

Now we are just waiting for Keith to come back with Chinese take-out. We decided that Tues. are take-out night because I will be getting back from school on that night around 5 pm. (School begins June 29th.) Take-out is insanely cheap here. We got take-out last week. We got 3 meat dishes and 2 veg. dishes and it all cost about 8 dollars! Crazy, I know. And it is sooo very good.

Well, it looks like the kids spotted Keith downstairs. So, off to eat!

Note About Pictures...

I am just NOT able to upload pictures to blogger. So because of that, I have created a Flickr account so that anyone can view our pictures there. The address is:

www.flickr.com/photos/kandjwommack

It is still a work in progress. I'm still uploading our pictures and I haven't organized them yet, but at least you can see what we're doing. Please leave a comment and let me know if you are unable to view them or if I got the url wrong. Enjoy our pictures!

First Birthday in NA

We have officially celebrated a first birthday here in Northern Asia. Keith's birthday was on May 29th. A friend took us to a Chinese restaurant (very good) and even brought a birthday cake. She told the waitress it was his birthday, so later they brought him a bowl of "long life" noodles. They were good (yes, we all tasted them), a little sour. His goal was to be here in Northern Asia before his birthday, and he made it two days before. So, I would say he had a great birthday.

We're here!!!

We officially made it to Northern Asia last night around 11 pm. We have been kept pretty busy here our first day, and needless to say we are EXHAUSTED, so I'm just gonna leave it at the announcement and follow up with a post about our trip here, our apartment, and what we're up to. Til then...

We're Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read that right. We are completely done and have already purchased our tickets. We leave May 26th from Houston. It's still hard to believe that we are actually done!

Right now we are just passing time...continuing with kids' schooling...packing here and there...and finishing up the last of our shopping of things we want to take with us.

I do apologize in the lack of posting...my mother-in-law has unreliable internet and I just now made it to the library to post this. I'll try to do better, but I'm sure we're only going to get busier from here on. So, until the next post...