home repairs ( the china version) and other ramblings

This is going to be a post where I ramble. So consider yourself warned.

Our house, particularly our kitchen seems to be always in need of repairs. Water leaks. The workers come and repair it. A month later water leaks from another spot. Again it is repaired. Last night as I was doing dishes, the water pressure got less and less until I barely had any water. I knew another repair was in our future. When the worker came today, he said that it was a BIG problem. (which often they say, so I don't always believe them)

When the worker had gone to buy parts, I came into the kitchen to find:

Uh, yeah. I think that would be a big problem.

But it is all fixed. For now. We shall see how long it is before I have to call the repairman again. There are times when I am just ready to move. But after completing our home study, we are here until we pick up our son. We will just continue to deal with those little problems. When thinking of re-doing our home study, the continual home repairs pale by comparison.

And now, I am looking forward to next week. Tuesday I am going to Japan. Just me. I can count the number of times that I have gotten on an airplane by myself on one hand. Granted our kids are traveling pros, but still to do it completely solo is an exciting thought. Just me. I could read. Or crochet. Can I say it again? I am traveling just me (in case you missed it). I am going to help out with our new little niece. And her 18-month-old big brother. Andy's brother is traveling to the US next week, so my visit is timely.

We think that we have made a decision regarding schooling for next year. With Tori entering elementary school, we had the decision to make of where to send her. Do we send her to a Chinese school? The international school? Home school? And so, I began the process of researching a couple months ago. There is a Chinese school near us that offers part of the day in English that we thought might be a potential. But the more we thought about it, we wondered if it would be good to keep all of our kids together at the same school now that T would be in elementary school. There were things that I liked at the Chinese school, but there was also a lot that I didn't like. If Becca attended, she would have evening classes. And there would be a lot more pressure (pressure to achieve and get ahead, this is an inherent part of most Chinese schools). Not to mention that the teaching style is much different (more rote versus learner directed). And where does the international school factor into this? We really like the education at the international school, but we just kept balking at the price of the international school for all three. One year at the international school for one child is more expensive than a year at a private college in the US. Is that really a wise use of resources? Somehow we just kept coming back to the idea of homeschooling. After much debate, we are strongly leaning towards home schooling. And yes, there are concerns with that as well. Social interaction being a big one. But overall, it just seems like the best choice. There are some other homeschooling families in our city. And after looking at various curriculum options, I am excited about teaching our kids. Which is funny because I never imagined being a homeschooling parent.

So there are many changes in store for us next year. Adding a new little one. Schooling. But at the same time, I feel confident that our family and more importantly our kids will take this in stride. At least we are not moving to a different country, right?