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? 

Home study

Last Thursday we had our home study. At first when I thought about it, I wasn't really too worried. But then I got to thinking more. Of course all that thinking just prompted more worries. Our home is just not like a typical American home. How, you ask? First off, construction-wise it is just not built like an American home and therefore has some quirkiness. In our damp climate, we battle mold year-round (and sometimes we do not win). Our house is mostly constructed out of concrete. With no insulation. This makes our home somewhat drafty. We know and are used to it (hence the many layers we wear). And then to top it all off, we have an ayi -- househelp. I have heard stories about families here whose ayi was included in the home study report and then US Immigration wanted a slew of paperwork on her. Background checks, medical tests, the list goes on. Doesn't that just sound daunting?

Add to the fact that we would be hosting the two women that were coming and this was not going to be your normal visit. They stayed at a hotel, but we were their guides. I met them at the airport in Shanghai and we had the opportunity to talk on the van ride home. We made arrangements that they would come to our house for lunch the next day and we would talk in the afternoon. 

While having them here for lunch was just practical, I think that it set the tone for the entire visit. It was such a relaxed affair. For most of the study, we were on the couches having coffee and tea and just talking. Yes, they asked their tons of questions. But the tone settling over the whole day was one of comfort. In fact, one of the women said that she had never been that relaxed doing a home study.

After all their questions were done, we had the opportunity to get some of ours answered. Our agency is wonderful and has been very helpful, but there are some real limitations when you are operating on opposite time zones. It was so good to sit and just talk with them. And while I know that there is a child, our son in the future, with the myriad of paperwork, it can seem so distant. But talking with them about potential issues just made him seem real. I was describing it to a friend via email the other day that it is like when you are pregnant, but nothing has really changed. But then one day, there is movement and that baby is truly real. That was the home study for me, movement. A step in the right direction. A step closer to our son.

And now, we wait some more. We finally figured out the medical test issue and will have our tests tomorrow. But I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as paperwork goes.

last day [bali day 8]

As we are getting ready for a short weekend jaunt this weekend, I need to finish the Bali story. Our last day in Bali, we took a boat out to an island that has a sea turtle sanctuary. On the way to the island, we stopped for some snorkeling. I must say that the snorkeling was disappointing. Especially compared to Tioman Island. But at least it gave the kids perspective on how amazing the snorkeling was there! Where we were at in Bali, the waves were huge and kept crashing over us and the current was really strong. In fact, T spent exactly 5 minutes in the water and she was done. But that is how it is when you plan these things, you just never know how it will turn out. But Turtle Island (the sea turtle sanctuary) more than made up for it.

Baby sea turtles. The sanctuary helps sick turtles and after a year or so, they are released back into the ocean.

Picking up a medium-size turtle. This one was about 8kg (or 17.5 lbs.).

So funny that Becca was making faces here. But as you will see, there is no need to doubt her bravery.

Given the opportunity to get in the tank with the bigger turtles, Becca was the first to jump at the chance.

These turtles are about 120kg (264.5 lbs.) and around 65 years old.

 T loved feeding them kelp.

 B was a little uncertain about this lizard. Can't say that I blame her!

 T would only touch it with some Daddy assistance.

Anyone questioning her bravery now?

She did NOT want the eagle on her shoulder.

Can you read his lips? He is saying, "Ow! That hurts!"

 But after the eagle was placed on his shoulder, he was ready to show a big smile.

The eagle was trying to nip at my sunglasses. I laugh every time I look at this pic.

Yeah, that is the girl that was cringing at a sea turtle. Holding a bat.

These are such crazy birds. I have no recollection of their name.

The boat ride back was fun through the big waves.

Then we got back in enough time to spend the afternoon at the hotel pool. We had brought our sinkers with us. Who knew that 4 rings could provides days of entertainment?!

T freaked out several hotel guest with her goggles. One lady kept saying, "they are just so weird."

Writing postcards to friends in the US. Something we try to do whenever we travel. One small way that helps our kids stay connected with friends in the US.

5 scoops of absolute yumminess. We each picked a flavour of gelato. I think we choose: cookies and cream, ferrar roche, carmel, chocolate chip and nutella.

Doesn't this day just keep on going? Our flight left Bali at 2 AM. Isn't that craziness? Tori didn't even make it to the check-in counter before she fell asleep. After we checked in, Andy carried her through immigration, and plopped her in her seat on the plane. Later when she woke up, she asked, "Have we taken off yet?" We had already been in the air for 5+ hours!

Of course, J has his kindle!

We had such a great trip. But are glad to back in the routine of life. I was glad to have the break of not even thinking about adoption paperwork for a whole week! But we are back in the thick of it and our home study is next week.

to the volcano [bali day 4]

To show what a vacation-mind frame I was in, I don't even remember which day we went to see the volcano. They are kind of blurred together in a good kind of hazy-fun-filled way. But we will say it was day 4.

We hired a driver to take us up to see the volcano, something that Becca was super excited about. She is going to be doing a project later in the year on volcanoes. We knew that it was going to be a day long adventure. And with the windy, mountain roads, I just knew that one of the kids was going to have a problem with motion sickness. In Malaysia, it was Josh. Numerous times in China it has been Becca. Xi'an and Chengdu were Josh. And every time we fly back to the States, it is Becca. So you can understand my trepidation as we got into the car for a journey that no one could tell us exactly how long it was going to take. I did what I could, gave everyone dramamine, and hoped for the best.

Our first stop was to see some wood-carving. While the carvings were amazing, there was just a little too much pressure to buy so we didn't linger.

From there we continued onward to see the rice terraces. As we were almost there, Tori began complaining that her tummy hurt and sure enough as soon as we stopped, she got sick. Huh. Didn't see that one coming. Afterwards, I couldn't even remember if I had gave her any medicine. She never gets sick. But I think the driver was a little concerned because when we returned to the car, he gave each of the kids little plastic bags. Just in case.

The rice terrace was just a stop. Not really much else there. But what a breathtaking view.

When we got back in the car, our driver asked if we wanted to stop at a coffee plantation. We asked if it was on the way, and since it was decided to stop. I am SO glad that we did. This ended up being one of my favourite things we did.

In Bali, they grow some of the most expensive coffee in the world. Luwak Coffee. Know what makes it so pricey? The beans are processed by this animal.

Civet cat

The luwak, also known as the civet cat, eats coffee cherries [the fruit of the coffee tree, which once roasted we call beans]. Then he processes the beans. Which is just a fancy way of saying he poops them out whole. I kid you not. The coffee beans are then cleaned, shelled and roasted.

I try my hand at shelling the beans. It was much harder than it looked. And yes, these beans have been cleaned.

The beans are roasted over this stone oven. Josh takes a turn at stirring.

Trying the luwak coffee. We were able to smell and taste both, and there is a difference. According to the experts, the luwak coffee is less bitter with hints of a cocoa flavour. Hmm, not sure that I noticed that much detail, but it was indeed good!


Not good enough to spend big money on though!

To try the luwak coffee, we had to pay for it, but we were given all kinds of other free samples. We tried cocoa coffee, vanilla coffee, regular Bali coffee, straight cocoa (without sugar), ginseng tea, ginger tea and lemon tea.

And by we, I don't just mean Andy and I. Tori was a big fan of the vanilla coffee.

Josh is trying the cocoa coffee. To his right you can also see the cocoa.

After all our sampling, we got back in the car and headed the rest of the way to the volcano. Well, at least we headed to the place where we could see the volcano.

These two pictures were taken in succession. The wind was really strong. So strong that it carried away her hat. It is still somewhere up on the mountain.

We ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the volcanoes (there is another one just to the right, not in the picture).

And then began the journey back to our hotel.

This is how J spent all of the time in the car. Have kindle, will travel.

But we were not done adventuring. We stopped in the town of Ubud. This town is known for its handicrafts. And for the monkey sanctuary. Meaning that monkeys are free-roaming.

Tori was so excited about seeing the monkeys up close. Turns out she was excited about the idea of seeing the monkeys up close. Whenever there was a monkey nearby, this is where T was. 

But the older two were much braver.

This would be confession time. I was also not a fan of being up close and personal with the monkeys. We were told before going that we should remove our glasses because the monkeys were fond of them and often would steal them while you were wearing them. I much prefer to see animals in their natural habitat, but monkeys are just so unpredictable. So while I was carrying T, I was trying to be stealthy walking by the monkeys. "Please don't notice me" was a litany going through my head. And I breathed a sigh of relief when we left.

Truly, I am glad we went. It was one of the highlights for both of the younger two. Josh adores monkeys (and he wore his monkey shirt purposely). And when T listed out her highlights of the entire trip to Bali, seeing this monkey feeding its baby was in the top 3.

Our final stop was the handicraft bazaar. We bought a few things, but we were all tired and just ready to head back to the hotel by this point. A stop for gelato tamed the troops and enabled us to drive the remaining hour to the hotel without grumpiness.

And back at the hotel. Yes indeed, our kiddos are super-travelers!

the beach [bali days 2 & 3]

We woke up our second day to rain. And not a gentle, soothing rain. It was pouring! The kids were a bit disappointed as we had talked that we would head to the beach that day. But we reassured them that in the tropics it rains a lot, but often clears up at some of the day (we were hopeful). Our plan was to get breakfast, then if it was still raining go next door to Starbucks for coffee and free wifi (because it was NOT free in our hotel). Walking out of the hotel, this is the view down the street. Believe it or not, there is a sidewalk on either side of the road. Or at least normally there is.

But much like we predicted, the rain cleared up. Though the day continued to be overcast and moody, we took a walk on the beach.

With the sun not out it wasn't really hot, so we didn't put on swimsuits. We started out walking.

Then progressed to wave jumping.

And quickly the kids were soaked.

T found a stick and couldn't resist drawing in the sand. She wrote her Chinese name: 美恩 (pronounced: may-uhn).

I must confess that I was not overly impressed with this portion of the beach. There was so much trash. Both in the sand and that was washing up in the waves. But later that afternoon, I went for a run. I turned the other direction out of the hotel and found a beautiful beach less than a 5 minute walk away. The following day, we donned swimsuits and a thick layer of sunscreen and trouped down to the other beach.

If you look in the distance, you can see the other beach we had been at the day before. Hard to believe these are so close and so different! We enjoyed having this little stretch of sand to ourselves.

Sand construction is serious business.

Those teeth are finally starting to come in.

 But the waves were HUGE. The kids waded in them and jumped in them, but they were just too big for swimming safely.

But even jumping in the waves doesn't get old.

Even if it does, kung fu -- water-style is an option.

Humors me how they match. How cute are they?

 The sand was so unique. Further up the beach, away from the crashing waves, the sand was much darker. We read that this is volcanic sand (there are beaches in Hawaii that are similar). The receding waves made such a intriguing design.

Even with the rain, a great start to vacation.


We even kept the sunburn to a minimum, which for Wilcoxen is an impressive task.