Twas the night before school...

The kids and I start preschool tomorrow! I'm trying not to be nervous, but I definitely have first-day-of-school jitters. Molly and Hudson are pretty excited because we've been talking about it all week and walking past the building a lot as we've been out exploring our neighborhood. Here's the front of the school:

It's the three-story light yellow building between the two tall ones. The kids will be there from 8 to 5:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I'll be teaching English classes between 9-11 both days. I'll be in each of the five classes for about 20 minutes, and in return we don't have to pay any monthly tuition, just a small daily fee for meals. What a great deal! That will save us $250 a month.

I'll let you know how the kids adjust to a full day of school with everyone speaking only Chinese. We've been trying to teach them how to say things like teacher and bathroom, but mostly I find myself saying: "Just watch the other kids and do what they do." Not my typical parenting advice! I hope they can pick up the words and phrases quickly, and likewise I hope I'll be able to understand what the other teachers are saying to me as they direct me from class to class.

I know there is no way I'd be brave enough to do this if it weren't for the six months I spent as a BSF children's leader this past year. God definitely engineered that as perfect preparation for me, and I'm looking forward to finding ways to include some of the songs and finger plays we used. Music is universal! I'm praying the kids will be eager to participate and repeat and sing along with me. Maybe 2- to 5-year-olds aren't as worried yet about making pronunciation mistakes.

In other news, our close friend Leroy came to visit us on Sunday and Monday. (Schools and offices were closed Monday through Wednesday for a national holiday.) It was so wonderful to reconnect with him and spend time together. He helped us try new restaurants in our neighborhood and shop for a few more household things. He lives in Beijing with his wife and 1 1/2 year old son, so we hope to see them a few times a year.

Back in 2003, we had the chance to celebrate Chinese New Year with his family in Fujian province -- a very memorable week for all of us.
~Dayna