Let's get this blog started!

Well, B has left me to go to work. This is his first real international trip. Very exciting!

It's raining today and since it's Chinese New Year's Eve today most stores are closed. I figure it's the perfect excuse to sit here and get going on this blog. I know once I get back home to my kids I will be super busy doing the mom thing and getting our household ready to do The Big Move.

This trip has been amazing. Hong Kong is wonderful. It is completely unpretentious. The people are warm, helpful, welcoming, friendly and they all speak English to some degree. And it seems they get a kick out of hearing themselves speaking English to us which is fun.

I am really looking forward to getting my kids over here and getting into our new routine.

We think we have found our apartment. With President's Day in the US and Chinese New Year going on over here it is going to take the better part of a week for the relocation company to wire funds and get all the paperwork squared away. So we aren't scheduled to sign until a week from now. It's unofficial. But if it all works out we will be getting our first choice apartment which is surprising and exciting! If it falls through there are several back up choices that will be just as nice so we aren't too worried at this point.

We have chosen to live in the Discovery Bay community. It feels like a vacation in an unidentifiable country. People of every nationality walking around speaking unrecognizable languages to their children and to each other. And English. Everyone speaks English. Discovery Bay is mostly populated with expats and therefore is full of transients. While touring the schools we weren't the only brand new people. New families are arriving all the time. Families are moving away all the time too. And some people have been there for several years and seem to know every person they walk past.

We did choose a "kindergarten" for the kids. I use the "" because the school system is different here and it's too much info for right now. But I think that is squared away which is a huge relief! We have chosen to put the kids into a bilingual program so they will have both an English speaking teacher and a Mandarin speaking teacher. The classes are conducted in both languages. All the programs learn a bit of Mandarin, at least how to speak and hear it, but we understand that by being in the bilingual section they will learn to read it and write it as well. We were warned there would be homework! For preschool! I think it's the English/phonics they want you to work on at home so the kids can work more on the Mandarin at school. We shall see! I am so excited for my kids to have this opportunity.

So all in all we have had a calm and productive introduction to Hong Kong. What a relief!