The Chrumas continue to survive and thrive in China, though we do have the cyclical ups and downs of expat life where some days we are tired of all the challenges. Example: We currently have a rat living in our apartment. Our efforts to locate him this evening resulted in disassembling a huge wardrobe (which we had to empty onto our bed), discovering a huge moldy area on the wall behind said wardrobe, and then just getting mentally overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to hire quality workmanship to fix the problem figured out. In the meantime, we will be sleeping on the couch and bunkbed with the kids until further notice. But, overall, we are glad to be here and feel like we are "home" despite these strange setbacks. The expat and homeschooling communities here really make life doable in this different place. I'm so glad to have a friend to text with over the challenges of rats in the apartment. She's going to loan me two traps! The future is hopeful! The neighbors downstairs helped disassemble the wardrobe when we realized we were in over our heads. We are not alone!
The highlight of 2014 was our first trip back to the US! We did not have reverse culture shock though we prepared mentally for that possibility. Perhaps if we had been away longer than 2 years it would have been more obvious, but I had absolutely no trouble going to Kroger (or The Museum Of Modern American Marvels, as I liked to call it) and shopping down the wall of cheese and the aisle of cereal! We loved seeing family and friends and were truly sad to have to say goodbye, but we also felt happy to be heading home to China. So, I'm thankful we are in that place now. Another highlight was the 3-month visit from cousin Liz and the trip she and Laurel took to sunny Yunnan province. We were sad to see her leave mid-January, but we have high hopes that she will want to come again soon.
At the moment we are excitedly awaiting the arrival of Oma and Papa Denniston who will stay for a month over Chinese New Year, the big holiday time here in China. Jason will have time off from work and we are suspending most of our homeschooling for the month so we can see the sites and relax. And, ummm, Dad, we might need help assembling a gigantic wardrobe.....
Violet (3rd grade) and Justus (K) have enjoyed maintaining an ongoing "snail mail" correspondence with Granny O, their great grandmother on Jason's side. It is such a blessing to have that generational connection. Both Granny O and Violet are fairly artistic, musical types so they have a lot to discuss in their letters. Justus does more with drawing smiley faces and writing his name in all caps, but Granny O was a school teacher for years and she can discern the messages behind it all with ease. Justus has been attending a Chinese Montessori school in the mornings and that has been very nice for him though we aren't sure he's learning much Chinese. His school did a Year of the Sheep show this year and he looked so cute in his sheep bonnet.
Jason's work is going along nicely. He feels it was definitely the right decision professionally and personally to move here and his students are doing good work and so forth. Recently there was a rat living in the lab and the students were able to catch it in a wire cage trap, so Jason brought that home today so we could attempt a similar success at home. Yes, rats are something of a theme...everyone here has a rat story. We are not overrun, but this is our second house rat in 2 years. So, you know, not as bad as you might be imagining. And, they aren't big, NYC sewer-sized rats...larger than a hamster, smaller than a guinea pig, so, there's that somewhat smallish comfort, perhaps.
Laurel continues to organize homeschool and other events. It's something she enjoys and keeping moving was one of those tricks she learned in the army to stave off malaise and depression. One of the hardest things is the spotty/slow internet access. Yes, 1st world problem, but when you are used to having those connections with friends and family, it is hard when they get cut off and can cause an expat to head for a downward spiral emotionally. For the most part, communication is still possible with the WeChat smartphone app (consider joining so you can talk to her!!) and that has been a lot of fun, especially when messaging with Ivy Jane, her niece.
Looks like this turned into a letter instead of just a short update! But, when you haven't written letters in 2 years, it's time to step it up a notch. Love to all and perhaps we will see you in Dec '15 when we hope our travels will bring us to the US once again for vacation.
