Fun day

Today was a fun day. It followed one of those curious Saturday arcs of fear and trepidation, a successfull morning, imperfect napping, a nice walking, and then an almost diastrous post-dinner hour. Still, some good things happened. As I write this the kids are all asleep and Emily is cleaning.

We did the sister cities presentation this morning. We talked to about thirty high school students and then had lunch with them. For all but two, it will be their first time to the States, and they seem excited and energetic. They cooed over the kids. Eva seemed to like the attnetion, but the boys were shyer and Sam was clearly getting frustrated (it was good he had a stroller he could hide in). They're less overwhelming in "public," but still a lot a lot a lot of work. Emily played with them in the school library and said they did fairly well there.

We had some other funny moments. Sam went to the bathroom this afternoon and called over Emily to announce that his poop "looked like a manatee!" Not sure more needs to be said on that....

We all took a family walk today. The weather is pretty good. It's neither cold and damp nor blazing hot and mosquitos are stll rare. We're enjoying spring while it lasts.

I've also been negotiating with my US employer. I think they'll cover child care. We're thinking of moving from a 3 to 4 year term. It wouldn't have a big impact. What we would do is go home for eight week in summer 2014 and then return for a semester (or something close) in January 2016. So this term would look like: 6 months in US at beginning of term (2nd half of 2012); ~18 months here; summer 2014 in US near family, ~18 months back here, home in the US for 4-7 months Jan 2016. That's the idea. We'd get an extra set of plane tickets and some more stability (I think). We'll still have to talk it through, but it sounds promising.

Other things are less simple. We're not sure about the newer vehicle, but probably should just go with it for the next year or two.

Language is coming along. Sam is saying the local word for "noodles" instead of "noodles." Emily noted he's translating more in his head, which is pretty interesting. I think he's old enough now to be pretty conscious of langauge difference. Eva can say thank you enthusiastically in the local language. They're all making general strides. Sam's big into "frog and toad," but we've also read "where the wild things are," "the three trees," and many other books. For a while Sam's been forcing Emily to read a superhero book she's really sick of.

Emily seems to be making progress on the dissertation. There's an international conference in her field in the region she could get to in August, and she'll probably try to go to it. A friend there could house her. We were talking about it in the car, and I forget how the conversation went, but it was something like this:
Emily: I don't know if I should go...
Sam: You can go! You should go! Eli and I will take care of daddy
Eli and Eva: Go! Go!
So, I think now she pretty much has to go.

Other logistics are still coming along. We probably need to do a little more nesting while we have a vehicle that can transport furniture. I have a bit of a cold and am not feeling great. I'm going to try to ramp up exercise, since the weather is good and my schedule is lightening up (major manuscript in, classes all started).

That's the news! Hope to talk to many of you soon! Jon

Good Meetings today

Today was a pretty good day. I woke up really early and prepped my class, which went "well." I think there will be a lot of work for the semester, but it will be less than in the past. I do feel like we've turned a corner on some things. Teaching won't ever be easy for me here, but it will be more familiar and I'll have better resources and skills.

I saw Ralph today, who is the pastor I'd mentioned. He lives in California now, but had taught at this school before and I'd worked with him as a youth director. It was really fun to see him because he's someone who knows all of the systems.

We saw Linda, Kady, and Tung-tung (the baby) today. Eva really likes to greet smaller babies and had a great time. Sam and Eli showed off their spider-web shooting skills.

We had fraternal fighting over toys today. On the plane, each of Samuel, Eva, and Eli got an "ironman." Sam's is black and blue (he'd requested it) and I found two others on sale at Marshalls for $3. Well, today Emily pulled out the accessory for Eli's and it is pretty cool. Sam told us that Eli had said he wanted to share his ironman with Sam. We went with this as long as Eli didn't want it, but eventually Eli wanted it. Sam got frustrated. I told him maybe he could swap out his ironman for Eli's, but he didn't want to share his... Anyway... Hmmm... so we have some years of mild competition ahead of us. I do get it, sharing is hard, and it's easier to ask others to share than to share what we have. It was an interesting conversation.

Emily's good news today was that the kids have a "replacement class" tomorrow, Saturday. This sometimes happens with holidays, where workers get 9 days but are asked to replace a day on a Saturday. For us, it always feels like "surprise" childcare. We're excited to have a morning to talk, shop, work, or rest in relative peace. We're very grateful for the school here.

On Sunday it also looks like we're going to get to meet Susan, a pastor from the upper midwest whose husband is on a fellowship here. They have two daughters and I've been looking forward to hearing about their transition. It should be a good time ahead of us. We'll also see long lost friend Peter and possibly another local friend. Anyway, it's been some nice encounters. I still am sometimes frustrated with communication between my three employers, but we're doing okay. One of my goals for the semester is to try to stay engaged and positive and focus on areas where I can make the most progress.

Logistics

The last few days have been filled with logistics: Monday teaching, Tuesday kids to school, Wednesday phones, today bank and local HQ, and then tomorrow/Friday sees us start our second week back.

The weather has been pretty good. Kids are liking seeing the bugs and the like. We're stocked back up on groceries. I was electronics hoarding the last 8 months, so I feel like we're pretty set up right now.We still have other things to do: following up on connections from the US, copy-editing for me, writing for Emily, going to church Sunday, dealing with small things (our stroller here has flat tires and our new stroller has a bent wheel from the airport--not sure how it happened). All OK, but a fair amount to think about.

Today was such an intense day that I did my thing where I wake up at 4am. I wish I didn't do this, but I've tried some work, and listening to music in the dark, and not much is helping. Sometimes I feel like my brain kicks into overdrive, and it's hard to quiet it. I think probably this is just natural given how much we've done the last few weeks. I'm hoping as we settle into a schedule things will quiet somewhat.

We should have some nice visits in the next few week. The Sister Cities program I know of is going to send someone to see us next week and today I'll meet the pastor who I youth directed for during two years in grad school. There's also a grad student I'm supposed to talk to. I think it will be a fun few weeks.

28 Hours

So, it was 28 hours door-to-door. By now the early contours of our travels should be known: the forgotten key (and busted carrier), the carsick Eli, the backpack left behind (nothing serious, just some snacks), Sam of the deep sleep and confused bowels (enough said). Packing came down to the wire, but got done. Someone helped us check in at the airport and none of our baggage exploded (they did check it, and even left notes inside that said essentially "sorry if we broke all your locks--here's a website telling you how not to have it happen again"). Everything made it with nothing lost or broken. We confiscated Randy's luggage, for which we remain grateful. While it would seem we should be pros at this, this was actually only our second time travelling the whole trip with the three kids, and it perhaps showed. I feel like we're still in our rooky season on this. 

I hope our travel did not traumatize Barb and Randy too much, because the packing and transport were doozies. HOWEVER, we are on the other side of it now and things are seeming better. Next time it may be that we should fly to Emily's family first and have my parents pack us out. I think we probably have different family travel traditions, with Extreme Packing Events on my side and with more ordered packing on Emily's side (although she does remember Alan sometimes ended up with no clothes, just stuffed animals). Anyway, there are some lessons to learn here, but I'm still not sure what they are. 

There were some hits and misses on the plane. Sam's into a superhero kick, and I got him the cheaper wonder woman (has a sword, fully clothed), but he was sad that it was not the iconic outfit. On the other hand, we also got the kids iron man toys which were a hit and Eli played happily with some of Sam's toys while Sam slept. Tablets and notebooks have all been used (angry birds is a hit), but sound was a problem (airplane headphones were really cheap; none of ours were kid sized; the cabin was pretty loud).

It was a productive last week before we left. I saw two of my favorite congregations, Emily met with her advisor, and I got further into proofs stage on my current book. All in all, great things got done. On this side, we now have a working phone and the children have all done a morning at school and seemed to like it. Sam is a little awkward around people. 

At school all of the kids received extensive praise. Eli hid between my legs at first and just beemed. He really liked the play area and had a pretty good morning. Eva also was pretty social at school. Emily says "I'm not worried about them; they're very maleable." Sam looked happy with the attention at first but then had a period where he looked concerned Emily stuck around to help them acclimate. No tears from anyone, but I know also they'll go through phases where they don't want to go. 

Anyway, we're back on our feet. 

Last Days

We're down to our last two weekends. Today Lisa and Reina are visiting and it has been fun to see them. They're getting the "full picture" of our life, of twins in diapers, Sam drawing and drawing, kids' books and videos, giggling and crying and whining.... It's been a fun day so far.

The adults took the twins for a walk while Emily's lazagna baked. Aside from a set off fire alarm, it was a pretty smooth evening. For the first time ever I refilled a lazer jet cartridge ($10 instead of $70). This is a small victory in the greater scheme of things, but I felt useful for it. Later in the evening, the cousins all went to a coffee place with Sam, and they returned as snow began to fall. We skyped with Alan this afternoon, and it was really interesting to hear about his life: shooting ranges, and mountain hikes, and new apartment, and upcoming travel. He sounded pretty happy with it all. I also skyped with my parents with the twins earlier and they had enjoyed all talking. Eva's in a kissy-huggy phase now, which is a lot of fun. It doesn't take much encouragment for her to perform.

I had two meetings Friday mornig, with a student in the program where I did my PhD and with a Chinese student I'd met earlier. (Being done with grad school may be a good thing; it is such a stange mix of freedom and doing what other people tell you to do.) Emily had coffee with a classmate/friend in NB. It was not the world's most efficient day, but I've been really grateful for these little chances to connect or reconect. One nice ting about P-Town is that it's a hub in my church and academic worlds, so I've gotten to see people without having to do much travel. Emily's profited from being close to her school and hopefully is caught up with things. She's down to the proverbial six months. There's a point where when you ask PhD students, "how long do you have?" they say something like "hopefully six months." It can still be years, but in theory if the student stays on top of the research and writing, it is possible to finish in a modest amount of time. It's still amazing how much Emily has done in all these years: part time jobs, three kids, one of the world's hardest languages, travel, church life... Sometime we'll settle down a bit.

The last two nights all three kids have danced with after their bath. It's one of the most hillarious things I've ever seen. I use my cellphone to play dance tunes, and they jump right into it. Eli takes a wide stance and does a dramatic walking-stomping motion while he swings his elbow back and forth. Sometimes he gets on the ground and does something like breakdancing. Eva mimics him and occasionaly throws in a hop or two. Sam goes back and forth. They also are chasing each other more. If I say "one, two, three, go!" they'll race through the house. A few nights ago they also played hide and seek. At this age, they are so happy to do the same thing over and over again. They'd disappear into the closet and then reappear. For the first time they can also pretty much play together. It's nice sometimes when they'll play in the bedroom for fifteen or twenty minutes. The other day I was surprised to see Sam reading a superhero book to Eli.

If our shipped goods make it to the island we should be in good shape. I feel mostly reprovisioned. It's a mix of pots and pans, kids' toys, electronics, books, and clothes. Hopefully we won't feel totally overburderned by luggage on the plane. This time we're planning on checking the car seats, and we have a slightly smaller, more maneuverable stroller.

There's always more that could be said! These have been good months. Of course, more could have been done, but we also got probably more accomplished than I thought we would. This week I get back the proofs for the book I've been working on. The kids have all made great strides, and I'm really grateful for babysitter Andrew. He's been engaged and kind and energetic with them. Tonight I was trying to explain to Lisa and Reina that parenting is this strange mix of decision making where there are always unknowns and alternatives. For almost any activity (feeding, sleeping, playing) there is no shortage of opposing views. We're no experts, but I'm really gratified that the kids seem to have been happy and healthy these months and that they've had such a nice range of experiences (lots of family time, trips, libraries, lots of new people, time playing outside and racing cars in the basement).

H-Town revisited

Today I've driven up to H-Town, our former home during a formative year. It's been interesting to be back. I saw the two other profs in my department. One's become the #2 administrator after the president and the other is the school's official historian and has just published a short illustrated history of the school. It was really fun to see them, especially the more senior historian, who was my neighbor and is just really a wonderful human being. 

What also surprised me was the sheer number of memories I've had. I drove by:

-Our apartment (home of The Great Cat Fight) [which reminded me I had the skills but probably not the temperment to be a lawyer]

-The opening to the path I'd walk or bike to school

-Familiar hangout like the DD, the Marshalls, the BK with the fans where we would go because Sam could stare at ceiling fans for hours (well, it felt like hours compared to everything else).

-I haven't seen it but I was remembering the large cemetery where I'd often walk. At the time I'd often walk to the hill at the top of the cemetery where there was a large grave for a baby that died around the time Sam was born.

-Watching the inaurgural.

-Prepping classes as Sam jumped in his bouncer.

-Long Saturday walks. We had free lunches at the school and I could save one for Saturday. Often we'd walk to campus and I'd take a two hour lunch trying to kill time.

-The courses I taught and the students I had.

-Sam's first babysitter.

-The commute we'd do back to P-Town on Princeton when I was stil TA'ing.

-Laundry (it was really terrible. Emily would go away 7 and do laundry for 3 hours; Sam would get progressively angry; Emily would be exhausted)

-The prized parking pass I had as a town resident.

-Moving (to and from), both aided by Emily's amazing parents.

-The blue shirts we had at the beginning of the year and could wear in lieu of the regular dress code.

-All I learned about changing higher ed (online courses, first year courses, curricula, teaching students in the cell phone/facebook er)

-Teaching in general (especially Western Civ, where I had 20 and 30 point curves on the first exams I gave)

 

This is a pretty interesting area. It's in the NW part of the state, which is more rural and more conservative. It's a fairly white place, although I was remembering that there's a small hispanic population in town. As usually, I saw the steeple of the old Presbyterian church on the way into town. I was remembering how hard it was to find a church that felt like home.

Ironically, the school is again searching for someone in my subject area. I still feelt some guilt at leaving, because I know that it is a solidly good place. Sometimes I've wondered why this didn't become home. Logically, there were some strikes against it (salary and cost of living, distance from support networks, regular job hassles), but it really it is a nice place with good people. At the same time, I don't think I ever fully clicked and even today it is pretty difficult for me to imagine the five of us here. I think probably the bulk of the teachers are still commuters, either from across the river or from the city.

I'm also not entirely sure why I visited today. This year I've been trying to fit in little pilgrimages and returns to places I've lived. I've often thought that my memory is not great, but it may be that I need context for it to work. Anyway, I'm happy to be back for a little while and to see the area.

I'm getting near the end of my to do list. I hope to see college friend Gregg next week and need some more days in the library. Our packing escapades are in full speed. After years of saving and living fairly simply, we've been spending hundreds a week buying all the kinds of things that are a hassle to find in Northern Island. If everything makes it we should be set for a while. 

I will recommence regular blogging at some point. The kids are super cute right now. Yesterday all three were playing together and laughing on the floor. They are all pretty exuberant. More soon!

Eli Updates

Eli is really interesting to watch. Yesterday and today he was around another crying baby and it really upset him. He's tuned into the context and wants to make sure everyone is okay. He seeks out help when it seems like another kid is distressed.

He's a little more shy in new places than he used to be. One of his most frequent exclamations is "people!" which he says like "pee-pool." Often when he is in a new place full of people, or new people (say an uncle and cousins) visit he will run to us and announce that there are people.

Eli has a loud guffaw. I've often said it seems like his volume is set to 10. I hope that when he grows up this will serve a purpose. Perhaps he will be an auctioneer, a famous baritone, or a preacher. Or maybe someday he will see a car about to hit someone hundreds of feet away and his loud scream will save their life. I say this because right now his loud voice can be a little distressing. We're probably a few years from being anywhere that requires quiet.

Eli also loves reading and he plays with many of the same toys Sam does. Sam kindly shared a batman truck with him recently (in part to draw him away from his new toys) and Eli spent much of the day playing with them.

Eli seems quite strong (as does Eva) and he has no problem with stairs or high slides.

These are fun days in the kids' lives. We're looking forward to more excitement as we enjoy these winter months.