Greetings from the Land of the Rising Sun

It is a balmy 94 degrees at 10:30 this morning. Robert went for his morning bike ride and returned "sweating like a turkey on Thanksgiving". I get it. Went to work in the garden this morning by rearranging the potted plants. Didn't last long because I too was sweating like a turkey. Emma Grace has decided to learn to play the piano so she practices no less than fifteen times a day. Now that we have an Ayi, she has also embraced doing chores for an allowance. Each morning she makes a list of what chores she needs to accomplish and dutifully checks off the ones that Qian does for her. Life doesn't get much better than that for the little princess. Must say that both are adjusting well and sleep patterns are improving. If the ding dang sun didn't come up at 4:30a.m., the adjustment may come a little faster. In the past forty-eight hours we've been the market, had the shipment delivered and unpacked, hourly bike rides, neighborhood walks, eaten at a Pizza Hut (American Pizza Hut could learn a thing or three from this Pizza Hut), rearranged furniture and belongings at least three times, used a bidet, haven't washed a dish or an article of clothing since I've been here, caused an international incident trying to pay for the bottled water delivered to the house, and most importantly discovered the value of Google Translate. Nothing makes you feel more incompetent that being unable to communicate with other human beings. The six Chinese words I know are not nearly enough to get by. There will be some language lessons in my future! This post wouldn't be complete without some color commentary about the trip to the market. There will be a return trip tomorrow but I am prepared for the excursion! The best way I can describe the market experience is by relating it to a demolition derby with shopping carts. It is every man, woman, and child for themselves. Remember when Kroger put all of there generic foods in yellow boxes and you needed to wear sunglasses to walk down the aisle? If they'd put red lettering on those boxes, you would be at the carrefour. Throw in some dehydrated fish part sections, floaters in the fresh fish tanks, aromas like I have never known, four floors filled with thousands of people and children using the bathroom on the floor and you would have the complete experience. All this, and I am looking forward to going back tomorrow! All in all, we have had a tremendous experience so far and are blessed to have good people working with us. This is going to be an amazing experience and I look forward to what each new day brings!