I Worry...

I love raising my children in another country, but that doesn't mean I don't have my concerns.

I worry that my four year old isn't learning the Pledge of Allegiance.

I worry that my 12 year old isn't learning American History the "American" way. How is this going to affect her SAT scores?

I worry that we live in a hotel without any real place to run and play.

I worry that Dustin hasn't had the opportunity to learn to ride a bike.

I worry that Emilie is taking Mandarin and Dustin is learning Bahasa Indonesia - two languages with which I am able to provide very little help.

I worry that housekeeping and drivers are going to be thought of as the norm in my children's eyes.

I worry that Skype and FaceTime are the only ways my kids are able to communicate with family.

But then this happens...

http://ecmonika.blogspot.com/2013/10/before-we-part.html

Dustin's Class on United Nations Day (Thanks for the photo Ms. Monika!)

Dustin's classroom of 14 kids represents 11 countries of the world.

The 200 students in Emilie's 7th grade class represent over 65 nations.

I can't help but ask, "Where are they from?" when Emilie mentions a new friend or, "What language is that?" when Dustin talks about a new word he learned from a friend at school. 

The Countries Represented in the Early Childhood Program at D's School

I can certainly focus on the negatives that come from living so far away from the comforts of home (and believe me, there are some days that I focus only on these negatives), but the positives are countless and I am learning to embrace them.  

How many four year olds have friends from 11 different countries?  How many twelve year olds have the opportunity to tour Vietnam & Indonesia in the Spring, Thailand, Malaysia & Cambodia in the Summer, Spain in the fall, and Australia in the Winter? How many American kids know where Indonesia is on a World map? How many 4 year olds from America have exclaimed, "That's the flag from Turkey! That's where my friend Bojac is from! Can you help me find Turkey on the map?"

I love that my kids are learning to think globally! Emilie hears world news and thinks about how it might affect her friends who have moved to other parts of the world; She wonders how the things she is learning about in school affect America, but she has also learned that there is a world outside of America - At twelve years old, I didn't think about the world outside of Kyrene Middle School, much less outside of the United States.

I have really enjoyed learning about other cultures around the world and I hope this is one positive aspect of our adventure that will stick with my kids as well.

Dustin Representing America (and the D-Backs) in the United Nations Day Parade of Nations!

Grammie Meets Jakarta!

Jakarta was the final stop on Grammie's summer tour of Southeast Asia. This coincided with a visit from our friend's daughter, Caroline, so we took them to the textile museum to try their hand at Batik. We arranged for them to experience the infamous Jakarta traffic. Grammie witnessed Emilie and Caroline slide down a 72 Meter long slide (Grammie was happy to observe from the bottom of the 7 story high slide). We took Grammie on a tour of JIS where she drooled over the facilities (especially the beautiful libraries); And we showed her a little of what our day to day life is like in Jakarta. 

But, I think the thing Grammie enjoyed the most was spending a few hours volunteering at the Trash Picker's community preschool! Grammie jumped right in and the children were immediately drawn to her.

After a few short days in Jakarta, it was time for Grammie to head back to Phoenix. We were very sad to see her go, but hope she enjoyed her little visit to our corner of the world!

Thailand Beaches

After our adventures with Uncle Smelly and Cristina, it was nice to have a couple of days relaxing at the beach! We managed to find a resort with all the amenities one could ever ask for. There was absolutely no reason we had to leave the property and we took full advantage. We swam in the giant swimming pool, walked along the beach every morning, and Grammie and Dustin experienced their first ever Teppanyaki. We fed elephants on the beach, visited a local Sea Turtle conservation center, (Grammie and Emilie were able to help clean the turtles),   learned a little about the 2004 Tsunami, and swam at the base of a waterfall. We played in the waves, enjoyed beautiful views, had a ping pong tournament (Grammie is the reigning Champion!), and we never missed a sunset. This all made for an excellent end to our 2 week tour through Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand!

Next stop for Grammie...the craziness of Jakarta!

Chiang Mai, Thailand - Soaring Through the Trees!

By day 3 in Chiang Mai (Day 8 of our trip), Smelly and Cristina were getting a bit tired of us (Can you blame them? I was getting a bit tired of us too!) We bid them adieu as they snuck off to finish their vacation with a couple days of R&R on a deserted island. We didn't let this stop us from searching out adventures! We spent our final day in Chiang Mai learning about the local crafts, exploring the river, zip lining through the trees, and spending some money at the Saturday night market.

We learned a little about the local crafts and were treated to a tour of teak, silver, and silk factories. Much to the disappointment of the factory owners, we didn't end up buying any of their wares (where is Shawn when you need him?), but we did learn a little about each of these crafts.  

We split up for an afternoon of Chiang Mai excitement! Grammie, Dustin and I spent the afternoon on a boat tour along the river.

The boat ride stopped at a little "farm" with a few animals and lots of vegetables and herbs growing around the grounds.  We were able to relax and taste a new few fresh fruit juices and have a little fruit snack (including one of our Indonesian favorites, rambutan!).

Dustin loved the boat tour. He enjoyed the boat ride, the snacks, the animals, and even the American flag we saw waving in the air; But most of all, I think he enjoyed not having to share Grammie with anyone for the entire afternoon!

While we were on our water adventure, Chris and Emilie took to the trees for their own tour of Chiang Mai. They had a wonderful experience exploring the jungles of Thailand!

After a great day of adventure, our final evening in Chiang Mai was spent at the Saturday Night Market. This was a ton of fun with local vendors selling everything from delicious local foods to handmade crafts. We all managed to find a little something to try! The next morning we were headed to the beaches of Thailand, but not before Dustin said his goodbyes. The D-Man has somehow managed to make friends everywhere we go and Chiang Mai was no different. One of the women from the hotel, made a special teddy bear delivery just for Dustin (on her day off). Dustin was thrilled and "Beary" has now become a special member of our family!