After One and A Half Years...

After a year and a half, we finally got to make a very quick trip back to the States! (And after 4 and a half months, I'm finally getting around to this post!) Here are just a few of the things we packed into a very busy three weeks:

We enjoyed the changing seasons with a leaf fight!

We celebrated a few birthdays.

We were lucky enough to be there for Grammie's Biannual Gingerbread House Party

We took the Polar Express to the North Pole for a visit with Santa!

We spent the day playing in the snow with friends!

We celebrated Christmas - a few times!

We took a little trip to Disneyland!

We went hiking with Grammie.

We learned to ride a bike!

And we spent as much time as possible with family and friends!

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!

Reflections

As of today, we have officially been here one month.  When I mentioned this to Emilie, she said, "Already?!?!?"  (I think that's a good sign - right?)  Just before we left, one of our friends asked what we thought we would miss the most.  Stumped, I said it would probably be something obscure that we never realized we were so dependent on.  We have spent the last few nights at  dinner reflecting on the past month and talking a little bit about the things that we miss (and don't miss) from Phoenix.

Other than friends and family (which can probably go into both the miss and don't miss columns depending on who you ask and the amount of drama happening at the time :)), here are a few of the things that have been mentioned.

In no particular order:

• Ranch - Ranch is not the staple here that it seems to be in the States.  Ketchup on the other hand - they seem to love.  They even bring two kinds of ketchup with just about everything they serve.  One is the regular Ketchup (Saus Tomat) and the other is what they call Asli (or original) and is like a ketchup with chile. It took over three weeks, but we FINALLY found ranch at, of all places, The Ranch Market (we have also been able to find a few other hard to find American imports, like Goldfish, here).  They don't have Hidden Valley, but beggars can't be choosers.
• DVR (and other such things like Netflix and ABC Player) - I never realized how much I love my DVR.  Now we have to watch shows when they are actually on and we can't fast forward through the commercials - Can you even imagine?  My Dad's Slingbox has helped.  We have successfully been able to stream his DVR shows (including all Diamondbacks games) directly to our TV.  Now if only Netflix would get with the program and allow international viewing.
• Surround Sound - This one was Chris' and includes, but is not limited to, our entire Family Room back home (HDTV; Surround Sound, Comfy Couch; Entertainment Center; Etc.)
• Wine & Margaritas - Not that I drank Margaritas very often, but it was nice to have the choice ;)  The import tax on alcohol is extremely high here.  We have found a cheap bottle of wine that would sell for about $3 in the states, going for about $25 here. That is the cheapest we have been able to find.  Needless to say, I haven't had a glass of wine since we got here.
• Pizza - So far Domino's is the closest we have found to actual American Pizza.  We haven't tried the Pizza Hut, but neither of these will ever compare to Nello's. 
• Ice Cream - This is a bit of an exaggeration as they do have ice cream here - They even have ColdStone, but the other day Emilie and Chris came home from the grocery store with this quart of ice cream...

And it only cost them $15.00!

• Mexican food - Need I say more?
• Target - Before leaving Phoenix, someone mentioned that a trip to Target was going to be like Disneyland when we got back.  I now know why!
• Baseball of any kind - Try as we might, we have still been unable to find any kind of baseball gear or baseball/t-ball sign up for Dustin.  We have been able to sign him up for Circus classes (Yes, I'm serious and I'm sure we will tell you all about them in a future post!).
• Small Appliances - We have found a crockpot and an electric griddle for $100 each and an iron for $60.  
• Freezer space - We had two full sized refrigerators in Phoenix. We now have this...

• Nespresso - Although Bart (For those of you who don't know, Bart is what I named my Nespresso machine) is considered a member of the family, he still gets a special mention because I miss him so very much!
• Traffic - Traffic in Indonesia makes us miss the 405 in L.A.  Yes!  Traffic is THAT BAD here.
• Visibility - The air quality in Indonesia is not very good (to put it lightly).  On a good day, you can see a blur of buildings beyond the smog.  As long as you don't have to breathe while outside, your are totally fine!

And now for some of the things we have come to like about Indonesia:

• Junk Mail - There is none!!!!  We haven't actually received ANY mail since being here - which means no bills either. I'm not sure if this attributed to the fact that we live in Indonesia or if it is because we live in a hotel.  Either way, I'll take it!
• Cell Phone bills - This month we paid a total of $20 for unlimited minutes, texts, and data for both Emilie and me.  We don't have anyone to text or call out here, but if we did, we could go crazy :)
• Fruit - Apparently, the tropical climate of Indonesia is better for fruit growing then the desert of Phoenix (imagine that!)  They have some amazing fruit here and we have been working hard at trying as many new fruits as possible.  This also means you can get fresh fruit juices everywhere - and they really mean fresh fruit juice.  They throw the fruit in the blender with a little water and there you go.  We haven't tried the fresh avocado juice yet, but what we have tried has been delicious!

• Driving - It has been hard to give up the freedom of jumping in the car to take a quick trip somewhere, but who doesn't like being chauffeured around?  And the traffic is so crazy here, I would not make it back from any quick errand in one piece if I was the one behind the wheel.
• It's a dry heat - Whoever came up with that saying is crazy!  Although it's still the dry season here, we really are enjoying the cooler weather (I'll take 90 degrees with 60% humidity over the 115 degree dry heat any day).  *We reserve the right to change this statement after we have survived our first rainy season.*
• Political ads - It's an election year here too and I have yet to see a single political sign, billboard, commercial, flier (remember - we don't get mail so maybe we are just missing out), and NO robocalls - It's like heaven!!!
• Ace Hardware - In Indonesia, Ace really is the Place!  Ace Hardware out here is sort of like Sears without the clothes.  They have just about everything and can be found in all of the malls.
• The People - Everyone we have come into contact with has been very friendly.  I think it helps that we are working on learning Bahasa Indonesian because they love laughing at the Bules trying to speak their language.  Honestly, I have never been somewhere where people actually smile back at you when smile at them.
• Pastries/Baked Goods - Although nothing can compare to Nanny's desserts, the baked goods in Indonesia come pretty close.  They even have little shops devoted solely to cream puffs - Every type of cream puff imaginable and then some!  And then there is Rotiboy.  Rotiboy could possibly take over the world on the savory smell alone.

Chris enjoying his birthday cake!

It will be interesting to see how these lists have changed a year from now!

Adventures in Time Travel

• Thursday, July 19th - We FINALLY get our flight confirmations from Chris' company!  We are leaving the evening of Tuesday, July 24th.  We make a schedule for everything that needs to be accomplished in the next 5 days.

• Friday, July 20th - We get NEW flight confirmations.  We are now scheduled to fly out the evening of Monday, July 23rd.  A new schedule is made for everything that needs to be taken care of in, what is now, 3 days.

Uncle Smelly even flew in to say goodbye after his game in Spokane!

• Saturday, July 21st - Chris gets in.  We celebrate Addison's 4th birthday and get to spend a little time saying goodbye to friends and family (Thank you Gidley family!) AND we get new flight confirmations for our flight leaving on Sunday, July 22nd.  We throw out all to-do lists and throw everything we will need for the next few years into suitcases :-0

Our final Arizona storm!

D-Man getting ready for his first of three treks thru security (not including customs)!  By the end of it all, he was a pro!

Ready to go! 

His first ever flight!

• Sunday, July 22nd - After a frantic packing session, we have a few minutes to enjoy lunch with friends.  We head to Papa Touchdown's house for a tearful goodbye and it's off to the airport.  Dustin boards his first ever flight heading to LAX and our adventure begins!  Once in L.A, we head to baggage claim where we need to pick up our checked bags and board a bus with 2 kids, 7 carry-ons, 6 suitcases, & a car seat and head to the International terminal.  We check the bags for the flights to Taiwan and eventually Jakarta.  We grab a quick bite before going thru security with our 7 carry-ons (again); And it's finally time to board the 14 hour flight to Taiwan.  Needless to say, if Chris had not come home to help us, you would currently find me in the fetal position in some corner of LAX.

Dustin got very good at waiting!

Welcome to Taiwan!  The land of Hello Kitty! 

The Taiwan airport was full of beautiful flowers

Our airplane for the final leg to Jakarta!

Hello Kitty time zones!

The Hello Kitty playground in the Taiwan airport!

• Tuesday, July 24th - After losing Monday somewhere over the Pacific, we land in Taiwan for another trek thru security and a little layover before boarding our final (5 hour) flight to Jakarta, Indonesia. We land in Jakarta, breeze thru customs, meet are car and driver, and head to our new home!  When all was said and done, Chris literally flew AROUND the world in 4 days!

We're HERE!!!!

Our Final Days...

The last few days before we left were a little bit harried, so we apologize if we weren't able to get a personal goodbye in.  We will post all about the trip over and our first few days soon.  In the meantime, as we adjust to the time difference (14 hours - which makes for great breakfast/dinner Skype or FaceTime dates), here are a few pictures from our last couple of days in Arizona. 

We spent the day with Grammie, Cole, Addison, & Brooklynn at the Children's Museum of Phoenix!

Emilie performed in a ChildsPlay rendition of the Hunger Games!

Addison celebrated her 4th birthday!

We got t0 hang out with friends and family!