Starting Year Three

I confess that I fell off the blogging bandwagon last spring in the craziness of teaching and keeping up with normal responsibilities.  And then eventually I got too far behind to even attempt to catch up, and that kept me from even trying.  I reached that point last year, but this is a new school year for us, so I'm just going to start right where we are: year three!

Year three sees us with a lot of present and future changes.  Each year has had it's own unique flavor, and this year promises to be no different.  It's hard not to make comparisons of better or worse, and to just embrace what the year holds.  Here's a brief update on the changes the year holds for each of us.  

Since ITC (International Teacher's College where Jeff works) is a new school--starting the 5th year this year--things are constantly in flux.  This year some of Jeff's closest faculty friends are no longer teaching at the school, and several new faculty have joined.  Although Jeff is only starting his third year teaching there, he now has the distinction of being the most senior faculty member.  As such, he is doing a lot of work helping the new administration and faculty/staff figure out what ITC is, how it works, and how classes etc. should be set up.  Although this has caused him some extra work, he is excited that he gets to teach more classes in his field this school year.  He'll be teaching two sections of an Old Testament class this coming semester, as well as some education courses.  The new freshman class has a little over 50 students, the biggest class yet, and it will be exciting to get to know them and see how they fit in and grow at ITC.

Where's the new baby going to sit?

I am in a lull of activities right now.  The English class I taught last year at ITC is no longer necessary this year (which was the original plan--that the class be a one year contingency to help struggling students), and so I'm not teaching this semester which has left my schedule wide open.  Additionally, my piano students from last year (only two families) have moved back to the states, so I'm not teaching piano.  I'm not taking on anything else this semester mostly because we have a new baby boy coming in October.  I'm trying to relish the quiet, rest, and calm before the craziness of adding a third child to the mix! We've gotten used to our quiet evenings and sleeping through the night, so it will be a big change to start all over again.  Next semester, I'm planning on teaching the Intercultural Communication Class at ITC again, and I look forward to that and the opportunity that it will give me to get to know the freshman students.  

Lydia's first day of K-2 (4 year old pre-school).

Lydia just started K2 at the christian international school, SPH, down the road from us.  K2 is basically a pre-kindergarten class for four year olds.  It's a great opportunity: they do normal pre-school activities, but they also have a mandarin class at least twice a week as part of the curriculum and a ballet class once a week.  Lydia is pretty excited about learning ballet! It is a fairly rigorous schedule.  School starts every day at 7 AM (yikes!!) so we are doing our best to get out the door and to school on time, but it's a challenge! Every morning feels rushed, and I miss having time for the kids to play at home in the mornings, and the opportunity to talk with family in the states.

Getting ready to ride to school with Daddy.

Jeff will sometimes get to bring Lydia to school on the back of his bike since he also starts work at 7 AM and the school is right on his way. Lydia always struggles with new things (as many of us do) so being in a new class and starting this new schedule has been an adjustment for her, but we're hopeful that she'll soon get into the routine and make new friends in her class.  School ends at 11, so it is a long morning, but at least we have the rest of the day for other activities when it's finished.  

The consequences of having an older sister--walking around in high heels & a baseball cap.

With Lydia in school every morning, Elias and I have been spending a lot of time together! It's fun to have the time with him before the baby is born, and I'm guessing that he will be making the biggest adjustment as he will no longer be the baby.  He has been slower to speak, so Jeff and I have been receiving coaching from a speech therapist which has been helpful especially for me as I play with him and do activities with him in the morning.  We've seen a lot of improvement in his speech over the past 6 weeks.  It's also been fun to learn some of the techniques and see that really, it's very similar to teaching someone a foreign language.  Elias is still extremely active and we see that his challenge is that he gets easily frustrated when things don't happen easily for him.  His current obsession is with cars, trucks, buses--basically anything with wheels that can move.  It's fun to see his personality come out and to get to know him more as he's become more communicative.

Our community has changed a lot, as many of the expat families in our neighborhood moved back to the states or Canada at the end of the school year last year.  We certainly feel their absence and really miss their presence and all that they added to the community.  I am still praying and waiting to see what new friendships and doors God will open up this year to fill some of the gaps that were left.  We are learning that this is the reality of the expat life here, one that could easily lead to burn out and discouragement.  The challenge is to press on where God has called us and with the tasks he has given us despite all the changes around us.