12 MAY 2011 We are moving to China!

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Tara accepted an opportunity from her employer to work in China for three months, and the kids and I are going with her! We are all very excited! We leave in early July—just two months away! So much to do! Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!

We will be in Wuhan, a city of about 9 million on the Yangtze River, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) due west of Shanghai. It is the capital of Hubei Province which, along with neighbor Hunan and Sichuan provinces, is famous for its cuisine, among other things. Yeah!

I will be taking a leave of absence from my job to be a househusband, experience China with the kids, and to home-school them with packets from their elementary school.

We told Joey and Corina on Tuesday. They were very excited! Last night we went to the library to get some books on China and speaking Mandarin. This morning I woke up Joey for school and said, “Good morning, Joey.”

“Zǎoshang hǎo,” he replied.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Joey shot back a little impatiently, “It means good morning.”

“Oh. Zǎoshang hǎo. Time to get dressed,” I said.

“Xiè xiè, ” said Joey. “That means thank you.”

I knew that one.

We have a long list of things to do before July and precious little time to get them done. Starting a blog probably shouldn’t be so close to the top of that list. Probably not great judgment on my part, but the journey is starting NOW, long before we get on the plane. It only seems natural to start sharing it with you NOW.

tony

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