12:2 Time August 2008

Holding Pattern

We are officially in a holding pattern during the month of August. After living and working in the same place for over 2 years, we both resigned from our jobs and moved out of our apartment at the end of July.


The little red wagon gives them a tour around the farm

We immediately went from our former jobs to our next task. We drove home on our last day of work and returned home to load all the furniture onto a trailer. For the next week, we packed up our apartment and moved out of our apartment. We could not have tackled this project without the help of others and an endless supply of Starbucks coffee.

Being in a holding pattern has kept us very busy visiting with family and friends, many for the last time before we depart for China. The same day we moved the last box out of our apartment, we drove to San Angelo to spend time with family at the 10th annual Gramma Camp. There we painted crafts, took a cousins photo, and played dominoes all hours of the morning. Tagged onto the end of the trip for Gramma Camp was a family reunion which pretty much includes two whole communities.

For the next six weeks, we will be living out of our suitcases, either in our families’ homes or at training in California. The first half of August in Garden City and the last half will be spent in Quitaque.

During this time of transition, we are eagerly looking forward to the transition into our apartment and jobs in China, but also cherishing the time we get to spend with our families and friends.

We look forward to sharing with you the experiences from training and the first weeks in China.

Communication From China

As we transition to our new home in China, we are changing our email addresses, telephone number and other contact information.

We are working on getting our Skype account up and running. We are looking for Skype to be one of our main means of communication back to the states. If you have an account and would like a peek into the experience, give us a ring. (We are even up with a little video chat.)

Other times during the time in China, we will be sending out physical newsletters. The letters will arrive in an envelope labeled “Teacher Update.” We will try to get one of these letters out to you as soon as we are settled in Harbin in early October.

The most common form of communication while we are in China will be through email. Due to the time difference between the US and China (14 hours from US Central Time), email is the most convenient. We love to hear about what is happening in each of your lives. You guys are our window into our home in the States.

We look forward to sharing this experience with each of you. It is such a great opportunity and it could not be accomplished without each of you. We look forward to hearing from you guys.

Final Packing List

As we prepare to depart for China, we are packing the last items in our bags. Some items are purchased and others take up the remaining pounds available before our bags reach the 50 lb limit imposed by the airlines. So here are the final items to make the cut into our bags: 10 month supply of deodorant; Medicines (including Tylenol, Advil, Sudafed, Nyquil, Desitin, etc.); Frisbee; Chapstick; Vitamins; House slippers; Football; Coffee;

We are also packing our first care package to mail to ourselves before we leave: Fisher Price Nativity Set; Ranch dressing mixes; taco seasoning; vanilla; Dream Whip; canned pumpkin pie mix; chili powder; English books (both children and adult);

I’m sure there will be things that we forgot to bring and others we could have left at home. We’ll revisit this list later in the year.