Toilet Paper

When we were preparing to leave the United States, one of my biggest concerns was if I was going to be able to find the toilet paper we've been using for the past nine years. I knew this wasn't a big deal because really, I'd be able to find something for us to wipe our bums. But the true question was if I'd be able to find the things to which my family had grown accustomed.
Focusing on this 'little' worry helped keep my mind off the big issues: would I be able to figure out where to buy groceries? would we make friends? would we find a home? would we be financially stable? would the kids adjust to being here? would customs take all of our belongings? would we be lost in a sea of people we didn't understand or who didn't understand us? There were so many worries running through our minds.
God has addressed many of our concerns. There's a decent grocery store within walking distance and a good website I can order pantry items to be delivered. We found a place to live that we actually love. Customs wasn't an issue at all. We are making friends at church and at our condo. We all seem to be settling in OK. Don't get me wrong, we still have plenty of things we worry about but today, almost two months after moving here, I bought a pack of 'our' toilet paper.

Say What?

A little while back my friend asked me: "How are your children adjusting to a world where most others aren't speaking English? Have they noticed much, since their parents are speaking English?"
Thankfully we've moved to "Asia Light" as people like to call it and most people here speak English. So I'd say that language seems to be no issue for the kids so far. Their interaction with people is limited to those providing customer service or passing-by neighbors. And since everyone does their best to speak English, especially to little blond kids, they haven't noticed. At least Cade hasn't made any comments. (Unlike when we were in Oregon and he'd constantly ask me about the Spanish speaking people at the next table over.) Then again, Cade is very confident in his English speaking abilities and believes that everyone should be able to understand him.  
Elise sounds like she's babbling in Hindi or Mandarin most of the time as it is.When we were staying in the hotel apartment that had housekeeping services, Elise loved to see what the housekeepers were doing. She'd babble to them and give big smiles. One housekeeper said "My English not too good" and pointed at Elise. I said, "That's ok--her's isn't very good either." She is starting to talk more and she loves dancing to music-regardless of the language.
We've found the TV channels from the United States (Disney and Nick Jr.) so the cartoons are in English. One of Cade's favorite cartoons right now is Ni Hao Kai-lan. It's a Chinese cartoon similar to Dora that teaches Mandarin phrases. After Cade watches, he likes to use his new phrases to people. I sure hope he's not offending everyone with his cartoon-Chinese. He's excited about learning Mandarin at school in the fall. He's even started watching Asian TV with Daddy; but I can't tell if he likes it because it's in a different language or because he gets to watch TV with Daddy. He doesn't seem to care if the radio station is in a different language either. Thank you Ross for developing a fondness of Hindi music.
We are slightly concerned that the kids will have difficulty with spelling and grammar as they grow up. The "Queen's English" is bound to cause a few errors on a spelling test if we move back to the States. And the "Singlish" language is not well known for proper grammar. We are also trying to keep the children from adding 'lah' to the end of all their phrases. That might be a bit harder once they are in school and around more kids.
I'd love to answer more questions. Just let me know--lah!

Quick update! New HOME

Now that we have internet access again, I'm hoping to be more regular about my blog posts. But wanted to let you know, dear reader, that we are in our new-to-us condo. So far so good! Friday we got the keys and took care of the logistics with the furniture rental and the delivery of our air shipment. So nice to have stuff both new and old. Yesterday we checked out of Shangri-La Apartments and tried to explain to Cade that this would be the last move, for a little while. Then we watched the National Day practice fireworks last night from the comfort of our living room. Today we went to church (that'll probably be a post all it's own about the church we found and how we found it). Feels nice to have a glimmer of hope that we'll be able to settle into our new place and our new routine. Tomorrow I think we'll go explore the park down the street and have a picnic lunch. Really can't complain right now.