Acclim-asian

Since it has been insinuated that the last time I was this absentee from the blog, the reason was that I was sick and pregnant, I thought Id better get on here quickly and dispel any circulating rumors...

No good reason for the radio silence.  Well.....no good reason other than acclimating to a new country, adjusting to homeschooling, and a husband who has been out of the country much of the past 3 weeks.

So no.  Nothing exciting like a new baby on the way.  Just life getting so far ahead of me!  I cant imagine that our days, (filled with diaper-changing, spelling tests, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, scraped knees and piles of laundry) are "blog worthy" but.......family is begging for an update and someday Ill want to look back on the mayhem of our life and acclim-asian to this place:)

You know you are in Asia when:
-The person across from you in Starbucks is eating a muffin with chopsticks.
-You are scolded for "ruining" your skin when you get a touch of suntan.
-The (Thai) neighbor kid isnt allowed to swim with your children because "it's too cold today" (85 degrees)
-"Kids music class" does not involve marching around banging symbols and drums.....but instead is an intense 3 hours of instruction in an un-airconditioned room where the maestro snaps a rubber band on the childs hand if they dont pay attention.

And........girls day out shopping just aint what it used to be.
Abi and I braved Chinatown this week.  It took over an hour to navigate getting there by taxi....to the sky train.....to the water taxi.....to the tuk-tuk....then a walk.
Picture "Oriental Trading Company" en masse!!
So
Much
Junk!

But so fun to browse the steals and deals.  I scored some new jewelry and some fun photo props for only a couple dollars.  We walked through street vendors....in and out of roadside shops.....past every-conceivable-plastic toy and game.

 Chinatown is the place to find everything from beads, baubles, kids toys and clothing to home goods, gardening supplies, cosmetics and all sorts of useless novelties!  The treck there and abounding chaos is a recipe for a migraine, but it was fun to experience a bit of the culture!

And lest you think too idealistically about a "boat ride" to Chinatown, take a look at the water we waded through to get there....

We passed polluted waterways and shanty-town slums.  People fishing in the contaminated streams.  Quite a culturally enlightening experience!
But...... as the day drew to a close and the shadows grew long over the floating debris and the setting sun cast its golden glow on the water-taxis, it was almost like a sunset cruise on the way home.

....almost.