It is hard to believe, but it is true. We have visas for China. We have plane tickets for China. We have packed our suitcases for China. And we still have love in our hearts for China. On Tuesday April 12 we will board a plane and fly from Chiang Mai to Guangzhou, China, stay there for 4 hours, then continue on to Urumqi. We arrive basically at midnight. Our dear friends are arranging a van to meet us and bring us to a hotel where we will stay until Saturday. Assuming we can get train tickets we will then take a train to Ili, an overnight train leaving Saturday evening and arriving in Ili Sunday morning. Our plan is to have a few days in Urumqi to say hi to everyone, and to arrive in Ili on a Sunday so that we can at least pack a little before I need to teach on Monday.

That is a question we have… the school sent me a class schedule, but has otherwise been non-communicative about what exactly I will be doing. I suppose I will find out as we go. Please pray for us as that mode of learning can get very stressful, especially on Michelle who will be trying to make a home, set a home-school schedule, and figure out the neighbourhood for shopping, transport, etc.

As we say good-bye to Chiang Mai we asked Liberty and Van what they will miss. They said without hesitation, “motorbikes and songtaews!”.

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city, and we were blessed in many ways to have been able to stay at length, again. What was especially nice was the lack of smoky air. Usually at this time of year farmers all over the region burn fields. This results in such a heavy degree of smokiness that you can’t even see the building across the street. People need to stay indoors, or wear air filters if they go outside, etc. But… no smoke! The air has been wonderful, and we are glad for that. On the flip side, this is due in part to a drought that the north regions are experiencing. Please pray God’s mercy fall upon these people.

Homeschool has gone well. Michelle is glad to have been on-schedule, even in the midst of traveling, settling into new homes, and all that is part of overseas life. We participated in an expat homeschool co-op on Mondays. Liberty and Van quickly grew to look forward to Monday mornings when they would get to school and greet their news friends. Thankfully in this last week a few of these friends have been able to come over to our apartment to swim and say their bye-bye’s.

It is not easy for the kids, at least not as easy as they make it look. The other day I was explaining to them what our family life in our home would look like with me teaching classes. Even though they did not say much at that moment, Liberty has been asking if we can do this, or that, together as family, because, she says, “you will be so busy daddy once you start teaching, we won’t have as much family time.” I hope this is not the case. But it is a good reminder for me to be alert to how my kids are doing, even if on the outside everything looks ok.

As we move on, be prepared for some internet silence from us. Many VPNs seem to be blocked; social media sites are blocked; we will need to see if we even have internet at our new town! But in the meantime please feel free to keep emailing us, or posting on the blog here, knowing we will see your words of encouragement.