School & The Gym (what else?)

I need to create an app where the blog entries I write in my head, while out and about, get actually posted on to my blog.

Well, school has started for the kids and thus far it's going well but I hate to jinx myself by saying so.  The twins seem to be managing the homework level much better this year, while the 7 year old seems to have a lot of homework now and never the desire to do it.

September also means that all our friends are back which is so nice.  However we are learning the tough part about being an expat - when friends move away.  Em had a friend she really liked, move back to Canada.  Both girls were sad and I was sad for them.  Then yesterday, another great family we met here (they have two kids who's ages match the twins and Ella), said they're moving away in a few months.  A friend told me that's just the way it goes when you live overseas - people come and people go.  We're thankful to have met all these new friends in our lives.  As unique as it is to meet in a foreign country, I think at some point, we'll all be in the same country again.

With the kids back at school, I'm feeling less guilty about spending some time at the gym (even though the gym is my archenemy in so many ways now besides exercising).  I now believe that if you want a snip-it of the culture of China, the gym is where you can find it!  The other day I showered at the gym - I know, it's taken me almost a year to get to this point but that's another story.  So while I was showering, I could hear my local "friends" chatting away while they were showering.  When I finished and walked out of the shower, I discovered that they were chatting & showering with the shower curtain OPEN . . . you know, so they could see each other while they were talking.  I'm hoping the look of shock on my face was not noticeable as I walked past them in my long covering towel.  What if there was more than one toilet in this locker room?  Would they all sit and chat with each other while doing their biz-ness?  It's so interesting to observe the somewhat conservative clothing worn by the local women here (most don't show cleavage) and how shy but polite they seem, yet in the locker room it's no holds bar.  There are places around town that are called bath houses and it's a place where the public can shower b/c many people don't have showers/tubs in their homes.  So maybe the concept of chatting with the shower curtain open, comes from showering in those bath houses?  Regardless, I will still be the oddball in the locker room with my large bright towel.