Dragging kids to the other side of the world to live in an asia country were life is as different as it could possibly get, seemed like a wonderful opportunity when your sitting in your own lounge room in your own country. The reality however is quite different.
The kids have adapted way better then we could have hoped but that's not saying there hasn't been some interesting moments.
Buying clothes is interesting - Vietnamese are tiny so trying to find anything that fits teenage girls is impossible. Josh doesn't fair any better there is either adult clothes which are too big for him or little children's clothes, there doesn't appear to be anything in the middle.
Finding clothes for the winter formal was OK for the girls, I was given the name of a tailor and off we set to District 5, the girls explained what they wanted they were measured and we left - too easy I should have been prepared, nothing is that easy, so began the hunt for shoes. Being a size 10 in a country of size 5 makes shoe shopping impossible. After an enormous amount of stores that all but laughed at the size of their feet - we gave up. I gave Matthew the job of shoe shopping in the more top end stores a few days later, only to get a text saying he felt like he was part of Cinderella but instead of trying to find the foot that matches the shoe, he had the feet that couldn't find the shoe. Finally after hours of searching they gave up, they were going barefoot.
As it turned out they wore shoes they brought with them from home - in a rare case of sibling generosity one daughter shared shoes with anoth
er - miracles sometimes happen.
er - miracles sometimes happen.As for Josh he went to Ben Thanh markets as a last resort and found trousers and a vest so he was happy. They all looked amazing I was very proud of them. (Unfortunately I don't have a photo as he dressed from school - it started at 4.30)
Life for teenagers isn't all that exciting - movies, hanging out with friends, shopping and bowling is about it. Sport is restricted to school - though Josh does play in a local soccer comp, mind you the girls train 3 days a week and play once a week, that together with school work keeps them pretty busy during the school week.
Now bikes and I am not talking push bikes. Someone told me when we first arrived that it wouldn't be long before the kids would be on the back of a bike. I, of course, was horrified but the other day when Mikaela came home from the movies with her friend on the back of a bike (she did check with me first) I was concerned but not horrified - mind you she did only come 5 minutes away and her friend is a 21 year girl - but still who would have thought.
Schoolwork!!! It has caused many an angst moment. The American curriculum is very different from ours - so some things are easy and others are really hard. There has been many a moment when one of the children has ranted and raved that there was too much work or that it was too hard and me, feeling guilty that I brought them here - had my own melt down and said "that's it - we're going home" - of course we didn't but I certainly felt like it that day.
Schoolwork!!! It has caused many an angst moment. The American curriculum is very different from ours - so some things are easy and others are really hard. There has been many a moment when one of the children has ranted and raved that there was too much work or that it was too hard and me, feeling guilty that I brought them here - had my own melt down and said "that's it - we're going home" - of course we didn't but I certainly felt like it that day.
It's amazing the things that don't change regardless of the country you live in, things like bickering in the car (except now our poor driver has to listen to them as well as me) arguing over whose turn it is to wash up, and the far too regular shout of "who took my....." - which I guess is comforting on some level of the universe.
When I ask the kids what they miss from home, not including family and friends, Bella said our dog and Macdonalds, Kaela said walking down the street and not being stared at and Macdonalds (hers is money based she doesn't even eat Macdonalds) and Josh well he is in bed so I can't ask but he did tell me a while back he missed just being able to buy "stuff like at Westfields" and Macdonalds. Some things never change.
Trying to find out the balance between letting the kids have freedom and satisying our own expectations is not easy but that's living with teenagers I guess.
My only hope is that they will look back at this time in their life as a happy experience, yes challenging at times but filled with moments that will make them smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment