China "Honeymoon Period"

In the first six months after we relocated to China, it was like our “honeymoon” to a new place even though both Louie and I came from China to the US 20 years ago.  It was quite exciting to see so many people around every day, eat gourmet food and of course make new friends.  The girls went to a private pre-school at Guangzhou’s Ersha Island and we made quite a few “expat” friends who worked for US consulate. Many parents of children from that school were international families and I remember visiting the expat compound so often for birthday parties or other events that the girls often got confused about if we live in China or America.   There, most people spoke English in the expat compound and it seemed so different than the rest of the world J    

We made some really GREAT friends with those parents, which I cherish and will appreciate for a lifetime. Many of the children graduated from the private pre-school chose and then chose to go to the international school or go abroad for study.  Our family made a different decision and enrolled our kids in the local Chinese public school.  That decision brought us into the real world in China – it proved to be a really good decision as I look back on it all six years later.  Louie and I, as parents, grew with our children along the way and experienced “real” life in China.  The expat community was helpful for transition, but I’m glad our children experienced the “real” China.  That was a key reason for our international move in the first place.