Every week, I think about writing a post on our progress in homeschooling, thoughts on books, and what we’ve been up to. But nothing gets written because it takes too long. However, we’re about to embark on a 4 month trip. I figure I should at least summarize what we’ve been up to and other random thoughts I have before our big trip.
We moved in April and sold our house in June. Given that I got the idea in my head at the end of February, it was a very quick move. Thankfully half of my house was already in various plastic boxes due to me kondo’ing the last 3 years. But the whole thing still took up a lot of my energy and I’m amazed we still managed to homeschool some and attend our co-op during our move.
We’ve downsized from a 00600 sq ft house into a 1000 sq ft apartment. I don’t think I’m made out to be a home owner, despite loving to garden. So it’s with a relief that I no longer live in a big house and had to toss/sell various things. I love our new neighborhood and our new way of life. We get to walk everywhere.
I also love how many things I don’t have anymore. The older I get the more I realize that I get very overwhelmed by having too many choices and too many things, mainly because I’m a slob and leave things where I find them, yet can’t function in such an environment.
Speaking of simplified living, did you know it’s a trend in Japan? I’ve seen it mentioned in two Japanese dramas so far. Check out these BBC pictures and this blog post for an idea of what I’m talking about. It takes Kondo’ing to the extreme.
I wanted to write a post about the kids Chinese progress but who knows when that’ll get done. So the quick summary is, by the end of our school year in May, Astroboy was 95% down with Sagebooks and moving on to something else. Thumper is stuck at the same level reading her Chinese books and I need to get her out of the rut. But right now we’re focused on learning to read in English.
In June, the kids were shipped off to their grandparents for my one glorious month of single-hood. Well, I guess there is Baba. But I didn’t see him during the day. I again didn’t accomplish all I wanted, but this is the first year in 3 years where I really felt like I got a good break while the kids are with their grandparents.
One major accomplishment that month was finally watching Star Wars, episode 4-6, and the Matrix episode 1. I can finally understand references to these movies.
The other major accomplishment was exercising. I actually woke up at 6am most mornings and walked. I never realized how much energy one has exercising! No wonder those super moms are able to accomplish so much.
Alas, all this ended the minute the kids came back. So I’m back to napping every afternoon way.
The kids came home in July and we went on a few field trips, like the Cable Car Museum in SF, USS Hornet, and a campfire program at Tilden. I also managed to create 2016-2017 curriculum, which I’m so far not following.
I have to say, having decided to go back to Taiwan early this year, I’ve been bitten by the travel bug again. And the symptoms got worse when we decided to move. No longer am I tied to a house psychologically. I had big plans for a Gap Year around the world adventure. But reality bites and to stay in our charter school, we’re probably going to just travel a bit more every year instead.
So yes, we started with local field trips. I’d forgotten the rush and how alive I feel (before I crash from the exhaustion and take a nap) from visiting places with the two children. Especially now that they’re older and we’ve got our expectations on behaviors settled, it’s a breeze traveling with the two kids. They get along super well and seldom fight over things.
Two weeks of field trips and last minute planning, then it was off to our two week camping trip with Fleur and her 3 children. We drove up to Vancouver on the I-5 and down the Oregon coast. It was my first camping trip and I had a blast. We visited 3 National Parks (Lassen, Crater, Redwoods),
ate our way through Vancouver,
then drove down to Seattle to meet for the first time people I’ve been chatting with over the last two years on FB, about learning Chinese! There’s nothing like meeting other people who end up talking about learning Chinese in every conversation you have.
Now I’m madly planning our Japan trip with only 1 month to go and nothing purchased except plane tickets and one week of Airbnb. I swear I used to be a super planner. I can’t believe I’m actually planning a one month trip to Japan so last minute!
These trips really marks the beginning of what I’m dubbing our Gap Year Adventure 2. Thumper traveled to Taiwan when she was 6, and I had thought of it as her Gap Year Adventure. This year, it’s Astroboy’s turn.
After Japan we will be going to Taiwan for 3 months!
