nanshan

okay. i have a few extra moments as samuel is ill :( and i am in our room with him while he rests. he has a fever and is not eating. please talk to the father about health for the team. 

the team is meeting for our first orientation as i type! so exciting. there are five extra volunteers in addition to our ten! one of the guys who arrived from california this morning turns out to be a family friend's son--tyler curtis. He is knitting this team together. we have 24 young kids coming. swimming is the first thing on the schedule--which is thrilling to my kids because the pool is so magnificent. photo will come soon.peter LOVES the bathing caps and even wore his at the beach where they are not required.

 i think we are beginning to figure stuff out. our room was just installed with wifi! now to set up skype and photo downloads. i know we will not have much time for these things since we have a busy schedule (kristen will be teaching a piano class, reilly ballet, and kickboxing for me--no laughing!). we have no laundry access so that is the only "roughing it" so far. 

we are not in yantai. the name of the province is nanshan at a nanshan wellness recreation center. sorta like lawerence welk resort villas. they hope to build up a vacation spot where follks come here for their vacations but live elsewhere. so we are not suffering! our team hospitality staff took us to the beach yesterday complete with hot dogs and oreos! we even had fireworks but every member of team china was too pooped to watch. jet lag is finally settling down but it was just an ordinary late night. our sweet teens are early to bed girls and of course our children are as well. so the 11pm  fireworks were heard but not observed. oh well.

it is absolutely beautiful here. lush and green and clean. the humidity and heat are the only drawbacks. and the pollution. there is a mine near us that keeps the sky from being blue. and the only place for a/c is in our rooms. but we weren't even expecting air conditioning so we have all been feeling spoiled. david from BMH said they have NEVER had accommodations like this year. 

we took our first trip into the tiny town nearby using a shuttle. we draw quite the crowds. all these blond girls with french braids. that seems to be a part of the four girls uniform--braids! go kristen go! wish is could share with you the video they made in their free time yesterday. glad to have it as blackmail for any story telling they may be inclined  to enjoy when we return! 

peter is a favorite. and he is being a trooper. in usa he would NEVER let anyone treat him like a baby. but he is soaking it all up.i can not tell you how often a sweet chinese lady picks him up, kisses him. giggles when he says hello in chinese and then asks to take his picture. it is fun. i am proud of him. and all the kids. bethany has the dubious award of being the only person on team china to try EVERY single thing at every single meal! so brave! we are served between 8-10 courses a meal so you can understand what an accomplishment this is. the teens are making me so proud. last night kristen had an entire beach watching her bump the volley ball. and their pick-up soccer game was well recorded by bethany's paparazzi! i won;t tell you about their audience at the pool. in chinese culture, it is acceptable to stare. and they sure do. esp at our lovely twins. 

okay--that is enough for now. i will let you know about the buddies and translators we are assigned to today. so you can begin to talk to our father about each one by name. thanks for being interested and partnering with us in this. kelly fo rteam china