Getting ready

Tammy and the boys are less than 2 weeks out from their journey to China. The clock is ticking loudly now. I’ll actually be able to sit in the same room as them and have a discussion instead of just talking to them via Skype. Don’t get me wrong, Skype is a great thing. Being able to converse and see the kids every day makes it much easier to be away. However, there are drawbacks to this as well. As shown in the photo below, it’s clear to me that in some instances that I’m not really a focal point for them (you’re on candid camera).

Jacob is listening to his PSP and playing games while Warren is checking his iTouch for something critical to the survival of the Western world (Jack Bauer just sent him the satellite image of the terrorist’s secret hideout, “Tony, I’ll need backup. Damnit! I can’t wait, I’ll have to go in on my own. Keep this channel open.”).

This doesn’t happen all the time when we’re on Skype…..sometimes I’m competing with Wheel of Fortune (that’s right, Wheel of Freaking Fortune!). I’ll be talking to them and then I’ll hear “wishing well” in the middle of my very interesting story. What!?!? Were you listening to me? Where did you get wishing well from? “It’s on Wheel of Fortune”. Perfect, I’d like to buy a vowel please Pat……A, for I’m going to kick my kid’s a__. (that is correct, please pick your prizes, ooohhh, I’ll take the $500 backpack and the $800 monopoly set). I know it’s difficult and so I really don’t get angry, it’s not personal, they’re kids. They are trying to cram 2 years worth of TV memories into their remaining weeks since there’s no more of the “standard” TV once they arrive. In 3 months, they’ll be walking around like zombies, I’ll choose an “R”….I’d like to buy a vowel….C’mon big money!

Yes, they’ll have Discovery and National Geographic channel in English but not much else. No SpongeBob, no Courage the Cowardly Dog, none of those other goofy Nickelodeon shows that Jacob watches. No Disney channel, No Reality TV channel, No HSN, No MTV, etc. (have I kicked this dead horse enough?). I have somehow managed to make it 3 months without ESPN and PTI (one of my all time favorites, Tammy calls it Big Mouth and Baldy but she still watches it with me), so I think they can manage. There are positive aspects to the situation, for one, I don’t have to watch the Obama-mania love fest and I don’t spend nearly the amount of time per day watching TV as I did before. The negatives, the only news channels we get are the BBC and CNN. However, I choose not to get the daily propaganda from those “news” organizations and I find the news online. There is an English version of the Asian news but I don’t watch that very often. Typically, if I am watching TV it’s an HBO movie (ugh!) or one of my DVDs that I purchased. I have made it through Season 4 of 24 now, so only 3 more seasons to go. Anyhow, we’ll make a trip to the DVD store soon after they arrive and let the kids pick out more of their favorites to watch when they are bored. It’s not perfect but it’s about as good as it can get being on the opposite side of the world. I can only imagine what this place was like 25 years ago when things were much less Western and modern (like a lot of the inner country), now that’s roughing it.

I’m moving into a 3-bedroom apartment in preparation for their arrival. I’m moving in early to try and get everything ready before they arrive (get the Mao posters on the wall, you know...decorating). I’ve been living very sparsely and now I’ll have to really hit the grocery stores to get all that will be needed to stock up for them. I hope the kids like the tofu-flavored Pop Tarts, they’re very popular here.