New Homes

During the second semester of my second-grade year in school (1977), my parents informed us that we would be moving from our home at 4010 Curtis Avenue in North Omaha to the place I refer to as the home of my upbringing at 645 Westridge Drive in Elkhorn, Nebraska. As an adult, that move truly was a blessing, but when I was six, the thought of a new home and a new school frightened me. Thirty-two years later, having learned the positives of such a move, I actually looked forward to my 2009-10 teaching year at Kunming International Academy, because it involved two new homes and two new families.

Situated on the southside of Kunming, KIA's new home is larger, newer, and quieter than our previous location. We have more classrooms and larger classrooms; we have more technology in our classrooms--I have a 3-D Visualizer (like a modern overhead projector) and a digital projector--and we have two basketball courts and the use of a small soccer field. Overall, the move has been wonderful. The worst aspect of the move is actually just the nostalgia those of use from the old campus hold for our former surroundings. However, not everything has been an easy change.

With new homes come new neighbors, and while most new neighbors are ultimately found to be a joy, sometimes our initial responses range from fear to an uncomfortableness with how our new neighbors are different. Well, at KIA it has been no different. Our new campus is actually a shared environment. While we inhabit two-thirds of our campus, a Chinese grade1-grade4 school fills the other third, and our initial relations have been a bit strained. Figuring out when each school can use the facilities (courts, field, auditorium) has strained our feelings for each other. Also, their students begin at about 07.00h, while our students do not begin until 08.30, which causes some concerns about noise during class periods. Even so, all those Chinese students running around, practicing "Gong Fu", preparing traditional Chinese dances, and standing at attention for each Monday's flag raising ceremony has actually been a wonderful new experience.

When we first arrived on campus, our basketball courts had a serious drainage problem; in other words, both courts drained to the center of the court closest to the school, creating an enormous puddle that took so many days to evaporate that it usually rained before level dryness was achieved. Thankfully, the management corporation of the "xiao qu" (kind of like neighborhood) decided to resurface the courts, correcting the drainage, before the start of the school year. This meant that it was actually completed about three weeks into the semester. Even so, we now have a wonderful, textured, green and blue, court with international markings. Some days, as the workers busied themselves laying new asphalt, my classroom smelled just like my own third-grade room in Elkhorn, the year they decided to resurface my grade-school's roof during school hours, and in 98 degree heat.
With our school's move to the southside, it became a bit necessary to move to a new apartment. I could have stayed where I was, but then I would have had to ride my bike nearly half and hour to get to school each morning. Plus, as you may recall, I got married in June, so my wife and I decided to move to within about ten minutes of the new campus. Before coming to the States last June, Suli found a comfortable, never-been-lived-in, three-bedroom apartment. We recieved the majority of our furniture from a family that returned to the States after the 2008-09 school year, including a very comfortable Western mattress, all the way from the States. The kitchen table in the photo and the four chairs surrounding it were Suli's 30th birthday present, along with a new coffee table. The chairs on the left are to the old table the school owns. Behind the shelf on the left is a halway leading to the bedrooms. We have a spare bedroom with its own bathroom for any visitors who may want to drop by (hint, hint). The third, small bedroom is currently storage and the place I keep my mountain bike. It is home, and we both love it.
The need for a new home, as stated above, was our recent marriage, and much like our school's new surroundings and new neighbors, our marriage brought each of us new family. With one of Suli's sisters (Xiang Lan, the second of three) living in Kunming, we have had family over to our new apartment on more than one occasion for meals and games. NOTE: Many Chinese people love spaghetti (YiDaLi mian)--as long as it is served with 'lajiao' (hot pepper), and they also enjoy UNO and Phase 10. Pictured above from right to left are Xiang Yun (the eldest sister) and her husband Xie Hong Wen, Xiang Lan (who lives on the Northside of Kunming) and her husband Yao Shan, and of coures, Suli and me. We are standing in the garden outside of Xiang Lan's apartment on Chinese National Day. We helped Xiang Yun and Xie Hong Wen pack their new truck full of supplies for their mushroom and bean sprout growing business back in HeKou.

In all, both new homes and their respective "neighbors" have been a joy for all involved, much like that new home in Elkhorn so many years ago. I think maybe my fear of moving as a seven-year-old and its resultant joy at how wonderful Elkhorn actually was helped me appreciate more easily how great moving can be. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop by.