First Orgill Family Video!

We have had a super fun, crazy, overwhelming first week in China.  We have had some jetlag, tried two different Peking duck restaurants, had lots of awkward conversations with people trying out our Chinese, and been gawked at by countless people counting how many children we have.  Culture shock is real and has been a mix of bad smells, analysis of Chinese construction standards, and weird foods.  Culture shock has meant craving McDonalds which is generally one of my least favorite places on the planet.  I think it is easy to find new situations scary or daunting, but with every day that we are here, I am convinced that this is exactly the experience we need as a family.  We get to be a walking sermon on big families and on the beauty of redheads. We get to learn about a culture very different from ours, but one that has so much beauty and history.  We get to throw ourselves into daily conversations with people who don’t speak English even a little bit.  This is stretching all of us and every time we make a mistake, which is often, it helps us learn a little bit faster.

Stu and Jackson made an awesome video of our travels over here. They did a great job putting everything together and really capturing all of our emotions during this big change.  Stu asked my cousin Clint to help Jackson out with some musical tunes for the production, and I am so impressed with the results. The whole video is amazing.  Watch it below

Our kids have been rockstars this week..  They have been positive and flexible as we are changing plans on an hourly basis around here.   We are staying at the Marriott Executive Apartments in the middle of the city and it has been fun to live downtown and in the center of so much activity.  This city has a really fun energy.  

Today I overcame one of my anxieties and figured out how to navigate their Uber equivalent over here called Didi. I called a taxi to take me to a supermarket that specializes in foreign import foods.  Hallie came with me and we were both so excited to find cheddar cheese, milk, corn flakes, oatmeal, tortilla chips, and salsa.  Life is good.  We used the same app to get back, had a little conversation with our driver, survived some gnarly traffic jams, and found our way home.  Coming back with some comfort essentials felt like such a huge victory!  I can’t wait until we own this place.