I'm back in the PRC

Today it was back to reality for us: back to school, back to work, back to Chinese lessons and dropping off and picking up children. Walking up the hill, down the hill...
Everybody here is still a bit tired. Andrew's teacher called at lunch; he was claiming to be "miserable" but couldn't quite put his finger on any body part that was actually giving him trouble. He ended up eating lunch with his teacher and staying for the rest of the day...I later found out three kids called mommies from that one class alone. I guess we're not the only tired ones.
I went to Alex's class today and read with some of the students - they have a parent come in each week to listen to a student read aloud, one on one. It's nice to be in his classroom and listen to the kids reading.
Ella was excited to go back to school, though she did ask to go to the beach instead. She was tired today but not tired enough for a nap. We laid down together and watched a Little People video this afternoon, but she didn't fall asleep (I nearly did). So at dinner tonight she fell asleep eating her gingered carrots.
It's nice to be back into our routine but I sure could go for another iced coffee with spicy crackers, with a cool ocean breeze blowing through my hair.