學校 -- Otherwise known as School.

I do not know how to pronounce school (Xuéxiào) in Mandarin but maybe that will be one of the first words that Helaina learns and she can teach me.  It rained like cats and dogs the first day on the way to school but not on this girls parade.  She is just as excited when she came home on the 3rd day, as she was on the first.  She was oozing with details and of course mommy pressed her for more.  She willingly obliged me without holding back in the slightest!

3rd day waiting for the bus

She loved eating lunch, of course and was super thrilled with the ridiculously large indoor playground they have.   She has been a hot mess after school because she is so exhausted and has fallen asleep for nap in less than 5 minutes when her head hits the pillow.  She even slept through Indigo's 8 minute screaming protest of her nap yesterday.

This is her class room and the kitchen that I had
to call her over from to say good bye.

Her English teacher, Miss Natalie, from England.

Outside of her "Pteros"
I had to look up how to pronounce it which is
further evidence that home schooling is not an option :o)

Most of the indoor playground

Big girl off the bus!

As Chris said "Happy, Talkative and
Energetic -- Just like Momma" May her
progress reports always be like this.

Her school is for age 6 and under only which is one of the many reasons we chose it.  I wasn't quite ready to stick her on the bus with middle and high school kids.  We also like that there is a Mandarin and English teacher present in the room at all times as well as an assistant.  They divide up the day between the two languages.  She has not learned a new Mandarin word yet (that I am aware) but am fairly certain she will be fluent in not time.  There are roughly 15 kids in her class and we enjoyed meeting her teachers. The school is a good mix of students from all over the world.  There are only roughly 20% American kids so she will have good exposure to many cultures.  Her buddy so far is a chap from England named Luke.  She has also played with a girls named Addie which mommy is excited because I befriended Addie's mommy, whose name is also Laura.  

If you are super interested in reading more about her school the web site is http://www.seips-china.com/

The first few days Indigo and I rode on the bus with her and she took it home by herself.  Today was big girl day (for mommy of course) and I stayed at the curb and watched as the bus drove away.  It was quite a moment but I know she is in good hands and that she will thrive from the experience.  I only called Chris once crying.  

She is so excited that it really makes being upset about her being gone a bit easier to deal with.  Indigo and I have had a nice time bonding so far but that is a post for another time.