A Day in the Life of Tim and Christine

We are now at that point in blog posting where "normal life" has set in.  Everything is still really new and exciting, but we now are beginning to develop a normal routine.  We have some great routes, restaurants, stores, and shows picked out.  A lot of the "first-time" adventures have been had and incorporated into our everyday life.  Funny words are now commonplace and in our working vocabulary, and things just don't seem that different.  The big travel adventures are just around the bend (so you will have to stay tuned) but for now, the Baumann's from WI are getting used to being the Baumann's from Hong Kong.

Tim is too tall for the 2nd level of the bus!

Christine and her new warrior friend

So here is a brief combined schedule for the two of us on a "normal" school day:
6:00am- Alarm clock goes off
6:30am- Two sorry carcasses roll out of bed after hitting the snooze twice and proceed to get ready for the day
7:20am- Tim and Christine both begin to put on shoes and backpacks to begin the commute to school
7:24am- Tim and Christine panickedly run out the door to get to school in time for morning devotionals and classroom prep after a series of "oh yeah!  I forgot about that!" moments.
7:25am-  Christine arrives at devotions (one of the many perks of living two floors above where you teach)
7:45am- Tim arrives at devotions after getting his classroom ready.
8:00am- Christine's 5th grade orchestra begins
8:10am- Tim's first class begins
9:00am- Fire Alarm goes off; this one is not a drill.  Temperatures are at 90 degrees Farenheit with humidity at 85 percent outside.
9:15am- Fire Alarm is over.  Everyone returns to class with the understanding that under no circumstances is it ok to smoke in school and blame it on your welding equipment, even if you are a construction worker.
10:02am- Middle School music block begins.
10:52am- Middle School music block ends.
11:00am- 50 5th graders march into the choir room for the "Mr. and Mrs. Baumann and the 5th grade choir" show.  We have a lot of fun:)
11:52am- High School Music Block begins
12:39pm- High School Music Block ends

Tuna Roll with Soy Sauce :)

12:45pm- Lunch time.  Choose between lunch A (Chinese option), lunch B (Western option- which still looks Chinese), or a sandwich or tuna sushi roll from the ala carte cafe.  Employ the "I'm a hungry growing boy" face to the lunch ladies to receive an extra heap of fried rice and scoop of soup.  Do not eat the squash and taro sweet soup.
3:10pm-  School day ends and after school activities begin.  Monday is Handbell Choir for Tim and Middle School Strings Ensemble for Christine, Tuesday is High School String Ensemble for Christine, and Wednesday is ICS Children's Choir for Tim.
4:30pm- Arrive home to awesome apartment after a day of teaching and learning.  Go for exercising, personal reflection time, or snack.  Or sometimes all three.
5:21pm-  Momentary pause to realize "Am I really in Hong Kong right now?!!!!"
5:22pm- Resume activities with smile on face.
6:30pm- Realization that dinner has not started yet and both parties are hungry.
6:32pm- See if neighbors want to go out to eat.

The remains of a Mocha Brownie Chillino...

7:00pm- Sit down to dinner at fun restaurant
7:45pm- After eating fun meal, wandering of the mall commences.  Hours disappear rapidly and somehow we end up with a Mocha Brownie Chillino in our hands from Pacific Coffee.
9:45pm- Arrive home and chat for awhile about the day before realizing that it is time to head to bed and be well rested for the next day:)

Some days have more excitement, some days have less.  But the most important thing is the teaching and learning.  One of the art rooms in our school has a quote from Pablo Picasso that reads "Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist when he grows up."  Teaching is an art, and teaching an art is a double art.  Our work helps us to stay young, stay spry, stay connected, and perhaps most importantly, stay in a state of learning.   We are thankful for all of the experiences we have had here so far and thankful for all of those to come as well.

Love to all of our friends and family back home.  Please know that you are thought of and cheered on from our side of the world!!  Go do great things:)

Love,
Tim and Christine

At the Peak :)