Mid-Winter Swim (Inside!)

The Mass Winter Exodus

Now that Josh and I are living here as students with a company we have encountered a new kind of expat.  Unbeknownst to us before, most Westerners leave the country during the Spring Festival.  We have found ourselves one of very few families that are actually staying here the entire winter.  And I am not going to lie, I definitely like the idea of traveling to a warmer climate next year for a conference.

Thankfully, recently the days have gotten busy.  Last weekend a couple of the other couples here did a little retreat to a hotel that had a very nice swimming facility.  We arrived at the hotel around 11:30 and stayed until about 7:30pm.  It was rather pricey so we wanted to make sure we got our money’s worth and they included lunch for us.  I realized how good it was that I have already been working on potty training with Jaden because there are no swim diapers.  Of course, there is no way to truly know if he didn’t pee in the pool but each potty break was met with much gusto. Surely he doesn’t pee THAT much.  Suffice it to say, I am glad he didn’t poop.

Anyways, away from that…we ended up swimming the ENTIRE time there.  It was a large room with a huge pool in the middle.  This pool then had two “hot tubs” (the temperature was about that of a good bath) in the middle.  There was a lap pool next to the large middle pool. And then a kid’s pool that was only a foot deep with two slides.  Jaden could stand and walk around in the kid’s pool and that is where we spent most of our time.  We had to stay near him though because occasionally he would get off balance and under he went.  He didn’t do the best on holding his breath but he never was upset about it (I’m not sure if that is good or bad).  So all that time spent last summer in the grandparents’ pools must have helped him be comfortable in the water.

They had a great kid’s pool

There were two other families that went with us (one had 9 and 11 yr. old girls and the other 1 and 3 yr. old girls).  It was refreshing spending the whole day chatting in English about things that we all understood.  They are with our company  as well so it was a great opportunity to ask questions about how things worked.  Josh and I look forward to having a tm but it looks like we will be building our own.  We shall see what the Father brings.

After a day at the pool (in the middle of winter none the less!), I think the whole family felt recharged.  We were all exhausted (Jaden fell asleep on the way home) but I realized how much I needed a day “away” from our new “normal”.  I am so thankful that we got the opportunity to go and we might try to find ways to put money aside to get away.  There is a reason the Father gives us a Sabbath and sometimes you just need a day that is completely out of the normal to be able to face the normal.