first day of school, final take

Today was Julianna's first day of school and she had a terrific time! Thanks to all of you who prayed for her first day - it really could not have been any better!

Here she is getting ready to head out the door ... for the first few days all the students have to wear nametags on their backs to help the teachers remember names. There are 40+ kids in Julianna's class, and over 500 in the entire preschool. (You probably know that China is the most populous country in the world.... lots of people means lots of preschoolers!)


After she left our house, she was greeted by Andy, Erin Ashley and Emma Grace, who had a special "first day of preschool" sign for her! What great neighbors - see how Emma Grace is clapping her hands!

Here they are outside the school gate -


I went to pick her up right before lunch - I'll usually just take Lydia with me (it's a five minute walk from our apartment at an adult pace.... twenty minutes when Julianna walks it) but today I wanted to be able to devote all my attention to Julianna and I wanted to take some time to talk to her teacher, so I left Lydia with Erin Ashley and Emma Grace and headed to school.

She was grinning from ear to ear when I arrived. Her teacher said that Julianna had a great morning (she actually has four or five teachers, but one head teacher who I talked with the most). She proudly showed off her classroom and clearly had a delightful time.

We stopped in the lobby to play on a few toys before the walk home.

And this cute little girl wanted to walk out with Julianna - she's a bit older and in a different class and very friendly.

Julianna talked the whole way home, giving me the details of the morning. According to her description, there are toys (lots of blocks, no rocks - which is a disappointment, she loves rocks - but she did explain that rocks couldn't be inside, so that's why her class doesn't have any rocks). And lots of friends (one of whom apparently fell down and cried, but not for a long time - it's funny what details kids choose to include). When they sit and listen to the teacher everyone has their own special pillow to sit on. And sometimes they have to line up ("one friend in front, and one friend behind"). She talked and talked. And talked some more. I loved it.

I am so thankful that she had such a good experience! She goes back on Thursday!