Leaving Hong Kong

We've done a lot these past 3.5 years!  When we boarded the plane to Melbourne, Australia, Isla was 7 months old. She is now 4 years old and Monroe, who was born in Hong Kong, is nearly 1.5 years old. Living abroad has filled our lives with endless fun and adventure as well as constant comical situations, some of which are self-inflicted as we've certainly made our share of mistakes along the way! I will say this: Ex-pat living is never boring!  We've had an incredibly positive experience and grown so much as a family. As I think back on our time abroad and some of the memorable moments, we have:

• Had our bank account shut down three times, our ATM cards cancelled countless times, our credit cards stolen twice, and my identity stolen once (resolving that one from overseas with no real US address was a real gem!)
• Received one eviction notice due to an accounting error
• Been accused of money laundering by our bank
• Become avid professional tennis fans 
• Gotten lots of weird flus/colds in Asia as well as a rare parasite in Australia, followed by E. Coli a year later in Hong Kong (me)...and then E. Coli a few more times...each
• Gone to Disneyland no fewer than 25 times
• Made it through two record-breaking typhoons
• Obtained and now proudly display three waving cats around the house
• Become pros at eating Asian delicacies and using chop sticks (Nate in this case, not me. I still use chop sticks to stab my food and pick it up when no one is looking.)
• Gotten our butts kicked in quite a few triathlons (those Aussie athletes don't mess around!)
• Encountered animals I didn't even know existed until the age of 31
• Eaten animals I didn't even know existed until the age of 31
• Celebrated new holidays (According to Isla, the four seasons are Summer, Winter, Christmas and Chinese New Year.)

And finally, we've traveled all around Australia and Asia, in addition to learning that "Australasia" is a real word for this region!   We've done nearly all our parenting abroad at this point, so as the kids have engaged with peers and formal educational structures, we have adapted many Aussie/British words and phrases, as well as some of the cultural norms. As a result of her schooling in Hong Kong and her passion for Peppa Pig, Isla speaks like a little British child most of the time.  While I'm sure this will fade, there are some other things we'll all hang on to as we've used different words, phrases and pronunciations so regularly while abroad.  We'd ask that you please bare with us when you hear us say or do the following: 

• Mate.  It's just too perfect - a fabulously gender-neutral term to call just about anyone you'd like!
• Cheers!  A classic.  I honestly don't think we'll ever stop saying this when we finish paying a bill, when someone holds a door, or just interacts with you in any way at all! Combining the two above words and yelling, "Cheers mate!" is a wonderfully happy way to end a conversation.
• Babies are "bubs." All baby items are British now - pram, dummy, nappy, etc. Our kids don't even know anything different at this point.
• We don't "rent" things. We "hire" them! As in, "We have to go pick up the hire car now."
• We are now firm believers in the tradition of Christmas crackers (also called bon bons) for all holidays! Here's the very official description on Wikipedia if you're curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker. We stocked up on them in January so we are ready to integrate them into our holidays later this year!
• You get in a "queue" or "queue up."  Isla believes a "line" is just what you draw on paper.
• We "reckon" things. Nate's parents have retired to rural Tennessee while we've been living abroad and I reckon we'll fit right in using this one while visiting them.
• We probably now like wine too much for America, but about the right amount for Australia and Europe.  We plan to get a hot tub for our new house in PA, so come on over any night of the week and drink up...Cheers mate!

Abroad habits will die hard. We will likely:

• Drive on the wrong side of the road...the driving in general will probably be quite poor actually. In fact, neither of us has a valid US driver's license anymore. In place of it, we have Hong Kong driver's licenses which look like a fourth grader could have made them with a laminating machine and international driver's permits that look like Isla made them with a date stamp, cut out photos and a glue stick. Needless to say, this license isn't highly regarded in the US.  Nate tried to use his ID in Nashville last summer to get into a bar and the bouncer told us to get lost or he would call the police.  So, we will both now need to take a full driving test to get re-licensed in PA, which ought to be hilarious as we still both approach US cars on the passenger side and then look confused about where the steering wheel is.
• At meals out, we'll look like the jerks who didn't tip at all. Tipping is not a thing in Australia or Hong Kong, so we are out of practice! You have permission in advance to grab our bill and write in a tip if we forget.
• Whine about the cold.  In general, one of our family rules is. "We don't whine, we solve problems."  That said, none of us has felt temperatures below 50 degrees fahrenheight in ages!  There's probably going to be some whining.

As we know we are coming back to the best group of friends and family we could ever ask for, we trust that you'll be patient when we say "nappy" or run over your mailbox with our cars, and give us some tough love when you have to tell us, "No, you weirdos, we can't do Christmas crackers on 

Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day AND Thanksgiving!"  

We land in Philadelphia June 5th!