Sunday, June 26, 2016

Second Trip to China

The second trip in April of 2016 was meant to be introduced as the new Principal, meet all the employees of the school and prepare the apartment for my family.

Campus of RDF International School

When I went over in April we spent extensive time planning what I would take.  Even though it was just me traveling I took 2 large suitcases full of needed supplies for the family that 
I would leave there until we arrived in July.

We asked them to remove the wall between the very small kitchen and master bedroom so we could turn it into a dining area.  They didn't have any dining area in the apartment to begin with.

Being introduced as the new principal to the faculty.

Being introduced to the small student body.

A lot of open space in this new school just waiting for us to recruit more students.

Lots of shelves in our small apartment.

Area around Depang where the school is located.

Center of the city of Depang.  Mcdonalds and KFC:)

They have a very nice road and bike lane that crosses through the middle of the town.

Doing commercials for the new school.

They had this up and hanging the same day I arrived.

More commercials and advertising materials.

School recruitment Fair.


Advertising materials 

There are 52 beaches with in an hours drive.  During the spring the weather was very cloudy.  Sometimes I couldn't see where the water ended and the sky began.  
The locals say it gets better in the summer.


When I'm running an errand up town this is the quickest and cheapest mode of transpiration. 


Back entrance to our school.  Very secure with 24/7 security.

When we first told the girls that we were moving to China they were way excited and couldn't wait to tell their friends and teachers.  We brought it up to them before all contracts were finalized so we told them they couldn't tell anyone until we had finalized all negotiating.  Once we allowed them to start telling people they were so excited because it usually caused a pretty good response when they would tell someone.  We told the girls what it was going to be like and how we would really need their help to make this work.  They fully committed to helping Kati with all the house duties and watching the boys.  We will see how that works out.

Passports

Kati or the kids had never had passports before so we had their pictures taken at Costco and spent 3 hours at the post office waiting our turn and filling out documents to purchase passports.  That was a LONG evening with 2 girls who were very bored, a 2 year old running around and climbing on everything, and a crying baby who didn't want to be there anymore.  In the end the kids actually did pretty good but we were glad when that part was done.



Preparations Begin.

As we began to prepare to move to China we first wanted to take care of any lingering medical issues to limit the risks of needing to be treated while in China.  All the medical procedures added up to over $12,000 out of pocket in a very short time.
I had multiple eye tests to determine why my eye sight has been deteriorating.  I also had extensive dental work done having root canals redone and a gold crown put on.

We just happened to have a new baby boy named Jordan Ty:)

Shaylee got her tonsils out.

Camden had hernia surgery.

How it all started!

In October of 2015 I was approached about a job opportunity in a new international school in China.  I am an adventurous person so my first response was "sure, I'd be interested to look into it" (knowing my wife would never go for something like this).  The owner of the school happened to be traveling through Utah so Kati and I went to dinner with him, Peter Chan and his wife Joyce.  

The owner of the school, Gary, invited Kati and I to visit the school.  Kati didn't have a passport so I decided to take a free trip to China just to have the experience.  I didn't really anticipate anything coming from it but RDF offered me the position of Head of School (Principal).  I didn't give them an answer but said I would need to think about it and consult my wife.  After I returned home I began to really consider this as an option.  Every day it seemed more and more possible.  Kati and I  had many extended conversations whether we could actually do something like move our whole family to China.  She was adamant at first that it wasn't even a possibility but I felt inside that I couldn't shut the door on the idea.  Over time and many late night talks with Kati, we decided to draft a proposed contract to see what they would be willing to do.  We went back and forth negotiating and finally agreed on terms that were quite favorable.  Somehow, Kati stopped saying no and we accepted the job.  
In my visit in November of 2015 I was on assignment by Kati to take lots of pictures and show her as much of an "American" influence as possible so if we somehow ended up over there she could find somethings that were familiar.  Even up to 3 weeks before flying out she still hasn't said "yes" but she is in full preparations to move overseas:)















Thursday, June 16, 2016





The purpose of this blog is to share what we know is going to be a life changing experience for the Shad and Kati Stevens family.  We have accepted a new opportunity that will take our young family to China for at least 3 years and we want to share our experiences with anyone who might be interested in what it will be like to try and raise 4 small children in China where we don't speak the language.  We plan to share pictures and stories of all aspects of our lives as a journal of memories to help us continue to recognize the hand of the Lord.  We are excited, nervous, a little overwhelmed but also at peace with our new reality.  Please tune in for the challenges and triumph of our family going abroad.