This Global Life | Day 30: Rural China
Hi! I'm Germaine. I'm from small town Oklahoma and currently live in Asia's Golden Triangle. My Sweetie and I wanted to be part of positive development in this region so what better way than to start an organic farm? 😊 He milks cows and calls me his "Dairy Queen". 👸🏼Homeschooling here fills my heart and days, and, oh, did I forget to mention we're raising five little farmers of our own? Other members of our family include 3 cats, 2 dogs, 50 cows, a couple hundred chickens, some pigs and a salamander named "Smaug". We've been here for 16 years now and don't see ourselves leaving anytime soon. Our days are a mosaic of school, languages, chores, visits to/from local friends, outside adventures, books and whatever craziness farm and family life brings us. We love it here and are more blessed than we could've ever deserved or imagined! So that's me. 😀
Sunrise run with our agriculture intern who is 15 years younger than me and has 150 times more energy! I could not get out of bed so early and exercise consistently if it were not for her!
This is the majority of my day. Sometimes I feel like a supermom as I juggle five different grade levels and teach well. Other days I feel like the world's worst failure. Either way I know I'm growing and learning so much more than my kids on a daily basis through homeschooling.
I tackle the hard subjects in the morning and in the afternoon I love to snuggle up with my kids and a good book for read aloud time. All of my kids agree that this is their favorite time of the day - I do too! Because I have so many children our neighbors assume I run a daycare and drop their children off to join in the fun.
I try to orchestrate opportunities for my children to do chores that involve them in the local community and use their language. My oldest daughter, who desires to be a vet, knows all the cows names and which ones are pregnant and how much milk they're all producing because she talks to the herd team daily.
We eat with the farm staff for at least one and sometimes two meals a day. It really saves on my grocery bill and time in the kitchen. I must admit I start to miss western foods and so I try to cook at least every other day.
If I don't tell my kids to go outside they will sit in their room. If they sit in their room they usually become fussy. I love the bright smiles and the sweaty foreheads they have after running around outside.
Sometimes I feel like my day is so busy but I find if I make time every day to go and sit with the local women, even if it's just for 10 minutes, it makes a world of difference.
I love to have people in my home. I find by inviting the local community to do family nights with us really makes us all feel like one big family. And when my husband is on the road it is great the boys still have's lots of big brothers and uncles to wrestle with.
When we are not having parties in the evening then usually there is a young married couple wanting to talk through a situation or new parents needing encouragement and so my kids have an early bed time but are allowed to read in bed. And when no one shows up on our doorstep needing something then Monty and I get an extra hour just to talk and reconnect. I am thankful for the quiet evenings. 