Our First View of the Apartment

Today started early again as the boys both awoke at three in the morning. After breakfast we went and saw the apartment for the first time. We met Vivianne (similar to Realtor in US) at the apartment to give us the keys and go through everything. The guys that came to pick us up at the airport also delivered all of our baggage (it was in storage at Dustin's office while we were at the hotel). As we drove into the complex everything became extremely real, and in many ways overwhelming. I immediately began thinking of all the work we have facing us in getting everything into the apartment and bought for the apartment. The apartment was negotiated to provide the majority of the furnishing, but we need to buy all the housewares and things like ironing boards, waste baskets, etc... My first impression of the apartment is that it is very nice, but as with receiving a furnished apartment many pieces of the furniture are damaged, or not what we had pictured (i.e.--an off white micro suede sofa and chairs in the family room--not great with two young boys--thankfully the cushions are slipcovers that can be removed and washed). I think the thing that stood out the most coming from a home to an apartment is the stark white walls. This obviously will be fixed in time as we make it our home, but it struck both Dustin and I.
By the time the luggage arrived and we finished with Vivianne, we were all exhausted and hungry. We decided to go to the clubhouse for lunch as they have two restaurants. We decided on the one providing a brunch as it had the greatest array of food. Everything was delicious and the boys enjoyed waffles, salmon and the candy buffet. Dustin and I both felt a little out of place because it is came across to us as very formal (although many families were in jeans like us). As we ate there was a good representation of families from England, France, and Germany that came in for brunch, but no one from America. Dustin surmised our day and how we were both feeling aptly by saying it is like we have been sprayed with a fire hose--a lot to process in a short time on extremely little sleep--we are both drained and overwhelmed at the moment. Thankfully everyone seemed extremely friendly and almost all had either school age children or younger.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel. Dustin had a business meeting/dinner that he had to prepare for and the boys desperately needed naps. Dustin left shortly after we arrived and I began my first time on my own with the boys in China. The boys slept extremely late, and I therefore had to wake them up to get dinner. I had looked at the menu for room service earlier and felt the boys would not eat any of it, so I settled on the KFC in the mall behind the hotel. I also wanted to pick up some items at the grocery store for tomorrow (Monday is our first official day at the house and we have nothing--not even toilet paper or soap). Unfortunately, with being woken up, both boys were fussing and crying. Danny proceeded to cry half way to the store as he wanted to ride in the stroller, but I could not take it because the two umbrella strollers strapped together is too wide for the door of the store. We got plenty of stares from Chinese people as we walked as they are not used to seeing many foreigners.
I am quite proud at how I was able to navigate through the store on my own with the boys. I was able to figure out most of the things I wanted by the pictures or shapes (most things did not have English on them). Products are drastically different than at home--Kleenex does not come in boxes, but plastic pouches--similar to our purse size ones, but this is how it is for all sizes. Oh and on that note, everything is small here. It makes all of our products look like the Sam's size containers.
My only mistake at the store was that I did not weigh my bananas and put them in a bag with a label. I got to the register and the women obviously was saying there is no price, but I was thinking she meant I grabbed ones without stickers on them. A nice clerk came to my rescue and went and did it for me. I will now know this is what is required to buy produce.
Our next stop we went to KFC and I successfully ordered chicken nuggets for all three of us. They for some reason have nuggets rather than the strips they have in the US. We all walked back to the hotel, and by that point both boys were extremely happy. Dustin's meeting ended fairly early, but he was exhausted, so we all went to bed early. The good news of the day is that the boys seem to be excited about where we are going to live.