Davises in China

Josh's First Day of School and Intro to Danny's Classroom

2011-08-16T14:28:00.000+08:00

Today started off great, with a pancake breakfast, and skyping with both sets of grandparents. It is the morning of Josh’s first day back to school. This year he is at the same school as last year, but now he is the “big kid” in school and in the oldest class. What a different perspective this is for him than last year. He has many friends that will be returning and he is already familiar with his teacher and the school.

After we eat, I take pictures of Josh before we go…he so sweetly asks Danny to come to school with him and into his classroom (it was so sweet that I did not point out the fact that since Danny does not start school until tomorrow, he has no choice but to have Danny come with us J ). We take our golf cart and head down the road to school. We arrive and it is so nice to see all the teachers and staff welcoming Josh back. Josh’s teacher tells us how his good friend Fitz was waiting for him and asking for him all day yesterday (I kept Josh home the first day so he could start on a half day of school—Josh will have three afternoon programs—cooking on Monday, swimming on Wednesday and Music on Friday—he had swimming last year, but we felt he was ready for the other additional days). Josh put his bag away and he and Danny headed to the slide and ball pit they have in the open play area. We were not there long when his two friends, Fitz and Annabelle arrived. It was so cute to see them reunite--they were truly joyful to see one another. It made me feel so good about leaving him there for the school day.

After saying our good-byes, Danny and I headed to the bank and the bakery for more bread. It was fun to just spend the morning with Danny and myself. We headed home after our errands for me to try and give Danny a haircut. I have begun giving him haircuts here in China as they are never consistent when I pay someone else to do it. I had brought Danny to a hair place before we left Indianapolis, but apparently I did not ask for enough off, as it still looks like it is thick and hot. Danny suffered through the long ordeal of me cutting his hair, and I was actually quite pleased with my handy work. We spent a little time reading and then headed off to the restaurant to meet everyone for lunch.

I did not realize it was such a huge group, but it was a lot of fun. The group was made up of women and their children that attend our church. There were a lot of our friends there, and some new people that are just moving into the area. Danny was a little overwhelmed by the group at first, but I brought him over to where his friend Matthew was sitting and playing, and they quickly bonded all over again. They decided to sit on the opposite side of where many of the children were sitting. The other boys must have liked this idea, because within minutes they had joined Matthew and Danny on that side of the room. I was totally impressed with the service of the restaurant (service is NOT a strength of China) and how they quickly got everyone’s drinks and food. After quickly eating while visiting, I left to grab Josh from school and bring him back. I arrived to get him at 1pm and they looked at me like what are you doing—turns out his day does not end until 1:30 on his short days. I still had the schedule from last year. They kindly allowed Josh to leave early, as I had planned to have him nap before I left with Danny to his school at 2. Josh and I raced back to the restaurant, and we visited for a few more minutes before we all left. We were able to get home and have a much desired lollipop snack and read some books before Josh went up for a nap and Danny and I left for his school.

Danny school has made some changes, and the main one I would say is the color they painted the walls…it is a bright and I mean BRIGHT yellow. So, this was a little bit of a shock as we entered the building. We quickly recovered though and headed down to his new classroom. Danny was just brimming with excitement. He is so thrilled he is a Kindergartner this year! His teacher and teacher assistant greeted us and we explored his classroom. Both teachers were both very sweet, and I am really excited for Danny. She had many students stopping in to say hello and give hugs (that is allowed here in China, unlike the US where it is now such a huge no-no. I was actually surprised to see it happen last year, but now I am back to thinking why on earth are we so crazy over this issue?) I felt this was such a wonderful sign of the type of teacher she is in her classroom! We looked at his schedule of his day and Danny just lit up over the idea that he now has science class, art in the art room, and drama at the end of the day. There is of course math, reading and writing and Chinese class, but he had those last year, so it was not as thrilling. J I am really looking forward to this year for the boys, and just know already that they are going to grown and mature so much!!

As Dustin had to work late tonight, we gave him a call so Danny could share the exciting news of science class. ;) We ended the evening with the boys and I eating spaghetti leftovers (I over estimated how many noodles and sauce I needed yesterday, we are good on spaghetti for quite a few meals to come). We enjoyed talking and sharing about the exciting parts of the day and then heading to bed to prepare for another exciting day!

Meeting New Friends and Entertaining Colleagues

2011-08-15T13:32:00.000+08:00

Today was filled to the max. I left the boys with my ayi and ran to Carrefour (as I have learned in the 2 years of living here, Do Not Take the Children Here!, as everyone stares and or tries to touch the children’s faces or hair). So, I left as early as I could to run my errands and left them in the skilled hands of Hong Li and a Curious George video (TV shows we bought and brought here with us). My trip needed to fit into a short period of time, yet I needed a lot of things. Not only items for our family, but also food for a lunch I was making that day for friends, and food for dinner I was making for Dustin and two of his colleagues. Finally, I needed to find a new showerhead, as literally the water this morning was just trickling down--not sure what happened over the summer to it, but a trickle is not going to work. I was so proud of how I whipped around the store and even ran to the BQ (similar to home depot, but not as good) to grab my shower head.

I got home and had about an hour before I told Lindsay that it was okay to arrive. Our lunch today was with my good friend Lindsay and her children and a mother we had both been emailing over the summer , who just moved to Shanghai for the first time. She was bringing her two little girls with her today.

I quickly moved into high gear to get the salad ready for the moms (children were going to be just having hot dogs and mac n cheese, so that was simple) Bless her, Lindsay offered to bring something, and I quickly assigned her dessert. The best part of the preparation for our friends arriving was how Danny helped me get ready. (Josh was good too as he went off and played while I ran around the kitchen--sometimes just the offer to remain out of the way is such a huge blessing :) ). Danny asked if he could help me numerous times. I know other parents will realize this actual big accomplishment of Danny here…he has moved from helping and it really just slowing me down, but I want him to learn, so I have him help me, to the point where he helps and it is a great service and help to me. I was so excited and so thrilled for him for how much he has matured and grown up. He is such a sweet guy and I really appreciated the extra help he gave me!

Lindsay and her children arrived first and this was so nice, as we had some time to just visit ourselves. I find that once school starts it is hard for her and I to connect and have that time one on one. (Her children go to the British school--this is fairly common here that some American families end up in the British school system here, but it leaves us and the kids on different schedules).

Our new friend arrived and she was just as sweet as her e-mails. Her two children were shy at first, but then slowly warmed up to our brood of kids (Lindsay has 3 children). In talking with her it brought back such a flood of memories. Her children are the exact same age my boys were when we moved here. She is full throttle into the time of happy exploration, and the overwhelming parts of daily life here. She has two blond children, and her youngest has the most gorgeous blue eyes. This of course has brought them the same crazy attention we received. Plus she said she has brought their double stroller, which does not obviously exist here with their one child policy, so I am sure she gets a lot of attention pushing that stroller. The good news is she has access to her driver fairly frequently, so this should help her settle into life a lot easier. I truly look forward to getting together with her again and getting to know her more.

Once all our friends left, I put Josh down for a much needed nap and grabbed a cup of coffee and sat on the sofa with Danny. I was exhausted! Of course we had not sat there long when I received a text from Dustin saying they would be early. So, I quickly drank my cup of coffee and swung back into gear. I prepared the bruschetta I was making for an appetizer and then worked on making the spaghetti sauce (Dustin and I decided we would keep it simple, which has also turned into my new mantra of entertaining…simple easy food that everyone enjoys). I of course had forgotten to get the meat out of the freezer, so I quickly put it into a water bath and was so grateful to God that it defrosted and I was able to complete the sauce before they arrived.

Dustin’s colleagues were very nice (we had met one, but our family had not met his other colleague). I went up to get Joshua from his nap and the poor guy was exhausted (still trying to get over that jet lag). He just clung to me. Then, once I got him unglued from me, (remember I am trying to pull of a dinner party--even if it is with just spaghetti I had still things to complete) Josh just sat in the kitchen with me. Finally, I was able to get him to sit with me on the sofa between Dustin and one of the new colleagues. He warmed up about half way through dinner, and by the end of dinner was dancing to the music Dustin put on—his normal self.

Overall, it was a great day back into our life here in China—filled with friends, new friends, and entertaining visitors. Now tomorrow we have Josh starting school a lunch out with friends and more new people moving into the area, and Danny meeting his teacher and seeing his classroom. Should be another great day!

Making the Transition Back to Shanghai

2011-08-13T07:26:00.000+08:00

Had the most wonderful summer with family and friends! We are so truly blessed by our family. They continually worked their schedules around for us so we could spend the maximum time with them while we were home. So sweet and lovely! My boys so enjoyed spending time with their grandparents and Aunts and Uncles, but most of all with their cousins, who they consider to be their best friends. It fills me with such joy to see them all getting along so well. I was blessed with similar relationships growing up with my cousins, and prayed my boys would have this same closeness. It is so wonderful to see them play with them all.

The hard part of this summer was that Danny was one year older, and therefore truly able to understand what it means to head back to China and say goodbye for now to our family and friends. While there was anger and tears, I was so proud of how he was able to fairly quickly redirect these emotions to looking forward to our life in China and looking forward to when we return to the States to see everyone again at Christmas time.

I think the part of living here that astounds me the most is how separate our lives at home in the US and our home in China feels to us. I truly feel like I have to switch gears going from one location to another because life in both places is so widely different from each other. The differences span from the appearances of our surrounding to the way of life, to the simple fact that in China we are separate physically from family and friends back home, and when in the US we are separated most usually from Dustin and then also from what has become our surrogate family here in China--our China friends (mostly from our expat community and church community here).

I must say the transition is a little like you having to flip a light switch…of course you have a 14-15 hour flight to do that flipping in, so it is not too bad. By the time we were arriving here this time the boys were excitedly talking about the upcoming school year and their friends and of course the most about seeing Dustin. When they awoke in the plane to land into Shanghai, they were literally jumping up and down (no worries…this was sitting down style jumping with their seatbelts on) in their seats and chanting “we’re going to see Dad, we’re going to see Dad.” So unbelievably cute!

We unloaded the plane and headed to security to be greeted with the fact that the man in security did not feel we qualified for the special lane (usually families get to go in this lane and speed up the process as the little ones are still really tired upon arriving). After smiling at the camera with our passports, we headed to baggage. (Chinese security requires them to look at each passport then ask you to look at them to make sure it is really you, and then you must smile into a camera…this of course is quite funny now as Josh’s passport picture is really a baby photo and Danny is about the age of Josh is now in his photo. I also have grown my hair long, so it is quite a leap for them to make).

At baggage, I usually have someone help me pull all the bags off the conveyor, but that evening no one was there. So, I lugged the 5 suitcases onto two carts myself, and had Danny help me push one. I then pushed the other cart, while pulling Josh in the stroller behind me. He fussed at first, but I explained he was being like Mater (Cars movie) who drives backwards a lot. We as always were a sight to behold. J We were of course greeted almost immediately by the worst part of Chinese society--the rudeness…while trying to push through the last security arches with the two carts and stroller. I cannot tell you how many Chinese people tried to push past us with their carts or rolling suitcases. All I could think was, you have got to be kidding me…you see a 5 year old (okay he looks like he is 8 because he is so tall, but that is still a young child) pushing a large cart that he can just barely control, and a mother pushing another cart and with her other free hand she is dragging a stroller loaded with a very tired toddler and you do not think to give them some room, or even more shockingly offer to help. Their total lack of awareness or care for others is to me one of the craziest and saddest part of their society. We made it through finally, and Dustin hopped over the line of people to help Danny with his cart. Unfortunately, it was out of security that I realized that I left a suitcase behind. We came with 6 not 5 bags. Thankfully it was not the situation I did on the way to the US, in which I left our suitcase at the end of our bed…yes the suitcase that contained all our clothes, toiletries and presents for everyone. Rather, I left it on the conveyor belt. Only problem is we’re in a communist country with tight security and a language barrier. Thank the Lord for my husband, who has master quite a bit of Mandarin, and he was able to explain what I did and that we needed to go get it. After a little stress, we got all the bags and headed home.

Amazingly I have managed to unpack everything already, however, I must say I will be spending the first weeks of the kids being back in school organizing my storage room and closets that hold all the food and crafts and random things we cannot buy here (or cost an obscene amount here) that we have brought from home and is just randomly stacked in there now.

Looking forward to this fall and getting back into the swing of things here. Promise to keep this blog going as well this year. J

Snow, Snow and more Snow

2011-01-20T12:42:00.002+08:00

The coldest time in Shanghai in 3o years and now we are having record snowfall. The past couple of days have been quite interesting with Josh being so sick (rota virus) and all the snow. It has snowed here for the past three days, but mostly melted. The newspaper said it was suppose to end yesterday (although weather reporting here is quite suspect), but we woke this morning to three more inches, and it has not stopped snowing yet. This type of snow is quite rare as we are even with Houston, Texas, and like there the city is not prepared for this type of weather. Bless their soles, the guards and people that help garden the public areas of our subdivision were out shoveling snow with garden shovels and brooms, as there is nothing else to use. Drove Danny to school in the golf cart thinking the whole time that this was not what the vehicle was meant to do. Yet, it worked great. Josh and I even made it the little farther distance to the clinic to have him checked out. I feel so bad for the little guy and she said at least two more days with this rota virus. I will definitely have the Toy Story trilogy memorized by that point. We have watched it over and over this week. One blessing is I believe the rest of us will not get it as rota virus is usually only contagious for little ones like Josh.

Well, he has fallen asleep next to me, so I am off to carry the little guy up to his bed.

A New Year is Dawning

2011-01-18T11:44:00.002+08:00

We are back in China after a fantastic time home this past Christmas. We are quickly approaching our 2 year anniversary, and Dustin has been given the green light (not full green, but 98% or so) to build the plant. Actually as I speak he is signing contracts. This of course means our time here in China will be the full time of 4 more years. As it streches out in front of us, I must admit it seems like a long time. Especially since in that time we will say goodby to many of our closest friends here. However, we do feel this is our rightful place and are so excited for what the boys will be able to learn this this time period.

I must say our schedule here now that Dustin is in full swing of getting the pieces in place for the plant, okay really our schedule most times here, was a shock in comparison to the blissful family time we had at Christmas. He is having to work long hours, and has not been able to be home most nights. He did a great father son day with Danny last Saturday and I can already see that this will be some great bonding time for the boys. One great blessing of Dustin's work is his ability to schedule in the kids school activities, like Danny's upcoming assembly where his class will be doing a song. It is an adjustment for us all as we get back into the swing of things. This is always tempered by the fact that in China you get back into the swing from Christmas, and then everyone is off for Chinese New Year. I do pray that the time afterwards will be an easier adjustment.

Dustin and I anticipated this time between Christmas and Chinese New Year would be insane, so we made the decision to travel for this Chinese New Year. It will be some good family time before we all hit the grind again!

This week has lead to some adjustments back, but also was thrown a little loop when Josh came down with the stomach bug on Sunday morning. It will hopefully leave him soon, and hopefully skip over the rest of us, as this next week and a half before we leave for Chinese New Year is packed full.

We have pictures being taken this Saturday, and we have friends coming over that are sadly leaving China on the 1st of Feb. Our family will really miss them as they are wonderful people, extremely down to earth and sweet, and their son is one of Danny's closest friends here. We were expecting them to leave in June, but they are having to leave early due to her health situation.

Overall, we are back into the life God has blessed us with here. We are so fortunate, and we are reminded of this wherever we look here. We look forward to see what God has in store for us personally here in China and for our family. May God bless you all!!

A look Back and a Look Forward..We are so Blessed

2010-11-03T14:30:00.002+08:00

So I am finally getting back down to posting on here. I have spent the morning resting and sleeping and the last hour downloading pictures from my friend's picasso site of shots I did not get last year. It brought me back to pictures of last fall with Danny's birthday party with Alivia and a day trip down to the city with friends. It has brought such nostaliga to me, as many of the people in the pictures have graced our lives here in China, and have since moved back home or to new assignments, or will be very soon. I am so grateful for each one of them and realize that they played such a great role in my transition here to China and life in general. I was also amazed to see how much the children have changed in this past year. Danny has grown up so much and Josh has gone from a baby to a little boy. Yikes that is so crazy to me, as when we are in the daily part of it, it does not seem to go by that quickly.

The fall has brought us back to our home here and I am glad to say that with now living in the house rather than the apartment, I truly feel like we have a house. In addition, Danny started at the American School and it amazes me what a community this opened up to us. We now have sporting events and theater events opened up to us. We took in our first baseball game with the kids in September and it was so much fun. They even handed out cracker jacks. Danny was singing the Take me out to the Ball game song for the rest of the weekend.

Our other new thing this fall is that Josh started school. He began a little preschool with the hopes that he will learn Chinese. His class is called Chinese immersion--they speak in Chinese and then repeat in English until they completely get rid of the English. My wow moment was yesterday when I dropped him off to school. He was a little clingy to me, so his teacher began talking to him in Chinese and all of a sudden he was pulling out and then hiding again his hand in his jacket and smiling. She was playing hide and seek with his hand and he completely understood her in Chinese. Amazing and so exciting at the same time!!!

Finally, our other big change is that we no longer make the 2 hour trek to church down in the city. Shanghai authorized another location for the international church to be opened just 5-10minutes from our house. Praise the Lord (on numerous levels, not just the commute)! We now get to go to church with friends of ours and the children that Danny sees in school. We are really excited about it. The only down part is we do miss our friends Erin and Jeff that we would see each weekend at the other church.

Overall, we are plugging along and falling into place here in China. We feel settled and blessed here. We had a great 5th birthday celebration for Danny a couple of weeks back, and a great Halloween celebration as well. Looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving here with our friends here in China. Then just a few weeks and we will be in the great United States with our families. Love to you all...

Our Worst Day in China

2010-07-19T20:48:00.002+08:00

Today is by far the worst day we have had in China. It brought to us the clearly inhumane treatment many of the Chinese people suffer on a daily basis. Our ayi, the lovely woman who comes to help me with the house and kids (very common here in China--see previous blogs) told us that she was pregnant. While normally this would be joyous news, in China it is not. This is because she is already a mother. She has a wonderful son who is 13 years old. In China you are only allowed one child. Therefore, she had to go to the doctor and have an abortion. This is nothing short of TORTURE!!!!

I, of course living in China and even before living here, was well aware of the one child policy that they have in place. However, it has taken knowing a person going through this pain to realize how messed up this policy is for the people of China. First, most people here desparately want more than one child. People actually look into ways to get around it, like getting a divorce because you can in some situations have another child legally when married again. Additionally, they are not given contraception or surgery to "tie their tubes" so a pregnancy would not occur. They are penalized for having a second child and penalized if they give that child up for adoption. Finally, they have to pay for the procedure to terminate the pregnancy.

I cannot imagine having to go through such torture and then have to pay for it as well. Insane!!! No wonder she told Dustin she was not only grieving the loss, but was angry.

Yet, with many things in China there is no place to funnel this anger. No representative, no courtroom to hear the case, no newspaper to write to about your injustice. Many Chinese have gotten very bold online where they have been able to be anonymous. Yet, I have read recently that China is trying to take that away. They won't shut down the site (although they have done that before), no they are seeking to take the anonymity away. This way China feels they can say, "Look our people are free to share their thoughts online jut like the rest of the world." What they won't say, but every Chinese person and hopefully the rest of the world knows, is that if there is someone disagreeing with the government, a couple of things may happen--they may disappear, they may be detained and "questioned" or they may be sent to be "reeducated" at a work camp (i.e.--the two elderly people that petitioned the government for something before the Olympics). No one is left complaining or voicing an opposing opinion for long, so taking away the anonymity of it, takes away the people's ability to complain or object to something.

There is not even a system of social assistance. Counseling. You can forget about it. It is a society that has been taught to suck it up and move on. In fact, I would go so far to say that they have to be careful to talk to anyone other than close family, because just regular venting about a subject could lead to one's detainment or worse. Therefore, most Chinese people are very reserved and rarely share their views on subjects, especially to outsiders like ourselves or even neighbors.

While forcing someone to take contraception or have their tubes tied is extremely invasive in a person's life and rights, it does in China's situation seem downright humane compared to the current method they impose. I personally would take this method over having to have an abortion every time I became pregnant during my reproductive years. How many abortions must a Chinese woman have to endure during her life?

Living in China we will obviously be faced with many heartbreaking and frustrating situations like this one (not being able to do something to directly solve it for our ayi and other woman), and while Dustin and I questioned how we could even work in a country like this one after hearing this news from our ayi. We are left with the fact that even in our small way, we are affecting China in a positive manner. We are living there, sharing our values and our views and whether we are in China or in the US we alway have the most powerful tool that God gives to each of us. Prayer. While I currently feel like storming into a building screaming about the injustice and torture that is occurring, I know my true power comes from me getting on my knees and bowing my head. It may seem like an ineffective method to some, but I can assure you that my life alone has been an example of the power of prayers and the answers from God. I will be praying daily for this issue as well as true freedom for the Chinese people. I ask each and everyone of you that reads this blog to please pray about this situation. Even a quick prayer (what I like to call a "flare prayer") is heard by God and answered.

Answers and change may not come quickly, but it will come. May God bless the Chinese people and their leaders. May God bless you and open all our eyes to the gift we have been given in living in the Western world, especially the United States of America.

My Eye...Here we go again

2010-04-21T19:31:00.000+08:00

I woke Sunday with a weird white fuzzy spot at the bottom of my vision on my left eye. I felt it was odd and just like when the tingling/numbness started on my left side last year, I felt surely I was going crazy and just imagining thing. Yet, by Monday it was still present and after talking to a friend who is an opthamologist I had a little more information. If it moves around no big deal. If it remains the same, not so good. Unfortunately, I fall into the latter category. I sent a message to my neurologist at home, and set up an appointment with an opthamologist here, not really holding my breath though on the care here, but hoping for the best.

Tomorrow is Danny's day to go to his new school for the fall (American School--he is currently at an international pre-K school). It is a day for them to assess his readiness for their pre-K program and for the parents to get a tour of the school. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. He is not considered accepted to the school until he passes this part of the admissions requirement. Danny however, is so excited.

March Madness...and I Do Not Mean Bastketball!

2010-04-14T11:06:00.003+08:00

So, I must say that I meant to cover March in more detail, but it was so crazy and absolutely overwhelming to us that putting one foot in front of the other is all we could manage to get through this month. It was by the shear grace of God that we survived it without any major nervous breakdowns. (Okay, I came close but the good Lord saw me through it and I learned that God supplies to us everything that we need in the moment and he will see us through to the next one). So what made it a month of Madness? It had to do with our new landlord, Dustin's work, Danny's teacher and general safety and etiquette here in China.

The month began of course with our move and more importantly, at least to understanding the madness...our introduction to our landlord. She is apparently the typical Chinese in that she is constantly negotiating, even everything which is clearly required of her in our contract. I say she is typical Chinese as this is what Dustin deals with on a daily basis. People constantly fighting against you, trying to give you substandard things, or cut things out of the contract that has already been negotiated and signed..this is from your own employees as well. Personally, I give him such credit for being able to do business here...it may be my legal background, but it makes me really annoyed and upset (okay, at times, irate) to renegotiate what I deem is a firm agreement. If it was me I would have left screaming all the way to the US a long time ago. :)

We have enjoyed the house as soon as we moved in, as it is just great to be in our own space and not in an apartment. Yet, most of the things that were suppose to be completed and fixed by the landlord never occurred before we moved in. Hence I spent most of March trying to get these things fixed. In addition, new things broke or needed to be fixed, so I was constantly working to have people come to fix things at the house. I am so grateful that we have a good agent and her office is a strong advocate for us. Otherwise it would be impossible to have any of it done. In addition to our landlord negotiating to not have to do things, it appears that while I provided a detailed list to everyone of what still needed to be fixed, no one would remember. This required constantly sending e-mails and calling my agent to have people fix it.

For example, I have had 10 separate conversations concerning the light on our hood above our stove and the lights next to it. I have had probably six different and sometimes the same workers look at it and tell me they are ordering it. I am having my seventh person come tomorrow to look at it, maybe fix it tomorrow. This was after someone came from the management office to write down what light was needed yesterday. I told Dustin yesterday that one would think that out of the five other times they came, told me they were going to order it or fix it, that one of those five people would have thought to write down what needed to be ordered and actually order it. Apparently, life is far from that simple here. Yet, this is a perfect example of working or trying to have someone fix something here. It requires a lot of patience. Frankly, if there was a better hardware store, such as could be found in the US, I could have read about the electical work, taught myself how to do it, bought the supplies and done it myself in the time it has taken them to organize this repair. Unfortunately this is just one of the repairs. We had everything from holes in the wall (created by the landlord herself when she ripped the hooks that were in the wall out that her first "painter" failed to remove and patch), mold growing on walls, to a heat vent sounding like an airplane was taking off in the family room.

The repair work and what needed to get down was a discussion that took most of March and included many people coming to the house to look at what needed to be done. Some even took pictures. So, you can only imagine my frustration when the landlord came to fix things and it turned instead into a marathon negotiation of her trying to get out from paying to have it fixed.
The afternoon was filled wth everything from her saying she would do some things, to saying she was not going to pay for another thing. It also involved her barging (literally she marched up the stairs and into his bedroom) into Josh's room while he was napping. This of course was right after I had told her not to go anywhere without me because he was sleeping. This process went so long I had to have a friend go and pick up Danny from school and keep him until she was gone. When she left we had not really gotten anywhere. We ended with me just pointing to the contract and saying this was what was required and this is what we expect to be done.

Towards the end of our time together she ended it with a comment I will never forget. "Us Chinese do not care so much about the money as the friendship." My first thought was...you have got to be kidding me..you just spent the last three hours arguing about whether you were going to pay for what you were required to pay. I think I ended up laughing out loud and said back that she should not have kicked me out of my own house the first day if she wanted to be friends (see previous blog for this story). Dustin told me later that this was her attempt to get me to accept her terms of not paying anymore. (I cannot believe this would work on anyone). He said he would have turned it on her and said if we are such good friends you will pay for it all. Of course, this is why he is the business man and not me. I just wanted to strangle her on the spot.

The happy ending concerning our landlord is that someone, we are not sure who, must have got a hold of her and explained things to her. She came to the house the following day and literally she was a completely different person. She was curteous, by Chinese standards, and she had people with her and they actually fixed most of the issues. She also said a painter would come to fix the walls. (She had left it the day before that we could pick one wall and she would fix that (there were at least 10 or more walls that needed to be fixed)--can we all say CRAZY). In the weeks to come in March, all the items except the kitchen lights have been fixed. Although it was done to Chinese standards it is still far better than nothing at all.

So, what else was happening through all this? Well, one of Dustin's employee's quit and went to work for a competitor, his new hire that was suppose to be trained was given no training, which meant Dustin had to add more to his already busy plate, he had numerous work meetings, late nights (as in midnight and beyond--try doing business with that little sleep) and still found time for our family on top. Personally, I am amazed by him and how he handles the stress of this job and all that he is able to accomplish here for his company and for us. Yet, I know Dustin will quickly be the first to down play anything he has done or does do...it is after all for the Lord and it is through the Lord that anything, especially here, gets accomplished. (There is a short novel here that could be written about all these issues that happened, but for obvious reasons they will remain out of the blog. :)

This of course brings us to the issue of Danny's school. We were quite shocked to find out about the middle of March that Danny's teacher had put pictures of children on his facebook page and then posted sexual comments about them...one really bad one was done by one of his friends. This information was obtained and copied by one of the parents and we spent a long weekend waiting to find out if Danny was involved and a long week dealing with the aftermath of it all. His teacher was obviously terminated and the search for a new teacher began. We found out about the situation on a Saturday and it took until Sunday night at a parents meeting to find out that Danny was not involved directly. The meeting was quite fascinating as Danny attends an international school and there are people from all over the world. To watch the interaction of parents as they tried to converse in English with most of them having a different native language and also different cultural and legal sytems, and with this being a highly emotional issue, it was quite fascinating. Thankfully by the middle of that week things began to settle down. The biggest blessing is that none of the children were adversely affected and continued on with their normal lives completely oblivious to all the craziness that was going on around them.

I belive the sadest part of our month was the passing of Dustin's grandmother the same weekend we were dealing with Danny's school situation. Dustin was unable to make it home for the service as it was held that Tuesday, but he was able to skype with his family right before the service. It is so wonderful that we are able to use this technology to stay connected.

The final aspect of our month was really just a culmination of the rudeness and total lack of ettiquette that is China. This society is built on a Me First mentality. It of course does not bother a Chinese person, as it is their norm. However, for any western person coming from a society of where one has etiquette (i.e.--not spitting on the ground--and I am referring to inside a store or not peeing in public--and yes no surface is safe, etc) and kindness and care for one's fellow man. The lack of it here is grinding and literally just wears you down. If you talk to most patriates, they will tell you that you can last a couple of months before you will just need to get out. We made it three...January through March, we decided at the end of March that we would leave China for Hong Kong during Danny's spring break in March. It was the best decision we made.

Now that we are back from our vacation and I am looking back on March, I can tell you that while March was an extreme month life in general here is not for the faint of heart. Yet despite all the craziness of it there are many blessing to witness here as well and God shows us these blessings even in the midst of the madness.

Trip to Hong Kong

2010-04-12T18:55:00.001+08:00

After the CRAZY month of March, we decided that for Danny's spring break we would head down to Hong Kong for a long weekend (April 7-11). As I was completely fed up with the lack of etiquette and manners of many in Shanghai, we a stay at Disneyland, for obvious reasons...they are trained in their friendliness and at the hotel we stayed in when Dustin was getting the work visa paperwork done last year. They are also fantastic in their kindness and care. We headed off and of course there was an immediate two hour delay from the airport. We fly into Shenzen, which is directly across from Hong Kong still on the Mainland. It is by far cheaper to fly here, but it is also plagued with delays.

We arrived in Shenzen and while we waited for Dustin to check about a car to take us across the border to Hong Kong (yes, Hong Kong is a part of China now, but it still has its border checks. People in Hong Kong have much greater freedoms than the mainland Chinese), a lady--clearly Chinese by her complete lack of awareness of anyone else--nearly took out Joshua in his stroller with her suitcase. What always shocks me about these encounters is that rather than taking two more steps to go around us completely to reach the counter, she picks the 6 inches that were between Danny and Josh to barge her way to the counter. I do not think I will ever truly understand this and how they view the world. As I was already teetering at keeping my cool around rude Chinese people, this was just the end. I started muttering and crying all at the same time. Poor Danny and Dustin, who did not witness, nor could probably understand what I was saying, were a little bewildered by my ranting. By the time we got to the McDonalds downstairs in the airport, I had composed myself and apologized for the outburst. I was though so glad to be heading to Hong Kong!

We hired a car and took the trip with another family into Hong Kong. It was a great drive and actually faster than I expected. We were dropped off at Disneyland and then hoped on their bus to take us to the hotel. We were all excited, but obviously the boys were over joyed to be staying at Mickey's hotel. :)

We ate dinner at the restaurant that contained a huge buffet. The boys enjoyed the dessert part the best with Mickey shaped cookies and ice cream sundaes. We went back to the room and watched a Mickey Mouse clubhouse show until the fireworks show. This began and we were able to see almost all of it out the window.

Early the next morning we headed out to the park. It was drizzling and called for this the whole day. It did not dampen our excitement though as we had packed our rain gear and we were all set. The boys decided to start with the Dumbo ride and this time we let Josh go on it. He loved it! It was by far his favorite ride. We were quite blessed the whole day in that every time it really rained hard we were in the shows. We saw Lion King and the boys really had fun.

We made it an early evening and headed to the other restaurant in the hotel and ate. They play a movie each evening and we got to see Dinosaur. It was a big hit with the boys and Dustin and I were able to enjoy our meal while the boy watched the show. We headed back to the room and again got to see the fireworks before bed.

The following day we went to the park again, as they had a promo of 2nd day free with the hotel stay. So we hit all the rides we wanted to see again and stood and took pictures with Mickey and his friends. Donald was Josh's favorite and Mickey is still Danny's favorite. So cute to see the boys interact with them. We didn't stay the whole day, but instead headed back in the afternoon and took a taxi to our other hotel.

After unloading at the new hotel we headed out to view the Peak, which is a famous spot in Hong Kong to view the city and Victoria Harbor. Unfortunately, it was cloudy that day, but we enjoyed the tram ride up and down the steep hillside. We finished the night off with eating at Dustin's favorite Italian Restaurant in Hong Kong--Fat Angelo's. It has good food at a great price and has fun things for kids.

The next day we headed down to Stanley, a famous beach and marketplace. It is also where most of the expatriates live. We took a double decker bus and Danny just loved this so much. The views were absolutely amazing of the city and then the coast. It took about an hour to get there by bus. It was raining again, but we were able to duck in for lunch during the heaviest part of the rain. We enjoyed sitting and looking at the ocean while eating our pizza and listening to all the British expatriates with their own families around us. If you did not know you were in Hong Kong you would have sworn you were in England for the rain and the accents of everyone.

That evening we just grabbed burgers in the mall attached to our hotel and looked at some of the shops. It was great to just see some store names we recognized.

The next day we hoped on the plane home, greatly refreshed from our trip and ready to make it through the last two months before heading home to the US for the summer.

And let the Craziness Begin..or Maybe Continue

2010-02-27T20:09:00.001+08:00

The boys got up early this morning, and I quickly went around trying to prepare for the movers to come. Yet, when they arrived at 9am I realized that I was no where close to ready for the team of movers that besieged our apartment. They had workers literally in every room. I first went around with the supervisor and his assistant and went through what stayed and went in each room. The assistant would then mark the door, item, etc with a sticker for the workers. I also had to indicate where in the new house it needed to go.

It is not until they box up your stuff that you realize how much stuff you actually own. Now remember that we have no furniture from the old place coming with us. Yet, we still managed to pack half a small truck full. They were extremely fast, sometimes faster than us, as they ended up packing up the paint and Spackle that Dustin wanted left out. It was in a box and in the truck before we even thought to say something. The move was chaotic and a little stressful for me, but was going smoothly. We had the boys staged with our ayi (we paid to have her come watch the boy in all the chaos) in front of the TV with one of their favorite movies (Ice Age). Yet, when they got down to the last things in the house it was clear the boys were really getting agitated. It was close to lunch and Josh was hungry, and he completely lost it when they unhooked his booster seat from his chair and began to put it into a box. He literally ran across the room sobbing "cha" (his way of saying the word chair). We quickly scooped him up and tried to sooth him, but it was no use. So, Hong Li and I bundled up the now both sobbing boys (they tend to both cry when one or the other is crying) and headed to the clubhouse and the indoor park (it was raining pretty good today and cold). This seemed to do the trick. We ran into a lot of Danny's friends and classmates which was nice for him as he missed them being home sick all week.

Dustin stayed behind and did the final walk through with the supervisor to make sure nothing was missed. We then grabbed some McDonalds and headed over to the new house. If we thought the pack up was chaotic, the move in was even crazier. There were again people everywhere. This time they were unpacking our things, or at least the things they put in their plastic containers. I was running from one room to another trying to help direct where things went and where boxes should go. Finally, we were madly trying to unpack as fast as we could so they could have their plastic containers back. I had every counter in every bathroom, and kitchen covered and much of the floor space in Josh's room covered in boxes.

After the movers left, I worked to get the beds made up for the boys so they could take naps, and then my ayi and I began working again. I put things away and Hong Li worked on cleaning the incredibly dirty floors. Dustin and Tom went to buy us our new ride (or my new ride I should say) a new scooter (I promise pictures soon).

We made some good headway, and after thanking Hong Li for all her help during our crazy day, we crashed on our new sofa and relaxed watching, yes, you guessed it, Ice Age.

One Year Anniversary of Moving to China

2010-02-26T19:56:00.000+08:00

So as we sit in our apartment tonight, I cannot believe that it was just a year ago that we moved here to Shanghai and that tomorrow we move again from this apartment we have called home, to a house that will be our new home here in Shanghai.

So much has changed since we first stepped off the plane. We have already said good-bye to three great families that we have been close to here as they took new assignments abroad and back home. The boys have also changed drastically. Danny arrived more as a toddler as he was still in pull-ups, and Josh was still really a baby. Now Danny has grown into a little boy who when I look at him now looks more like 7 than 4 and Josh is no longer a baby but a toddler heading into little boyhood himself. Dustin and I have successfully plowed through numerous ups and downs here and I believe have kept our family firmly grounded and closely knit together. This being mostly to God's wonderful grace and blessings, than anything that we could have done.

The time has gone so quickly, and now we have graduated into the role of those that welcome the newcomers. They are really easy to spot--they are the ones that look a little (or a lot) uneasy, a little (or a lot) lost, and have the look of complete relief when you talk with them and give them encouragement and support. I have been amazed at the steady stream of people that have moved home or abroad and how many have moved in. It does not matter the time, they are constantly moving in and moving out. It makes life interesting here, but it is also what makes everyone so supportive, welcoming and close knit. We have such an awesome community here and we are so blessed in so many ways.

Day Two of the Move-In

2010-02-26T19:41:00.002+08:00

This morning, I headed over and did as much of the cleaning of the kitchen and the cabinets as I could accomplish. My ayi came directly to our new house and helped while Dustin played with the boys outside. The man arrived to put our furniture together, and finally our landlord, our agent and one of the workers here at our new community arrived. The man working on the furniture worked steadily from the time he arrived until 12:30 to put the sofas, chairs and Danny's bed together. Our landlord walked around with our agent and the worker, working on the things we had specified the day before. Much of this was not actually fixing it, but rather discussing the issue and to me felt like renegotiating whether it was going to be done. The funniest moment was when the worker was actually fixing the light in our upstairs hall bath. He was almost done and was working with the lightbulb and then going to put on the cover when the landlord begins flipping the light switch up and down. I thought she is either definitely crazy or just does not care or think of others at all (probably the latter one). I am shocked the worker did not tell her to quit it, or worse.

We got a fair amount done before lunch, and decided to head back to the apartment for the boys to nap. Dustin had to leave for a meeting at 3:30 and would be gone for dinner. I was so incredibly grateful that my friends were bringing us dinner. It was great to head to the house and not have to think about what we would eat.

As the boys slept, I tried to get things organized for the movers to come in the morning. We then just relaxed before the big move.

More fun with a foriegn language

2010-02-25T21:35:00.003+08:00

Hello blog world!

It's been a very long time since I have wrote anything, and since I've got 30 minutes to kill before the calls start for the evening, I thought I'd give it a shot.

As you all know, I've been working to learn the Chinese language. There are times I make great progress, and then there are weeks on end that I seem to go backwards.

A few weeks ago, I had a major breakthrough. This is one of those moments when you not only understand a lot more, but you also understand how they think.

This, again, has to do with time. In Chinese, when you say ahead physically, it is qianmian. Behind you is houmian.

Now, if you want to say the future you say yihou, but if you want to say the past you say yiqian.

The character qian (前）and hou (后）are the same in both words.

In my world, you stand looking forward at the future. In China, you stand looking forward at the past. Amazing.

This small difference makes things a whole lot clearer. Chinese people rarely plan... as if they don't see any point in looking "down the road". Well, if you grew up from the very first part of your ability to think with the orientation that you can only see the past, I can see why planning would appear to be meaningless.

I think I have also told you that they see time rolling down a hill, right? You see, to say morning you say shangwu and to say afternoon is xiawu. Shang (上) means above or up and Xia (下) means below or down. So, you start your day up high and end it low.

Jackie does much better at giving details of day to day life. She can explain the fun I had today dealing with the move. I cannot believe that we have been here a year. Parts of it seem like we have been here 20, others seems like yesterday.

Like I was told during my first few days here, you have Shanghigh and Shanglow days. That's all part of it.

And the Move-in Begins and so Does the CRAZINESS

2010-02-25T12:36:00.001+08:00

The contract on the new house we are renting specified we got the keys three days before the term began, but we asked and were granted the right to get the keys four days in advance. I asked for this so I could go in and clean the house on Thursday before our funiture was to be set up on Friday (they were to deliver it on Thursday) and before the offcial movers came on Saturday.

Dustin and I arrived at the house early Thursday for what is suppose to be the walk through. We brought the kids with and our ayi all to the house thinking it would be a quick walk through and I could get started cleaning. Oh were we ever wrong. When we first walked in we noticed a few things. The paint colors we picked were great, but the other walls that were suppose to be patched and painted (their were hooks in a lot of places) had not been completed. Nor had anything else we had pointed out the last time we went through with our agent.

Our landlord is quite the interesting character. She is Shanghaiese and owns a couple of properties in the city--which makes her in the upper class of Chinese in regards to wealth. Many Chinese still just own one change of clothes and dream of owning a bicycle of their own. She apparently paid someone to do the walls and they only did the paint chips we had given, non of the other walls. She was visibly upset screaming into her cell phone in the aggitated Chinese that we have become accustome to hear. She then got off the phone and went around and started yanking them off the walls leaving holes in the walls.

The rest of the walk through took until 12:30. Of course during the walk through IKEA's delivery group brought our funiture in. It was quite the household of people and activity.

We decided it was best to leave, eat lunch and then have me come back to clean on my own. We had now a very short time to do this as at 3:30 we had a meeting with the clubhouse of where we were moving from (the SRC) to try and keep some sort of membership with them. It is a huge part the expatriate community here and most families gather here, their kids do sports here and use their pools. I really wanted this membership, and the contract we signed with our new landlord included it. She just was not able to get it herself. We are hoping they will allow us to get one even though she is the one paying for it. Our landlord already tried to talk us out of this agreement this afternoon, but we simply said it is part of the contract and we want it.

I arrived back at the house to clean and the landlord and the representative from our realtor office were still there. I began cleaning while they were talking back and forth. I got some of the drawers done in the kitchen when the agent says the landlord wants me to leave. I of course say "excuse me? Are you kidding me?" We have an agreement. The agent explains the landlord wants to wait until we know about the membership at SRC before she allows me in. I try and argue my way through it based on the agreement we have with the landlord and the fact that she already accepted our money for the coming month. I did not get anywhere. I said I would have to call Dustin to get me, but then decided I would walk as I did not want to wait with the landlord. I was so furious about being kicked out that I did not want to spend another minute with her. I made it to the front door, and the landlord is looking all contrite, but turns out she still wants me to leave, but she is saying she will drive me. As I realize that it is raining out and I do not have an umbrella, I agree to have her drive me. Yet as we begin driving, I tell her to take me to Starbucks instead of home, as I do not want her to know where we live, or somehow try and be a part of the meeting later today with SRC.

So now we are driving in her car with the agent in the back seat. I am praying that she takes me to Starbucks and not somewhere else. The agent is first trying to translate the landlord's conversation with me. As we are heading out of the subdivision to Starbucks, the agent is telling me that the landlord said she has a friend that has a membership at the SRC already and is moving. We could have this membership. I kindly remind them, as kindly as I can that the new rules under the new management is that the memberships are not transferable. The agent visibly shows an "ah shoot" face. The landlord continues to try and talk to me and I completely shut her down with the statement that we will wait to see what management tells Dustin and I at the meeting at 3:30.

So we now turn the corner (remember our new house and old apartment are only 5 minutes by car and Starbucks is located between the two) and the agent gets a phone call. Meanwhile, we are on a fairly busy street and the landlord is trying to talk to me, in Chinese, still about the membership (she clearly is wishing that she did not agree to pay for it--it is not cheap, but we increased the rent and she will get the money back, so we do not feel bad about it).

As she is trying to talk to me, she is slowing down in the lane of traffic. By the end of what she trying to say, we are practically stopped. She is able to convey to me that she wants to wait with me at Starbucks until Dustin arrives. This is crazy I thought, as she just kicked me out of the house I was suppose to have rights to today, and she thinks I am going to sit and have small talk with her for over an hour? CRAZY. So, I tell her that I am just picking up the coffee and heading back to check on the boys. She of course counters with that she will drive me home. As I am at a total loss of how to get out of this offer without completely being rude, I agree. Through this crazy conversation I somehow manage to get her to resume normal speed and enter the parking lot of Starbucks.

While in Starbucks waiting on my coffee, I text Dustin in as a discreet of way as possible, as I know they are staring at me in the store. I tell him of being kicked out and that I was on my way home. He and Tom were out buying our outdoor table set that we will use in the dining room until our furniture that we are having made is finished.

I head back to the car and start praying as we enter the community that she one does not ask to come up and wait at our place, and two that she does not ask to come to the meeting with the SRC. Of course, we are almost to our house when my phone rings and it is Dustin. I kindly tell him that I am on my way home to the apartment, and that I would have to call him back "Lindsay". I of course had to say the Lindsay part twice, but he finally got it that I did not want them to know it was him on the phone, as our crazy landlord would probably take my phone from me to talk to him. She finally pulled into our parking lot and I could not get out of the car fast enough.

After cooling off from that adventure, Dustin and I went to meet the management for SRC. We were very happy to hear that the changes they are making are tied with not wanting to deal with the landlords and not with the expatriate. They said we would have no problem keeping a membership. We then headed back to tell the news to the landlord and our agent. After all the craziness of the day, our new landlord accepted it quite well. She said she would have the cash for us on Sunday morning. We left to head home, with nothing at the house clean, but happy to have the SRC membership.

One sick boy, Moving, and the God's Amazing Support through it All

2010-02-24T16:03:00.004+08:00

This week is our crazy week which is jammed packed with preparing to move and moving. Adding into it Dustin's busy schedule and now a sick boy. Wow!

Danny woke early on Monday morning at around 3am. He seemed warm, but went back to bed and from his wake up time at 5:30 until 8:15 when he left for school he was my normal happy4 year old. I ran to the store with Josh and my friend Lindsay to buy some groceries before the crazy week really began. We got home and I laid down for a nap because I am still quite fatigued and my condition is still acting up from my two weeks without Hong Li, our ayi. I laid there for a little while until Dustin came in and said Danny had been sent home from school with a rash and a fever. Dustin mentioned that he had been running around, so he might just be over heated. I took his temperature and found it was at 102.7F. I looked at his throat and saw white spots. I quickly called the doctor to find that they were booked until Tuesday at 10am.

With Danny being sick and having a doctor's appointment in the morning, I contacted my bible study group to let them know what was going on and why I would not be able to join them. Then I set out to explain to Danny why he was not going to be going to his friend Jule's (pronounced Ula) birthday party. After lots of tears, we were able to come up with a pizza and movie night to make our sick guy feel a little better.

The next day at the doctor's appointment was told the dreaded news--they suspect hand foot and mouth disease, which means no school until it clears up--probably a week says the doctor. So now, I have to prepare for a move and have two boys home through it all.

That afternoon, while Josh was playing quietly in the playroom while Danny slept I was sitting there thinking of how fatigued I was and this was after I took a nap myself earlier. Dustin was out that night on a business meeting, and it is in those moments that I can feel so overwhelmed by everything. Yet, I was reminding myself of the truths that this is my new normal and that God sees me through each and every step and provides all that my family and I need. It was at this moment that the phone rang.

It was one of the women in my Bible study on the phone. She explained they had organized at the bible study this morning to bring us meals at the end of this week and through the begining of the next. I was speechless. God is so awesome in how he can answer us so quickly. He was saying, yes Jackie I do meet your every need and hear your every call, and using the wonderful women in my study group to do so.

It reminds me of Isaiah 40: 28-31--"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary and tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to te weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." So I am so grateful that God is so amazing and he uses every means possible to support us through this life. What peace that brings...We may make it through this week after all. :)

Great time with friends and shopping at IKEA

2010-02-21T19:29:00.000+08:00

In one week from today we will be moving into our house in Ranch Sante Fe (a nearby subdivision of homes rather than apartments) and also celebrating our 1 year anniversary here. I cannot believe it has gone this fast and how much this city has changed for us over the past year. Since our new home will be unfurnished we took a trip to get some mattresses and sofas ordered from IKEA. IKEA on a weekday is hard to get to due to traffic, but is usually not too crazy. IKEA on a Saturday is a different story. Traffic was great and I was hopeful the store would not be to bad. Dustin went on a Saturday once before we moved here and said literally there were so many people that you could only move as an entire group throughout the flow of the store. This is mostly due to the large group of people that come to sightsee rather than purchase. Thankfully, there were only a few hundred thousand in the store due to the holiday and people not returning to the city yet. They were still stopping in the middle of the asle taking pictures of each other like they were in Disneyland, but for the most part we got through to the check out with little headache.

The headache came when I went to get the kids some hotdogs from the restaurant in the store. They are inexpensive and a fair number of Chinese buy them too. That is where the headache came in. I went to get into line (always have to use that term loosely in China) and a grown man looked at me with Josh in the cart and Danny holding my hand and sprinted, I mean literally sprinted to get in front of me. Now this would not be such a big deal except the rest of the group he was with apparently do not sprint. One of course had no problem cutting right in front of me, and then there were the two ladies that decided that they needed to be so close to me it would have been considered indecent touching. She was of couse shouting up her order and handing money over the top of me. So needless to say, I was biting my tongue--okay, I was muttering under my breath or at least just muttering about the rudeness of people. We got to the table and ate and had Dustin go back and get the ice cream cones. He returned to tell me that someone actually backed into the line and stole an ice cream cone (they cost 1 yuan which is 15 cents). Pretty crazy stuff.

We got home and prepared for our friends from Germany to come over for dinner. There daughter Jule (prounced ula) is in Danny's class at school, and Monika is the other room/PTA mom with me. They also have a little boy Mathis that is just a little older than Josh. We had a really great time and it was the perfect ending to our crazy trip to IKEA. Next we will see how the delivery and set up company does--they are having to bring it one day and set it up the following day. Should be interesting.

The Dragon Dance and the point of exhaustion

2010-02-19T18:58:00.000+08:00

With our week off (Dustin still had to work on and off throughout the days) for Chinese New Year we wanted to see a few things around town since we were not leaving on a trip. (About half the expat community leaves, and based on the traffic level a good 80% of Chinese people leave the city as well).

Monday, even though the weather was not ideal--drizzly and cool, we trooped down to Xintandi area of Shanghai and met Lindsay and Joel and their children to watch the dragon dance. We came in at the tail end of it, but it was almost perfect timing as they were going into each restaurant (Xintandi is a swanky pedestrian area filled with restaurants). There were a group of men holding sections of the dragon up on sticks and one man holding a ball on a stick that the dragon chased or followed. There were also two traditional Chinese Lions that were made up of two men each. They did a dance at the entrance of the restaurants to the music made by men drumming on a gong. Then the dragon went in and then they all came out. This was repeated over at each restaurant. This is why it was good we came at the tail end. We saw two restaurants like this and then they went to an area with a canopy and did a more formal dance.

We left from this and travel to a different location for dinner, called Blue Frog. We eat there regularly as it is western food and has a great kids area. The kids all enjoyed having a kids only table and then going to play while the adults visited. It was a great day and we were all glad to see the festivities.

Tuesday we relaxed and Wednesday I woke up and was completely exhausted. My cleaning the house for a week and a half and taking care of the kids got my condition flared up. Dustin was so sweet and had me stay in bed. He even took them to the clubhouse where I was to meet my girlfriends for lunch and let our kids play together. He stayed while they played and then called me over for lunch. I was completely wiped out, but went over to eat. When we got home I crawled back into bed and stayed there until 4 that night.

We all went to bed early that night, only to be awoken at 11:30 by fireworks so loud, if I did not know better I would have thought the city was being bombed. It lasted well into the night and then again early the next morning. Amazingly the kids slept through it all. Thankgoodness. We saw in the paper the next day an explanation for the loudness of the fireworks. Fireworks are set off for 19 days straight and each day has a different meaning. Apparently, the third day is for wealth and prosperity (hence, main reason for the amount of fireworks--everyone wants more money) and the loudness is in an attempt to wake the wealth god to seek your fortune. Also, it starts before 12 because apparently the early bird gets the worm. Our neighbor that was shaking the city at 11:30 should apparently become extremely wealthy this year as he was early and extremely loud. If only it was this simple, right?

We (every expat we have run into) is in agreement that we are tired of the fireworks. If this puts into perspective how it has been here (day and night)--I absolutely love fireworks, and I am sick of them.

On a sad note, I heard from my ayi and her mother passed away on the 8th. I am so grateful that she was able to spend time with her mother during her last few days. She said she would see us on Monday, and for that I am so grateful. She is such an enormous help to me.

Our First Chinese New Year

2010-02-14T18:35:00.000+08:00

Our celebration began with getting Danny dressed in traditional Chinese clothes for his party at school. This was actually closed off to parents because the teachers are going to sing traditional songs and dance. It was a lot of fun for Danny and they gave each student a Chinese Tiger as 2010 is the year of the Tiger.

Saturday which was Chinese New Year's eve was a lot of fun. We went over to our friends' Lindsay and Joel's house for a party. It was great to get together with friends and have the kids all play while we visited. Later Joel had bought a bunch of fireworks and put on a show about as good as at least our home towns if not Indianapolis' show. The kids really enjoyed it as did the adults. We left around 10 and got home to watch more outside our window. Someone was setting them off in the grassy area behind our apartment building. This was not allowed, but no security person stopped them. As this was going on, you could hear more going off in the distance all around us. We got the boys to bed and got ready ourselves and then the real displays began. At about 11:30 we saw out our bedroom window the show that everyone described to us. Fireworks just filled the sky from every direction and as far as you could see. The closest display easily rivaled what Chicago or NY would put on for the 4th. As I watched them though, I could not help but sing some patriotic songs and pray that God may continue to bless our nation. While I know the Chinese invented them, I cannot separate them from the meaning of the beginning of our great nation.

The fireworks continued throughout the night and were still going off in the morning. I got to check my e-mail, drink my coffee and watch fireworks off our balcony. Pretty cool!

Cake Factory Field Trip and the Superbowl Game

2010-02-10T17:50:00.000+08:00

Danny's second field trip this year was to a cake factory. We were (okay I was, because I tried to put a happy, everything is fine face for Danny) worried though that we would not be able to go because the Wednesday before our ayi received news that her mother fell and was not doing well. We wanted her to go but were also left with the delima of what to do with Josh during the field trip. Here your ayi is your babysitter/daycare place, as since there are ayis that are reasonable, such services are unavailable here. Thankfully she called on Thursday, after a mass scramble to find an alternative, and said her mother was doing better and would come on Friday.

Our ayi arrived to tell me that her mother was doing worse, but said she could stay for the morning field trip. We agreed she should leave as soon as we got back. Danny and Iraced to school and stopped by the store in the club to buy some Teddy Grahams. He had been wanting them for weeks, and I thought it woud be a great thing to bring as our snack on the bus. He was so excited by the idea. (Isn't it wonderful how the small things excite our little ones!)

The cake factory was a lot of fun. They showed us a short film in Chinese about frosting a cake. Then we were ushered into a little holding room where we were blasted with air. After this "cleaning", we traveled down a long hallway and watched the workers making cakes. Once we reached the second floor the kids were handed smocks so they could decorate their own cake. If only I had a video camera to tape Danny and his friend Tayton's facial expressions when they were handed the pink smock. I quickly tried to console both of them and we actually got them to put them on.

Decorating the cake was great. They were given little cakes on top of a lazy susan cake platter. Watching the four and three year olds decorate was so neat. They really got into it and were quite proud of their creations. After working on the cakes the kids were able to play in a really neat area that had a indoor jungle gym and lots of fun toys. We then boarded the buses and headed back home. Our ayi left and we prayed that all would be okay. She was already planning on being gone for Chinese New Year, but this added an extra week to her leave. I pray I will make it through without her. With my condition, I just cannot do a lot anymore.

The superbowl was Monday and as the Colts were playing the Saints we had to be there. Drew Brees for the Saints played at Purdue while Dustin and I were at school, so we were looking forward to seeing the home town play his team.

We originally planned going to a bar/restaurant further from our house, but were blessed that one right down the street from our house was opening up for the game. It was a great time, except to have to watch the Colts lose. The bar/restaurant is run by local expats, and have a very kid friendly atmosphere of no smoking if kids are present. As the superbowl for us was on at 7am, they served a breakfast. They had a great corner with a giant sofa and tables that we took over. They were extremely sweet and while they did not have coffee to serve (my drink of choice with breakfast) she later made a coffee run across the street to Starbucks for anyone who wanted something. The kids were great and went between watching, eating, coloring and playing with the small toys we had brought with us. So, while we were sad walking home that the Colts lost, we were so happy that we were able to watch it here.

We Thought We Were in Control

2010-02-09T14:19:00.005+08:00

Life in China is quite fascinating, as there are so many stresses that one would not imagine here. It begins with those that you would not even realize would be a big issue like trying to find cleaning agents that work, safe to have around children, and are for the purpose you want (the best is how on the foreign imports they put the Chinese label on top of the English directions, so you have to guess at what needs to be done) and then there are the massive stresses like our spouses jobs, their travel, fitting into not only a different culture, but melding an extremely international culture together.

Yet from these stresses and the crazy life we live here, flows such a beautiful blessing from God. Our growth in our faith and our understanding. We are clearly shown over and over here that we are not the ones in control. God is in control. Our job is to Trust him in all things. That when things do not go as planned (which is like a daily thing here--whether it is in our lives or our friends' lives) there is a plan and this change will be okay. It may not be what we want, but it will be okay.

What has brought this to the top of my mind today is that we are in the process of moving to a house in a neighboring community. It was actually cheaper to rent than our current apartment. We have paid three months rent, ordered some furniture to be built, and just got word last night that the landlord will be unable to secure the membership to the club where we currently live. This was part of the our contract with her, but it looks like it will be impossible to acquire.

So, where we were plugging along thinking everything was in control, now the insane part of life here pops out again. The club here is the place that I spend most of my time at, between the school activities, the parks and the pools (I still have not gotten to the gym here) and meeting friends here, it is also where Danny takes soccer lessons. The new management is trying to enforce a rule that they will not sell memberships to you if you live in the neighboring communities. They also are not allowing the lifetime memberships to be transferrable. This is quite crazy in that they literally are cutting off a huge part of the people that pay money on a daily basis at their club (Most people I know live in the neighboring communities). These people unlike us may have a membership for a little while longer, but when they go to renew it or transfer to the next expatriate in their company they will run into problems. It baffels Dustin and I why any company would want less money coming in. Dustin is going to sit down with them tomorrow and see if we can come up with some solution.

Yet, even if they do not, Dustin and Iare going to continue in our process to move (we could try and use the clause in the contract to get out of the lease and get the rent already paid back, but then we would have to see if our current place has been rented out yet and what new price she would be trying to charge us). We decided that in a house, we can get a jungle gym for the kids to play on and build a sand box just like we have in the US. Our new place does have a clubhouse and pool, it is just not as fancy or offer nearly as much to its members. I spoke with my friend Lindsay and she suggested we put the boys in soccer at the British school (also just down the road). So, in the end, while it is not what we necessarily wanted, it is something that we are going to accept and realize that it will be okay. We will figure out and adjust to the change. God is in control (thankgoodness) and this brings me such peace.

Getting into Preschool

2010-01-30T14:05:00.001+08:00

So we have begun the process of getting Danny into the American school here that is down the block. He will start preschool there in the fall. The school can be summarized as just down right amazing. Think your closest ivy league private school near you and the school here is probably very similar. (Of course the price tag is as well. Yet as all the schools here are private so there is little choice in this matter). The fascinating part in this all of course is the application process. Back home, unless trying to get into some ivy league preschool--which we would not be trying to do, you simply choose the one you want and they begin at the beginning of the school year. Here there is a booklet application. Plus referrals from Danny's current preschool teacher. They also wanted to see his performance review from the school (yes, I had a parent teacher conference this past fall--it said things like--can spell his name, colors within the lines most of the time, has trouble jumping over a six inch Kleenex box--we hope the Kleenex box jumping won't be black mark against him :) ). After this process was completed, Danny and I (Dustin had to work) were invited to attend a performance by current elementary school children and then take a tour of the school. I signed us up (already trying to appear interested and involved) and Danny and I went this past Thursday.

They had a nice little buffet breakfast before the performance for the perspective students, their parents and the parents of the children in the assembly. The admission staff were really nice to Danny and gave him an interesting coloring book about making the transition to Shanghai. Danny and I watched the performance and then he began to color as it was a little longer than we expected. After the performance we traveled around with two other families to look at the school. The staff was extremely informative and kind.

I did find it funny though that the one lady coming with us (turned out to be the head of the admissions department) kept taking notes throughout the tour. I did not take note of it until we saw a board, towards the end of our tour that advertised getting involved in cub scouts. Danny went over to it excitedly and I talked to him about how Dustin had been a part of this group as was his Uncle Jeff and that he could do it as well. I notice the lady began writing when Danny had gone over to the board, but did not think much of it until later I just happened to see her clipboard. Sure enough she had written down cub scouts. Thank goodness Danny had been well behaved as he and probably myself were being graded as we went along.

The good news in it all is we found out just the other day that he has been accepted, and we just await him being given a seat, as they call it, and doing his interview--yes they actually schedule a time for even the preschoolers. In all fairness at the preschool level they just invite them to the classroom and they play and they are observed while they do this. Apparently for the purpose of making sure they are ready to be in school. Whew!!! Pretty amazing stuff.

Fun Weekend of Family and Friends

2010-01-25T08:11:00.002+08:00

This weekend was quite fun, as it was filled with a lot of time with friends and with family. We spent Saturday morning playing outside with the boys on the soccer field in front of the clubhouse. While we all left our house a little on the tired side (okay, I was exhausted and I believe Dustin would have said the same), running around in the crisp cool air (in the 40s here) really made us all feel better. I was bundled up in my fleece and my crazy guys had all stripped off their jackets but kept their hats on (the one part I made sure was required). It was so cute to watch Danny and Josh chase after their soccer balls and Danny repeating drills he learned in his class.

We all headed back home for hot cocoa--they just brought in marshmallows--a huge find, so how could we resist. We had lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Then Dustin and I got ready to head out with some of our friends. We are so blessed here now with two things--great friends, and an ayi I trust and speaks good English--thus making a night out possible.

We drove with one of our newer friends. They arrived this past fall, and are actually from southern Indiana. We arrived at a Middle Eastern restaurant with belly dancers. I would say only in Shanghai, but I think the true answer is that only in Shanghai would I ever end up at a restaurant such as this. The attitude we, and our friends have taken is that while we are on this adventure here in China, we might as well be adventuresome with our choice of restaurant as well.

The food was actually very good--lots of humus, great salads, unleavened bread and kabobs. Okay we stayed far away from the lamb testicles--you can only be so adventuresome--at least I think so. Yes, this was really on the menu. I know because thankfully the menu was in English and Chinese--if it was just pictures, as most menus in the city are, we may have ordered it by accident--meals based on just ordering from pictures is filled with prayer that you are not eating anything crazy.

So our first belly dancer came out (there actually were three of them and they did two dances and left you to eat in peace for a while. This was good as they blasted the music so loud you would not be able to carry on a conversation otherwise), and our table either paid too much attention as it being our first time, or, I will phrase it kindly as, "too polite to say no" marked on our forehead (you can fill in something else if you would like). I say this as I somehow got pulled up to dance along side our first belly dancer. So, I was beat red, completely uncomfortable, trying to follow this Chinese belly dancer, all while my friends were laughing hysterically and taking pictures and video (thanks to all the fancy phones everyone has over here). This might not have been so bad if I had the talent of being able to move my hips, but alas this is not my gift or talent. So, after what seemed like an eternity on earth, I was able to return to my seat. The great news in this all, is that we some how had been marked as a table and I got to see all my friends (minus the guys) up dancing throughout the dinner. We had a great time that evening, but I cannot say that I will be returning to that restaurant anytime soon--unless I do not make eye contact with anyone but those at our table. :)

Sunday came fast and early, with the boys being excited about our plans for the day--Disney on Ice. Our family and a group of our friends (many of those at dinner the night before) had bought tickets together and planned to go to the one English performance. We met our German friends, Markus, Danni, Angelina and Timo and headed first to Starbucks (did I mention the night before had been late?) and then onto McDonald's to pick up food for the road. We then caravaned over to the auditorium. When we got there we saw what can only be described as a good portion of the expatriate community here in Shanghai--at least those with children. It was a nice performance and all the children really enjoyed it.

After the show, we headed onto church, where I helped in the nursery and Dustin enjoyed a group of musicians from Michigan that were visiting the city and played with our praise team.

Overall, it was a great weekend, and reminded us how we are blessed.

Our Unexpected yet Interesting Tour of Shanghai

2010-01-18T12:35:00.001+08:00

Our exciting news before we left for Christmas break is that we will move from our apartment and rent a house in a neighboring subdivision. We will move at the beginning of March. We are so excited to have a free standing home with no apartment below being worked on, or neighbor's to hear, or hear us and most of all our own yard. With the new house we decided to go with an unfurnsished place. Our current one provides all the furniture, but as it is rented, it is not in great condition and it is not at all our style. We have also found that the Chinese description of things like desk and sofa bed are quite different from ours, so we are looking forward to furnishing the our new place with furniture that reflects more of us. While we are excited about this part, it is also quite an undertaking before we move in March. Dustin and I plan to, like many other expats, have some of the furniture made. It is extremely inexpensive by US standards here, so we are excited by this prospect. Today we decided to travel to three different places to compare their work and the all important aspect of cost. Dustin and I left Josh home with Hong Li, our ayi, and decided to take the metro (Shanghai's subway) to get to our destinations.

We called the farthest place located on the other side of the city, about an hour and half subway ride. They spoke excellent English, but were not open today. So we decided to still venture to the others located closer to us.

We headed out to be greeted by stand still traffic. This caused us to switch the roads we took and hence also the subway station. This therefore added 40 minutes to our first destination. We arrived at the first location and stepped out into the street. It was a typical Chinese street, which means practically chaois. Trucks were trying to back up a one way street, while pedestrians tried to get past (this was an alley type street, so no room for sidewalks) while bikes, motorcyles, scooters and electrical bikes all whizzed past us. We safely made it across the street and started looking for the store shops.

Shops here in Shanghai are these little postage size shops that hold an amazing array of items. We went along counting down to where our shop was suppose to be located and then it unexpectedly jumped in numbers. We could not find the shop to save our lives. We looked down alleys and across the street, and even relooked up the address. We finally gave up and decided to go one stop down in the subway to get lunch and look for some plastic golf clubs from Toys r us.

We got out of the subway station and went to cross the street to the mall. They are currently building a pedestrian walkway because the street is so dangerous to cross. It of course is not finished, so we will brave the street crossing with everyone else. I describe this street a little like the old game of Frogger, but a lot more dangerous as the speed of the cars, trucks, mopeds and bikes are all at different speeds that are coming at you. Of course before we got to the street we got to walk through fresh concrete. All I can say is only in China. Now they did place bamboo mats down, but the cement was still oozing through this and onto the bottom of our shoes, yet this was not really a problem compared to the fact that they did not have these mats reach all the way to the street. As Dustin said we have now made a permanent impact on Shanghai. Of course, this is only until they decide to tear it up again, which could be a soon as next week.

We made it across the street in one piece only to find the sandwich shop closed. We ate Burger King instead and then struck out at Toys r us as well. We hopped back on the subway and headed to the next stop.

This again was a cool traditional Shanghai street. We got a little turned around, but finally found the shop. We were so excited as the sign and door looked promising, until we read that it is closed until Wednesday. Strike 3, time to go home.

We called Tom to meet us a little earlier than we planned at the subway station. We rode back, sort of in utter amazement that everything we tried to do today did not work out. As Dustin noted, this is often typical here in the city. We found Tom right away and we headed back home.

Of course, typical Shanghai style we got stuck in unreal traffic. We sat for maybe thirty minutes and then Tom was able to get to a point where we could turn around. We followed this one vehicle through some streets and then ended up at the new massive Train station. This will be the hub for numerous trains coming into the city from all over the country. The funny part of this is that we had a pretty good hunch we were not suppose to continue on this route, but the security guard was sitting in his chair smoking with the gate up and obviously did not care, and the car we were following just drove straight through, so Tom just continued on as well.

What we experienced in our barely holding it together ancient minivan, I am sure should only be left for such rugged off road vehicles as a hummer, or the large dump truck we ended up following for a while, as the other more off road type car we were following literally left us in the dust. We did make it through the construction zone (and I mean literal construction zone). And as we expected when we finally arrived at the other end of the site, two security guards, who were taking their job more seriously, were stopping cars from coming in towards the site we were attempting to exit. We jut smiled and tried to look straight ahead while Tom drove us straight on.

We made it home in time to pick up Danny and marvel at our less than successful, yet quite interesting trip. We did not accomplish anything we set out to do, but it was a great picture of the city from the streets, to the massive unofficial construction site tour, and we were able to spend some time together, which in this crazy city can be hard to do at times. I guess we call it a blessing in disguise.

December in Shanghai

2010-01-17T13:18:00.002+08:00

As we all were sick for most of the month of November and December, I got really behind in blogging, so this is a recap of December activities.

Most of it was spent at the house with two sick boys. Some of it with Dustin and I sick as well. Dustin did have trips the last week of November and in December before we left, which made being sick for all of us that much more fun. :-)

The rest of the month was filled with high and low parts. The amazing part was that my little baby turned 2, yes 2 on December 1st. Where in the world did the time go? He is looking so big now and grown up, I can barely believe it. Now if we can just move past the getting into everything and throwing fits stage, and I really won't know what to do with myself.

The cutest part of the month was watching Danny in the church program (he was a shepard), and his school program (they were all reindeers and sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer--Danny was Blitzen). The church program he had a speaking part (along with the rest of his class) and a song. He did a great job with both. The school party was cute and Santa even stopped by the school (Santa was quite witty with a surprisingly Australian accent and had on tennis shoes--pretty fitting for being at the Racquet Club)

We decorated the house a little bit for Christmas as other people who were staying had gone all out and I could tell Danny (okay and myself as well) were missing the decorations. I went to the flower market with the girls and got a small artifical tree and some other items. They did have amazing fresh arrangements and wreaths, but I felt for two weeks it really wasn't worth it.

An unexpected highlight of our month was that my brother came in on business and we were able to pick him up and bring him to our house (i.e.--clubhouse) for dinner. It was a quick visit but so nice to have him here with us.

The low part of our month, besides the crazy colds was saying good-by to some of our friends. My good friend Kate and her family Dean, Allison and Clark headed back to Minnesota and our new friends Liam (in Danny's class) and Jamie, David and Mackenzie headed to Iowa. They will be greatly missed here, as everyone within our little group here is like part of our family. It is a hard part of living here, but we will all adjust.

We headed home for the rest of the month, and we boarded the plane pretty exhausted from all of our colds, but excited to see everyone and just be out of China for awhile.

4 Sick in the City of Shanghai

2009-12-06T08:28:00.004+08:00

So I have been absent from the blogging scene for awhile now, partly due to the holiays, and a trip we took to Japan (I promise I will get this up soon), but mostly because we have all been sick on and off with various things since the middle of November.

I feel like I am hanging on by the sheer grace of God, as after a week of Josh with the croup, and Danny home with pink eye (and Dustin in Korea), we followed that up with this past week of Danny with croup, Josh with some respirtory illness (partly from his cold and partly from the strong fumes coming for the renovation of the 1st floor apartment--just thank the Lord now that the US is smart enough and someone along the way cared enough to get rid of the toxic chemicals in paint, etc.--I laugh to think that they now sell paint that has no fumes--here they either lack the knowledge, or more likely they do not care). The same issue that bothered Josh's lungs has aggravated my asthma, and then of course the same day Danny was home with the croup, and Dustin left for an over night trip, I caught the flu. Yikes! Pretty crazy, but I am not done yet.... Dustin just came down with what I had last night.

I am ready to not have anyone sick for awhile. My friend did tell me that they went through this their first winter here as well, plus this is Danny's first year in school, so we are catching all the fun things kids swap there as well. Hoping that when we return from our Christmas break back in the States, we will be stronger and healthier.

While I feel like we have been layed up for a while, we have been able to accomplish some nice things along the way...

Dustin's trips were extremely success in that he accomplished what he sought to do while away. Secondly, between colds (I had about a three day window between the really sick days) I was able to track down some Christmas decorations (while we will celebrate at home in the States, it is just strange to not decorate after Thanksgiving), so we now are the proud owners of a small tree that sits on one of our side tables. I bought cheap ornaments (thankfully plastic) for the kids to deocrate it, and we have some cute other holiday accessories. I had found a small wooden nativity set (without wise men) at Hobby Lobby before we came back this summer, and Danny was able to color them the other day. While we were really sad about not being with family for Thanksgiving, we did have a couple different celebrations with families we have met here--God has so blessed us by the people he has placed in our lives here (yes, I will get blog up about our celebration here). And finally, but hardly least, we celebrated Josh's two year birthday (I cannot believe how grown up my boys are getting--it is such a joy to watch them develop from babies into little boys).

We are finally in our last week before heading back to the States for Christmas. This entire fall has flown by with such speed. While the fall with all its holidays, and our two boy's birthdays, normally goes quickly, here in China everything seems to take on a faster pace. This week is no exception to how busy our lives seem to be here. Dustin leaves tomorrow for Shenzen (near Hong Kong) to meet with his employees down there, and will return the following day. He will then spend the rest of the week preparing for meetings back home. While I am doing last minute errands, seeing friends that are moving away back to the States, and getting us packed to get home, plus Danny's school party on Friday. Whew! I pray that we will be able to get healthy despite our busy schedule as we are so excited to see our family and friends back home.

Playdates and time with friends

2009-11-08T16:22:00.000+08:00

One great part of school for Danny is he now knows children closer to his age and enjoys getting together with them outside of school. This week we played with his friend Liam on Tuesday and Tayton on Friday. Both of these boys are American and are about his same age. For his playdate with Liam, we headed over to his house and played there with his older brother Mackenzie. The kids had a great time and we finished the time off by going to the park. Friday we had Tayton over to our house, and the boys really had a great time. They played with the trains and cars and then ended up downstairs with our pretend swords (made out of that foam rubber material).

On Wednesday, I had a great morning with my friend Erin. I had Josh stay home with Hong Li and it was nice to just visit and not have to worry about what Josh was doing (i.e.--ready to pour the salt and pepper out on the table, etc...) We again went to the pearl market and browsed around and then headed over to eat lunch.

On Saturday we went out with our friends Lindsay and Joel to celebrate Joel's birthday. We each had our ayis come and watch the boys (we did not leave until almost 7, so the boys were mostly ready for bed) and we headed out for sushi. This was my first time experiencing sushi (unless you count the airline's version of it), and it was really good. This gave me a small preview of what we might experience on our trip to Japan next week.

Overall, the week was great. It has really cooled off here--going from 80 to 50 and now 40 in a span of a couple of days. It is finally feeling like fall and I am looking forward to the holidays. It is so nice to see Danny meeting and enjoying friends here in Shanghai and I am enjoying meeting all of their moms a little more in depth.

Shopping and Trick-or-treats

2009-10-31T07:06:00.001+08:00

Today was a great day. We headed out early and went to a store that a lot of our friends buy accessories from here in the City. The store was extremely neat in that it had gorgeous Chinese furniture, lamps, pictures, and just knick knack things. We ended up picking up Chinese placesettings, which includes a little plate, a small bowl, a tea cup, chopsticks and its holder, and the Chinese spoon. We have been wanting to get a set like this so when we entertain and serve Chinese food we have something nicer than the cheap chopsticks I had gotten us at Carrefour when we first moved in.

After this store, we headed to have lunch at Blue Frog, a popular restaurant for expats that is located in the same district area of the store. They have a nice area for the kids to play and we were given table near this area, so Dustin and I could sit for a little bit and keep a good eye on them as well. Josh had a great time just walking between where Danny was playing and us. We had a nice lunch and then headed over to the flower market.

We went to the flower market to pick up some artificial orchids to go in this vase Dustin had bought a while back. We have been wanting to get over here for some time, but the weekends just seem to get so busy. Josh began having a melt down, so we headed home quickly.

After naps we had a nice dinner and then got the boys dressed to go trick-or-treat. They had a party/festival at the clubhouse, but numerous people said it was crazy last year, so we did not bother to go see it. We took the kids to the community next to ours where there are houses rather than apartments. We started at my friend Diane's house, and Josh was just hilarious. He did not get it at first and actually looked like he might cry, yet after the second house he realized the concept that when he yelled out trick or treat (in is cute version) that the people would then put candy into his basket. He was running to the next house after that. So cute--he dressed up as spiderman as well, which had the little muscles in it and everything. We stuck mostly to our friends houses and their closest neighbors.

It was a great night, just a little warm and as we were winding down and heading home, Danny summed up the unusual warm weather well by saying "I'm roasting in this, can I take it off?" So we headed home with Josh wiped out in the stroller and Danny with his spiderman tied around his waist, both excited about the candy they received.

Halloween School Party

2009-10-30T06:56:00.000+08:00

So most of this week was devoted to getting ready for Danny's school Halloween Party. Monika and I had decided on having the kids do two craft projects, one being a pumpkin magnet and another being a scarecrow. I had earlier gotten the pumpkin pieces cut out, but I was amazed at how long it took us to get the scarecrow parts cut out and certain sections preassembled.

On the Friday before Halloween, the school had the party in the morning, as some children like Danny leave at 1:30 and others stay until 3:30. The teachers and staff had decorated the preschool, and many of the parents dressed up in costumes along with their children. Danny was so excited to go as Spiderman this year. He is really into dressing up as superheros right now, so this was the perfect costume.

The party went extremely well, and there were a lot of parents that stayed to help and to also take great pictures of the kids. We started out with a song about going apple picking and then gave each child a variation on a carmel apple for them to try. We did our story about fall festivals (not sure how many children except those from the midwest, which there are a couple, followed this concept) which gave us our segway and explanation of a scarecrow and then we had them start on this craft. They were all excited about it and they turned out really cute. After that, we did the pumpkin craft and then went around the clubhouse (the preschool is located within our clubhouse) for trick-or-treating/showing off the costumes to the staff of the clubhouse.

Overall it was a great day, but by the end I was exhausted. We had a relaxed rest of the day and looked forward to taking the kids around tomorrow.

Danny's Birthday Party

2009-10-24T06:46:00.000+08:00

We had a great day with beautiful weather for Danny and Alivia's birthday party. I cannot believe that at the end of October it is in the 80s. As the two are such good friends, have all the same friends, and their birthdays are just a couple days apart, Lindsay and I decided it would be fun to celebrate together. We had the party at Lindsay and Joel's house as they live in a house with a yard compared to our apartment. Our goal was to keep the kids between the backyard and the kitchen for snacks. It worked out great! We had some relay games, the package game (like hot potato, but when it stops you get to open a layer of the package and get a little gift), a scavenger game, and then a pinata. The kids and parents alike had a great time. The craziest was the pinata and watching them go at it. We had little ones like Josh (he was so excited to take a swing while I held him) and then a little older kids that were already 5. The 5 year olds were amazing at hitting it. We asked everyone to forego gifts and have their children make cards for both Alivia and Danny, and these were so neat. The children were all really creative and we have great keepsakes from all his friends here in China.

After the party we headed back to our house and opened presents (from Dustin and I) and watched a movie while eating pizza.

Overall, a great day with all our friends here in China.

Danny's First Field Trip--the Chinese Vegetable Farm

2009-10-23T14:40:00.000+08:00

Today we said goodbye to my mom and left the house to head to Danny's first field trip. My mom stayed home with Josh and Dustin took my mom to the airport--her flight left before we were back from the fieldtrip. While it was too bad I was not able to take her to the airport, I think in some ways it made it a little easier as I had something to focus on other than her departure.

We got to school and Danny's teacher handed out these blue smocks. Each class had a different color and it was there way of being able to spot and count the children. This was a little funny in the fact that a child could not come unless a caregiver came with them. I say caregiver as there were plenty of kids there with their ayis and not a parent. I could not imagine with the caregiver present that a child could get separated from the group, yet I guess it is better to be safe than sorry.

At 8:30 we headed to the busses and took off for the organic vegetable farm. It was not too long of a drive--about 30 minutes, and we arrived at the farm. Unfortunately we lost a lot of time in waiting for everyone to use the bathrooms--while not a squat pot (typical Chinese toilet) there were only a single male and female bathroom in less than cleanly conditions--plus apparently half way through the toilet seat fell off the one in the women's bathroom. Not so easy with a bunch of preschoolers--the oldest being 4.

After waiting about 20 minutes in hot sun--apparently the little cool off we had a day ago was gone and it felt strangely like summer again--our guide came out and took us to our first area. While she spoke English, she did not really give us any information except what the plant was, and how to pick it. Our first stop was lettuce. We went from one spot to another, and while it was a lot of fun to watch the kids pick vegetables, I wish they would have at least talked about why they were an organic farm and how that is different from other farms. The kids finished up with getting a plant of their own--bak choy--Chinese cabbage to grow at home.

After our tour and picking vegetables, we had our lunches that the school provided to us. It was tuna fish on pita bread (mind you it was sitting in the sun for the entire time we walked around--so all the moms ate after giving a silent prayer) and half a turkey sandwich--it is not a big surprise that most moms ate the tuna while the kids atebthe turkey sandwichs. They also provided cut up vegetables. We all ate in a circle on plastic chairs that the farm provided.

We finished eating, and then went down to the market (another missed opportunity for them to talk to the kids) where they were packaging up the vegetables for the local grocery stores. Danny helped me pick out two pumpkins and some vegetables for us to purchase and take home. I was really excited to see the pumpkins and told Danny we would carve them on Sunday before church.

We headed back to the school, and after I got Danny down for his nap I headed off to the store to get items I needed for Danny's birthday party the next day. After trying to be fast at the store--they had rearranged everything in the store, and I did not know where anything was located--Dustin and I settled on McDonalds for dinner.

Overall, Danny's first fieldtrip was a lot of fun and most importantly he had a great time. I was so grateful to be able to share this memory with him. We are looking forward to tomorrow when we celebrate his birthday as a family and with a big friends party.

End of a Great Visit

2009-10-22T14:34:00.001+08:00

The rest of the week went fast with my mom, as we headed back to the fabric market on Wednesday to pick up her things, and then to the Pearl Market again on Thursday to finish getting the items I needed for Danny's birthday party. We had such great visit and the kids just really enjoyed having her here and showing her our China home. We hope next time that my dad will be able to join her and we can show him around as well--although I am not pictureing that the Pearl Market and Fabric Market are not going to be high on his list. :) Thankfully, tomorrow when my mom heads back to Chicago, Danny has his first field trip. This should make the transition of having Nana head home a little easier on him and me as well. The other great part is that now there is only a month and a half until we are back in the States for Christmas, and we will be able to be with our family and friends.

Back to the Fabric Market

2009-10-19T14:16:00.000+08:00

Today after dropping Danny off, my mom and I and Josh took off back to the fabric market. This time to pick up her clothes. We were both silently praying that all would be fine with what she ordered. We arrived and headed to the first place. They looked at us and told us it was still being sewn and would be ready at 2pm. I told them this was unacceptable as I had to leave no later than 12 to be back to pick up Danny from school. They said they would get it back by 12 for us. As we walked away from that stall, we both prayed the rest would not have that problem. Usually when you say it will be ready on a certain day it means it is ready at the beginning of the day unless specified otherwise. I was a little shocked that they said it was still being sewn. Thankfully, the next place had the items, but two fit great and two needed alterations. One of my mom's other things was made too small--which is always interesting as they take your measurements, so it is strange they had it so off. It became quite apparent that we would be returning on Wednesday for most of the things. Yet, she was pleased with the work that was done and we both felt much better about most of it. We went back to get her coat, and they informed us that it still was not ready. They agreed to deliver it to the house, so she could try it on. This way if something needed to be changed there would still be time to do it before Wednesday.

We arrived home and picked up Danny and had a low key evening at home. Dustin arrived home after the boys went to bed, but it was so great to have him home after two weeks of business trips.

The Flower Market

2009-10-16T13:59:00.000+08:00

Today after dropping Danny off to school we took off to go to the flower market. This market is where we got all our flowers (which are quite dead by the way--apparently my ayis--the three we have had so far--have no better luck with plants than I do) for our flower pots on our balconies. This market is also where they have Halloween decorations, a toy store, many aquariums and fish and the frame and picture shop that Dustin and I had our pictures framed at this past spring. I wanted to show my mom it as well as look for some Halloween things for the party at Danny's school. I also wanted to check out the toy store for some small toys for Danny's birthday party that is coming up in another week.

Thankfully, it did not take us long to get there, and once there Tom said he would watch Josh while we quickly ran around. I first went into the Halloween store and was able to pick up a few things for the party. I was hoping for some nice stickers and other items, but they did not carry that type of thing at their store. We went on then to the toy store. We spent quite a bit of time coming up with toys that would work for the gift bags and for prizes. All of it was cheap cheap toys and trinkets, that would probably be below what the Dollar store would even consider selling back home. I was shocked therefore when the women wanted an enormous amount of money for them and would hardly negotiate on the price. I was so annoyed with her that I made quite the show of putting everything back except a set of crayons--usually this is when they will cave in their price, but she just stood there. We left the store with a lot less than I wanted, but I was unwilling to pay more than I would in the US for things I knew would break within a few times of playing with it (sometimes it doesn't even take that long with things made here and sold here--apparently their standard for quality is extremely low for what is sold domestically here).

After going in those shops, I just quickly showed my mom around the rest of it. We then headed back to the van to find that Tom had let Josh sit in the front and pretend to drive. This is all fine as he had a great time, but if you have ever made this mistake yourself you will know--Josh now believes that at 21 months he should be allowed to drive the van. He screamed and arched his back making it so hard to get him in his car seat. He did finally allowed me to buckle him in, and we traveled home to get Danny from school.

The Trip to the Pearl Market

2009-10-14T13:40:00.001+08:00

Today we had plans to pick up my friend Erin from the subway station and all go to the Pearl Market. The Pearl Market is a building with numerous shops of all sorts selling scarves, glasses, watches, sports jerseys, jewelry (hence the Pearl market name), cheap Chinese toys, etc. We each had certain things we were looking for while we were there, and we also planned to go out to lunch. I planned to accomplish this all and still get back by 2:30 to watch Danny swim in his class.

Unfortunately, the day did not start off well for our plans. The big problem was that while I had a map to show Tom the subway station we needed to pick up Erin at, it did not have many roads listed on it. I was able to get across to him the plan of picking her up and then going to the Pearl Market. Our mistake was in asking another driver in our parking lot how to get to the station. He sent us to the wrong station. In addition, the time it took us to ask him, left us behind our schedule from the beginning. We finally got to Erin and picked her up, but we lost about 40 minutes in the whole process.

We arrived at the market and we started our shopping. This is a little more work than back home, for two reasons. There are no price tags--you just have to barter and they are small shops and you sort of have to go from one to another to make sure you are getting a good deal. This of course all takes a lot of time. We were collectively able to each get some items that we either came there needing, or wanting. I was able to get some costumes for the boys to play in and a pair of sunglasses, Mom was able to get a lot of jewelry, and some soccer outfits for the boys, and Erin was also able to pick up some jewelry. However, this all took up the entire amount of time that we had before I needed to get back. So we scrapped the idea of lunch and had Tom take us to the closest McDonalds. We then ate in the car as we brought Erin back to the subway station.

After dropping her off and apologizing for the crazy morning and rushed lunch, we traveled as fast as we could back to the clubhouse. We got there about half way through Danny's swim class, but it did not seem to phase him too much. (I had been so worried that he would look out and not see us there watching him).

Overall, the day was insane and extremely stressful for me, but we got a lot of the things we had wanted to get at the market. (I failed to mention that Josh was with us the whole day--poor guy was a saint because he was in the stroller all morning, then did not get lunch until late. It was also crazy because of the constant negotiating for the price, at the end you just wish they would give you a fair price and allow you to pay it. While you may get a good deal negotiating, I always feel like this is probably not the case, as you have no concept of what it cost them in comparison to what they are saying is their lowest or "best" price.)

Danny Turns 4 Today

2009-10-13T13:28:00.001+08:00

Danny woke early this morning, and as he slept in Dustin and my bed last night I was able to wish him a happy birthday as soon as he woke up. We headed downstairs for milk and coffee and he was so excited to see his signs up on the wall. We had a nice morning, with birthday well wishers calling for Danny, and he opened up his cards. I took a picture of Danny holding his cupcakes, and we then headed off to school. Danny carried his candles while I carried the cupcakes. He was so excited to show his teachers and friends.

In the morning, my mom came with me to my bible study. She was able to meet the women and join the study for the morning. After lunch, I worked on making Danny a Lightening McQueen cake for the evening. I worked up to the last second, and then we ran over an picked Danny up. He was so happy and telling us all about sharing his cupcakes with his class and teachers. When we got home Danny talked with Dustin on the phone, and then we put in a movie to watch. We ordered pizza and made popcorn. We finished off the day with Danny opening up some presents that my mom brought for him (We are celebrating again once Dustin returns from his trip) and eating cake.

Overall, it was a great day and so much fun to watch it through Danny's eyes.

Back to School and the Fabric Market

2009-10-12T13:16:00.001+08:00

Today Danny headed back to school after his long holiday and my mom and I headed down to the fabric market. This was quite an undertaking, as I pick Danny up at 1:30 and the market is at least 40 minutes from our house. The other reason it is an undertaking is that the shop owners and tailors speak limited English, if any, and you have to negotiate the price.

I was pleasantly surprised that at our first stop (a store that makes leather coats) had a shopkeeper that spoke English. This was so helpful, as we could really make sure they understood the concept we were trying to say--i.e.-zip out lining, hood outside collar, etc. Once we listed out everything my mom wanted, and they took measurements, I haggled over the price. I have gotten fairly good at this, but it is still exhausting at times.

We went from stall to stall so my mom could see all they made there and the different options (there are numerous coat shops, numerous shirt makers, etc..). She had an idea of what she wanted, so we moved fairly quickly from location to location ordering her items. They all indicated they would be finished the following Monday, which is what I had expected.

We hoped in the van and raced back to pick up Danny. We got there right as his class let out, so all was fine. We had a low key dinner and then made cupcakes for Danny to bring to school for his birthday. He was so excited to help me frost his cupcakes and decorate them with skittles. I cannot believe he turns 4 tomorrow. After tucking them in bed, I quickly made some signs for Danny--he loves making signs for other people (especially Dustin when he comes home from trips) and he is so overjoyed when people make signs for him. I crashed into bed thinking of how much my little guy has grown over these past 4 years.

Riding the Bus to Gubei area of Shanghai

2009-10-09T10:51:00.000+08:00

Today we met Lindsay and her children and Kate and her children at the bus stop at 8:30 am to head down to the Gubei area of Shanghai. They have some shops there and we thought it would be a fun activity to do with the kids.

The bus ride was a lot of fun and Josh and Clark did pretty good sitting still until we arrived. The traffic again was not bad and we made it there in about 30 minutes. The bus dropped us off at one of my favorite donut shops from the States--Dunkin Donut. We each got a drink and donut and sat down and enjoyed our treat. All the kids were really cute with my mom, as they all called her Nana. We took pictures out front and then went over to one of the shops to walk around.

After walking through there and getting some raisin bread at a great bakery, we decided to venture up the road to look at an antique furniture store and some other shops. This was quite the adventure as we had to cross an extremely busy road that runs underneath the main elevated road of the city. We looked like quite the sight as we were by far the only foreigners around and with all the children as well.

We did a quick run through and then headed back to the bus stop. The children all had a great time on our little adventure, and when we got back we decided to eat lunch all together at the clubhouse. The older children sat at a table by themselves, with the adults and little ones and the table next to them. They were so excited to be sitting alone.

Overall it was a great day, but made me sad to think there are not many times like this in the future, as Kate and her family will be leaving to move back to the States this Christmas. The one promising part is she is from Minnesota so hopefully we will be able to get together in the future.

The Playdate

2009-10-07T10:13:00.000+08:00

Today was a lot of fun. We headed over in the morning to my friend Lindsay's house for a playdate. Her daughter Alivia is a good friend of Danny's and her son Logan is not much older than they are at age 5. Kate our other friend joined us with her two children Allison who is Logan's age and Clark who is just a little older than Josh at age 2. The kids played and we were able to visit for a while. My mom was also able to see the difference between a community where we live (in an apartment-although it is two floors) and a community of what they term here as villas (which is just a stand alone house). We ordered pizza and the kids all ate outside while we all grab our lunch around the kitchen counter. It was so cute to watch Josh and Clark who were both so excited to be sitting by themselves with the big kids!

After the playdate, we headed home for naps and more fun at some of the parks. Lindsay, Kate and I planned to get together on Friday and travel on the Shanghai Racquet Club bus (the bus for our community) down to the Gubei area of town. It should be an adventure with 6 kids!

Dustin Takes Off and Showing Nana Around

2009-10-06T10:05:00.000+08:00

Dustin left early this morning. He spends the next couple of weeks in Thailand, India, Singapore and Hong Kong, before heading back to us. Poor guy has quite a crazy schedule and when he hits Hong Kong, he meets up with his boss who will then travel back to Shanghai with him for another hectic week of meetings. We are looking forward to the 24th of this month, when he will be able to put up his feet and relax for a weekend before his busy schedule begins again.

Today after Dustin left, we all had a leisurely morning (it is still the holiday, so Danny is off from school), and we walked down to the store near our house. It was nice to show my mom our community and the little route we take to the store and back.

In the afternoon after naps we went to the park and enjoyed the nice weather. Tomorrow we go to my friend Lindsay's house for a playdate. Our friend Kate and her two children are going to join us.

Nana Arrives

2009-10-05T09:49:00.000+08:00

Today my mom arrived from Chicago to visit us for a couple of weeks. This is such a blessing as Dustin leaves tomorrow for three weeks of business travel, and it will be so nice to have an extra pair of helping hands with the boys while he is gone. As it is a holiday we had to rent a van to go an pick up my mom--Tom is back at his home in a different province spending time with his wife and two kids. Before we left for the airport, we were suppose to meet our new landlord (this is our second attempt at meeting her), however, yet again she does not make it in time. We are really wondering where she is coming from, since a 9am meeting was too early for her, and we told her to be here before 10:30 and at 11 she is still no where to be found. We call the person coordinating the meeting and tell her we are sorry but we have to leave.

We leave early before my mom's flight, as we thought maybe the traffic would be bad (the new landlord said she was stuck in traffic). Yet, we find that there is surprisingly little traffic today--mostly due to the fact that many of them have left the city to go back to see their families for the holiday. We arrive at the airport an hour before my mom's flight, and we let the boys walk around for awhile. They announce my mom's flight, and we line up with everyone else to welcome Nana to Shanghai. Danny and Josh made signs, so they are holding those up for her to see. Unfortunately, there were about three or four other planes that ended up landing at the same time, so we ended up standing for awhile waiting. I was getting nervous that she was okay with the luggage and getting a cart, but Danny had befriended the family next to us and he was cheerfully chatting to them. The girl studied in Rhode Island, and she spoke really good English. Danny was telling her all about his signs, that Nana was coming and where we live and where we are from. Finally, we spotted Nana and Danny held up his signs and screamed out to her. She made her way around and we headed to the van.

As it was still a little early, we decided to take my mom down and see the river and look at the Bund (this is the section of Shanghai that foreigners were allowed to set up many years ago before China became shut off to the world. The architecture reminds you of Europe). We enjoyed walking around and then we headed home for dinner and to finish getting Dustin ready for his trip.

Our Trip to Church via the Subway

2009-10-04T06:52:00.000+08:00

Today we attempted to get to church via the subway. As Tom is still on vacation, this is about our only option to get there, and since we have a carrier now for Josh (Dustin can carry him on his back rather than dragging the stroller up and down numerous flights of stairs--remember no elevators, and hardly any escalators here), we felt we could manage it, or at least attempt it this once.

As the subway station is not really close to our house, we took a taxi to the station, and then the trains (3 different ones) to arrive at the station right by our church. The taxi ride was quite the experience, as he took us through a lot of back roads, and it was great to see more of how the average Chinese person truly lives. It was also quite the experience, as he was a lot more aggressive a driver then we allow Tom (our driver) to be. The taxi did get us there quickly, and we headed down for our first leg of the trip.

We got a lot of stares, for while the toddler carriers are fairly common in the US, at least in parks where you might go hiking, they are a new sight for most Chinese. Josh was quite the hit as usual, as was Danny who could charm them with his ability to speak a little Chinese. They had a few pictures taken as we went along, and overall the trains were fairly easy to manage.

We arrived at church just a little after they began announcements, and quickly got Josh to the nursery. Danny came with us, as he did not have class today due to the holiday. The music was great, but Danny was already tired of standing half way through the songs (I have to admit sometimes I get tired too, as they sing for about 20 minutes straight at our church). With Danny being tired, he was also restless, and this made the service extremely long for me as well.

After church, we headed across the street for some Turkish food. We found this place, when they held the newcomers meeting for church there. The food is good here, but Danny was not really interested in eating.

We headed out back to the subway with two tired boys. While it did seem in some ways to be quicker, in other ways it felt longer because we had two restless boys. We were able to find a taxi fairly quickly from the station (thankgoodness) and another added blessing was the driver knew where our home was located (not always the case in Shanghai). We were home in no time.

So today, we did prove that this was a way we can get to church, yet there are still blessings of going in the car--mostly that the boys are able to sleep on the way home if they want to do so. They are working on extending some of the subway lines, so in the future we will not need to take three different trains. We may try it again at that time. Overall though it was a success and we had a good time on our little adventure out of our comfort zone.

Some Much Needed Rest and Family Time

2009-10-04T06:29:00.000+08:00

So the nice part of this holiday, is that we have been able to just relax and not do much at all. We have been without a car, as our driver is home with his family for the holiday. Like many living in the city and in jobs like drivers, ayis, etc..they are migrant workers. Due to the system that China has in place, where all services are provided locally and not on a national basis, most families must remain behind as one or sometimes both spouses travel to find work in the cities. In our driver's situation he lives in Shanghai by himself, while his wife and two kids live back in his home town. This is one of the times he is able to travel back to be with his family, so we are so happy he is able to be there for this time.

We as a family have decided, mostly due to the massive crowds that will frequent all the tourist areas in the city, to stick close to home. In addition, Dustin leaves in a couple of days to do a world wind trip to India, Thailand, and Singapore, and he does not need to be racing all over before his big trip.

The past few days, we have spent either playing inside (we have had some steady rainy days here) or playing at the parks in our community. I have also enjoyed a night out with my two friends Lindsay and Kate, at the new Korean restaurant that we can walk to from our community.

Yesterday we decided to walk down to a park that is not too far from our house, it was a nice little space with a pond and a nice pathway. Rather than a regular playground, they had a little exercise park. While this is quite a strange sight for a westerner, they are quite common here in China. Think of your local workout gym, but made out of playground equipment--there were machines that you could in a stationary manner cross country ski, pulleys for your arms, lots of balance machines, etc... Danny and Josh did not quite get that this was not for them to play on, as it did look like some strange playground. After our trip to the park, we stopped and let the kids ride on one of the little riding machines found outside stores (similar to what we have in the US, but instead of Bob the builder, or a horse, it is a colorful peacock, or in our case a cat that you could drive). The boys enjoyed moving the steering wheel, and Dustin and I got a kick out of the fact that the Chinese music that played was all put to Christmas tunes. After the quick ride (actually not so quick, as it plays at least three songs), we headed to the local Cantonese restaurant. We enjoyed some favorites from home like sweet and sour pork (cannot find it with chicken here). I seemed to over due it on the walk today, so I went and crashed for a nap while the boys slept.

Today we spent the morning outside, walking down to the little store first, and then heading to the parks for the boys to play while Dustin slept. We met up with Kate and her husband and kids, and the kids played at the park together and then we headed to the soccer field to play there. It was a hot morning, and so we all headed our separate ways after a while to get snacks and water. Later today we head to church via the subway. It should be interesting.

Watching a Parade

2009-10-01T14:51:00.003+08:00

So we are watching a parade today, not the usual one, but it is fascinating nonetheless. Today is National Day in China, and Beijing is celebrating the foundation of "New China" or as we would term it Communist China with an amazing parade. It is quite interesting to be here during this time as most Chinese do not truly understand what took place in the Cultural Revolution and during the time before China opened to the West, yet they truly are proud of what they have accomplished. While I am appalled by what took place during the Cultural Revolution and during the time after before they opened to the West, and what took place in a certain square when I was young, these past few years do give me some hope for China. I do hope they continue to push forward to open to the west and seek freedoms for their people.

The parade itself was quite a show of military, people and floats. Along with a huge choir of thousands of people. What is amazing is that (we have saved this article) that the military involved in today's parade have been sequestered and practicing for 8 hours a day each day for the past 6 months. Can we just collectively say wow! That is a lot of practice to walk in a straight line, yet, they were quite precise in their movements.

The rest of the day we tasted moon cakes (the other part of the holiday here--they combined two to make a week long celebration) and just relaxed. Cannot say that I enjoyed the moon cakes, but Dustin did not mind it too much.

Wonderful Weekend

2009-10-01T14:30:00.002+08:00

The weekend was again filled with getting together with friends, which is a lot of fun, but also makes the weekend fly past. On Saturday we had our neighbors just below us over for lunch. He, Christian, is from Denmark and she, Dan, is from Beijing. They have two children close to Danny's age.

Due to the upcoming Chinese National Day Holiday and the Moon Cake Festival Holiday, our ayi asked is she could have an extra day during the week off and work on Saturday for us. This turned into an amazing blessing to me, as she was able to watch the kids while I got ready for our friends to come over. We had asked them what the kids would eat, and Dan said that Valdimar (their youngest) is really only used to eating Chinese food. I have made a couple of dishes, but decided to go all out and make quite a few for our lunch on Saturday. This of course means a lot of chopping, as most things are stir fried in the wok. I made Chop Suey, Fried Rice, Garlic Broccoli, and a Garlic Shrimp dish. I am happy to say that they mostly came out okay. They said they actually tasted fairly authentic, which is a huge compliment.

The kids had a great time playing together, and they stayed for quite some time. It was nice having them at our house, because when Josh got tired I was able to just put him down for his nap. After the boys took their naps, we left with Dustin so that he could get to the church try out for worship team. We waited in the car, as Danny had fallen asleep, while Dustin went into the apartment to audition. After about 40 minutes he reappeared, and we traveled on to go get dinner. We went to our favorite Italian restaurant D'Marco and had dinner and then went to Haggen daz ice cream store. Now this is no ordinary ice cream shop, this is like fine dining for ice cream It was quite the experience. We skipped all the widely fancy concoctions and chose to go with scoops of ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Sunday morning, Dustin had to leave bright and early to meet the tax man. Everyone in China worked on Saturday and Sunday due to the holiday, so Dustin was required to meet the tax guy on Sunday. While Dustin was meeting with the tax man, the boys and I went to Danny's first birthday party for one of his classmates. It was a fun party and Danny had a great time.

We left the party and Dustin picked us up to meet our friends Erin and Jeff for a late lunch before church. We had a nice time over lunch and then walked to church together. It was a great service and we finished the weekend with our usual McDonalds run.

The Long Day

2009-09-22T13:39:00.001+08:00

So today was packed full, but overall a good day. I have had more symptoms with my transverse myelitis, so the doctors here had me go for another MRI to rule out that it is MS. So, back in the US, getting to the hospital to do an MRI is not too involved. Here however, it is always a different story. I dropped Danny off at school as fast as I could and Tom and I left with about an hour before my appointment. Normally, this would be plenty of time, but today it is raining. Actually it has been raining here for a little over two days. Quite frankly, I feel a little like Forest Gump where he is in Vietnam and he says one day it began raining and it just keeps going on and on. Traffic in Shanghai is typically not good, but any sort of rain, makes it crazy.

The greatest part of the traffic here is that while there are two lanes, this really means nothing, if you can get your car in front of the others, then they will. On our way to the hospital we had people passing in the lane for oncoming traffic. Also, anywhere that the road widened beyond a single car (i.e.--there was a shoulder or just bend in the road), they tried to push their cars in before the others. Then there are the places where the road went from two lanes to one under a bridge of sorts (where they are doing construction for an elevated road). If you thought merging was bad in the US, you have no idea. Basically, each car just keeps trying to go in front of the other, until they either are blocked by a guardrail, or the actual bridge. Of course, all this crazy behaviour just resulted in it taking longer.

We finally arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes late, but as this is a new MRI machine, I am one of the first to have an exam (this may be good, or bad who knows). I had one done this summer, so I was expecting something similar. Unfortunately, while in the US, they pull you out and do the contrast part and you can sort of move around at that time, here in China they did the contrast through an IV. So, instead of breaking it up into two 30 minute sessions, I had an hour of just lying as still as possible, with nothing under my legs to support my back. By the end I just felt really out of it. (Mostly due to the loud noise of the MRI machine).

From there Tom and I joined the traffic back home to pick up a friend's daughter. She is sick, and both her parents are out of town (her grandfather is staying with her, but he does not speak English, nor understand how the clinic works here). When I arrive they are eating lunch, so I have Tom drive me to the clinic to set up an appointment. We have a little time before getting my friend's daughter, so I grab a bite to eat and then head out again. We pick up my friend's daughter and head to the clinic, then we drive them back, and then Tom drives me home. (The guards at the two stations between our two communities must have wondered what on earth we were doing).

After the clinic I get home and my ayi shows me that where Dustin and I heard water in our masterbedroom ceiling the night before, the drywall has fallen and water is dripping into his closet. My ayi and I move all Dustin's clothes out of the closet and I go and call the office to send someone to come fix it.

Just as the "engineers" (what the office calls the maintenance men here) arrived, Josh woke up from his nap. I bring the men into the bedroom and then run and get Josh. Two engineers look at the ceiling and then need to call a third man who comes and cuts open the ceiling. Inside, to no surprise is a lot of water. They clean up the water and tell me that they will be back tomorrow to fix it. Thankfully, the rain stops. Praise God!! I was envisioning how we would catch the water that would now pour through the large hole they cut. Now I do not need to worry.

After they leave, I head over and pick up Danny from school. I get him down for a short nap and then we all go out for dinner at the clubhouse--we even order dessert. :-)

Whew...what a day! Glad that I can say it is not a normal one. Looking forward to tomorrow when I do not have to set foot into a clinic, hospital, and most importantly...a car.

And I Thought Yesterday was Long

2009-09-22T13:38:00.001+08:00

Today was amazingly even crazier day than yesterday. It began similar to any other, with Josh and I dropping Danny off to school. Afterwards, I met Monika at the clubhouse to discuss our room mother responsibilities for the Halloween and Thanksgiving Parties. As she is from Germany and these are mostly American holidays (apparently Halloween is celebrated in other countries, but not where Monika is from in Germany), I explained how our family celebrates these two holidays. We were able to decide on the treats and crafts for the kids and overall we accomplished a lot. I got home and got Josh his lunch and down for his nap. It seemed like I blinked, and I was out the door again to watch Danny swim and then bring him home.

By the time dinner was over and the boys were in bed, I was exhausted. I decided to not go to bed directly, and instead do some stretching. I was just about finished when my cell phone beeped, meaning I got a text message. It was from Maria, our friend's daughter. She had hurt her wrist playing volleyball. I consulted Dustin and we decided I better take her to the emergency room to have an x-ray done. So at 8:30, after summoning Tom to our house, I headed over to pick up Maria. We made good time to the ER and waited to see a doctor. They this time wanted a letter from Maria's parents that I was indeed the caregiver. We quickly got a hold of Maria's mom in the States (her father was in the middle of a meeting in France) and she was able to fax us a note fairly quickly. They x-rayed Maria's arm, and by 10 it was decided that it was not broken, just badly sprained. They gave Maria a half cast and wrapped up her arm and gave her a sling to wear. We headed back home and I arrived back to my house around midnight.

Whew, more of a day than I expected, but glad I was able to help out. You realize how much a child needs you at the age that the boys are at, but I failed to realize that at Maria's age they need that guidance and support just as much.

The PTA Mom

2009-09-14T19:39:00.000+08:00

So it is official, I am a PTA mom. Today we had our first official PTA meeting for Danny's preschool. There are actually five grade levels here since they actually start kids at 18 months old. (This personally seems a little young for me, but some mothers I have found feel this is the only way their child can socialize with other children their age, as most kids here are in the school--sort of like a vicious cycle). Danny's class is actually the oldest in the preschool with the kids ranging from 4-5 years of age (Danny being one of the youngest as he turns four in a couple of weeks). The meeting was nice and we got a preview of the holiday parties and the field trips the kids will be taking. There are two moms per class and we are in charge of planning out the parties for the children. It was a little funny as one mom asked if we can be involved in helping the class in any other way--i.e. coming in and reading a book to the class, etc. but this was in a very round about way declined. The classes are small here, Danny's only has 12 in his class, with one teacher and a teacher's assistant. So, I understand in part that having parents come in is not really necessary. The nice part of the PTA is the other mom that signed up for Danny's class is my friend Monika from Germany. Her daughter, Jule and Danny are friends. This should make planning the parties fun. The interesting part is that they celebrate most of the US holidays even though most of the people are not from the US. I figured they would do Halloween, but was surprised they have a Thanksgiving party. I am happy though that Danny will get to celebrate these holidays, as he would be able to if he was in the States. It is though one example of how much the US affects or influences things as there are no other holidays celebrated from other countries

Overall, it will be nice to meet the other mothers and connect with them while helping at the school.

Some Funny Sights of China and the Preschool Romances

2009-09-09T12:55:00.003+08:00

So on our way home yesterday we saw yet another funny sight of China. People were actually cleaning by hand, with just a bucket and rag, the highway divide. Yes, the plastic (usually cement in the US) divide that runds down between the different directions of traffic on the four or more laned highway. Just wanted to share some things here that are completely normal to China, but we would just find unbelievable.

Onto a totally different subject, Danny has been going to preschool now for a couple of weeks, and I have enjoyed meeting the various moms at the school, and it is nice that some of my friend's children are in Danny's class. As we headed into the school today, Danny saw his friend Mia and they were talking as they headed in. Her mother stopped me and asked if this was Danny. I said yes and she said that Danny is the only one that Mia talks about from school. Pretty cute. As Danny got settled in and started playing, he saw his friend Alivia come in the door and he screamed out a welcome to her. (He really likes Alivia a lot). Her mom is a good friend of mine (probably one of the first people I met here), and I told her that Danny was excited to see Alivia. She smiled and said that her son last night was asking her about her wedding ring, and that she explained it meant she belonged to their dad and vice versa. Alivia then said she wanted Danny to give her a ring. Pretty adorable.

Overall, it is great to see Danny is definitely enjoying preschool and that the girls he talks about all the time to me think as highly of him as he does of them. Of course I hope the ring thing comes along closer to twenty-three rather than three. :)

Had to Come to China to Meet the Governor

2009-09-07T12:33:00.003+08:00

The entire delegation from Indiana

Mayor of Noblesville (also pictured Ramon--works for the sister company of Dustin's here in Shanghai)

Our family with Governor Mitch Daniels

So today was quite a treat, as we were invited to meet the Governor of Indiana and the 29 other people of his delegation. They came to China and then on to Japan to focus on bringing investment to Indiana (always a good thing). The event was held at the Shanghai Yacht Club on the Bund. This is quite the interesting title as the bund is actually across the river from where the Yacht club was located. It served as some confusion to us and to our driver, but we thankfully made it there on time.

We were not there more than fifteen minutes when the Governor came walking in. We were able to talk to him right away and found him to be extremely personable and quite down to earth. The rest of the evening was spent mingling with the different people that had come to the event. Most in attendance either went to Purdue or IU for their degrees, and there were only a handful Americans, besides those in the delegation, and even fewer that were from Indiana. We did meet a nice couple from Noblesville that actually live in the community next to ours here in China. This is sort of unique as Shanghai is such an enormous city, the likelihood of meeting at one of these events and living close to one another is slim.

The boys did great during the event as well. We were told the children were welcome and that people were bringing their families, but it was a little more an adult affair. Danny spent most of the time playing with the tie on my dress, thus why in some of the pictures it looks like it has had someone swinging on it. :-) Yet, I have to say for a three year old and one year old to put up with a bunch of business people networking, and speeches and finger foods for dinner, they are pretty amazing. We got McDonalds on the way home and thankgoodness, because getting out of downtown took an hour and then we had an hour drive home from there.

In addition to meeting the governor, we were able to meet the mayor of Noblesville (this is where Dustin's company's corporate headquarters are located), the president of IU and one of the chancellor's from Purdue (Dustin actually knew him from his time in the Glee Club at Purdue).

Everyone was so friendly and in good spirits for arriving in China just the night before (they had to be suffering from major jet lag). Tomorrow night, Dustin gets to have dinner with the president of IU and about 20 other graduates living here in Shanghai, should be nice.

The Chinese Can't Say "no"

2009-09-06T19:39:00.002+08:00

Today was quite fun... but I'll start with yesterday.

As tomorrow is Labor Day in the USA, several American families got together for a cook out. Most of us had forgotten that it was labor day weekend, but had noticed a drop off in the emails from home.

My highlight was baked beans. Real, homemade baked beans. The kind only someone from Arkansas can make. So as we were starting to eat, the gentleman from Texarkana says to his son: "come here knothead".

I about choked and said: "Man, you must be from Arkansas. That is what my Dad called me!"

And so the evening progressed; there were some color characters there, but there is no reason to go into that on these pages.

Today we went and had lunch and most of the afternoon with the Germans. Yes, we were the only Americans and the only people who could not speak German. We had a great time. The kids don't care what language you speak and it was a blast watching them all.

As I was sitting around realizing that I could not understand a single thing. However, a few words did come through, such as Nein. (Which is German for no and is used in the same way as we use it: to tell kids to stop.)

At that moment, I realized that Chinese parents have it rough. You see, there is no direct translation for 'no'. Of course, they can get across the point of a negative, but it is always coupled with an adverb, adjective, or noun. There is no simple negative word.

My language learning continues. Tomorrow is another day of 2 hour class. We'll see how that goes as we are getting to the point where we are making complex sentences. Critical to sounding fluent, but not critical for daily survival. Needless to say, I'm going to stick with it as trying to give some instructions to our driver tonight regarding what I needed him to bring from the office (company chop) and where to take Jackie and where we want to go tomorrow was a challenge. I'll know how well I did about 11 am tomorrow...

Friend's Birthday Party

2009-09-06T17:33:00.002+08:00

Today we all woke fairly tired for some reason. One highlight to our morning was that we were able to skype with my brother's son Ryan. He was staying at my parents house overnight. The boys were so cute talking back and forth. Even Josh was extremely excited and shared it with an ear piercing scream which I am sure our neighbors appreciated. (It occurred approximately at 7am on a Sunday morning). After skyping with my parents and Ryan, Dustin and I traded places, and I went back and laid down for a little bit. I could hardly keep my eyes open. At 10, I got up and got the boys a snack and put them both down for naps. Dustin and I got ready for the birthday party which started at 11:30 and then got the boys up to go.

The party was in the upstairs restaurant where there is a huge buffet. Our host (and birthday guy), Marcus greeted us and explained we had the whole back area with three circular tables for everyone to sit. As we had imagined, we were the only Americans present as everyone else is from Germany. (The invitation was sent out by e-mail, so I knew some of the women that were coming to the party). Our other friends we know fairly well were already seated at one of the tables, so we joined them. Danny got to sit by Jule their daughter (another girl from class that he has become a good friend). Another family, that I had just met recently joined us as well. This was great because we got to know them better and also meet their husbands.

The buffet of food is amazing as there is everything from traditional Chinese, to Sushi, to Italian, and the list goes on. They also had delicious desserts--including ice cream/ice cream cones and even cotton candy which they prepared right there for you. As we sat down, Dustin and I made the decision to forgo church as Marcus said there was a surprise for the children at 1pm (they have two children themselves that are really close to Danny and Josh's ages) and we did not want to be rude and leave before the party was over.

At 1:00 our host directed the children (and parents) to another room. Two women from Danny's school (actually one is the assistant in Danny's class) had a whole bunch of fun games and crafts for the kids to play. The first game was to push a large ball across the room and back. It was so cute to watch the children as the ages ranged from a little younger than Josh (18 months I would say) up to about 8 years old. They all had a great time doing this and all worked well together. The second game was a take off of hot potato, but this was a present with multiple layers (enough for each child of course) to peel off when the music stopped. There was a small present tucked within each layer. After this game, the kids all created party hats and then finished with another game where they looked for little papers and then got to pick a present out of a bin in the order of how many of these papers they found. Overall, a lot of fun and a great time for the kids and the adults.

Marcus then informed us that we were all welcome to go back to the dinning room as we had the space until 3pm. They had planned the activities, because they knew all the kids would get tired of just sitting in the dining room while the adults visited. Wow, that was great thinking. We all headed back and enjoyed coffee while the kids played with their new toys. Danny even opened up a little more and played with some of the boys there. It was such a great party and much more than what we were expecting.

We headed back home (much later than we planned due to the fun had by all) and went straight to our beds for naps. Tonight, Dustin is riding out on his bike to get our traditional McDonald's dinner, and we will all relax before tomorrow. We have another big day planned tomorrow as this is when we get to meet the Governor of Indiana and the delegation of mayors and the president of IU that he is bringing with him. We are really excited.

Overall, we have had such an enjoyable weekend. It is nice to connect with not only fellow Americans, but also families from around the world.

American Barbecue and the Difference between Playdate and Party

2009-09-05T16:56:00.001+08:00

Today we continued to keep it sort of low key, but I was pleased that Danny did not have much of a cough today. We did walk down to the stores near our house to pick up a gift that Dustin needed and a birthday present for our friend's birthday party tomorrow. There is a neat little store that carries a lot of home accessories, wrapping papers and cards called Tai Tai's Corner (Wife's Corner), so we stopped in there to pick up some things. When we got home we ate a quick lunch and got the boys down for a nap. I made cookies and a vege tray to bring to the barbecue. Danny has been really excited all day, as the barbecue is at his friend Alivia's house. They have become extremely close at school and from what their teacher has told me and Lindsay (Alivia's mom) they are inseparable during play time. I have been praying that the party will go well and that Danny will have a good time. I have been trying to prep him that it is a party and not a playdate, and other children will be present.

After naps, we pack up and head out to the barbecue. Danny is so excited as Alivia apparently tried to give him directions to her house and Danny wants to lead us there. (So cute as he takes charge of us all, by giving directions and telling us to hurry. Unfortunately, the directions lead to the school, so we have to redirect him a little). When we arrive, there are a few families there, and Lindsay brings Danny upstairs to where Alivia and her older brother Logan are playing. Slowly more and more people arrive and it is soon quite a fun barbecue filled with almost all Americans from either Joel's work (Lindsay's husband) or other families that they have met through the three years they have lived here. It was quite nice as I have met a great deal of the women, and it was great to connect their children and husbands to them.

Unfortunately, as I feared, Danny had a hard time at first with the fact that there were other children present and Alivia wanted to play with everyone. Both Dustin and I tried to encourage him to play along with Alivia and the other children. He spent most of the beginning of the party following her wherever she went. The lowest part, was when he came in crying to me, as he could not track her down and he interpreted this as her not wanting to play with him. It was so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time as he sat in my lap just sobbing about it all. I was able to calm him down and we talked through again how this was not a playdate, but a party. It also helped him that first Alivia checked up on him through a window (she had been outside playing while this was going on) and then came in to see how he was doing. Finally, either Danny got more the concept that it was okay to play with Alivia and all the other children, or she gave him more focused attention, or maybe a combination of both. Yet, Danny had a great time the remainder of the party and did not keep coming up to us looking for Alivia.

Josh spent the party in absolute bliss, either playing outside with the slide, or pushing a cart around inside. There were also a lot of older children that we really sweet to the younger kids, and some doted on Josh, which made him happy and feeling a bit more grown up.

Overall, the barbecue was fantastic. Joel had barbecued a bunch of ribs, and chicken for the adults and cooked hot dogs for all the kids. Everyone helped out and brought sides to the party. Someone even brought authentic baked beans. So for a couple of hours in the backyard and inside our friend's home, we were all able to get together as fellow Americans and celebrate the holiday and one would never have thought we were in the middle of China.

We of course were hit with a dose of reality as we walked home and the traffic light was turned off. Normally in the US, everyone would treat this intersection as a four way stop. Yet, here in China, where even with the light you take your life into your own hands, no traffic light translates to a free for all. This of course was all happening in the dark. We thankfully made it across without incident, and walked the remainder of the way discussing what fun we had at our American barbecue in China.

Danny's First Sick Day from School

2009-09-04T16:45:00.001+08:00

Today, Danny woke with what has become a familiar sound in our household, the cough sounding like a seal bark which indicates croup. Overall, Danny was not too sick, but I still kept him home from school. It seems that whenever Danny gets a cold it always begins as the croup. Thankfully, as he has gotten older, it has gotten more mild. We have had two trips to the hospital in the past due to croup. We are very grateful that this more mild form coincided with our move to China.

Josh was extremely tired this morning, so I put him down for a morning nap, and Danny and I spent this time on our sofa bed in the playroom watching movies and drinking orange juice. The afternoon Josh and Danny switched places, and Josh went with me to pick up things from Danny's school while Danny slept.

Danny has a notebook he brings home every Friday and when I picked it up this week, they also handed us a scholastic book order form. Boy did this bring back memories of my childhood. I loved to read and my parents always let me pick out some books from the order. I look forward to sitting down with Danny and continuing this tradition. Who knew we would have this here in China.

As everyone was tired from this week and Danny was still recovering from his cold, we ordered pizza and relaxed at home together. Tomorrow we have a big evening, as we are going to a barbecue at a friend's house (Lindsay I have know since we moved in here, and Alivia, her daughter, is good friends with Danny--they are in the same class at school and inseparable at play time). After the barbecue the club here in our community is having their General Manager Pool Party. It should be a fun evening.

Shoe Shopping and a Low Key Thursday

2009-09-03T12:12:00.002+08:00

So after the beginning of the week being fairly filled, Josh and I are tired. Therefore, the thought of doing my original plan of going to IKEA made me want to run out of the house screaming. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy IKEA, but not the trip it takes to get to the store and back). I was also planning to go shoe shopping this afternoon after IKEA. We would have never made it, or at least it would not have been pretty. Therefore, I changed the plans to just go to the little mall that is near our house that has the Carrefour. I want to make something for the barbecue, and the boys are consuming yogurt at an unbelievable pace, so I thought I would run into Carrefour and then check out the two shoes stores I have seen in this little mall.

We got through Carrefour fairly quickly, and headed down to the shoes. Tom was fantastic in entertaining Josh while I looked around and tried on some shoes. Thankfully I was able to find two shoes that would work. I was also able to manage through working with the sales clerks okay. This was clearly a cheaper line of shoes, as I got both shoes for $30, but I think they look much more designer than the price alludes. I am pleased with them and feel they will work well for Monday. The question now, is how long they will last, but when in a pinch it works. (The other shoes I bought here cost much more, and are better quality, but we were in Hong Kong when I bought them and the only store here is by the IKEA, and that was not going to work before Monday).

Now, I am just resting while I wait for either Josh to wake from his nap, or the time for me to go get Danny from school arrives. I think I will watch my new favorite thing--Dustin got me the box set of the TV series Gilmore Girls. I used to watch the reruns of this when I nursed Danny. Now doesn't that seem like forever ago.

This Could Get Addictive...

2009-09-02T11:46:00.000+08:00

Today was another fun filled day. Josh and I dropped Danny off to school and then headed off to meet my new friend Erin at the Fabric Market. She and her husband have had clothes and coats made here, so she was kind enough to show me around. I just have to say that I can see how this could become very addictive, except for the fact that you do in fact have to pay for the items, and as I enjoy shopping until I have to hand over my money, I am sure I will be able to keep it within restraint. Yet, if somehow become instant millionaires, I will probably have to buy a house closer because I would be there often.

Anyways, you enter the building, and it is four floors of little cubicle style shops with every imaginable style wool and cashmere coat, trench coats, dresses, suits, sweaters, pants, etc.... You go from stall to stall looking at what they offer and coming up with the style you want them to make. You choose your fabric and choose your stall/shop that will make it for you. You can also bring in pictures and have them copy that style, or bring in your favorite top, dress, pants and they will copy it in whatever fabric you would like. Of course the tricky part of this all is that they do not speak English. So, I will have to ask around to make sure I pick a stall/shop that is good at their job, and I can communicate with them effectively. So excited though...I will keep you all updated as I have heard some funny stories of things not working.

After the fabric market Erin, Josh and I got a quick lunch and then Josh and I headed back home. Josh was exhausted while we were driving home, and I actually had to get in the back seat (the car seats are in the back row of the mini van) and rub his head until he fell asleep. So adorable (well not the screeching that he did before he fell asleep, but once asleep, just precious).

As Josh was still exhausted when we got home, I decided not forego waking him up when it was time for me to go and watch Danny swim. It was my first time leaving him with the ayi (Dustin usually works from home Wednesdays and can keep an ear open for Josh waking up), and I just prayed he did not wake up while I was gone. I figured since he went down with quite the fuss, he may wake up in the same mood. Yet, I headed off to the clubhouse, as I knew Danny would be looking for me through the big window.

I was exhausted and so got a coffee while I waited. I tried a cafe lattee and was really pleased. I had never tried one before, but I really liked it. I was a little early, and so I was the first one there, even before the kids came out. They are so cute when they come out. They help them get changed in the locker room, and then they come out in this little single file line. I have to remember to bring my camera (hopefully they would show up through the glass). The other moms arrived, and we all had a really nice visit while watching our children swim.

My friend Lindsay (I had met her in the spring and now go to the bible study with her on Tuesdays), her daughter Alivia and Danny are really good friends, invited us over for a barbecue this weekend. It should be a great weekend. Saturday we now have their barbecue, and a party following that at the clubhouse (kids included). On Sunday, a new friend invited us to his birthday brunch. This should be interesting as they are German, and I believe everyone besides our family is from Germany. Yet, I know at least most of the moms and some of the kids that will be there and we all get along very well. On Monday we get to go to a party on a boat here in Shanghai to meet the delegation of business people and mayors traveling with the Mayor of Indianapolis, Mitch Daniels. Dustin and I are most excited to meet the Governor of Indiana, as we are big fans of his.

For dinner, the boys and I just went over to the clubhouse. I knew by this point in Dustin being gone, I would be pretty tired, so I planned in not cooking tonight. We ran into one of the ladies from my bible study, who just moved here a couple of weeks ago, and her family. After dinner, we just headed home and got ready for bed. Overall, a fantastic day. I am looking forward to the fact that Dustin will be home tomorrow, although late, I will at least get to see him before bed.

God's Continual Faithfulness

2009-09-01T15:59:00.003+08:00

Today was a day just filled with moments of God blessing me in different ways. We headed to Danny's school and from there I went with one of the other moms to a women's bible study group in the neighborhood next to us. We were running a little early, so we were trying to walk slow. On the way we bumped into a mutual friend that neither of us had time to catch up with yet since being back in China. It was great to finally be able to stop and visit for awhile rather than just passing on the go.

We arrived at the bible study and I began meeting the women already present. We had a nice visit over coffee and a light breakfast. We then moved into the other room and did the formal introduction of everyone. It was great to hear everyone's backgrounds, and where they had lived before Shanghai. There are quite a few Americans in the group--quite a few actually from the midwest. Josh did pretty decent in the meeting, he had been pretty tired before we took Danny school--so much so that he brought his blanket with him. As Josh was still doing okay, I stayed a little longer and visited with some of the women after the formal meeting part ended. One of the ladies just got here a couple of weeks ago and was visibly in the part of ready to scream running about how crazy it is to live here. It amazes me looking back, that the culture shock I felt and what she is going through was not in the big things like I thought it was going to be, but rather in all the small things that just drove you nuts. (i.e.--not stopping for pedestrians, etc). After talking with her and another lady that I had previously ran into at our church, we began talking to our host. We were talking about grocery shopping and where to purchase items that you can feel safe about feeding to your family and self. There are quite a few stories here about the amount of pesticides they use here and other methods of not so safe food processing. Our host gave us two fantastic sites--one for ordering vegetables and another for purchasing meat. I am really excited about this, and also the great resource these women will be to me not only in finding things in the city, but also just a great support network.

After leaving the bible study I headed home with Josh, I was able to stay longer than I thought because Josh actually fell asleep shortly after the meeting. When we got home, I was expecting our ayi to have lunch prepared for us (I had requested this last week, and even had Dustin help translate). Unfortunately, when we got home, she did not have anything made. (She had brought in the ingredients this morning, so I knew she was prepared to make it, and was not sure what happened). Josh and I just sort of regathered up our stuff and then headed down to the clubhouse for lunch (I am sure she was trying to figure out why we came back only to leave two minutes later). I was a little frustrated as we headed to the clubhouse, but God turned it into a great blessing. Josh and I had no sooner sat down when some of the women from the bible study came in for lunch (as I was leaving I had overheard that they were going to go out for lunch). I was therefore able to have lunch with them and had a great time visiting more with them. If our ayi had made lunch I would have missed out on this completely.

As Josh slept earlier, I kept him up (with the plan for him to nap later with Danny) and we played until it was time to get Danny from school. Before we went to get Danny I started feeling extremely tired. The kind where I feel like just weeping. The great news to my exhaustion, really an answer to prayer, was when I got downstairs (we were playing upstairs) our ayi was making up what I thought was going to be the lunch. So the fact that there was a major miscommunication actually worked out for the best in the end, because I have dinner already made now. The boys are sleeping now for their nap, and we will try her dumplings for dinner. God is so good.

While I was typing this out our ayi came in to say goodbye and she tried to tell me something in Chinese. The only part I understood was tomorrow. I thought she was talking about the meal she made, so I was trying to say that we were going to eat it for dinner. Of course I was saying this mostly in English with Chinese thrown in. She shook her head and asked for paper (with hand motions that is), and she wrote out a phone number and three Chinese characters. I have no idea what the characters mean. She then spoke again in Chinese with the only thing I understood was telephone (she held up her hand like a telephone) and the number three, I know my numbers up to ten. So, I have decided that there are a couple of scenarios she could have said to me--She might have said she cannot come until three tomorrow and she will call, or I am to call this number at three (which may or may not be hers), someone is going to call me at three tomorrow, or she was saying someone called here today at three and she will see me tomorrow. I am sure there are plenty of other possibilities, but I have no idea. I just had to smile to myself and think of how funny life can be here in China, especially when you do not know the language. Definitely makes you realize you have to depend on God for everything and trust God in everything, because the self reliance thing can only go so far here--you can pretend so much easier that you are the one in control in the US. I guess I will find out tomorrow what this message means. Although, now that I am thinking of it, maybe I will go to the office and see if they can read the characters she wrote out and dig through my contacts to see if the number matches anyone I already know.

Looking forward to a short evening and heading to bed early. I am going to the fabric market with Erin tomorrow and that should be a lot of fun. I believe I successfully told Tom when to pick us up and the street we need to go to tomorrow. Just in case though, I texted Dustin what I told Tom, so if I said something wrong, he can maybe straighten it out. Tomorrow will be another adventure I am sure. Overall, a truly blessed day, and I look forward to what tomorrow holds.

A Fantastic Weekend

2009-08-31T12:51:00.002+08:00

This past weekend was fantastic. Filled with a lot of relaxing and spending time together. Friday after work/school we all went and enjoyed the beach (fake one at our clubhouse pool). It was quite enjoyable, even with it being the hangout for all the teenagers. Saturday morning we also headed to the beach. We were actually the first people there, and we left just about the time it was filling up. This also was a great time and we got to catch up with some people we had met in the spring. After the pool, we did a quick lunch and then naps. We followed naps with two quick shows of Bob the Builder.

Danny has loved Bob the Builder for a while but what is really cute now is watching Josh get into it now. We have a little stuffed Bob the Builder that sings the theme song and he loves carrying it around and then dancing to the music. He actually sings the song too, but in a cute half talk half giberish version. After an early dinner, we walked down (the weather actually cooled down this is was really pleasant) and got ice cream. On our way we ran into Danny's teacher and his wife and had a nice visit. After ice cream, as it was only 6pm, we headed to the clubhouse to let the kids play. At the clubhouse we ran into a couple I had met at Danny's meet the teacher's meeting and the first day of school. They are from Germany and have children close to our boys' ages. They invited us to join them, and we had a nice visit about the moving here and life here so far. (He has lived here as long as we have, but his wife and children just joined him a couple of weeks ago before school started).

On Sunday, it was cool and stormy, so we headed for the indoor pool. We let Josh walk to the clubhouse and he was so adorable. He actually stopped and did everything he has watched Danny do---Danny would hide behind the pillars in the clubhouse and play peek a boo, and Josh ran up to these and did the same thing. So cute. Definitely reinforces the idea that they take everything they see in and remember it.

Danny and Josh had a great time swimming and again we were the only people there, which was nice. After naps we headed to church and ran into the new friends we had met a couple of weeks ago, Erin and Jeff. Dustin and I decided to forego our traditional McDonald's Sunday night meal, and headed to Pete's Tex Mex. We had a nice time together there and then headed home for bed.

Dustin leaves tonight for Shenzen (just outside of Hong Kong for a busy week of meetings, so this weekend was so nice to just crash and enjoy each other's company.

This week should be busy for me as well, as I am joining a women's bible study on Tuesday, Wednesday I am meeting Erin at the fabric mart (you can have anything you want tailor made here--I am so excited to figure this place out and have stuff made for Dustin and myself), Thursday is IKEA (we still need more hangers and random stuff like that) and a trip to the shoe store for me. We get to meet a delegation from Indiana on Monday evening for a light dinner and drinks (kids get to come as well)--the governor is suppose to be there too. Unfortunately, I left most of my shoes in Indiana, and the two pairs I have one pink (they are cuter than this description sounds) and one blue will not cut it. I spotted the same place I bought my other shoes at in Hong Kong right next to IKEA, so I will have Tom bring me there as well. Friday we will crash and Saturday we have a party here at the clubhouse. Should be hectic but a fun week. All the activity should hopefully make our week apart from Dustin go quickly.

Another Low-key Day

2009-08-27T16:35:00.003+08:00

Today was another low key day for me, which was nice. We dropped Danny off to school, and Josh and I made the trek down to the store. It was at least not too hot when we left, but by the time we got home it was terrible. We played and had lunch. Our new ayi is nice and is warming up to the kids. I am still not quite sure about how well Fong trained her, as I noticed the dishes were sitting in the sink most of the day--this in itself is not a problem by any means, it is that at the end of the day, she took them from the sink and was just drying them off. It made me wonder exactly how she was washing them. I had read stories about ayis not using hot water or soap..I guess many Chinese do not wash dishes in hot water. So, needless to say, I will be maybe reading downstairs tomorrow to try and see what she does first hand. All the little things you take for granted of being the same, and just are not in different cultures.

Danny is continuing to enjoy school. His teacher asked me today if he might be left handed. I guess he writes equally as good with his left hand. I am still used to when they forced you to be one over the other. I guess they do whatever is comfortable for the child today.

Looking forward to the weekend and maybe spending time at the pool. There is not much more you can do in this heat. I was told in usually gets better by the middle of September. Thankgoodness that is sooner than later.

On a funny side note, I picked up a flyer on kids tennis here (we live at the Racquet club, so it is pretty big here), and was amazed at the pace they move the kids through the system. There are two tracks--recreational and professional. Both start at the age of 4, so I am not sure quite how it is determined that you should be in the professional track...Of course, I am expecting if Danny is even interested we would only be relegated to the recreational section. Also, curious of what happens when you decide to start at say age 6 or older. Are you in with the 4 year olds? I guess its called groom them young. We are doing the soccer thing this fall, so maybe we will try out the tennis in the spring, who knows...

We are solo here tonight as Dustin is out with late meetings. I just realized a terrible mistake that I made... I told Danny we would watch a movie and maybe we would make the nights that Dad is gone movie nights... My mistake is that Dustin will be out of town all next week...whoops. Oh, well I guess I will have to revise or make up some contingency.

A Somewhat Normal Day

2009-08-26T16:27:00.002+08:00

So finally, we have had a somewhat normal day. The boys were fairly well behaved this morning, and we were able to greet our new subsitute Ayi before I took the boys to school. She seems nice and does a nice job. She does not try to communicate with us too much, but maybe this will change as we get to know each other better. (Of course when I say communicate this is usually talking in your own language and using lots of hand motions, so it is limited anyway).

Josh and I had a nice relaxed morning just playing at the house. No errands to run today--thankgoodness. I was able to go and watch Danny swim again, and even Dustin was able to stop by for a little bit (he worked from home today). Danny actually swam from one coach to another today, granted only for a short distance, but this is still huge. He is enjoying school and brought home homemade binoculars--he was quite proud.

I am enjoying visiting with the moms before and after school. Today one of the other moms invited me to join the beginning tennis lessons with her. Unfortunately, with the new Ayi, I do not know how secure I feel leaving Josh with her just yet. They also mentioned a bible study on Tuesday mornings, that I would love to do. I am hoping that maybe I can do a test run with the Ayi watching Josh while Dustin is working upstairs to see if I might be able to get out to do at least one of these gatherings.

We are looking forward to a relaxing evening here at home. Dustin has a late call tonight with the States...maybe I will watch one of my chick flicks I have been wanting to watch.

And the Adventure Continues...

2009-08-25T16:26:00.000+08:00

Well, if we thought the adventure and fun was going to end last night, hold onto your seats. Our ayi arrives today with her friend in tow and announces after we made formal greetings, that she is leaving today for her hometown and will see us in November. This of course is all happening in the fifteen minutes I am trying to get Danny and Josh ready to head out the door. Dustin is let’s just say less than pleased, because our understanding yesterday was not this arrangement. Fong had just stated she wanted September and the holiday in October off. We thought we were just going to meet Fong friend and see if we were happy. Yet today we are informed that this is not true. Since, we like our ayi and do not want to really look for a new one, and I truly need an ayi with my TM condition and the enormous fatigue associated with it, we are stuck. Not happy, but stuck. Please pray this all turns out okay. At least it is for a long enough time that we can get used to this situation, but again, if she is not to our liking, two months is a long time. So, needless to say I was a little rattled on the way to Danny’s school. Thankfully, children, or at least our children are quite adaptive and Danny seemed really oblivious to all the flurry associated with today’s morning routine.

After dropping Danny off, we quickly turn around to do more shopping. I have to obtain a bike lock that will withstand more than one turn of the key (see yesterday’s blog) and get shoes for Danny that are not so large. I am going to head to the farthest Carrefour, praying that they may have the items I have been searching for since we arrived here three weeks ago.
As we make our way around the Carrefour, it seems like my luck is out. They do not carry squirt bottles, nor razors to trim the back of one’s neck (Danny needs this as his hair grows funny in the back and needs trimming here, long before he needs a haircut). Looks like my Mom will be bringing these items to us when she visits.

We arrive home and within about fifteen minutes, Fong is saying goodbye. Apparently, she is not even going to stay through the rest of the day. Oh, well, what are we to do. Prayers is about it. I think I am going to go lay down for the next hour before I go and pick up Danny. I was able to get his shoes and a much better lock for Dustin, so those are at least positives in the day. I will be limiting my time going to these stores from now on, because the traffic is just insane.

The Rest of the Crazy Day

2009-08-24T16:23:00.000+08:00

Well the rest of the day seemed to continue like the first part of the day. Dustin called me to tell me that our Ayi has asked for all of September and most of October off. She did say that she had a friend who would take over, but this is extremely disruptive let alone the fact that we have no idea who this women is that Fang is brining over. We tried to discuss it with Fang during our quick lunch before I left with Josh on our errands. It is really crazy, because she is saying the same thing, and we are trying to pin point what it is she wants—i.e.-it took us the whole time to get out of her that she wanted that total time off and that her friend would work it. We are not happy about the situation, but feel there is very little we can do except fire her, and that would be a little extreme, plus the fact that we like and feel she does a good job. This time off is apparently tied to the death of her mother. There is some ceremony that they will perform since she died young and in a tragic way. So after that upsetting news, I took off to the store with Josh and Tom. I headed out to the farther store thinking we would be able to get there an back in time for Danny. Of course this is not true. Traffic was terrible.

Once we did arrive, I went to the store with computer items and tied to buy a cord for our router. Well, lets just say let the circus begin, because it was close to that in trying to get this cord. Now the problem was not finding it. I saw it on the wall and took it right down knowing exactly what I wanted. The problems began after that in trying to buy it. I of course do not speak Mandarin and first had to track down a salesperson focused enough to help us. The salesperson looked at it and started talking in Mandarin to me. I of course shook my head and motioned to Tom. (Who speaks Mandarin, but no English, so while he can usually help, he can never tell me what is going on). So, I believe from the hand motions and pointing that she was upset that there was a hole in the plastic the wire came in. Of course the hole is there because this is how they hang things up in the store. So, I drag her over (not literally) to the other cords and point to the fact that this is how all of them are hanging up. Then somehow the conversations switches and another employee gets involved. They then began having a conversation between them about length of the wire. I had not told them a length, and I know Tom had no idea what I came in there to buy, so I do not know why the conversation came down to this. Yet, finally after about five minutes of them arguing about the size I was able to convey that I just wanted to buy it. After this, the two employees began arguing again, this time shoving the item I wanted back and forth into each other’s hands. Apparently, neither of them wanted to write up the ticket for it. (Here in China, you cannot just take something up to the register and buy it. No, first you need a ticket, then you pay for it, then you bring the copy of the ticket back to the employee that first helped you, and only at that point do they hand you the item). So, after another couple of minutes of bickering about writing the ticket, finally the women employee won and the guy went over to look it up. I paid out, and receive my wire. There is no such thing as fast shopping in China.

We quickly went through Carrefour, only to confirm that Qibao’s store does not have squirt bottles either. We got our other items, and left to look for Danny’s shoes. Thankfully they had a Crocs store right at the entrance and I was able to get a pair for Danny. We then finally headed home, with me feeling a little guilty that I would not be there to pick up Danny. We did amazingly make it back in time to greet him when he came in the door. He tried his shoes on, and of course they were to big. Dustin unlocked the bike lock I had bought him (he got a bike this weekend) and it literally broke when he unlocked it. The insides of the lock poured out onto the floor. There is something about Chinese quality that I cannot ever grasp. Why do they put up with this junk. Who wants stuff that breaks within minutes, or in this case without ever using it. Stuff like this would never make it to US stores, yet now that I think about it, we complain about how many lawsuits there are in our country, but this is what prevents the junk ever being sold. No one wants the liability. Here, no one cares. Literally, the lack of caring about human life here is shocking.

Anyway, we got the boys down for naps, and planned to go to the nice Italian place for dinner for our anniversary. Of course, the boys when we need to leave, are so out of it Dustin and I decide it is not worth the headache of dragging them out of bed and to the restaurant. Hence, we had a nice dinner at the clubhouse where we regularly eat. Not quite the day or night I imagined, but here in China God has shown us that rolling with the punches is much easier--for everyday here is an adventure—with some being more wild than others. He has taught us that regardless of location and where we are sitting down as we look around the table the blessings are the same—one amazing marriage and two amazing children. God is so Good. Here’s to all the years to come and the adventure the Lord may take us on through those.

Crazy Morning in China

2009-08-24T10:15:00.003+08:00

Today so far, and it is only 10 am now, has been insane. Josh has been pulling things off counters, opening cabinets he should not, etc all morning. He is also way way way overtired and cries at the drop of the hat. With this being our back drop to the morning, I did not have eggs for the pancakes we were going to make (our ayi made us fired rice on Friday and I guess used all six eggs in it. I forgot to look over the weekend to restock), and the little store in the clubhouse apparently does not open until 8 or later. So, I had to convince Danny that peanut butter toast and cereal was a great substitute breakfast.

For school today, the kids needed to bring a picture of their family and of themselves. Unfortunately, the only picture I have of our family is gigantic. So, I lugged this picture to school and had to apologize for the size as they tried to find a place for it. I had smaller pictures of us, but had brought them home this summer looking for frames. Guess where I left the small family pictures. Yep you got it, in Indiana. There is no transfer it to Walmart and go pick it up in an hour later here in China, or at least I do not know how to navigate it, so I took the large one in for Danny.

Once Josh and I arrived home from dropping Danny off, Josh was so crazy that I finally just gave up and put him down for a nap. That would be all fine and dandy, but I had our driver waiting to take us to the store. So, I first sent a text Dustin, but he is in his language class, and could not help. Secondly, I attempted to translate out the situation into Chinese. I can only guess what it actually sounded like I said, but thankfully Tom could read what I had written out in Chinese and understood. At least I think he understood, because he went back to sitting and waiting in the car.

Now that this is tackled, I have to figure out how to get to the store (I was planning to go to the farther store) and get back in time to get Danny from school, who has half days on Mondays (1:30), and get lunch for Josh, who normally eats at 11am. The farther away store depending on traffic could take at least 40 minutes to get to, so just getting there and back will be a challenge.

I would try and go take a shower now since I have been unable to get one yet today, but our ayi has already diligently taken them to be washed and we do not have a second set. (I think a second set is going to be added to the shopping list for today, if we ever get there).

Maybe I should just get back in bed and attempt to start over in a little bit. :-)

At least I know I do not need to cook dinner tonight, as we are going out for dinner for our Anniversary. Of course, it will be a family affair, as we do not have someone we trust to watch the kids for a long period of time. Yet, it should still be fun..we are going to go back to Marco's the Italian restaurant closer to downtown.

I will update on the rest of the day later, but today has been so nuts, I thought I would share what has occurred so far.

First Full Week of School and the Cricket

2009-08-21T19:43:00.002+08:00

We have reached the end of the first full week of school and I was happy to see that his teacher said Danny was doing well. I think our biggest problem right now is getting him to eat his lunch at school. Today when I picked up Danny, the teacher asked me if Danny ate food with sauce. Apparently, Danny had said that he did not eat sauce (the past two meals were spaghetti, but with vegetables mixed in and Chinese noodles with beef), and the school was debating whether they needed to provide Danny a meal without the sauce. Well, at least we know he is not afraid to speak up about his preferences. I explained that Danny could eat whatever was served to him.

Today I was absolutely exhausted, as in I felt like someone had snuck in the middle of the night and drugged me with something. Yet, the Lord was so faithful in seeing me through the day. I just took it minute by minute, and it turned out to be quite a nice day overall. Josh and I took Danny to school and then did our usual walk down to the local store. We stopped into my favorite place (Starbucks) and headed home. I let Josh walk for a little bit (normally his is in his stroller) and he was so adorable. He is still in the "I just learned to walk" wobble. He has seen his brother walk back and forth from the store, and was quite proud to be doing it himself today. It unfortunately, remains oppresively humid and hot, but again makes us so grateful for our air conditioner and after walk snacks of cold green grapes. Josh and I played and read this morning and he is finally pointed at his nose, ears and mouth when I ask him. (I have really been working on these points). The funny part is this is what Danny's class is discussing as well, just a little more advanced.

While Josh napped, I was able to run over and pick up Danny from school (Fridays and Mondays are half days for him), and we headed back home for a snack and a nap for him as well. Both boys slept a long time and I was able to rest and visit with Dustin. Dustin worked from home this afternoon, but had to head out just before dinner to meet a customer. The boys and I went over to the clubhouse for dinner and had a nice meal before it got really crowed. Friday nights at the clubhouse can be a little insane--lots of children and lots of volume. It makes you wonder what the staff thinks of all of us expatriates.

We finished the night off with Danny's favorite Sesame Street show and I tucked them in. Now it is just me and the cricket. I believe I have failed to mention our resident cricket yet in the blog....

When we arrived back from the US we were greeted by a cricket. My best guess is that he is somewhere under the baseboard in the dinning room area, but we have been unable to track him down any more specifcally than that. He must be quite an amazing cricket, because we live on the top floor (fifth floor) and I have no idea how he would have gotten up to the apartment from outside. So, if not through the outside then he had to hop his way through the lobby get on the elevator and then hop into our apartment at sometime. Anyway, I am beginning to think he is a permanent feature of the apartment. Thankfully, we have coexisted quite nicely so far. He greets the boys and I when they wake at 5:30 in the morning, and is quiet after that until we head up to bed.

We have a busy weekend ahead, as Dustin will be gathering with other IU alums on Saturday---I know, I know, what happened to Purdue (our undergraduate), but Dustin did get his master from IU, so I guess it is allowed. We both said we need to track down the Purdue alums in Shanghai and get them together if they are not already organized. Then on Sunday we are going to have lunch with a couple that we met at church, who are from Michigan originally. It should be a lot of fun.

On that note, I am heading to bed, as 5:30 always seems to come quickly.

Swim class and Adjusting to a Mom of a Preschooler

2009-08-19T16:27:00.005+08:00

The first day of swim class went extremely well for Danny. All of his classmates signed up for this section, and they were really cute to watch taking turns with the coaches in the pool. I was able to watch with a few other moms through the window in our clubhouse that looks into the indoor lap pool. Danny was so excited to see me when he finally noticed that Josh and I were there (he had wanted me to come to the pool with him this morning, but I told I would be there to watch him). Danny dunked under the water (this is big for him as he does not care for water in his ears) and jumped into the pool numerous times. He also swam kicking behind him.

Today our ayi came back and she cried a little right when she arrived and then she just delved into her work. She is such a sweet women and I wish there was more ways to communicate and express our sympathy for her mother passing away. I think though that she understood we care for her and her family.

I was so excited to have her back, as I was truly coming to the edge. The TM disease seems to make it extremely hard for me to keep up the house and chase after the kids (Danny was home last week). Today I have been sort of dragging, which is my term I have coined for Dustin to know that I am having a hard day. I made sure that I napped when Josh did, but unlike yesterday and the day before he did not take a very long one. I am hoping that by the weekend I have stored back some of my energy. Dustin is gone on Saturday in the afternoon, but some of it should be during nap time. Dustin is gone to meetings today and tonight, so I have planned pizza and movie night for the boys. I just don't have it in me to do anything else, and I am counting down the time until bed.

I was able to get Danny to lay down right now, which is nice. He does not want to be the only one taking a nap at school, and everyone else plays during the scheduled time. I told him if he chose not to lay down in school then he needed to do it when he got home. He had some small complaints, but not for longer than a few seconds. I think he is absolutely zonked out in there. Josh, is also tired I can tell, but prefers to just come over to me and curl up on my lap and then go back to playing.

I am adjusting to being a mom of a preschooler, and it is fun to go to things like watching the swim class. Another nice part of the day was I was able to connect with some of the moms after dropping off Danny. We sat in the clubhouse and visited until Josh decided that he needed something to drink--the one time I forgot it--I will not do that again. Dustin had noticed the moms seemed to congregate after class, and I was hoping I would be able to connect in this manner. Some of the other moms I had met, either have older children, so I do not see them as much, or they have moved to other communities. I therefore only see them in passing and not for longer visits. It is an adjustment, and I had not really thought through how all these changes in how I pictures my routine to be here this fall. I still have to figure out when I will try to begin working out, etc, but I figure I first need to get my energy back before I attempt that one.

So far, we are adjusting to life back here in China--now if only this crazy hot weather would subside!

Second Day of School, but First Full Day

2009-08-18T20:22:00.002+08:00

Danny did great today, even with two days without a nap and this being a full day of school for him—8:30-3:30. He was so cute this morning, asking me to stay with him at school, yet being just fine when it was time for me to drop him off. We were again the first ones there, and this was even with me leaving a little later today. Apparently, the 8:30 drop off is relaxed as the first half hour is just playtime. Danny gets up so early, that we are just waiting to leave in the morning. I realize that this is not the norm in most households. I am grateful that Danny is enjoying it, as I have met many moms who have said their children are having a hard time. Danny even mentioned that one of the boys cried in his class yesterday.

We have a great routine in the afternoon. I pick him up and we head home for a cookie and milk—surprisingly they do not give them milk at lunch. He excitedly tells me all that he did—of course prompted with a million questions from me. (I dread the day that he is not as excited to share his day, but for now I enjoy it so much). He is so proud of it all and so happy to hear my excitement over each thing he has learned and done. Today when I picked him up I was waiting outside (I tend to get there early just in my excitement to pick him up) when I saw one of the teachers lift him up so he could look out. I waved and gave him a big smile. I was so grateful that I was early and just sitting there so I was able to see that moment—also to be there when he was obviously looking for me.

We signed Danny up for soccer, as he has been wanting to play since this past spring (we walk by the soccer field every time we enter the clubhouse, so I think it is always enticing him). I am hopeful that he has the energy to do it, as he swims in the afternoons on Wednesday and then has gym class on Thursday afternoons. I signed him up for the Thursday soccer, as I figure we are closer to the weekend than Wednesday afternoon, and Friday is only a half day for him. Dustin and I have decided after a second whiny dinner with Danny that we are going to have Danny take a small nap when he gets home. He does not want to take one at school because the other kids in his class do not. We are hoping this will eliminate the whine and also give him the energy he needs to make it through the week.

Josh is missing his brother, but also enjoying the time with just Mom and Dad (Dustin worked from home today, so he had lunch with us). He was so cute when we got home from dropping off Danny—he went into their bedroom calling his name. I guess the memory is a little short lived about leaving Danny at school. We had a nice walk down to the store (although terribly warm—its 95 here with at least 100% humidity). I was able to connect with another mom from Germany, whose daughter goes to Danny’s school, but is a little younger while we were out for our walk. I also bumped into one of the other mother’s from Danny’s class who I had met last year. They are from Arkansas of all places—Dustin’s family is from there.

Overall, the day was good. I am heading to bed, as the exhaustion is still pretty intense—thankfully, the room spinning and feeling nauseous level has subsided. Tomorrow, I plan to just stay in the house with Josh or only go to the indoor park with him. (It is suppose to be close to 100 and still the crazy humidity tomorrow—all I can wonder is how on earth people survive in places like India or the tropics where it is even hotter—not my cup of tea).

The Afternoon Adventures in China

2009-08-17T18:43:00.003+08:00

Well, the one thing that is quite certain about life in China, is that what would just be routine, even mundane in the US almost always turns into quite the adventure (i.e.--pain in the neck). Let's take this afternoon for example--going to the atm and cooking dinner.

These at first glance do not seem like difficult tasks, and I must admit I never gave them much thought back home, but here I am continually surprised.

The ATM

We wanted to sign Danny up for his soccer class today and also mail off some drawings he had done for his cousin. Both of these required me paying in cash. I figured we would just stop into the atm machine near the office and be on our way. Unfortunately, the office staff told me the atm machine was out of order. In addition, she went on to say that the man who came to work on it today could not fix it and that someone with more knowledge needed to look at it. This of course translates into us being lucky to be able to access the machine sometime tomorrow afternoon. While we did not need the cash right away, I thought it would not be too hard to walk to the clubhouse in the community next to ours.

After Josh woke from his nap, we headed out. In hind sight, what I should have done was walk out the front door and return immediately to the air conditioned lobby upon feeling the heat and humidity of the afternoon. However, my determination sometimes translates to stubbornness--I guess Dustin isn't to blame for the sheer amount of this that Josh has after all. (I will eventually learn to not leave the house on these days--apparently it is not today though). So we walked ever so slowly there (mostly because Danny is trying this new no nap thing, and he is incredibly slow--like a turtle). When we finally arrived a nice lady directed us around the corner to the atm. I slid my card in and hit the button to request English. Unfortunately for the first round, the machine chose to ignore me and give everything to me in Chinese. It finally spit my card back out and I tried again. This time it would only give me the choice of checking my balance. I did this and was rewarded with the ability with choosing to continue. I therefore hit this button and for a few seconds (I do not exaggerate here) it flashed the ability to withdraw. Apparently, I did not hit the button fast enough, and it spit my card out. I go through the entire process again, only to be rewarded with a notice that there is some error. So, after the hot walk over, we leave with no cash and head home. You got to love banking in this country--it makes the the crazy idea that we all laugh at in the States of stashing it under your mattress sort of appealing.

Dinner

On the way home we stop into the little market at the clubhouse. Dustin is going to be out tonight (surprise meeting set up this morning--got to love his schedule--look for blog on this in the future). I had decided to do a chicken pot pie--mostly because it is fairly easy to make and Dustin will not eat it. I was looking for my last ingredient--either biscuits, pie crust or something else to make it into a pot pie. I was excited to see there was puff pastry in the small cold section of the market. We headed home and I hooked the boys up with Sesame Street, mostly in an attempt to not have a repeat of Josh sitting in the middle of the dinning room table while I attempted to make dinner (see blog from this morning). This of course only partly worked, so I was still fighting him off in the kitchen from opening cabinets (no such thing as kid safety stuff here in China). I finally got everything set up and in my tiredness forgot two things. First I usually cook the chicken before hand and second, I usually keep the kids chicken out. Tonight, I without even thinking tossed the raw chicken into the cooking sauce and vegetables. I debated ordering pizza, until I remembered I did not have any cash, then I focused on the only place that does not need cash and is close--the clubhouse. Yet, the thought of one leaving the house in this heat did not appeal to me, nor did dragging two tired kids to a restaurant by myself. So, I silently prayed that the dish may turn out in the end.

Thankfully, the chicken did cook in the broth, and I set out to tackle my next problem. No rolling pin. I apparently, in not making many pies, etc yet, did not purchase a rolling pin. The puff pastry I had bought needed to be rolled out. I therefore began looking around for a proxy. I settled on the cover for my candy thermometer. It is a narrow tube and sturdy enough for me to press on it without breaking. Of course, when I opened the puff pastry it was quite clearly imported, because one side was dried out and the other soggy. I cut off the dried out part and patted flour on the other side. I finally got the puff pastry rolled out, and put my pot pie together and into the oven. After not quite the full time the package said had elapsed, I went into the kitchen to check on my pot pie. To my great horror my puff pastry had completely burned. Leaving the kitchen smelling terrible. I was able to peel off the burnt part and fish out chicken for the kids to eat. I did this solely because as I stated before, I could not face dragging the kids (exhausted as they were) to the clubhouse to eat. I can say that my pot pie which is simple and easy in the US is an absolute disaster in China. It came out closer to chicken and dumplings, except for the additional vegetables found in a pot pie. Oh well, at least it was fairly edible. I could not help but think that I hoped Dustin was having a better meal out.

Overall, I am counting the minutes to put the kids to bed. I am exhausted from last week without our ayi and she was not here again today (we believe she said on the phone that she was driving home today and will be there tomorrow). I can only pray this is true, as I am quickly finding out that with this disease, I just do not have the energy to take care of the kids and this house as well. I currently am bordering on being so tired the room is spinning and wanting to throw up. I guess I will read the boys some stories and get them in bed. They currently are running around the room trying to tackle each other--if only they could funnel me some of that energy.

Okay, we are off to story time and all of our bedtimes. Tomorrow is a long day for Danny as he goes until 3:30, I hope it goes well.

It's Official, Danny's a Preschooler

2009-08-17T12:45:00.007+08:00

Danny ready to go and views of the new backpack

Danny First day of School and Danny ready for me to stop taking pictures

Today is Danny’s first day at school. He woke up at his normal early hour (a little later than this spring thanks to the sun rise being later) and we began our normal, or what will be our normal morning routine. We of course got the milks and coffee (they need milk to start the day and I surely need my coffee at 6am) and then headed up stairs. We had to shorten our skype time, but were able to connect with both sets of grandparents. Then it was downstairs again, where Danny helped me make pancake batter. Dustin wandered down with the smell of cooking pancakes, and we all had a great breakfast together. I of course need to highlight the fact that while Danny and I were mixing those pancakes together, Josh was getting into everything. I will not list it all, but I will leave you of the worst of it which was him on top of the dinning room table holding a steak knife leftover from yesterday. Thankgoodness for two things—I caught him just as he reached for the knife and second the knife, while considered a steak knife is barely sharper than a butter knife. So, needless to say Josh was not helping me in the stay calm and stress free that I was shooting for, but he definitely kept my mind off that Danny was heading off soon.

After breakfast we were able to get a quick call into my brother (this is our normal day to connect—unfortunately it was too late to talk with Ryan, but once we get the routine down, we can catch them earlier). I gathered up the hat and extra clothes that the school requires for us to bring for the kids. They cannot play outside without a hat on—with the weather here, this is a good rule. I then slathered Danny with sunscreen (another requirement before school and for outdoor play) and Danny got dressed. I took a couple pictures (maybe one too many—see Danny’s face on last picture), and then off we went.

We of course still made it too school early (but better than late). We went into Danny’s class and he put his bag on his hook and I placed his extra clothes in his cubicle. I placed his hat on his hook as well. I don’t think I even had the hat on the hook, before Danny was heading out the classroom towards the play area. (This is the first thing they do before welcome circle time). He already had a train car in his hands before I got over to where he was, I asked if he was okay if we left, and he sort of glanced up with a look like he was surprised we were still there. I got a little hug and we left him playing there. Kids were streaming in and his teacher was trying to engage Danny in talk while he played. I can say that I made it out the door before misting up, and all the way home before crying. Overall, a big success—thank you for all the prayers.

I ran into a German family that I met at the Meet the Teacher event. He has been here for a couple months, but his wife and kids just arrived. They were also facing their “first” first day of school. We talked about the misty eyes and that we were grateful to still have one at home to hug throughout the day. Their daughter is Danny’s age, but apparently his class is full at 11 students, so she will be in the younger class—at least they will meet at the play times and lunch. I also ran into Monica with her daughter Jule (pronounced Ula) (also from Germany) as they headed to the school. It will be nice to connect with these moms as well as the American moms as the school year goes on.

After calling my mom and crying, I gather up our stuff to head off to do our typical Monday grocery shopping. Even Josh looked sad as he looked at his brother’s empty car seat and gave me a look like what did you do with Danny. I reassured him that it was okay and that it was going to be just him and mom (okay--and Tom our driver too). I only got misty eyed one other time—when Tom handed me a cart and put Josh in the one he was pushing. I pushed in my empty cart trying not to make an emotional scene that no one around me would be able to understand. Thankfully, I was able to pull it together without any tears dropping and off we went.

It helped to focus on buying a pitcher to make the grape juice (like kool-aid—but a Chinese brand—we will let you know how that turns out) and look for what else we needed. Shopping can be so frustrating here—we were blessed that they had Josh’s diapers, but we could not find squirt bottles and some other common items. The best was at the end checking out. I had gotten a funnel, because I do not have one yet in our kitchen and I needed it to pour the oil we used for French fries back into the container. I did not notice that the funnel did not have a proper sku number. It had a hand written one. Well, basically after three people assisting and putting different numbers into the computer, she smiled at me and placed it under the counter. No funnel today. Got to love China. With all the assistance, you think someone could have resolved the issue, but not here, I have come to expect that this rarely happens.

Well, I am off to bake chocolate chip cookies for Danny to have when he gets home from his first day and make up that grape Chinese koolaid. (A tradition my mom always had that I want to pass down—plus I have been craving cookies myself). There is only an hour before we pick up Danny, this day has gone really quickly. I have to take advantage of Josh taking his nap—who knows what he would be doing while I baked if he was awake. :-)

Last Day before Danny's First Day of School

2009-08-16T13:18:00.003+08:00

So I will keep this short as I have to wake Josh in fifteen minutes to allow him to eat lunch before we head off to church (i.e.--the traffic to get to church and then church).

This is the last day I have with Danny before he takes the big step into being a student. So naturally I have spent as much time with Danny as possible. Also, praying throughout the day, as for like every mother, I want his first day to be fantastic--filled with fun, learning and new friends. Not scared, bullies and every other nightmare a mother can dream up.

We spent the morning watching a new Mickey DVD we got last night. He did not seem to notice that I was holding him on my lap and silently crying as I thought of him leaving the house and heading to school--at least he did not comment on it, if he did notice. I am hoping that this will be my last cry about it, and that I can be happy and joyful tomorrow. Especially since it truly is a happy and joyful moment. My little boy is growing up and that is amazing and wonderful and I feel so privileged to watch as he develops from the young boy he is today to the man is going to be. (Okay--I better start signing off as the tears are already welling up).

We had a great lunch thanks to Dustin and I am looking forward to church today. Church here is to me such a magical place since it is filled with people from every country and every walk of life. What a joy.

I will update you tomorrow with hopefully my story of how I was brave in dropping him off (we needn't worry about Danny being brave as he has asked each day for the past week if this was the day he begins school. I am sure he will simply wave goodbye and head in the door without a second glance). I pray for no tears or squeaky voice from me. We should have pictures, although none of the school just yet, as I do not want to be the crazy mother out of the group :-) or embarrass Danny in any way.

Well as if on cue, Josh is screaming out his adorable "Mama"--until tomorrow....

Finding Food and Cooking in China

2009-08-16T11:55:00.002+08:00

Jackie was a little under the weather on Friday, so I set the menu for Friday through Monday and went shopping with the boys...

Jackie has done a good job of explaining most of the shopping experiences, that is, from a person who normally shops.

I decided that I was going to have some real American food this weekend. You know, the kind of stuff you can easily get at home. So, here was the menu:
Friday evening: BBQ Pork Roast
Baked Potatoes
Corn
Saturday Lunch: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Saturday Dinner: Eat out
Sunday Lunch: Steak with french fries and salad
Sunday Dinner: Usual McDonalds after Church
Monday Lunch: Sandwiches

By Friday evening, Jackie did the cooking as I was too tired to go at it in the kitchen. On Saturday, however, I took over the culinary duties.

Buying the ingredients for the Alfredo was a challenge. The noodles were in the import section and were in Italian. The butter, cream, and cheese were in the imported dairy section and were in French. Luckily enough for me, the Italian for Fettuccine is spelled a lot like it is in English, and cream was close enough that I could ask the driver to confirm what I had via Chinese.

The Fettuccine was the best I've had in a long long while. I doctored the recipe a bit, which always seems to help. I'll say it was even better than what my mother would make, and that was rather good stuff. The disappointment (as always) was the chicken. Very tough.

Sunday lunch just happened. Let me say that I don't know if we will be eating steak again very soon in China. Just way too expensive to have something that more resembled the really bad steak they serve in school. I forgot what they called that junk, but they had to cover it in an equally bad gravy so that you could choke it down...

What was very good were the homemade french fries. Not as good as Granny Davis's but close. Now I’ve just got to learn how to make hush puppies. (If any of my relatives have the starting recipe, please send it over to me.) Once we’ve got french fries and hush puppies, all we need is some fish!

Buying the potatoes was the more memorable part. (I was expecting the fight to get my veggies weighed and priced.) There were all sorts of vegetables. Some I recognized, others I did not. But, I could not find the potatoes. After 3 laps, I found them.

They were not in a bulk bin, not in bags, nor in boxes. No, they were sold in pairs, and each pair was individually wrapped on a plastic tray... I usually don't shop in the USA, but I do see the stuff when it comes home, and I've never seen potatoes packaged this way.

So, I figure I need 6 potatoes. As I'm looking through them, a Chinese man and his daughter stop and start commenting on me looking at the potatoes. As I start to pile them into the bag I had, they became animated and actually started laughing.

I thought, well, I don't stand at the mass rice bin and laugh at you all buying it 5 to 10 pounds at a time! Guess the Shanghaiese don’t consider the lowly tuber to be a staple.

Here is the survival point for anyone who is thinking about an ex-pat assignment: take along the cookbook "Joy of Cooking". Space is always limited, and this is an excellent reference book as you will need to improvise and change out ingredients based upon what you can find. If you are a budding chef back home, this is probably the one you should start with.

The weekend has been nice. We got to go to the pool yesterday a bit before we walked down the street to get dinner. This is the end of the calm before the storm... Danny starts school tomorrow, I start language lessons tomorrow, and the business activity is about to go into overdrive. Got a few major projects that I am either working on or stewarding, and my time is about to be filled to the max.

Chinglish

2009-08-13T13:53:00.012+08:00

Today I had a meeting closer to downtown... not across the river, so I was still in PuXi.

70 minute car ride to the subway for a 12 minute ride to my destination. The photo above is on line #2 inside the line 4 loop... and that is when rush hour is beginning to wane. I could actually stand with my feet at shoulder width apart and my briefcase on my shoulder this time. When it is bad, you have to stand with your feet together and your bag at your feet. At those times, you have to get over your fears of mass humanity and rapid transmission of disease through the air.
Any way, I had a nice meeting and went to my usual spot for lunch after I have a meeting there:

Yep, that's a flame grilled hamburger.

Now on to the language part of this. If you are not into learning a new language or grammar, bail out now -- you've been warned.

I am quite happy with the level of verbal communication I can accomplish. If you want to learn Chinese, I highly recommend Flunez. On my first trip to China I could say a few lines, but this program served as an awesome base. Soon, I expect to take it up a notch and get some specific business Chinese training... we'll see how that goes. I guess I understand about 60 to 70% of what is said to me in a restaurant or store. Comprehension drops to less than 5% when in a business meeting.

So, I have gotten to the point (which I have said before) that I must learn to read this language. My handy cell phone dictionary allows me to draw in characters and get the definition.

For this lesson in how Chinglish is formed, I want to focus on Burger King's tag line: "Have it Your Way." This is below the logo on the cup in the photo above (我选我味) for which the pinyin is wo3 xuan3 wo3 wei4. The literal translation of this is: I choose I taste.

Now we are at the problem. Is taste above a verb or a noun? I hadn't thought of taste as either a noun or a verb until I translated this, but when you think about it you realize taste can be either. So, how do you know? It's easy in Chinese -- the character is very specific -- this is a noun. (A verb doesn't make a lot of sense anyway since everyone knows you eat the hamburger.)

In English, of course, we have a problem. We would now translate this "I choose my taste". This, makes good sense (some would argue better than their English tagline, but that is done to promote a hip/rebellious image as much as anything -- and rebellion is not looked highly upon here in China -- therefore the modification).

So why didn't I know from the start to use my versus I? Simple. My is technically 我的 (wo3 de). I would think they are using the first person pronoun not the first person possessive pronoun.

And herein lies the beginnings of Chinglsih. You see, while we accuse Chinese of being very difficult, really it is in some ways easier than English. We have conjugations, verb tenses, and contractions. And China has contractions as well. In fact, I have found that Chinese want to use as few words as possible. I don't really know why, but with 1.3 billion people, I guess you have to shorten some of it if everyone is going to get a chance to talk... Hence, when trying to understand (given my need for technical accuracy) I have issues when they leave out words they consider to not be critical.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our driver is trying to learn English. The problem for him is that he can only communicate in the present tense. So, telling me about a problem tomorrow or in the past is impossible for him. Think about that -- only being able to talk about what is going on now.

Chinese, of course, can talk about the past and the future, but there are no verb changes -- "is" stays "is" so to speak. Is does not go from "is" in the present to "should be" to indicate future conditional or "will be" to indicate a future condition. To change the time, they just add a few words to the front of the sentence, and then continue. Really, the grammar is much easier.

The problem with listening to and speaking Chinese is hearing and reproducing the tones. (For those who are not familiar with the pinyin Romanization, the numbers after the word indicate the tone.)

The problem with reading is obvious... you need 2,000 to 3,000 down stone cold to make it on the street, and over 5000 to be college level fluent. Keep in mind that is only a starter when in traditional characters there are over 90,000.

I have lost count of the number of characters I can read. My guess is I'm over 150 but less than 200. I'm getting good enough to guess what the character sounds like even if I don't know what it means. That is great because I can look it up way faster than drawing it, but proves worthless when trying to put a string of characters together.

I'm going to keep all of my posts on this subject under the tag language barrier. I'll have plenty of funny stories (similar to the plunger) that will go into this category over the next few months, I am certain of it.

The Mistake of the Outdoor Park and the Teacher Meeting

2009-08-12T20:23:00.000+08:00

So today did not start of terribly hot, just humid and bearable warmth. The boys and I walked to the store and got rice for tonight. I told Danny, who has been dying to go to the outdoor park and ride his bike that today we could do both (it has been raining since we arrived in China last week due to the typhoon). This idea all seemed great as we walked back and forth from the store, so we dropped off the rice and picked up Danny's bike.

Going bike riding (or practicing really) is no easy feat here as I have to drag the bike out of our storage room at the back of our apartment, get Josh in his stroller, and push both stroller and bike into the elevator. One would think the hard part is over, but that is actually the easiest. Here in our community they have made hills all over and our apartment building is at the base of the largest hill, which is quite steep. The entrance to our community, and all the parks are on the other side of this hill. Of course in addition to hills, they also have a lot of lakes/ponds. We therefore keep to the main sidewalk in front of the apartment buildings and avoid the paths behind connecting the parks. No need to get going on the bike careen down a hill and into a fairly deep lake. For similar reasons, I do not have Danny get on his bike until we get down the steep large hill. Therefore, this leaves me to push the stroller and drag the bike up and down the large hill. On a good day this is quite a task, but today it has moved from tollerable heat and terrible humidty to sweltering and unbearably humidity.

So, I am coaxing Danny up the hill, while pushing Josh in the stroller and dragging the bike with my other hand. I can only imagine the site we (or I) make going up and down the hill. Then of course, you can only imagine what happens when we finally get to the spot where Danny can get on the bike and safely manage to bike to the park. Oh you guessed it, the front tire is completely flat. Hence, I then got to do the same exact drill of pushing Josh up the hill dragging the bike with us, while Danny walked ahead. Now I do not know if it was my exhaustion at this point, or the hill truly is steeper on this side, but I had to stop three times to align the stroller and its wheels, while balancing the bike so it did not roll back down the hill, before we made it to the crest of the hill and the easy descent. We finally arrived home and then headed back to the park.

Now, my first hint that going to the outdoor park (there is an indoor one we have been at all week due to the rain) this was just a plain dumb idea is that there is no one outside. No children, no parents. Only the workers cutting the grass and trimming the bushes that are being paid to be there. Basically, we remained at the park for 5 minutes. At which time I told Danny we had to head to the clubhouse and play there. I was about to pass out myself and Danny looked like he just came out of the bath his hair was so wet. Thankgoodness for that indoor park. The funny part in it all is that as we entered the clubhouse, sweating profusely and praising God for the inventor of air conditioning, a Chinese lady exits through the door at the same time. She is dressed (I kid you not) in jeans and a sweater. I just thought to myself--exactly what temperature does she go, "wow its hot, let me put on a t-shirt and shorts"--100, 110, if this temperature here is too cold?

In the afternoon, I headed to the school for the meet the teacher meeting. There was a little confusion over the date of this event as two e-mails were sent. Both exactly the same, right after each other with different dates. One for today and one for tomorrow. The second e-mail did not say anything about the first one, or that it was a mistake. So, on Monday I went to the school and asked what day the event was being held, and if it was just parents or was for the kids. The first reply was "if you want to bring them you can". The Chinese tend to be round about in how they speak, so I was not sure if she was telling me no, but not wanting to offend me. I therefore asked the question again, this time asking if parents usually brought their children, or if it was just for parents. She informed me it was for the parents.

So fast forward to today. I raced over to the meeting, and I am greeted by the head of the school and the girl that told me it was just for parents. The head of the school asked me where Danny was. I looked around and there were all the parents with their kids, and I realize it is for Danny to meet the teacher, not me. The school is an English speaking school, but the secretary (the women I had spoken with previously) speaks English, but what I can only term really as Chinenglish--when they speak they use English, but the order they put it in or the words they use, make it so what they say makes absolutely no sense. (see Dustin's earlier blog for more of this)

So, I just smiled and said I would quickly go get Danny. I ran all the way back--no small feat in this weather, even if we live across the street. Danny was excited to go and he ended up having a fantastic time. We started in his classroom, but it was just myself, Danny and his friend Jule (pronounced Ula, she is from Germany). Ula's mom was downstairs at first dropping off her son Matis. All the other childrenn have not returned for the summer. I guess the older kids do not start right now. Danny's teacher Nick is very nice. He is from New York, but knows Japanese and has taught in China for the past couple of years and speaks fairly good Chinese as well. In addition to being Danny's primary teacher, he will also be teaching Danny's gym class and swimming class (these are two days a week that we have Danny going full days).

Outside the classrooms is a huge play area (reminded me of my kindergarten/preschool) they had the dress up clothes, kitchen area and they also had a slide jungle gym that ended up in a pit of those plastic balls. Danny loved playing in this and then later dressed up with Ula in superhero costumes, while Nick their teacher put them on his back and ran them around. Needless to say he has found a nice comfort level. Hopefully, Monday will go well when more of the children should be in his class. His class is small with only 11 children. Danny is one of four Americans, and the other children are from all over the world. It should be quite cool.

Overall, I think we are excited about Danny's school and have learned the important lesson of checking the bike tires before leaving the apartment and never ever go to the outdoor park in humid hot weather. Not bad for one day.

The Old Stomping Grounds

2009-08-10T13:47:00.002+08:00

Well we did our usual Monday routine of going grocery shopping at Carrefour. We made sure to get out today as Shanghai is suppose to be hit by the Typhoon later today and tomorrow. No need to try to do grocery shopping in a terrential down pour and massive flooding. (the streets flood here like mad even with a regular rain). All the normal things of shopping in China came back to me. Having it be impossible to find things like a paper napkin--a whole asile stretching the entire length of the store is devoted to kleenex/facial tissue in every type of size and packaging, but no napkins. Go figure. Then of course we hit the meat area. This is the free for all section where they are all combing over the meat with their bare hands and pushing each other out of the way to get their selection. I calmly go to the prepackaged area where I am virtually by myself. The stench of the meat in this area makes me grateful I am not able to find much and will have to go to the import store to get the rest. I can only guess the condition of the meat in this store and based on the smell, I am ready to run.

The most embarassing part of our shopping trip was when I picked up my coffee I had brought with and it got stuck in the cart and spilled all over the floor. There was a lady right there thankfully with a mop, but I can only imagine what she was saying in Chinese...thankfully Tom our driver who was with me did not bother to try and translate it. That is the first time I felt like a stupid foreignor in China, and I hope to keep it my last.

We settled back at our home and I confirmed that Danny starts school on Monday. I am so happy he is starting because he will really enjoy it and he is ready. I just look at him and am amazed to see the young boy that is looking back at me. Yet, the Mom part of me that is less logical and more emotional, is screaming and crying and partly in shock that my baby, who seems like yesterday just came into this world and fought his way through the NICU to come home is now taking his first steps out of that home. Dustin just does not get this, but I know every mom out there is in complete understanding of what I am saying. I'll have to see if some of the women I have met will be willing to go to Starbucks or something afterwards, as I know I do not need to just go home and cry. (Many of them had there children in the school last year, so have already gone through this first separation).

Anyway, today has gone better than I thought it would this morning at 3 when the boys woke up (hence the Starbucks at the grocery store--that got me into trouble). I am going to go lay down for a little bit before the boys wake up. We are without Fong today as her mother fell and she had to leave to be with her. I am praying all is well, as it is unlike in the US where you can move about the country freely. I believe it will be really hard for Fong to bring her mother to live here with her and I can only imagine how hard it would be to have her mom far away and in need of help (she lives eight hours away). Another reason I am grateful for all we have in the US.

The Long Day Ahead on No Sleep

2009-08-08T04:38:00.002+08:00

So what Dustin did not know in his blog post is that was the second time Danny got up since we put the boys down at 9:30. Both boys got up at midnight and apparently Danny and I have been up since then (I had gone to bed at 2 when I put the boys into their beds again, but I could not sleep--Dustin got up shortly after 2 because he could not sleep. Now he is in bed and I am back up with Danny). Needless to say I am dreading today. Thankfully Josh is asleep and has been since 2, but Danny and I have to make it all the way to nap time this afternoon. Yikes that seems forever away right now at 4:40 am.

Overall our trip back here went smoothly. They again messed up the children's meals--Danny ate two breakfasts and Josh ate two dinners--thankfully no complaints from them, so all was okay in the end. The only other issue was a broken light right next to Danny and Dustin, so their lights never turned off during the "night" part of the trip.

As Dustin said, it was so nice to enter our house rather than the hotel like last time. It was also great to have our ayi help me all day get things unpacked. I am amazed that almost everything is put away and hung up (just the kids clothes left)--this is quite a feat as we had eight large suitcases and eight carry-on bags.

Dustin has already mentioned the weather here. The humidity is quite unreal. I would liken it to living in a sauna or stepping into a small bathroom after you have had the hot water running for about an hour in the shower. Not very comfortable--thankgoodness for air conditioning in our apartment and the clubhouse. I am not looking to going to the carrefour Monday where they seem to hardly put any air on at all.

Looking forward to getting over the jet lag and really settling in here. I got two e-mails about Danny's school. The first invites you to meet the teachers over coffee on Friday and the one right after it in my mailbox says exactly the same, but invites you to meet them on Thursday. I simply thought--ah welcome back to China. Such a simple thing, but it is interesting how they will not acknowledge that they got the first e-mail wrong, this or they are extremely unclear about having two dates planned.

Well, I think I am going to go start my first pot of coffee for the day.

We're back...

2009-08-08T03:09:00.003+08:00

Well, no quarantine, thank goodness. We landed about 30 hours ago.

It's 3:00 am and I can't sleep, but that is normal.

Arriving here to our apartment was great when compared with our few days in a hotel when we first came in February. It was nice to have the space and know where everything is.

I thought I was the only person up, but I just heard Danny in the hallway... seems I'm not the only one who can't sleep!

August in Shanghai is very different from February -- it is hot, humid, and the first typhoon is 36 hours away. NOAA (since I can't read the Chinese weather sites) updated the track and shows the remnants of the eye passing directly over Hangzhou (where we visited in May). All it will need is a slight shift to the East, and the eye will pass over us.

I've lived through a typhoon (there was a cat 3 when I was in Hong Kong) -- they're not that bad. Just a lot of rain. So much is expected, in fact, that they have drained the retention ponds here and the paper says they have manned all of the flood gates to stop the storm surge...

(Danny has now joined me, and said "I can't get my sleep" -- I know the feeling.)

Stay tuned... this fall should be filled with all sorts of interesting opportunities and issues. The one we are most looking forward to is Danny starting preschool -- 1/2 of the instruction is in Mandarin.

Now, it's time to entertain an almost 4 year old at 3:30 am.

Preparing for the Trip back to China

2009-08-01T13:23:00.003+08:00

We are getting ready to head back to China and it seems like we blinked and the summer was over. We had a great time with family and friends, but I spent a lot of the time at doctor's offices. They have finally determined the tingling/numbness that I began having before leaving China is Transverse Myelitis. This is similar to MS, but rather than multiple sites of damage, I have only one resulting in the symptoms I have. The latest to set in is terrible fatigue--as in unable to get out of bed fatigue. Great thing for a mom of two active little boys. :-) There is no real treatment for Transverse Myelitis and I have a fairly mild symptoms--one could be paralyzed--so I am extremely blessed. The game plan is to monitor me once a year to make sure I do not really have MS (30% of people diagnosed as I am end up really have MS) and to live healthy. The one amazing benefit of living in China is that I am able to have my ayi, Fong. She comes each day, during the week, to help me with the house. This now, will be an even greater help to me. Dustin's and my perspective on it is that we are so blessed it is not worse than it is, and that God never said this life would be easy, he just said he would see us through it. If there is one thing I have learned throughout my life so far is that God is so faithful and is with us no matter what and no matter where we are.

On that same note, Dustin and I are praying that all this gear we have piled up around the house will fit into our luggage and will make it safely to China. We are bringing back another full load. All the clothes the boys need for the fall and well as our fall clothes. Plus a whole bunch of wants, not just needs---more toys from home for China, books, all our favorites that we cannot get in China or least you would have to take out a loan to pay for it. (i.e.--Cherrios which are impossible to find in China and when you do it is the smallest box you can imagine and costs no less than $15.00--we are taking at least five large boxes).

One magnificent blessing about heading to China this time is that we head to our house, our beds and we have everything waiting for us. We do not have to try and buy everything when we get there, and no dealing with jet lag in a hotel lobby--it was not so much fun being either in the lobby with the boys at 2 am or stuck in our bathroom while the rest of the family tried to sleep. I look forward to doing that all in the comfort of our home.

While this time in the States has gone quickly and was split between doctors and family and friends, we are so grateful for the time we had, and look forward to December 13th....when our feet will touch American soil again.

Home in the USA

2009-06-15T13:00:00.002+08:00

We have arrived home after four months in China, and how fantastic it is to be here. It sort of makes the past four months seem like just a dream to us, as everything seems the same. The only real change is to look out at Eddy's house and realize our dog is with another family now.

Our first impression back on US soil is that the air is so pure and sweet smelling. The boys are playing with our outdoor riding toys (a yellow and red coupe car we call Herbie for Josh and Danny's mobilized jeep). They rode all over our back yard. Oh how I have missed this open space and to be able to know it is my own--to enjoy it with my family and not the closest 2,000 people as you would in China at a park. (actually 2,000 is probably way underestimating it)

Once inside it is hilarious to watch the boys playing with all the toys we had to leave behind. They are like kids in a toy store. Danny is going from one toy to another and asking who gave it to him. Then he goes into a heartfelt thank you to that person. It is absolutely adorable and nice to see such sincere gratitude.

Being in our house is strange. It feels a little like the mad hatter in that everything feels like it is at weird heights. In China the door knobs and light switches are really high and the counter tops are lower (especially in the bathrooms). Hence, everything seems either way to low or way to high.

The only other striking difference is to walk into what was the nursery--now called the playroom and see the crib. It amazes me that we left with Josh really still being a baby and Danny being a toddler and we arrive home with a toddler and a young boy. Yikes...time goes too fast.

We look forward to these upcoming months with our family and friends. We know that it will go quickly, but it will be fantastic. There is nothing like living in another country to really appreciate how truly and absolutely blessed we are here in the United States. May God continue to bless this great nation, now and forever more.

Surrounded by Suitcases and Getting Excited

2009-06-11T13:40:00.003+08:00

I am sitting in the playroom surrounded by suitcases and I can bearly contain my excitement. In two days we will be heading back to the US for two months. It will be a whirlwind trip, and Dustin has to work most of the time we are home, but it will be just fantastic to be back home again.

Thankfully, the good Lord has brought us all to a place where we will have things to look forward to upon our return here to China in August. I am also grateful that when we return, it will be to our home that is now mostly furnished (I at least have all the kitchen essentials, bedding, and towels).

Our exciting news here is that we finally have pictures on our walls, so the house is finally looking more lived in. Three months of white walls are finally over. We had bought pictures in Hangzhou and some of the pictures we had brought from home are finally framed and hanging in our house. It took this long to find someone to frame the pictures, and then another day for someone to come assist us in hanging the pictures.

It turns out that all our walls are cement, and our initial attempt to hang pictures resulted in only a very bent nail. Thankfully our new ayi had a friend come over and help us drill all the holes (not worth trying to buy a drill here).

Our ayi continues to be a delight to have around. She has assisted me in a lot of the packing, although most of the suitcases are packed with other suitcases (We will have a full load of things coming back with us in August--like as many cherrios as we can pack and carry--these are still impossible to find here).

Dustin and I are really looking forward to seeing family and friends, and eating some of our favorite foods that are just impossible to find here. (I did just eat at a fairly good "diner" for lunch today, and I think they do a decent job on American classics).

My goal is to be packed mostly by tonight, so that we can just enjoy the pool and relax before we head on to the long plane ride. Tomorrow is to be 91, and it is already humid (I would say crazy humid, but I have a feeling this is nothing like it is going to be when we return in August). I am actually a little concerned that the weather is going to feel cool to us when we get home, but I guess we will adjust.

We are praying that the boys do well on the plane (that they will have the Cars movie like last time) and that the jet lag will not be so bad. Most people have told me that what we experienced coming is about the average--4 days until your schedule adjusts.

Overall, we are counting down the minutes until we land in Indianapolis, and we are going to cherish every mintue we have in the US with family and friends.

Saying Goodbye to Friends

2009-06-10T13:12:00.000+08:00

It has come as a great shock and with even greater sadness that we had to say goodbye to our closest friends here in China. Although we only met the Shockleys three months ago, they are among our dearest friends, and I pray they will always remain that way. We found out today, and they found out three days ago, that they will be moving to just north of London England. The unfortunate part, among many, is that they will be gone before we come back from the States. Our visit today, when we found out about the move, is our last chance to be together.

I am heart sick for both of us. They had truly become like family here to us. It is hard to describe, but the experience of being far from home and in a foreign country such as China, bonds you really quickly to people. Even Danny is extremely close to them. I had prepared myself for having friends move away, as this is part of life as an expatriate--people constantly moving in and out, but I was not expecting this one so quickly. Quite frankly Dustin and I are in shock. I am heart sick for them, as they had just gotten resettled back here, and are now in for a major move. Yet God is faithful, and he will provide for them and for us.

While this is so extremely hard, I feel so blessed to have met them and to be able to continue to stay in touch through e-mail and calls.

Dustin and I have always wanted to head to London, I guess we will be going sooner than we thought....

Funny Sites on the Road and Other Fascinating Things of China

2009-06-03T15:56:00.003+08:00

So living here in China, we have finally adjusted to the point where seeing grown men pee on the street does not phase me, traffic that is horrendous is just normal, and crazy sitings just bring a little interest to the drive around town, and I can nearly say that squat pots are managable (Although I must say I am looking forward to heading back to the US where you are guaranteed what Danny likes to term "normal" toilets--I try and correct by calling them western toilets just to be politically correct--yet when you see a squat pot, you might agree with Danny).

Here are just a few funny sites you will see on a normal day driving down the street here in Shanghai:

The Business Card Delivery System

This funny site can be seen on any large street--at least two lanes worth of traffic. The person has been hired to pass out business cards of some local business. The funny/crazy part is how they go about handing out these cards. They do not walk between the cars trying to see if you want to take one. No, they stand in the middle of speeding on coming traffic and reach out as you are whizzing by at 20 or more miles per hour and attempt to stick the card in your window (they are shooting for the trim that holds the window as you open and close it). It is amazing to watch this and I always wonder how many people lose an arm, etc. in attempting to get you most likely do not want or need. The last person that put one on our car we were going at least 15-20 miles per hour and he slammed the card down so hard on our window, I am sure he either broke his finger or sprained it terribly.

The Selling of Goods at Traffic Lights

I have seen this in other places, so the fact that they are selling here is not so funny as what they are selling. You can get everything from a seat cushion, a bouncy flower (sort of like those bobble head dolls) to a taser. Yes, a tazer. What a cop would carry for their protection. I am not sure how they are able to sell such an item, but it is interesting to say the least.

Trucks and the Loads that they Carry

China is notorious for their deadly traffic accidents. This we are finding is due to more than the fact that no one seems to understand the rules of the road, or follow and enforce them. The other main factor we are finding, is there seems to be no rules on what trucks are able to carry, and how they go about carry their load. First example: A huge front loader on a drop deck trailer (thankfully it was not a flat bed, or this front loader would have either been in the cab with the drivers or on top of the car behind it). They apparently do not require anyone to tie anything down here when delivering. So we were heading to the store, and we pull up next to a front loader on a trailer that had indented middle section where the front loader was resting. We were excited to see it as Danny loves anything to do with construction. What I was shocked by was that there was nothing holding this front loader down or in place on the truck, and this front loader was huge. We were in stop and go traffic, and every time the truck stopped, the front loader moved forward and then back. The only thing that kept it on was the indented middle section of the truck bed that it rested on. It was so crazy, even our driver made a concerted effort to get ahead of it in the traffic. Second example: One can load their truck with products as high as they can get it and still have the truck move down the road. It again is option to tie any of it down. I have seen dirt, rugs, rocks, boxes, you name we have seen it, piled so high it is a wonder the little truck can move down the road, and there are no covers on it, often no ties--or ties that do not look like they would hold anything. We are amazed by their amazement over accidents.

The Taxi Mopeds

In Shanghai there are normal taxis, and then there are guys just sitting on street corners on their mopeds. These we have come to find out are taxis as well. You can hire one of these men to take you wherever you would like to go. This is quite common among Chinese people--I have yet to see a foreigner traveling this way (maybe on their own moped to the Starbucks and back, but not on the main roads). The part that is always the funniest is that it is usually a group of people that take this mode of transportation. So, you can see as many as four people riding these mopeds--all smashed together--heading to their destination. This is quite a site, as if you have seen a moped (think bigger than dirt bike but smaller than your small motorcycle) and this is the seat that four people are sitting on.

The delivery Mopeds and Bikes

In Shanghai there are delievery trucks, and then there are people delivery items using their mopeds and bikes. It is not an unsual site to see a man or women (gender does not seem to matter even when the load is really large) biking carrying long pipes (and I mean long--at least an entire bike length in front and in back of them), or using a cart attachment with it piled excessively high with boxes, or empty plastic jugs. I am often wonder how they are able to move down the street, let alone all the way to their destination. Today we saw a man riding a moped with empty water jugs (think office water cooler size) all strapped to the back--at least 8. It is a craft just in how they get everything to balance and stay on.

The Waving Bus/Van/Car

The boys have come to expect this type of greeting on the highways, and I am sure will be shocked when people in the US do not behave this way, as they have become accustomed to it. We can be driving along, and as soon as the driver, or passengers see the children in our van, they begin waving and motioning and pulling their children up and to the window for a glimpse of Danny and Josh. What is often funny is that it is not just a little wave or recognition. No, the waving smiling and gesturing goes on down the road until we separate from the vehicle in some way. I often have seen drivers completely distracted and looking in the back seat at the boys rather than watching where they are driving.

So, I hope you are able to picture some of what we have witnessed here in our daily lives, and found some amusement in it.

The Newfound Adjustment Right Before We Leave

2009-06-02T14:39:00.001+08:00

Today I find we are adjusting fairly well to life here. The things that struck us or quite frankly horrified us just a couple of weeks ago has faded into "thats just life here in China." (See my next blog for some funny examples of this).

This morning we headed off to a newcomer's meet and greet at the clubhouse. This is the first one they have had since our arrival, so I was interested to see who we would run into. The only unfortunate part was that Dustin came with and was the only male there. (We will know next time for such an event and let him stay home). We did meet a nice group of people. For whatever reason, most of the women happened to be from Germany. There was one person from Sweden, one from Australia and one other women from the US. One nice aspect was I was able to connect with a women that I have run into while walking around our community. She is from Germany, and her daughter will be in Danny's class this fall.

We came home to a wonderful lunch made by our ayi. We had asked her to cook two lunches for us a week, so we can get the boys introduced to authentic chinese food. She made us chicken fried rice and it was fantastic. While I enjoy this dish in the US, it is just so much better here, it is amazing.

After the boys woke from their naps, we headed to the clubhouse to find out some information about fall sports and I thought I would let the kids play at the indoor playground for awhile before dinner. On our way out the door we ran into one of our neighbors and he invited our family over for dinner on Friday night. He is from Denmark and his wife is from Beijing. We had a very nice conversation, and then the boys and I continued on to the clubhouse.

I should have heeded my gut feeling based on the level of noise coming from the indoor playgroud that we should avoid it like the plague, but I felt like I promised Danny, so we headed there anyways. Boy was this a mistake. I think I have mentioned before that some parents choose to, well, not parent thier children here, or they don't parent as well as being physically absent, leaving an ayi in their place. This of course results in children that are bratty, spoiled, and terribly bad behaved (and this is me describing it in quite pleasant and nice terms). Unfortunately, it seems we chose to go to the indoor park when everyone of these children were present. What resulted I will describe to you, but lets just say I did not make any new friends, however, my children are safe and in one piece.

So, I only ventured in, because most of the children (ages rangeing from 4-6) were located in the small kids area (more Josh's age stuff for tumbling, etc.), so I felt it fairly safe entering the other area. Danny and Josh went to the toys that when you get on them they bounce backwards and forwards. There I met a nice mom from Canada, however our conversation was cut short by the children running through the area carrying large floor tiles, waving them into each other's faces. The mom I was talking with agreed with my shock and dismay that none of the childrens' mother's or ayis came to correct this bahavior. I decided though not to get involved as they were not at that moment invading our area, or threatening Danny with their bahavior.

However, when the children bagan making their tiles go airbourne, I quickly changed my mind. One child was actually already hurt by this action, but still no mother's came over to stop anything. So....I marched up to each child (Josh on my hip) and grabbed their tile out of their hands telling them they were through playing with them. I actually raised my voice at a child picking up a new one to "put it down." I am sure that if any of the mothers visiting in the sitting area (a section of large steps, sort of like theater seating, at the other end of the play area) actually were paying enough attention to see anything, I have not made any new friends by interferring with their children. However, when children are getting hurt and my children are in danager, my mama bear protecting her baby bears instincts just take over. After getting those children to stop throwing things around, I took Josh over to the slide. I do not know if it was the excitement, or the fact that the kids got really loud after that, but Josh burst into tears. (This of course was right as the new mom I had met was trying to tell me about a group of moms that get together in the community). We quickly had to leave, and I noticed the other mother did not hang around either (she was gone before we even had our shoes back on) and I was so furious at the lack of parenting and the children run amuck that I was muttering all the way out of the area.

Needless to say we will not be returning to that area anytime soon (the other moms are probably quite relieved about this), or at least we are going during the morning when the other kids are in school. Thankfully Dustin wanted to go out to dinner because I was still fuming and processing through things when we got home.

I guess I just do not understand why people believe children raising themselves is a good idea, and I am finding this is my greatest pet peeve in life or at least to life here in China.

So while it ended on a sour note concerning some people in our community, overall and even through it all, I met some very nice people and look forward to getting to know them better when we come back in August.

The Two Week Countdown Begins

2009-06-01T14:36:00.001+08:00

Today is the first day of June. I thought this month would never arrive, and then all of a sudden here it is, and it feels like our time here so far has flown past. We have a busy two weeks before we leave for the US. I am trying to connect with friends we have met here one more time before heading back, and there are a couple of places I need to go. Therefore, these two weeks should fly by.

It was great to have our ayi back (she does not work on the weekends). I am amazed how in just a week, I am already so happy with having her here. She makes the house so clean and organized, and allows me to focus my energies on other things. Today I was able to just sit and listen to Dustin about his work, and I did not have the list of the things I need to get done going off in the back of my head—mainly because Fang (pronounced Fong) does these tasks now. It was great. What an amazing blessing of living here.

As we were all a little tired by the end of the day, we decided to do movie night. Dustin and I were so excited that the corn I found in the store actually did pop up and make fairly decent popcorn. (This is always our treat on movie nights). We are enjoying the time here together, as unfortunately, when we get to the US Dustin will have a fair amount of work and travel to do, so we will be a little short on our family time. So, we are stocking up as much as possible right now.

Fun Filled Family Day

2009-05-30T14:33:00.001+08:00

Today was so glorious, simply because it was filled with family time. Dustin has had the past two days off due to the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. He has worked a little bit, but it has been a great time to catch up and I am feeling like we are in a wonderful new pattern. (I realize that this fall will be totally different again, as Dustin will be traveling more, and Danny will be in school, but I am adjusting to my new free time with the Ayi, and it is making such a difference in our lives).

Today we woke and spent the morning together and then got ready and went to the pool early. It is in the 80s here, so it is perfect weather. Our neighborhood may be far from the city, but you cannot complain much when you can walk across the street and go to a pool/beach on a nice sunny day. While we were there, Dustin and I decided it would be nice to have a picnic at the beach, so I headed quickly home (2 minutes walk) and packed a lunch and headed back. It was so relaxing and a lot of fun. We were amazed at how few people were actually there, but figured a lot of people must have taken the four day weekend to travel. After the pool, we headed back for naps. While Josh did not bless me with a very long one, both Dustin and I were able to rest for a short period. We ended the day with a walk down to the ice cream store. Just an overall fantastic day—perfect in everyway.

Holiday and lunch with friends

2009-05-28T16:06:00.000+08:00

Today is the Dragon boat holiday here in China, so everyone is off (except our drivers). Today we are meeting our friends for lunch and then bringing pictures in to be framed.

We had a great time at Pete's Tex Mex restaurant, enjoying Mexican and American fair. Our friend then joined us in going to the market where they have a framing shop. The shop keeper was not there immediately, so we went around looking at some of the other shops. There were all sorts of accessories for the house and Dustin and I took mental notes, as we still need a lot of this type of stuff for the house.

The shop keeper returned, and she began working on helping us pick out frames. We had pictures that we had brought with of the family and then pictures we had picked up on our trip to Hangzhou that all needed to be framed. While we were there we also found a beautiful oil painting of the Bund (the area of Shanghai that was where all the foreign companies settled when they first arrived in Shanghai). We decided to go ahead and purchase it for our dining room.

We were so excited about our new picture, as it is the first one that is up on our walls. We have been living with large white walls since we have arrived here, and this is such a welcome change. I am looking forward to when we get our other pictures back and putting them up on the walls. It will really help to make the house more cozy and lived in.

After getting home, the boys took extremely long naps, and we finally had to wake them at 7:30 to eat dinner. We all headed to bed around 9 as we have another full day tomorrow planned.

Danny's Ride on his New Bike

2009-05-27T15:56:00.000+08:00

The weekend before we left for Hangzhou, we had a barbecue with the general manager's family of Dustin's company's sister division. (Wow that is a mouth full). They were the couple that joined us here in Shanghai back in September to help navigate the city and look for housing and schools. They ended up moving to the community directly next to ours, so we decided to get together and have an American barbecue.

To our wonderful surprise (Danny's most of all) they had bought and hid in their garage a bike for Danny. We had mentioned previously that we were thinking of getting one for him, and they had went ahead and purchased him one. He of course was over joyed by this and so excited to ride it.

We had been practicing in our familyroom, but I decided that we should bring over a nice thank you gift and that it would be fun for Danny to deliver it on his bike.

So after our morning jaunt to the store (the one within walking distance), we picked up our cookies, card and Danny's bike and set off. I was quite proud of Danny, as he did really well for being one of his only times outside riding the bike (he rode it home they day we received it). The only problem for me was that he wanted my hand on it at all times. This normally is not a problem, except that I was also pushing Josh in his stroller. We could only have been one hilarious site with me pushing Josh in front of us with one hand, while holding onto Danny's bike handle with my other and trying to coach him into peddaling and then steering and then braking at the appropriate times (his biggest struggle was either looking at what was going on around him, or only his feet).

We finally arrived, and they were so excited to see us. We ended up staying for lunch, and Olga helped me push Josh home while I assisted Danny. By the time we arrived home he was doing extremely well. He is going to have a blast once he gets the hang of it. Now we just have to find something for Josh, as he believes he should be able to share this new toy of Danny's.

Ceiling Repair, Broken Chinese and a New Ayi

2009-05-26T15:44:00.001+08:00

Today we greeted our new ayi and we are already getting sort of a routine. She is settling in and we are feeling more comfortable. We left shortly after she arrived to run our normal shopping trip to the Carrefour. Thankfully it was a quick trip, as the repair man came shortly after we got home to fix our bedroom ceiling.

Of course, nothing can be easy in a repair when you can not clearly speak to the person trying to help you. We spent a good 30-40 minutes trying to explain that there was no current leak, but just damage from the leak that needed to be repaired. This not only took the 30-40 minutes, but also three repair people. Finally, our third repair man, understood and began undoing part of the ceiling and fixing the damage. The only frustrating part is that the light only flickered for the first maintenance man, and by the third person, it was back to shining normally. So, in great Chinese fashion it was deemed fine although half a bucket full of water had pour out of it. Oh well, I finally gave up and decided I was not going to get anywhere and that it is only a rental property.

So, after the afternoon excitement, I was so thrilled to look around my house and realize that not only was it spotless, but she had gone through and organized all our drawers. Our socks are all neatly rolled and in their own separate spot. We are truly getting spoiled, and my life here is quickly becoming so much nicer. I now have full time to devote to my family, and that alone is the greatest blessing of our journey and experience here.

New Ayi and Getting Spoiled

2009-05-25T15:37:00.002+08:00

Our ayi came on today and after a fairly quick tour and explanation with my broken Chinese and hand motions, she got to work cleaning and ironing and doing laundry. The boys and I were able to focus on playing and having fun. We moved our normal grocery shopping to Tuesday, so I could stay and answer any questions that our Ayi had for me. I was amazed that I was fairly comfortable having her there all day. She is very pleasant to be around, although I do not always understand what she is trying to tell me. The kids have already warmed up to her, and she is a very hard worker. I am hopeful that this pattern will continue and that it will be a nice working relationship.

Unfortunately, they never showed up to do the ceiling today, so I will have to contact them tomorrow.

Welcome Home China Style

2009-05-24T15:29:00.000+08:00

Well today we woke up and did not have much hot water. This is not an unusual situation as we have had trouble with the hot water heater before. What alarmed us more was that it appeared to be raining on one of our balconies, but no where else. There was water coming from somewhere on the roof and unfortunately we could hear water dripping within the ceiling of our bedroom (near the windows where the "rain" was falling). So needless to say, Dustin called the office.

A nice maintenance man showed up and he looked in our bedroom, looked on the patio and then headed to the roof. Apparently, he did not understand what we said about hearing the water in the ceiling, because he focused his attention on the roof and then left. Unfortunately, between the time he was on the roof and him leaving, the water within our ceiling became a nice water fountain feature in our room, pouring water into our bedroom through one of the lights. We could see the dry wall in different spots grow wet and Dustin quickly called the office again. The maintenance man returned and this time could clearly see for himself the mess we had on hand. We also were able to explain that our water heater was not working and that the air conditioner down stairs also seemed to be failing.

So, within a couple of hours of the early morning on our Sunday home, we had a crew working in our apartment, throughout the apartment complex and on the roof. Needless to say, we called our driver and explained that we would not be making it to church today.

Thankfully, the air conditioner was just a new thermostat and is working great now. The water heater took them all day to fix, but is now in working order as well. The leak was a storage tank on the roof that was directly above our bedroom. It obviously sprung a leak and they were able to fix this issue. We had cleaning people come and fix the carpet (it was drenched even though we got a bucket under it pretty quickly). And tomorrow they come to fix the ceiling in the bedroom. Overall, a little more excitement than we were bargaining for this Sunday after our trip. We finished the day with eating at the clubhouse and giving the boys baths in our bedroom. Danny took his first shower on his own, which just amazes me at age 3. I cannot remember when I did this, but he seems to be growing up so fast in so many ways. Tomorrow will be a full morning, as our new ayi comes, and they will be coming to fix the bedroom.

Trip to Hangzhou: Day 3

2009-05-23T15:22:00.000+08:00

We awoke today to find that it was raining outside. The amazing fact of China is that they are really terrible at predicting the weather here. If you think they are bad back home, you have no idea. Dustin joked they can only tell you what it is currently happening with any accuracy. Thankfully, we packed everyone’s raincoats, and with an adventuresome spirit we set out in the rain. (This of course got many looks throughout the day as we did not use umbrellas (we had hoods on our coats) and this to the Chinese is quite bizarre behavior. This was only heightened by the fact that we were in shorts and many whispered, I am sure, how we were committing child abuse for not putting them in pants—yet it was at least 75-80 degrees out.

Anyway, we headed out to the other side of the lake to walk this area. It is more mountainous on this side and is further from the city buildings. We enjoyed walking around a pond that had a lot of different goldfish. Danny loves fish, so he really enjoyed this section. We of course ran into more crowds and tried our best to pick the pathways that they were not walking down. There was one pathway in which we were unable to avoid the crowd. There had to be at least 80 to 150 people all bunched together. I got Josh through it as quickly as I could and waited for Dustin and Danny who stayed behind to look at some of the fish.

After the fish pond, we walked further up and found another scenic area. We walked in this area for a while and then headed for lunch. After lunch we headed back to the hotel and changed and Tom picked us up.

Overall, it was a great relaxing couple of days and we are excited that we found a place that we can go back to and feel like we have gotten out of the city and destress for our lives here in China.

Trip to Hangzhou: Day 2

2009-05-22T15:08:00.000+08:00

Today we decided to take a boat tour onto the lake. The one we chose drops off at one of the islands in the middle of the lake. We left with a full boat of Chinese tourists, and the man in front of us was at first taking pictures outside, but then clearly turned the camera and was discreetly taking picture of the boys and I. We got off on the island and began walking the paths around it. It is basically a square with famous bridges that cross through the center of the island, which in turn created four lakes within the island. Sort of confusing, but very pretty.

The only drawback was that we underestimated that it is a huge tourist attraction for the Chinese. An interesting fact about the Chinese as tourists--they do not just travel as their immediate family, or even with another family. They always travel in large groups of at least 20-50 people. And for whatever reason they happen to be extremely boisterous and animated in these groups. So, as we walked around, we continued to first bump into different groups. First their tour guide holding their little flag and then the entire tour group. Another interesting fact is that they all have some coordinating theme. It may be a hat, a button, a shirt, etc., but they are all matched up with the flag the tour guide is holding. My final interesting fact, is that when walking towards a Chinese person, even when they see you coming, they rarely move out of your way. So heading towards a large group like this can be a challenge when pushing a stroller and trying to get Danny through the mass of humanity.

The funniest incident was one lady who even though she saw us coming literally did not move over on the sidewalk (and there was plenty of room for her to move) until she was nearly toe to toe with Dustin. We are not quite sure why they do this, but it makes it especially hard to get around a group as they sort of come at you like a wall that does not let you pass unless you push your way through.

As we traveled around the island we decided to go over one of the famous walkways. Dustin had us go a few feet ahead of him so he could take our picture. Afterwards, a nice women approached and asked if she could take her picture with us. We said yes, and boy did we make a mistake. Somehow, the yes to a picture with her turned into a yes to pictures with all 5 individuals in her group (they were a small group of friends within a larger tour group). One would think that a group photo would have sufficed, but they each needed their individual shots. After what felt like 10 minutes, we finally were able to shut it down and move on. The funny part of it all is that Josh really likes the camera and has learned to say cheese. After we left this group, the next Chinese person that we ran into (it was a couple of minutes), Josh screamed out Cheese. I told Dustin, he is now programmed to think that every Chinese person wants his picture. We tried to avoid all tour groups from that point on, but I did notice people positioning themselves around us taking photos on their phones of us. This at least was discreet and did not bother the children as much. After the photo op and the large loud crowds (we are trying to escape into some calming nature on this trip, so the crowds were not doing it for us), we grabbed the boat back to the mainland.

Back on the mainland, we continued on through the park area and headed our way to a famous street with little shops. It was a little of a tourist trap area, but it was still nice to look at what they had. We ran into a group of college students from North Carolina and had a quick visit with them. After the shops we recharged at McDonalds and then hit a few more shops. After the long morning, we headed back for naps and did dinner at the hotel.

Trip to Hangzhou: Day 1

2009-05-21T14:58:00.002+08:00

Today we got up and I began to pack us up and get ready to leave for Hangzhou. We decided to leave after lunch to allow the boys to sleep in the car. Unfortunately, Josh decided that he did not want to do this. Instead he looked out the window and played. I just prayed he would not be a handful for us later or that night in getting him to sleep.

The architechture in Hangzhou is very different from what we have seen yet. The buildings are the same, but not the homes. They seem to have an eastern European feel or Greek Orthodox look mixed with the traditional Chinese. Hangzhou is approximately 2 hours South/Southwest from Shanghai. It is further out into the countryside, but still a large city with about 3 million residents (small town by Chinese standards).

We arrived at the hotel and checked in. They had a wonderful booklet on the area in English with a great map. We decided on going down to the lake front and walking down one of the main streets that bordered the lake. We arrived just in time to watch a famous fountain go off to different music. After watching the fountain, we continued down the scenic park area. We ran into two groups of Chinese people playing traditional musical instruments and singing. After listening for a while, we continued on and stumbled into a Xihutaindi area. This area was not very crowded and just beautiful. It also contained a lot of shops. A famous architecht/designer has made these Xihutaindi or Xitaindi areas famous in China. His desire is to revitalize or recreate (sometimes these older areas are too hard to save or they have already been destroyed) an older area to contain new shops to attract the upscale clientele. We were able to find a nice Italian restaurant and we ate there for dinner. After dinner we got a cab and headed back to the hotel for dinner.

It was just fantastic to feel like we got away to a scenic area, with less congestion and noise.

Venturing Out and the Show at Papa Johns

2009-05-13T13:48:00.003+08:00

Today was not as early as yesterday, but the boys still woke up at 5am. They must have woke me during the deepest part of my sleep, because I was really sort of shaky for the first hour or so that we were up.

We planned to leave the house early as we were going to leave with Dustin today, so the morning went quickly. He had a convention to attend and the boys and I were going to check out this sale near our church (I believe it was to be like a garage sale). We left together as Dustin's destitionation was on the way to where we were going. While they boys and I were at the sale, Tom, our driver was going to drive something downtown Pudong for Dustin and then come back and pick us up.

The ride down to the convention location was long due to traffic and I had to use all my abilities to keep Josh entertained and not screaming as Dustin tried to conduct business with his fellow employee (he went to the convention with Dustin). We dropped them off and thankfully it was not far to where our destination was to be. As the sale, based on the map provided, was close to our church, I had Tom drop us off at our normal spot. When we got out, I remembered from Sunday that they are in the process of tearing out the sidewalks in front of the church. This meant a little more off roading than I anticipated and a lot more dust. Thankfully though the stroller and Danny held up just fine.

We walked down toward where the map said the restaurant would be that was hosting the sale. We walked about two city blocks and could not find the cross roads that were listed. Therefore, we walked back to our starting spot to check to make sure that the road was the same as the one listed on the map. (This whole distance was the scrapped up sidewalk and around loose bricks and those mini excavators--not the easiest walk and extremely dusty). When we got to the corner, I find that it is the correct street and I was heading in the correct direction. I decide to cross the street to see the side we need more clearly.

We walk down three more long blocks and still the streets are not matching. (My initial thought was that they were only listing the main roads). Unfortunately, not even the large cross roads were matching what the map said. As there was a large park on the corner across from us, I decided to give up the notion of the sale and walk through the park with the boys. We found a playground and I let the boys play for a short time. We were quite the sight as there were no foreigners at this playground at all, and we got quite a few stares.

After the playground, we made the walk back to the church and went into the Papa Johns across the street. What I failed to calculate in deciding to eat here is that unlike the one right near our house, no one speaks English. I first tried to ask for a high chair (baby chair) and had most of the word correct, but not close enough. So, I received a lot of blank stares. Thankfully, a young customer spoke some English and helped tell her what I needed. At first they were going to put us at a table for two people, and I could not figure out where they expected to put the highchair. Fortunately, one of the ladies thought of the round table two tables down and let us sit there. (We were the only ones in the restaurant beside the other customer--so they could have put us anywhere).

Once I got the boys situated and moved all items out of Josh's reach, which was made harder by them trying to keep putting things in front of him, I tried to order. Now I knew exactly what I wanted, but it was still impossible to tell them. I pointed for most of it, but for the cheese pizza they had two listed for the same price and the same size. I am not sure the difference and quite frankly I still do not know the difference. I finally, after trying to determine what the difference was, just pointed at one.

Josh began to fuss as we were waiting for the pizza. He was not happy with anything and wanted to get out of the chair. To explain the situation of him trying to get out, I have to explain what a highchair in restaurants here. There are two varieties. The first resembles one we would see in the US (think the one McDonald's uses) and is from IKEA. The other one is a wooden chair. The Papa Johns had the wooden chair. The problem with this one is it is made for a giant's child. Every other child has way too much room in them to move about. This is only aided by the fact that it does not have a seat belt. So, Josh is squirming in the seat (he is my climber if I had not mentioned it before) and was trying to crawl out the back. Of course when I try to stop him from doing this, or anything else (like grabbing my coke) he arches his back and cries and screeches.

Now, back home in the US this would not be a situation you would want to deal with, this is magnified and made wholly worse here. So what made it worse you ask? Let me explain... I failed to mention yet, that while there was only us and one other customer in the store, there were no less then 8 people working. Now you have to picture the size of this restaurant. Think the largest bedroom you have in your house and this is the size of it. Not much room (unless you live in a mansion and then you should excuse yourself from this example), yet our table was towards the back near the kitchen. There was a whole area in front of us. So please guess where six out of the eight of the workers chose to stand? Oh you guessed it. From the time we arrived until we left, all six stood in a semi circle/straight line 2 feet from the table staring--not deep in conversation with each other--just starring at us. It was so uncomfortable, and Danny of course does not understand why they stare at us, and trying to get him less focused on something else was impossible. I am not sure if they thought we were going to put on a show for them, but between Josh and me, that is exactly what we did (not that we meant to and quite frankly I would have much preferred not to).

So the show began with Josh fussing. With six people staring at us, when anything happened they immediately got involved, which they meant to be helpful, but actually only made it worse. For example: They brought plastic spoons to the table (not sure why spoons and not forks--we will get to this problem later) and while we were trying to kill time before the pizza arrived, I let Josh hold the spoon. This resulted in him dropping it and two people jumping to pick it up before I could even reach it and bringing us a new one. Of course, Josh began screaming and crying incosolably when the spoon was taken away, and continued until the new spoon arrived. If he moved in the high chair and it wobbled, two people would jump towards us as if he was going to capsize to the floor--or more how I took it--like I would let him capsize to the floor without their intervention.

And of course when Josh let out one of his signature (this actually was a happy screech) high pitch screeches we got a less than kind look from one of the waitresses as she held her hand over her ear.

By this time I was already welling up with tears, but I was trying to pull myself together. The pizzas finally arrived, but they were barely cut through, so after two minutes of struggling with it (Josh was in my lap at this point), one of the waitresses came to assist. Unfortunately, even after she helped I had to go over it a little more. I got Danny his piece, and worked on cutting Josh's crust. (He likes to eat the back end of the pizza slice only). I put him back in the seat, but he got upset when he could not put the pizza on the spoon (he was trying to stab it like you would with a fork--using a fork is his new favorite way to eat). I quickly grab my fork and his crust. This of course sends him into a major fit of throwing himself backwards--which results in the chair wobbling--and you guessed it again, more waitresses lunging to steady the chair and apparently save his life. I finally get him to focus on the fact that I was putting the pizza onto the fork for him to hold. He takes it and begins to eat it.

Then the show stopper (or finale--however you want to view it) happens. I move his chair forward and just slightly (and I am not understating this--I mean barely), get his finger between the chair and the table. He starts crying as if some serious injury has happened to him. Of course, by now we are both crying and I am trying to console him with six on lookers and of course a puzzeled Danny who is thankfully taking this all in while eating his pizza slice. I get him to quiet it a little, but not much and he is squirming and arching his back, so I settle on putting him back in the stroller. IHe is still arching his back screaming and crying while I quickly ask for the bill. At first I get a puzzeled look and then they seem to all jump into a flurry of action. All six are flying around the store getting our bill, getting a box for the pizza, one man is running across the restaurant with a bag to put everything in. If I had not been sobbing at the time, it probably would have been quite a funny scene.

We exit the restaurant and the lady runs after us to give us a to go thing of the cheese sauce. I can tell I completely confuse her as I am still crying and Josh is happy as a lark now that he is outside. I thank her, and she looks like she wants to say something else, but turns to leave. We continue on to the corner to cross the street to where Tom should be parked waiting for us.

When we get to the corner Tom is across the street, and I have never been so happy to see him. Josh, who has really bonded with Tom, reaches his arms out to him. We ride home and the kids snack on pretzels while I try and decompress from the morning. By the time we get home Josh is asleep and I quietly put him down for his nap.

While I will try and venture out again, I think our next stop will be the mall close to us and we will have lunch at home. :-) I can definitely see why Moms prefer to leave their kids with the ayis while they do some sort of errand, or they do not go out at all. It is quite the adventure here--only made more fun by Josh's age and being tired--double whamme.

Well, while the boys are still napping I am going to go lay down for a little bit. After this morning I feel weak and tired all over.

The Eerie Noise and the Interviews

2009-05-12T13:40:00.000+08:00

Today began with an eerie noise. It repeated over and over beginning at 3 am and continuing through the morning. Both Dustin and I woke up thinking it was the kids, but once realizing it was not them, trying to figure out what it could be making the sound. Josh must have heard it too, as he woke up at 4am ready for the day. Thankfully, Danny was still asleep. Josh and I played until Danny awoke at his normal 5am. Josh of course was completely exhausted, so after crying and fussing for a while, I put him back to bed. After waking from his nap, we traveled down to the local grocery store and picked up a few items. We walked back and had a nice lunch and while the boys napped, I got busy cleaning the house. I wanted to make sure it looked sort of presentable, as we were interviewing two women for the ayi position in the afternoon. Both women were extremely nice, seemed qualified, and had great references. It was a little odd, as I have no experience in this area of having someone come in and help with the cleaning, and therefore do not know what to ask. I figure they are probably both fine and it is just going to take hiring one and just seeing if they work out or not. The end of the day we walked down to a chinese restaurant that we had not tried yet. It was very good, even though it is really small. It was a nice ending to a good day.

The Best Mother's Day Ever

2009-05-10T13:23:00.000+08:00

Today was a beautiful day filled with family time. Dustin in his time out with his clients bought me gorgeous pastel colored pearls and numerous purses for my mother's day gift. As he did not get back until midnight the night before, the boys and I walked down to Starbucks for a mother's day breakfast. Today was a steamer--getting up to 92, but there was a nice breeze which made the walk pleasant. When we got home, we all got in our swimsuits and left for the beach pool. We had a great time playing in the sand and water. After playing here, we got ready at the clubhouse and had a quick lunch. The boys took a short nap and then we headed out to church. On our way, we saw quite a site. There was a truck in the lane next to us, that was filled with ducks. Yet, not how you would necessarily see them at home. Let's just say if PETA was allowed into the country, they would have just keeled over. There were three levels to the truck bed. Sort of like the flats you would see flowers sold in. The ducks looked like they were just sitting there out of their own good will. (This is were I pictured PETA getting excited as I doubt a duck would voluntarily ride in an open truck down the highways of Shanghai). I have never seen anything like this before, and we tried to get a picture, but it went through the toll booth before us and we never caught back up. We are always amazed at the different ways that the Chinese haul and carry things from one destination to another.

We enjoyed the church service and after service, Dustin went to get Danny and I went and picked up Josh from the nursery. They had given flowers to the children to give to their parents, and Danny was so sweet with his. When he saw me, his whole face lit up and he came running at me holding his flower. He was so excited to give it to me. It was one of those moments I will keep the rest of my life--so touching and loving. They had also made signs, and Danny just kept wishing me over and over again a happy mother's day. What a joy. We grabbed our traditional McDonalds for dinner as it was getting late and we still had to travel home. Overall, it was a great day.

The Lows and Highs of Life Here and God's Faithfulness through It all

2009-05-09T13:06:00.006+08:00

Sorry for the absence of blogs, but these past two weeks have been the hardest for me so far in China. It was not one specific thing, but a culmination of everything together. It left me feeling so unhappy and completely lost.

I was struggling with a couple of issues that seemed to intensify over the past two weeks. First was my neck injury. I was in a lot of pain, and was not getting much sleep. I always fail to realize how much this affects how I view things and feel about things going on in my life.

The second was Dustin in these past two weeks has had to do an enormous amount of work. He has worked the past two Saturdays and most nights he would be up close to midnight. All of it is essential for the company, but left our family longing for time together--this has been a struggle for all of us. In addition, we have no one to watch the boys so Dustin and I have had no time just the two of us since we have come here. We have really been missing this here.

Another part was simply getting around here in China. Not the traffic, but just knowing where to go, being able to go (Dustin sometimes needs the car all day), taking the boys with me (not kid friendly here) and even the simplest issue of paying for things (we only have one credit card with no foreign transaction fees and one bank card between us). I also felt like I have not been able to connect with other people here within our community. It seemed that all I had was either very quick interactions with other women, or none at all (i.e.--they either do not speak English, I only see their ayi's with their children, or they are involved in activities that I am unable to participate in because I have no one to watch the boys--such as working out or even going shopping).

So how has God been faithful through this all? Well, he has been the still quiet voice (no not literally) that has once again answered each of these concerns of mine. Although I must say that some of the answers came as a result of some frustrating situations. Here are a few:

On Monday I always go grocery shopping. Tom was set to pick us up at 9:00 and before he came I realized that Dustin was in Beijing with the money card and credit card (the one without foreign transaction fees). I decided to get some cash out of the ATM so I could run my errands. Yet after getting the boys over to the clubhouse, we found out it was not working. I then decided I could use the one in the grocery store once we arrived. Turns out that this one was out of order as well. I would say what luck, but this is the situation that gave us the ammunition to require me getting a card of my own the next day, so I say looking back it was all part of God's plan. I was a little stressed upon leaving the store as I had to buy our essentials with our US credit card (I was dreading the fees we would be charged) and a little upset that I was in Shanghai by myself and did not have any cash or access to our cash. I contacted Dustin and he arranged for me to be able to get my own card the next day. This is a little complicated of a process as in China you cannot have joint accounts, so I could not just get a card on Dustin's account, and we had to work out the details of funding the account (so this involves the financial people at his company), which is what prevented us from getting it before this point. Yet, after a stressful Monday, I now have the issue of the bank card resolved.

Onto the rest of my week:

Wednesday on our walk to the store the children and I came the closest to being killed or seriously injured that we have ever come to while living here. We were in the middle of crossing one of the driveways into the shops (this is a very narrow driveway, made more narrow due to another car that decided it would just park in one half of the driveway) when this car--who clearly saw us in the middle--decided he did not care we were there. (I have come to the decision that they view it like the game of rock paper scissors--they are the rock I am the scissors, so the car trumps the pedestrian--so beware!). The driver continued to accelerate at us to the point that I knew I could not make it forward, so my only choice was to yank Danny (who was walking next to me and the stroller) and Josh in the stroller backwards as hard and as fast I could. After this incident, I was so furious and fed up with the people here that I was close to tears. Thankfully when I decided to go into Starbucks there were two women that I had met the first weeks we were here. Up until this point, I had only ever seen them in passing when one of us was in a hurry to get somewhere, and I was unable to truly connect with them. Due to the fact that I was so upset, I decided to stay and talk for awhile even though before we entered I was in a hurry to get home. By staying and talking, I was able to exchange information (i.e.--contact information) and one of the women actually mentioned that she had some information on an ayi (it has come to the point where we need this sort of assistance--first to help clean as this is a full time job and I feel I would like to raise my children not just clean this crazy house--secondly it will allow Dustin and I to get time alone, even if we are just across the street at the clubhouse getting an ice cream cone together).

As Danny, Josh and I walked home, the two women caught up with us (Danny tends to walk slow sometimes). As we all continued on back to our houses we ran into one of the other girls that I had gotten to know a little more because we go to the park at the same time. At this point a wonderful thing happened. I was invited to dinner with them the next night. The best thing is that they did not plan to leave until 7 so that they could get dinner for their families and get their youngest to sleep before leaving. It was perfect. So in one instant of nearly losing our lives to the traffic issues here, I was reconnected with two women here in my community, given information about a possible ayi and invited to dinner.

Dinner the next night was great. I have not had a moment since we arrived except for the two massages I have gotten here. It was also great to connect with these three moms. They are super kind and fun and care about their children like I do (I think I have mentioned the absent parent syndrome that seems prevalent here). Yet with all the fun, we got home really late, which made Thursday really hard on me. I was sort of blue because listening to them made me realize how trapped I feel here. There are some stores to walk to, but you can only buy so many groceries and the ladies at Starbucks now know my face and what I order (Danny also is quite skilled at rattling off how I like my mocha), but the only place besides these stores that I get out to is the Carrefour--more groceries--and then coming right back.

Thankfully, Dustin was coming out from under all his work, and I was able to sit and talk with him a little. I found that what I needed is to learn the phrase "kan kan". This means just looking. This enables me to let our driver know that I am just looking around and I therefore, feel more relaxed to do so. I am going to just pick different malls/areas to just walk around and explore with the boys, so that I know what is here and what is not here. I have also decided that I will ask my new friends, who obviously have a wealth of information to share, if they can tell me the spots they go to while I take notes (I have a terrible memory), or send me an e-mail of their favorite spots. We also were able to set up some interviews with ayis. We will not be able to get one before June (they will be coming from families that are moving back to their homes in June), but it is nice to know we are working on getting this solved.

Finally, I went to my first physical therapy appointment for my neck, and it is beginning to feel better. The past two nights I have been able to sleep the whole night, which is fantastic. I also began reading a Max Lucado book and in it he talks about waiting. It made me put what we have accomplished into perspective. We have only been here 6 weeks. The women that I have met that know there way around have been here a minimum of two years. This made me feel better in that I will be able to get to that point too, it is just not right now. I must have the patience to wait and the trust in God to realize he has a plan for us, it is just not the one I pictured, or even at times want, but it is one that is good and will be fulfilling and will meet all of our needs and more.

One great example of this is the trip Dustin and I have just begun to plan. We are going to take a mini vacation. It is well overdue, as we have not had one probably in two or more years (at least one absent of any connection to work). We are going to go to the area about two-three hours from here called West Lake. It is a beautiful area and we will spend a couple of days there relaxing and spending time as a family.

I am also looking forward to tomorrow--Mother's day. We are going to spend the day together having a good time. The morning I plan to take a walk with the boys down to Starbucks (you can see I enjoy this place a lot) and then we are going to go to the beach pool (did I mention it is already 90 degrees here). We are going to have lunch at the patio right by the pool and then go home for quick naps before church. It sounds simple, but I am as excited about it as a kid in a toy store.

Just a Regular Old Day

2009-04-30T19:39:00.003+08:00

So today the boys greeted me at the early hour of 4:30am. Now why would you ask would the boys be up at this time? Well, here in China they unfortunately believe in having just one time zone for the entire large country and do not see the need for the concept of daylight savings time like we have in the US. Hence, the sun actually rises at 4:30am. Even with the darkening curtains Danny somehow knows it is daylight outside and feels he should be awake to greet the earliest rays of sunshine. I on the other hand long for the days when he was a baby and slept to the fantastic hour of 7am. Oh what I would give to sleep until 7am.

The 4:30 ams are exceedingly difficult due to two other factors. One being that Dustin usually works late into the night trying to talk with the States, and this week especially since his boss is in town and they have extra meetings in the evenings. I usually either try to stay awake until he is home, or since I am a light sleeper (especially since becoming a mother) I wake up when he comes into the room. The second factor is that my neck is still causing me problems, and I have a lot of trouble sleeping this past week.

Thank goodness for Folgers and a Starbucks which is close. I of course am not looking forward to June as the mornings are only going to get earlier and earlier. Back home, I had a clock in Danny's room and made him stay in his bed until he saw the clock reach 6am. Due to the increasingly earlier mornings, I am going on a search for this type of clock tomorrow. It seems like this would be a simple thing to locate,an alarm clock you can see in the dark, but this is China, and nothing is straightforward or easy to find.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. I took the boys to get their haircuts. They had the same stylist as last time, and I was again pleased with the result. We ran into a nice women I had met before. I have only seen her so far, but her son will be in Danny's class this fall. We exchange information and plan to get together sometime soon. It is nice to connect with people, because in many ways it seems hard to meet other moms here. It seems they are either working or just not with their own kids, so most children we run into at the park are with their Ayis. If we do run into moms, it is hit or miss whether they will be friendly or not.

After eating an early lunch I convince Danny to walk to the Starbucks. I felt I would surely not make it to the end of the evening with out some additional boost of caffeine. We arrived and we enjoyed splitting a muffin three ways while we watched people go by on the street in front of the shop.

As Danny was missing Dustin I decided that we would have a fun evening together rather than our normal routine one. I woke Danny up from his nap early and we headed to the sand park. We brought our toys with and this attracted some other boys that had similar toys to us. One little boy came over and wanted to use some of our stuff. He brought with him a nice dump truck. We invited him to play sort of at the same time that he was helping himself to our things. Danny asked politely if he could play with the boys dump truck and he refused. This was quite hard for Danny to understand as we teach Danny that he is to always share his toys with others. The refusal was of course harder to understand since the boy was actively using a number of Danny's toys. I of course was not surprise that his Ayi came shortly after and with broken English was trying to figure out what the little boy was doing. It was quite clear that the little boy showed her little respect and it was hard for her to get him to do as he should. He left shortly after and we kept playing just Danny, Josh and myself. The park was crowded, but with either children with Ayi's or mothers from countries I could not quite place from their language. It seemed like a park filled with children whose behavior left little to be desired.

The interaction with the boy and others that we have met, brings me back to my greatest concern for Danny, which is his upcoming school year. I have heard from many moms, this is where Danny will meet most of his friends. Yet, I am concerned about how these children behave. I guess this would be a concern anywhere he went to school, but it seems a little more prevalent here as I find there are a lot of absent parents. i.e.--they have allowed their ayi to replace them in their children's lives. This sort of amazes me, as I am looking forward to an Ayi as well, but to do all the chores that keep me busy and away from the kids. I hope that I will have more time with the boys, not less.

Another interesting site at the park is that some mother had some sort of portable toilet that used a plastic bag attached to the plastic seat. I was completely shocked that she literally helped her child sit on this contraption and go to the toilet just along side the park. Not off to the side where there might be more privacy, but straight in the middle right where everyone had a first hand viewing. I guess I should have been happy that she didn't let her go on the grass, but I could tell Danny was captivated by what was going on. While I do not want to be a total prude, and I am sure it made the mother's life easier than racing back home with her child, but I at least thought within our community there would be some normalcy of what is appropriate in public. I mean Danny is getting to the age when he should not be watching some little girl go to the bathroom--let alone the rest of us. All I can say is only in China, only in China. Life here can be so bizarre.

This brings me to the funny/sad/frustrating story from our new friends. They moved today, and yesterday she called me to tell me she went to see the new house and check on the cleaning and projects they were suppose to fix. Amber said there were spots in the grout in the entryway that had needed to be fixed. She walked into the entry way to find that instead of using a grout that matched what was on the floor, they used white to fix the spots that needed fixing. So you can only imagine what that floor looks like with two different grouts throughout it. As I said before--bizarre. Who in their right mind would think that this was a good idea, or that this would be acceptable. Yet, what was their response? You guessed it, they were shocked that she had a problem with the two different grouts. Go figure.

We ended the day on a fine note, as I took the boys to the clubhouse for dinner and they were well behaved.

Overall, the day was pleasant and I always enjoy being with the boys, especially on our walks and at the park. However, I can not help but be a little lonely, and feel a little lost. While I occasionally meet a mom at the park or on our walks, we rarely have a long time to talk. Also, there is just not a lot for me to be involved in right now. I try and remind myself this is only temporary. By this fall we will have an Ayi, so I should not have to spend most of my day cleaning, Danny will be in school and I will meet people through that and also through any sports programs he does. I also hope to take some language lessons, which will hopefully allow me to get around a little easier.

So for now, I will cultivate the few people I have met that seem interested in getting to know me better. I will try to ignore the others who either give their snooty looks or completely ignore me. It is so hard to tell if this is because they cannot communicate with me, or if they do not want to communicate with me. The boys and I will continue to enjoy the parks and pools and we will continue to give thanks for a place to call home here and more importantly for our home back in the States. I will also try and focus on the fact that being away from home is always harder when I am exhausted, for this is when I long for the comfort of what is familiar. I pray for a good night sleep, successful hunting for an alarm clock and that the doctor I see on Saturday about my neck does not look at me as if this pain is just between my ears.

The Dinner Party

2009-04-29T12:44:00.001+08:00

Today we hosted our first dinner party. Dustin's boss was in town for meetings, so we decided to do a home cooked meal for him, and invited another co-worker and his family to join us as well. A dinner party here is a little different from home, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I do not have my usual serving dishes or regular dishes. I had awhile back added on to my serving, but realized Monday night that I needed more plates for dessert and appetizers (there is no such thing as nice paper plates here). Secondly, our oven does not cook consistently, nor do we truly know how to use it properly, so cooking is always interesting. Finally, finding items here is usually a challenge.

So my morning was packed with heading first to the store we could walk to from our house. The boys and I bought some fresh ingredients there as well as some fresh flowers for the house. We then headed to the bakery near our house. Dustin and I decided the night before that I would just buy a cake for dessert as our oven is less than consistent and I forgot to bring with me cooling racks (good luck finding such a thing here in China). The bakery has everytime we have gone in, had a gorgeous black forest chocolate cake. Unfortunately, today they did not have any cakes at all. They had a book of cakes, but after my feeble attempts using my phone dictionary to trying to ask about the cakes and how long it would take to make one for me, I retreated in utter defeat. I decided I would have to come up with some other alternative that will be simple and taste good.

After getting home from those stores, Tom, our driver, was back from dropping Dustin and his boss off and he took us to the Carrefour. Thankfully, I was able to find most things (i.e.--dessert plates and appetizer plates, but no ice bucket) After running through the store as fast as I could and praying that Tom would keep up with me a little more (he was pushing Josh, but walked everywhere at his normal pace--he obviously could not tell from my attitude that I was in a rush), we finally got most of what we needed.

I stopped outside the Carrefour at a flower shop and bought two low arraingements for the table and just marveled at the price of them. I paid $30 total for two arrangements and an empty vase to use in my hall bath (I had bought some flowers earlier). In the US you would be lucky to get one arrangement made with carnations for this price and that would not include the vase. Each arrangement here had at least four to five red roses with other flowers mixed in. I was so excited about it and could not wait to see how the table would look with the flowers, and my white dishes and new dishes that have an Asian design to them.

I had Tom stop at the market I went to this morning, as I forgot to get fresh basil and it is the only place I know that carries it. I was quite proud that I told him where I wanted to go by telling him to take me to the newspaper store. He understood this because this is where he stops for us to buy the English paper.

We finally arrived home at 12:00 and I quickly got the boys fed and up to bed for naps. I then tackled the cleaning (our floors were disgusting), setting the table and getting all the food prepared. I was so excited about the table, as I was able to hide the burn marks (tables are not made well here, and the previous owner set something on the table and destroyed the finish in the shape of the bowl they put on the table). We had bought what we thought were placemats when we first moved here, but it turned out to be table runners. I used two sets of two on each side of the table to hide the marks and placed the arrangements between the two runners in the middle of the table. It turned out sort of striking with the dishes in white on top and I used my new dishes on top of that as salad plates.

God so blessed me today in preparing for this party, for the boys slept almost until everyone arrived and I was able to have everything ready except the last minute cooking before the guests arrived. This enabled me to know the food would be ready, but also to enjoy my guests as well.

It was a wonderful evening. The dinner came out great and I was able to bake lemon cheesecake cookies and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. They were simple and everyone enjoyed them.

It was a long day, but extremely satisfying. I truly love to entertain and it was a lot of fun to have our first dinner party here in China. It is also nice as tomorrow, for the boys and I, all we have to do is play and relax.

A Day with Friends

2009-04-26T12:32:00.000+08:00

After all the scare with Josh's arm, he is still doing great and back to his usual happy self.

Today we headed out early (6:30 am) to go see our friends. The guys joined a group of other men from our firends' neighborhood that goes bike riding every Sunday morning (church here is in the afternoon, so you can do something most of the day and still attend church). The boys and I stayed with Amber and her son. We had to leave so early because they live across the city on the other side of the river and the bike ride leaves at 8am.

I will let Dustin blog about the bike ride, but I will just say that they were gone for a couple of hours, and they went off road bike riding. (A little different from what Dustin was thinking--he thought it was on the surface streets). However, I believe he had a great time and is looking forward to doing it again.

Amber and I had a fantastic time talking and watching the boys play. They grilled out and we had a great little barbecue lunch. We ended the day with going to church together.

I told Dustin on the way home, you do not realize how much you enjoy just visiting with friends, being in their home and inviting them to yours, until you do not have that for a while. They have been our real first friends here and we are so grateful to have met them. It can be quite lonely and isolating here, and friends make that so much more bearable.

We have a busy week coming up with lots of meetings for Dustin and our first dinner party.