Good news!!!

Our air shipment will be delivered tomorrow afternoon!!  It's going to feel like Christmas, :-) That only took 6 weeks from when they picked it up. They told us that it would only be 2 weeks.

We didn't tell the kids tonight. They are going to be surprised. I am going to sit their bikes in the front yard when I leave to get them from the bus. They have been asking everyday if the shipment came yet.

Today's journey to fix Anna's trumpet

Anna came home from school on Tuesday and said the music teacher told her that her trumpet was broken.  Two of the 3 valves were making lots of noise when you pushed them down.  I didn't remember them doing that before.  The third valve wasn't letting air pass through it.  I knew how to unscrew the valve and fit that.  Oh well, I guess I need to find a place to get it fixed quickly. I didn't want her to get behind.  I looked online for the business that supplies Concordia with their instruments.  That's where this one came from.  I found the address and determined it was in Puxi.  Puxi is on the west side of the river in Shanghai. They call that area the old part of the city.  It's a 45 minute or longer taxi ride from our house.  I also saw on their website (it was in English) that they only repair instruments on Wednesdays.  Perfect timing.  I got up this morning and decided to head out. I had my metro maps and instructions, my shuttle bus schedule, the address and phone number. What could go wrong?  I made the shuttle bus and got to the metro.  Got on the metro fine and was able to switch lines on the west side of the river.  Once I came up out of the metro station, I was lost. It wasn't close by and I didn't see any taxis.  I remembered seeing the map and it didn't seem that far. The only details that I remembered was that it's NW of the station.  I opened up my compass app on the phone and started walking NW, just like a boy scout, :-).  After about 20 minutes in the sun, heat, pollution (Puxi is the worst) and humidity, I finally found the road. I even found the block but no store. I walked 3 blocks in both directions twice.  By this point, I was really getting hot and my back was killing me hauling this trumpet on my back. I decided to call Greg and tell him that I was lost. He was in a meeting and wasn't able to help much.  Finally, I gave up and started asking people that didn't speak English. I finally found someone that pointed me another 2 blocks past where I was walking. I found it and was so excited!! I went into the store and showed them the trumpet. I demonstrated the noise that the two valves were making.  The guy took the trumpet out of my hand and screwed the valve a quarter turn and it was fixed. Boy did I feel stupid. I told him that the music teacher said it had a problem.  They looked at it again and said it was fine.  I really need to learn something about trumpets.  I played clarinet.  Feeling really embarrassed and extremely hot, I left the store and headed home.  I decided to stop off at the Super Brand Mall and have McDonald's for lunch.  I haven't had any fast food in over a month. It was go good!  After metro and taxi ride home, I make it back in 4 hrs.  Trumpet fixed so I was successful!  At least I was told it's fixed. 

My Ayi (Qui Hui)

My ayi (maid) started last week. She is awesome and speaks English!  She was a little overwhelmed by the house the first time that she saw it.  We have 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 4 floors, 2 family rooms and basement. I reminded her that she didn't have to clean it all everyday.  She started last Monday and works 20 hrs a week.  I'm sharing her with another family in the compound. She has her own scooter for transportation. She's married and has no children. After her first day, we realized that we didn't have the right cleaning supplies.  Since we don't have any carpet, we didn't think we needed a vacuum cleaner. She said that it helps with the bad dust here. The fans in our AC units in each room are always on.  There is no "auto".  So, her second day, she and I went shopping for cleaning supplies and a vacuum cleaner. I could not have picked one without her.  Last week, she even babysit the kids while Greg was out of town and I had to go to school. The kids really like practicing their Mandarin with her in the afternoon.  One day, she showed me how to make Kung Pao Chicken for dinner. It turned out delicious. Greg loved it. I'm hoping to learn a new recipe each week. It's great to spend time talking with her each day. I've learned a lot about Chinese family life, marriage, children and names. My goal in the next two weeks is for her to take me shopping for a scooter!!

We got our power bill today for the 1st month. It was 2,000 RMB ($317). A little more than a normal Aug in Raleigh. It will be interesting to see the gas bill in the winter.  We have gas heated floors.

We got our combined house phone bill and internet bill today too.  Only $26 a month for both!!!

My first attempt at some real exercise

One day last week, I was going stir crazy in the house.  Earlier in the week, I had bought a pair of men's shoes at the sporting good store.  None of the women's shoes are big enough for me here.  I only put sandals in my luggage. It was just after lunch and I decided that I would go for an hour walk around our compound. I wanted to check out all the different houses. We have some townhomes in our compound too.  It was overcast like most days here but it wasn't too hot or humid.  After about 45 minutes, I realized that I was having chest pains and was having a tough time breathing.  I felt like I was going to pass out.  I had walked up to a friend's house the week before and had no problems. I'm not that out of shape.  I slowed down a little and made it back home.  I fell on the sofa, got some water and checked my pulse. My heard seemed ok but I still couldn't breath.  Then it dawned on me. I should log in and check the pollution levels.  Every hour, the US consulate posts air quality results on Twitter. The Chinese government decided to stop posting them since the levels have gotten so high and they didn't want the public to know. The level while I was walking was in the "unsafe" category.  I learned my lesson. No walking, biking or exercise outside without checking that first.  It took a few hours before my lungs were feeling better!

Kung Fu and Soccer

The kids started Kung Fu and Soccer this past week.  I was concerned that Anna was going to be the only girl in the class.  Luckily, another girl showed up.  The class was really small and only had 5 children total. They are going to have a black rob with red trim. Both kids had lots of fun.  Once they get their robs, I will post a picture of them. It was nice to have Kung Fu here in our compound. No taxi to go anywhere, :-)

Soccer was a challenging experience.  Since it was on Sunday afternoon at another location, we had to call a taxi.  It took 30 minutes for a taxi to come.  Good thing that we allowed an hour to get there. The drive was only about 10 minutes.  I did buy them shin guards since our air crate has not arrived yet.  I didn't buy them cleats since this practice was only going to be assessments.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the air crates arrive this week.  The rest of my family thinks I'm crazy.  One family told us that they moved last Aug and they didn't get their crates until Christmas! I will buy cleats this Sat if they don't arrive.  When we got to soccer, they divided the boys and girls into teams based on their age. They gave them jerseys with  numbers so they can evaluate them as they played.  Right as they started playing, it started to drizzle rain.  I remembered to grab two umbrellas as we walked out the door.  The kids didn't mind a little drizzle. Then, it started to pour rain.  They kept playing.  Our umbrellas weren't much help since the rain was so hard it way coming sideways.  Finally, Greg and I found some cover under this little awning. The kids were struggling to see the ball but they all kept playing.  It started to thunder too. They kept playing.  That would not have happened in the US.  They played the whole hour in the pouring rain.  As soon as they were finished, the rain stopped!!  We all were soaked from head to toe.  I bet that taxi driver wasn't happy to have us in his car all wet.  Good news, Jackson was wearing an old pair of shoes.  Unfortunately, Anna was wearing her only pair of shoes that she wears to school.  We spent the evening trying to get them dry.

Hope next weekend has better weather!

We Survived our 1st Month in China!!!!

As I look back at my 1st week's entry of this blog, it seems like so long ago.  Life has gotten easier is some ways. The kids and Greg have settled into a routine but I haven't. I struggle with sitting and working all day and then working again 4 hrs at night.  I need to set some work hours during the day and then get up and walk away from my computer.

After one month, the top 10 things that we miss the most:
1) Friends and Family
2) Friday night dinners with the Abbondanzio's
3) Carly, our dog
4) Driving my car
5) Drinking water from a faucet to brush my teeth
6) American restaurants
7) A grocery store that doesn't stink
8) Fresh Air
9) Being able to buy things with my credit card and not use cash
10) The kids said "Legos and toys"

Anna and I went to buy soccer shin guards for soccer on Sunday since our air shipments aren't here yet.  We walked into a building that smelled really bad. Public restrooms are the worst.  Anna said "Mommy, why can't we create a bag for our heads with a special smell that smells like America".  I asked, "What about your school does it smell ok?". She said, "There is a special bubble like a force field over Concordia. It smells just like home." I'm glad she likes her school for so many reasons, :-).

Greg's trip to Nanjing and more banking/money problems

Greg got his Chinese corporate credit card just before his trip to Nanjing last week. He had a presentation to 400 Chinese customers.  His presentation charts had to be converted to Chinese and he had a translator.  He was more nervous than normal.  He took the high speed train to Nanjing.  He said the pollution was worse than Shanghai! When he arrived, he gave his new corporate card to the clerk at the hotel.  It was denied.  They would not take VISA either.  He called ICBC Bank to find out why. After finding someone who spoke English, they said it wasn't activated.  After a few hours, he determined the wrong phone numbers were on the application that his admin filled out.  So, he had no way to activate it remotely. He needed to go to a bank with his passport. He called me at 10pm and asked me to try to activate it since they had our home number listed. When I called, they said their systems did not register my home number correctly and I couldn't activate it either.  Greg had to find an ATM to get enough cash to pay for his hotel. At least his presentation went ok, :-).

Update: He got his card activated after visiting a bank in Shanghai.  He found out today that it has a $5,000 limit.  That won't get you very far if you have to get airline tickets too. He's going to Hong Kong this week.

Greg is on the left

High Speed train to Nanjing

Kids went to work with Greg on Labor Day

Greg's office. It's a little small but holds about 4 people around his little table. I would say it's an 8' X 8' room.  The formaldehyde smell is so bad he has an air filter that he runs all the time.

Anna is adding some pictures to Greg's white board in his office.

Walk to Greg's office

Bamboo forest next to his building.  Bamboo must blow over easy.  They always build this wooden structure around it to keep it standing.

Cool turtle pond. It's outlined in brick the shape of a heart.  The turtles get to sun all day on the sand island. What a life!!

Jackson had to carry his Mac Air laptop to work like his daddy.

Greg works on the 1st floor of building 10.

IBM complex

I guess "Innovation Park" is similar to RTP.  Lots of businesses in this area.

These stones are next to the walkway on the street.  Greg thought they were tombstones.  He asked someone and they said they were decorations. I thought they were sitting stones in the shade, :-).

We were walking down the pedestrian sidewalk and all of a sudden, a car horn blows behind us.  This care was driving down the sidewalk behind us.  We had to move out of the way.  The kids are really learning to be aware of what's coming at them from all directions.

For our IBM'er friends, there is a Lenovo site across the street from IBM.

Ok, this was a very unusual tree.  It's in the area where Greg tries to find lunch each day.  The kids called it the Dr Seuss tree!  It really looked like one.

To go along with the Dr Seuss tree, there was this fake bamboo forest too.  I'm not sure which of these were the strangest.

Area that Greg eats lunch each day.

Some options for lunch.  I think I would skip it.

More lunch options, :-).  Not much English in this area.

Chinese verion of scaffolding

In our compound, they are working on a few houses.  I haven't been able to tell what they are doing.  Take a look at the "wonderful" scaffolding. It's made of bamboo!!  I don't think I would be up on it.

Jackson said "Why didn't they make this out of metal?  Plastic might be stronger than Bamboo!".

Anna at School

Anna at school

Anna really likes her new school. She has met some new friends (Hailey, Hannah, Kelly and Kelly W).  Her teacher sent us these pictures. She really likes being in middle school and having her independence! This is going to be a great experience for her.