I found a cat! My friend Lauren and I were on walking street, that's right-they have to devote whole areas for just walking or scooters and cars would be driving over all the paying customers and China would not continue their meteoric rise to superpowerdom. But I digress... We were on walking street picking up the adorable little Chinese style dress my friend had made for her daughter at Mei Mei's( Mei Mei makes anything you want from silk as well as cashmere, and will always give you "peng you prices"). I noticed a little orange and white kitten sitting on the steps next to some of the shop ladies. Footnote: all cats in China seem to be orange and white- it's a very shallow gene pool, perhaps they are too gamey. Anywho, I bent down to pet the kitty and he was incredibly sweet. The shop ladies were all excited and told me to take him home. Lauren pulled me away, but I vowed-"if he is still there when we head back, I'm taking him home". He was, and I did. Much to the enjoyment of the forming crowd. There's always a crowd.
But not straight home, we detoured to the vet to have him checked out first. The cute little tech at the vet said she would treat him for fleas and "cooties". At which time Lauren and I exchanged intrigued, and a bit creeped out, glances and asked each other, "what is a cootie"? This went beyond her limited English to explain, but I told myself that she probably just meant fleas. But who knows, maybe China is where all the 12 year old boys of the world got infected...
So we now have a kitten, who is home and "cootie" free! Brody has named him "xing yun xing xing" or lucky star. He mostly just gets called kitty. Riley loves him very much, but I'm not sure he feels the same. Especially when he is climbing through the small potted tree in the living room and Riley is has wrapped her chubby little arms around his middle and is pulling for all she's worth- all the while yelling, "nice, nice, nice"! He has shown himself to be a very tolerant kitten and loves a good wrestle. He's ridiculously cute as he stalks Brody from behind the couch, jumps up and bites him on the head.
So the critter count is up to 3, 2 turtles the size of quarters in a tank on the counter, and a kitten we can actually touch!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Things the Chinese don't do so well...
Not that the Reynolds' are jaded already, but in our short time her in the Far East we have made some observations of the people around us. There are a few things that the Chinese could use a few lessons for...
1. Driving! They stink at it. There are seemingly no rules for driving here, it all comes down to how big the vehicle you are driving is. The bigger you are, like a bus, the more you get away with. This could be everything from running over pedestrians, to running through red lights whenever you feel like it. You meerly need to give a few honks, and the other drivers are supposed to cower before yuo and get the heck out of your way!! Unless they seem to think that they are bigger, in which case they will honk ceaselessly at you until you surrender to what they want. Here is the pecking order of the mean streets of Suzhou, China...
~as stated before, buses can do whatever the heck they want, then it's the giant, chugging, smoke belching blue worker trucks. These trucks carry everything from tons of bagged rice tilting at a terrifying angle(of course nothing is held down in any way) to workers wrestling around in the back. We like to call it "gong ren shenanigans"! Unfortunately for me, I don't speak enough Mandarin to yell at Jin to "get away from that truck before that third row of pigs falls onto our hood", so I just sit quietly in my seat and practice talking about the weather. Which does nothing but confuse and distract him, and sometimes appears to cause him physical pain. Demonstrations will be performed later on...
Where was I, that's right, pecking orders...
~after the blue trucks, the vans seem to be next. Yippee! That's us! Lucky for us, our driver is a great guy and is very careful with his cargo. The same cannot be said for the drivers of some of our friends, you need a Dramamine to get to the grocery store with some of these guys. Then the cars get to be in charge, then the scooters, then the electric bikes, then the man powered bikes and last, but most certainly thought of as least, the people.
Picture this if you can... cars driving in no apparent order, honking, swerving, stopping in the middle of the road to text, and all the while the people are crossing the streets from all directions. Here how it works; you don't look around when you cross the street, you just look straight ahead. This way, if someone hits you- it's their fault because you didn't see them. This rule applies to people on scooters and bikes too. I swear to God this is true! It's the craziest damn thing I have ever seen!! Seems like a lose-lose kind of risk, doesn't it? This brings me to the 2nd thing that the Chinese could use a bit of practice with...
2. Thinking ahead. Many, not all mind you-but many that we have seen, really seem to lack the ability to think beyond the next 5 minutes. A wise and eloquent lady once told me, "Chinese people react, they don't pro act." This is evident in their building and plumbing jobs. This is why we have a four story house with 2 strings of cable for a railing. This could also apply to the lovely lady we saw one day, who was shocked and dismayed that she had to get off the golf trolly that took her to the top of Tiger Hill. This instance led to some hilarious videa that will be shared when we come home at Christmas. Stay tuned!
3. Listening. When I tell the workers that have been in my kitchen for the last 3 hours in Mandarin(that anyone else I have talked to seems to understand) that I am putting the baby to bed and to try and be quiet, I get the standard, okay, okay, okay. No more than 3 minutes later the worker that has been on my deck for the last 4 hours gets the go ahead from the kitchen guy to start hammer drilling through the bricks beneath Riley's window. Only when I start screaming at them, do they seem to all of the sudden understand my "pu tong hua". That's right, I was screaming at them. They all though I was insane, but it suddenly got very quiet and the work was done quite quickly.
Enough of this! All these things pale in comparison to the amazing feeling I get when I go into the closet each day to get dressed in clothing I didn't have to wash, dry, fold or put AWAY!!! I love China...
1. Driving! They stink at it. There are seemingly no rules for driving here, it all comes down to how big the vehicle you are driving is. The bigger you are, like a bus, the more you get away with. This could be everything from running over pedestrians, to running through red lights whenever you feel like it. You meerly need to give a few honks, and the other drivers are supposed to cower before yuo and get the heck out of your way!! Unless they seem to think that they are bigger, in which case they will honk ceaselessly at you until you surrender to what they want. Here is the pecking order of the mean streets of Suzhou, China...
~as stated before, buses can do whatever the heck they want, then it's the giant, chugging, smoke belching blue worker trucks. These trucks carry everything from tons of bagged rice tilting at a terrifying angle(of course nothing is held down in any way) to workers wrestling around in the back. We like to call it "gong ren shenanigans"! Unfortunately for me, I don't speak enough Mandarin to yell at Jin to "get away from that truck before that third row of pigs falls onto our hood", so I just sit quietly in my seat and practice talking about the weather. Which does nothing but confuse and distract him, and sometimes appears to cause him physical pain. Demonstrations will be performed later on...
Where was I, that's right, pecking orders...
~after the blue trucks, the vans seem to be next. Yippee! That's us! Lucky for us, our driver is a great guy and is very careful with his cargo. The same cannot be said for the drivers of some of our friends, you need a Dramamine to get to the grocery store with some of these guys. Then the cars get to be in charge, then the scooters, then the electric bikes, then the man powered bikes and last, but most certainly thought of as least, the people.
Picture this if you can... cars driving in no apparent order, honking, swerving, stopping in the middle of the road to text, and all the while the people are crossing the streets from all directions. Here how it works; you don't look around when you cross the street, you just look straight ahead. This way, if someone hits you- it's their fault because you didn't see them. This rule applies to people on scooters and bikes too. I swear to God this is true! It's the craziest damn thing I have ever seen!! Seems like a lose-lose kind of risk, doesn't it? This brings me to the 2nd thing that the Chinese could use a bit of practice with...
2. Thinking ahead. Many, not all mind you-but many that we have seen, really seem to lack the ability to think beyond the next 5 minutes. A wise and eloquent lady once told me, "Chinese people react, they don't pro act." This is evident in their building and plumbing jobs. This is why we have a four story house with 2 strings of cable for a railing. This could also apply to the lovely lady we saw one day, who was shocked and dismayed that she had to get off the golf trolly that took her to the top of Tiger Hill. This instance led to some hilarious videa that will be shared when we come home at Christmas. Stay tuned!
3. Listening. When I tell the workers that have been in my kitchen for the last 3 hours in Mandarin(that anyone else I have talked to seems to understand) that I am putting the baby to bed and to try and be quiet, I get the standard, okay, okay, okay. No more than 3 minutes later the worker that has been on my deck for the last 4 hours gets the go ahead from the kitchen guy to start hammer drilling through the bricks beneath Riley's window. Only when I start screaming at them, do they seem to all of the sudden understand my "pu tong hua". That's right, I was screaming at them. They all though I was insane, but it suddenly got very quiet and the work was done quite quickly.
Enough of this! All these things pale in comparison to the amazing feeling I get when I go into the closet each day to get dressed in clothing I didn't have to wash, dry, fold or put AWAY!!! I love China...
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Things I'm learning about the Chinese...
As the days progress, I learn more and more about the Chinese culture. I have been compiling a mental list for some time now, and today seemed as good as any to start blogging again! I have made myself stay home today... all day! That hasn't happened since we arrived, but it really needed to happen! So Riley and I are sitting in the office, while our boys are busy conquering the world. She's looking at books and crawling all over the big office chair-all the while trying to grab the mouse! Sounds safe doesn't it?!
Here it goes...
Today I will share with you : Things the Chinese do well...
~ Food, the make some awesome food. Dumplings are a particular favorite of ours right now.
~ Service industry! They are the most attentive waiters & waitresses, there are always multiple people ready and waiting to serve. You simply raise your hand and say loudly, "fu yu an!" The louder, the better! And if you can make it unintelligible and sound like one word... then you're really like the Chinese!
~ MASSAGE! Only in China are people cheaper than products. You can get a massage by not 1, BUT 2, ladies at the same time, and its still cheaper than the hair wax they sell at the front of the store. I have to tell you, we take full advantage this as often as we can; even going so far as to get a "Discount card" to a local parlor! You get massages when you get a haircut, massages after you go out for dinner, massages at the airport, massages in the check out lane at the grocery store! Just kidding on the last one! But if they thought it would bring more "foreigners" to their store, I'd just bet they'd do it!
~ Copying all things expensive in the outside world! This is a Stacy Markle paradise when it comes to fancy-smancy purses and pocketbooks! They love bargaining with you and giving you their "peng you" prices on their knock-offs. There are whole areas, know as "copy markets", where you can get everything from a Tiffany's necklace to a Rolex. I'm still searching for the perfect purse, as of yet I carry a messenger bag with everything from raisins to excessive amounts of tissues in case of a Chinese toilet emergency!!!
~ Flowers! You can go to a florist here and get a huge and beautiful bouquet of flowers for about 5-10 US dollars!
That's all I can think of for now! Not a very long list, is it?
Here it goes...
Today I will share with you : Things the Chinese do well...
~ Food, the make some awesome food. Dumplings are a particular favorite of ours right now.
~ Service industry! They are the most attentive waiters & waitresses, there are always multiple people ready and waiting to serve. You simply raise your hand and say loudly, "fu yu an!" The louder, the better! And if you can make it unintelligible and sound like one word... then you're really like the Chinese!
~ MASSAGE! Only in China are people cheaper than products. You can get a massage by not 1, BUT 2, ladies at the same time, and its still cheaper than the hair wax they sell at the front of the store. I have to tell you, we take full advantage this as often as we can; even going so far as to get a "Discount card" to a local parlor! You get massages when you get a haircut, massages after you go out for dinner, massages at the airport, massages in the check out lane at the grocery store! Just kidding on the last one! But if they thought it would bring more "foreigners" to their store, I'd just bet they'd do it!
~ Copying all things expensive in the outside world! This is a Stacy Markle paradise when it comes to fancy-smancy purses and pocketbooks! They love bargaining with you and giving you their "peng you" prices on their knock-offs. There are whole areas, know as "copy markets", where you can get everything from a Tiffany's necklace to a Rolex. I'm still searching for the perfect purse, as of yet I carry a messenger bag with everything from raisins to excessive amounts of tissues in case of a Chinese toilet emergency!!!
~ Flowers! You can go to a florist here and get a huge and beautiful bouquet of flowers for about 5-10 US dollars!
That's all I can think of for now! Not a very long list, is it?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
As I said before... scooters rock.
Had a great China day yesterday! The weather was beautiful, Mandarin class was great, people were texting me to go out for lunch... all was right withe the world. It was one of those days where I felt so normal that I actually was OK being in China. Not to say that being in China is a bad thing, but after some lengthy discussions on our early morning walks,the other Tai Tais's and I decided that China is..."unsettling". It's tough sometimes to get your bearings here and have a "normal" life. The good thing is that the time seems to go by incredibly fast!
I always knew I was a glass half full kinda girl!
Things are going really well right now. We are back in our home, most of the repair work is done and everything seems to be working well enough. The Ayi makes us some fantastic Chinese food three nights a week and I am eating my weight in Edemame! We are having such a great time with our "dian ping chu's", that's scooter for all you non-Mandarin speaking folks out there! The other night after dinner, we loaded Riley into the REI pack, Brody climbed on behind me and we scooted our way to Cold Stone Creamery. The ambiance there is great! They play American music and the ice cream tastes just like home! For a bit, you can feel like you are just down the road from the KOHLS!! God I miss Kohls, and Target, and Giant Eagle, and Ann Taylor Loft, and shopping with girlfriends for clothes that will fit someone who is not a 2, and Chick-Fil-A, and not having to see the parts of an animal that I would never eat displayed up and down the aisles (think tongues, feet-lots of fricken feet- stomachs, etc). That's all for now, I am scooting over to get a pedicure while the Ayi stays here with the monkey. Did I mention she was making the beds as I wrote this...
I always knew I was a glass half full kinda girl!
Things are going really well right now. We are back in our home, most of the repair work is done and everything seems to be working well enough. The Ayi makes us some fantastic Chinese food three nights a week and I am eating my weight in Edemame! We are having such a great time with our "dian ping chu's", that's scooter for all you non-Mandarin speaking folks out there! The other night after dinner, we loaded Riley into the REI pack, Brody climbed on behind me and we scooted our way to Cold Stone Creamery. The ambiance there is great! They play American music and the ice cream tastes just like home! For a bit, you can feel like you are just down the road from the KOHLS!! God I miss Kohls, and Target, and Giant Eagle, and Ann Taylor Loft, and shopping with girlfriends for clothes that will fit someone who is not a 2, and Chick-Fil-A, and not having to see the parts of an animal that I would never eat displayed up and down the aisles (think tongues, feet-lots of fricken feet- stomachs, etc). That's all for now, I am scooting over to get a pedicure while the Ayi stays here with the monkey. Did I mention she was making the beds as I wrote this...
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Scooter's rock!
I got a scooter yesterday!! Whoohoo! After weeks of negotiations with management (aka Rich), I talked him into heading to the Carrefore (the big grocery chain here) and buying a scooter. He was so into it! He was trying to barter, taking them for test rides and having a total ball! So we bought a red one, Rich drove it home and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing around on it. Today... he went off to get another one! Good thing we have that stash of "emergency cash"!! Can't wait to see what color he gets...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Who knew there were Mormons in China...
We went to The tiger Hill Pagoda today. A beautiful, but tourist filled, park nearby. The pagoda is hundreds of years old and truly amazing to see up close. "They don't make them like they used to" really has new meaning here!
No one tried to give us anything today, but we did have our picture taken many, many times. It's kind of fun being a celebrity! Brody bought some junk from one of the little stands and had a fun time bartering with the lady. As long as you are ready to walk away at any time, they will pretty much give you any price you want. We rode a horse drawn carriage around the outside of the park and Riley spent the whole time looking at the horse and saying, "niiiccceee"! Her word for any animal that she wants to pet. Our driver was telling us a bit about the sights in Chinese and we were able to understand what he was saying, that was really exciting. Mandarin is such a cool language and we are all working hard to learn as much as we can.
We spent the afternoon walking around the lake in our neighborhood and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Riley is having so much fun doggy sitting! She holds the little leash in her hands and this sweet little dog just walks along patiently beside her. She yells at us if anyone else tries to hold the leash.
Yesterday we rode bikes over to this cool part of the lake called Rainbo Walk. You can walk around the lake, play at a little playground and get some interesting things to eat. We aren't brave enough yet to buy food from the street vendors, but i don't think it will be long. I'll have to take some pics of where I get my fruit and veggies, you'll be wondering if I've gone blind, lost my sense of smell -or both! But I digress...
These young men were following us at a respectable distance, they were in white button down shirts and black pants and carrying clipboards and book bags. So Rich pipes up, "I didn't know their were Mormons in China?" This then digressed quickly to, "Do you accept Buddha as your personal savior?" and so on. It's a good thing we find each other so funny...
No one tried to give us anything today, but we did have our picture taken many, many times. It's kind of fun being a celebrity! Brody bought some junk from one of the little stands and had a fun time bartering with the lady. As long as you are ready to walk away at any time, they will pretty much give you any price you want. We rode a horse drawn carriage around the outside of the park and Riley spent the whole time looking at the horse and saying, "niiiccceee"! Her word for any animal that she wants to pet. Our driver was telling us a bit about the sights in Chinese and we were able to understand what he was saying, that was really exciting. Mandarin is such a cool language and we are all working hard to learn as much as we can.
We spent the afternoon walking around the lake in our neighborhood and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Riley is having so much fun doggy sitting! She holds the little leash in her hands and this sweet little dog just walks along patiently beside her. She yells at us if anyone else tries to hold the leash.
Yesterday we rode bikes over to this cool part of the lake called Rainbo Walk. You can walk around the lake, play at a little playground and get some interesting things to eat. We aren't brave enough yet to buy food from the street vendors, but i don't think it will be long. I'll have to take some pics of where I get my fruit and veggies, you'll be wondering if I've gone blind, lost my sense of smell -or both! But I digress...
These young men were following us at a respectable distance, they were in white button down shirts and black pants and carrying clipboards and book bags. So Rich pipes up, "I didn't know their were Mormons in China?" This then digressed quickly to, "Do you accept Buddha as your personal savior?" and so on. It's a good thing we find each other so funny...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Who knew squatting could be so much fun...
We are homeless! The "decoration company" are tearing into every bathroom in our house today. They have found a leak on the 3rd floor under the tub, but nothing on the 2nd floor. This is good news; perhaps we will be back in our house by Halloween instead of Thanksgiving!
We are staying at our new friends Matt and Michelle's while they are on holiday. We get to take care of Pipi, the adorable poodle, while they are gone. So at least we are serving some purpose while we raid their cupboards and steal all their neighbors!
Brody has found a new buddy named Nathan. They spent a ridiculous amount of time on the trampoline today and I think they may be soulmates! Brody finally found someone who talks, runs and jumps as much as he does!
We are enjoying the amazing weather that blew in on Thursday. Literally, it blew in. It was hot and humid on Wednesday, same as always. That night we had a lot of wind, and the next morning... it was cool! It's like, 70 degrees, with a lovely breeze. For the first time since we arrived, China doesn't stink!!
We are off to be tourists tomorrow while my boys have a few days off. We have a list of local things we need to see, so we are starting at the top. Who knows... maybe there will be another "cultural exchange" with some of the locals!
We are staying at our new friends Matt and Michelle's while they are on holiday. We get to take care of Pipi, the adorable poodle, while they are gone. So at least we are serving some purpose while we raid their cupboards and steal all their neighbors!
Brody has found a new buddy named Nathan. They spent a ridiculous amount of time on the trampoline today and I think they may be soulmates! Brody finally found someone who talks, runs and jumps as much as he does!
We are enjoying the amazing weather that blew in on Thursday. Literally, it blew in. It was hot and humid on Wednesday, same as always. That night we had a lot of wind, and the next morning... it was cool! It's like, 70 degrees, with a lovely breeze. For the first time since we arrived, China doesn't stink!!
We are off to be tourists tomorrow while my boys have a few days off. We have a list of local things we need to see, so we are starting at the top. Who knows... maybe there will be another "cultural exchange" with some of the locals!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
China construction really blows...
Our walls are dripping. That's right, dripping! Everything here is made so poorly that it seems as though we will never have a "normal" problem free house to live in!
Anywhoo...
Had my first big meeting today with my neighbors Stefanie and Mary. These lovely ladies started the Suzhou Sports Club about three years ago. This is basically a club designed to emulate the Saturday Soccer leagues that we have at home. They said that when they moved here, there were no extra curricular sport activities for expat children. I, in all my wisdom (aka desperate stupidity and need to fit in) have volunteered to take over running the organization, as they will both be stepping down. What, you may ask, makes me qualified to run any organization when I barely manage to run my own household? Nothing. I have no qualifications other than I am the only poor shlup to step up and say "I will do it". So my head was spinning after said meeting with all the ways I will fail at this task and sorely disappoint children and parents alike! Not to mention that I had Starbucks on the way to Mandarin Lessons today, or as we call it xim ba qu ca fe, and was crashing hard from my wonderful caffeine rush. Then the man from the "Decoration Company" came, along with the realtor guy who just walks into my house any time he wants, and said the problem with my wet walls is because it rained so hard that the water was leaking in through the foot of concrete that is our wall. Yeah... right.
We are looking forward to next week. It is a holiday here, I'm really not sure for what, but Rich and Brody get the week off. We plan to explore some of the cultural high points of Suzhou. Not sure what those will be exactly, but stay tuned...
Anywhoo...
Had my first big meeting today with my neighbors Stefanie and Mary. These lovely ladies started the Suzhou Sports Club about three years ago. This is basically a club designed to emulate the Saturday Soccer leagues that we have at home. They said that when they moved here, there were no extra curricular sport activities for expat children. I, in all my wisdom (aka desperate stupidity and need to fit in) have volunteered to take over running the organization, as they will both be stepping down. What, you may ask, makes me qualified to run any organization when I barely manage to run my own household? Nothing. I have no qualifications other than I am the only poor shlup to step up and say "I will do it". So my head was spinning after said meeting with all the ways I will fail at this task and sorely disappoint children and parents alike! Not to mention that I had Starbucks on the way to Mandarin Lessons today, or as we call it xim ba qu ca fe, and was crashing hard from my wonderful caffeine rush. Then the man from the "Decoration Company" came, along with the realtor guy who just walks into my house any time he wants, and said the problem with my wet walls is because it rained so hard that the water was leaking in through the foot of concrete that is our wall. Yeah... right.
We are looking forward to next week. It is a holiday here, I'm really not sure for what, but Rich and Brody get the week off. We plan to explore some of the cultural high points of Suzhou. Not sure what those will be exactly, but stay tuned...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Sorry... I really suck at this!
Ok, I guess I'm not very good at keeping up with this whole process. It's been like, forever, since the last posting. So here's all the news that's fit to print!
WE GOT OUR THINGS!!!! I cannot express how excited we are to have gotten our stuff from the US! It's like Christmas, Birthdays and snow days all rolled up into one! We spent the long weekend (it was the mid-autumn festival so we had Monday off) unpacking boxes and just enjoying the smell of everything NOT FROM CHINA!! It has made such a huge difference in how the house feels. It finally feels like home!
We ate Moon Pies, the delicacy here that is served everywhere, from KFC to the finest joints in town- these are served to celebrate the Moon Festival. They tasted like cat food! But the folks here eat them like candy!! We also had a "cocktail hour" at Brody's school on Friday night. The Ayi stayed the night so we could go out afterward with people from the neighborhood! So picture this... free booze, free appetizers and teachers and parents enjoying all of it together!! It was crazy! I had a drink with Brody's teacher! I guess this is what it's like with a private education.
I had my second Chinese language class today and I think I've got it!! It's a fascinating language and it is all so literal, I love it. I was able to tell our driver what time to come tomorrow, find out how much I owed the vegetable lady at the fly infested, open air fruit and veggie stand, barter with the plant guy for a better price on already ridiculously cheap potted plants and show Rich up at dinner with some friends ! Life is good.
I have been suckered into taking over the soccer, oops I mean football, program here! It was started by some ladies from the states about three years ago and now they want a break! So I volunteered to run it. The theory was that it will be another great way to meet people and kids, but now I'm feeling a bit intimidated by the impending duties...
Speaking of Football, Rich has joined the men's league through Brody's school. It consists of teachers and daddy's of Dulwich College kiddos. Should be fun to watch, they take their football quite seriously here!
We had to kick the stray cat we found back outside as he thought it fun to pee on Brody's bed! So now we are on the hunt, figuratively speaking, for a healthy cat in China.
I think that's about it. I may attempt to download some pictures, I may just go put my feet up. Hard to say. The life of a Tai Tai is ever-changing...
Miss you guys and hope you are all having a great week. By the way, it was about 75 degrees here today! D
WE GOT OUR THINGS!!!! I cannot express how excited we are to have gotten our stuff from the US! It's like Christmas, Birthdays and snow days all rolled up into one! We spent the long weekend (it was the mid-autumn festival so we had Monday off) unpacking boxes and just enjoying the smell of everything NOT FROM CHINA!! It has made such a huge difference in how the house feels. It finally feels like home!
We ate Moon Pies, the delicacy here that is served everywhere, from KFC to the finest joints in town- these are served to celebrate the Moon Festival. They tasted like cat food! But the folks here eat them like candy!! We also had a "cocktail hour" at Brody's school on Friday night. The Ayi stayed the night so we could go out afterward with people from the neighborhood! So picture this... free booze, free appetizers and teachers and parents enjoying all of it together!! It was crazy! I had a drink with Brody's teacher! I guess this is what it's like with a private education.
I had my second Chinese language class today and I think I've got it!! It's a fascinating language and it is all so literal, I love it. I was able to tell our driver what time to come tomorrow, find out how much I owed the vegetable lady at the fly infested, open air fruit and veggie stand, barter with the plant guy for a better price on already ridiculously cheap potted plants and show Rich up at dinner with some friends ! Life is good.
I have been suckered into taking over the soccer, oops I mean football, program here! It was started by some ladies from the states about three years ago and now they want a break! So I volunteered to run it. The theory was that it will be another great way to meet people and kids, but now I'm feeling a bit intimidated by the impending duties...
Speaking of Football, Rich has joined the men's league through Brody's school. It consists of teachers and daddy's of Dulwich College kiddos. Should be fun to watch, they take their football quite seriously here!
We had to kick the stray cat we found back outside as he thought it fun to pee on Brody's bed! So now we are on the hunt, figuratively speaking, for a healthy cat in China.
I think that's about it. I may attempt to download some pictures, I may just go put my feet up. Hard to say. The life of a Tai Tai is ever-changing...
Miss you guys and hope you are all having a great week. By the way, it was about 75 degrees here today! D
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Another Day... Another Ayi
So there it is. I interviewed another Ayi today. For those of you unaware of the intricacies of expat life in China, an Ayi is a maid/nanny type person that comes into your home and does all the things I used to do. It feels very weird to hire someone to come and do "my job" but it SOP here, so... when in China. The lady seemed very nice, her current employer came with her to translate. The whole thing about this though is that you never really know when people are being honest with you. They seem to tell you exactly what you want to hear, but then I get the skinny from all the "seasoned" Tai Tai's (foreign wives) and they all seem so jaded! They say things like, "Oh, you are paying her way too much" or, "if she doesn't work out you just get a new one". This seems like a big deal to me. This person will be in my home, occasionally taking care of my children and cooking my food, I sure hope we don't have to go through this process multiple times!! But, I'll just have to see how it goes. Later, D
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
My very first blog! T minus 3 years and counting...
Here it is, our new blog! Don't ya love the name, Rich thought of it! He is so clever!
Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Far, Far East...
Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Far, Far East...
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