No Pain, No Gain

This week was all about pain...sort of.  Monday morning started out with a new boot camp exercise class. It was appealing because the class it taught here at our apartment compound and I can go early in the morning and be back in time to get LBean breakfast before school.  I am not a morning person, so this is a major commitment for me.  The other class members told me that if I felt like I was going to throw up, then I was doing it correctly.  Well, I must be a very quick learner because I was feeling pretty sick.  The members also gave me a heads up on the pain that I would be experiencing the next few days, but they assured me that the first day was the hardest.  I'm not sure that I believe that part, but only time will tell.

Monday afternoon was another kind of pain, the struggle to learn a new language.  I am currently signed up to take 2 one-hour lessons a week.  This is going to be a challenge.  For those that aren't familiar, Mandarin has 4 (or 5, depending on who you ask) tones.  So, based on how you say "mu" it can have four different meanings.  There is a high tone, as if you were singing, a rising tone, a sweeping tone and a short, stern descending tone.  Of course I'm hearing this all through the lens of a speech-pathologist and a type A personality, so I feel behind before I got started.  If I can learn just a few new words or understand a few nuances in each class I think it should be considered a successful class.

The highlight of Monday though was getting to talk to not one, but two people on Skype.  A big shout-out to my friend Sally for letting me interrupt her Sunday night and chat.  I also caught my niece on the computer and she filled me in on her life.  It made my day!

Tuesday EBean and I took advantage of a slow morning and did some cooking.  We made some frozen banana bites and granola bars.  EBean loved licking the spoon and "cleaning" the dishes!

Wednesday afternoon I had a meeting with the volunteer coordinator for the local orphanage.  I let EBean stay with the Ayi and play Polly Pockets and I took the opportunity to attend the meeting by myself.  I turned on my iPod, opened up my umbrella (here it's used to block out the sun too, not just the rain), and sang to myself all the way to Starbucks.  I'm sure I looked (and sounded) like a crazy person, but it was fun.

Thursday started off great.  EBean had her first day of preschool.  She was very excited to pack a backpack, each lunch at school and be just like her big sister. I decided to enjoy my morning without children at Starbucks reading and working on the computer.  I also managed to schedule a Chinese foot massage that everyone talks about around here.  It was great! I didn't fall asleep like many people do, but I did get very close.

I picked up EBean from school and the first thing she said to me was, "I play by myself" in a very defiant tone.  A little socialization might not hurt.  I also chuckled as she ran down the sidewalk because the whole back side of her leg was plastered with rice.  Any guesses as to what she had for lunch?

I just knew that EBean would be so tired from playing at school that she would take a fantastic nap for me.  Unfortunately I misjudged her and she was up all afternoon.  During that time I was also fielding emails from the moving company.  Our sea shipment arrived in Shanghai on August 4th and finally made it through customs last week.  The company wanted to deliver our things on Friday, but that was going to be a very busy day for us.  Emails were traded and I suggested Saturday when Jamie would be home and we could devote the entire day to it.  It took some special approval, but we were able to schedule a weekend delivery.

EBean and I walked to the bus stop and picked up LBean.  I decided we'd turn the day around by stopping at the little grocery store in our apartment compound and pick up a treat.  As we were walking home we decided to playground hop and stop at each playground on the way home.  I read LBean's school/home journal from her teacher while we were at the first playground and found out that he needed volunteers on Fridays, the same day I was scheduled to volunteer at the orphanage, arggh!

We moved onto the next playground and there it happened.  I looked away for a moment and it happened in an instant.  LBean was on the monkey bars, I turned away to look at EBean and I looked back when I heard a loud thud.  LBean had done a belly flop off the monkey bars.  I thought she'd just knocked the wind out of her, but when I pulled her up there was blood everywhere.  I checked her mouth and it was fine, it was actually coming from underneath her chin.  She was crying and I started crying too.  In that instant China stopped just being a fun adventure and life became serious again.  What should I do?  Where do I need to take her?  I called a friend who lived in the apartment next to the playground.  She wasn't home, but they were across the street at the pool and she'd send her husband over.  I had my hand over LBean's bleeding chin, but blood was running down my arm and all over her school uniform.  I was so thankful that an Ayi of a little girl that sits next to LBean on the bus was close by and she kept handing me wet wipes.  The Ayi only speaks Chinese, so I wasn't able to fully communicate my thankfulness, but I hope that my face and gestures communicated it clearly.

After we decided that LBean didn't need stitches was headed for home.  I texted Jamie, "LBean fell off the monkey bars, mommy crying."  He texted back that he would be home as soon as possible.  It was such a cruddy day that I didn't even want to order Sherpa's.  Too many decisions to make on what to order and I wasn't willing to wait for delivery.  After baths (and two potty accidents), supper, and school work, we all gave up and went to bed.  I knew that a China day would happen eventually, but this was a doozy.

Thankfully Friday was a much better day, I'm mean really, how could it not?  EBean had preschool and I had my first photography class.  I am finally learning how to use Jamie's SLR camera.  The blog will certainly benefit from my improved photography skills!  Jamie and I spent date night at a reception at LBean's school and dinner out.

Saturday was a special day for us.  Our sea shipment finally arrived!  I was able to nap in my own bed and it was amazing!  We had a combination of 187 boxes and pieces of furniture delivered.  It took three hours to bring everything up in the elevator, but it's going to take a whole lot longer to get everything put away.  The Sherpa man stopped by our apartment twice and I think I'm going to look into getting shirts made that say "I heart Sherpa".  I was very interested in what the girls gravitated to first when we were unpacking.  EBean really wanted the little red rocking chair unwrapped and both girls dove into the tub of baby toys I had brought along.

The most memorable part of Sunday was unfortunately a very small accident EBean had.  She was happily skipping along towards the Mexican restaurant with LBean and a friend when she fell.  Since she had on tights it stopped her from sliding on her knees and made her hit her chin on the sidewalk.  For part of the day both my girls had bandaids on their banged up chins.  Sheesh, what a week and enough pain for us all!

Ancient Street

Almost two weeks ago our family visited "Ancient Street" here in Suzhou.  Jamie and I had visited it during our house-finding trip and we were really excited to take the girls with us this time.  What surprised me the most was how much I enjoyed it again.  I thought I might cross it off my list of things to do and then move on, but I really enjoyed it and could see myself going back again and again.

This time we took a boat ride along the canals and got to see a part of Suzhou that was new to us.  Suzhou has been called the Venice of the East with all of its waterways and canals.  And, just like Venice, the water is used for laundry, cleaning, transportation, garbage removal, and probably few other things too.

To me, Ancient Street is my Chinese Galena (as in Galena, Illinois).  It has history, character, shopping, and dining, but with the flair that is China.  In talking with my language teacher, she insisted that I go back at night and see the lights and lanterns.

Looking down one of the side streets.

 

We purchased one of these bracelets made
of fresh fragrant flowers for each
one of the girls. 

Standing on one of the old stone bridges.

At the base of one of the bridges.

At the start of the boat ride.  We could choose hand powered
or motor powered...we went with the motorized option.

Hand powered!

Look at the detail work, amazing!

A recently updated home.  Nicely painted and the far right
door was made of copper.

Laundry day and you can see her mop off to the left.

Everyone hangs their laundry out of their apartments to dry.

Using the pole to hang clothes up.

Love this home with the wood shutters and sitting right on the water.

More women doing laundry and using a paddle for their wash.

Boat dock along the canal.

Notice the handmade brooms leaning against the side of the house?
You can spot those all over China.

I love this photo.  Who says you need a dirt and a
yard to plant a garden? 

Enjoying some ice cream after the boat ride.

A new umbrella.  This one is made of fabric,
so it will be great for keeping the sun off EBean's face.

What's That? Wednesday 09/07/11

The "ming pian" (pronounced ming pee-in) is essential to life in China.  A ming pian is a business card or a person's name card.  In a country where the citizens don't all speak the same dialect, Westerners can't read the Chinese characters, and businesses and restaurants are here today, but gone tomorrow, ming pians are a life-saver.

Any time I go to a store or restaurant, or meet a new person, I try to ask for a ming pian.  I keep all of my cards in a flip book and then I can show the card to my driver or a taxi driver and off we go.  In fact, the local expat association has their own set of "taxi cards" printed, color-coded, and arranged on a ring.  I always have those in my purse and use them often.  Everything is grouped together by topic such as restaurants, hotels, shopping, medical, etc.

There is a polite way to accept a ming pian from someone.  When presented with a business card, the receiver should take the card with both hands, thumbs on top of the card.

Ming pians are so useful that I am having some made for myself from a local printing company.  It really is such a smart idea and I think I might continue using them after we return to the States.

What's That? Wednesday 8/31/2011

I'm going to try a "thematic" post for Wednesdays.  I'll identify something here in China, usually something that wouldn't make into a normal weekly post, and teach you a little more about life here.

The first week is a shout-out to this...

Any guesses as to what this is?  This fruit is called dragon fruit.  The outside does look like large pink scales, so I can see how it got its name.  It is a very mild fruit with very little taste, but Jamie and I still enjoy it (the girls do not like it).  The little black seed remind me of kiwi seeds, but the texture is softer than that of a kiwi and certainly not sour tasting.

My challenge to our family is to try a new fruit every time I go to the wet market to buy fruits and vegetables.  So far I have discovered that my girls love the mini purple plums.  Love them!

Stay tuned for next week's "What's That? Wednesday."

Small Triumphs

With LBean's start to school, the rest of last week was spent experiencing some small triumphs.  Doing things that are much easier to accomplish with one child who will willingly ride in a stroller.  Tuesday morning I learned the first rule of kindergarten, tell your mom you need something for class as you're leaving for school.  LBean informed me that she needed to have a hat to go outside for recess to protect her face from the sun.  If we had already received our sea shipment with the rest of our household goods, this would have been an easy task.  But...I digress.  Finding a hat for LBean became my mission for Tuesday.

I texted a few friends here and they agreed that Decathlon, a sporting goods store would be the best place to look.  I called one of those friends and she graciously agreed to hop in a taxi, with her two kids and ride with me to Auchan to look for a hat.  Decathlon was so much fun.  It has a wide range of things such as bikes, roller blades, swimming gear, sporting clothes, fleece clothing, exercise equipment, etc.  We were able to find two hats to fulfill LBean's request...even a blue one, her favorite color.  I managed to find a few things for myself.  After wandering around the store, it became apparent that since we've moved here I've been craving two things: chocolate and "comfy clothes".  I'm happy to say that I found a few new pairs of "comfy clothes" (the stretchy kind of cloths you lounge around in on the weekend) and EBean and I already fulfilled the chocolate craving by having not one, but two brownies for snack time that morning.  Mmmmm!

My friend and I then decided to celebrate our successful shopping trip by taking our girls out to lunch.  I love turning an errand into an all-out event.

Wednesday was a flurry of activity at our apartment.  One of the pieces of furniture that the landlord purchased for apartment (a wardrobe for the girls' room) had arrived.  Our realtor came over to help oversee the delivery and during her time here people just kept showing up!  The furniture guys carried in the wardrobe in pieces and assembled it.  Our Ayi mentioned to our realtor that the bolt on the guest-bathroom toilet was broken, so a service man was called.  I needed to have 2 more jugs of drinking water delivered, and it's our realtor who calls that man.  While our realtor and I were putting together lamps that our landlord had purchased for the apartment, another delivery came.  The food that I had ordered from Shanghai (free delivery over 300 RMB, ~$50) came, even though I was pretty sure that I had selected the 5 pm-11 pm delivery time slot.  It actually worked in my favor, but I am so glad that I was home and my Australian beef didn't sit outside my front door all day.

We also had a service guy from the apartment complex stop by because apparently there is water leaking from our pipes underneath the floor below the washing machine into the apartment below.  It started doing it before we moved in, but it needs to be fixed, but our landlord doesn't want to pay to fix it since it isn't affecting her apartment, yet.  Some of the floors above us are having the same trouble, so I fully expect it to happen to us at some point. While our realtor was here I also had her talk to our Ayi about our Friday night date nights and that it is okay to stop doing housework and play with our girls.  Her job is to care for them and spend time with them.

What started Wednesday morning, turned into an all-day event.  To fix the bolt on the toilet seat, the entire toilet had to be taken off of the floor since the bolt was screwed in from underneath the toilet.  As EBean and I were having lunch we heard an extremely loud crash and she looked at me and said,"it broken".  I told to go and take a look, sure enough the ceramic toilet had tipped over onto the tile floor and shattered.  When Jamie got home that day I told him that someone in our apartment had a "China day" but thank goodness it wasn't one of us!

Wednesday night we took a visiting Big Yellow employee out to dinner.  The food was so-so, but the atmosphere was great and the chocolate crepes were amazing!

It was a rainy Thursday for us and I had planned to stay home again with EBean.  I got an unexpected text from Jamie saying that our driver was in Suzhou because he was having routine service done on the van and wondered if I would like to use the car when it was done.  Absolutely!  I jumped in the shower and was ready to go.  It was nice to spend a few hours wandering around the mall and grabbing lunch with EBean.  Because it was raining, the mall wasn't crowded and it was very peaceful.  I took the time to stroll through some clothing stores that normally I wouldn't be able to because LBean would think that it was "boring".

Friday morning was my last small triumph of the week.  I really wanted to conquer my initial fear of using the bus.  When I had two girls during the day, it was too much for me to think about.  But, with just EBean I was willing to give it a shot.  We were headed across the lake to a friend's apartment for a playdate, which is pretty much a straight shot.  I figured out two buses that I thought might get me there and told myself if the bus turned a different direction, I'd just get off and grab a taxi.  Last week I learned that if there is a snowflake picture on the bus marquee that it is supposed to be air conditioned.  The cost for those buses is 2 RMB, 1RMB for the others.  Each bus stop has a digital sign that lists the buses scheduled to stop there, then some Chinese characters, and finally the estimated number of minutes until the next arrival.  Once our bus arrived, Ebean and I hopped on (took me a moment to figure out where to put the money) and an older woman immediately started calling out to EBean and gesturing for her to sit on her lap.  I was happy to let EBean sit with her if she wanted to, and she did.  I had the diaper bag and the stroller slung over my back, so having EBean sit on a different lap (other than mine) sounded like a good idea to me.  Just a few stops down the road (push the red button to request to get off) and we were there.  We had a great morning with our friends and we road the bus back to our apartment.  This time EBean sat on the lap of a elderly Chinese man.  She was very content to have a place to sit, I'm so proud of her.

It's my hope that I can figure out the bus system well enough to use it for those short trips to the grocery store or on a day that I want a small adventure with the girls (and we don't have a tight schedule).  With my husband's company we chose the option of not sharing our van with another family.  That means the company will pay for the van and the driver, but we are responsible for the gas and tolls.  To take Jamie to work, it's over 20 miles and a few tolls.  If I need the driver, he has to take Jamie to Wuxi, drive back and take care of me and then drive back to Wuxi to bring Jamie home.  I'd like to use our driver for big trips to the grocery store, driving out to Lilly's school and the orphanage and use taxis and the bus for the little trips.  I'll report back in a few months and see what we've decided.

Friday night was date night!  We tried a different place for massages and they were fantastic.  The atmosphere was nice, you walk on stepping stones placed in water to get to the massage rooms, and the massages were so good.  At one point I had to stop myself from drooling through the little head piece that you look down when you're on your stomach.  Afterwards we walked up and down Singa Plaza stopping at the international foods store for craisins, chocolate chips & shredded wheat, the bread shop for pastries for Saturday morning breakfast, and then had dinner outside at Simon's.  I had Thai noodles and Jamie had a sweet and sour pork that was amazing, almost BBQ-ish.

I am happy to report that both girls were asleep when we got home and our Ayi was not exhausted either.  I don't know why I had assumed the previous week that our Ayi would know just to repeat what she had done the previous week and put them down to bed.  It's just like with your spouse, he/she can't read your mind and you need to clearly state your expectations so there is no room for confusion.

The only unexpected result from date night...apparently the massage was a bit more vigorous than I am used to?! (My editor says, please note the nice pair of bruises between my shoulder blades).

The Start of Something Good

Monday was LBean's first day of Kindergarten.  I hope that she enjoys learning as much as her mom & dad do.  She laid out all of her clothes the night before and made me braid her wet hair so she would have wavy hair for her pony tails.  I read her The Kissing Hand (a children's story about a little raccoon that goes to school & how his mother comforts him), which I really think is really about helping the moms get ready to send a child off to school.

Nothing like sausage and eggs to fill up on the first day.

Little Sister was pretty happy too!

We were ready early so we could take lots of pictures and make a family event out of it.  Usually LBean will get on the bus at 7:30 in the morning in front of our apartment complex, but on her first day she was to arrive between 9:15-10:00.  Our driver took the whole family to Dulwich.

Posing in our entryway, in front of the shoe cabinet,
and waiting for the elevator.

Mom & LBean outside of our apartment building.

Dad with his big girls.

I wonder what she's thinking about?

Getting ready to paint in LBean's class.  Last look
for mom before leaving.

This week's lunch choices.

There were no tears from anyone and life moved on very quickly.  EBean and I rode with Jamie to Wuxi to drop him off at work.  We had a brief tour of Jamie's office and then EBean and I headed to Metro to load up on sugar, Diet Pepsi, snacks, cereal, etc.

EBean asked to pick up LBean from school when we were done with our shopping, so I had to explain that her sister would not be home until after school.  This took some convincing, but EBean figured it out.  After rest time (I try not to call it "nap time", that gets all kinds of negative reactions from my kids), EBean and I packed snacks for everyone and we walked to the bus stop to pick up her bis sister.

Now, to get up and repeat the process all over again for oh, about another 13 years!