Our Formal Tea Service

While exploring (apparently the wrong area) I came upon this cute little place that could have been a tea shop or a restaurant…I’m illiterate here so it really could have been anything.  I saw tea settings on the tables and a menu area...I am getting good at guessing!  I wanted to go there so I drug Adam there for dinner (I figured even if it was a tea place they had to serve some sort of food).  There was a girl that spoke English and told us they only served tea.  We stayed anyway and it ended up being really cool!  The girl taught us the proper way to serve tea and the Chinese name for each tool she used.  She liked being able to practice her English and she taught us lots of phrases in Chinese.  We exchanged phone numbers (she put her name in Chinese Characters in my phone)…so we now have another friend in the country that we can talk to! 

Talking to her makes me look at my own education and my lack of ability to speak any other language.  I am not the kind of person that has regrets but I am almost embarrassed not that I don’t know how to speak Chinese (I mean who could have told me as a freshman in high school that I should learn Chinese) but that I didn’t put forth enough effort to even learn Spanish.  Here we are foreigners in China and the only way we can speak to people is if they speak our language.  We have a tutor that will start next week sometime but I don’t want to be “that American” that is unwilling to learn other cultures or other languages because everyone should learn English.  I love that most of the younger Chinese people (under 30) know some English and when they see Adam and I they want to talk to us to practice.

Looks Like I Pulled A Lindsay!

On the bus trip home (so excited we survived a bus trip and ended up in the correct city)…I was telling Adam about all the things I discovered that were near our new home.  Adam gave me a look and said “are you sure you were at the right place…or did you go to the LiRi Mall near West Lake?” 

Remembering all the beautiful pictures I took of the lake and recalling that I didn’t know our home was so close to the lake…it was the wrong place.  Apparently there are 2 LiRi Malls and we will be living by the other one!

Good News:  I wasn’t crazy…there is a coffee place (maybe) and a ton more restaurants!

More Good News: I have a new area to explore!

No wonder I couldn’t find the apartment complex!  I did have a great day though and don’t consider it a total failure…I did get some great pictures!

Americans in China

Our friends are adopting their third child from china, Darcy, she is 2 and full of spunk!  They sure do have their hands full, but they sure will have loads of fun with their new addition…not to mention the cuties they already have! 

Thinking a little girl meeting more strangers after already experiencing a very new life would be nervous I brought a bribe!  Like a good kindergarten teacher I brought candy.  It was totally unnecessary!  Kylie and Caleb came running so Darcy came as well and quickly embraced me in the best 4 way hug I have ever had.  I gave the children the candy anyway…sorry Kristy and Ian!
Aren’t they a cute family!  I love that everyone is smiling…and that Caleb has a purple fruit snack hanging out of his mouth.

We had a blast walking through the park…Kylie, big girl as she is was a trooper and walked pretty much the whole way, taking a break only to ride on Adam’s shoulders.

Caleb slept through the whole park…little did he know the excitement he was missing as he was being carried in the stroller up and down millions (no not exaggerating…ok maybe a little) of stairs.

 
Darcy took turns being held, riding the stroller (I think she just secretly wanted to play with Caleb’s hair), riding on shoulders, and dancing.

It was really hard to believe Darcy hasn’t been a part of the family forever!

I had to include this picture…which is my new favorite picture of all!

"You're gonna make it after all"

For those of you that know me well know I love all the old sitcoms and old musicals.  I LOVE the show Mary Tyler Moore and felt that I can relate my new experience to Mary’s. 

Adam went into work today and I took the opportunity to try to make it on my own in our new neighborhood.  Before I left my room I checked for the hotel card and my cash and my phone about 4 times…I had that anxious/excited/nervous feeling.  I saw a taxi outside, gave him a sheet of paper with LiRi written in Chinese and my adventure began.  I am getting used to the driving “rules” here in Huizhou…do whatever you need to in order to get where you want to go…but I still got nervous when my taxi driver honked at 2 old ladies who were stranded in the middle of the road.   “How dare these ladies keep me from getting to my destination in record time?!?”  When the driver dropped me off I like the little old ladies had to get myself across the street…my goal…don’t get hit by a car, a bus, a bike, a motor scooter, or a cart!
While driving in the area I noticed a cute little coffee shop near the apartments and planned on having breakfast there before exploring the mall, the streets outside our new apartment and finding somewhere for lunch.  I searched for an hour before I gave up! 

I realized that our new place was close to walk street (where we have spent many nights)…its like walking in an outdoor mall with loud music and lots of cool lights.  I walked through the mall and realized 2 things…1. Don’t touch if you don’t want the sales girl to expect you to buy…2.  If you do touch walk away quickly or you will be trapped in a conversation with someone who you don’t understand and who doesn’t understand you.  Touching the pink floral comforter to see how soft it was a huge mistake.  I tried to mention that I had a husband and he wouldn’t like it, she thought I wanted two sets of sheets.  I said that I wanted to look around and used my best miming technique to show her that I didn’t want to buy today…that I was just looking (defiantly a phrase I will learn before shopping again).  She took out a notebook with all different designs and pointed out each floral design they carried.  I don’t know how it finally happened but I got out of there without a comforter that I hated!

I didn’t realize that we were so close to the lake and I unfortunately didn’t bring my nice camera but my little pink camera did the trick!  I will never get used to seeing people in long pants, sweaters and jackets when it is over 75 degrees.  

This sure did cool me off!  One thing I can get used to…fresh fruit year round at every meal…this was the freshest smoothie I ever tasted!

Feeling more like Mary then ever I wanted to walk to the center of the street and throw my sunglasses in the air (I didn’t have a hat), can you imagine if I had to explain that to the police as they take me to the Chinese psych. ward?  “but I am just like Mary!”

What A Relaxing Massage

After feeling stressed and overwhelmed from, well moving to China, and the frustrations of trying to look for a home in Huizhou, we decided we needed to relax, so we took advantage of the 30% off we get at the hotel spa and we each got a massage. 

The hotel spa is the second floor…basically guest rooms where they put a massage table next to the bed.  We were given very cute little outfits to wear (the lady laughed when she saw Adam…I wish I had pictures), Adam took the bed and I took the massage table.  The girls walked in (maybe 90 lb’s a piece and had soft sweet voices).  I was laying there as she is taking out her frustrations on my back wanting to scream and wondering if Adam was going through the same misery.  Being a people pleaser I chose to suffer through trying to hide the pain on my face as she throws my head from side to side.  Adam not wanting to be rude and also not wanting any more pain tried to show all the pain on his face in hopes that she would notice and stop.  An hour and a half later, we stumbled back to our room.

Adam didn’t think that I should post this picture but I just wanted to show the result of our massage.  This is my back and thigh.  Notice the black and blue finger prints.

Adam’s back felt raw and sunburned after his masseuse rubbed without any lotion. 

I think we need a massage after our massage.

Night Out In Huizhou

After day 1 of looking for an apartment we were tired but ready to do something.  We had gone to the Jusco for the past two nights and decided to try out Walk Street.  I also was a little nervous about food again after seeing a cooked chicken with it’s head still on sitting right in front of me on the lunch table and needed something familiar.  So I found a place that served the kind of chicken I like:

Yummmmm

The walk street was very cool and we made our first Huizhou purchase here…a couple bootleg DVD’s, some Chinese candy that we felt comfortable with, and some packets of Lipton “milk tea” (milk tea is a popular drink her…the cappuccino of the east).

"Foreign people like it here!"

We were sitting at a Café…drinking coffee with Re-alta and Joanna discussing our housing options when Joanna says…”Foreign People like it here, you would like it here”.  We just said OK and kept looking through the menu, to show her that yes we would like it here.  She then said “look!  Foreign people like it here!”  I turned around and sure enough there were three white people sitting in a booth behind us.  I guess if they happened to eat lunch there that day then all foreign people must like it there.  This happened another time as we were looking at an apartment.  When we walked through a gate a white man walked out.  Joanna pointed out “look…other foreigners live here, you could have someone to talk to.” I chose not to mention that he may not actually speak English.  Come to think of it at one of the houses we looked at, the owner and Joanna were so excited that a French man lived next door and that we would have someone to talk to…I don’t speak French. 

Too Good To Be True

I am writing this the same day as the last two but felt we need to separate these events.  We met with the owner of the apartment and the first thing we (well they) did was discuss what changes needed to be made.  I mentioned that we wanted the wooden tub taken away, the heated floor mat taken away (the last residents were Korean and apparently they like to sit on the floor), we wanted the sofa’s changed to something with color and we wanted the netting taken off the balcony so we could enjoy the view.  Yes, they would take away the tub, No, they would not take away the floor mat (we decided it was OK because the floor was ceramic and we may want to use it to warm the place up for the winter) No, they wouldn’t change the sofas and No, the netting was for safety (although the majority of apartments didn’t have them).  The sofas are white leather with wooden detailing on the side, sitting on a white ceramic wall with white walls and pale yellow curtains as a background.  We said OK…you have no idea how hard it has been to talk to people and try to explain what you want, I don’t know if I said OK because I was tired of not having people understand me or tired of the frustration of not getting Joanna and Re-alta to get why needed to see other places or the fact that we were soooooo ready to be done with house hunting.  We spent almost two hours listening to who knows what as they negotiate the contract.  All the while I sat there looking at the furniture thinking I don’t know if throw pillows and blankets are going to cut it for me, and wondering what they were saying about the place we would live for the next year or so.  We left and came back to the hotel room and after some discussion (the first time we have had a chance to sit and talk about everything) we decided we needed to see other apartments in the same complex, with different furniture and curtains and maybe one that didn’t have a safety net that obstructs our view. 

The last thing I wanted to do was deal with Re-alta (who never seemed happy to show us around) and Joanna (who really never understood questions or concerns we had).  I know we are in a foreign country and that we should get used to things being frustrating…but this is the first home Adam and I choose together…it won’t just be our temporary apartment…it will be our home for our stay in China.  We needed to feel at home there.  We have been living in-between lives for a long time, not being able to use our wedding gifts and not being able to get things for my house or his house that would make either feel like our house because we were getting ready to move to China and thought it would be silly to get things that just needed to be stored.

Adam talked to friends at work that will see if they can help us find other apartment in the same complex.  Cree is also going to hold the contract until we ask them to sign it.
Two days later we were at dinner with people who knew Huizhou well and they knew people at the complex that were paying almost half of what our contract was for.  They told us that it sounded like the re-alta was working with his friends who were all going to cash in on our naiveté.  I am so glad I listened to my gut!  We will find a different realtor and take someone from Cree with us to make sure there isn’t anything shady going on.  Who knows we may end up with that apartment and new furniture or we may end up with a better place in the same complex (we saw the apartment on the 5^th floor of 26 in the 17^th building…so I am confident there is something else available).

It's a God Thing

After making our decision we walked around the mall at the city center.  It was very interesting…I can’t wait to document that later.  We stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut (Joanna and Re-alta picked it…they can’t get over the fact that we are Americans and will only like American things).  Pizza hut was actually different, a lot of the piz-a (Chinese for pizza…I love the translations that are based on pronunciation)  looked really good!

While at lunch I remembered the e-mail I got from an Australian woman who lives in Huizhou with her husband, she put the name of the apartment where they live.  It was the same place that we had just chosen.  She loves it there!  She said they also had friends who live in Park Royal (Apartment #2) and they have trouble getting taxi’s and they don’t have many neighbors, where as they are able to get taxi’s within five min. at any point of the day.

We headed off to Re-alta’s office to collect the contract and to kill time before we met with the owner for negations (or so we thought).  We actually stopped in front of a school “Thames Language School” a place I found online and that was recommended to Adam on his last visit.  We went inside and met with the headmistress who was British.  She said they weren’t looking for anyone now but they did have a new teacher in their new kindergarten at their other location (which happens to be right next door from our new apartment) who could use some volunteers.  She also mentioned that there was a bar just down the street and if we ever wanted to get away from the whole “China thing” she said after hours there are always members of the language school (that speak English) hanging out…so Adam got excited as well!

House Hunters International

We saw 10 places yesterday (4 houses and 6 apartments)…talk about overwhelming!!!  Today we saw one more located near the city center (the most developed area).

We started the day meeting Joanna and the realtor (Joanna introduced him as re-alta…and for the first half of the day I thought that was his name…after lunch I realized she was just calling him realtor).  Joanna was adamant about the houses because they were “very big” and “really nice” although they were far from anywhere to eat or shop or hang out.  Three out of the four homes were three stories and had four bedrooms.  We loved one of the four (I didn’t take pictures because the owner was there and I didn’t want to be rude) but they were all basically the same, the only thing changing was the furniture.  I took pictures of the empty one.  I think she pushed us toward the house because she knows that Americans like to live in houses and she was trying to make us feel at home. 

On a side note…the people in China are very hospitable; there was an older lady in one of the houses who was awesome!  She saw me slip a little (in China they must clean their ceramic floors by dumping buckets of water on them…I wore slippery shoes and that is not a good combo when searching for a home) so this old lady who was half my size took it upon herself to support me as we walked through the entire house.  Although we couldn’t understand each other I feel like we formed a bond.  She caught me looking at a family portrait and was so excited, she pointed out each person and I just new she understood me when I told her it was a beautiful family.  When we left her home she handed us each a handful of Chinese New Year Fruit (oranges?). 

Then we saw an apartment in the same community, which was considered “western style” it had an open floor plan and large furniture.  We liked it but it was on the third floor and it was all I could do to not slip down them all and bust my head open…either wear only shoes with traction or find another place.

After eating a very interesting lunch (there was a chicken with a head involved, and I do believe I swallowed part of the duck I should have…don’t worry everything else was great…I’m sure the chicken tasted fine but I couldn’t tell you), we went to the first apartment.  We like this location because it was near a shopping area where we could get groceries and go to eat, however it was still pretty far from the city center.

Next we saw two apartments in the same community; they both included western style décor and were in an up and coming part of town.  The plus is the community was beautiful…it’s almost like living in a park and the minus is there isn’t much in the area YET.  

Last we saw two apartments from yesterday were near the Jusco which is another shopping area (the one we went to in our first day in Huizhou)…they weren’t worth taking pictures of.  The furniture was cheap, the elevator was scary, the owner was creepy and there were holes in the wall (which we later found out were to hook up the air conditioner).  This place was 1/3 of our budget but they showed it to us anyway because we wanted to be near a shopping area.

Today Joanna and the realtor (re-alta) sat us down and told us that we wouldn’t be seeing any more apartments and there weren’t any good ones in the city center anyway.  We were pretty frustrated at this point because it was like pulling teeth to get them to agree to show is things near the city center in the first place.  We kept saying that we understand that the buildings were older and that the apartments weren’t as nice but we still wanted to see them before making a decision. 

Adam called one of his co-workers (who has lived in Huizhou for 20 years and has been telling Adam that we need to live near the city center) and we got the name of an apartment complex in the city center and we had Joanna force Re-alta to set something up for us.  In the meantime another one of Adam’s coworkers (who just moved his family from Raleigh to Hong Kong) called and told Adam that they felt forced to make a decision and that no matter what we shouldn’t make a decision today or until they show us everything…he said that Cree would have no problems paying for another day of orientations if we really wanted it.

Re-alta set something up at the suggested building…which like Joanna said was old and dingy.  As soon as the driver dropped us off in the area I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable alone there for a while.  I have never been a city girl and right across the streets were, what I would consider, slums.  I pictured living somewhere glamorous over the shops or something like that.  Both Joanna and Re-alta insisted that there was nothing else in the city center (closer to somewhere nicer).

These are the final 3 Choices:

Apartment #1 –

Pros: full sized refrigerator, treadmill, 2 really nice flat screen TV’s, near a shopping center that is already open, nice community with great security, closets in every room, modern bathrooms and kitchen appliances

Cons: need to drive to city center, not too close to Jusco, the furniture was ugly and lacked color

Apartment #2 –

Pros: nice furniture, wood floors, western style, wood cabanets in the kitchen, 2 master bedrooms, double sink in bathroom, office and 3 other bedrooms, walk in closet, 5 min drive to Jusco, nice garden feel in community, great security, closest to city center and walk street

Cons: nothing to walk to (yet)

House #4 –

Pros: huge, backyard opens to a stream, French guy lives next door and may speak English, nice gardens and ponds, very nice TV

Cons: far from everything, squatty potty on first floor, older furniture and appliances

We chose Apartment 1 without any hesitation!  We knew we had the option to change any furniture or take out anything we wanted (Joanna insisted at each place we visited “If you don’t like anything you tell me and they change…no problem”).  I hated the living room furniture; but everything else was perfect!

Guang Xi

Being foreigners and Adam being a business man allows us to get star treatment…people bend over backwards to help us and offer us drinks and snacks wherever we go.  The driving company was right next to a Bank Of China branch, so the owner of the driving company brought us to the bank himself and brought us to the VIP line where we instantly got our (or should I say Adam’s…they don’t have joint accounts so Adam has full control!) bank account.  Our China teacher (that came to the house before we moved) explained Guangxi (guan-chi) and the important role it plays in Chinese culture.  Guangxi basically means relationship.  In China people will do anything to help you, it isn’t unusual for a coworker to carry your suitcases across the border or an owner or a driving company to pull strings and use his influence to help a couple Americans that he just met.  This is seen as (a) a way to show respect for another person and (b) good business sense.  The expectation is that we would now recommend that driving company to another or that CREE will use him again.  Personally I love that people are expected to help each other out and that relationships between individuals are important in all areas of life.

Orientation Day (sounds awful...but was wonderful)

Our guide for the next three days is Joanna Chow.  She is wonderful!  She isn’t actually from Huizhou but she came early to look around the city to help us with information.  She is willing to ask others any questions we have and help us with anything we need.  She gave us a tour of places where we could “buy shoes” and the grocery stores (pointed out the milk which to my dismay was in juice boxes on the shelf so I asked for cold milk…which thank goodness they had but it was very expensive).  She brought us to the hospital which was clean, quiet and not crowded AND they have translators on staff!  She took us to interview a driver…we thought we would get to pick from a few interviews but there was only one driver to “interview”.  Our driver has worked for a French business man and some Americans before, and he speaks some English.  Joanna also helped us open a bank account and buy a cell phone.  We came back to take a nap so that we could stay awake past 9:00 tonight.  One of Adam’s coworkers met us for dinner which was wonderful.  I did notice that the food today was much better then yesterday and I think it has to do with having people order for us. 

Is There Something On My Face?

We got to our hotel at around 11:00, explored the room a little and took a short nap.  We went to a mall that Adam knew of for lunch and to walk around a little bit.  The hotel manager speaks English so she told a Cab Driver where to take us and gave us this card for our return trip:

on the back there is a map!

We went to a place that had a picture menu for lunch.  We ordered by pointing to pictures on the wall…apparently we didn’t point well because we still needed help from the manager.  This was our first meal in China where we were served rice!  I thought I ordered chicken but I ordered fish…so Adam was nice enough to switch with me.

We walked around, which was an interesting experience.   People stared at us (at first I thought there was something on my face…nope just our height and white skin.  Adam even scared a little girl.  She was looking at him wide eyed and mouth opened like “What is that?” and when Adam noticed her he smiled at her and she ran away…it was hilarious!)  As we walked through the stores people were very nice, however they followed closely behind us as we walked up and down aisles.

The mall (Jusco) was everything I could want in a mall…grocery store…clothing…bumper cars…jewelry…electronics…dance dance revolution and McDonalds!  Not only was there everything but it was organized by floor.  Bottom floor: restaurants, and a grocery store Next floor: women’s clothing and jewelry.  Next Floor: men’s clothing and electronics, there was a shop called Playboy complete with the playboy bunny but it sold men’s athletic clothing (get it play…boy).  Next Floor: The kids area, there was a pretty cool play place, children’s music blasting through the toy store and the many clothing stores for children only, not only that but it included a teen section with an arcade complete with bumper cars! 

We are about to unpack and settle in before dinner!

Are We There Yet?

Talk about adventure.  We had to get all that luggage from the Hong Kong hotel to the Huizhou Hotel…doesn’t sound too complicated….right?  Well problem #1: the Hong Kong driver can’t cross the border into China and the Huizhou driver can’t cross the border into Hong Kong.  Which led us to Plan #1 take a taxi to the border, walk through customs then meet the driver on the other side…again…simple.  Which brings us to problem #2: We found out from the lady at the hotel that a driver can’t take us to the border and we would have to take the train, and problem #3: The train station wasn’t close.  Plan #2: Take a Taxi from the hotel to the train station and take the train to the border crossing then meet the driver.  Problem #4:

This was the taxi that took us to the hotel in Hong Kong

Adam called one of his coworkers that lives in Hong Kong to get his advice and he offered to take the trip with us and help with the luggage…THANK GOODNESS!  I felt bad at first and thought we could do it on our own…but Adam was right to worry!  We met YC at the train station, had a guy take our luggage on a cart to the inside of the train station…but he couldn’t help us beyond the ticket point. 

Think about it…two people that stand out anyway with all that luggage on the day that everyone goes back to work after Chinese New Year.  YC helped us buy tickets to the right destination (sigh of relief) and helped us find the right train (there were 2 trains the same color going to 2 different border crossings).  Once we were on the train all we had to do was make sure the bags didn’t roll away as the train shook.  Getting from the train through customs was a different story.  It wasn’t like any airport customs I have ever been to.  We had to walk pretty far before we got to the point where we show our passport… walk further to check your recent health history…walk more to the place where you put all your luggage through an x-ray machine…walk again to get your temperature taken…walk some more to turn in your entry paper…keep going where we met the driver!  He held up this sign…

Thank goodness he had a van! 
At this point we were totally overwhelmed and Adam was soaked with sweat! 

The long trip to Huizhou from the border was exactly what we needed!

I’m still not sure but I think our driver got lost…he kept stopping in the middle of the road (stopping traffic) to talk to people in a frustrated manor.  
WE MADE IT!

Hong Kong

Today our goal: STAY AWAKE!!!
First things first…CAFFINE!

We got to the local shopping area around 9:30 and nothing was open, and it wasn’t too crazy, we went to the top floor (there were 11) and worked our way down.  There were tons of electronic stores (cue Adam with the LED TV)

and lots of designer stores.  It was so cool to see all the Chinese New Year decorations still up.  We went to a place called Happy Face Noodle and it was delicious!  When we left the mall the streets were PACKED!  It was crazy! 

We took some time to stop at a park.  It must have been the place to be because we saw tons of women eating lunch on the ground. They laid out mats and plastic took off their shoes and sat and chatted.  The park had a fair going on and we had a great time.  We took lots of pictures and even tried a snack…it was not fried dough!

Then we took the subway (MTR) to Kowloon, another area of Hong Kong. 

At this point we were exhausted and didn’t want to do anything but sleep, but we kept on truckin’.  There aren’t many pictures from this part of the day…I was too tired to take out the camera.  We tried to stay out until 6:00 eat dinner then head back to the hotel…we thought 8:00 would be an appropriate bed time.  We made it until about 4:30 took the train back and went up to the hotel room (where I posted all the pictures and Adam struggled to stay awake).  We tried to get to a sushi place that we read about in our travel book but couldn’t find it; instead we ate at a Shanghinese restaurant.  It was delicious! 
We were asleep before 9:00! 

Planes Trains and Automobiles!

We began our adventure at the RDU airport…after paying extra four our overweight luggage and the extra suitcase we were ready to go!

We arrived in Toronto and had to pick up our luggage, not usually a big deal but we had a lot of luggage and we had to take it from one terminal to another.  This also required to walk, take an elevator up, walk some more, take another elevator up, take a train, take an elevator down, walk some more, take another elevator down and walk all the way to the end of the terminal and go through check in all over again.  Adam pushed the card with most of our luggage and carried his backpack; I wheeled the largest suitcase with the med. suitcase strapped to it and carried 2 bags.

The girl behind the counter said “why didn’t you just go through the transfer line?”  Only because everyone we asked sent us on our little mini trip through the Toronto airport.  Next time we dish out the cash for 2 carts! 

From there on out we were in business class so it was the best airplane trip I have ever been on.  As an employee kid who wasn’t supposed to ask for assistance or expect special treatment…this was wonderful.   We watched the Olympics in the lounge with all the free food and drink we could want.  Then we made our way to the front of the line (where the important people board…why should we have to wait like everyone else) and sat down in our lounge chairs watching everyone walk back to coach.  This, my friend, is the only way to fly!

We got to Hong Kong at 4:30 am

made our way through the airport and found a cab that was willing to take us and the luggage to the hotel!

One small huccup in an otherwise uneventful move...

Packing sure is a job! I packed starting on Wednesday night. Our bedroom became the “packing room”

I made sure to include all the essentials!

I continued packing in the morning (after finishing 3 loads of laundry) and…it didn’t fit! So I took everything out re-organized, rolled, and crammed (and even added a suitcase) until YAY I finally got everything in a suitcase.

With time to spare I decide to start clearing out the stuff my parents are taking and discovered this in the downstairs closet:

In my mind I had 2 options…leave our shoes (and my really cute bag) or find a bigger suitcase. I took my last trip to Target and got this:

Finally it fit!

Still SOOOOO Much To Do!

The movers did their part...now it's my turn! I tried to make sure everything went to the right place and everything was prepared to be packed. I have mixed feeling about having professionals move us, I hated that I sat there all day while they did all the work...but I love knowing that everything is packed well. I mean they individually wrapped empty DVD cases!

Here is the before:

Now everything is in nice neat boxes!

I will post 1 more time from the USA complete with pictures of an empty house (compliments of my new amazing camera).

No Longer the Newbie

Today Jodie and I met a new expat wife who just moved to Huizhou.  She and her husband have lived all over and she is used to being forced to put yourself out there to meet new people (something I have had to learn).  It’s survival of the fittest.  You have a choice to put yourself out there and talk to every foreigner you see walking down the street (which isn’t many) or you can sit inside and mope all day long.  I have to admit I have done the latter a couple times but we are all allowed our gloomy days.  It’s not to difficult to put yourself out there since every foreigner you see is in the same boat.  Anyway Judi e-mailed me through the Huizhou Expat group and we decided to go to lunch today.  Judi brought her Bulgarian friend.  We talked about what it is like living away from the familiar and they shared their experiences in other countries.  Judi talked about organizing a group of women when she lived in Hong Kong.  They went on trips together, they met for lunch, and they did volunteer work and went to the spa together.  She suggested planning activities like that for us…UM…OK!!!!!

The Final Countdown

It seems like yesterday we had a month to go, but now we have a week and 2 days! Next Friday at 6:30 pm we will be on a plane to Toronto, then after a small layover, we will be off to Hong Kong. I went from being excited about moving to a new country and experiencing the culture to being passionate about Chinese culture in just 12 hours of emersion class. I now have motivation to finish lesson 1 of the Rosetta Stone and read books about China (as if moving to China shouldn?t be enough of a motivation). We went through a brief history and saw different world events from a Chinese perspective. I have a feeling the next few days will feel sooooo long, but the next week will go by in no time.