YAY AMERICA

We are entertaining on Friday!!!!  I am having an American themed party in honor of Independence day for Adam’s Chinese co-workers.  I am making all sorts of great American summer food (blueberry cobbler, pigs in a blanket, hamburgers, potato salad, broccoli salad, smores and ice cream sandwiches) all of which I am certain the Chinese people won’t like.

On one hand I am really excited to really use my oven, to prepare familiar foods and to host a party, BUT the people pleaser in me can’t get over the fact that Chinese people typically don’t venture too far from Chinese food.  I made sure Adam warned everyone that we are having American food.   I went to Ikea to get some red, white and blue paper products.  I have star and stripe shaped ice cube trays.

I am going to make a center piece with apples cherries and blueberries.  I am making a mix of “YAY America” and popular American country/rock/pop songs.  It’s going to be like America threw up in China!

Date Day

We began our day by finishing up our season of Flash Forward (a show we were turned on to by accident and have been addicted to since).  Then we had tickets to see fencing in the Guangdong games which are being held right across the street from us.  Guangdong games are like mini Olympics.  The winners of each event in the Guangdong games move on to the national level games and the winners of that move on to the Olympics...so who knows we could have witnessed the next Olympic Champions in Fencing.  BTW…the Huizhou team moved on to the next level.  When the round was over we left to walk around in the city center but the flash flooding and torrential downpour forced us to change our plans.  We decided to go to Wal-Mart for dinner and a movie.  The movie times didn’t work with our plans so we went to the arcade instead…how fun is that!  We won a ton of tickets (which we tried to give to a little girl who didn’t like that we were standing so close so we gave them to another little girl’s father). Then we had a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and came home to watch the movie Date Night.  Our date night rule is that we can’t invite anyone else or make plans without the other on that night unless there are unavoidable circumstances or we both agree on the change.  Well we won’t have our date night next week because Adam has been invited (as one of 2 Cree representatives) by local government officials to dinner and the opening ceremony of the Guangdong games, talk about once in a lifetime opportunity.  

Home is Where My Husband Is

I honestly think moving to China was the best thing for us as a married couple, never mind that it is so good for Adam’s career and for my new career as a lifelong learner/homemaker.  Before we left I loved being married and we had such a great time together on our Wine Styles/P.F. Changs date nights.  As much as we miss our family and friends it has really pulled us together not having so many other people involved in our lives.  Before we left we were each stuck in our old lives and marriage wasn’t much different then dating, but now our lives have changed together and we are forced to depend on each other in ways we never had to in our settled lives in NC.  I no longer can call a friend or family member at 3:30 in the afternoon to vent or to celebrate or even just to talk…I mean unless you want me to call you at 3:30 in the morning your time.  I call Adam.  I have my new friends here and they are wonderful and I feel like I have known them forever. Having good friends is important, but not as important as building a relationship with my husband. 

The role of an ex-pat wife is to support her husband through thick and thin.  Adam has had to work late this week to make up for the week and a half off spent in the US and in airports.  This week my job was to not put pressure on him from the home front to be here for dinner, since he was getting pressure on the Cree side to get his work done (which if any of you are familiar with Cree they are a great company but I really don’t think anyone’s work will EVER be finished).  The Independent woman in me doesn’t like to admit that my role here is a supporter, but on the other hand I love that I have grown personally enough to not be leader of my own life. 

This entry is stemmed from my mom asking what it was like coming back to China after being in the US (the land of Target, clean streets, English speaking people, mattresses made with fiber and foam rather than plywood).  I hadn’t thought about it until she asked, but it was really nice to come home (to China).  It was wonderful to see people and to vacation in New York but I missed our little apartment with no hot water in the kitchen and no dryer for our clothes and no English channels on the TV.  Home is no longer defined as familiar it is defined by where Adam and I are living life together.  Even though we were married almost a year before we moved to Huizhou, Huizhou will always be the place where we began

And finally there were boxes…

I am almost finished putting away the last of our stuff and man is it wonderful to have our things here and I can’t wait to have them in place.  It was anything less the then a disaster, and after the nightmare of packing the stuff in the states I figured we would have some problems.  Aside from a few broken glasses, and a couple dents in our appliances the final stage of our move was a success.  I was even able to set aside some boxes for my 5 year old friend to build a rocket from. 

I haven't decided if it was a good idea or a bad idea to unpack EVERYTHING before putting stuff away

Washing every dish isn't easy without a dishwasher

You Can’t Cook Spaghetti Without a Pot…but apparently you can be too organized

Well I got everything done I had hoped to get done before the movers come.  I reorganized shelves, drawers and cabinets.  I cleared off everything, finally putting everything in its place, I unpacked and started laundry and I gathered all the stuff Jodie lent us and returned it to her (silverwear, a pot and pan, extra sheets, an iron, extra towels etc…).  I figured it would be no problem living without it for 1 evening.  I walked back from Jodie’s pretty proud of myself and looking forward to the spaghetti dinner I planned for the night…oops…it was then I realized we couldn’t really have any sort of dinner food without a pot and pan and we had already gone to KFC for lunch (do we really want to be THOSE people).  Adam and I both searched our pantry and fridge looking for something to eat.  We had a can of soup and popcorn, both of which we could cook in the micro.  PERFECT except after we nuked the soup we realized we didn’t have any spoons or forks or anything except serving spoons I had picked up at IKEA.  This was not the best dinner we had in China but it wasn’t actually our worst.

And our plan was so perfect...

Well in our original plan we were getting to Hong Kong on Sunday Night our time which would mean we could get back on our sleep schedule right away.  Adam was going to catch the van with the other Hong Kong employees on Monday morning and I was going to run some errands in Hong Kong then pick up our tailoring in Shenzhen, and explore in an effort to keep myself awake to totally get back on track.  Adam would get to work in time to present to the visitor to the Huizhou factory and be able to make it to the Grand Opening celebration on Monday night.  I would get back to our apartment and begin getting it ready for our stuff, I would be able to return Jodie’s stuff, un pack, do laundry, re organize cabinets and shelves, and be able to feel totally ready for whatever came at us!  Our shipment is coming on Thursday and we didn’t get home until Tuesday night (well 5:00 pm) where I fell asleep until 5:00 this morning .  Today is the dragon boat festival, a holiday in China where no one works, so Adam will get to work from home a bit and take it easy, hopefully and forget all the things that he has to do.  I will hopefully be able to get all the stuff done today so that I can be ready to unpack and take care of whatever “disaster” appears in the boxes.  In God’s plan we were able to see Amsterdam and have safe travels back home, Adam got to relax a bit more before jumping in with both feet, and I get an excuse to travel to Shenzhen next week.  Enough coulda, woulda shoulda…I have work to do!

AMSTERDAM…yeah we were surprised too

Well we decided to take the positive attitude approach of this situation…for me it was easy, I mean we get an extra trip on our already exciting unexpected trip.  I never in my wildest dreams figured we would get to go to Amsterdam during our stay in China.  We have a huge list of places that we want to see and Amsterdam didn’t make the “reasonable trip” list.  After spending some time doing research (thanks to our layover in Detroit) I found out that it is really easy to take the train from the airport to the “central” area (I used quotes because that is what the train stop is called I don’t know if it is actually the city center) where there are café’s and shops and museums.  For Adam the extra trip meant he missed a very important meeting and the Grand Opening ceremony of his new factory.  Thank goodness he is so easy going and loves adventure. 

We got off the plane got our boarding pass for the next plane (even though it was 9 hours later…I am already liking Amsterdam better then Detroit).  We put our carryon luggage in a locker and took the train into town.  We ate at a street café,

 we walked through town and took a bike taxi tour of the city.

  We (well me more than Adam) were getting tired and decided to head back to the airport about 3 hours before our flight.  We hung out in the business class lounge.  I know it sounds wonderful but to me the business class lounge takes away all the things I love about airports.  I mean it’s not as interesting to watch the people; there are no newsstands where you can read the latest Hollywood gossip for free and walk through the gadget shops playing with crazy gadgets you would never use.  Any way our time in Amsterdam was short but sweet.  PLUS WE GOT TO TRY OUT OUR NEW VIDEO CAMERA…VIDEO TO COME (we picked it up on our way to the airport in NC).

FREAKIN DETROIT!

We were lucky enough that the airline provided us with a hotel room and meal vouchers for our stay at in Detroit…or should I say in the Detroit airport.  This morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and watched news and TLC until check out time, when we took the shuttle to the airport.  We were relieves that we wouldn’t have to wait in line as it was 12:00 and our flight left in 9 hours.  The problem was the wonderful ladies at the desk (who have to deal with angry unsatisfied customers a lot) aren’t allowed to print out our boarding pass that early, which means we couldn’t get past security, which meant we sat in the baggage claim area next to a coffee counter until 3:50 (exactly 6 hours before our flight).  The Detroit airport has lots of great little news shops and wine stores and restaurants and bars and of course the wonderful lounge that business class passengers get to enjoy…all past security.  Adam talked to the travel agent and she found another flight that would take us to Chicago, then to LA, then to Taipei, then to Hong Kong and would get us there 4 hours earlier then our Amsterdam connection for a mere $3,000 a piece fee.  We opted out soooooooooooo looks like we are going to Amsterdam.   I have a huge problem with being patient and waiting (being patient with children and being patient in general are two totally different things) and I think I am already driving Adam crazy. 

NY…The Rest of the Story

I decided not to keep writing “and then, and then, and then” so here is the LIST of what we did for the rest of our trip.
SUNDAY:
               Went to the half price ticket booth where we only waited an hour (we got there a half hour before it opened).  On line we enjoyed our new favorite thing…Jamba Juice, for breakfast.  We bought tickets to see Promises Promises starring Sean Hayes (Will and Grace) and Kristen Chenowith (Pushing Daisies and made an appearance on GLEE).
               Had hot dogs from a vendor in front of one of the many Trump buildings.

               Walked central park
               Went through Central Park Zoo (which by the way is nothing like they portray on Madagascar)

               Saw our Matinee

               Ate dinner at Ray’s Pizza

               Walked 5^th Avenue (if anyone is an old movie fan like me I had the song from Easter Parade going through my head the WHOLE time)

Monday:

               Ate breakfast at a NY bagel place

              Took an elevator to the top of the Empire State

               Went to Macy’s

               Lunch at the Stage Deli (can’t beat the pickles…or the sandwiches)

               Took pictures at Rockefeller Center

               Took a tour of NBC studios

               Looked for Marylin Monroe’s subway grate (from 7 Year Itch)
               Walked through Bloomingdales
               Went to Crate and Barrel and the Container Store (I know it’s not really New Yorkie but it’s the container store!)
               Went to FAO Schwartz and played with toys!
               Dinner and Ice Cream at Serendipity (like the movie, and remember the Ice Cream scene of One Fine Day?)

               Back to the hotel to repack and rest

I do realize that it is totally sad that we went to bed early every night even though we are in our 20’s and in New York City…but we were worn out!

Our Unexpected Detour

We were cutting it close when we had to wait in line at the car rental return, and I was starting to freak out when the self check in didn’t work, then I started getting annoyed at the fact that all the Delta employees seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace when checking people in.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:40 and at 12:05 we were at the end of a very long line.  We ended up telling someone our flight was leaving soon and they put us at the front of the line (yes we were those people that usually annoy me).  It took us 20 min to get through security, so we were ready to board.  Unfortunately the plane hadn’t arrived to the gate yet…so EVERYONE was waiting, but the good news was the plane had just landed.  Normally a small delay (5-10 min) wouldn’t be a huge deal, but our international connecting flight was scheduled to board 10 min before our flight was scheduled to arrive and our flight was scheduled to leave only 40 min after we arrived.  Then comes the worst part…bad weather somewhere between NC and Detroit.  We sat on the runway waiting for clearance for about 10 min, then they announced that they were waiting for a reroute to Chicago, we waited for another 20 min.  They finally came on and announced that we were in fact going to Detroit…this was at about 2:00.  We arrived in Detroit at 3:45 only 10 min after our flight to Hong Kong left. 

Our rescheduled flight is as follows…

Leave Detroit at 9:50 on June 13 (TOMORROW NIGHT), fly to AMSTERDAM!  After a 9 hour layover, fly to Hong Kong.  We will arrive in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon Hong Kong time (3:30 am Wednesday your time).  Which puts us at about 3 ½ days of travel time.  There are no other flights out of anywhere in the US (by Delta…because we can’t switch without buying a whole new ticket) that will get us there sooner.

Goin' to Carolina in My Mind

Tuesday we got up early and caught our plane to NC.  We arrived in Durham 30 min early (I love the padded schedule), rented a car (I was so excited to drive my first rental car) and drove to Charlotte to visit with my family who were kind enough to take off work or drive down to visit with us.  My dad was able to secure the Water Boy so we spent the day on the Yacht before having dinner at PF Changs (you may think this is crazy but we needed some GOOD Chinese food).  Then like a college student I did laundry for free at Mom’s (you have no idea how nice it was to smell fresh clothes coming out of the dryer…it’s the small stuff that means sooooo much).

Wednesday we woke up early and left my parents at 7:00 am and I drove Adam to work. I spent the morning doing some damage at Target and Old Navy (gotta love America…I mean Target and Old Navy!!!).  Then met my old (not age but previous) Bible Study ladies for lunch back in Burlington where we seemed to have shut the place down.  I drove back to Raleigh to check into our hotel and pick Adam up from work where we drove back to Mebane for a delicious home cooked meal at his parents.  Not to mention seeing Kelly in his Tai Kwan Do uniform and the mini piano recital.

Thursday, like a mom I dropped Adam off at work again before going back to the shops to finish off my list, which means I got to take another trip to Target.  We had some authentic NC Mexican food (we tried in the Detroit airport and we ate Mexican in Thailand but trust me nothing beats good ol’ NC Mexican food).  Adam finished off the day at work and I walked the mall.  Then we had an opportunity to meet our Bible Study group for dinner, it’s crazy how fast the kids grew up.

Friday I got a much needed haircut then caught up with my SGE friends.  It’s crazy how it feels like we haven’t been gone at all (and thank you to our friends who are just as wonderful as we left them).  We got to have some NC BBQ for dinner with Adam’s family.  I am realizing that I write mostly about the foods we ate during the trip, but to me meals hold memories and we are going home with some great memories.

Thank you to everyone who let us disturb your lives for a few hours.

“Too Ugly to Prostitute…Too Stupid to Steal”

This quote doesn’t apply to Adam or I but it was a sign I saw a beggar in NC holding.  It amused me because it was totally honest and it inspired this entry.  I am not saying that I haven’t been honest in my stories but I am now ready to tell about my first impressions of Huizhou.  I couldn’t type it in the beginning because a) I thought I would cry, b) I knew it would get better and I didn’t want that to be the story people remember or think that I was unhappy and c) I wanted to make sure those feelings are totally gone. 
After our train trip from Hong Kong, a driver picked us up to take us to our new home.  The weather was overcast and a little rainy (I am one of those people whose mood is affected by the weather).  I saw dirty sidewalks, run down shacks and small farms (this is exactly what I was told Huizhou was not).  We got to our hotel (which was way out of town) and I hadn’t seen any of the scenes in the pictures Adam showed me.  I immediately thought I had made a mistake, and I KNEW there was no why I was going to be happy there, I was hoping we hadn’t totally closed the door to live in Hong Kong.  I guess all the things that I should have worried about before we left came at me in the 1 hour trip.  I had no worries before we left, I was ready, willing and excited about EVERYTHING!!!!  All of a sudden I decided that I was stupid to not have thought this through.  I had given up my dream job, a job that had defined me as a person.  I moved out of the home I bought on my own, which I always saw as a symbol of my independence and something that proved that I could do it on my own.  I left my car, it was in bad shape (melted crayon on the hanging bumper, the tacky antennae that spun when you turned, the clock that didn’t work) but I loved that car…I always said I would buy that car even if I had all the money in the world.  Not to mention I don’t have friends or family around and my only friend would have to work a lot.  Too much was running through my mind to cry or even to scream.  Then we walked into the dark, freezing hotel room and I told Adam I needed a nap.  The last thing I could do in that state was sleep so I laid there for 2 hours trying to talk myself into how exciting it was going to be and how ready I was and how I was the one so willing to live in Huizhou verses Hong Kong.  I felt like I was shaking inside the whole day as we went out for dinner (where I ordered something that I thought was something else) and walked through the store (where there were dead animals staring at me through the glass in the meat section).  Thankfully we got to take a tour of the city and I saw all the scenes that were familiar from Adam’s pictures (I really thought he took pictures of a different city) and the weather was AMAZING.  My feelings didn’t go away as quickly as they came and every once and a while over the next month I would have a break down and need to take a “nap”.  I can say all this now that our families and friends can see that we look good, we are healthy and they saw for ourselves how happy we truly are in China…to be honest I sometimes I think about how we will move back in a year and 3 months and I get sad.  Don’t worry mom we will come home…eventually ;)

“Expect it to be a disaster, if it’s anything less…Celebrate”

Quote from my friend Jodie on what to expect after the customs guys get a hold of our stuff.  She said things will be broken, disorganized and a total mess.  I am celebrating anyway because we have been without our stuff for almost 4 months.  I am happy to announce our stuff will be delivered on June 18!  All I can say is YAY!!!!

Start spreadin' the news...

I’m leavin’ today…I want to be a part of it New York, New York.  These vagabond shoes, they’re longing to stray right through the very heart of it New York, New York!  I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep, and find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap.
My little town blues, they are melting away, I’m gonna make a brand new start of it New York, New York. 
New York, New York!  I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps, and find I’m king of the hill, top of the list, head of the heap, king of the hill!  These little town blues are melting away, I want to make a brand new start of it New York, New York. 
And you bet baby, you know I’m gonna make it just about anywhere, come on, come through, NEW YORK!

And I Pity Any Girl Who Isn’t Me Tonight

West Side Story was AMAZING.  I already loved the movie and pretty much had the songs memorized but seeing it on stage was something that will probably not allow me to have the same appreciation for the movie.  In High School my mom brought me to London and I loved that trip…not because we saw West Minster Abbey or Kensington Palace (but trust me they are amazing) but because we went to the half price ticket booth every day and saw a show each night.  Adam doesn’t love the theater like I do and especially not musicals so he was great to allow me to choose West Side Story.  I just know I would be totally satisfied with our trip to NY if all we did was see shows.  I have seen shows in Charlotte and in London but this was my first Broadway show…and I am bringing home my first Playbill!

“You’re Lucky…There Are No Red Necks in NC!”

Well according to the street performer who entertained us while we waited to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  He would ask people where they are from and then sing a song about them.

This morning we woke up at 7:00 and were WIDE AWAKE…which was great it allowed us to get an early start.  We had breakfast at Dunkin Doughnuts and took the subway to battery park where we got our ferry tickets and waited in line.

We spent about an hour at the Statue of Liberty

then spent about an hour at Ellis Island before heading back to Manhattan.  We walked to ground zero (they were doing a lot of road construction around the area so we didn’t get too close, then had a delicious lunch at a NY bakery.  We took a taxi to the half price ticket booth and got tickets to West Side Story.  The ticket booth we went to was right at the South Street Sea Port which is a very cool area to hang around…unfortunately we were crashing and I was getting cranky.

After a beer on the street we went back to the hotel to take a rest before dinner and the show.

…and I said “If you don’t like it here…go to McDonalds!”

After 26+ hours traveling and less than 2 hours of sleep we spent the evening close to the hotel in “Little Italy”.  Our hotel happened to be right next to China Town and Little Italy…we chose Italy.  We had an amazing Italian meal I ate the best Ravioli I have ever eaten (and that is my Italian restaurant staple…I am a creature of habit). 

Adam had a delicious chicken dish!  The title of this blog was what we overheard one restaurant manager telling another.  The streets were lined with restaurants and shops selling t-shirts about how amazing Italians are.  It was just like being in Italy…the smell of marinara, garlic and basil, the sound of Italians greeting one another, the Italian singer in our restaurant singing Beatles songs (OK so I know the Beatles aren’t Italian but when an Italian guy sings with Italian style background music…well it almost sounds Italian).  Top off the night with a cup of gelato and you almost forget that how sleepy you are…that is until your head hits the pillow.  

Can you beat seeing NY's bravest hanging out in Little Italy?

I LOVE Free Upgrades

When we checked into our hotel for the night in Hong Kong they had upgraded our room free (exactly what happened in Macau).  We aren’t elite members of any club and we aren’t Hotel brand loyal…it’s usually whatever is decent, cheap and near something.  Whatever I am not going to complain...keep ‘em comin’.
BTW this isn’t exactly an upgrade but we happened to be on the Inaugural Delta flight from Hong Kong to Detroit (it’s the first direct flight Delta made from Hong Kong to Detroit).  The announcement made said they bought the plane (it was BRAND new) for 200 million dollars and they paid cash for it…can you imagine?!?  All the flight attendants were obviously specially chosen (and old…meaning with the most seniority) and I feel like we had executives of Delta on the flight…we consider this an upgrade.  We have certificates and luggage tags to prove it.

Back from one trip and on to another

We are leaving for NY in a couple days…well tomorrow actually (we need to stay in Hong Kong overnight because we have a flight at 9:30 am (if we left Huizhou we would have to leave at 3:30 am and take the car and the train).  I need to pick up some things from Shenzhen and Hong Kong before we head back to the states so I am leaving Thursday morning and Adam will take the bus after work.  This trip still seems crazy and surreal…I know I am saying it is crazy and surreal to go to NY and NC when I live in China and just took a weekend trip to Macau.  I am totally over packing and bringing an extra suitcase with gifts (it was more expensive to send packages then the gifts inside cost…so I have been collecting Christmas/Wedding/Baby/Birthday gifts so I could carry them in a suitcase rather than pay to mail them).  The extra suitcase will come in handy to bring stuff back for my friends here and a few essentials that I can’t buy here (ie: poptarts).  I have completed our NY itinerary with some help from my mother (who is totally awesome and used to live there), much to Adam’s surprise I included all the tourist things (I have seen them…and I hate tourist things, but Adam has never been there).  I have even planned out what we have to eat while in NY (Hot Dogs from a vendor, NY pizza, and sandwiches from a NY deli).  We will hopefully see some of you…realistically we can’t see too many people in 4 days.  HERE IS THE RULE WE ARE NOT SAYING GOODBYE…WE DID THAT ALREADY AND DIDN’T EXPECT TO SEE ANYONE FOR 18 MONTHS…SO THE GOODBYE THAT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY LASTS UNTIL AUGUST NEXT YEAR!