What...I Leave Tomorrow!

The past couple weeks have been so crazy that I didn’t realize that my trip to Singapore was so soon!  I am so excited about the trip, it will be truly relaxing and just fun.  I wish Adam could go with me but I know he is excited about the next week.  Most of the team is back from training in Raleigh and Adam will see some of his coworkers from Durham that are helping with the tool instillation.   The team is very strong and Adam thinks everything is on track. 
Today I bought my bus ticket to the Hong Kong airport and got out some cash to exchange because it really depends on the day and the bank and the mood of the ATM if it will take our ATM card.  It’s a problem I have never had, having money in the account and not being able to use it.  Our China account is all set up and they started depositing our Housing allowance but we can’t get that either…the money gets deposited in US Dollars and you have to go to the bank to change it over, and no one at the bank speaks English.  Haha…we should have no excuse to not save money!  I also had to go look for some shorts because Singapore is tropical and my shorts are still in the US waiting to be shipped.  If you ever want to feel bad about yourself shop for shorts in China…I wear the largest size they carry and am lucky if they have something in that size.  Then the 3 pairs of shorts I found in the city were made for asian bodies (added fabric and big pockets right over the thigh, skinny leg holes and no room in the rear).  I cooked another dinner for us, this one was even better and the total cost for two evening’s worth of dinners (with fresh fruits and vegetables) was less than 50 RMB (about $8 US).  I feel like the meals that I cook here are so much more healthy then anything we can afford or I have time to prepare at home. 
Anyway after today I am all packed and ready to go!  I just need to be able to catch a cab at 4:20 AM so that I can get to the bus in time.

The First Day in OUR First Home!

I say our first home because it’s the first one we found and started together.  It is so strange that we each own a house and we own 2 homes full of furniture and yet we are renting a furnished apartment.  We went to Wal-Mart and picked up a microwave and a hot pot.  We watched a movie on the couch and went to Jodie’s apartment to have dinner with their family.  No rice at that dinner just beef, potato, and veggies and banana cake for dessert.   Adam got to play with J.J. and I got to cuddle with Louie and chat with Jodie.  It was just what normal Americans do on a lazy weekend!

Our First Anniversary...and we will be in seperate countries

I won’t get to post for a while since our internet won’t be in until ? sometime this week ? and I will be in Singapore and Hong Kong from April 1^st – April 7^th.  I know it’s our anniversary weekend but it’s also D-Day #1 at the factory so rather then make Adam feel guilty that I am sitting waiting for him to spend time with me on our first anniversary and rather than me getting annoyed because there is a problem and we have to postpone plans…I thought it best to leave the country.  I will be visiting Andrea (my cousin) and who knows what we will do all weekend.  Then I will make a stop in Hong Kong to extend my Visa (this requires me spending 2 nights there).   Don’t worry we will plan another day to celebrate…it isn’t about when it’s about how…and we are in China…it will be something we never forget!

Our Last Morning Waking Up In A Bed That Someone Else Will Make

Last night we realized that in my frenzied packing I packed the wallet with our credit card in the suitcase that is now in the apartment.  So while I finished gathering our things at the hotel Adam took a taxi to the apartment to get the card so we could pay for the hotel room…can you imagine if we hadn’t realized it until check out time…how embarrassing!

These past 5 weeks I have realized something that I thought was true about me before…I was not meant to be unsettled.  Adam is wonderful he can adapt to living in a hotel for whatever length of time necessary…not me…even at the Kande.  The past couple nights I have been so excited, making lists in my head, not sleeping, thinking how I am going to arrange the living room furniture, thinking of where I am going to hang pictures, picturing having people over for dinner, thinking about which shelf in the kitchen will be the snack shelf or the plate shelf, thinking about the fresh fruit I want to buy at the market now that I have a kitchen and a knife and a plate.  So far I have been extremely happy here, but now I can make a home here.  I want Adam to feel relaxed when he comes home from work, I want us to be able to lay on the sofa in our pajamas and watch movies one Saturday, I want to be able to make some mac and cheese for dinner when Adam works late, and most of all I want to unpack my suitcase and get our things out of those wonderful vacuum bags.

"She did a pretty good job for only having a bottle of tea and an onion"

Adam…of the cleaning girl.

It turned out to be a water bottle full of oil

Before we left yesterday the cleaning girl came…it was us, the landlord, and the owner’s friend, another guy and the cleaning girl.  There was no one to translate so the only way of communicating was to act out.  I pointed out the big things that needed to be cleaned and the other guy motioned to me and said something and they all laughed, it seemed like he said “you are not finished until she says you are finished”.  There were no cleaning supplies at the apartment and all the girl brought was an umbrella and what seemed to be a giant onion in a grocery bag.  The other guy went to get her some supplies but came back with what looked like a water bottle with tea in it and only 1 rag…flashback to restaurants where dishes are cleaned in tea and imagining the toilet and the stove being cleaned with the same rag…I was a little worried so I left Adam there to get my own supplies so that I could spend the next day cleaning.
In the morning we went to Yi Wu the everything market area that Adam has been excited to see for himself.  We got a vase, a Chinese tea set, a wok, some kitchen utensils and we tried to get a doormat but the girl wouldn’t agree to my price.

When we got to the apartment the major things had been cleaned…the bottle of cleaner half gone and a nasty mop sitting in the bathroom.  I got out my rubber gloves, got rid of the tea cleaner (which turned out to be some sort of oil) and scrubbed EVERYTHING!  After one more trip to the store for more supplies, our place is pretty clean.  Remember I mentioned that the Chinese use a lot of oil in there cooking…well that oil was caked on the air vent over the stove, the cabinet doors and handles and the wall.  A brillow pad, 4 rags a bottle of kitchen cleaner and a half a bottle of dish cleaner and some good old fashioned elbow grease later…it’s still oily but not nearly as much!  The shelves and cabinets were ready for our things…not that they are here yet.

SOOOOOO excited to be IN the apartment

ewwwwwwwwwww!

That girl made the apartment worse with her oil...streaks must go!

The refrigerator and the TV were delivered 4 hours late but when I saw the refrigerator it made the waiting worth it (and I hate waiting)!

I got my bling!

"They can't give you fast internet becaus you don't have any internet."

Yeah, we will have to go back to the internet store after they come install the internet in our apartment but at least they can make it faster!
Oh yeah…and we signed the lease to our apartment…and we have the keys!
Thanks to Rolyn the assistant at Adams work, and our favorite realtor, we are now apartment renters.  We signed the lease; they agreed to buy a refrigerator, a desk and a TV.  The desk arrived today and the refrigerator and the TV will be delivered tomorrow.  They also agreed to have a girl come and clean (there were mounds of grease on the stove and the bathrooms were dirty). 

I took our bedding to the cleaners and I spent the rest of the day packing our stuff, I even got a load ready to drop off this evening…how confusing for the Concierge who came to help me down for the bags…No, we are not checking out yet, No we aren’t taking everything.

Driving Miss Lindsay

The rough thing about not knowing the language is that it makes it impossible to speak to cab drivers our even our driver.  That’s right our driver started last Saturday!  He is great!  He knows the English names for all the shopping malls and knows numbers in English so you can tell him what time to pick you up or how long you will be before you need him again.  Now that I mentioned we have a driver just for us who will take us wherever we want to go…let me get back to the rough stuff.  I have been on so many cab rides and our driver likes to go back ways and we pass so many interesting shops or restaurants or streets that I know I will never be able to get to again.  When I went out with Jodie and Eloise we passed a flower market with tons of fresh flowers.  When Adam and I came back from dinner we passed a cool new street and a fabric market.  My new favorite thing is to negotiate deals and that only happens in the little markets that tourists wouldn’t go to. 

Today I decided I was going to direct our driver to where I thought we were the day before.  Yes, he is a great sport, and no, he didn’t quit.  Since I don’t know how to give directions in Chinese, and since I don’t know the word for flower or fabric or shop or cool area in Chinese, it was pretty much just me saying “GO!” and pointing in the direction I wanted him to go.  I dramatically made it look like I was looking for a specific place so he know why I was doing this, it worked and he drove very slowly, which caused all the drivers around us to honk and make illegal (in the US) moves.  I called Adam to see if he remembered anything about the area where we were and he didn’t but he did give the phone to YC (remember him?...our translator/Adam’s coworker) so I had YC tell him to take me in the same direction that he took me yesterday evening so I could find the fabric store. 

The driver drove me around for another 15 min. before I realized it was lunch time and decided to give up.  I asked the driver to take me to Jusco and he did…but guess what I saw on the way!  That’s right folks I yelled and raised my arms.  He pulled over and I went into the fabric market where I was refused service.  At least I found it right!

After lunch I wanted to find the flower market rather then put the driver through “directions by Lindsay” again I had him drop me off at a place near where I thought it was and I walked.  It turned out to be about a 30 min. walk but I was successful and the cute old man who sold flowers there gave me a free lily!  I ended up buying 5 beautiful flowers (don’t know what kind) for 10 RMB (about $1.50 US) and I got his name card.  Maybe I will make flower shopping a regular part of my week.

"This place would totally be shut down in the US?"

I find myself thinking that a lot, my other thought is “I don’t know if I will ever get used to this”.  Today I watched several babies wearing split bottom pants pee on the sidewalk (NEVER walk in a wet spot! and NEVER wear sandals without soaking your feet in soap and water).  I saw a lady scramble to get her blanket full of lettuce out of the way of a car (who was more annoyed then understanding…what do you expect when you drive through the wet market?) and ready to sell on the side of the road.  I saw a dentist office, chair almost on the street, drill blasting, people watching, elements entering.

When you go to restaurants the typical thing to do is wash your own dishes with the pot of tea.  Just soak them for a second, and pour the dirty tea into the bowl provided. 

Grocery stores with bins of open candies, dried fruit etc…just use your hands to scoop them out. 

At wal-mart I saw a lady opening boxes of tubes of toothpaste, squeezing it onto her hand and tasting it before putting it back to try another.  I looked around and the 5 workers in the beauty aisle just watched.   I am sooooo glad I insisted on buying bulk toothpaste before we left.  *Is it just me?  Is that something people do in the US too and I just haven’t noticed?  Is it totally disgusting or am I crazy?

I can’t believe I forgot to write about the coolest type of restaurant in China.  It involves raw meat and veggies of all kinds, a burner and a large pot of oil with a spicy side and a non spicy side.  We, consumers at the restaurant drop the meat into boiling oil allow it to cook a couple min. then pull it out of the oil with the provided straining ladle and eat it.  Dad…you would LOVE it!  I enjoyed the meal, however I think it was the most meat I have ever eaten at one time and I think I consumed more oil this one night then I have ever in my life.  Something to know about Chinese cooking…they use a ton of oil!  At the grocery store they have 5 boxes of cereal and an entire aisle of oil. 

Nothing surprises me or phases me…and it really never did (except for the toothpaste thing).  I still LOVE it here!

I LOVE MONDAYS!

Back home for me Monday means the weekend is over, work has begun and although I loved working daycare and I love (and miss) going to lifegroup, Monday meant I would have to leave for work at 6:50 am and wouldn’t get home until 10:00 pm, and would still have to get ready for the next day.  I loved my job, I loved daycare and I loved lifegroup, but Monday for me now is so much more relaxing.  For Adam not so much…Monday’s are his late working days. 

Monday for me means that the weekend is over!  The shops are less crowded, my week of meeting new friends, hanging out with the ladies and doing whatever I want, begins.  Not only that but I had my first Chinese Class today (just me and the tutor).  From 8:00 – 10:00 every Monday and Thursday morning I will work on becoming fluent in Chinese!  Today I went local street shopping, met Adam for lunch (probably my favorite thing about living here and not working I can meet Adam for lunch whenever he can), picked up my Vacuum from Eloise, had afternoon tea with Jodi (which means a cuddle with louie…Jean Louis ) and back to the hotel to check e-mails and straighten up our suitcase (which needs to be done daily). 

People keep asking when I am going to start working…I don’t think I will anytime soon!

GUESS WHAT TODAY WE HAVE LIVED IN HUIZHOU FOR 1 MONTH!

Who said there were no other ex-pat's in Huizhou???

On Friday we met with our Chinese tutor, she apparently taught all the ladies I met in Palm Island and some of the people I have met locally.  She (Vivienne) told us about a HJuizhou ex-pat group that meets every once and a while and were actually meeting for lunch Saturday.  We figured why not and decided to crash their lunch. 

We met at a sandwich place (those of you that know my eating habbits I love sandwiches and they are nonexistent in China) which was AMAZING and met a group of local people from Canada, Mexico, Italy and there were a couple from Japan.  The Mexican and the Canadian were married to local Chinese ladies who spoke very good English.  There was talk of a future wine tasting and a cook out…so you can imagine that we were glad we went to lunch.

Earlier this week I met Eloise from France who is moving back next week. She invited Adam and I to her going away party on Friday (normally I would be like…”she was just inviting us to be nice but doesn’t expect us to come because we won’t know anyone else there and blah blah blah…” going back and forth on whether or not we were ACTUALLY invited.  Living in China has made me stop thinking so much and just do…so we went.  I am so glad we did!  We met another group of Ex-Pats living in Huizhou (everyone we talked to loves living here by the way) mostly French, but they speak English.  They got our information so that we can get together later on for a drink or dinner.

Traditional Huizhou Meal

We went to dinner with MT and his family (a family moving from Malaysia for Cree for 1 year), and YC (our resident helper/food orderer/translator).  YC took us to a traditional Hakka restaurant.  There was a main restaurant and then tons of little huts along the pond.  At the entrance there are pools where they keep the fresh live fish.  As I watched the cook get a large fish out of the pond the fish jumped out of the net straight towards me.  I freaked a little causing everyone else (including the restaurant staff) to laugh.  Don’t worry I got out of the way before I could get “fish slapped”.  We had a hut reserved and YC ordered our meal (chicken…yes with a head, fish floaters…at least that’s how they were described, meatball soup, beef stir fry, veggies, rice, ribs, tofu, and something mushy that tasted really good).  The thing I appreciate about the Chinese is that they use gloves when they eat wings, or chicken or anything messy. 

This is the resturant...each little hut is a private room

YC, Adam, and MT's family (another Cree ex-pat from Malaysaia)

Pay It Forward

Jodie took me to an Ex-Pat home today.  The family is moving back to France and will be getting rid of things that they bought here.  For a small (very small) price I got some plates and what not to use before our shipment comes, a vacuum cleaner, a garlic press and other little odds and ends.  She was happy to get rid of the stuff and is even passing her card book (a book of cards to give the taxi driver) to Jodi.  I have started mine but I can’t imagine what an 18 month collection looks like (it’s like gold!). 
Jodie told me that the ex-pat community is like that movie Pay It Forward, when one leaves they pass their stuff (including nanny’s) on to other ex-pats.  It’s a great community to be a part of and you can trust that everyone is genuine in their offers and in their fast friendships, because they remember what it was like being alone in China (which is a hard way to feel considering there are sooooo many people). 

Missy, Missy...you like DVD????

Missy Missy we have Chanel!  Missy Missy you need watch?  Missy Missy…this is what you hear when you walk through LouHu (pronounced - Low Hoo).  It was intense bargain shopping at it’s best!  There are hundreds of 12x12 shops in 4 floors of a bus station/border crossing/mall (the one we went through).  I didn’t intend to buy anything but DVD’s but within 30 min of being there I got Adam a watch.  It was insane, they said “do you need watch?” and I said “do you have men’s watches?” in a, totally I am just looking and don’t intend to buy because you kind of scare me, sort of way.  The pulled out this huge plastic bag full of watches (designer knock off’s), they were nice and heavy and some were a little flashy I found a couple I liked that were 350RMB a piece ($50 US) and then I found one I really liked (don’t worry my poker face was on).  My strategy was to ask the price of several of the ones I liked and then some that I didn’t so they wouldn’t know which one I actually liked.  Then I asked about the one I liked and she told me 480RMB.  I shook my head and started walking away (intending to just leave empty handed) and she said “OK…how much you pay?”  I typed 350RMB in the calculator and she (dramatically) looked insulted…and offered to sell for 400RMB…so I walked away again.  Before I got to the next shop she gave me the watch at my price!  SCORE 1 Lindsay!  I was so proud of myself and I spent the rest of the day acting like I wasn’t going to buy anything and it worked!  I walked out with 2 knock off polo shirts for 55RMB ($8 US) season 5 of Lost, Season 5 of the Office (for Andrea J) The complete Big Bang Theory, The Blind Side, State of Play, It’s Complicated and The Ugly Truth for 207RMB ($31 US) and a cute summer dress that was 50RMB ($7 US). 

By the way the Polo shirts started at over 100RMB each! 

The best part of the day was fabric shopping, there was a huge section of the mall with any type of fabric you can possibly think of….fabric for suits, sheets, table cloths, bags, whatever you want to make.  Next time I will take pictures.  I got the name of a great tailor that speaks English and if you have a problem after she makes it she will fix it (which apparently is not typical).  Then we went to the whole sale fabric mart.  They don’t wheel and deal here but the prices are cheap.  Before I go next time I will be making a list of things we need/want to have made.

Doctors Appointment In China

No, we aren’t sick.  Apparently we were supposed to have doctor appointments before we left the states in order to get our permanent multi entry 1 year visa.   A week into our stay here we got an e-mail saying something like…”we realize you are moving to China in a few weeks and need to schedule doctor appointments for your residence permit in order to get your permanent visa”. 

The ball was dropped here by the company that Adam’s company has hired relocate us.  They have dropped the ball so many times and I have to say Cree has been wonderful about helping us out even though I am sure they are paying this other company a ton of money. 

We took a taxi to the hospital, which was pretty far out of town and I was wondering if we would find a taxi home.  Adam nudged me and said “we just passed the hospital”.  Did we go with the right guy?  Does he know what we need?  We ended up going to the customs place that is a combo custom agency and doctor’s office.  The taxi driver stayed with us the entire time and seemed to enjoy every minute of it.  Stephen filled out all the paperwork without having to ask any questions except asking if I had a baby.  The mean lady behind the counter kept snapping at Stephen and didn’t even acknowledge us (we thought she didn’t speak English until another foreigner made a comment about her and she snapped back at him in perfect English).  Now our only concern was what was actually going to happen in the doctor’s office, how would I, a female have a translator in the room when our only translator was a male? 

Thankfully it wasn’t an official check up, no paper gowns, no waiting rooms, no old magazines.  We went from room to room getting different things done to us.  We had a chest x-ray, ultrasounds, blood taken, height, weight, blood pressure taken (by the way the combo scale, height measure machine yells out your height and weight repeatedly until the doctor turns it off…imagine how that would go with women in the US).  All along the taxi driver wondered around watching everyone get their blood pressure taken and having blood drawn (until the doctor kicked him out).  Our taxi driver then took us to get new visa photos and helped us pick out the best ones (I think it’s funny that he tried to explain what the photo shop lady was saying when he didn’t speak English either).  The photo shop lady doctored our photos just a little giving me more of a tan and both of us bright blue backgrounds. 

In the end, I think we are approved! 

Our Final Apartment Decision...For Real This Time...I Hope

It sure has been a long road...and we can't wait to move in. I personally can't wait to move out of the hotel!  Thank you to all of our family and Friends who have prayed for us to find a place.  I know when we look back we will surely laugh at all of this!

Our Apartment has great furniture, nice bathrooms, a large kitchen, no bars on the balcony, flat screen TV’s and more storage than any other place we have seen.  The pictures are from the first time we saw it I will update pictures once we get our stuff unpacked.

dining area

The living room

Can you tell I am giddy that there is a "western toilet"

Kitchen

Kitchen

Hello Kande

The Kande hotel is where we had the fabulous foot massage…need I say more?  So far we are moved in, the internet works, the place is beautiful, there are tons of other guests, and the restaurants smell wonderful!  Check out our pictures!

yes...Adam is sitting in the steam room

 

Goodbye Gold Lake Hotel

I am sitting here watching Chinese kids TV, the internet not working, the Do Not Disturb sign on (hopefully they won’t ring the bell), and all our bags packed…hoping our laundry comes back before 2:00.  Things aren’t all bad at the Gold Lake Hotel, but the internet and the lack of Taxi’s and the fact that we will most likely be living out of a hotel for the next week and a half or so, pushed us over the edge.  The Kande is walking distance to my usual stomping grounds and tons of restaurants.  The Kande has faster internet (Adam stayed there in November), and if we don’t feel like walking Taxi’s come by the hotel all hours of the day.  The Kande even has their own special taxi’s that are used during busy times. 

The Gold Lake Hotel wasn’t all bad, the people that worked here were very nice and were big helps.  Yo Yo (my favorite) was usually the one to get us a Taxi, however I think we made her nervous because every time we would ask for a taxi she would stress out and if she had to she would spend 15 min. on the phone trying to get a taxi for us.  There were a couple times where she got someone to drive us in the hotel van.  Yo yo loved practicing her English with me and I enjoyed that someone would make conversation with me and not always ask if we liked it here.  Elva is the assistant manager and has been busy interviewing the past week or two, but when we first got here she came to the door to welcome us.  She also is happy to help and happy to translate.  Kevin is a little annoying only because he can never quite figure out what we are asking.  He is the head of reception and gave us some chocolate cake when the taxi he ordered for us never showed up.  He also wrote us a very nice letter.  (We started ordering taxi’s ahead of time so we could be sure to get one…however I can’t think of a time where it actually worked.)  One thing I loved about the hotel is that they play the Kenny G. Christmas CD every morning at breakfast.  I love Christmas music and it was the only reason I went to breakfast (it certainly was not the pigs blood, noodles, and porridge that brought me back).  I also did enjoy doing laundry in a hotel 

Things we will not miss: (besides lack of taxi’s, maids, and broken internet) the “western style” restaurant.  They either didn’t have what we ordered or it was made all wrong.  They show a picture of an amazing bowl of French Onion Soup and the picture doesn’t match at all!  We ate there 3 times I think for dinner and breakfast on and off.  I can’t remember one really good meal (which is why we always had to go out…by the way the Kande has three restaurants).  The breakfast buffet wasn’t my favorite, Adam liked that he could try new things but I just really wanted a bowl of cereal and a glass of cold milk.  Adam thinks I am stilly to feel this way at all…and I probably am silly, but I feel a ton of pressure from the staff to feel happy here.  They constantly ask me why I don’t just have lunch in the hotel (do you not like the food?), they ask me am I happy here, they ask me if I like their hotel.  Honestly this hotel would be wonderful if you were staying a week or even 10 days but beyond that…no!

I probably would have stuck it out another week but I think Adam was tired of hearing me vent to him about the same things each day…I know some of you may be surprised to hear this but I can be a little particular about things and the littlest things can push me over the edge.  Most days we were able to over look the things that annoyed us but lately not as much.  I don’t know if it’s the feeling of not being able to settle in, or the fact that up until this weekend we hadn’t found a place that we could truly call home, or if it’s the hotel.  Personally I think it’s a mixture of everything.  If I was in the US and the internet didn’t work I could totally handle it…maybe even feel a little free, but here it’s my only way of communicating with friends and family, paying bills, checking up on some of my favorite blogs to read, reading news from the US and posting on the blog. 

We Are Gonna Like It Here

Today we went to the city center (downtown) and just hung out.  We went through Digital Street and the Women’s Mall (both are really thin malls that have small 12x12 stores.  We found another DVD store, we had lunch at KFC (it’s better than in the US), we had frozen drinks at a coffee shop, bought our first bag of Chinese Tea, hung out by the river, and took a taxi to the Jusco to buy some food to snack on in the hotel and to have dinner. 

We talked about all the things that we love about China.  We love that you can eat a full meal (like our steak dinner last night) and not feel like you have to lie down because you ate too much.  The portions are just right.  We love that the shops are organized by what you need and what you like (not random like in department stores).  We love that you can get fresh fruit on the side of the road daily.  We love that you can hop in a cab to do anything and spend only $1 – $2 on cabs.  We love that you can eat lunch and dinner shop, have snacks and spend less than 300 RMB total (2 DVD’s, 3 cab rides, 1 fake Coach wallet, 1 bag of tea, 2 lunches, 2 frozen drinks, 2 dinners, 2 bags of chips, 2 bottles of soda, 1 (1/2) loaf of bread, 3 random snacks to try, 1 bag of candy) which ends up being less than $50 US.

I took lots of pictures so be sure to check them out!

Wal-ir-ma

Again, I have to say that I love it when they create Chinese words based on pronunciation.  There are still falling prices here!  Wal-Mart in Huizhou is attached to a huge mall.  The mall is seven stories and includes a roller skating rink, a movie theater (that plays western movies) and an arcade.  I spent the day here and met Adam for dinner.  Check out the pictures of Wal-Mart.  I am over my fear of looking like a tourist or standing out…since I have no choice.  I figured why not totally stand out so camera in hand I took pictures.

Our New Plan...Every Sat. Night = Date Night

I know it seems strange to have a scheduled date night when you have no children and you eat dinner and lunch out every single day but let me explain.  Our daily where should we eat out routine is getting old and I think we have eaten at just about every restaurant that we can get to ourselves.  I can’t wait for the day where if we feel like it we can just stay home and take it easy.  I know…poor us…we can’t cook dinner and we eat out every meal for less than $20 US. 
We decided we needed to have a night out that we would look forward to and a night where we would do something different then our usual dinner and browse around the shops.  Like last week our movie was a little adventure.
This week we decided to have dinner at a nice Steak House in town, Super Steak.  We got a bottle of wine, an appetizer (sweet potato tempura), we each got a steak (Adam got a Steak and Cod dinner) and dessert (chocolate Molten Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream).  Our meal cost over 400 RMB (about $60 US).  Then we went to try out the bar that the head mistress at the TSL school suggested.  (See “It’s A God Thing”).  We made it by having the cab take us to the TSL school and walked.  It was pretty cool and there were lots of other bars on the same street.  We didn’t stay too long, but Adam wanted to find a cool place to take the Cree guys when they came here to help with the start up.  We went into both the English Pub and the Relax Bar (both had foreigners).

House Hunting Yet Again

After the second place we knew we found it!  I will post pictures and more info as soon as it works out!  I just want to let our friends and family know that we feel really good about it!  We have let the right people know and as soon as Orientations contacts the owner, reviews the contract, sends the contract to Paragon, Paragon approves the contract, sends the contract to Cree and Cree signs the contract we can move in!

Our Much Better Massage

After our successful house hunting excursion we decided to get a foot massage (after our last experience we decided to take it slow).  We went to the Kande hotel (the nicest hotel in Huizhou) and spent about 18 US dollars total for a 1 hour foot massage and it was wonderful!

Gam Bei

In China when you are invited to dinner it is never really casual.  There is always a reason and a purpose.  Adam and I were invited to a welcome dinner by the other Engineers at Cree.  The sign of a good host is that the guest of honor is drunk and that there is food still on the table (it shows that you are full and satisfied with the dinner).  The host orders a ton of food and drinks and you have to have a little of everything. 

We were picked up in the only vehicle that was available at Cree that night.  It was driven by the new (and not so good) driver.

The meal consisted of rabbit, cow stomach, beef, duck, rolls (3 different kinds), vegetables (3 different kinds), soup, and noodles.  The drink…Tsingtau…a popular Chinese beer.  Each host took a turn drinking with Adam, which brings us to the title of the story.  Gam Bei means bottoms up and it’s what they said when they felt Adam needed another drink.  Thankfully Adam didn’t get too drunk (he pretended a little). 

Lindsay's Sob Story About Living In An Hotel

Here is my little nitpicky self writing about all the little annoying things…but some days those little things can feel soooooooo big! 
Although I had planned on waiting until we found out about where we will live before I wrote about the hotel, things have changed and today I am in the mood of “GET ME OUT OF HERE!”.  This mood most likely is stemming from the fact that our internet hasn’t worked properly in 4 days (each day we call them up to fix it, the next day it isn’t working again) and the fact that it is raining outside.  I went out this morning as I do every morning in order to avoid the cleaning ladies (it’s just awkward), but there is only so long you can walk around in the rain.  I did however enjoy taking my cute new umbrella for a spin! 
Today I will mostly write about the annoying things in this hotel…just know that it isn’t all bad. 
I think the overall most annoying thing for me about this hotel is the cleaning lady.  1) They usually don’t come to this room until after 5:00 pm (I see them when I leave for the day at 10:30…there is no one else on this hall, and I don’t think there has been our entire stay).  I don’t get their system, we are at the end of the hall so one would think you go down one way and up the other (leaving us in the middle) or start at the end and work back toward the linen closet.  No, they start across the hall (where no one has stayed) watch some TV, change the sheets and continue up the hall and do the other side of the hall the same way.  When I am sure to say bye and smile (in my head I am saying…look…I am gone you can clean my room now).  Then they are surprised to see me when they come to clean the room at 5:00 and they skip a lot of things because they think it bothers me that they are there.  2) One day I had things to do, so I made the bed myself and had all our receipts to organize laid out on the bed.  I put the do not disturb sign (which is also written in Chinese) on the door.  At 5:20 pm they rang the doorbell to see if I needed them to clean.  The main issue here is that the best perk of living in a hotel is that you get fresh linens daily and although I can make the bed, there is nowhere to hang and dry towels so we kind of need new every day. 

The next most annoying thing about the hotel is that there is no DVD player and it took me 2 weeks to figure out how to turn on the TV.  First of all there isn’t anything on in English during the day, so the TV is really just a big box on the dresser.  The only way to watch DVD’s is on the computer leaving my multitasking self with only one thing to do at a time…watch a movie or organize pictures, not both at the same time.

Since we are not located on a main road, no taxi’s drive by and the people at the desk have to call a taxi for us.  Since the busy times are 7:30-9:30, 11:30-1:30 and 4:30-6:30 it is impossible to get taxis during that time unless we walk to the main road and catch one ourselves.  So they can’t take Adam to work or us to lunch or dinner.  However if you are out and about during that time taxi’s are a dime a dozen.

I am writing this right now because it’s rainy and cold and I want to lie around and watch a movie but I know as soon as I do the cleaning lady will come and I will have to stop and wait.

Ex Pat Wives Club

It’s not actually a formal club, but it is a group of women that live near Huizhou that get together and do whatever!  I went to coffee morning, but they get together for Zumba, mommies clubs (there are 5 babies born in the last year), shopping trips, and just for support.  I met a lot of really cool women from all over the world.  The group here is very welcoming, they all offered to be a shoulder to cry on, a friend to shop with or just someone I can speak English to.  They all remember what it was like to be in a country where you can’t talk to anyone and you stick out like a sore thumb, and they all remember that what they needed was a friend. 

A few of the ladies have lived all over the world with their husbands and said China seems to be the hardest to feel settled in because of the differences and especially in a small town were there aren't many foreigners.  One of the ladies did say she was impressed at how well I was doing...and that the first two months are the hardest.  Meanwhile we are almost a month in and I am doing so well (don’t' get me wrong I have had my moments of "oh my gosh...what did I agree to?" but they quickly pass).  It was encouraging to hear that because I have been ready for the bottom to fall out any day now.  I've been told that once the newness and the excitement wear off you could go through a depression.  These ladies all said that the beginning was the hardest, and once you get through the first 2 months (not to say things will be perfect...they wouldn't be if we were still in the States) and establish a life here things will be fine.  It worried me that it seemed that I was the only one not worried about me being happy here, but the ladies made me feel more confident that it will be the adventure I hoped it would.
I am very excited about hanging out with these ladies in the future; we do have a shopping trip planned next week!

My New Friend From Down Under

Before we left the States I was put in contact with Jodi, an Ex-Pat wife living in Huizhou.  We met today to go shopping around Huizhou.  Jodi lives in Liri (where Adam and I will hopefully live soon) with her family.  The only places I really know of to shop are in the malls (and they are the only places I can get to thanks to my various cards that I hand to Taxi Drivers), but Jodi brought me to what I pictured shopping to be like before I got here.  There were hundreds of small 12x12 shops on 3 floors in 2 buildings.  We found school supplies, pearls, DVD’s, pottery, towels, underwear, jade sculptures, toys, clothing, and just about anything else you can think of.  The goal here is to get a good deal, I am still afraid to negotiate, for one I don’t want to insult, and for 2 I actually want the product…so in the end I will pay.  Jodi is a pro (although she says she still gets cheated).  She finds out the total and says oh no, types a new number in the calculator and if they don’t accept the deal…she leaves.  After our day together it is wonderful to know I have support nearby.  I know if I have any questions or need anything I can call her, no problem.

Apparently We Will Be Living At The Gold Lake Hotel

Not really, but we will be here for a while.  The perfect apartment that was ready for us to move into is apparently not so perfect.  We found out that yet another realtor was screwing us over (charging 2000 RMB more than they should per month).  Beyond sneaky realtors we chose the apartment that a Hong Kong criminal owns.  I don’t know what exactly he is involved in but it’s pretty bad and the last thing we need is to be involved in any way.  I doubt just renting his place would cause any problems for us, but the fact that we are foreigners who don’t speak the language we would rather not live in an apartment of a known criminal…who knows what we could get drawn into. 

The people at Cree that are from Huizhou are the ones that informed us of this and they advised us not to go any further with this place. 

It looks like we have another day of apartment hunting ahead of us.

Just Another Lazy Sunday

Unfortunately we are still in the hotel room and it isn’t exactly somewhere we like hanging around all day.   So what do you do on a lazy Sunday in Huizhou?  That’s right my friends we went to Wal-Mart AGAIN!   Actually the plan was to go to the only mall we hadn’t been to and when we got there we realized why no one told us to go there…it was the discount store of all discount stores.  We wondered around there for as long as we could.

QUICK SIDEBAR: They have escalators here, well in every store that sells food, that are ramps so you can get your buggy from one floor to the other.

We walked outside in the direction we knew Wal-Mart was in hoping to find somewhere to eat on the way.  Unfortunately the roads between The Ren Ren Le and the Wal-Mart is where the home renovation stores are and there is no where to eat.  We thought we found a restaurant but it was an antique store so rather then look like stupid Americans who can’t tell the difference in a restaurant and an antique store we browsed.  We decided to just wait until we got to Wal-Mart to eat. 

I have to say every time I have been to the Wal-Mart here I have heard N’Sync’s greatest hits blaring throughout the whole mall.  I really enjoy the fact that, if nothing else, I can understand the music while I shop.  We had lunch at a Noodle place and walked through Wal-Mart which never gets old!

American Date Night in China

Where do you go on a date night when you live in Huizhou?   That’s right folks, Wal-Mart!  Like I said the Wal-Mart mall is HUGE!  It has tons of restaurants and a movie theater.  We went to see Sherlock Holmes.  We decided it would either be a cool new find or a funny story depending on what the movie was like.  Tickets cost about $8 US so not much different than in the US.  We memorized the Characters on the Movie Poster and matched them to the Characters on the movie schedule.  The movie started at 6:40 so we went at 6:20 because we knew buying tickets would be difficult and we wanted to beat the rush.  We bought our tickets and apparently we bought ourselves a VIP card (we have done that at a few places where things end up being about 2 RMB more than we thought…I guess they must think we are important…or they think they can charge us more).  We show our tickets (which have assigned seats) to the woman at the counter and she sends us to the waiting room.  Thinking the movie must start at 6:40 we tried 2 more times to get in before the lady actually let us through at 6:40!  We found our row and our seats (which was interesting because the only things we can read on the ticket are the numbers…and there were a lot of numbers followed by characters) fairly quickly and the movie started 5 min. after we were seated.  I kind of liked this organization.

The movie theater was very clean, no sticky floors, no wrappers or paper, no spilled popcorn and the seats were VERY comfortable.  Just when we started to think that going to a movie in China was much better than in the US the cell phones started going off, the people started talking and the children (yes there were children of all ages in the movie theater) started playing and crying.  I guess since the movie was in English and no one could understand the words they didn’t bother listen. 

Since earlier today we had some interesting breakfast and lunch ordering problems (I mean how many times can you accidently order a bowl of ice and a waffle).  We topped off our very American date by eating dinner at Papa Johns. 

I want a refrigerator with bling!

In every mall you can buy appliances, electronics, and groceries, lots of shoes, clothing and jewelry!  I love walking through the appliance section because the stuff they have here is so much cooler than in the US.  In the US we get excited about a stainless steel refrigerator and a red washer dryer, not that I had either of these but I did get excited thinking that someday I would own one, that was until I saw my new favorite kitchen item…sorry little red Oster toaster.  I have attached a picture below, and no that isn’t a glare it is bling adding detail to the flower design on the refrigerator.

I know what you are thinking but no worries there are air conditioner units, microwaves, rice cookers, sanitizers, water purifiers and clothes washers that match!

Now the only problem is how I convince Adam that it would be cost effective to buy a refrigerator here and have it shipped home…hmmmmm.

Shopping Here No Longer Scares Me

I am still a little nervous about actually buying something, but I am getting less intimidated by the sales girls.  Adam said I can buy anything I wanted, but I think he said that because he knows I am incredibly intimidated.  My goal is to show my face in as many malls and stores as I can so they get used to seeing me, then when we finally move into our apartment I will try to buy something.  My first two purchases will be a bedding set and a Chinese Tea set…I have searched for my favorite and of course a good price.  

I have been to most of the malls here, because they are usually in the center of outdoor walking areas and there are tons of restaurants to choose from.  One mall is right across from West Lake and I have spent a lot of time there taking pictures and just walking.  There are two big malls in the center of the city and although I enjoy walking through them, this small town girl hasn’t ventured out too far from the mall area.  The mall where Adam and I will be living has become my new favorite; there are lots of places to walk and tons of little local tea shops.

I have learned the character for sale, which tells you what percentage of the price you pay, not the percentage you save.  I have embraced the fact that everyone stares at me, and I just smile and wave like I am a movie star or Miss America. I have also learned to find the price on the tag, and I have learned to do all this without getting the sales girl to try to talk to me…SCORE!

The Scariest Thing I Have EVER Seen

A few entries ago I wrote about the driving and how crazy and scary it is to cross the road.  I always have in the back of my mind that they will always stop…I can’t imagine that anyone would actually hit you!  Adam and I joke about the driving a lot laughing off the fact that if we were in Taxi’s in the US we would be in accidents every day. 

Yesterday I even got excited when I found out that you didn’t need a license to drive a scooter.  I mean they have scooters here in every color and some can hold an entire family (mom, dad and baby)…and we make our children sit in car seats until they are 7 years old!  I could totally drive a scooter!

Apparently scooters don’t need to follow the laws either!

Today I took a trip to Wal-Mart, I had the most calm taxi driver yet (I don’t know if he was more careful because I was a foreigner or if he was just the best driver in China).  While waiting at a red light at a busy intersection I watched an old lady cross the road.  Since it was a busy intersection there was a walking signal and she was OK to walk.  When out of nowhere coming in the wrong direction a man on a white scooter hit this woman, she did a little flip and hit her head on the road.  Both my taxi driver and I had the same reaction (I was sitting in the front seat).  I figured someone would help this woman…we were all here at a red light!  No one did, I almost got out of the car to get her out of the road.  Unfortunately I don’t know the word for hospital, I didn’t have any idea where I was and I didn’t think it would be a good idea to move the woman.  The light turned green and as people made left turns they were careful not to run the woman over…but no one stopped!  This woman lying in the middle of the road (she never moved…I don’t even know if she was alive or conscious) was going to stay there for who knows how long.

Apparently this happens a lot and here it isn’t a big deal.  I called Adam as soon as I was out of the car because I was totally shaken up and I was mad at myself for not doing anything.  He mentioned to his co-workers and they shook it off as a daily event (apparently during the spring holiday over 700 people died in 1 week in traffic accidents alone).  I think though my Taxi driver was shaken up as well, I did notice he drove a lot slower the rest of the way to Wal-mart.

For our mothers and grandmothers who are now worried…we look BOTH ways before crossing the street, not just the way cars, scooters, carts, busses and other vehicles should be coming from.  We also try to cross when a lot of other people cross as well!