Getting Settled

(I wrote this awhile ago, but just now was able to get all of the pictures transferred to Larry's computer)

So we now had a place to live, but now came the time to make it livable. Evidently, having a maid in China is standard practice. John (our relocation guy) helped set up one for me. Her name (in English) is May and she speaks VERY little English, but she is a work horse. The townhouse hadn't been occupied in almost three years and I'm not sure it was cleaned when it was occupied. All of the floors are either marble, wood or tile; the walls are tile, glass or cement stucco. So much humidity and rain makes carpet an impractical choice. May spent the first week she worked scouring from the basement to the top floor...lots of stairs (better than stair master). Last week, I managed to put together a coherent Chinese sentence and asked her if she would teach me to cook. Well, it wasn't completely coherent because she took it as I wanted her to cook for us. She now cooks three meals a week and probably would do more, but I just feel too guilty

Larry had to go to Dalian the following week. It was a bit of a struggle, but we managed. He is going to be travelling a lot in the coming months, so best to jump right in...like pulling off a band aid. I spent the week searching for essentials for the house. Our shipment won't be delivered for a few more weeks and we didn't even have a pot or silverware. Several trips to the various supermarkets filled my days, but I still felt like I didn't have the right things for May. I asked John if he'd ask her to come shopping with me and pick out what she needed to clean and to cook. This past Monday, my driver, my maid and I went shopping. It was surreal, there really is no other word to describe it. I texted Larry and his response was, "welcome to China".

The meals she's fixed are amazing. I'm astounded that the dishes she makes actually come from the food that is in my cabinets and fridge. She bought some interesting spices, of which I still don't have a clue. I attempted to make rice in my brand spanking new steamer...well, it turned into something resembling porridge. It tasted like rice, but it didn't look like it. Guess I need to pay better attention to how May prepares it.

We went this past weekend to buy bicycles. The girls each found one they liked, along with helmets. The twins had training wheels put on their bikes, but Katie's was too big for training wheels. I envisioned bloodied knees and screaming heard across the city, but once again, she suprised me. Tell that child she can't do something or it's too hard and she won't quit until she proves you wrong. By God, if she didn't peddle off down the street on the second try. She's had one scraped knee and a couple of tears, but she and her sisters are wheeling around the compound like Lance Armstrong. The guards got a big kick out of raising the gate for them...or rather they did get a big kick the first dozen or so times, but finally told them to just turn around.

Larry is in training this week and goes to Shanghai tomorrow. He will fly to Korea next week and then the following week will be holiday. My big plans for the week are to go to the girls' school to attend Parent Day/Open House. Hopefully will have more pictures to post.

Residents of China

The Whitfields are officially residents of the People's Republic of China. We arrived on August 14 after sixteen hours of travelling and one really quick connection in Tokyo. The girls adapted quite nicely to the First Class accomodations and had the airline attendants granting their every request. Sarah was the only one who was able to sleep for any length of time. The rest of us looked like something the cat dragged in when we stumbled from the plane. It took another three hours to get through customs, get our luggage and drive to Suzhou.

Our first week was spent in Suzhou New District (SND) at the Wealthy Suites. I know, catchy name. We recovered on Saturday, but did meet one of Larry's co-workers and his family, the Sollars. They took us to a "hot pot" restaurant. The girls enjoyed watching the food sizzle in front of them. Well, Sarah did before she fell sound asleep in the chair. We spent all day Sunday looking for a place to live. We went to a dozen different places, but really liked the townhouses in Royal Peninsula. The girls liked the thirty-second floor five bedroom penthouse, but I had to nix it. Fear of heights, Tower Inferno reenactments, and bungee jumping children would have put me in an early grave.

Larry had to go to Hong Kong to apply for his work permit on Wednesday. The girls and I looked at some more places on Thursday, and moved into a different hotel on Friday. We stayed at the Howard Johnson's, but I've never seen a HoJo's like this one. Everything is marble and glass, not just for looks but because it's SOOOO humid. The heat combined with the overbearing humidity made for a stifling couple of weeks. It was beyond tropical. The Sollars were kind enough to take the girls and me shopping on Saturday. The girls all needed black. leather shoes and I had no clue where to go. Cindy, Rich's wife, is chinese and has been a life saver. She knew just where to go and helped me with the sales clerks. We went to the old city and this is the China I had envisioned. Wall to wall people, outdoor shopping, ricshaws, and interesting smells. It has been an interesting cultural change, becoming one of the minority. My girls are treated like movie stars wherever we go. The crowds almost parted when we walked through places. Everyone wanted to get close to girls, take their picture, touch Katie's curls. They didn't lack confidence before so incidents like these (which happen every time we go out) just fuel their egos.

On Monday, our little ladies put on their school uniforms (no protesting at all) and we all went to Dulwich College. The twins' teacher is Ms. Stacey. She's from Wales and the girls love her. Katie's teacher is Ms. Randall. They all are learning Chinese. Katie practices what she's learned on the guards here in the compound and with our driver, Mr. Liu. Larry brought back a nasty bug from Hong Kong and decided to share it with us. Thankfully, the symptoms didn't show up until after our health examination. Oh, my...what an experience. Larry and I had an EKG, ultrasound, chest x-ray, eye, ear, teeth exam, blood pressure and blood tests done; all done in less than 25 minutes and with even less sterile equipment. Efficient yet scary.

The rest of week was tending to the sick. Sarah missed three days of school and Larry and I alternated out of the bathroom. It was not a pretty sight. I thought we might have to go back to that hospital but willed myself to tough it out. I was fearful that I'd get put into quarantine.

We got word that we could move into our townhouse in Royal Peninsula on September 1. Larry had to go to Shanghai that day, so after the girls went to school. I packed us up for hopefully, what would be the last time...for awhile. I spent all day with our relocation guy, John and the landlord. Many things still needed to be done, but we had a home. When Larry got home from Shanghai we loaded into the van and headed to the store, because we needed bedding. We were at the Auchen store at 8:00 at night buying sheets. I couldn't do it earlier because all of the labels are in CHINESE. We found a clerk who understood a little english and left with what we needed. We finally got to sleep in our bedrooms (well, not Sarah, she doesn't have a bed yet) around 10:30.

More to come...with pictures