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
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
No comments:
Post a Comment