Desperate Housewives of Suzhou

The last of the Sulzer Suzhou team has finally arrived. Our four families are from Houston, Vancouver, and good ol' Seneca. We all have daughters, eight total, which should raise the next gathering's decibal level way above anything healthy. They are extremely busy this term having joined more clubs. Katie is taking dance, knitting, choir and is in the spring musical. Sydney is taking Tae Kwon Do, dance, craft club and movie club. Sarah is taking dance, tennis and is in the movie club. Most days they come home, eat dinner, take a bath and head to bed as they are worn out. The guys are travelling this month visiting suppliers, training, safety audits and trying to survive the Northern China bitter cold. Which leaves the wives...
My quest for academic stimulation is on a temporary hiatus. Though, my Chinese lessons leave my brain hurting twice a week. When I'm not waiting on repairmen to fix one of the inevitable breaks that occur within this house, shopping at the mega stores, or visiting the school for one reason or another (all of these take three times as long as they did in the States), I get together with the other Sulzer wives. Cindy, Wendy, Shannon and I have taken it upon ourselves to make the very most of our time here. My goal is to see and experience as much of the area as possible. And not just the areas the tourists are meant to see. Cindy and Wendy, both of whom are Chinese, are wonderfully helpful. I love learning about the culture and I believe, even after we're here for our stint, I still will have only skimmed what there is to study. Once a week, we gather for lunch and other exploits. Ok, so we've only gathered twice so far, but plans are being made. These women are so elegant and enjoy the finer things. I'm not one to snub the niceties, but feel like a country bumpkin next to them. I've decided, since we've named ourselves the Desperate Housewives of Suzhou, to take on the role of the frumpy comedic sidekick, who interjects social commentaries amidst the manicures (which, by the way, I have yet to get even though my girls have had two).

Videos

Let's see if I can get these blasted videos loaded today. It's raining, the satellite is out and the house has lost all water pressure. Let's hope nobody skypes me today. Keep in mind, these go back a couple of months

My first attempt was...well you can see. Hang in there because at the 57 second mark I finally realized that even though I was watching it without having to lay on my side no one else would be able to. Katie is smack dab in the center of the choir but there's absolutely no chance of seeing her on the video. I can pick out her voice a couple of times, though.

Times Square near our house has the largest or second largest of these movie projections in the world. The first time we watched one of the movies I almost fell over. I believe there is a showing every evening. Just when we think we know the times, the screen lights up at a different time. The music is just as impressive. The images are so vivid and vibrant, it's like being on the Soar ride at Disneyworld. My little camera video doesn't do it justice, but hopefully you get the idea.

The choir sang at the Expat Christmas party. Katie shouldn't be too hard to pick out. She glances over at me several times. Third row in the middle.

All of the students in Year 5 are required to play a string instrument. Katie chose the violin. After three months, here is their first song performed at the Christmas recital. Katie is way in the back. I couldn't even see her and I was in the sixth row.

Ducks (where the twins are) put on their own Christmas play. All I can say is "God bless those teachers". It was controlled chaos, but quite entertaining. Every child in Ducks (nursery, reception, Years 1 & 2) was on stage in full costume, singing their little hearts out. They learned a half dozen songs and several children had parts, including Sydney. She portrayed the North Star brilliantly. Again, it's next to impossible to pick out the twins, but they are on the third row from the top, Syd on the far left and Sarah on the far right.

Last Christmas video, I promise...well...unless I find some more on Larry's camera. Santa made a visit to Ducks college the day of their Christmas party. I won't mention the scrawniness of this particular Santa, but Sydney commented to me that she knew he wasn't the real Santa because he was too skinny. Ms. Stacey's class learned to sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas while signing and performed at the party.

More to come...

Great Ending to 2009, Part 3

My parents' visit seemed to be cruising by without any hope of slowing down. Their second week here went by just as quick, but with a little less stress or maybe more wine. The girls have been introduced to "cocktail hour". Now, don't get all worried. They enjoy the hors d'oeuvres and legal libations while providing the rest of us with entertainment. As mentioned, one of their favorite activities is playing America's Next Top Model, complete with wardrobe changes, makeup and poses. When we're quick enough we sometimes catch these moments on film, which is what the girls want all the time. They also want us to pick a winner, which is just their way of setting us up for torture and torment. There is a fine art to convincing them that they are each a winner in a different category, but inevitably someone's ego gets bruised and the catwalk is closed for the evening.
Monday was an adventure. Cindy took us to Pearl City. All nine of us piled into our van. The twins rode in the way back on bean bags. Yes, highly illegal in the US, but here...not so much.
Cindy was a huge help in finding the vendor with the best price and interpretting what we wanted. We left with plenty of pearls and already plotting a return trip. The pearls here are gorgeous and cheap. They are freshwater pearls harvested in right here in Suzhou. When we come back to the U.S. I'm definitely stocking up. We decided to get lunch before our next stop, which was to the tailor's. I wanted to get long winter coats made for the girls. We picked up Cindy's two girls (yes, that makes eleven in the van) and had lunch at a Japanese-run Italian restaurant. They actually have really good pizza. Ten of us ate for less than 250RMB (@ $40).
The tailors/fabric sellers were in the old town on the second floor of what looked to be like a warehouse...a really old warehouse with few windows, damp floors and no heat. Most of the businesses do not have heat even the major ones. The different fabric vendors sat huddled in their cubbies and were not as intrusive as the fake market vendors, but the feeling is very similar. Cindy did all of the talking once we found some fabric we liked. Prices jumped around and one tailor even upped his price once he saw the "mei guo ren" (American). Finally, after almost two hours, we decided to get one coat made to ensure the quality. I am hoping for success because I'd love to get some clothes made for Katie...and the rest of us. When we left we came down a different set of stairs into a street market. If it hadn't been so cold, we would have investigated further. It looked like you could buy anything from dishes to clothes to cleaning supplies to pets/dinner.
Wednesday we went back to Pearl City. It's so easy to get overwhelmed and forget any plan you may have had before entering therefor necessitating a second trip or you may just want to buy more. I bought some earrings for the girls and two necklaces and a bracelet for myself while Mom and Dad loaded up on more baubles. Later, we went to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch, Casa Zoe. The food is not outstanding but we kind of pretend we're at Los Amigos back in Seneca. Actually, the food is better than Los Amigos. The wait staff loves the girls...big surprise. One of the waitresses saw that Katie had gotten her ears pierced and gave her a pair of earrings, the ones out of her ears...kind of weird, but sweet. The shopping bug had gotten hold of us so we headed to the old town as Eric told Larry of a shop that sold watches, purses and all. Mr. Liu found the shop and we were immediately taken up a private set of stairs to a stocked room. Haggling and bluffing ensued. We learned the shopowner only sells to foreigners, which we took to mean he jacks his prices way up. He tried to tell us it was the best quality, which by the looks of some of purses held some truth. We all walked out and started across the street and the owner called Larry back in. We checked out the DVD store across the street and found good ol' Spongebob Squarepants' entire collection for $10. Larry came out with three purses, and three watches. I still don't know what he paid, but the raspberry Coach purse won me over.
Larry had been teasing my mom all week about taking her to an authentic Chinese restaurant. She was not amused and was dreading the inevitable. We invited Eric and Grace as a thank you for the beautiful necklaces Grace had made for the girls (out of the seashells from Hong Kong) and mom and me. They made reservations for us at Song He Lou, a very popular and old restaurant known for its Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, which a chef supposedly made for the emperor. We were taken to our own private room. The menu looked a little scary at first and I could see mom's eyes bugging out at some of the pictures. Eric and Larry ordered and we prayed. The dishes immediately started arriving. Everything looked beautiful and nothing had too many eyeballs. When the famous fish dish was set on the table, we all kind of stared. Larry'd had it before and assured us it was good. In fact, it was quite tasty. Sydney was the most adventurous, trying a bit of everything, while her sisters made do with the fried rice. The price was extremely reasonable as it's a local establishment. We actually ate for less than we did for lunch and had two more people and more food.
Larry invited all of his co-workers, families and drivers to our house for New Year's Eve. He also invited Carl (from the golf tournament) and his wife. We spent the day preparing food and readying the house. Everyone started arriving around 6pm. Shots started around 7pm and a couple of our guests spent the evening toasting everyone who walked by. Chinese wine or maotai will put you on your behind quickly. I mistakenly ordered it once thinking I was getting white wine. Well, it's white, but tastes more like grain alcohol. Stories started being spun and drinks were flowing. The girls, all squealing six of them, were off "filming a murder movie", complete with costumes, props and a script. They only showed themselves for food and drink. We never saw the finished product, it may end up on DVD over here, who knows. Around 10:30pm we had Cosmos, which I was surprised when many of the wives said they'd never had. The drivers had disappeared for about an hour, but came back fully armed with the largest block of fireworks I'd ever seen. Champagne in hand, we toasted in 2010. Fireworks could be heard all over the city. We added to the noise for a good ten minutes. After the smoke cleared and everyone had left, Katie and her father had a quiet moment together. I snuck a picture as father and daughter celebrated the New Year in China. Who would have thunk it?

Great Ending to 2009, Part 2

Our impulsive Hong King trip was super. Very relaxing, which was in direct contrast to the next day. Everyone was so excited for the arrival of my parents, it was difficult to wind down the night before. Needless to say I left a houseful of sleepyheads and headed to Shanghai with Mr. Liu. Neither one of us had been to the port, but figured it couldn't be that hard to spot a giant cruise ship. He only made one wrong turn and we managed to arrive exactly on time. I began to worry that there was more than one exit, but eavesdropped on a passerby's phone conversation and learned there had been a thirty minute delay. Soon I spotted them coming down the escalator, but they didn't see me until they were almost to me. I was so happy to see them. I was afraid they'd look tired and worn out, but they looked rested. Good thing.
Traffic in Shanghai was relatively light, but no matter how light, nothing can prepare one to the experience. I explained even though there are lines on the roads and street lights, they are more of a guideline rather than a steadfast rule. Car horns and bully tactics are respected more. Also, the bigger your car the better your chances. I've learned to look beyond the cars (mostly) and concentrate on the scenery. Mom sounded like one of my girls when she kept asking "Are we in Suzhou yet?" We arrived around lunchtime and the girls squealed with delight.
There weren't many planned activities. We kind of played it by ear most days. Our intention was to do lots of Christmas shopping, but shopping in China, however cheap things may be and thousands of stores from which to choose, is not an easy task. Back home, a trip to Wal-Mart would do the trick. A trip to Wal-Mart here...not so much. Since all of the children here are required to wear uniforms to school, the choices for children's clothing is extremely limited, unless you want to pay top dollar and shop at the boutiques set up for expats. Toys are kind of the same way. Yes, there is a Toys R Us, but it physically hurts to spend money there knowing the real price of things. We also decided our girls are beyond spoiled. Yep, really. Toys and clothing are literally piled in their rooms. Storage is at a premium here (I'm looking for dressers and desks and bookcases). I asked the girls to name only three things they REALLY wanted for Christmas. It was still undecided as to whether Santa was going to stop at the Whitfield. Syd and Katie are worse than Tom and Jerry, I'd already had to make one call to the North Pole.
We all went to the neighborhood center one day. The produce there is unbelievable. It's easy to get carried away and prices are better than the grocery stores. The fresh chicken counter was really busy so they too witnessed how fresh. Mom and I attempted to shop, managing to find rollar blades for the twins and some other stocking stuffers while Larry and my dad played golf. Wednesday, Larry and I attempted to shop. We found a laptop and basketball/net. Honestly, it takes so long to do anything I should probably start shopping now for next Christmas. Thursday, we headed to Shanghai to the "silk/fake/pearl" markets. Some serious shopping took place. My dad bought watches from the first vendor there. He learned. Purses, DVDs, Xbox games, DS games...fun. We'd about shopped ourselves out and we still had dinner plans at the Financial Center. This place is the third tallest building in the world. 100 Century Avenue is the restaurant on the 91st floor. Larry had made reservations after he'd gone to lunch with the big dogs from Sulzer. When he made the reservation, he'd been told there weren't any window seats, but when we arrived we were seated right up against the glass. Come to find out, we'd been given someone else's table, but we didn't fess up and they simply moved some other tables around. It was foggy, but the view was still pretty awesome. Our waiter was less than competant and the girls meal was served quite late. All in all, though, it was an enjoyable evening. I had to coerce the girls to bed. Sarah fell asleep quickly, but Syd and Katie fought sleep until about midnight. Mom couldn't resign herself to giving the girls just one present each and I think she felt bad as it wasn't a typical "Libby Christmas". Ok, yeh, we're living in China. It's hardly typical.
Christmas morning came early, a little before seven. Sarah snuck down before anyone and informed us that Santa had come because the milk and cookies were gone. The twins were thrilled with the rollar blades. Katie couldn't believe she had gotten a laptop and the exact robe she'd seen in Shanghai. Larry had actually bought it for her in Hong Kong and I'd never seen the one she'd picked out in Shanghai. They, of course, fought over who the basketball net was for. I tried to hint it was for all, but that didn't go over well. We spent the early afternoon making cookies. A long standing tradition we managed to continue. I think this particular batch had a bit more flour than necessary, but it only added to the fun.
We'd been invited over to Terry (another one of Larry's co-workers) and Wendy's for Christmas dinner. The girls played with her daugher and the Sollars' kids. Six squealing girls. The rest of us lounged around and enjoyed traditional Chinese dishes.
Larry was invited to play in Taihu Golf Club's annual tournament on Saturday. I took dad to Auchen, one of the many mega grocery stores. It's one thing to go there during the week, but an entirely different experience on the weekend. We were looking for a few specific items and once we had those we got the heck out of there. He did catch a glimpse of the produce and meat sections and was as awestruck, disgusted, amazed and bewildered as I was. Larry called to say there was a dinner/ball that evening at the Taihu Golf Resort. I panicked as I thought not about what I was going to wear, but that I was leaving my parents with the girls in China. Not really panicking, but you know, I tend to imagine all kinds of crazy scenerios. Larry had shot a 78 and been told he'd finished second and had won the closest to the pin. There was one other westerner, Carl from UK, who had us convinced Larry'd won a car or set a clubs or money. The hotel had been transformed into a 1920's movie. There were dancers, singers, ladies selling roses and cigarettes, craftmen selling their trades and a casino. Before we ate they gave away the prizes. Come to find out the tournament was actual the Club Championship. Larry, Carl and a few others were the only non-members there. The members thought Larry was a professional golfer and handicapped him at 2.2, which means his actual score slaughtered the entire field. He was,therefor,placed in the non-member, not-so-great-gift category and walked away with a too small sweater,(which fit Mr. Liu nicely)a plastic shoe bag, a putting tool, and two "Atta boys". The trophies and nice prizes went to the members. We got a good laugh out of it and a really nice evening.
Part 3 coming soon

Great Ending to 2009, Part 1

So much for posting at least once a week. We've been here for almost five months and I'm quite sure December went by the quickest. Larry took three weeks off and my parents were here for two weeks and in a blink of an eye all are gone again. I'm still waiting on confirmation that Mom and Dad are safely back on US soil, but that trip back is brutal, recovery will take a week. Larry is headed back to Dalian, and then to Beijing and other parts that are even colder. He's got a suitcase packed full of thermals, sweaters, scarves and...you get the picture. He wasn't looking forward to the next few months as Dalian is brutal in the winter. Today, it's not supposed to get above 17 degrees F. For a southerner, that's a rude awakening to the new year. We did, however, have a great time over the holidays.
The girls finished the school term with more Christmas parties and concerts. Larry came home from Dalian. Two days later we were headed to Hong Kong for a pre-Christmas-vacation vacation. I'm not really one for spur of the moment, but sometimes, those moments turn into precious ones. We'd talked about suprising Mom and Dad in Hong Kong as their cruise stopped there. We ended up being a day late, but after visiting that city, I'm not sure how we ever would have found them.
Eric, Larry's assistant, booked our flight and hotel so we weren't sure what to expect (but I'm learning that's ok). Our flight was uneventful, but the girls did wonder why we weren't sitting in the First Class section as they've come to expect that's the only way to fly. The shuttle ride to the hotel was nice. We basically had the entire bus to ourselves. I guess I never really paid attention to the landscape around the city, but I had no idea it was so beautiful. The mountains rise right out of the sea, with dazzling highrises set up against them. The full affect comes at night when the city explodes with wonderous color. If electricity can reach it then it will be lit up. And I thought Suzhou had lights.
We spent the first day exploring the resort. The girls put their bathing suits on and splashed around in the pool. The beach was next. Larry and Sarah spent time scouring for shells, Katie checked out the sand sculpure competition while Sydney let a little Asian girl bury her in the sand. We took on Disneyland Hong Kong Monday. We arrived when it opened and stayed until closing. Every ride was ridden and every character spotted. Disney certainly knows how to decorate for the holidays. Main Street even had snow falling throughout the day despite the 70 degree weather. The Sollars were vacationing in Hong Kong as well, and we met up with them for part of the day. It's a Small World and Space Mountain were my favorites.
Tuesday, we rode a doubledecker bus to Hong Kong Island. I thought I knew world geograghy. Nope, not at all. Our hotel was actually in New Territories and we had to cross over a couple of large bridges and other islands like Kowloon to get to the actual city of Hong Kong. I just watched Batman the Dark Knight and there's a scene which takes place in Hong Kong. Yep, we were there. The buildings are so close together you could shake hands with your neighbors out the windows. The streets were mobbed, the stores were mobbed. Everywhere you looked it was crowded. Designer everything, prices through the roof and you could literally feel the city pulsing. I was completely intimidated and was thankful when we got on another double decker bus and headed for Stanley Bay. San Francisco streets have nothing on the streets we rode. We scaled a mountain on a bus, hairpin turns and fantastic views. Stanley Bay is home to many expats and it was easy to see why. The hussle and bussle is left on the other side of the mountain. This place reminded me of Newport, Rhode Island, Key West and a touch of Acapulco combined into one tourist trap paradise. The weather was chilly and the skies cloudy, but one could easily see the appeal even through the fog. The market was pitiful, no bargains were found, but I would go back if only to sip a cold drink in one of the many pubs overlooking the bay. We rode back on a different colored bus and saw the entire island. We also missed our stop and ended up in the heart of somewhere not really knowing how to get back to the hotel. A couple of nice folks pointed us in the right directions and we took the subway/train. That was fun. The girls once again were a hit. They had our entire car laughing at their antics by the time we got to our destination. We still had a short taxi ride to the hotel.
Wednesday turned into an adventure. We decided to return to Tsuen Wan where the train station was as there was a large mall. Certainly, it couldn't be that hard to get back to as the taxi ride was only about five minutes. Two buses and three hours later we finally found it. The girls were troopers and for a reward and in a huge moment of personal weakness I allowed them to get their ears pierced. Sarah was the first. She only showed fear for a brief second. Syd went next and started crying after the first ear but endured through. The tears were enough to momentarily deter Katie. But, by God, she wasn't going to let her sisters be the ones to come back and brag about getting their ears pierced. I was pretty convinced she'd pass out, and I almost yanked her out the seat when she said "You're forcing me to do this!" Leave it to Katie to turn this into an Oscar winning drama performance. I did have to force her to stay in the seat after the first ear. She told the technician "Please, just give me a few moments". He had to hide a smile. Finally, after about five minutes she let him do the other ear. The three of them walked down the hall like they were on a catwalk, which, as most of you know, is one of their favorite playtime activities.
Our evenings were spent in the hotel. There was a super buffet with every type of food you could conceive of. Sarah was particularly fond of the marshmallows, strawberries and chocolate fountain. Syd liked the grilled lamb chops. Katie preferred the crab legs. Larry and I endulged in the sashimi tuna, swordfish, and salmon. The lounge singers were from the Phillipines. Their repertoire consisted of christmas songs and the Mamma Mia soundtrack. The girls were in heaven. They even got up on stage with them one night.
It was a great spontaneous trip, but I was anxious to get home because my parents were slated to arrive the next day in Shanghai. More to come....including lots of pictures.