Family

Another week has gone by, we have been here for one month now. It feels much longer than that, maybe because we are so comfortable in our home or so loved by our family here. Whatever the case may be, it is a great feeling. The experience we have had so far has been such a wonderful one.

I can't help but think about our family in Canada today. I know they are all gathering at the Hill for the annual Loschnig get together to celebrate Tante Anna's Birthday. This weekend we watched home videos of the Farm, Shahadaroba, the Hill and the Valley. It was almost like being there and good enough for now. But when we visit Canada, the Bruce Peninsula will definitely be on our "must visit" list.

Kerry

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Watching home videos of us being at the Farm brought a lot of good memories to me. I miss the love of my family. It feels like it has been one year without them.
Daddy told me today that we have been here for one month now. I am very excited because next month is our second month and our sea container is coming then. I want my clothing designs here, so I can go to the fabric market with the drawings and have a tailor make them.
By: Alexis

Around the Compound

Keeping the girls busy during the day has been a challenge. There is a lot to do but too hot outside after 9:30am until after 6:00pm to do anything active outside. So we try to go for walks before 9am or after supper. The compound is beautiful and there are nice paths and sidewalks for them to walk on. Later in the summer, once it cools off we can play in our yard.

Path in the forest leading to the pavilion

In the pavilion

When you come close to the bridges in the compound the cicadas start singing. Jill calls them tree frogs, but they are not frogs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada   They are so loud they actually drown out Jill's LOUD talking.

Arial view of our compound

Went to the pool again this week. It is our usual Thursday afternoon activity. This time we stayed for two hours.

We had a visit from home this weekend. It was great to re-connect with Ryan. We went out for dinner to the Blue Frog. This time we made full use of the 'Lil Frog room. Upon arriving at the restaurant the kids were brought into the 'Lil Frog room and we were seated in the restaurant with a view of the room. I ordered drinks and food, when ready it was brought to the girls in the 'Lil Frog room. Carly even figured out that she didn't need to ask me for help with more ketchup or a different movie. She would go right up to a waiter and ask for help. It was great! Now we know where to go for dinner if we want a night out, with very close to, no kids.

'Lil Frog Room

Normal as Normal can be

Our first week of, back to normal. Chris went to work and I cleaned the house, did laundry and kept the girls busy all day. Thursday we went to our swimming pool. They had fun, but we need to buy some pool toys. The girls were floating around in the life rings for fun. Friday night we went for a 7 minute walk to the Li Li Restaurant across the street from our compound. Very nice and very good chinese food, the five of us ate like kings for $57. Then walked to the corner store which sells everything from candy to beer. It is right beside our compound.

Saturday we were at Blaine's for a BBQ with other expats from work. The girls really like Blaine, it was like being with their Uncle's at home. Blaine let Alexis and Carly help him BBQ and later they played zombies.

Today (Sunday) was the icing on the cake. We were with family we've never met before. Made us feel at home in more ways then one. Thank you to them and we look forward to the next time!

Out for Dinner

After a day of shopping and playing, it was time for dinner. So we piled in the van and Mr. Lu took us to the HomeGourmet Restaurant in the Sky Fortune Hotel. Feels like home for Chris and I, we've eaten there a few times now.

The girls are used to eating thai food, so the food is not that different, just they don't normally eat it all the time. They are starting to get bored with it. It is hard to order for them out because most menus are in chinese and we can't talk to the waiter and ask for plain noodles with vegetables, not spicy and no shrimp. Last night we finally found what they like. Soup with dumplings in it (like wonton soup) and fried noodles with shredded pork. Once I get used to shopping and preparing what I can find here, which is pretty much everything you can find at home that is fresh, we will be just fine.

Deals, Deals, Deals or ???

Off to the Pearl City Market to make a couple sweet deals. The Transformers Special Edition Animated complete seasons 1 - 4, for $13. Later to find out they are in chinese. Four DSI games for $47, none of them work. Police billy club $7, works awesome. For a tailor made suit in 24 hours delivered to your door, $100. There are some great deals to be had, you just have to be aware of what you're buying.

Got the girls fans to help keep cool while walking to the pool and play centre.

And Jill is already training to be a doctor.

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium

Today we went for an out of the house adventure to the SOA. It is right beside the Pearl Tower so the girls got a quick peek at it too. The glass windows looked pink so the girls loved it. We'll save that tour for another day.
The under water tunnels at the SOA were cool. One of the largest in the world. It was crowded but we had a system. Going through the tunnels I went first with one child. Chris behind me with two others to give us our personal space. At the longest tunnel there was a conveyer belt which spread everyone thin. It was quite beautiful to see the "ocean" above and beside us. The girls loved the jelly fish, sting rays and turtles.

There was a cafeteria in the aquarium but we wanted to get out and walk around a bit. Found a big 'M' on the side of a building so had some McDonald's for lunch. A welcome change for the girls from eating traditional chinese food this week. No washrooms in any of the restaurants in the building, just one community washroom. So Carly and Jill got a chance to use the squat boxes I spoke of in an earlier blog. This time I was prepared with kleenex.

Home Home Home

Today was pretty relaxing. The girls played robots with the box from our new water dispenser. We unpacked some more clothes into Carly's room. We are still putting things away, not really knowing where to put stuff yet. Alexis was hired as our Ayi today. She cleaned her room, dusted, windexed all the glass, and even washed the floor. I did laundry and some grocery shopping, pretty normal day, right? We went to the pool but it was closed for cleaning, so the girls played in the play centre instead.

On our way out to dinner tonight Jill starts counting, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. There are 8 chocolate lights." She counts again, "1, 2, 3, 4. There are 4 chocolate lights." We can't figure out what she is counting until we look outside and see the chinese lanterns(chocolate lights) hanging in front of stores and restaurants.

Robot Jill

We are sitting in the kitchen and Carly asks, "Mommy when are we going home?"
I say, "we are home Honey."
Carly says, "no, when are we going home home?"
I say, "this is home home sweety." I'm trying to break it to her easy but she won't give in.
Carly says, " no, when are we going home home home?
I say, "Probably around Christmas time."
Carly ends the conversation with a short "humpf" and goes to bed.

Charades Anyone?

Water is an essential part of life, so it was on my priority list to establish reliable water delivery for us at home.  Our compound has an office that distributes water to the residents, unfortunately English is not as readily available as the water.  Through out the compound there are security officers ; when you approach them they straighten out their uniform and salute you.  It is really convenient; you call the front office, ask for water and the security officer delivers it to the house, we got the water delivered but as standard protocol when he drops off water bottles he picks up empties, I was as confused as he was, I had paid the deposit for new bottles but he still wanted empties, the only form of communication was hand signals and he still could not understand, all we knew to do was salute and smile at each other.  We contacted work and had someone explain to him our situation, after he understood, a smile and a salute and away he went.  Now whenever he sees me I have graduated from a smile and a salute, to an outburst of laughter and a salute.

Written by Chris

Visit To School

Once upon a Friday afternoon, Alexis' family went to their new school. The toilets were so cute for the Nursery school age, Jill had to use them right away. Even the sink was mini.

The playground for Jill was HUGE!

There was a swimming pool, dance studio and theatre in the school. The science lab was awesome, except for the skeletons every where. Our classrooms will be on three different levels, but we can take the bus together. Hope you enjoyed my school-tastic adventure

By Alexis

Shopping Day

I might go vegetarian! This is our local Carrefour grocery store. What an experience! Salted sea creatures hanging from the ceiling, pig feet out in the open and whole chickens piled up in open air. The smell as you get closer to the meat section gets really strong. I hope I can get used to it or I will be hiring an Ayi just for the grocery shopping. There is not much else to say, the pictures tell it all.

New Home

After a very traditional Chinese breakfast we went to our NEW HOUSE! My room is on the main floor, which is very lucky because my room is near the kitchen and I can smell all the food. My bathroom door is a sliding door, I tried opening it like a normal door but it didn't work.

OK lets get to the real details now. When we first got into our house there was two Chinese ladies, Emily and Peggy. They came to show us around our house and make sure everything was working. Carly and Jill helped me unpack and set up my room. We went out for lunch to the Blue Frog Restaurant on Hong Mei Pedestrian Street. Then came home for a nap. We couldn't wake Jill up for supper so Daddy put her to bed.

By Alexis

Hong Mei Pedestrian Street

Take Flight

Woke up Sunday morning, got ready to go and got a call that our flight was delayed 5 hours. Now what? We had all morning, so we spent more time with family and friends. Left our house at 2:00pm. We had two SUV's drive us to the airport, one for the luggage and one for us.

Our flight was now leaving at 6:00pm. The flight was almost full. The girls were really good on the flight. They slept a fairly good amount, I actually had a hard time waking Jill up. I needed to our she wouldn't have slept when we got to China. All our luggage made it. One suitcase the zipper broke as we lifted it off the conveyer belt but I quickly threw the Ketchup bottles back in and held it shut under the other suitcases. Our driver was waiting for us at the airport with a van for us and a taxi for the luggage. Surprising it all fit in.

Off to the Sky Fortune Hotel for the night. This is where Chris and I stayed last time we were here. It felt almost like home. We arrived around 10pm Monday July 4th. We had three rooms, Alexis & I in one, Carly & Mama in one and Jill & Chris in the other. We all went to Mama & Carly's room to eat something and then off to bed. Carly was the last one awake the next day. We all didn't sleep the greatest, but enough to get us through the day. Breakfast at the hotel was great.

Airport Express

Once upon a time there was a family who was moving to China. They left on Sunday July 3rd, 2011. Their Mama came with them to help unpack. They went thru security, and they did awesome. Then they had to sit down and wait for a very long time. They played on their computer's, DSI's and Leapsters. Their Dad went to get Tim Horton's for last time.
When the family boarded Alexis, and Jill sat with their Mom at the very back row 44. Carly sat with her Dad at row 23 and Mama sat in first class. The flight was 14 hours, lots of time to watch tons of movies.
They got to China at night and went straight to the Sky Fortune Hotel. They ate something and went to bed. Sweet dreams.
By Alexis