Our winter holiday at home is coming to an end. Sadly, as we sit here, we are only 2 days from flying out, back to Beijing. It has been another busy, busy, busy holiday season. My favorite part has been seeing and visiting with friends and family, though the time has not been long enough, I feel happy to have seen so many people in such a short time.
The last few days we have spent on the westside, in a crazy mix of birthday celebrations and family/friend time.
Post from Lucas:
"My favorite part was Christmas because I was thankful for all of my presents. I got 3 Nascars and more than you can count banana juices. It was a great Christmas and I even got what I really wanted, some kind of motorcycle and how to make one. I got a grabber, like something that grabs stuff, and it can pinch people and they can be stuck and it can be funny! I got big castle Lego set and it was from my favorite Lego man in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD [Uncle Pauly]. And for my birthday I got a little castle set from my Greatest Lego Man in the whole wide world, which was the same person I already said. I got a monster truck for my birthday and for my birthday I got a big stuffed Ninja Turtle. It was my favorite Ninja Turtle, Leonardo. He is my favorite Ninja Turtle. I got a 3-wheeler Ninja turtle and it had a Leonardo. It was COOL! And I got a 3 double Lego set. It was a helicopter and a car, but I don't remember the other one. But they were COOL!"
We are off now to have lunch with a good friend before making the trip back across the pass to my parents house.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Big decisions...
I have always been one to say that things happen for a reason. Throughout my time growing up and making decisions, great things have happened, bad things have happened, I've made good and poor choices....not unlike anyone else growing up. People, I think, have a tendency to make excuses for poor choices and try to find reasons that they made these choices. Of course, there are certain factors that contribute to different circumstances, but sometimes we just make poor choices.
As this school year started, through what was another period of many volleyball obligations, both during the week and on weekends, and lack of Lucas-time, it was again a struggle to keep all my balls in the air. Events took place that, in and of themselves, were drops in the bucket, though added all together created a difficult time for me. I think that these events have molded my decisions to follow a path that was originally unintended. I came into the year, knowing that I would stay another year in Beijing, but came out thinking that another path is the one I should take.
I have opened another door for myself, which will lead me to another place. I have looked at things that have happened and have made the decision that for my dreams to continue to come true, for me to be happy and at peace, it is time to explore!!! It is time for another location, another place in China to call our home.
As this school year started, through what was another period of many volleyball obligations, both during the week and on weekends, and lack of Lucas-time, it was again a struggle to keep all my balls in the air. Events took place that, in and of themselves, were drops in the bucket, though added all together created a difficult time for me. I think that these events have molded my decisions to follow a path that was originally unintended. I came into the year, knowing that I would stay another year in Beijing, but came out thinking that another path is the one I should take.
I have opened another door for myself, which will lead me to another place. I have looked at things that have happened and have made the decision that for my dreams to continue to come true, for me to be happy and at peace, it is time to explore!!! It is time for another location, another place in China to call our home.
First Day of SCHOOL!!!
TODAY MY WONDERFULLY CLEVER LITTLE MAN IS IN KINDERGARTEN!!!! I cannot believe that this little guy is in kindergarten! The time has gone just TOO fast! And he was SO excited to start kindergarten!!! All last year, he would tell people, "I should be in Kindergarten this year, but I am in PreK" and all summer he COUNTED DOWN the number of days until he started Kindergarten, expressing this excitement to anyone and everyone who would listen.
Then finally, the BIG DAY! He was up early, had his bag packed, and was hopping to go to school!!
Then finally, the BIG DAY! He was up early, had his bag packed, and was hopping to go to school!!
Back in Beijing
After a lovely summer at home with family and friends, we headed back to Beijing on August 3rd, which by the time we arrived here, it was August 4th here. Work for me started on August 6th, so basically we had ONE DAY to get things prepared to be back in the swing of things and for me to find an ayi for Lucas while I was in training for the first week. Luckily, I had a contact and secured an ayi the day BEFORE heading back to work. Of course, we were still on Washington time, which meant that we were waking up in the morning between 12:30am and 4am for the first 4 days or so, and going to bed around 3 or 4pm, as SOON as I got home. It was pretty rough going for a while.
Though we had an easier transition this year and didn't cry nearly as long after leaving Dad and Mom at the airport, it was still difficult to make the switch to being so far from family and friends. There was a certain "peace" with coming back to what is now our "home," despite the difficulty in it.
Though we had an easier transition this year and didn't cry nearly as long after leaving Dad and Mom at the airport, it was still difficult to make the switch to being so far from family and friends. There was a certain "peace" with coming back to what is now our "home," despite the difficulty in it.
So, this last weekend has been the hardest one yet. At this time, there are only 2 days until we fly to China. We spent great (though very short) time with some very important people in our lives, and as we have gotten closer and closer to the time of departure, my heart gets heavier with thoughts of those I love and will be leaving. My family is so important to me and has been such a big part of me growing up. We always had family celebrations and traditions that we kept alive from year to year...and as you know, we got older and things changed. Distance separates us.
We traveled for the last time to my hometown, where we drove by the house I grew up in. It brought back so many happy memories of the times I had there as a child. It is funny how you have in your mind a perspective, a picture of how you remember a place or time and when you return to this place, time has changed it. Time changes all things, and to go back it all seems so much bigger. And yes, a lot of it was, the trees are taller, the bushes fuller....and though basically things were the same, it was different.
One thing people have said to me over and over is how big of a move this is, how brave I am to be doing this and asking me if I am scared. And no, I'm not scared. Though I never really understood what the big deal was... To me, I was just following my dream, going somewhere that I have always wanted to go, doing what I have always wanted to do. My trip got me thinking more and more about this though. People each have their level of comfort, looking around you will see people who move away from their hometown's and people who stay and raise their own families there. It occurred to me how big this was.
We went to church this evening with my brother. We hadn't been in a while, and my home church is always welcoming and the best to come back to, though over the years it too has changed.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Zhōngqiū Jié (中秋節, 中秋节) 2013
Ni hao!! I know it's been a
while! But here we are, almost to the end of September already!! Today
is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Zhōngqiū Jié (中秋節, 中秋节), a Chinese
National Holiday, which means we have today and tomorrow off from
school.
We
have been in China now for 57 days, which is REALLY hard to believe. It
is comforting to think back on all the things that were SO HARD are now
easier...We have become quite good at getting around on the subway. As
long as I have my trusty 'ole map, we can get anywhere using the subway.
We know where the markets are to buy the things we like, mostly meaning
'the things Lucas will eat.' Sadly though, the pancake mix selection
has dwindled to just these boxes that make about 10 pancakes and cost
about $10. At the beginning, they had the bags of bisquick, they were
small, but it lasted much longer...I fear the day I walk in and there is
NO pancake mix.
We
have had really busy weeks at school. Lucas is learning some Chinese,
and though he says he doesn't remember it when we get home, he is
learning to speak and read it daily in Chinese class. He is at the top
of his class academically, they are working on letter names and sounds
and he is ready to read, so his teacher now is focusing him on getting
along with his peers. His class has 16 kids, which is MANY more than he
has ever been with on a regular basis. I also signed him up for Reading
Eggs (thanks Kelly!!) and he has been LOVING it! He is sounding out
words and reading short sentences. I have always worked with him with
math at home, and though we read a lot, we honestly hadn't done much
with reading. Now though, he is doing his reading on the computer and I
have been having him read some phonics
books with me. In my class, my students just finished up planning the
assembly last week. It went amazing! I was so proud of them!! It was
recorded and I got it put up on our blog if you want to take a look.
Lucas' teacher also posts pictures and a post weekly if you want to
check them out:
My class blog: blogs.biss.com.cn/ajentzen
Lucas' class blog: blogs.biss.com.cn/rbaskevica
Last
weekend we were honorary Australians. Scott, one of the other newbies
and dad to Monty, Lucas' preK friend, invited us to go along with them
to an Australian party that their embassy was putting on. As it turned
out, there were 6 other staff members there, we have a large Australian
staff pop. at school. It was a gorgeous day. The kids ran around in the
large field and jumped in the bouncy house all day, coming back only for
drinks and food. We adults sat around with our own drinks, chatting and
watching cricket (I dont get that game at all). It was a great day of
relaxed fun!!
We
did not plan a trip anywhere for this vacation. We decided to do some
things around Beijing during our 4 days off. This morning we went to the
Panjiayuan Antique Market and checked it out. There were rows and rows
of people selling things, a lot of beads and old (in some cases ancient)
chinese artifacts. Lucas kept finding the swords and daggers. He
innocently asked why I kept saying that he could not have one "look Mom,
they are not even sharp, see?" When I pulled it out of the sheath to
show him the actual sword he was surprised and even more excited about the "real sword." We were there for a couple hours, had some salad and ice cream and came home so little monkey could nap.
After
he gets up, we will be going to the Lugou Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge) to
celebrate the Moon Festival. There is a little town, Wanping Town near
the bridge that has a temple fair each year to celebrate the Mid-Autumn
Festival. The temple fair is a
kind of traditional cultural event, which features all kinds of Chinese
folk art. The Moon Festival itself is a family tradition, where you get
together with your family to give thanks and ask for good fortune,
health and harvests to the moon goddess. Moon Gazing is very common and a
traditional part of the festival because the Chinese thought that moon
and water brought rejuvenation to the body. There are two ways to watch
the moon, both observed during the festival...in the sky and in the
water. It is also a time to think of loved ones who cannot be with you.
When you are away from family, or they cannot make it home, you gaze at
the moon to think of and remember them. A popular traditional treat is
the Moon Cake. During this time, moon cakes are HOT commodities!! they
are on sale EVERYWHERE, in fancy boxes, bags, and tins. They are a
pastry that is filled with different fruit mixes, nuts, and jellies.
Some are even chocolate and they are all delicious!! During the
festival, it is common to eat them while watching
the moon. Families also eat much fruit together at this time. Anyways,
the Marco Polo Bridge is also pretty amazing from what I read. It was
built in 1192 is made of Granite stone and holds 485 stone carved lions.
It looks spectacular!
(http://www.chinapage.com/history/lugouqiao/lugouqiao.html)
2013 School Year Starts
Here in Beijing, I am the
only 4th grade teacher at the school. There's actually less than 300
kids in the school (PreK-Grade 12) so there is only one class per grade.
So, again, I am a "singleton" in this new school. I have messed up some lessons, misplanned my time,
but things are coming together. It looks like a lot of
the math "standards" are
similar, though they are taught in dramatically different ways.
Lucas is in the PreK class here and his teacher Ms Ruta is fantastic!!! She came here with us as a "newbie" and we have become friends. Lucas is friends with her daughter. They have Chinese class each day, PE, Music, and even Library. The class is a mix of 3 and 4 year olds, so Lucas (and his friend, Monty, who is another newbie teacher kid) are the oldest and clearly the most mature. They both would have been fine in kindergarten, but they are very strict with the age limit. Its ok though, they have buddied up and are the "big kids" in class.
Beijing has been good. We got bikes and ride to work most days (3 miles each way). We've been blessed with several "good air" days over the past week. Watching the pollution level is definitely a new thing to do. Lucas is learning to read a bar graph this way though. He will take one look and say "wow, that's really good air Mom" or the opposite, "Oh No! Its really bad today." Our apartment complex is a little ways away from the busy street, so its quiet here and there are many, many, many paths, ponds and lot of greenery at the complex. Its beautiful! The ponds have lily pads, waterfalls, and goldfish. Its so serene! I packed a lot of things that I was thinking I wouldn't be able to find, but they are all here, except Lucas' foods. Its been hard to find some things, and when we do they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive,like the $12 box of cocoa puffs we've been buying, or the similarly priced pancake mix....but, with they HUGE transition, I have not pushed the food thing, and have just been giving him his comfort foods.
Lucas is in the PreK class here and his teacher Ms Ruta is fantastic!!! She came here with us as a "newbie" and we have become friends. Lucas is friends with her daughter. They have Chinese class each day, PE, Music, and even Library. The class is a mix of 3 and 4 year olds, so Lucas (and his friend, Monty, who is another newbie teacher kid) are the oldest and clearly the most mature. They both would have been fine in kindergarten, but they are very strict with the age limit. Its ok though, they have buddied up and are the "big kids" in class.
Beijing has been good. We got bikes and ride to work most days (3 miles each way). We've been blessed with several "good air" days over the past week. Watching the pollution level is definitely a new thing to do. Lucas is learning to read a bar graph this way though. He will take one look and say "wow, that's really good air Mom" or the opposite, "Oh No! Its really bad today." Our apartment complex is a little ways away from the busy street, so its quiet here and there are many, many, many paths, ponds and lot of greenery at the complex. Its beautiful! The ponds have lily pads, waterfalls, and goldfish. Its so serene! I packed a lot of things that I was thinking I wouldn't be able to find, but they are all here, except Lucas' foods. Its been hard to find some things, and when we do they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive,like the $12 box of cocoa puffs we've been buying, or the similarly priced pancake mix....but, with they HUGE transition, I have not pushed the food thing, and have just been giving him his comfort foods.
Last
weekend we went to the Acrobats at ChaoYang theater and the Beijing Zoo
to see the pandas. We are thinking about maybe
going to the Forbidden City this weekend, but we shall see, its been
such a busy two weeks! My kids are great though, I have 12 kids, from
all over the world....8 countries are represented in my class of
students. It's amazing!
August 7-10
August 7, 2013
Today shall be known as The
Day I Got My New Bike. After another long day of training,
August 8, 2013
Today could be known as The
Day I Ate Cheese, The First Day Lucas and I Rode Our Bikes to School, The day
of Lucas’ Unfortunate Mishaps, or The Day We Got Our First Letter in the Mail.
August 9, 2013
This evening was Newbie’s
Night Out!
August 10, 2013
Today will be known as The
Day we Found the American Store.
August 6, 2013
Today shall be known as The
Day I Ate Baby Shrimp. We took a taxi to work again today because we were
running late. Lucas has been really tired and not wanting to get up in the
morning. After I got him to childcare, I went to my meetings.
At lunch, Lucas and I walked over to the Chinese restaurant
next to school so I could order some of the broccoli I got the other day, and
some vegetarian dumplings. I was sure to ask for vegetarian dumplings and got
to speak to a worker show spoke some English today. While the food was cooking, we walked over to
State Grid to put 400 quai on the electricity card. When we got back, it was
ready, so we picked it up and went back to school to have lunch. Lucas had his
customary peanut butter and apples for lunch again and I got him a soda as a
treat.
When we got to school, I ate one of my dumplings (it tasted
a tad different than I remembered) then I ate my broccoli. I took a bite from
another dumpling and saw something that looked funny. At first I thought it was
maybe the end of a veggie, but when I looked closer, it kind of looked like a
shrimp. I stopped eating because I really was NOT sure. When I took Lucas back
to childcare, I asked Ruta if she wanted them because I thought they had meat.
Marlena looked at it and said, “oh, ya, that’s baby shrimp.” UGH!!! After I got back to my meeting, I shared this
and Kyra said that they will often put the shrimp in there. Someone else told
me that they often don’t think of seafood as “meat” and it will still often be
seafood in “vegetarian” things.
Things I learned today: Be more specific when I am asking
for vegetarian foods.
Things I took for granted: Being able to read food
descriptions and ask for things with NO meat products and be understood.
August 5, 2013
Today will be known as THE
Monday. Today it occurred to me that
“Mondays” can still be “MONDAYS” half-
way around the world. I was very excited this morning to talk to Paul on Skype,
we got all ready and I grabbed the computer to put it on the table, dragging
the extension cord and power cable along with it, which caused a SPARK! and
then the power went off with the cord.
It appeared that the outlet had tripped up, so I tried another
outlet….and another….and another…and another…NONE of them were working!!
Fearing the stuff in the fridge would go bad, I was trying to find that little
red “reset” button that we have in America on outlets. There was nothing ON the
outlet, but there was one ABOVE the outlets. So, I pushed it…and the FIRE ALARM
WENT OFF!!! Evidently, that is a fire
alarm button, NOT an outlet reset button. So, the outlets are all off and now
the fire alarm is blaring! I did not know how to turn it off, and saw that it
was sounding and flashing on the panel next to the door too. I had no idea how
to turn it off. All the labels on the buttons were in Chinese. There was one
button though that silenced it….Ahhhh! Five minutes later, though, I realized
that it was silenced only for about 5 minutes. I couldn’t get ahold of my
agent, so I called one of the people from the school, not really knowing what
to do. I ended up walking down to the guard station to get the cart so we could
drag the big tub of school stuff down to the street to catch a taxi. Now this
is probably the WORST cart I have ever used in my life! It would start to go
ok, then the wheels would turn and not go back. If I were twirling around in
circles it would be fine, but I was not doing that. I wanted to get my tub to
the side of the road so we could catch a taxi. It took us FOREVER to get there
with all the struggles getting the cart to run straight. When we got almost to
the gate, the security guard was heading up. Neither of us could understand
each other, so he motioned to go up to the apartment, so I nodded and said yes,
thinking he was going to just so up and take care of it.
Once we got to work, we had another loooong day of training.
After work, we went with Ruta and her
girls to get their pictures taken and then head over to the subway. We were
going to head over to the international grocery store to pick up some pancake
mix and syrup, we are DANGEROUSLY LOW!!! It took quite some time to get the
pictures because one of her girls really
did not want to get her picture taken. Afterwards, we walked through the parks
to the subway. It was a nice little walk. Lucas and Paula were all over the
place. They really enjoy playing together! They got off on the Taiyanggong
station and we continued on two stops to the Liangmaqiao Station. When we got off the
subway, we took a wrong turn at the first go, but then turned around and walked
through a little mall. Outside this mall, there was a HUGE air conditioner,
next to one of the ponds. There were several ponds here and we walked around
for a bit looking at and watching all the fish. We walked out the other side of
the mall and ended up on the side of the street that I recognized. We continued
on down the street…..on and on and on and on…. We got to “Lucky Street” which I
recalled Marlena mentioning that street. So, we walked down Lucky Street, which
is a strip mall that has many different international restaurants. We walked
past them, thinking we would find the “Fat Burger” we were looking for. City
Shop is beneath the Fat Burger. We kept walking, but didn’t see it. Though, I
did see a mall and a Cold Stone. We were very, very hot and sweaty by no, the
temp was about 32 degrees Celsius and it was very muggy. We went and got some
ice cream and water, then decided to take a taxi home, since it was about 6:30
already.
After we got home, I finally had the nerve to go back into
the little cupboard room in the hall next to our apartment to see if the slot
was in there to put our electricity card in to see how much money was left on
it. In China, when you prepay for the electricity, there is a place where you
put your card in and check to see how much money is left on your card. Then you
will know so you don’t run out of electricity. We still had 188 quai left. So,
in 11 days, we used 112 quai of electricity, just under $20. I’m guessing that
the amount we have been running the air conditioners (especially in the first
week) contributes to the higher electricity use.
Lucas had pancakes for dinner and I finished up my take out
from the weekend. Then it was off to bed. It was very, very late and we did not
get done after work what we set out to do.
What I learned: When going someplace new in China, get clear
directions OR the address in Chinese.
Things I took for granted: Stores that carry Lucas’ “comfort
foods.”
August 4, 2013
Another beautiful day of relaxation!!! We went to bed a bit
earlier last night, so we slept in only until 8:45 today. After breakfast
(pancakes, of course! It IS PANCAKE
DAY!!), Lucas and I colored for a while, though he was really taking up all the
space on the pages, then he raced while I caught up on some journaling. Then,
it was LEGO TIME!! We built and played
for several hours. Our plan for the day was to go to the market for a few
things, then go to the Chaoyang Theater to see the acrobatic show. There was
really no rush or pressing matter to our day, so we just went at our own pace.
After checking the air pollution for the day, it ranged through the morning
from 178-155, so prolonged activity outside was going to be avoided. We’ve been
on the go so much though, that was ok. There was plenty to do here and both of
us were completely satisfied doing this. We had lunch, Lucas had pancakes and I
had some of my leftovers from last night, then played more Legos. We now have
many vehicles built and I have my eye on a cool little city block that I saw
online. They don’t ship to China though, which could be a problem, but I may be
able to have Toys’R’Us order it for me. J
Around 3:30, we finally had enough motivation to head to the
store. Now, I knew it was going to be pushing it to try to get to the theater
at 5:15, oh well. When we arrived at the mall, there was a crowd in the common
area, evidently to see a Chinese superstar, A’Li. They were playing her music
and some music videos while we were standing there, she has a nice voice,
though all her lyrics were in Chinese, so I have no idea what she was singing
about. Lucas was getting restless though, so we headed down to the basement to
the market. We got some baskets, then Lucas was saying his little nose was
smelling ice cream, and sure enough, there was an ice cream stand! We were attempting to ask what the flavors
were in Chinese, until one of the workers greeted us in English. When my
Chinese gets a little better, I will try to speak to people in Chinese, but
when you are flipping through a book or dictionary for every word, finding
someone who speaks your language is a breath of fresh air!! Lucas ordered a
kind that he said was vanilla, though the girl told me was “plain milk flavor”
and I had an “orange and cookies” ice cream, which looks like cookies and
cream, though has orange flavored ice cream. I tried another kind that was
purple, and it had a very interesting flavor, unlike any other I have tasted.
If I have learned one thing up to this point, it’s that food tastes
dramatically different.
After ice cream, we ventured past a cell phone shop for
Lenovo and looked at the price of their phones as compared to others I have
seen. At this point I cannot unlock my current phone, so sadly this means that
I will have to purchase a new one. Prices are comparable, though I’m really
attached to my Samsung Galaxy, so I may just upgrade to the S4 if I have to get
a new phone anyways. My phone bill will only be 96RmB (about $16 a month), so I
think I can handle paying more for the phone.
Then, it was off to the market. We got a few of the things
we needed, though after getting home I realized we forgot PEANUT BUTTER!!!!
Luckily we have a little left. The drawback to living in the city and having no
car to transport yourself in, is that there is no longer “big shopping” that
happens. Otherwise, HOW would you get all that stuff to the taxi, then hike it
through the complex up to your apartment without breaking your back?!? Anyways,
it has caused me to think more critically about what I’m buying when, and often
we stop by the market every few days. I know this will lessen as we get all the
things we want to have for the apartment, and then it will just be planning for
the shopping trips. We still need to make a trip over to the “Wet Market” which
is near the mall and a great place to buy fruits and veggies. I’ve also heard
that there may be some fabrics for sale there.
J
We got back home about 5:30 and decided that there was no
point in trying to go to the acrobats for the late show, so we will go another
day. Lucas had picked out some PlayDoh at the store that was sold in a
hamburger tub that he wanted to play with, so he did that for a while and I put
the groceries away. We had a snack and watched some of the videos that we had
taken before leaving America, while in-flight, and once we were in Beijing. It
was nice to see them, but also a little bittersweet. I know it’s only been just
over a week now, 10 days to be exact, and there is no guarantee that I would
have seen the family in that short of time anyways, but knowing that I won’t
see them until Christmas is hard. We got a chance the other day to Skype with
my parents, which was great!! And
tomorrow morning will get to Skype with Paul. I sure am going to miss seeing
them all the time though.
I got Lucas into bed at our normal early time of 7:30 after
books and then was ready to settle down to a nice quiet watching of Tommy Boy…unfortunately
though, it will not play on my work computer, OR on my computer. Evidently, the
wonderful Windows 8 does not have a media for playing regular DVD’s. I have
been trying to download one through CNET, though there is a file that it needs
to download to work that has failed twice now….BOO!! I just want to watch some good ‘ole Tommy Boy
before bed! Why don’t you use that nice
DVD player you bought from Metro for only 298 quai? You ask. Weeeeellllll,
we tried to watch Mater’s Tall Tales on it when we first got it last week, and
sure enough, it didn’t work. I mean, the DVD played, but the audio did
not. Bummer! So, I have to return it. The problem is that
I turned in that receipt as part of my settling in allowance proof, so I don’t
have the original, only a copy. I’m guessing that will not fly and since I am
not fluent in the language, there is NO WAY I’m going to give that a shot! I refuse to end up in a Chinese prison!!!
Anyways, I sit here in the living room with a beautiful
lightning show going on outside my window, with the rain pouring. Pollution
levels at 7pm were 219, which is pretty high, into the purple range. The
lightning and rain usually work it all out. Just in the last hour, it is down
to 197. So, I’m hoping that it continues to work it out overnight so we have a
51-100 day tomorrow. Honestly, I’d like a 0-50 day, but I think I will be back
in America again before that happens.
OOOHHH! Hopefully good news!
Looks like the needed app was downloaded. I’m off to restart my computer
to see if I can watch Tommy Boy!! Until
tomorrow!!! (I got it to work!!!)
Things I learned: When in a foreign land, if at first you
don’t succeed, try, try again…and again…and again.
Things I took for granted: Fresh, fresh air. Not having to
look up the Air Quality Index to check the PM2.5 Pollution Particles before
determining what we are going to do for the day.
August 3, 2013
Ahhhh….our first real day of rest!! Today we slept in until 10:45!! It has been
such an exhaustingly busy week, it was much needed. After we got up, we had
brunch of pancakes and watermelon, then just played around the house for a while.
We played several games and had some down time. I read a few of the Beijing
magazines that I have collected from the school and other places, finding many
really cool things I’d like to do. After we had lunch, we ventured out to find
the pool. We walked over to the building near where I thought the pool was and
in my very broken Chinese, I attempted to ask where the pool was. They were
able to understand me, though I definitely butchered the tones on parts of the
words. Then they said a lot to me that I didn’t know…I politely nodded and
smiled. Then one of the women walked over to the scale model of the community
(it is huge!!! Set up on a circular platform approximately 10 feet in
diameter), then with her little laser pointer, she pointed to building 10. We
nodded, said thank you “xie xie” (pronounced
seeuh seeuh) and were on our way.
As we crossed the street, we saw the man who sells large
house plants in nice planters. We decided on one, and paid him (about $30),
then he carried it over to the cart next to our gate so we could roll it back
to our apartment. We were very excited about this addition to our new home. I
feel very fortunate to have been in a position where I had a paycheck come this
week still. IN China, everything is “pay up front” where you typically pay for
the whole year for things. Though for the electricity, gas, toilet water, hot
water, and most cell phones you pre-pay, and with the services, you ‘top off’
by putting the maximum amount on your card. Moving into a new place, where my
ideas of what a “furnished” apartment looked like and what it was also required
quite a bit of work and money to get it to a comfortable living arrangement.
Our apartment is very nice.
After we took the plant up, found it a place, and took the
cart back to the gate, we were off to find the pool in building 10. We asked
the security guard at the gate and they directed us to the right spot. We went
inside and talked to the receptionists. It took quite a while to get things
figured out, usually you cannot go in unless you have a membership, but since
we are going to join, they made an exception for us. :) I had to put down a 100 quai
(about $17) deposit for the locker bracelet, which is a squiggly rubber
bracelet with a magnetic circle on it that is used to open the locker. One of
the receptionists, Cici, was very excited when I told her I taught English. She
asked for my phone number and wants to learn English. They also said we had to
have swim caps to go into the pool. There was a perfect shark one that Lucas
picked out, took out of the package, and put on all by himself while I was
looking for one. He looked so cute! I picked out a yellow one, then I paid 140
quai for them (about $20!!! For two caps. I don’t recall them being quite so
expensive…
Then we went into the pool. Lucas had his circle floaty and
we swam and kicked back and forth for about a half hour. Then I gave him a swim
lesson for another half hour. He was SO energetic and excited about swimming.
His favorite part of the swim lesson was jumping into the pool at the end,
which he did about 20 times! After
swimming we headed back home and found a new section of the community. There was a little outdoor workout area, with
a few body powered machines, though there were no pictures, so some of them I
have NO IDEA how they work. We played around there for a while, then I noticed
there was a small circle track next to the workout area. Lucas, of course, saw
this as a racetrack. ;) He ran around it several times and then we headed back
to our apartment. I made Lucas pancakes for dinner and I ordered some delivery
Chinese from the online food delivery system, JinShiSong.com. While we were waiting, Cici sent me a text
message and said she was really excited to learn more English, and said she
wanted to be friends, asking if that was ok. I said of course! So, I have a new friend, who can help me
learn Chinese and I can help her learn English. J
My dinner came some time later, the guy had a difficult time finding the
correct part of the community, which I completely understand….it’s a big place,
and split into 4 different sections. Finally about 9:00, I had my dinner. I had
ordered a few different dishes, thinking they were smaller portioned, but now,
clearly I have food for about 5 meals…it was absolutely delicious though! Lucas
and I watched some Looney Tunes and went to bed.
August 2, 2013
Today could be known as The End to Our First Week in China.
It was our last day of free transportation to/from work by the school. And now,
it is FINALLY FRIDAY!!
August 1, 2013
Today will be known as The
Day We Missed the Bus. We went out
at 8:20 to catch the school bus, same time as yesterday, and waited 20 minutes,
then I realized that it probably was not coming. I called school and was told
to just take a taxi because, yes indeed, the bus came 30 minutes earlier today
than yesterday.. Luckily, there was little traffic so it only took a few
minutes, but still, I really don’t like being late.
July 31, 2013
Today was a great day!!
You could refer to it as The Day
we went to Olympic Village, The First Day we Took the Subway (and all by
Ourselves too!!), or The Day we were a sideshow in Beijing.
Today was another full day of training. We got a lot of
“Nuts & Bolts” information today. The most important was finding out where
to look up the pollution rating of the day, and banking information. We also
talked for quite a while about phones. I do still have to get a China phone,
and put the America one to rest for a bit. We had some classroom preparation
time, which was nice. At this point, I’m
trying to get my classroom into an order that makes sense and it still tidy.
There are some things that I want to replace and am trying to figure out how I
want it all to look. Since the teaching theory is so much different, I’m also
trying to wrap my head around what that will all look like in practice and in
the organization of my classroom. I am very excited to see how it all works and
the heights to which the students will reach using these methods! At this time,
I have 11 students in my class, from all over the world: America, China, Korea,
Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Germany. It’s quite exciting!!!
After school, I decided we were going to walk up to Olympic
Village. We headed off after school, walking through the neighborhood around
the school to get to the main road up to the Village. We kept walking and walking and walking. It
was getting really hot! Lucas had to go to the bathroom, so we walked into a
restaurant along the way that was a train restaurant!! It was really neat, with
different models of trains in the lobby area. Then we went back on our way.
Along the way, there was an ice cream man, so we stopped and got some pineapple
ice cream in a cone. Lucas was eating it as we walked, and when I looked up, I
noticed a group of Chinese people who were taking pictures of us. We kept
walking and eventually a man in a little tuktuk (that’s what they were called
in Thailand, I’m not sure what they call them here. I said no thank you, and he
told me it would take an hour to walk from there. SO I agreed to the 20 quai
(about $3.25) and we got a ride. I discovered that with the way we were
walking, it definitely would have taken that long. I later discovered the way
we should have walked. We walked in
and got closer and closer to the Bird’s Nest. We took some pictures (and again
discovered others taking pictures of us). There was a couple that I offered to
take a picture of, then asked them to take a picture of us. And they did, on my
camera and theirs. We kept walking around the village with many people as we
were walking taking our picture and asking to take pictures with us. I guess
this is how it feels to be a celebrity. We were going to go into the Bird’s
Nest, but it cost 80 quai each (about $14.50) and I hadn’t brought a whole lot
of money to work that day, so we ventured on over to the Water Cube. As we
walked, same thing, people were taking pictures as we walked, trying to sneak
them so we didn’t notice, but also just outright taking them. We got over to
the Cube, and took some pictures of ourselves, then a vendor offered to take
our picture, and as he was, a group had gathered and were now also taking
pictures of us. We round out that it is 200 quai (about $33) to go into the
water cube, which I read they have turned into a huge water park. We went into
the Water Cube store and looked around a bit, then found a bench to sit down
for a while and ate some apples and Lucas had a PB sandwich.
After that, we started the walk back to Beituchung subway
station. Today was going to be the day we took the subway for the first time.
I’d heard it was very easy. It took about 15-20 minutes to make the walk down
to the subway station. We got our tickets pretty easily, then followed the
signs and the masses to the Line 10 subway. We got to a point where the signs
pointed opposite directions and I wasn’t really sure which one to follow, but
then I realized that they probably both went to the same train, so we picked
one and walked down the stairs. There were subway trains on both sides, so
looking at the maps, I found the right train that would take us to Sanyigong
station. As it pulled up, I noticed how PACKED the train was!!! We got on, and
once inside I noticed there was a map on the upper wall that had a blinking
light to show which station you were at. That was my fear with the subway, that
the announcement would be made so quickly that I wouldn’t be able to determine
what they were saying and we would be riding the subway in circles and circles.
But, this map is PERFECT!!! We made it off on the right station, then took a
few minutes to figure out where we were once we got off. We were both VERY
tired at this point. I had bad rubbing spots on my feet from my flip flops (!!!
Yes, terrible walking shoes) and Lucas’ legs were hurting from all the walking,
but we were SO CLOSE to being home!! Once we got home, I made dinner, then we
went to bed, by 8pm.
It was a big day, we went on the subway for the first time,
and made it to the right stop by ourselves, we obtained celebrity status in
China, and we visited a site of Olympic History!!!
July 30, 2013
Today was an extremely long, trying day. We got picked up
rather early again…7:20 today. Our first stop was the medical check-ups with
immigration. It took about an hour to get to the facility which was across
town. We saw several things along the way that were quite interesting: some
Chinese architecture, a structure built on the tippy top of a mountain, the
first gas station I have seen in Beijing, what looked like an old traditional
village, a jeep sign, and many, many Chinese stores and shops. When we first
got there, I noticed that there were many rooms, an area to fill out the
paperwork, and several lines. We got in the first line to turn in our forms and
find out what tests we had to get done. I was ‘lucky’ to get to do them all. It
was very interesting how efficient this whole process was. For several of the
tests, there were two different rooms to go to. I got an eye/throat/ear check,
an EKG, a chest X-Ray, blood drawn, an ultrasound, and weighed. For each test
there was no wait, and if there was, it was less than one minute. For the eye
test, I was shown one item for each eye, for the throat and ears, they looked
for a second and then said I was good. During the ultrasound, they looked at my
lungs and internal organs as I breathed deeply. The whole process took about 15
minutes, then I was done. Since we had to wait for the school representative to
get all of our results, we were there for an additional hour or so, then it was
back to the school for an afternoon of training. Throughout our drive through
the city, it was interesting how green it was. I know that there is a lot of
green in our little community, but there are so many trees, bushes, and flowers
throughout the city. It was unexpected.
When we got back to school, we started by talking about
culture. We learned some basics, many of which I had read about in the books I
read to prepare for the trip. One new thing I learned though was about
spitting. Our attention was drawn to the fact that you will often see people
spitting on the sidewalk and that this is normal. The Chinese believe that this
is a way to get your chi flowing. They believe it is bad luck to swallow all
that junk because it blocks your chi. Interesting. They talked again about
making sure to “top-off” your electricity card because if you run out, you will
have no electricity. In China, with the water, gas, and electricity, you get a
card. Everything is pre-pay. If you don’t pay, and you run out, the service
stops.
At lunch, we went on a little tour of the block, past the
restaurant we went to on the first day, then past the gas company and police
station to the electricity station, where I put 200 quai (about $30) on my
electricity card. I’m not really sure how long this will last. I need to find the
reader in my building to determine how much I am using (on average) on a daily
basis to see how much we are using. Right now, I’m just thankful to know there
is more on it so that I don’t have to worry about it just shutting off. (Some
of the administration shared this happened to them). After the tour, we walked
to the store building next to our school to get a Chinese pancake. During this
little trip, Lucas was having a REALLY hard time and we ended up having to
leave prior to getting the pancake. We walked to the grocery store next to the
stand and he screamed and threw a fit the WHOLE TIME we were in there. So, we
walked back to school…he was crying, I was crying, it was a MESS! By the time
we got back to school, we settled a bit, thought Lucas was still extremely
tired and now didn’t want to eat lunch. I got him to eat some, then put him
down for his nap and went back to my training. I was surprised to see that Dani
had gotten me a pancake and it was spicy and delicious!!! At the end of the
day, I went down to pick up Lucas, who had just
woken up!! He slept from 1:30-3:45! Boy was he tired!!
When we got home, we got a few things from the complex
store, then it was time to make dinner. Lucas had agreed to have rice for
dinner, so I made rice with carrots and soybeans. He tried a few bites of the
rice, the cooked carrots, and even the soybeans, with chopsticks too!! I was SO
PROUD that he tried something new. He really didn’t prefer it though, and since
he tried it, I gave him a peanut butter sandwich and some grapes to finish off
his dinner. This was a huge step for him! After dinner, we had a rainbow chip,
Chip’s Ahoy cookie and watched one of Mater’s Tall Tales, then it was off to
bed for little Mr. Lucas. I stayed up
for a little while longer, but was in bed shortly after 9.
Juy 29, 2013
So of course, today, the day we needed to be up early, we
both slept in past 4am. I woke with the alarm for the first time in a while at
6am, then went in to get Lucas. Today would be our first day at school! We were
going to be picked up at 7:30am to head to school and get our first tour!! We again were the first ones picked up on the
bus and went on quite a loop-de-loop to pick up the others. By the time we had
everyone, I had no idea directionally where we were facing, except to know that
the school was west of our apartments. We drove through traffic on 3rd
ring road and down side streets. One thing I have noticed is how disorganized
all the traffic seems. Rules that are hard-fast in the US are used more as
“guidelines” for a general thought to traffic rules. As a colleague said it
later in the afternoon, the disorganization somehow brings order. If the rules
were followed rigidly, you would be in traffic for hours and hours. Somehow the
chaos just works, and like with the rest of the Chinese lifestyle, it all just
flows. We have noticed this in the daily interactions and travels through the
city, that cars, bikes, pedestrians, and motorcycles all just move how they
want. They follow basic rules, but often there are people walking in front of
cars, with cars continuing despite the people…horns are used all the time here
as a functional accessory to your vehicle. You can use them to signal that
someone is in your way, that they are going too slow, to notify someone that you
are there, to tell someone to move, or even just as a heads up if someone is
not paying attention. I have never heard so many horns, ever. And it is not an
annoying blasting of or laying on the horn, but rather, just a short blast to
make your point.
We turned off the main road and down what seemed to be an
alley to the school. It again is another gated area in a small Chinese
community. The building is an older one, similar to what you might think of an
older brick built school building looking like. Our first stop was room 345,
where there were snacks and COFFEE!!!! We had a few minutes to chat and drink
our coffee before it was off on the tour. I saw the Early Childhood center
where Lucas’ class will be held and once we were up on the second floor, I saw
my new classroom! It was very exciting!
The coolest thing about what I saw in the building was the amount of
student work, specifically in the arts that are all over the walls and on the
landing shelves. The projects that are represented on the bulletin boards were
amazing and inspiring! To see the level of work that students are doing all the
way to the kindergarten levels is just astounding! This is going to be such an amazing
environment to work in and an even better one for my son to be educated in! I am really looking forward to all the things
he is going to learn and the challenges he will face that will allow him to use
that wonderful mind of his in such an open and constructive way!!
After the tour, we took the kiddos down to the room where
they will be during our meetings and off we went back to the “Training Room,” 345.
July 28, 2013
Today again started at 4am, with Lucas yelling through the
apartment for me that he was scared. He came into my room and cuddled with me
for a few minutes before we got out of bed. This morning we had to meet down at
the gate at 9:00am for the bus from school. Today was the day we were going to
meet the rest of the newbie crew and do some shopping at the market. Since we were up so early, we had a leisurely
start to the day, with cereal for breakfast (today it was fruit loops because
Lucas said the cocoa puffs were too chocolately for him….I don’t get it
either). We got ready for the day, went on a little walk to take out some
garbage, and Lucas played for a bit before it was finally time to head down to
north gate to meet the bus. At this time, we took yet another load of stuff
that was left in the apartment to the trash to discover that the bin had been
emptied already!! Here, you don’t have
to pay for garbage or recycling, there are cans throughout the community and,
evidently they are emptied quite frequently.
The bus came at 9:00 and we were the first ones on, aside from
Joyce and Zhao from HR and Kyra the principal. I met a few of my colleagues and
once everyone was on, we headed to the market, which I found out was the Metro
again. My thought was, “I don’t know why
we would go there again, there wasn’t even any food.” Then they said that the
Metro was like a costco or a cash and carry, though I didn’t quite get it. Once
we got there, we went over to another sloped escalator, and it all came to
me….the store was downstairs!!! We had only a few things on the list that had
come up since our last trip to the market, so we strolled through the Metro and
found them all!! We also had the
opportunity to check out the live seafood (side swimmers, crabs and LOTS of
fishies). Lucas asked a lot of questions about the non-living seafood. He
wanted to know what everything was. We also had the opportunity to ask where
the toilet was (cesuo zai nar) and to discover the differences from western
toilets….there were some normal toilets, but the TP was in the common area
instead of the stall, and there were also the squatting pots, which basically
are toilets that are level with the floor similar use to when you are camping.
It was also very dim in there and there was the strong smell of incense
burning. After we purchased our items, we took them to the bus and went back to
walk around the mall for a bit since we still had a half hour left.
Once everyone was on the bus, we headed back to our
apartment. There was another trip to a market with fresh foods, but since we
were pretty well stocked up, we decided not to go. Kyra told us on the trip
back to our apartment that the groceries were always in the basement of
structures. Interesting…We had a dinner planned for later in the evening and
Kyra offered for Lucas to go over to her house with her teenagers during our
staff dinner later. Lucas didn’t seem interested (though I wasn’t surprised) so
I thanked her and we headed home. We had time to have lunch, pancakes and
fruit, and play some more before we started thinking about the dinner arrangements.
After some contemplation, Lucas decided he would rather go to Kyra’s house with
her kids than to the Chinese Restaurant for dinner. I called Kyra and got
directions to her house, then looking at the clock, it was 4:30 and we HAD to
get going in order to get a taxi to the right place and get Lucas there before
I had to meet the bus. We got ready, ran down to the street, then took a taxi
towards the mall, stopping it when we were in the right place before the mall.
We ran around the corner and down the street to Kyra’s complex to meet her son.
He gave me directions to where I needed to go, I gave Lucas the biggest hug and
kiss and for the first time, I left him with someone else in Beijing. (Of
course he had his ID tag on). By this time, it was almost 5:30 and time to meet
the bus, so I ran down the street, around the corner and down another street,
when I heard someone calling out. It turned out, he was from the school, also
waiting for the bus. As I talked with him (Daiju) several others joined us there
(Cory and his family, Ruta, and a few others). We waited for bit until the bus
got there, chatting and acquainting ourselves with each other before our Peking
Duck dinner at the restaurant.
We were on the bus only a few minutes when we got to the
restaurant. We were led through the restaurant, past the kitchen and upstairs
to the dining room for our party. There were so many people! A lot of administration and then all of us
newbies and several newby families. When we sat down, there was a selection of
soda, tea, and Chinese beer for drinks. We were then served dumplings,
soybeans, and some small tortilla-like flats that you put meat, sauce,
cucumbers, and leeks into. Then came more food: many meat dishes, tofu (but
with pork sauce), a broccoli dish, an eggplant dish, and a portabello mushroom
dish. They were all wonderfully delicious! This was my crash course in
chopsticks, which I admit I was not able to use effectively prior to this trip,
but since you do not get silverware, it was time to learn. Looking around the
table, I was not the only one fumbling my way through this, though most the
others were children. I was able to eat all of my food without any huge
blunders, and felt pretty good about my chopstick success! After the food, came the rice. Kyra shared
that the Chinese always serve the rice last. Unlike American Chinese food where
the rice is a main part of the dish, in Chinese cuisine, the rice is an “if you
have room left over” thing. Since I had
none, no rice for me. After a delicious meal and a wonderful time with my
colleagues, it was time to head home. As we walked through the downstairs of
the restaurant, there were many people eating and smoking (definitely not used
to smoking in restaurants). Then it was back to the bus. We walked a way down
the street to where we were parked, past a little shop where Kyra said this
family lived and made windows. The shop was about 12 feet long and 8 feet wide,
with their window making supplies on the lower floor and a loft-like area above
where they slept.
Once we got to the bus, it was back to pick up the kiddos.
Lucas was standing there with the other and was SO excited to see me, even
though I was only gone for 2.5 hours. It was already 8:00, which was 1-2 hours
later than he had been going to bed, so he looked pretty tired. We cuddled on
the bus home and were the last ones to be dropped off. Shortly before we got to
our apartment, Lucas said, “Mom, is it ok if I sleep until we get there?” I
told him “of course!” and he was out in less than a minute! And boy was he SOUND ASLEEP!!! When we got to
our gate, I carried him to the apartment, sound asleep, all the way up the
elevator and into our apartment. I laid him down in bed and he slept through
the night, no problem. At this point, I too was exhausted!!
Things I took for granted: Non-smoking restaurants
Things I learned: The market is always in the basement. Smoking
is allowed almost everywhere. There are no serving spoons…you just use your
chopsticks to get your food which you place on your small saucer-sized
plate.
July 27, 2013
Today could come to be known as many things….The Day of Waiting, The Day we Walked Down
25 Flights of Stairs, The Day we visited a 7-story Mall, The Day we Found the
Supermarket, The Day Lucas Put Himself to Bed before 7pm, or The Day of Lego…..but
more than likely, this day will become known as The Day I Said a Bad Word in Chinese…it went a little something
like this:
Our morning started about 4am, when Lucas in all his bed-hog
glory was pushing and kicking me prior to wanting to get up at 4 am!! I was
able to get him to stay in bed until 6, but then we got up, I just couldn’t
hold him off any longer. We got up and it was time for breakfast….you guessed
it, pancakes and watermelon. J
After breakfast, it was time to get ready for the day. This was our free day
before the group trip tomorrow and our busy crash-course of a week starting.
Since there is no bathtub, we had to take a shower, where we discovered that
#1: the shower door leaks and #2: the drain does not drain. The water was dangerously
close to overflowing into the whole bathroom, so shower time was dramatically
diminished in an effort to NOT flood the bathroom. After we got dressed, I
fumbled my way through figuring out how to run the washing machine (of course
all the buttons are in Chinese). It was not even 10 minutes after the machine
started that I went back into the bathroom and noticed that the washing machine
was FLOODING the floor!!!! I immediately shut off the machine and called my
agent. What a way to start the day! The plumber came about a half hour later
and after much work and several calls to the agent to translate, it came to be
that the problem was bigger than expected and he couldn’t fix it. Someone else
was going to have to fix it and they would come 1-2 hours later. It was 10:15. Since
I figured we did not have time to go to the market, which was what we were
going to do today, I decided to do some more cleaning. We had the Legos out all
over the floor and decided to build for a while, which we did. Lucas really wanted
to work more on his “city” and today it was centered around building cars for
the city, which he then decided to race. After a bit, I was feeling antsy, so
we went on a walk across the street to another section of the Sunny Era
Community, which is where the pool/recreation center was. The great thing about
our community is that though we are in the big city, it covers a huge area and
has trails and paths all over the place, with many. Many ponds, trees, bamboo,
and other lush green foliage. We walked around for a bit, but was unable to
find the recreation center before it was time to head back to the apartment to
wait for the plumber. So, we got a really nice walk in, but did not find what
we were looking for. When we got back, it was time to make lunch. Since we have
been getting up at 4am, lunch comes early. I made pancakes again (big surprise)
with kiwi today.
After lunch, the plumber still had not arrived. I called my
agent and was about to leave to go to the market when he arrived. He worked for
about an hour and a half on the drain. I made several calls to the agent to
translate, though I still do not know really what the problem was or what was
done. Not knowing the language has been a huge challenge and I have a lot
better understanding of how that feels now. To be in a place where you are
basically illiterate, trying (and wanting) to communicate, but unable to…After
he was done, I paid him the 30Rmb (or quai) and got a handwritten receipt to
get reimbursed from the agent.
When finally the work was done, we went down to the
management office to ask about ordering water for the water machine. When we
walked out of the apartment, Lucas asked again (he’s asked several times) to
walk down the stairs to the 1st floor. I agreed and there we were
walking down the 25 flights of stairs. I noticed that on every floor, there
were piles of things that people were ‘storing’ on the landings. Also, on each
floor, there was a large tin coffee-like can for cigarettes. It seems that people just smoke in the
stairwells out the windows. It must be pretty common for there to be cans on
each floor. When we got to the management office, the lady was able to get it
ordered and told me that it would be delivered in a half hour…so, back to the
apartment we went to again, WAIT. It was surprisingly fast though, and he was
there in about 15 minutes. He got it all set up for us, then again, we were
off.
I wanted to see about the Capital Mall, which is close to
Metro and I was able to still see the apartment from there. Lucas hailed us a
taxi and I tried to explain to the driver where we wanted to go, but he was not
understanding. I attempted to look up “capital” in my English-Chinese
dictionary, but no luck. After several minutes of this, I said sorry and gave
our cab away to some other girls walking up. We went back into the management
office, since now I knew there was someone in there that spoke some English,
and asked her to write “Capital Mall” in Chinese so I could show the driver.
The next driver knew once I showed him in Chinese, and it was back into the
taxi.
We made it to the mall and upon seeing the merry-go-round
and boat-water gun ride, Lucas wanted to go. So, for the low price of 10 quai
for both of us (about $1.40) we rode this thing for about 8 minutes. J What a deal!! When we
first walked into the mall, what did we see????
A LEGO building exhibit!!! There
were tables with regular sized Legos, Duplo Legos, and some rubber Legos that
were very large all set up for kids to play with and build. What a treat! We played with the Legos for a bit, got our
picture taken with the human-sized Lego man, then off we went to walk around
the mall to try to find the largest craft store that Mom had told us about.
This led to us going up escalator after escalator, searching floor after floor
(to discover pretty much every store you’d find in an American mall, filled
with TONS of shoppers!!). When we finally made it to the top, we were on the 5th
floor! Then I noticed looking down that
it appeared to be another floor below the one that we started on! So, down,
down, down we went to our starting floor, then down one more. On this floor, we
found Toys R Us as well as a farmers market.
Lucas was most excited about Toys R Us (obviously) and I about the
farmers market, where I found some organic noodles and rice to add to the
cupboard. I wasn’t too excited about the look of the veggies I saw, so I passed
them over. We ventured on and found that there was yet ANOTHER floor to this
mall!!! As we came down the escalator,
which was unlike any I had seen before as it was a RAMP escalator rather than a
regular stair escalator, I saw A GROCERY STORE!!!! It was like finding gold at this
point!!! We walked in and there was a
plethora of fruits and veggies at first sight.
We picked several different items: cantaloupe, peppers, bananas,
carrots, grapes, pears and then walked on. Using my dictionary, I asked where
the tofu was, and behind a counter similar to a meat counter, there was the
tofu. The man got our brick of tofu, I thanked him, then off to use my
dictionary again to find soy sauce…another success!! We found yogurt for Lucas, then as we were
walking saw CEREAL! Lucas chose some Chinese fruit loops and cocoa puffs, while
I chose honey nut cheerios. We looked around for some other items on our list,
then I remembered I wanted to get some vinegar to mix as a cleaning solution.
The dictionary said CÙ so I
approached a worked and said “kuhooo” and she looked at me in utter shock! I
repeated myself and then she giggled and waved her friend over (two of them
came) and I repeated myself. They all started laughing and then turned around.
I was clueless, so I kept repeating myself and trying to show them the word
written in pinyin in my book, when another worker came over (now I started to
feel kind of like a side-show) and I said the word to her. She just stared at
me and I said “vinegar.” She pulled out her phone and put in vinegar, said ‘oh’
and led me down an aisle, when I saw it!!!!
I picked it up in excited relief and said, “VINEGAR!” When they saw it,
they read the price tag in Chinese and said, “oh, /suhooo/” and walked away
giggling. I said thank you and GOT OUT OF THERE as quick as I could!!! We
finished shortly after that, and went up to the counter. As the checker was
ringing up our items, she came to the fruits and veggies. She saw the grapes,
said something to me, I said “I don’t know” and she put them under the counter.
This happened again with the peppers and the new veggie.” I was SO
confused!!! Then I saw a girl behind us
in line with fresh fruit in a bag that had a bar code on it. An image popped
into my head of when we were in the produce section. I thought it odd at the
time, but EVERYTHING for the most part was individually packaged and there was
a woman in that section who was weighing and wrapping produce in the aisle. It
suddenly occurred to me that I should have had my produce weighed and bar-coded
in that section before checking out.
Regardless, we hit the motherload of food tonight and I felt really good about
the variety we would now have in the house. We made our way back out of the
mall (after a quick look around Toys R Us).
We crossed the street and found a taxi, finally on our way home.
When we got home, we decided to have cereal and kiwi for
dinner. It was quick and we were
exhausted!! Lucas finished rather
quickly and wanted to be done. I told him ok and he said he wanted to lay down
(it was 6:40). After I finished my cereal, I went in to see what Lucas was
doing, and he was ASLEEP!!! Feeling rather exhausted myself, I did the dishes
and climbed into my own bed at 7pm, sleeping for the first time in about a
month and a half by myself... Goodnight Beijing!!
Things I took for granted: common language, tap water,
convenience
Things I learned: I need to practice the Mandarin
pronunciation for the pinyin sounds. Weigh my produce prior to taking it to the
check stand. Traffic rules don’t really apply here.
July 26, 2013
This morning we woke up fairly early, 7am, even before the
alarm. One thing I have noticed was that beds in China, not soft….the
mattresses are much firmer than any I have slept on in the past. After getting up, I started my list of things
I wanted to get at the store to start us off in the apartment. The listing
agent was going to be here at 9am, which gave me time to dig out the stuff I
brought for pancakes, and make breakfast. I was SO thankful that Mom gave me
that little frying pan, which was where the pancakes were made. Unfortunately,
I did not bring a spatula, so was trying to flip pancakes with a wooden spoon,
which brought about a new game “Guess what shape the pancake is.” Luckily they
left us some water (and some Oreos and apples). We had breakfast and got
dressed for the day. Then we decided to go for a little walk, hoping to see a
store nearby, though we ended up in a walk through the nature trails of our
apartment community and then around the complex, then headed back to the
apartment.
When the agent arrived, we went over the information for the
lease and I shared with them the lack of cleaning and if there was someone who
could some to clean today. They said it was cleaned only yesterday, so it
sounds like it was just done quickly, without much care to the quality. After
going over the information, we headed out to the store. We first stopped at the
bank to exchange some cash, which I was unable to exchange at the airport due
to the offices not being open. After that, they drove us to the “Metro” stopped
the car, pointed out the Metro, then said “we not able to park the car there
and have some things to do, when you are done, you take taxi home.” I probably
looked like a deer in headlights, here we were about to be dropped off and on
our own to get back to the apartment (granted only about 6 blocks from our
apartment and a straight shot to the apartment).
We timidly got out of the car and headed on our way to the
shopping center, when I saw a familiar sight….STARBUCKS!!!!! YAY, coffee!!!!! We stopped in and I ordered
a Carmel Machiato for me and a Juice for Lucas. Then we headed into the
shopping building, where we were met with a MALL! We found a lot of the things
we were looking for: bed sheets, towels, cleaning supplies, dishtowels, water,
and some more snacks. We even found a little store full of toys where they had
none other than….LEGOS!! This was
perfect, because I had told Lucas that when we got to Beijing he could get a
“big set” to start his Lego City (“just like Uncle Pauly’s” he says). He chose
a Police set that had a car, a shutdown gold mine and a criminal transport
vehicle. Then it was back to the apartment in our first attempt to take a taxi
back home. Luckily, all I needed to do was make sure we went straight from where we were. We made it
back without incident!! Woohoo! Once
back in our apartment, I went to work cleaning things up and putting our things
away in their place. Lucas was working busily and contently on his Lego project
while I was unpacking.
I made pancakes for lunch, yes again. But this time, I had a
plastic noodle spoon to use (I forgot to get a spatula). Again, another game of
“Guess what shape the pancake is.” As we were eating, I got a call from our
agent, who was in the management office to get what we needed for our temporary
residency certificate that we would have to get from the police. We rushed
through lunch to get down to meet her. It took about 10 minutes to get what we
needed from management, then it was taxi time to the police station to get the
residency certificate. This took a little longer, because it was lunchtime when
we got there, and it is like the DMV…so we got our ticket and waited…about a
half hour later, we had our certificate and back to the apartment. I had asked
about laundry detergent and when the agent called management, they said there
was a little store in Building 10. (score!!) When the taxi dropped us off, we
headed to Building 10 to get some laundry detergent so I could wash the couch
pillow covers. Once we finally found the entrance (it was in what looked like
an alley) we found a STORE!!! This was
the first actual store we had come across that sold food. (We had yet to find a
supermarket, which I was told the Metro was a supermarket, but all we found
were mall stores). This was a WONDERFUL surprise!!!! We spent quite a while
here looking through all of the items to find some snacks and other things to
add to our current pancake diet. The best find was the watermelon and the kiwi!
There were several fruits and veggies, but this looked by far in the best
condition and was a warm addition to our current stock of food. We found the
detergent (of course), apple juice, popsicles, peanuts, crackers, soymilk, soda
and Lucas even found a little toy sword. With our newfound treasures, we were
off back to the apartment, Lucas walking behind, and I was carrying everything,
and of course NOW he decides is the time to walk slow as a turtle….but we did
finally make it back to the apartment, without any bags ripping (bonus!). And
it was time to make dinner. Pancakes and Watermelon.
By bedtime, I had everything disinfected, our things put
away from the store, and had unpacked all of our tubs (except the school
supplies). The only thing left was the
clothing, which I was going to need hangers for and decide how I was going to
get it all into the one closet (!!!), which was in my room. After a very long
day, we went to bed at 7:30pm (on our new sheets, but still without pillows).
Things I realized today that I took for granted: tap water,
my car, common language, non-humid air
Things I learned: There is a different standard of clean here.
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