I understand many of you back home are freezing, but that is not what this post is about. It's about my refrigerator. It's freezing. Literally. At first it was just the crisper & I thought I had figured out a fix. Alas, no dice. I've put the temp on 1, 5, & 9 and just get different levels of freeing. I've been contemplating talking to the office about it, but, like everything here in China, getting something fixed can be complicated.
I finally asked for help today and they have scheduled a service man to come tomorrow. I'm trying to hope for the best without setting myself up for disappointment. We've heard more than once since moving here that it takes 4 attempts to get something fixed. The first attempt someone looks. The second attempt, he or she brings someone else to look too. The third attempt they try to do something & the fourth attempt they actually bring tools & (maybe) fix the thing.
It's kind of an arduous process given that I need to be at the house for all of these attempts! This is why I've been putting it off. My greater fear is that they will replace my large (American-sized) unit with a tiny Chinese unit. In an ideal world, I would go to the market every day and get fresh things to prepare the evening meal, but in my actual world that takes about an hour & a half - who wants to spend 10+ hours grocery shopping every week? Ok, it wouldn't be that bad because I wouldn't be buying as much... or would I? I'll let you know what happens with the fridge.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Time Flies
Yikes! Has it really been 10 days since I last posted? Where does the time go? Same story, new location. We have been so busy here this last week getting ready for Halloween. The kids had a halloween carnival at school on Friday evening and we had trick-or-treating & a block party on Saturday. Trying to get more than just our daily tasks done was a challenge here in our new country. I'm happy to say that we made it through! No blogging, though. Sorry about that.
While I'm here, I just want to get something off my chest. I think about this blog a lot, even if that's not reflected in my frequency of posts. I actually have a list of topics that I need to write about (including some with - brace yourselves - pictures) and a couple of posts drafted but not completed yet. Here's what I need to tell you - I'm writing this blog for two reasons:
1. As a record of our thoughts & experiences on an international assignment
2. To give everyone at home a little insight into our lives
I've had to have a little talk with myself recently about keeping this blog up-to-date. The conclusions that came from this one-sided discussion are as follows:
1. I like to write and try to be eloquent and clever, but it doesn't always work out.
2. It may sound like I'm complaining, but I hope my adoring public will realize that what I really want is an honest record of my feelings while we are here. Some of those are bound to be complaints. Some will just be facts (that may sound like complaints based on their proximity to the actual complaints). Still others will be great things that are happening for us.
I hope that all of you can take the bad with the good & enjoy my blog for what it is. Thanks for being here with me.
While I'm here, I just want to get something off my chest. I think about this blog a lot, even if that's not reflected in my frequency of posts. I actually have a list of topics that I need to write about (including some with - brace yourselves - pictures) and a couple of posts drafted but not completed yet. Here's what I need to tell you - I'm writing this blog for two reasons:
1. As a record of our thoughts & experiences on an international assignment
2. To give everyone at home a little insight into our lives
I've had to have a little talk with myself recently about keeping this blog up-to-date. The conclusions that came from this one-sided discussion are as follows:
1. I like to write and try to be eloquent and clever, but it doesn't always work out.
2. It may sound like I'm complaining, but I hope my adoring public will realize that what I really want is an honest record of my feelings while we are here. Some of those are bound to be complaints. Some will just be facts (that may sound like complaints based on their proximity to the actual complaints). Still others will be great things that are happening for us.
I hope that all of you can take the bad with the good & enjoy my blog for what it is. Thanks for being here with me.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
It's Complicated
I get that this particular phrase could apply to any aspect of my life right now, but today we're going to discuss milk. "Really?" you ask, "Milk is complicated?" You betcha.
When we were here on our look-see (find a place to live, school for the kids, etc) we were told that there had been a melamine scare with the milk a few years ago. As far as I know China doesn't have the equivalent of the FDA, so things like this happen and then someone figures it out and then it gets undone (one hopes). For those who aren't familiar with melamine, corelle dinner plates are made from it. It's not something you really want IN your food or drink.
When we arrived, we figured the melamine scare was in the past and it's probably safe to drink China milk now. So we did. None of us got sick. Seemed like it might be ok! A little extra creamy (no reduced fat milk that we could find!), but ok. Then our neighbor told us there was another melamine scare last year. I'm thinking I need to check out the periodicals at the local library to read all about this, BUT WAIT! I can't read chinese. Besides, The Party may have just declined to record that kind of damaging thing.
So we were back to square one. We all like milk. It gives us calcium for our bones. Some of us our still growing! Others would like to refrain from becoming brittle. More cheese, then? Probably not the best complete decision. So we searched and searched for imported milk only to find it in warm containers on a shelf (which, by the way is also how eggs are sold). YUCK!
Really. YUCK!
But seeing no other options we gave it a try. The imported milk is processed so it's safe to drink, but it definitely has a funny taste. I've found that I prefer the New Zealand milk to the European milk. M & K don't have such discriminated taste. C likes it less that I do. :(
As if this weren't complicated enough, now I'm wondering... how does this affect the ice cream?
When we were here on our look-see (find a place to live, school for the kids, etc) we were told that there had been a melamine scare with the milk a few years ago. As far as I know China doesn't have the equivalent of the FDA, so things like this happen and then someone figures it out and then it gets undone (one hopes). For those who aren't familiar with melamine, corelle dinner plates are made from it. It's not something you really want IN your food or drink.
When we arrived, we figured the melamine scare was in the past and it's probably safe to drink China milk now. So we did. None of us got sick. Seemed like it might be ok! A little extra creamy (no reduced fat milk that we could find!), but ok. Then our neighbor told us there was another melamine scare last year. I'm thinking I need to check out the periodicals at the local library to read all about this, BUT WAIT! I can't read chinese. Besides, The Party may have just declined to record that kind of damaging thing.
So we were back to square one. We all like milk. It gives us calcium for our bones. Some of us our still growing! Others would like to refrain from becoming brittle. More cheese, then? Probably not the best complete decision. So we searched and searched for imported milk only to find it in warm containers on a shelf (which, by the way is also how eggs are sold). YUCK!
Really. YUCK!
But seeing no other options we gave it a try. The imported milk is processed so it's safe to drink, but it definitely has a funny taste. I've found that I prefer the New Zealand milk to the European milk. M & K don't have such discriminated taste. C likes it less that I do. :(
As if this weren't complicated enough, now I'm wondering... how does this affect the ice cream?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Haircuts
I attempted to give the hubby a haircut on Sunday night. I've been cutting his hair for a long time. It started with him going to graduate school and me not having a job - we needed to find a way to cut costs and a pair of clippers & a buzz seemed like a good solution! I've since learned his hairstyle and can combine the clippers on the sides with scissors on top for a pretty good-looking do. Applying the same education to our son, it has felt good to keep those expenses down. Not to mention not having to deal with the fear of the barber shop!
When I plugged our clippers (from the US) into our transformer (purchased here at the local grocery store) on Sunday night, I thought they had been possessed! My hands were still a little numb Monday morning and I was too scared to actually give M the haircut! So that's some bad news. Worse: school pictures are Thursday and C's last haircut was at least 2 months ago. But I definitely wasn't putting those clippers close to anyone's head!
So, Monday morning, rather than enjoying the morning at home, I found myself (once again) out on the town visiting the grocery store. (Side note: grocery stores here are really like Walmart or Meijer, not just groceries.) My driver and I talked on the way over and he was sure they wouldn't have clippers. Everyone here, he says, goes to the salon or barber shop. It's apparently only around $1.50 for a good haircut! When I told him haircuts start at $13 and can go up to $100 in the US, he was stunned! I think he was even more surprised when I came out of the store with a new pair of clippers. Especially after I told him the price (around $60). I could see him calculating how many $1.50 haircuts I could have bought for the same amount of money.
The thing is, I like the convenience of cutting my family's hair. I like that I can do it and hope I can continue after this assignment is over. It's a life skill I worked hard for and would like to maintain. That and I can't take the tears when we go to the salon! I haven't tried the clippers yet, but they are rated for 110-240v. I'll let you all know how it goes...
When I plugged our clippers (from the US) into our transformer (purchased here at the local grocery store) on Sunday night, I thought they had been possessed! My hands were still a little numb Monday morning and I was too scared to actually give M the haircut! So that's some bad news. Worse: school pictures are Thursday and C's last haircut was at least 2 months ago. But I definitely wasn't putting those clippers close to anyone's head!
So, Monday morning, rather than enjoying the morning at home, I found myself (once again) out on the town visiting the grocery store. (Side note: grocery stores here are really like Walmart or Meijer, not just groceries.) My driver and I talked on the way over and he was sure they wouldn't have clippers. Everyone here, he says, goes to the salon or barber shop. It's apparently only around $1.50 for a good haircut! When I told him haircuts start at $13 and can go up to $100 in the US, he was stunned! I think he was even more surprised when I came out of the store with a new pair of clippers. Especially after I told him the price (around $60). I could see him calculating how many $1.50 haircuts I could have bought for the same amount of money.
The thing is, I like the convenience of cutting my family's hair. I like that I can do it and hope I can continue after this assignment is over. It's a life skill I worked hard for and would like to maintain. That and I can't take the tears when we go to the salon! I haven't tried the clippers yet, but they are rated for 110-240v. I'll let you all know how it goes...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Struggling through Sunday
Today has been a challenge, which is saying a lot because the kids are actually napping! (Small victory.) After some tears yesterday over missing home, and as one kid put it, home missing us, today has been rough on me. We visited a church today. The worship was really good! It was a little different than we're used to, but some of the songs were familiar and it was nice to sing with a family again. It kind of got me excited - maybe we found a church home! Then the lesson started. There was some negative talk about another religion and very little scripture (one reference, never read). At the close of the lesson, the speaker indicated this was an introduction to what will be covered over the next few weeks. What that means to me: it wasn't a true sermon sample, so we'll need to come back for a few more weeks & see how things go. It was kind of a let down for me that it wasn't an instant fit.
There are ups & downs to looking for a new church home. It's been about 8 years since I was last in the market. While I remember it being difficult, I guess I had let go of the emotions & pressure that can come along with it. It can be really exciting to visit a new church and feel the energy of the worship. For me, this morning, it also tugged at my emotions - the sweetness of worship in a strange place after several weeks of absence and the sadness over what we left behind to come here. We visited a different church here in Shanghai when we came for M's interview. I felt equally uncertain of our fit with that congregation as well. Worship was very loud and the seats were uncomfortable. On the flip side, the lesson was straight from the Bible with plenty of references and there seems to be a very large children's program there.
I've heard there are one or two other churches we can check out on our side of the river. We'll have to decide on our visiting strategy going forward. I know our kids aren't going to be excited about it, but we will continue to be dilligent in our search. Worship, fellowship, and accountability don't lose their importance on an international assignment!
There are ups & downs to looking for a new church home. It's been about 8 years since I was last in the market. While I remember it being difficult, I guess I had let go of the emotions & pressure that can come along with it. It can be really exciting to visit a new church and feel the energy of the worship. For me, this morning, it also tugged at my emotions - the sweetness of worship in a strange place after several weeks of absence and the sadness over what we left behind to come here. We visited a different church here in Shanghai when we came for M's interview. I felt equally uncertain of our fit with that congregation as well. Worship was very loud and the seats were uncomfortable. On the flip side, the lesson was straight from the Bible with plenty of references and there seems to be a very large children's program there.
I've heard there are one or two other churches we can check out on our side of the river. We'll have to decide on our visiting strategy going forward. I know our kids aren't going to be excited about it, but we will continue to be dilligent in our search. Worship, fellowship, and accountability don't lose their importance on an international assignment!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Grocery Store
I have lived in Shanghai for 2 weeks and have been to 6 grocery stores. I have purchased things at all but one and am still trying to decide which will be my go-to store. There are some interesting things about grocery stores in China. First, and no different from changing my store at home, things are laid out differently. On the first trip to a new store, it's hard to find what you're looking for. Second, most everything is in Chinese. Well, that complicates things. If that's not enough, a large percentage of dry goods are packaged in bags. Gone is the familiar cylinder of quick oats! Look in one of a handful of aisles of bags for a picture of oatmeal and hope that's what you're getting.
It's not always that uncertain. Many of the stores in our area have an import section. In fact, one of the stores I've visited is all imported. In my first round of trips to these stores, I took the most comfort in that one. It was such a relief to be able to simply recognize what an aisle contained as I walked by!! Between this store and the import sections of the others, we can find a lot of the things we used at home (maybe a new brand), but they come at a price. Most imported items are 2-3 times the price of the product at home. Gone are the days of tracking the sales at Kroger!
I have no idea what my local vs. imported food use ratio will wind up being, but it's been nice to know I can lean on the imports when I'm unsure about a local product. At least we can know what we're eating while we transition to a new country/culture/cuisine. Hopefully I can sit back soon, comfortable in my choice of my main grocery store. According to my driver, I have a few more to visit!
It's not always that uncertain. Many of the stores in our area have an import section. In fact, one of the stores I've visited is all imported. In my first round of trips to these stores, I took the most comfort in that one. It was such a relief to be able to simply recognize what an aisle contained as I walked by!! Between this store and the import sections of the others, we can find a lot of the things we used at home (maybe a new brand), but they come at a price. Most imported items are 2-3 times the price of the product at home. Gone are the days of tracking the sales at Kroger!
I have no idea what my local vs. imported food use ratio will wind up being, but it's been nice to know I can lean on the imports when I'm unsure about a local product. At least we can know what we're eating while we transition to a new country/culture/cuisine. Hopefully I can sit back soon, comfortable in my choice of my main grocery store. According to my driver, I have a few more to visit!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
One More Day
One would think that a summer vacation that never ends is a good thing. Today, in my life, one would be wrong.
Because of our move, our kids haven't started school yet. I didn't want to start them in new classes with new friends only have to pull them out after one month and start the process over again. Because of the hectic pace we've kept over the last few months, our summer has been wild and unstructured. All of this has led to an increasing level of whining and tears, which today is nearly pushing me past my limits!
I crave structure and positive distraction. I need 10 straight minutes to focus on a single task. I am desperate for the day the kids go back to school!
That day is tomorrow.
Because of our move, our kids haven't started school yet. I didn't want to start them in new classes with new friends only have to pull them out after one month and start the process over again. Because of the hectic pace we've kept over the last few months, our summer has been wild and unstructured. All of this has led to an increasing level of whining and tears, which today is nearly pushing me past my limits!
I crave structure and positive distraction. I need 10 straight minutes to focus on a single task. I am desperate for the day the kids go back to school!
That day is tomorrow.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Guidelines for Calling
Any of you who have our phone numbers (M's cell and our home phone), here are some guidelines for calling us here in China:
1. The time difference from Michigan to Shanghai is 12 hours during Daylight Savings Time (summer). So if it's noon (Thursday) in Michigan, it's midnight (Friday morning) in Shanghai.
2. After DST ends (winter) the time difference is 13 hours. So if it's noon (Thursday) in Michigan, it's 1 am (Friday morning) in Shanghai.
3. We wake up at 6am during the week, and are planning to maintain that schedule on the weekends. See #1&2 for conversions.
4. Right now we go to bed usually by 8:30 pm, but we hope to push that out to 10pm soon. For now, stick to the 8:30pm bedtime. I'll let you know when that changes.
5. To allay any fears or confusion, our number is a local call for those in Livonia - it's just like calling Livonia, but through the magic of the world wide web, you can reach us here in China for the same price (free)!
6. We have voicemail, so feel free to leave a message if we don't pick up.
Talk to you soon!
1. The time difference from Michigan to Shanghai is 12 hours during Daylight Savings Time (summer). So if it's noon (Thursday) in Michigan, it's midnight (Friday morning) in Shanghai.
2. After DST ends (winter) the time difference is 13 hours. So if it's noon (Thursday) in Michigan, it's 1 am (Friday morning) in Shanghai.
3. We wake up at 6am during the week, and are planning to maintain that schedule on the weekends. See #1&2 for conversions.
4. Right now we go to bed usually by 8:30 pm, but we hope to push that out to 10pm soon. For now, stick to the 8:30pm bedtime. I'll let you know when that changes.
5. To allay any fears or confusion, our number is a local call for those in Livonia - it's just like calling Livonia, but through the magic of the world wide web, you can reach us here in China for the same price (free)!
6. We have voicemail, so feel free to leave a message if we don't pick up.
Talk to you soon!
Welcome to The Great McBlog
I'm so happy you're here! Even better - I'm so happy I'M here! After a few trials over the last week, I'm pleased to introduce my new blog. To protect my family's privacy, I will be using first initials only. Please try to do the same as you leave comments. Catch up on the last 3 (pre)posts and I'll be back later with more!
The Great McBlog in T-1 (Connectivity!)
It's pretty exciting when you get your Internet, China home phone, and Michigan home phone all working in the same few minutes! It's kind of a downer when you realize that ALL of the people you’d like to call and tell about this phenomenal success are fast asleep (except for one who's in a meeting). Bummer. It's going to be hard to wait patiently until everyone is awake on a sleep-in Saturday morning. Maybe by then my VPN will work as well and I'll be able to share all my success at once!!
Post Script: The VPN is working! Thank you, Witopia for being so quick to help in my time of need!!
Post Script: The VPN is working! Thank you, Witopia for being so quick to help in my time of need!!
The Great McBlog in T-2 (Making a House a Home)
(Written Thursday, October 6, 2011)
I've never really had the opportunity to get ahead of the curveball organizing my house. What I mean is, in almost every place I've lived I've put everything into the house and then tried to find a place for it. Here in Shanghai, though, we only brought what would fit into 3 large suitcases, 3 large duffel bags, 3 smaller suitcases, 4 small duffels, 4 backpacks, 1 computer bag and my (newly gigantic) purse. Don't worry, more is coming! It will just take a while to get here - about 6 weeks they tell us. What's great about this is that we've moved into our (furnished) house with a fairly small amount of stuff, but I still know what else is coming. I've been able to think through the organization of the house without all the clutter weighing me down. I've been able to move something to a new & better location without having to find a home for what was previously in that location. It's so refreshing!
BACK STORY: Prior to living in Shanghai, we had cozy bungalow in Livonia, MI. Funny thing - we found out just before we moved that our bungalow wasn't as cozy as we thought! When we bought the house, the listing said 1162 sq ft. We didn't realize until speaking with a selling realtor that our house is actually around 1400 sqft! Either way, it was a bungalow. And bungalows are built with all kinds of nooks & crannies to put things in. And ours was stuffed to the gills. I spent the last few weeks before we moved sorting through things in the house to sell, give away, donate, put in storage, pack on the sea crate, or just throw away. As a result, I'm pretty familiar with all of our worldly possessions at this exact moment of my life.
I've never really had the opportunity to get ahead of the curveball organizing my house. What I mean is, in almost every place I've lived I've put everything into the house and then tried to find a place for it. Here in Shanghai, though, we only brought what would fit into 3 large suitcases, 3 large duffel bags, 3 smaller suitcases, 4 small duffels, 4 backpacks, 1 computer bag and my (newly gigantic) purse. Don't worry, more is coming! It will just take a while to get here - about 6 weeks they tell us. What's great about this is that we've moved into our (furnished) house with a fairly small amount of stuff, but I still know what else is coming. I've been able to think through the organization of the house without all the clutter weighing me down. I've been able to move something to a new & better location without having to find a home for what was previously in that location. It's so refreshing!
BACK STORY: Prior to living in Shanghai, we had cozy bungalow in Livonia, MI. Funny thing - we found out just before we moved that our bungalow wasn't as cozy as we thought! When we bought the house, the listing said 1162 sq ft. We didn't realize until speaking with a selling realtor that our house is actually around 1400 sqft! Either way, it was a bungalow. And bungalows are built with all kinds of nooks & crannies to put things in. And ours was stuffed to the gills. I spent the last few weeks before we moved sorting through things in the house to sell, give away, donate, put in storage, pack on the sea crate, or just throw away. As a result, I'm pretty familiar with all of our worldly possessions at this exact moment of my life.
The Great McBlog in T-3 (Give me back my Internet!)
(Written Thursday, October 6, 2011)
We've been in Shanghai for 6 days now and things still feel very uncertain. Many people are on holiday this week due to National Day (Yay, we're communists!), which was October 1st. The time off work goes through Friday for most people, which here in China means back to work on Saturday. I'm happy to say that our house is dry and comfortable, but there are some minor frustrations that we can't work out until everyone (including Matt) returns to work. The biggest of these is that our Internet isn't working. We've been "borrowing" our neighbors to check email, and unfortunately the best connection is standing at the top of our stairs!
Along with limited Internet access comes a subset of frustrations:
- No phone service (pretty sure this is related to no Internet)
- Can't set up Vonage (which I am anticipating will come with it's own set of problems - see future post regarding The Great Firewall)
- Trying to troubleshoot my newly acquired VPN is tricky
I could almost make a dichotomy of the frustrations we've experienced this week just related to the Internet. For example, this blog post, the first I've written and potentially the first I'll publish, won't be posted today because Blogger is blocked. So much so that I can't even see pictures from blogs that are emailed to me! I think my VPN can help me get around this, but if you read the Internet frustrations subset, then you know that my VPN isn't working correctly. Even as I write this, it's difficult to organize my thoughts and experiences regarding the Internet here. I'll have to work on a list. Look for that in another future post.
We've been in Shanghai for 6 days now and things still feel very uncertain. Many people are on holiday this week due to National Day (Yay, we're communists!), which was October 1st. The time off work goes through Friday for most people, which here in China means back to work on Saturday. I'm happy to say that our house is dry and comfortable, but there are some minor frustrations that we can't work out until everyone (including Matt) returns to work. The biggest of these is that our Internet isn't working. We've been "borrowing" our neighbors to check email, and unfortunately the best connection is standing at the top of our stairs!
Along with limited Internet access comes a subset of frustrations:
- No phone service (pretty sure this is related to no Internet)
- Can't set up Vonage (which I am anticipating will come with it's own set of problems - see future post regarding The Great Firewall)
- Trying to troubleshoot my newly acquired VPN is tricky
I could almost make a dichotomy of the frustrations we've experienced this week just related to the Internet. For example, this blog post, the first I've written and potentially the first I'll publish, won't be posted today because Blogger is blocked. So much so that I can't even see pictures from blogs that are emailed to me! I think my VPN can help me get around this, but if you read the Internet frustrations subset, then you know that my VPN isn't working correctly. Even as I write this, it's difficult to organize my thoughts and experiences regarding the Internet here. I'll have to work on a list. Look for that in another future post.
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