Moving it up a Week!

Now for something completely different. 
We got a message from the people handling our Visa's saying I must be in China before July 28th.  Why they didn't mention this several months ago when I sent in all my medical information is any one's guess.  I'm voting for incompetence, I could be wrong but......
At the beginning of this process they said get stuff done we need these papers filled out as soon as you can. Thus the frenzy to get physicals, x-rays and shots.  However, the Chinese government wants your physical dated within 6 months of your arrival.  That means since I had my physical in January I have to get there before it expires.  Moving it up a week!!  The only person making this easy is the guy in charge of the cats.  Everything is no problem.  I give him a 10 out of 10! 
We are now planning to leave on the 26th of July.  The cats will get picked up on the 25th (Mikes birthday) and we all fly on the 26th.  China has a one pet, one passport rule and they have to arrive the same day.  They also recommend you do not arrive on a weekend as the quarantine facility may not be able to accommodate your pets. 
On a better note, we have sold both the cars.  A very big worry removed from me as I didn't want to be stuck trying to deal with a car at the last minute before we headed off.
Of course this all means we will get there before Mike has the house so we will live in the hotel for a week.  Who knows, it might be easier.  I won't have to clean things and someone else will be in charge of changing my sheets!!  There certainly won't be anything to unpack as our stuff would only be there if a miracle were to occur.  It takes a while to get an import permit and only once the permit is granted can your stuff be shipped from the states.  The rules go on and on.  As Mike says, "It's because they can."
Today is our 20th anniversary!  Off to celebrate:)
Enough babble,
Xià cì zài hé nǐ tán

Where have I been

nǐhǎo!

It has been a long time since I said anything here. Not much continues to be going on. Really, is that a sensible sentence? Our paperwork is turned in and we are just waiting till closer to "the time" for more things to do. In the important paper area. A bunch of things we need to live in China we cannot get until we live in China....What if they say no?

We sold the Civic! Yahoo! Mike offered it at work just casually a month ago and several people looked but nobody bit. He put a little sign on his office door and it sold that day. If anyone is interested in an Altima 6 speed V-6 let us know:)

We are purging, if we don't, we have to pack it and cart it to the attic only to face it all again in three to five years. We have filled the huge trashcan the past three weeks running. That doesn't include all the ones we did over the winter and all the stuff going to find 'new homes'. It is amazing how much stuff we have even though we have moved so much and how much of it we really do not need! So much still to do. For those familiar with my sewing room....haven't even been in there yet and when I don't know where to put something it goes in there...uggh!

On a more fun note I went and bought a new sewing machine!! This one will run on universal power, ie. it is different in China and the old one would need a converter which really isn't good for it. So, a new one. I have not actually used it since I packed it up at the store as I really must do all the other stuff first...play later. Although I did dye fabric last week, that was fun. Olivia got some white pants specifically to dye and I had been waiting for the weather to be warm enough...the dyes work better when it is very warm out. They came out great considering it was guess work to get the color she desired.


Enough babble,
zàijiàn!

What I thought

Well if that last post wasn't on the boring side, a step by step account of my first visit to China, I don't know what is.  Now, for a bit of personal commentary on my first trip to China. 

People, many, many people.  How do you get away from them all?  Bicycles, many many bicycles and many of them motorized.  Traffic, a bit hairy at times, such as you are trying to take a left at an intersection and cars going straight go on either side of your car.  It is just amazing to me there were not more cars with stripes scraped along the sides from all the lane changing and interesting maneuvering. 
Smog....a combination of pollution and dust in the air, you can see what you are breathing:(  We pulled up  at an intersection, there were some bushes planted in the median, they were so covered with dust the leaves looked gray, I said to Mike, "how can the plants even breathe through all that?"  I will say you don't see much trash or many cigarette butts on the ground as there is an army of street sweepers going around constantly cleaning up the streets and sidewalks.  Everyone told me I was seeing the worst of the air pollution.  It was bad/sad and a bit scary.  Hopefully China will wake up and admit it is a serious problem and do something about it.  I never saw the sun even though it was very bright, like a white blanket over the world between you and the sky. A large percentage of the population smokes.  I wonder if they all didn't smoke for a day how the air would look?

Spit, gross, need I say more. Seems to be a national pastime.  Gotta be sure not to be downwind!
It will take a bit of getting used to, not being able to see the sun most days.  When we came home it was amazing how vibrant everything was after days of hazy grayness.  Now for months.  Maybe I will need one of those sun light lights so I don't get SADD
I had fun in the grocery stores.  Although the packaged chicken in the meat area with its featherless head very much in evidence caused a bit of consternation.  I asked Fei about it and she said they use those for soup.  With the head, really?  I think I will take the head off for my soup! 
I would say maybe half the items I looked at in the store had written in English what they are so I think I can survive in the locals/natives grocery....some stuff I may take a while to figure out.  Hopefully I can find a person who speaks and reads Chinese and English to guide me.....I imagine I would have to bring them with me, tehe.  Live and learn....buy the wrong thing?  Don't make that mistake again......
Getting kind of wordy.  Gotta pack for vacation.

Zàijiàn

A Whirlwind

Well I haven't posted in a while because I had hoped to learn how to Post a picture:(  haven't done that so here we go anyway.

I am sure that was not the fastest trip anyone has ever taken to China but it sure was a quickie!  We landed in China at about 4:00 pm on Monday (that is 4:00 am here in SC) We left about 5:00 pm on Thursday.  That is approximately thirty six hours in country.  Woosh!  All business.
We were on our own on Monday evening, found a mall near our hotel with many floors and tons of restaurants.  We decided to have Thai.  I ordered a bottle of water, they brought a cup of hot water:)  They had forks!  Have to learn how to say bottle of water!

On Tuesday morning we were picked up at 8:30 by real estate agent Monica and her driver to go look at houses.  We saw so many houses, none of which will probably still be available when Mike can actually put an offer in to a landlord.  It gave me a good feel for what is out there.  We also saw a couple apartments....not for me.  The houses are located Northeast of the downtown area in neighborhoods called compounds.  The compounds all have security guys and are gated. They also have club houses with pools and exercise areas, some have stores and others have restaurants.  It is to one of these restaurants we went for lunch....they gave me chopsticks!  Now some of you are saying so???  well, I have never been able to master chopsticks, I managed to eat my lunch, yahoo for me! Certainly cuts down on consumption as the length of time to eat gives you (me) time to feel full:)
Dinner on our own that night was fun, went back to the same mall (not like our malls) and had some dumplings and a chicken dish, very delicious.  Have you ever tried to eat a slippery large sized dumpling with chopsticks, for my second chopstick meal, I did OK.

Wednesday morning we were picked up at 9:30 by Fei and the same driver to have an orientation day. We went to so many places....Olivia's school to meet the guidance counselor and for me to have a tour (Mike already saw the school last fall), The bank to open an account...I now posses a Chinese ATM card, Wahoo! We went to grocery stores..several that are mostly used by expats and one that is used mostly by native Chinese, it was five stories and huge, we didn't make it to the top floor. We went to the hospital, a smaller clinic, a pet supply store and some other shopping place. Probably some other places I am not remembering right now.  For dinner we met Mike's new boss, his wife and one of the staff Mike will have working for him at a  Western style restaurant.  I was feeling a bit carsick as we went in a taxi (that is another story) and I do not do well in the back seat........

Thursday found us packing up then going to  shopping area that is directed mostly towards tourists.  You have to bargain...never pay the price they first quote you....did not like the process, let Mike do it all.  I am not sure I will ever like that process:(
We went back to the hotel got our stuff and were picked up by another woman who is working for Mike and she took us to lunch then the airport....woosh.  Left there at about 5:00 Beijing time and got to SC at 1:00 AM SC time Friday morning.  I have a hard time actually figuring out how long we were in transit,suffice it to say it was a long time!
Zàijiàn

7 days, Read that, seven days!

Not till we leave, ha ha.   Cat quarantine in Beijing has been changed to seven days, down from thirty.
I am sure the fuzzybutts will like that:) I have finally heard from the folks in charge of moving the cats.  Of course that plays a bit of havoc with our timing but we will adjust.  The other night Mike and I made up our travel/move timeline then yesterday afternoon I get the news that quarantine has been shortened.  We may have to board them a few days if Mike doesn't have the house yet.  We don't think the Hotel will want pets, but, you never know.  The service provides brand new cat carriers and will ship them to me this week.  Gives fuzzybutts time to get to know them, haha, I doubt they will ever like them.
We have a lot of things to get in before we move.  Our trip to China in a couple weeks. Our trip to New Mexico in April.  Mike goes back to China for about two weeks in April.   A flute recital on May 12th, Olivia's last one with her friends.  Our trip to New York to celebrate Mike's parents 50th Anniversary. All his siblings are planning on being there, we are having a party somewhere in Lake George.  Mike moving to China mid June and being out of the house by the end of June.  Olivia and I going to Indiana in early July (please Lark) living out of suitcase's till late July when we finally go to China too and what ever else crops up since compiling this list.
Got my haircut yesterday, slightly different than recent cuts, really like it. Anyone know a good hairdresser in Beijing??
Had my first Chinese lesson today.  I don't know what Xuemei/Linda thought about it but I felt like I got somewhere.  She explained a lot of things that I was not grasping. It was also good to have someone correct my pronunciation.  I have been using this online site I found but without the feedback I know I just was not getting everything right.
Zàijiàn

 

Time, never enough

Nǐ hǎo
It seems like it is a long way off before we set off on our adventure across the sea, but really, we have to be out of the house in about 16 weeks!!!!  Eeeeekkkkk!  We aren't actually going to China then but just out of the house to become nomads, Olivia and I anyway..Mike and the fuzzies will probably go over near the beginning of July.
On Friday 'Matt' came over to do our survey.  For those who have not moved with a moving company, he is the guy who looks at all your .....stuff...and tells you if it will fit in the container.
When I walked into the sewing room with Matt I said "Everything in here." His eyebrows went up about a foot.  The kitchen was 'almost everything'.  Those are the two main things I do, cook and sew. 
When I asked him if it would fit, he said "It will be very full."
Mmmm, that got me to thinking about what I said would go or stay, so....
I went into the attic today to assess what, in there, of my sewing/fabric stuff is going with me.  Not much actually and I consolidated the things I am taking into smaller containers.  Well, that is good, a square foot of spare space regained!  The sewing room is very scary.  For those who have been there, you understand.  For those who have not, just trust me on this one.  My sister and Olivia's Art teacher will be the beneficiaries of this need to purge.  I have carted several things to the teacher already and have two more boxes ready to go.  My sister gets not only sewing stuff, (Hope you never have to move Lark.) but when we go through the closets she gets some of that too:) 
I have been reading these relocation magazines Mike brought home last fall.  I am called the "Trailing Spouse" in all the articles relating to family.  Such a lovely tag to add to Daughter, Wife, Mother, Sister, Friend....Trailing Spouse.  Sounds a bit like a serious condition!!  They say the move is hardest on us because of our lack of contacts or interaction with other people.  Employee has fellow workers and Kids have classmates, I will have our driver and the grocery store clerks, oh boy!  Some of the words I am planning on learning before I go are, thread, fabric, sewing and where?
zàijiàn!

We know a bit more

The things we have to do to make this move seem limitless.  We have had to get medical exams and reports from said exams and shots and........Even the fuzzies will have to have exams and shots and they won't even be going outside!  Ours are now complete, thank goodness, except the shots.  We even have to provide a copy of our marriage certificate.......Know where yours is?  We thought ours was in the BOX.  Not!  Mike kept going from place to place looking for it and everytime he went through the living room he would say something like "I don't think we are married." or "There's no proof, so I'm off the hook."....you get the picture.  So, yesterday after going through all the possible places I could think it might be I ended up calling our old hometown and going about the process of getting us a copy.  Can't do this type of thing over the phone...think identity theft.....so I had to get a bank check (no personals accepted) (that process in itself is a whole other story), copy my drivers license, print the form from their website and get it notarized.  And don't think just anyone can get a copy, nooo, only the husband or wife on the certificate can get this.  Wouldn't have been able to send my mom to get it!!  Like a little old lady (sorry mom) would be into identity theft!
Talked to the guy in charge of our 'container' on Tuesday.  Who knew you are only allowed 400 personal books when you move to China?  We don't plan on taking tons but, come on, what about someone going to teach?  He says there are lots of other rules as to what you can take and will send me the lists soon.  I will highlight the interesting ones and let you know.  We are leaving a lot of stuff here so aren't worried about fitting it all in.  The container is 13 feet shorter than a moving van and not as tall or wide.  No yard work tools, no electronics.....don't work over there, no food from the cupboard (GE says NO), leaving a lot of furniture........Mike says the house we get will likely be bigger than the one we have here so it will probably look a bit sparse, we can always go to IKEA, fun, fun.
I am thinking of changing the name of my blog.  My friend Jodi calls it Eggleston's Excellent Chinese Adventure.  Seems more exciting.  The cats aren't really very talkative anyway, I do all the talking.  I talked to two friends yesterday, one is Chinese and one is Taiwanese.  They both said they will help me with learning my Chinese.  GE provides Mike and I with 100 hours of lessons, 20 here and 80 over there.  I just think this old brain will do better with more help than that so until next time,
zàijiàn!