As I sit and write this on our living room floor I am struck by the fact that this is probably the last Saturday I will sit in our living room. We have four more days of living in our home, then one night with friends and we fly out of Florence on Thursday morning at 7:00 am. Our passports came back a couple days ago, that was a process unto itself. They wanted so many additional documents from us and all the documents Mike had not yet gotten in China......finally done!
Packing was crazy...it has been done for nearly a month now. We had a great trip to Indiana to visit my sister and her family.....too short. I have been chief cook, bottle washer and head lawn girl since Mike left....I am not friends with the weed whacker yet, maybe after a few more uses.....Oh, that's right we leave in four days.....no time left to become friends. My to do list is nearly done, I am glad not to have to write 'yard work' on it again. Most of what is left to do cannot be done till the day before we go.
Our tenants have been moving stuff in for a couple weeks now...gives the cats something new to sniff since all our furniture is on a slow boat to China. I want to change the name of my blog.....anyone got any good ideas?
Olivia had friends over last night and she has gone home with one of them today to spend the night there. I am glad she has gotten together with them, it was challenging to find a day that worked for everyone. Another friend is coming from Columbia on Tuesday and she will see her too.
I have been locked out of facebook now due to some pop-up glitch so I cannot even post a goodbye at this point. I am going to have Olivia try to fix it so I might be able to right before we go. She is my own personal IT department. We don't know when we will have internet once we get there. We have to get a VPN........don't know what that is exactly but it is necessary if we want to get past the Great Fire Wall of China.
Sparkles has taken to sleeping in her carrier, little does she know what that carrier will mean to her in the coming days. We are pretty sure after the flight she will want nothing to do with it. The cats have paper work too and I have not heard but can only hope that has gone smoothly as I am running out of steam to handle anymore bumps in the road.
Our house has passed the air quality tests so we are set to move in. Our air shipment has passed through customs, yahoo! It will be delivered to the house on Thursday, the day Mike gets back from Switzerland....We get to China Friday afternoon.......Busy Crazy!!
Enough for today.
Zaijin
Not necessarily the cats point of view.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
They gave me a two hour window
nǐhǎo,
This is it from this room.
It is highly unlikely that I will live in this house again:(
The packers gave me an estimated arrival of 8:30 to 10:30.....how do they run a business with such vagaries? Besides, as much as I dread the next three days, I really want to get on with them. Dragging it out does not help my stress level.
Perhaps then I might sleep past 5:30 in the morning. Speaking of sleeping, I apologize to anyone who has used our foldout couch in the past few years....Mom and Dad.......I slept on it last night, what am I thinking that I can do that for a month?? Tonight I think the mattress goes on the floor, we will try that. It didn't used to be like this but I guess everything sags with time, haha!
I am so sad about how little of my fabric and other supplies I think I can bring. It is hard to know what they call reasonable amounts....The things I have selected look like such a pitiful amount.....I will have to come back here as often as possible to pick up more!
Mike is going to look at another house today or tomorrow...hard to be sure as they are going to bed as we get up. They have used the day we are just starting. He thinks this will be the better choice. I trust him to get the right one. My bedroom will be on the third floor. My aching knee! I never even came house hunting when we moved back to Florence 6 years ago. The town is small and I knew the location of the neighborhoods he would look in, he did good!
Enough of this. I have a bit more to organize today. I think I did half the work for the movers already. Maybe not, I don't lift furniture anymore:)
zàijiàn!
This is it from this room.
It is highly unlikely that I will live in this house again:(
The packers gave me an estimated arrival of 8:30 to 10:30.....how do they run a business with such vagaries? Besides, as much as I dread the next three days, I really want to get on with them. Dragging it out does not help my stress level.
Perhaps then I might sleep past 5:30 in the morning. Speaking of sleeping, I apologize to anyone who has used our foldout couch in the past few years....Mom and Dad.......I slept on it last night, what am I thinking that I can do that for a month?? Tonight I think the mattress goes on the floor, we will try that. It didn't used to be like this but I guess everything sags with time, haha!
I am so sad about how little of my fabric and other supplies I think I can bring. It is hard to know what they call reasonable amounts....The things I have selected look like such a pitiful amount.....I will have to come back here as often as possible to pick up more!
Mike is going to look at another house today or tomorrow...hard to be sure as they are going to bed as we get up. They have used the day we are just starting. He thinks this will be the better choice. I trust him to get the right one. My bedroom will be on the third floor. My aching knee! I never even came house hunting when we moved back to Florence 6 years ago. The town is small and I knew the location of the neighborhoods he would look in, he did good!
Enough of this. I have a bit more to organize today. I think I did half the work for the movers already. Maybe not, I don't lift furniture anymore:)
zàijiàn!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Pack Day is coming Fast!
Long time no post.
Mike left for China this past Sunday:(
The past month has mostly been spent sorting through the accumulation of our lives. We have purged and purged. I just don't want to come home to tons of stuff that should have been taken care of long ago, ie. if we stay in China five years.
The packers are coming Monday morning, as of this post they have not told me exactly what time. I don't expect it to be the crack of dawn as they are coming from the beach and that takes about an hour and a half. (Of course, I scheduled Olivia to have an eye Dr. appointment at 9:00 Monday morning...that was what they had available. Thank goodness for friends, Martha is coming to my rescue and can take her.) I am trying to figure out what to put in the air shipment....this stuff will arrive first and may be all we have the first month in the house. A box approximately 54" x 54" x 56" , or some such size. These have to be practical items like dishes, blankets, personal items, and a few fun things like books to read and puzzles to do. And of course a bit of sewing. I may include my sewing machine...less time in transit to get injured. And a way to keep my sanity.
I have been loading up my Kindle like crazy with free books. I figure if I don't like it after the first chapter I can go on to the next. I will read most anything except all these vampire things that are out now a days. Not much in the way of a library with English language books in Beijing. They do have an English bookstore though.
And, speaking of our house....Mike went house hunting his first full day in Beijing. He saw nine houses and narrowed it down to 3. One has a giant bowl for the Master bath tub...looks pretty funky! When I figure out how to do pictures......
Then another house became available the next day so he will look at that next week. He thinks that will be the one as the location in the compound is better.
This is a holiday weekend for China so Mike is having a four day weekend.......Not bad for a first week on the job.....I don't think he knew it when he decided on his start date.
Enough to let you know we are still alive and kicking.
Olivia and I leave here on the 26th of July.
Back to organizing. I am so over organizing.......
Mike left for China this past Sunday:(
The past month has mostly been spent sorting through the accumulation of our lives. We have purged and purged. I just don't want to come home to tons of stuff that should have been taken care of long ago, ie. if we stay in China five years.
The packers are coming Monday morning, as of this post they have not told me exactly what time. I don't expect it to be the crack of dawn as they are coming from the beach and that takes about an hour and a half. (Of course, I scheduled Olivia to have an eye Dr. appointment at 9:00 Monday morning...that was what they had available. Thank goodness for friends, Martha is coming to my rescue and can take her.) I am trying to figure out what to put in the air shipment....this stuff will arrive first and may be all we have the first month in the house. A box approximately 54" x 54" x 56" , or some such size. These have to be practical items like dishes, blankets, personal items, and a few fun things like books to read and puzzles to do. And of course a bit of sewing. I may include my sewing machine...less time in transit to get injured. And a way to keep my sanity.
I have been loading up my Kindle like crazy with free books. I figure if I don't like it after the first chapter I can go on to the next. I will read most anything except all these vampire things that are out now a days. Not much in the way of a library with English language books in Beijing. They do have an English bookstore though.
And, speaking of our house....Mike went house hunting his first full day in Beijing. He saw nine houses and narrowed it down to 3. One has a giant bowl for the Master bath tub...looks pretty funky! When I figure out how to do pictures......
Then another house became available the next day so he will look at that next week. He thinks that will be the one as the location in the compound is better.
This is a holiday weekend for China so Mike is having a four day weekend.......Not bad for a first week on the job.....I don't think he knew it when he decided on his start date.
Enough to let you know we are still alive and kicking.
Olivia and I leave here on the 26th of July.
Back to organizing. I am so over organizing.......
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
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
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
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Where have I been
nǐhǎo!
|
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!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
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
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
Sunday, April 1, 2012
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
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
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