Welcome to China

Hi Everyone!  China has been interesting.  A bit like a roller coaster.  Sometimes really high and then we hit a low.  I would love to share some of the crazy experiences with anyone who wants to hear about it. 

So the first night we arrived in Suzhou, after 17 hours of travel, our seat in economy plus being switched all around, to running to even catch the flight.  After leaving the family Sunday morning around 6am, we arrive in our new home at 7pm Monday night.  Luckily we had some nice Caterpillar family that came to the house with pizzas and young friends for the boys to play with, then we realized we had no bed to sleep on and NO covers.  So the realtor wanted to take us to find some warm blankets.  Mitch thought I could use a kid break so he suggested I go.  Well after no luck at a few stores the realtor offered up his really warm blanket and directed the taxi to my home.  Well 1 hour later, and after some time of going really slow, and the doors locked from the inside, and a really expensive cab fare, for China, I finally arrived at our home drenched from the rain, in tears, yet happy I was still alive. Mitch felt so bad and I was asleep in minutes on the couch.

Anyway, the boys both love their school.  William is full time and he was 1 of 12 Golden Boys the first week in his school assembly.  I bet he was embarrassed, but proud. 

The church here is good!  Have meet some really great people. 

It took a few weeks to get a phone I could easily text on.  Everyone textes here.  Another week after that to get a VPN to access Facebook, the same week to get the ipads to connect to the wireless, a few more weeks to find the right adaptor for the Wii and how to file down the flat iron plugs to fit into the converter.

I had four Taiwanese woman over for coffee last Friday and although they were so friendly and had great smiles, we couldn't communicate at all.  

After the first week here, Emmakate fell from a chair in our house unto our marble floor onto her head.  Once again I thought I needed to take her to the ER - I was so frantic.  She has also eaten 2 plastic spoons.  I called the pediatrician back home and she thinks it will pass. This girl is going to give me a heart attack.  Please pray that I can keep her safe from everything and the boys safe from everything I don't know about.

Last week a couple invited us to go out to dinner and then foot massages after.  I have been hearing about everyone getting foot massages and I keep wondering if it was really foot massages and what the hype was all about.  So our appointments were booked for 9pm - strange right there.  It was a place called DragonFly.  The atmosphere was really awesome, dark, water running, candles - I was a little freaked out at first though.  They take you down stairs and you sit in a comfy reclining chair.  Then the woman brings a hot tub of water to let your feet soak in then wash them.  While your feet are soaking you get a shoulder, arm and hand massage.  Then she massages your feet for a long time.  It was 60 minutes, but I could have went for the 90 minutes after I realized how good it was.  Mitch and I and the other couple were sitting next to each other with half-curtains between the chairs.  It was a strange, cool experience.  The next day I took William, 4 1/2 year old with me for an hour foot massage.  We both loved it!! 

Everyone is big runners here.  There is a 11 mile lake right out our front window and the skyline is really nice.  Everything takes a long time to figure out.

The boys dressed up for character week.  Andrew was Cat in the Hat and William was Dash from the Incredibles.  I came into Andrew's class and read 'SkippyJon Jones'. I love that book, but I crack up every time I read it.

Emmakate started nursery school today - 3 days a week for the mornings.  It sounds crazy to put a 22 month old in preschool, but there isn't a lot for her to do.

This past Sunday I was in tears because I just wanted cash after a few days with no money & that is THE form of payment here.  The atm ate my card and the woman behind the counter took my card and wouldn't give it to me until I went home and got my passport.  I said some bad words way too many times.  Hours later I felt a little bad when I found out it was our US bank trying to protect us from fraud.  Since I had experienced the China atm eating my card and a friends card on two separate occasions I figured this was a regular occurrence here.

We are planning to go to Shanghai for 3-4 days this weekend/week for spring break that is coming this weekend.  I hope it's a nice break.

All three kids have taken turns throwing up over the last week and a half, William on two occasions.  I'm thinking their stomach isn't agreeing with the food or water - who knows.

Also, I went to dinner with a friend last week to an Indian restaurant - I LOVED IT!!  I think I will be a vegetarian for life if I can have my way.  The friend picked out the best food and then she told me the secret about Shanghai - you get to custom make your own clothes!!!!  Can you believe it.  Mitch never told me this great selling point.  I guess you pick the fabric, and then can either give them pictures of what you want created or you can look through their catalogs, such as Boden, Victoria Secret, etc. and have them make it based on your exact measurements - HOW AWESOME!!!!  So China is pretty good, just figuring out the basics will take you a long time.  I'll write more soon!