Food....

So far food has been ok here. Its not the same, but we have had some fairly good meals out. I haven't cooked anything yet, probably next week I will attempt something. Our apt has a kitchen with supplies but its not totally stocked for gourmet cuisine cooking. Groceries are quite high if you get western items, but produce and veggies are inexpensive. Meat is pretty $ too, as much comes from australia and new zealand. I have been searching for good milk - so far not so good, but plan to order from 2 dairy farms next week and try those options. C and D love milk and I think D has had maybe one glass in over a week? she normally would drink 5 glasses a day! C has been ok with what we have found but his consumption is way down too. They dont have diet coke here either, coca cola light is the choice - its not the same but bearable. I did find DC at one market - its for westerners like us and quite pricey...but if you need something you can likely find it there. I paid 1.80/can ! It was worth it, too. We have found lots of places with good burgers and diner type food, and we also found a couple of places with good sandwiches, salads, etc. Last night we went out for Italian with some of our new friends- was very good and tonight 21 of us are going out for shanghainese food. should be fun!

And yet another site seeing event...the Pearl Tower

dont get used to so many updates - we for sure wont be able to go somewhere interesting every day - though I bet we will probably see something of interest every day - if nothing else, different than what we are all used to back home!

While I was off getting poked, prodded and weighed (did I mention I like the scales in china so far? very favorable and I hope it continues to stay that way!) ...Ian took C and D to the pearl tower - its a really interesting looking bldg - purple in color, and you can go up and get a good view of the city. I will have to go another day, which is fine by me - not a huge fan of such heights. The really tall bldg behind Connor in the picture is currently the tallest bldg in the world, but it will be overtaken soon by one in the UAE. It lights up at night with twinkley lights - very pretty.

Trip to the Aquarium

we went to the Shanghai Aquarium last week- the largest in Asia. It was all indoors and pretty nice. One of the best I think I have seen. Delaney's favorites were the alligators and the sea turtles. Connor liked the sharks. I liked the fact it was indoors as it was about 101 and 90% humidity that day! It did remind me of home in some ways - at the end of the exhibits, you dont know its the end - but you go up an escalator and end up in the TOY STORE! ha! we managed to circumvent any purchases this time. We did buy a family pass, so am sure we'll go back again soon.

Health Check...

on Wednesday I went for my government mandated health check. Anyone coming to the country requesting an extended visa will have to have this done, if over 18yrs old. I must say I felt like I was in some 1940's Seinfeld episode. Everything is very outdated and old looking, very old fashioned. I had someone from our tax/visa contractor escort me, so he got me registered and I waited in a different area till time. Then you go from room to room - in no order, mind you - to have various procedures completed. In between, you sit in a hallway and they have you change seats every minute or 2 - with no real sense about it. "you! sit here"...1 minute later - point at another seat - "you sit here now!" ok then. They took blood, did an ultrasound, xray, ekg, looked in my nose - "your nose ok!?!" yes, I think so? and had me do an eye test. It was really pretty superficial. I kind of think what they really wanted was the blood, but not sure why they do all the rest? oh well. It was pretty uneventful, just took a about 3 hours total as it was a fairly long drive over. In a taxi. with no seatbelts - ugh! Will have to work on getting through those times, as I never go without a seatbelt at home!

First day here...

we made a trip out to Jinqiao, the area we will live, and drove through our neighborhood and saw the school. We then went to a family day at Intel Pudong to celebrate the 40th anniversary. the event at the factory was all in chinese - pretty handy for us. We stayed for a bit, the only westerners there and as we were leaving a lady ran after us with a camera - she wanted to interview us on what I thought about the event. Of course, I couldnt complain that I didnt understand - it is china and they are allowed to speak chinese - so I just nodded my head and said how nice it was. We moved on after that....had seen enough though I am sure it was a nice show.

I wont publish any house photos yet as we may be changing houses again! crazy! it would be in the same neighborhood and the same floorplan, but some friends have been in it the past 2 years and have done quite a bit of work in the house. We would likely just keep most of their things and move right in with ours, too. Still have some logisitics to work out but I think it could be good. We'll know for sure next week and then I can post pictures.

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Here we are, arriving at Shanghai Pudong international, after almost 24 hours of travel. Connor is not in the pic as he is our new photographer....as part of the move to China he got an iphone and he has been snapping pics left and right. This is good, as almost never take a picture!

And here we were at our first dinner - Maggie Moo's - a diner like place with good burgers and shakes! we were pooped- was about 9pm here and it was all we could do to walk down the street for this.

We're HERE! After all this time, planning, logistics...we are here! I could bore you with all the details that had to be executed - the pain of separating and packing up our house, trying to pack what we need for the next ~8wks till our shipment arrives, get the house ready for the rentor, while keeping everything else going, but I won't.

Our flight was basically uneventful, though way too long. Kids were good, all luggage - 15 pieces! arrived without issue...Shanghai airport was no issue - not crowded, they didnt try and confiscate my food or items I brought in, so all was good. We are staying in a Marriott apartment for about 6 weeks until our house is ready to move into. Its very nice, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms - 28th floor in downtown, overlooking what is currently the tallest bldg in the world. We spent the am unpacking most of our things, and are getting ready to venture out and see our new neighborhood, drive by the school and head over to the factory for a family day at work. So far so good.

Yes, I was Speechless!

Hard to believe, I know. While in Shanghai, we interviewed 2 candidates to be our drivers. Now, I have interviewed people for jobs many times before, no biggie. Well, try it when they pretty much only speak chinese! yikes! I really just didnt have anything pertinent to add to the discussion. IR asked questions, we had someone translate, then they responded with 1-2 words in English, the rest chinese. ok then. Both had excellent driving records, had driven for several years as their profession, etc. We ended up picking the older man, as he lives in the area we will, and because the younger one was worried about how much time he would have off with his girlfriend! Now, regular hours are 6 days a week, pretty much all day. They can work overtime, and most are happy to and the company pays this. I have to say we are not worried about skimping on the drivers time. I have no idea how all this will work, but I certainly will want someone that is willing to work when we need him! Our minivan specs will be arriving....can you stand it? We are so anti-minivan that is funny we will have one. I figure - its free. I can handle a minivan for 2 years for free. Couldn't you?

Trying to get back on track....

I have to say I felt pretty good the whole time in China - tired, as the timezones are so screwy, when you fly to Asia, you wake up at 3 or 4 am and can't go back to sleep...until you have to get up, then you could probably snooze till noon! Coming home though, kicked my butt! I was quite tired from just everything that went on in January. We are now processing the trip, what we need to close on, re-prioritizing the neighborhoods, working on our car specs and driver, and closing on any school opens.

For the British College, CDR must take an exam. Working with his current principal to get that set up. I also need to send an alternate school his forms as a backup. What a pain. Spending time researching vaccinations we need...that is enough to make me want to cancel this boondogle all together - I do not like shots and it is not looking good for me here! So many things to figure out - all the visas information we need to fill out, health approvals, tax stuff, health insurance changes, home/car insurance changes, logistics to lease out our house. My head is spinning. Perhaps time for some ice cream? Maybe even a double Oreo Blizzard. Yep, that will do it!

At last....the "looksee" ...

Now, please don't ask me who coined the term "looksee"? I think there must be some hidden Expat dictionary that we have yet to find. However, we did go to Shanghai, we did look, and we did see - all that we are getting ourselves into! I have to say it was better than expected...I went with the adage of "low expectations up front = less disappointment later!"..and it worked!

For 6 days we looked at villas, service apartments, schools, hospitals, medical clinic, pharmacies, grocery stores......you name it, we likely saw it. Oh, did I mention it was in a snowstorm? Well yes, it was. Worst storm in China in 25 years, and we were there. It wasnt nearly as bad where we were, but it did snow for 2 days, and stuck...so everyone was out playing, bldg snowmen, etc. For us, it was fun as we dont have snow in AZ...novelty for sure. The kids were so excited to hear about it, and the thought of having snow, but watch, it wont snow at all the 2 winters we are there!


The good news - the schools were incredible. Like nothing I have seen here. Truly. I think this may end up being the biggest benefit of the move, the education. The bad news, well, we are on waiting lists at these incredible schools... at one specific British college - CDR is #40! Can you stand it? Well, I couldn't. Stand it that is. I was quite stressed about the situation till I finally decided it wasn't going to help. We do think CDR will get into our other favorite school, an international school based on american curriculm, he is only #7 on the wait list there. oy. Miss DCR is a whole other issue - it seems her age group is the most popular age to be expating...who knew? 3-4 yr old jetsetters abound, I guess. So, she is enrolled at both schools that CDR is, and as a backup, we enrolled her in a local Montessori preschool that looked to have a good program. All the schools have such low teacher-student ratios, daily mandarin lessons, computers/laptops, many afterschool activities, etc. I really think we will like it...once know which school we are going to! Both kids will remain on the wait lists of the schools they dont get in, so we always have the option to switch when a spot opens up at one of the others, though hopefully we won't feel the need to do so? We were told to be patient, so other than emailing the schools every week, that is what I have been trying to do!

We found a lot of nice housing, but ..guess what?... there aren't any available! Are you starting to see a trend here??? It took me a few hours that first day but I clued in fast....and wondered - does everyone have to be in Shanghai when I am? Can't someone go home and let new people arrive? geez! I was pretty bummed while looking, they just didnt know what would open up, when it would be open, etc. crazy. So, we focused on AREA...and we found one we like - its called Jinqiao, and is a small area on the Pudong side of Shanghai. I think it will make a nice 3 mile bubble for me. Those of you that know me here in AZ, know I like my 3 mile radius...and I think I can duplicate it! House, schools, gym, club, grocery, kids activities, all in 3 miles. Its a pretty westernized section, lots of expats, imported goods, etc. I liked it. Also lots of green and trees, as its on the new side of shanghai - referred to as Pudong, the old side is Puxi. So a little less pollution and yuch. Since we have no house confirmed at this pointe, we will plan to live in the Marriot downtown till we can move to our new abode...

I will close for now, and leave you hanging on the rest of the visit, but will be back to update on the important things like - shopping, bathroom conditions, foot massages, dining...and may even throw in some links so you can SEE some of these places.

Details, Details.....

I suppose the last update was a bit sparse on details? There was so much more than just "hey, let's pick up and go to China"..really there was. Lots of thought, conversation, and on my part - ice cream! When stress overload occurs, there is nothing like a bowl of ice cream to make things better. One of my number one concerns was if I would still be able to work, if I wanted to work....if I didnt want to work....so hard to know? We did make the decision to go without knowing what my plan would end up to be, deciding it would be ok either way. Now that I have that figured out, I will start pinging my contacts and see if anybody has a great job for me in Shanghai. I will of course talk to the group I work for now, though we just did a re-org last month and I am on a very focused team that was pulled together for 2 years to manage an enterprise replatform. We then will disband and go on our merry ways, with the title of Superstar Project Manager. (ok, so I made that up) Honestly, I am just not sure what they will say. We will just give them first right of refusal, I suppose!

I also began my detailed analytical reseach of the move. Google, that is! Gotta love the internet. I started searching and found so much info. Definitely feel like I have a clue. Have school forms I can start filling out, and am honing in on neighborhoods. So far so good.

We got the news today.......

That small microprocessor company that we work for asked IR if he would accept an assigment in Shanghai for 2 years. This wasn't a total shock, yet, hearing the words out loud - was a total shock for sure. OMG! All the logistics, what about this and that - how will we do this instead of that, oy. We of course had a choice, well, sort of. I mean, I dont think they would have been happy if we had said no, but I suppose we could have. After stressing, not sleeping, discussion of so many factors, we figured why not, its 2 years - let's go and have fun. So be it.